Hot Money

Hot Money
What Does It Mean?
What Does Hot Money Mean?
Money that flows regularly between financial markets in search for the highest short term interest rates possible.
Investopedia Says
Investopedia explains Hot Money
CDs are an example of hot money. Should a borrower offer the lender a higher rate of interest than that offered by the current borrower, the current borrower stands to lose their loan.

Travis County Hospitals and Sheriff's Department have finally figured out that Forced Blood Draws are a bad idea. When will Chief Acevedo figure it ou

Travis County Hospitals and Sheriff's Department have finally figured out that Forced Blood Draws are a bad idea. When will Chief Acevedo figure it out?

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Ken Gibson

The Austin American Statesman reported in today's paper that Austin's Hospitals and the Travis County Sheriff's Department have informed the Austin Police Department (APD) that they will no longer collect blood for APD.

Travis County's central booking facility had been the place where APD took their suspected DWI folks for the forced blood draw. APD would rely on the Sheriff's nurses to do the forced blood draw. (If the person refused, they would literally strap them in a chair so that the person couldn't move their arms, and then stick them with the needle) The Sheriff's Department nurses stopped taking blood samples on January 1. The Sheriff's Department has finally realized that the nurses main function should be to treat inmates, not collect evidence. Further, they are deeply concerned about having to give nurse's overtime pay to appear in court after having been the one that draws the blood.

Since the Sheriff's Office stopped doing the blood draws, APD started taking suspects to the hospital for the blood draws. (I can't verifiy this, but I heard that the hospital was charging APD $400.00 per blood draw.) The Hospital representatives have now told APD they don't want them to bring suspects to jail for blood draws. The Hospital staff are worried about lawsuits, and are concerned because these types of blood draws are not being done for medical reasons. Further, the Hospitals are worried about who will pay for the nurse's time when they are called to court to testify about the procedure they used to draw the blood.

Chief Acevedo thinks he has figured out a way around these problems. APD contracted with a private phlebotomist to draw the blood of folks on Halloween weekend and New Years Eve. APD agreed to pay the phlebotomist for three eight hour shifts during these weekends. What APD didn't contract for was pay for this phlebotomist when she is drug into court to testify about the blood draws. I predict there will be a lot of screaming from the phlebotomist when she finally figures out that the money she received per hour will now be reduced by the number hours she has to sit in court.

In the Statesman article, an "expert in blood draws" states that "the state laws are clear that nurses and hospitals are protected from such suits. What the "expert" appears to be referencing is Section 724.017 of the Texas Transportation Code. The relevant section, section (b), states:

The person who takes the blood specimen under this chapter, or the hospital where the blood specimen is taken, is not liable for damages arising from the request or order of the peace officer to take the blood specimen as provided by this chapter if the blood specimen was taken according to recognized medical procedures.

However, this "expert" left out the final sentence to section (b):

This subsection does not relieve a person from liability for negligence in the taking of a blood specimen.

Now, what the "expert" seems to be forgetting is that it will ultimately be up to a fact finder (Judge or Jury) to determine if negligence took place.

Also, I bet no one informed the phlebotomists that they could be held liable for the blood draws either.

APD is treading on thin ice on this issue, and the sad part is, they either don't even realize it, or they just don't care.

Law School Loans.

Law School Loans.

Law School Loans is dedicated to assisting law students and attorneys with financing their law school expenses and managing their education loans.
We specialize in education lending, and we are dedicated to ensuring your loans are handled professionally, while offering you money-saving benefits.


If you graduated in 2006, or if you will be graduating within the next few months, we would like to congratulate you for obtaining your law school degree.
We would also like to provide you with some very important information regarding federal student loan consolidation. You must consolidate during your grace period to avoid an interest rate increase of 0.60%. If you wait until your grace period ends, your interest rate will automatically be 0.60% higher.
When you consolidate during your grace period, you will have no payments due until your grace period is over.
You have nothing to lose. There really is no reason to pay a higher rate on your federal student loans!

With student loan consolidation, you can lock in a low, fixed interest rate for the life of your loan-- without worrying about fees, credit checks, income verifications, or prepayment penalties. This will help you reduce your monthly payments by as much as 50 percent and save you thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.

Student-Loan Consolidation Choices Shrink

Student-Loan Consolidation Choices Shrink

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Kari Schoeneweis will face more than $60,000 in
student loan debt when she graduates from Carlow University in spring.

She plans to do what her older siblings did and consolidate her loans to reduce the monthly payments.

"I'm terrified of the loans I'm going to have to pay off,'' she said.
"I don't know how I'm going to do it; I guess I'll get through it
somehow.''

Schoeneweis, 22, is among many students who were unaware that
consolidation options are more limited now than they were for students
who graduated a few years ago. Many lenders suspended consolidations
because of consumers' credit problems, leaving mainly the U.S.
Department of Education a the nation's loan consolidator.

"It is surprising, but then again it's not, considering all the stuff that's happening with the economy,'' Schoeneweis said.

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, or PHEAA,
suspended its consolidation program in February. Sallie Mae, Nelnet and
Next Student - among the top 10 consolidators in 2007 - followed suit.
Of the top 100 consolidators, 68 have suspended consolidations, said
Mark Kantrowitz of Cranberry, publisher of FinAid, an online resource
about financial aid.

"(Consolidation suspensions) accelerated after Oct. 1, 2007, when the
federal government cut lender subsidies on all federal loans,''
Kantrowitz said. "At current interest rates they are underwater from
the start.''

As a result, the Department of Education's consolidation applications are up 50 percent from last year, a spokeswoman said.

