truesee's Blog

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Credit Card Features 79.9% Interest Rate

Bloated APR Is How Subprime Card Issuer Plans To Skirt Regulations Curbing Abusive Practices

CANDICE CHOI

AP Personal Finance Writer

POSTED: 2:34 pm EST December 17, 2009
UPDATED: 7:54 am EST December 18, 2009

NEW YORK -- It's no mistake. This credit card's interest rate is 79.9 percent.

The bloated APR is how First Premier Bank, a subprime credit card issuer, is skirting new regulations intended to curb abusive practices in the industry. It's a strategy other subprime card issuers could start adopting to get around the new rules.

Typically, the First Premier card comes with a minimum of $256 in fees in the first year for a credit line of $250. Starting in February, however, a new law will cap such fees at 25 percent of a card's credit line.

In a recent mailing for a preapproved card, First Premier lowers fees to just that limit -- $75 in the first year for a credit line of $300. But the new law doesn't set a cap on interest rates. Hence the 79.9 APR, up from the previous 9.9 percent.

"It's the highest on the market. It's the highest we've ever seen," said Anuj Shahani, an analyst with Synovate, a research firm that tracks credit card mailings.

The terms are eyebrow raising, but First Premier targets people with bad credit who likely can't get approved for cards elsewhere. It's a group that tends to lean heavily on credit too, meaning they'll likely incur the steep financing charges.

So for a $300 balance, a cardholder would pay about $20 a month in interest.

First Premier said the 79.9 APR offer is a test and that it's too early to tell whether it will be continued, according to an e-mailed statement. To comply with the new law, the bank said it will no longer offer the card that has $256 in first-year fees as of Feb. 21, 2010. However, customers will still be able to use their existing cards. The bank said "no final decisions" have been made regarding any rate changes for those cards.

First Premier noted that it needed to "price our product based on the risk associated with this market."

The bank declined to specify how many people were offered the 79.9 APR card.

According to First Premier's Web site, the credit cards are serviced by its sister organization Premier Bankcard. The company, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., says Premier Bankcard is the 10th largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa cards in the country, with more than 3.5 million customers.

In a mailing sent to prospective customers in October with the revamped terms, First Premier writes "...you might have less-than-perfect credit and we're OK with that." The letter notes that an online application or phone call is still required, but guarantees a 60-second status confirmation.

The letter also states there are no hidden fees that aren't disclosed in the attached form. That's where the 79.9 percent interest rate and $75 annual fee are listed. There's also $29 penalty if you pay late or go over your $300 credit limit.

Even if First Premier doesn't stick with the 79.9 APR, it will likely hike rates considerably from the current 9.9 percent to offset the lower fees, said Shahani of Synovate.

The revamped terms may not be the only changes; First Premier also appears to be moving away from the riskiest borrowers.

The bank typically mails offers to subprime households, meaning those with credit scores below 700. In the third quarter, however, 84 percent of its offers were sent to subprime households, down from 91 percent the same period last year, according to Synovate.

First Premier could be cleaning up its credit card portfolio since the new regulations will limit its ability to raise interest rates. That could mean First Premier won't issue cards as liberally to those with bad credit.

As harsh as First Premier's terms seem, that could be a blow to those who rely on the card, said Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com.

"Even when the cost of credit is astronomical, for people in true emergencies, it's much better than not having access to credit," said Papadimitriou.

Until Feb. 21, First Premier is still offering its even-higher-fee card online. So the price for credit the bank charges is at least $256 in first-year fees.

7:43 a.m. Friday, December 18, 2009

DeKalb sheriff's deputy arrested, accused of harboring armed robbery suspect

A DeKalb County Sheriff's deputy was arrested Wednesday on charges she harbored a wanted felon at her home.

Nine-year veteran Landria Odom, 41, is charged with hindering the capture of a criminal and lying to police, for hiding 28-year-old armed robbery suspect Kirkland Smith at her Atlanta in DeKalb home, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Mikki Jones said.

Smith was wanted in connection with an Oct. 6 armed robbery, and was arrested outside Odom's home Wednesday.

As deputies with the Sheriff's Office fugitive squad surrounded Odom's home, a deputy saw Smith step onto the back patio, but he quickly returned inside, authorities said.

Smith then ran from the front door headed to the parking lot, where deputies tackled him. He was charged with felony armed robbery and possession of a weapon while committing a felony.

After arresting Smith, investigators from the Sheriff's internal affairs division and the DeKalb police were called in to determine how Odom was involved with the wanted felon.

Deputies knew that they were going to a fellow officer's home when they arrived at Odom's east Atlanta address, Jones said. Odom's name had surfaced during the investigation, Jones said.

