Bank of America offering more checking account options

B of A has unveiled a pilot program for consumers with checking accounts. The bank is offering more types of checking accounts, giving customers greater control over the structure of the account they hold at the bank. The bank is offering new consumers in select areas choices between checking accounts with various structures of bank fees. Bank fees have been on the rise with large national banks for instance Bank of America.

Customers can pick banking fees with new program

A new pilot program by Bank of America allows customers to select from several different checking account plans; this allows greater choice regarding which account fees they prefer to potentially face, in accordance with ABC. New checking account programs have been started by Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and others because of the huge amount of criticism for fees that large banks have been given. The new Bank of America bank account programs are being offered in Georgia, Arizona and Massachusetts.

Fees depend on account

Bank of America is offering five checking account choices, and fees range from $6 to $25 per month. The account types include:

• Essentials: Get a checking account with a debit care. The monthly account fee is $8.95, however the fee is waived if a consumer receives monthly direct deposits or maintains a minimum account balance of $1,500.
• e-Banking: This is simple checking also. However, consumers can waive most fees altogether by banking entirely online or through an ATM and electing to receive electronic statements instead of paper. You will find nevertheless fees. These include non-sufficient funds, ATM and overdraft fees.

Account choices with greater amenities are geared toward wealthier account holders.

• Enhanced: As long as a customer has either $2,000 in one account or $5,000 with connected accounts, then all account fees are waived. 2 connected checking and 2 savings or money sector accounts are offered with the Enhanced account. Enhanced account holders may also have fees waived with monthly use of connected credit cards.
• Premium: Getting fees waived works with this one also. All you’ve to do is have $20,000 in Merill Lynch investment accounts, a mortgage with Bank of America or in connected accounts. You will find free services that this account offers. This includes free money orders and cashier's checks.
• Platinum Privileges: Consumers must have a minimum account balance of $50,000 to be able to be eligible for these perks: One of these is just personalized consumer service, which several love. Others include money sector accounts, a Privileges charge card and mortgages with special rates.

Rising bank fees

Banks have been required to stop deceptive fees. This has caused fees to skyrocket in all banks. You will find many things being done by the large banks, for instance Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase, to make up for what they lost with the Dodd-Frank Act. This Act stopped practices for instance signing consumers up for costly programs without notification.

Citations

ABC News

abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12550430&page=1

Charge card delinquencies and debts fall in 2010

Fewer charge card delinquencies are being reported, and the level of charge card debt is declining as well. Credit bureau TransUnion is reporting that not only are people paying their cards off, they’re also applying for more as newly issued cards increased. It is a good sign. Individuals are paying off their cards even after a holiday purchasing spree.

Consumers get out of debt in 2010

During the last three months of 2010, the number of delinquencies for credit cards declined considerably, according to ABC. The rate of delinquency in the last three months of 2010 was at 0.82 percent which compares to the 1.21 percent that the last three months of 2009 showed. This was documented by TransUnion. A delinquency rate of .83 percent was documented for the 3rd quarter of 2010. Generally during the holidays the number of delinquencies goes up drastically; however, it seems that this year more people preferred to stay out of debt than to purchase a lot of presents.

Balances never stay the same

The charge card national average balance has changed also. It went down a bit. There was a drop of 8.6 percent from the third quarter of 2009 to the 3rd quarter of 2010 in the balance for all major charge card businesses. Including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, the average balance combined was at $4,965 in the last three quarters of 2010. In 33 states, the balance went up actually. There were highest account balances in three places. These were Washington D.C., Iowa and Mississippi.

More and more cards

There have been a lot of complaints from charge card companies the CARD Act makes it extremely hard for them to do business. Still, there have been more new charge cards than ever. There was a 19.1 percent increase in the last quarter of 2010 in the number of new charge cards given out. Since 2007, there has not been a time where the number of charge cards issued went up for two consecutive quarters. It just happened though which is a good sign.

Information from

ABC News

abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12968324&page=1

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022306978.html

All Providence educators get pink slips after spending budget ordeal

At the conclusion of the current winter public school quarter, every one of the 1,926 educators in Providence, R.I., schools can be dismissed, states the Providence Journal. This would go a long way toward addressing the $ 40 million deficit for the district, but creates obvious staffing issues. The budget deadline for Providence schools is March 1.

Providence schools fired several before

Last year, Central Falls High School in the Providence area dismissed 88 teachers because students were not meeting standardized test score requirements. The scale of the Providence School Board's move is unknown currently. Superintendent of Providence Schools Tom Brady said the move is "precautionary action" because of the $40 million shortfall the 2011-2012 spending budgets are showing.

