Zecco.com - Online stock trading
FTC.gov - ID theft complaint form
Equifax/PayPal - A free way for PayPal customers to monitor their credit

Through the years, people have had the attitude that you get what you pay for. But the opposite seems to be true among the airlines. It's a real paradox; the full fare airlines often offer less service for your dollar than the discount ones. For years, the full fares used their clout in Washington D.C. to block Virgin mogul Richard Branson's efforts to launch an airline in the U.S. market. So finally Branson reduced his role in Virgin America and now the airline is making waves on the West Coast. As with all Virgin-branded products, Virgin America offers ultra classy and extra thrifty service. He's brought elegant back to first class and near-elegant service back to coach. The Los Angeles Times is even reporting that the discount airlines are feeling the hurt from Branson's move. Look for Virgin America to expand if they're successful on the West Coast.

"But daddy, all the other kids have TVs in their bedrooms! Why can't I?"

Clark went through this routine with his 18 year old for years before she left for college. Now he's going through the same thing with his 8 year old. The New York Times recently reported on a study that found 70% of 3rd graders have a TV in their bedroom. The consequences of this include sleep problems, lower test scores, childhood obesity and more likelihood to begin smoking. The study also found that kids with TVs in their rooms watch 50% more TV per week -- that's 30 hours per week!

Clark watches zero TV -- except during football season, when he watches about 15 hours per week. When his 8 year old does watch TV, it's only in limited quantities. Every parent must make their own decision about what's right for their child. Meanwhile, when is it appropriate for a teen to have a computer in his or her bedroom? In Clark's house, that age was arbitrarily set at 16. But he suggests you track what websites they visit or use permissive software to only allow them to view sites that you approve.

Clark's friend former Georgia governor Roy Barnes recently told him that he has become an ID theft victim. Barnes got a call from American Express wanting to know if he had opened a second AMEX account, which he had not. So he pulled his credit report and found 7 new applications for cards that a New York-based ID thief had been filling out. The credit card companies were just sending cards in Barnes name to the ID thief. After dealing with all 3 of the major credit bureaus, Barnes has special venom for Equifax for allegedly being impossible to deal with. He had a good experience with Experian, and a neutral one with TransUnion.

If this happens to you, Barnes says you must keep perfect notes and write down the agent code of everyone you speak with on the phone. Barnes has a file for every card the thief opened. But this criminal is still out there opening accounts in his name. This guy was a governor and he's going through this! He'll be fine, but 10 million of us deal with some level of ID theft every year. There's no effective marketplace solution yet.

Those with PayPal accounts do have a free way to monitor their credit via Equifax. You'll get notifications when an account is opened. But beware that they will repeatedly try to sell you a for-pay credit monitoring service too.

Clark recently told you about a young man in China who received a lifetime prison sentence for repeatedly making withdrawals at ATMs that weren't debiting his account. There was outrage among the Chinese people because this man was railroaded while Communist officials get away with all kinds of abuses. The outrage has prompted a new show trial and the man is set to be re-sentenced. But 93% of people in mainland China said they would do the same thing. Clark was curious about what you would do, so he put the question up in a recent poll. More than 80% of you said you'd stop the transaction and report it; 8% of you said you would pocket the money and then report the malfunction; and 12% of you said you'd milk the situation for all it's worth.

People in mainland China are so distrustful of the communist government. But here in the United States, Clark likes to think that we have a little more respect for the law. Here's an example: The New York Post reports a person went to a Chase ATM and wanted $110, but got $220 -- while the ATM only debited $110. The person went into the bank and reported it, but the bank never sought to reclaim the extra money. So what happened? Somebody stocking the ATM put $20s in the $10 section. It's so ironic the person was honest, but wasn't thanked and no action was taken. Both stories tell so much. This latter one speaks to the impersonal nature of the giant monster mega banks.