Deputies arriving at the scene saw Odom's car parked outside the home in the 3400 block of Ivy's Walk, and positioned themselves to move in, authorities said.

An officer called Odom, and when asked could she speak face-to-face with the officer, Odom was evasive, according to reports filed after the incident.

Another deputy knocked on the door while Odom was on the phone, but got no response, Jones said. A fugitive squad lieutenant arrived and continued the phone conversation with her, learning that she was inside.

DeKalb police arrested her.

"It is for the good of all -- for the good of society -- that these persons are weeded out of law enforcement positions," Sheriff Thomas Brown said in a statement released Thursday night.

Both Smith and Odom were taken to the DeKalb County jail.

No bond was was listed for Odom, but Smith was released late Wednesday night on $2,500 bond, according to jail records.

Tenn. Boy, 4, Caught With Beer, Stolen Gifts

Boy Wanted To Visit Dad In Jail, Mom Says

POSTED: 12:20 pm EST December 17, 2009
UPDATED: 2:55 am EST December 18, 2009

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://video.newschannel9.com/m/27954869/experts-react-to-wild-child.htm

Is Tiger headed to Arizona for rehab?

Jared Dillingham

AZ Family

December 17, 2009 at 4:44 PM

Updated yesterday at 9:46 PM

Arizona is home to one of the most well-known rehab centers in the world -- the Meadows Rehabilitation Center in Wickenburg. They treat a variety of addictions, from sex to drugs. Although Tiger has not been classified as an addict, and he has not come forward and admitted any kind of addiction, a number of therapists told 3TV he displays all the signs.

"He was a cool, calm, collected, very skillful man who seemed to have it all, and who wouldn’t want to be that?” said Robert Weiss, head of the Sexual Recovery Institute in L.A. “But unfortunately the reality of his life was so vastly different from what we were told."

Over the years the Meadows Rehabilitation Center has welcomed a number of celebrities who are drawn to the facility because of the privacy it provides.

"It probably takes a treatment center that has the resources -- financial and otherwise -- to be able to provide that kind of anonymity and privacy," Weiss explained. "You have to have enough space for someone not to come by with a camera and to distance the clients from the public."

David Duchovny, Kate Moss, Whitney Houston and Matthew Perry have reportedly gone to the Meadows Rehabilitation Center for a variety of addictions. Rumor has it Tiger could be next.

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Is-Tiger-coming-to-rehab-in-Arizona--79572067.html

Christmas around the world

When we think of Christmas, we think of eating turkey, exchanging gifts, red-and-white-clad fat men climbing down chimneys, and 25 December. But that's not the case everywhere. Here are a few arbitrarily selected examples.

4:52PM GMT 15 Dec 2009

Caganers Photo: AFP/GETTY

Caganers Photo: AFP/GETTY

AUSTRALIA

Celebrated: 25 December

Gifts? Yes

Father Christmas? Yes, but more prone to wearing sunglasses and fur-trimmed red shorts

Food: A vast roast turkey is not so appealing in 40C heat, but some still go for it. Others serve it cold. Prawns are also popular.

Notes: A summer Yuletide feels a bit back-to-front for us Northern Hemisphere chauvinists, but Christmas Day on Bondi Beach is something to behold. Otherwise, it is much like a British or American Christmas – gifts, food, family, telly, booze and arguments all make their appearances.

ETHIOPIA

Celebrated: 7 January

Gifts? No

Father Christmas? No

Food: Injera, a local sourdough pancake bread, with rich stews and meats. No turkeys.

Notes: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is closely related to the Coptic Church, and still uses the Julian calendar, rather than the Gregorian as followed in the West. Hence their Christmas – or “Ganna” - falling 13 days later. 12 days after Ganna, they celebrate Christ's birth in a three-day festival called Timkat.

AMERICA

Celebrated: 25 December

Gifts? Yes

Father Christmas? Santa Claus, technically; while the British Father Christmas is related to Pere Noel, Santa Claus comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas. They've become interchangeable over time, though.

Food: Lots of it, predictably. Ham or beef is more common than turkey, as the bird (native to the United States) is the traditional centrepiece at Thanksgiving, a month earlier, but there is a wide variety.

Notes: Turkeys, the red-and-white Santa Claus, and many of the modern “traditions” of British Christmas are directly taken from our cross-Atlantic cousins. Perhaps ironically, the pilgrims who colonised America tried to ban the celebration altogether in 17th-century Massachusetts.

BRITAIN

Celebrated: 13 June. Not really. 25 December, obviously

Gifts? Yes

Father Christmas? Yes, although (see above) we have moved away from the green-cloaked “spirit of bonhomie” that Dickens would understand, to the red-and-white gift-bringer Santa Claus.