"Since the full extent of the potential cuts to the school budget have yet to be determined, issuing a dismissal letter to all teachers was necessary to give the mayor, the School Board and the district maximum flexibility to consider every cost savings option, including reductions in staff," said Brady.

Teachers unions not all happy

The belief that the Providence School Board’s blanket action might not actually dismiss all Providence educators offered little consolation to teachers’ union leadership.

"This is beyond insane," said Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith. "Let's create the most chaos and the highest level of anxiety in a district where teachers are already under unbelievable stress. Now I know how the United States State Department felt on Dec. 7 , 1941," the day of the Pearl Harbor bombings.

Mayor Angel Taveras of Providence explained that decision was made that Providence educators would be fired based on the city finances and the March 1 deadline. It was a move that provided the school board and Providence city government with "maximum versatility," however minimum public sentiment.

Much worst student-teacher proportion

If the school district is committed to educating students, no matter what the budget problem is, Smith suggests it does not make any sense to fire Providence public school educators.

"You have so many students," he said. "You need so many teachers. You have a student-teacher ratio of 26 to 1. Do the math."

Citations

CNN

articles.cnn.com/2010-02-24/us/rhode.island.teachers_1_teachers-union-troubled-school-reading-specialists?_s=PM:US

Providence Journal

projo.com/news/content/providence_teacher_layoffs_02-23-11_MCML6R3_v17.1a1cc6d.html

‘Exciting times in Rhode Island public education’

youtube.com/watch?v=wOCJ2Jnu4KY

Plastic heart beats for 3 days and nights, kicks off trend

You will find millions of products in the vaults of museums that a lot of people don’t see. The Smithsonian institution has many of those. On Monday, honoring Valentine's Day, the Smithsonian introduced a picture of the first plastic heart. That first artificial heart beat for three full days and nights. This kind of medical engineering undoubtedly took a huge personel loan to create.

Background of the plastic heart that beat for 3 days and nights

In 1969, the first ever plastic heart was implanted in a human being. Dr. Domingo Liotta evolved the plastic heart although Dr. Denton A. Cooley implanted it. Dr. Cooley commandeered the plastic heart from Dr. Liotta’s lab and implanted it without authorization. The patient’s plastic heart beat for 3 days and nights before a human transplant heart was found. Despite the human heart, the patient died, however the plastic heart began a plastic heart trend. The plastic heart itself is in the Smithsonian Institution, which introduced a photo of it to commemorate St. Valentine’s Day.

Development of plastic heart transplants

Though the first “plastic” heart was implanted in 1969, it was not until 2004 the FDA approved a plastic heart implant. The Jarvick-7 was the first viable plastic heart transplant that beat for a long period of time, and it was evolved in 1982. A human heart is nevertheless used for permanent transplant although a plastic heart could be used as a temporary replacement after being approved in 2004. In 2006, the FDA approved a permanent plastic heart transplant, the AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart. A 13-pound system in a backpack is needed in order to keep a plastic heart going. Every year, it’s maintained on $18,000.

Likelihood of success with a self-contained heart

The dream of a plastic heart that started in 1969 has nevertheless not come to full fruition. Maintenance and heavy equipment are required for a plastic heart to be used even though it can keep an individual alive and is accessible. It may be a long time before the self-contained heart is really available even though researchers are working on it considering there was 30 years between the first plastic heart beating for 3 days and nights and the 13 pound backpack supported heart.

Articles cited

News Desk

newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/liotta-cooley-artificial-heart

New York Times

nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27docs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=denton%20cooley&st=cse

American Heart Association

americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4444

How you can pick the right wine for optimum tasting supper

The best bottle of wine is tough to find. It can be a hard decision. When organizing a social dinner function, having the "right" wine bottle is essential. Not only does a personal preference play a role in wine selection, the food itself should be considered. You may want to try wine coupling. This is when the flavor profile of the meals is accented by the flavor profile that the wine has. One strategy is to select a wine that has similar qualities as the meals, so they "go well" together. Contradicting profiles is an additional option. This makes it so the food is balanced out by the wine. Pairing wine with food isn’t an exact science, however, there are some things that should be looked at when choosing a wine bottle.

When pairing, do you select red or white?

As a general rule, white wines tend to pair better with lighter food, while red wines are typically matched with heavier, entrée type courses. For instance, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Chardonnay would be good choices for pairing with salads and lighter entrees for instance seafood. There are several heavy red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot and Zinfandel. In case you are having a BBQ, veal, lamb or beef, these might be better choices.

All in the details

Within these basic "rules" you will find other considerations that ought to be made for instance the spices used in food preparation. A Zinfandel or Chianti would be something you may try with a red marinara sauce on pasta. However, pasta with a white sauce, for instance parmesan or alfredo, would be something you would want to serve a Chardonnay or Merlot with. When making chicken marsala, a Pinot Noir or Merlot would be good choices. However, a lemon chicken might be something to pair with Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio instead.