Consolidation was a popular option for many years because federal loans
previously carried variable rates, which hit 40-year lows in 2002. Some
students used consolidation to lock in interest rates as low as 2.8
percent.

In July 2006 federal loans began to carry a fixed 6.8 percent interest
rate and there are fewer benefits to consolidating. It's more expensive
for lenders, said Martha Holler, a spokeswoman for Sallie Mae.

"It's just not economical to make these loans,'' she said. "The current
credit crisis; the turbulence in the capital markets would have to
settle down.''

Eric Donato, 21, a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, will face
$80,000 in debt when he graduates. He has considered consolidating his
loans, like his older sister did when she graduated college, but was
unaware that other options exist.

He was surprised to learn he'll probably have to consolidate through the Department of Education.

"I don't know too much about it, but it seems like it would make it easier,'' he said.

He's preparing to live a lean lifestyle after graduation.

How to Donate Cord Blood

A priceless donation that costs nothing

With a little bit of planning, you could change someone’s life: you could donate your baby’s umbilical cord blood to a public bank at no cost to you. Umbilical cord blood is rich with blood-forming cells*, cells that are no longer needed by your baby after delivery. But these cells may be needed by someone else — someone with a life-threatening disease like leukemia or lymphoma who needs a transplant to survive.

* The cells in cord blood are not embryonic stem cells.

How to donate cord blood to a public bank

Thank you for considering a donation of cord blood. The lifeline your baby needs now could one day serve as a lifeline for someone else. By following the steps below, you could donate to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Network of public cord blood banks, which is helping patients in need every day.

Before your 34th week of pregnancy

1. Talk with your doctor or midwife about your decision to donate umbilical cord blood.
2. Determine if your hospital collects donations of cord blood — Where to Donate.
3. If your hospital is listed, contact the public cord blood bank that works with your hospital. The cord blood bank will confirm if you are eligible to donate and give you a consent form and health questionnaire to complete. If your hospital is not listed, see the Cord Blood FAQs for other ways you may be able to donate cord blood.
4. Consent for your cord blood donation to be used as part of the NMDP research study. (We are conducting a research study on cord blood transplantation and patient outcomes to help improve transplant results for patients. Every cord blood unit on the NMDP's Be The Match Registry ^SM is included in our research study.)

While you are in the hospital

1. When you arrive, tell the labor and delivery team you are donating umbilical cord blood.
2. While you are giving birth, you and your baby are the focus of everyone’s attention.
3. After your baby is delivered:
   • The umbilical cord is clamped.
   • Blood from the umbilical cord and placenta is collected into a sterile bag, given an identification number and stored temporarily. This collected blood is called a cord blood unit.
4. A sample of your blood (not your baby’s) is tested for infectious diseases.
5. Within one or two days after your baby’s birth, the cord blood unit is delivered to the public cord blood bank.

What happens at the cord blood bank?

After the cord blood unit arrives at the cord blood bank, it is:

1. Tested to make sure it has no signs of infection or other medical concerns.
2. Checked to be sure is large enough (has enough blood-forming cells) to be used for a transplant. If there are too few cells, the cord blood may be used for research to improve transplants for future patients, or it may be discarded.
3. Tissue typed and listed on the Be The Match Registry. To protect your family’s privacy, the cord blood is identified by a number, never by name.
4. Frozen in a liquid nitrogen freezer and stored.

Once it is stored, it is available for a transplant if a patient needs it. Doctors search among the donated cord blood units and the bone marrow donors on the Be The Match Registry to find a match when their patient needs a transplant.

DUI Lawyer Torrance

DUI Lawyer Torrance

The Producer Project on December 27th, 2008

Being charged with a DUI in Torrance is a frightening experience. You need to know your rights under the California law and act to protect them immediately- before memories fade, DUI evidence is lost, or witnesses disappear. Do not wait to get assistance. The longer your DUI defense attorney has before trial, the stronger your defense can be. That includes having a criminal DUI lawyer that is experienced and dedicated to seeking justice for people who are charged with a crime. Whether you’ve been accused of driving drunk (DUI, DWI), assault, battery, theft, burglary, rape, sexual assault, or any sort of drug crime (possession, intent to distribute, or intent to manufacture of heroin, crystal meth (methamphetamine), cocaine, marijuana, or other controlled substances), or any kind of felony or misdemeanor, you need your criminal defense lawyer at your side.

Why hire a criminal defense lawyer for a DUI?
Is there a warrant out for your arrest? Is it an arrest warrant or a bench warrant? Can you get out of jail on bond? How do you get a bail bond? How much does bond have to be? Do you want a jury trial? Should you negotiate a plea bargain? What about your past criminal record? What if you weren’t alone? Does it matter if you are facing criminal charges in state or federal court? How much does a criminal defense lawyer cost? Will you lose your driver’s license (or child or car or gun)? An experienced criminal defense attorney can answer all these questions for you, and help you decide what is best for your case.

Choosing The Best DUI Lawyer For Your Case
Anyone facing an allegation that they have violated California state or federal DUI law needs a strong and knowledgeable DUI defense attorney they can respect and trust. Money, jailtime, and even someone’s life may be on the line and a DUI lawyer has to be trusted to fight hard for his client’s best interests.

The best lawyers you can find have dedicated their lives to helping people who are facing DUI authorities in arrests, allegations, investigations, trials, or appeals.

Before deciding on the right criminal defense lawyer for your case, you should talk with the attorney and get a feel for how you will work together. There’s no bond like that between a DUI defense lawyer and his client, and deciding who to hire as your criminal defense attorney may be the most important decision of your life.