Food: Turkey! Lots of turkey. Although before the big American bird became commonplace over here, a goose was traditional (hence the carol saying “Christmas is coming, and the goose is getting fat”). Trimmings vary from household to household, although roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts are regular features, and the author of this piece would like to make it clear that Christmas dinner without bread sauce is just a warmed-up dead bird.

Notes: Christmas trees, carol singing, the Salvation Army, eating leftovers for a week, Boxing Day football, cold damp weather, the Queen's Speech (and Channel 4's irksome alternative), that infuriating bit between Christmas and New Year where you have to go back to work for three pointless days; it's British Christmas. You know how it goes.

GERMANY

Celebrated: 25 December (although they also celebrate St Nicholas's Day on 6 December)

Gifts: Yes – in a shoe, candy for good children, twigs for bad, on St Nicholas's Day

Father Christmas? No, St Nicholas; although as with so many places, the British/American tradition has taken hold strongly through films and adverts, so the red-and-white image is common.

Food: Hearty fare, as you might expect. Christmas Eve in Germany is called “Dickbauch”, or “fat stomach”, as tradition has it that those who go to bed hungry that night are tormented by demons as they sleep, so the big meal is late that evening.

Notes: Christmas trees first arose in Germany, and go up on 23 December – not a day before. They are decorated with sweets. German Christmas markets, which go up from the end of November, are a famous tradition, selling various oddments, meats and treats.

FRANCE

Celebrated: 25 December

Gifts? Yes, although adults exchange them on New Years' Day

Father Christmas? Oui, mais en France il s'appel “Père Noël”. He visits on 6 December, bringing small gifts, and again on Christmas Eve.

Food: Reveillon, the big Christmas meal, is held late on Christmas Eve and carries on past midnight (hence the name, which roughly means“waking meal”). Goose or turkey is common, but the French being the French they also get some lobster and foie gras in there.

Notes: The Nativity is a big deal in France (although not as big as in Catalonia; see below) and every home will display a small scene somewhere.

RUSSIA

Celebrated: 7 January (the Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar)

Gifts? Yes

Father Christmas? Not exactly; the rather more stern-sounding Grandfather Frost (“Ded Moroz”) and his helper, Snegurochka, split the duties. The exact relationship between Snegurochka and Grandfather Frost is ill defined. Some say she is his granddaughter. Some say....well, never mind. St Nicholas is a famous figure too.

Food: Goose, fish and pork are all served, together with various bean and cabbage stews

Notes: During the Soviet period, Christmas was not a holiday in Russia.

ISRAEL (specifically Bethlehem)

Celebrated: Well, generally not at all – it's a Jewish country, obviously – but in Bethlehem, things are necessarily rather different, and it is marked at various times by local Christians, tourists, and pilgrims

Gifts? Yes, but not for everyone; as it is such a key location in Christian mythology, representatives of all the churches – Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Coptic and more – appear in the town. So the traditions are many and various.

Father Christmas? Yes. And Grandfather Frost, Santa Claus, and Père Noël.

Food: Well; again, yes. Different kinds.

Notes: The Church of the Nativity is naturally the centre of most celebrations, and various denominations have a procession from there through the town. Christmas decorations are hung around the town like many Western countries. Because Christmas takes place at different times for different churches, the festive period lasts for quite a while: the last church to celebrate it, the Armenian, holds it on 18 January.

CATALONIA

Celebrated: 25 December

Gifts? Yes

Father Christmas? Well; sort of... see below

Food: As elsewhere in Spain; there is nothing ubiquitous like turkey, although some do have turkey. Some sort of roast is usual, with soups and veg and so on. That's not the interesting bit though.

Notes: Catalan Christmas is notable for one thing: its scatological obsession.

Every Catalan home will likely have a Nativity scene; so far so standard European. But unusually (though not uniquely), they will all have an additional figure to the Holy Family, shepherds, donkeys etc – the Caganer. The Caganer is a small model of a man having a poo. Traditionally it was a Catalan peasant, but now may be the Prime Minister of Spain, Father Christmas, any number of celebrities – even Gordon Brown and Barack Obama have been immortalised, if that's the word, in Caganer form. It's not the only faecal part of Catalan Christmas: the Caga Tió or “s--- log” is a large stick thrown into the fire by children who entreat it to “s--- presents”.

Choir director takes students to Hooters

It was a surprise to the principal

PHOENIX — An Arizona music teacher whose students performed at a presidential inauguration event is on administrative leave after taking 40 high school students to a Hooters restaurant.

