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As a parent, Clark is sick over the fact that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is not doing its job of ensuring that toys are made and sold in a safe manner. CPSC honcho Nancy Nord instead sees her job as protecting manufacturers who have unsafe products on the market. Congress recently gave her the authority to ban lead-filled toys and children's trinkets. But she refused to do so and continues to allow the toys to be sold. If you have young girls, you need to be especially cautious about cheap jewelry and trinkets that are made to look like real silver. Clark advises parents to quietly dispose of these potentially lead-filled trinkets.

It's just insane that Nord has worked to put kids in harm's way in order to protect manufacturers. Clark is beyond anger over her activities; at this point, he's just deeply saddened. The whole thing becomes even more incomprehensible when you consider that Nord is a mother herself. The policy on her watch has been to keep things hush-hush when there's an unsafe product out there. Manufacturers get to sell off their dangerous inventory with the understanding that they'll have to comply with safety standards in future production. Visit SafeKids.org for the latest news. There is no cop on the beat, so you've got to be extra vigilant.

Clark gets a lot of questions about small claims court. What happens if you actually win? Most people who get a judgment against another party never see a penny for it. The Orlando Sentinel reports that a Maryland law firm called The Judgment Group is now doing post-judgment collections for those who go through small claims court. They'll take on your claim for free and split any money they recover down the middle with you. That sure beats not getting the first nickel! Once again, this is currently only for Maryland residents. The Judgment Group tells Team Clark that they're looking at taking their business model to other states in about 6 months.

Many small claims judgments are default judgments because the defendants are usually contemptuous and don't show up. In most states, you can do something called post-judgment questions. That's when the defendant is required to disclose his or her assets, which you then have a right to seize and sell. But since many defendants don't even bother showing up to court, they don't have the chance to answer the post-judgment questions. In many states, you can actually have them locked up for failing to answer post-judgment questions. That's one sure way to get their attention.

Clark recently told you that there have been changes in student loans laws. Now the latest news is that the student loan market is drying up as fallout from the housing crunch. Michigan has completely shut down its student loan program. The reason here is that student loans are funded by bonds or securities, the trading of which has been hurt by our slowing economy. So the credit squeeze is affecting areas that are completely unrelated to housing.

Clark has a thought that may seem callous to some. He believes there's an advantage to student loans being difficult to get. Think about it: College costs have grown way beyond the rate of inflation because it's been too easy to borrow for school. But if students have a hard time getting money, then schools will be forced to rein in their spending and become more efficient. They'll also have to deliver an education at an affordable price. Previously, the unlimited spigot of student loan borrowing provided no incentive for them to do so; the very oversupply of money fed the rise in college costs.

Conventional wisdom holds that it's almost impossible for baby boomers who are in the 50-64 age group to buy individual health policies. But increasingly insurers are trying to woo more individuals as customers. That's because big employers are discontinuing health insurance and switching over to reimbursement plans. Such plans may still be managed by the insurers, who act as paper-pushers. But the actual business of insuring is increasingly done by the employers themselves.

Aetna, Humana and Wellpoint all offer products to uninsured baby boomers, according to The Dallas Morning News. They may even take you on if you have some pre-existing conditions. That's good news for the almost 7 million boomers who no longer get health insurance through work and aren't yet old enough for Medicare. Meanwhile, try looking to the warehouse clubs if you're an entrepreneur seeking an individual health plan. Sam's Club leads the field in offering volume-based pricing, but Costco also offers plans in select states.