Dinner and dessert

Dessert may be an additional thing to consider when choosing wine. Ice wine and late harvest Riesling pair well with fruit and citrus based desserts. Cabernet Sauvignon is a good choice with chocolate desserts that are darker without red meat. When serving chocolate, you may want to try Port wines or champagne.

Wine pairing is an exhilarating way to make meals more interesting. The thing to consider is that there is no right or wrong mixture. Making up different combinations of flavor profiles is part of the fine with it. Any meal can be enhanced with a nice glass of wine, and of course, wine is best loved with friends and family. What exactly are you waiting for? Get ready to drink!

Congressman Lee quits amid Craigslist scandal

Congressman Christopher Lee has resigned from Congress after emails and photos were discovered that he delivered to a female he met through Craigslist. Christopher Lee was entering his second term in the House of Representatives, and is Republican from New York. Rather than become a focal point of a scandal for weeks or months, Lee resigned and cut the incident off at the knees. Source of article – Congressman Christopher Lee resigns amid Craigslist scandal by MoneyBlogNewz.

Personal ad response by ‘Craigslist congressman’ causes problems

Craigslist was where the events began that eventually led Lee to step down from the New York House of Representatives. The Washington Post reports that Gawker.com had photos leaked onto it. A personal ad was posted by a female, remaining unnamed, living in MD. Christopher Lee responded to it. The woman asked as part of the ad, “will someone prove to me not all CL men look like toads?” In his second term in the House of Representatives, Christopher Lee wrote back to her. He said he as younger than 46, which is his real age, and that he was a lobbyist on Capitol Hill. The two bantered back and forth, however the ruse was discovered once he sent her photos of himself.

Gawker leaks pictures

Christopher Lee sent the woman photos of himself without a shirt on. He said it was "all I had" after she asked if he sent photographs of himself topless typically. She asked Christopher Lee if he was married, which he replied he was divorced, when they were having conversations. Christopher Lee has a son and a wife. She looked on the internet for his name after recognizing the picture just to discover out he was a married congressman from the 26th district of NY and was older than 40. Gawker.com got the e-mails and pictures from her after that. It did not take long to make the news.

Resignation by Gawker force

The photos were published on Gawker.com Wed, February 9. The news spread like wildfire. Lee wrote a letter to John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, notifying him that he was resigning within hrs of the news breaking, in accordance with NPR. A clerk read the letter aloud on the floor later in the day. A special election could have to be called by Andrew Cuomo, governor of NY, to replace him.

Information from

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/09/AR2011020906977.html?nav=hcmoduletmv&sid=ST2011020907393

NPR

npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/02/10/133648332/rep-christopher-lee-resigns-from-congress-after-non-sex-scandal

Gawker

gawker.com/#!5755071/married-gop-congressman-sent-sexy-pictures-to-craigslist-babe

JPMorgan Chase in trouble for treatment of servicemember loans

Chase is a lot of questions about how it handles military finances. There were very suspect conditions around certain foreclosures on active military servicemembers’ homes. Chase is re-thinking (for a second time) the way they manage student education loans for active servicemembers on deployment. Many of these service members were applying for payday loans just to stay above water.

Exploration by two groups of JPMorgan Chase's treatments of active service members

JPMorgan Chase is a mega-finance bank that provides financial services such as student education loans, home loans, checking, savings and lines of credit. The way Chase has handled military loans as well as all other finances of active-duty service members is being investigated by congressional committees and federal prosecutors. Accusations state that Chase is charging too much for the active duty service members. This is why the investigation is happening.

Obtaining a student loan as a service member

Active-duty servicemembers who have their student education loans through Chase received surprising news over the last few weeks. The loans were going to be due soon, even though they were deferred. While military members were on duty, JPMorgan Chase would defer student education loans. This short term installment loan policy was reversed in late January 2011. Some servicemembers were informed that they would owe over $400 per month additional, starting in just weeks. There were threats of congressional inquiries that came while service members complained of needing pay-day loans to cover the cost. The policy was then reversed again by Chase.

Congressional inquiry into Chase home loans

Just a few weeks ago, an ABC News investigation that got congressional inquiries going started with Chase. Homes in Irving, TX and Reno, NV were wrongly foreclosed on for service members while also overcharging occurred, which Chase admitted to. The Service Member Civil Relief Act is one that was broken with this and with the education loan policy. Because of the act, what service members are held responsible for while on active duty is limited. This is for legal and financial actions specifically.

Information from

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/41415796/ns/business-personal_finance/