Paradise Valley school district spokeswoman Judi Willis says choir director Mary Segall accompanied the students to a performance in downtown Phoenix last week, and during the outing, they ate lunch at Hooters.

Willis says Segall explained that the restaurant, known for its waitresses' somewhat revealing attire, was the only place that could accommodate a group of that size. But district officials believe there were other options for lunch in the area.

Segall could not be reached for comment.

The teacher plans on retiring in January, and Willis says she does not know if she'll return before then.

 LINK TO VIDEO AND PHOTO:

http://www.azfamily.com/outbound-feeds/yahoo-news/Teacher-on-leave-after-taking-students-to-Hooters-79524972.html

                                               UPDATE

Teacher who took students to Hooters is put on leave

Eugene Scott

Dec 17, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A Paradise Valley High School music teacher whose students performed at one of President's Barack Obama inauguration events has been put on administrative leave after taking 40 students to eat at a Hooters in downtown Phoenix.

According to Hooters' Web site, each restaurant aims to provide diners with "a unique, entertaining dining experience . . . delivered by attractive, vivacious Hooters Girls."

Although parents knew students would be performing at Arizona Center, it is unclear whether they knew that their children would eat lunch at the restaurant.

"I know that it was a complete surprise to the principal," Willis said.

Several adults who aren't employees of the district accompanied Segall and the students on the trip. Willis said she does not know whether the adults challenged Segall's decision.

Segall, who has taught in the district for more than 23 years, was planning to retire at the end of January before the incident. She took the school choir and strings group to Washington, D.C., in January to perform at the "History in the Making: A Dream and a Change Inaugural Ball."

Willis said she does not know whether Segall will return to the district before she retires.

"I am sure that someone is covering her classes," she said.

BALCH SPRINGS — Taylor Pugh has been suspended from pre-kindergarten because he likes his hair a little on the floppy side.

The four-year-old sat with a teacher's aide in a suburban Dallas school library Wednesday while his friends played and studied together in a classroom.

"They kicked me out that place," said Taylor, who prefers the nickname Tater Tot. "I miss my friends."

Taylor's locks — long on the front and sides, covering his earlobes and shirt collar — violate the school district's dress code. He has been punished with in-school suspension since late last month.

His parents say the boy plans to eventually cut his hair and donate it to a charity that makes wigs for cancer patients. And they are not happy with the district's rules.

The school district appears "more concerned about his hair than his education," said Taylor's father, Delton Pugh. "I don't think it's right to hold a child down and force him to do something ... when it's not hurting him or affecting his education."

Pugh, a tattoo artist, said he used to shave his own head but that his son "made me pinky promise I would let my hair grow long with him."

The follicle fight came to a head last month when Taylor's parents received a signed letter from Floyd Elementary School's principal, threatening to withdraw the boy from school if his hair didn't comply with district standards.

When Taylor's parents didn't budge, their son was suspended.

When the boy returned, his hair was longer than ever. But school officials decided suspension was too harsh and changed the punishment.

"They still have regular classroom work, but in an isolated environment," Mesquite Independent School District spokesman Ian Halperin said of the modified in-school suspension that Taylor is serving. "We expect students ... to adhere to the code of conduct."

According to the district dress code, boys' hair must be kept out of the eyes and cannot extend below the bottom of earlobes or over the collar of a dress shirt. Hairstyles "designed to attract attention to the individual or to disrupt the orderly conduct of the classroom or campus (are) not permitted," the policy states.

The district is known for standing tough on its dress code. Earlier this year, a seventh-grader in the district was sent home for wearing black skinny pants. His parents chose to home-school him.

On its Web site, the district defends its code, saying "students who dress and groom themselves neatly, and in an acceptable and appropriate manner, are more likely to become constructive members of the society in which we live."

A persistent violator could face additional suspensions, but such issues are handled on a case-by-case basis, Halperin said.

Pugh said the issue is about more than hair. He said his son is being singled out, and that he has seen other male students in the district with hair much longer than Taylor's.

"Nobody wants to meet in the middle. It's all or nothing," Pugh said. "He's my son. I love him. I will back him to the end.

LINK TO PHOTO:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/6773519.html

Thursday, 12.17.09

LINK TO STORY:

Florida Supreme Court forbids shackling of most juvenile suspects in court

The justices Thursday approved a new court rule that prohibits restraints unless a judge determines they are necessary for one of three reasons: preventing physical harm to the child or other people, a defendant's history of disruptive courtroom behavior or a strong belief there's a substantial risk of flight. CARL JUSTE / MIAMI HERALD STAFF

http://www.click2houston.com/video/21979281/

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091216/SPT02/312160072/Chris+Henry+in+serious+accident

Wed Dec 16, 11:19 AM ET

Brazil toddler has 50 sewing needles inside body

SAO PAULO – A 2-year-old boy has as many as 50 metal sewing needles inside his body, apparently stuck there one by one, a doctor treating him said Wednesday. Brazilian media said the boy's ex-stepfather was detained.

Dr. Luiz Cesar Soltoski told The Associated Press that surgeons hope to remove most of the needles — some as long as 2 inches (5 centimeters)_ but those in the lungs will have to wait until the child's breathing improves.

Some needles cannot be removed as they are too close to vital organs or even inside organs, Soltoski said.

The boy's mother, a maid, took him to a hospital in the small northeastern city of Ibotirama last Thursday, saying he was complaining of pain. Three days later, after X-rays revealed many of the needles, doctors moved him to a larger hospital in the nearby city of Barreiras.

The mother told police she didn't know how the needles got inside her son, whose name was not released because of his age. But police Wednesday night detained an ex-stepfather of the boy who confessed, according to Brazil's Globo TV. It reported the man said he inserted the needles with the help of two women who were not identified.

The boy's father, Gessivaldo Alves, earlier told the newspaper A Tarde that he believed his son could have been a victim of a black magic ritual. Alves said he visited the home where the boy was living and found unspecified items that could be used for black magic, A Tarde reported.

The police inspector in charge of the case, Helder Fernandes Santana, told the Agencia Estado news agency that a black magic ritual involving the boy was among the motives that police were pursuing and that officers were casting a wide net for suspects.

"In theory, anyone who had a relationship with the boy is a suspect," Santana said. "All of our officers are focused on this case, gathering information."

Santana did not answer his cell phone Wednesday night to comment on the Globo TV report about the detention and confession of the ex-stepfather. No one answered the phone at the police station in Ibotirama.

The boy's doctor said he believed the needles were stuck into the child's body one by one.

"We think it could have only been by penetration because we found needles in the lung, the left leg and in different parts of the thorax. It couldn't have been by ingestion," Soltoski said.

Doctors found no signs of outside wounds on the boy. X-ray images carried by Brazilian Web sites clearly showed some of the needles inside his body.

The boy is in intensive care, but Soltoski said his condition has improved since he was admitted.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/21981730/detail.html

White Americans' majority to end by mid-century

HOPE YEN

Associated Press Writer

Posted: 12/16/2009 09:25:33 AM MST

     WASHINGTON—The estimated time when whites will no longer make up the majority of Americans has been pushed back eight years—to 2050—because the recession and stricter immigration policies have slowed the flow of foreigners into the U.S.

Census Bureau projections released Wednesday update last year's prediction that white children would become a minority in 2023 and the overall white population would follow in 2042. The earlier estimate did not take into account a drop in the number of people moving into the U.S. because of the economic crisis and the immigration policies imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The United States has 308 million people today; two-thirds are non-Hispanic whites.

The total population should climb to 399 million by 2050, under the new projections, with whites making up 49.9 percent of the population. Blacks will make up 12.2 percent, virtually unchanged from today. Hispanics, currently 15 percent of the population, will rise to 28 percent in 2050.

Asians are expected to increase from 4.4 percent of the population to 6 percent.

The projections are based on rates for births and deaths and a scenario in which immigration continues its more recent, slower pace of adding nearly 1 million new foreigners each year.

The point when minority children become the majority is expected to have a similar delay of roughly eight years, moving from 2023 to 2031.

The population 85 and older

is projected to more than triple by 2050, to 18.6 million.

The actual shift in demographics will be influenced by a host of factors that can't be accurately forecast—the pace of the economic recovery, cultural changes, natural or manmade disasters, as well as an overhaul of immigration law, which may be debated in Congress as early as next year.

As a result, the Census Bureau said the projections should used mostly as a guide.

The agency also released numbers showing projections based on "high" rates of immigration—more likely if more-flexible government policies and a booming U.S. economy attract large numbers of foreigners—as well as "low" immigration, a possible scenario if U.S. policies don't change much while the economy substantially improves.

—With high immigration, the minority "tipping point" is moved up to 2040, two years earlier than the previous estimate. At that time, Asians would have a much larger share, at 8 percent, since their population growth is more dependent on immigration than birth rates.

—With low immigration, the "tipping point" arrives by 2045.

Under a purely theoretical "zero immigration" scenario in which the U.S. effectively does not take in any immigrants, whites would remain the majority in 2050, making up a solid 58 percent of the U.S. population. In such a case, the share of Hispanics would increase to 21 percent because of high fertility rates and a younger population.