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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: February 24th, 2025

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  • Meanwhile, health officials said seven children were killed after an Israeli air strike targeted a water distribution site in central Gaza. The Israeli military has claimed that the strike was a result of a “technical malfunction” that had caused the missile to fall “dozens of metres from the target”.

    So in other words, they weren’t trying to hit children with the missile, they were instead trying to hit the water source, which would’ve killed those children as well as many more people. That’s much better.




  • As with most things, not categorically, but commonly. I had some cosmetic (technically reconstructive might be more accurate, but it was “elective”) surgery a couple of years ago, and I believe I paid like 85% of the bill up front. My recollection is that the remainder was due to some variables in the final cost.

    However, that’s not to say it can’t be financed even if due up front. One could certainly use any number of debt-based funding methods to acquire the money, and the surgery provider would have no means of knowing.


  • It’s entirely reasonable to both support EMTs or 911 dispatchers or firefighters, and to not support ICE. These aren’t conflicting ideas, they just happen to be multiple separate things all lumped together in order to make you think they all go together.

    Similarly, you can believe that some police actions are acceptable, and others (arguably most, or at least far too many in our current system) are not. If a guy is stabbing his ex to death across the street, then there needs to be some intervention from some form of law enforcement. That’s not really in question. Standing on a man’s neck for 9 minutes is obviously an entirely different thing. That’s also not in question by anyone reasonable.


  • IANAL.

    The judge is, mostly, correct from what I can tell. The FCRA explicitly allows the use of this information, as amended from a prior prohibition. He is correct in concluding that a blanket probition isn’t well supported within the statute’s boundaries. He is wrong in suggesting that the CFPB has no regulatory authority over the sharing medical details. The statute obviously semi-implicitly authorizes the CFPB to place some restrictions on how this information is shared, but the judge too-readily rejects these arguments. Not that the defendants made them particularly well, granted.

    But… even setting aside the partially erroneous legal finding, it’s moot. Trump’s CFPB joined the plaintiffs in this case, agreeing to roll back the provisions. That the CFPB has the right to do so isn’t in question. Or well, the defendants argued it, but it’s not a good argument. They basically said that because they don’t agree with the change, the Court shouldn’t be allowed to permit it.

    Congress needs to fix this, but obviously won’t.









  • Credit card companies (Visa, Discover, MasterCard, AMEX) make their money through transaction fees. They make their money when you spend money using the card, regardless of any debts involved.

    The banks that issue cards are a different matter. They also make some money when you use the card (some of which goes towards those credit card rewards you get, which is how they can do stuff like offer % back) but mostly they make money by letting you spend just enough money so as to be perpetually in debt. Your bank wants you to carry a balance. They want you to be paying them tens of percentage points of interest each year. The credit limit they give you isn’t the amount they want you to spend in one purchase, it’s calculated to be the maximum amount you can afford the running payments on, which will do nothing to touch the principal.

    Sure, you can discharge the debt if you go bankrupt, but consider as well that your bank has a couple of other advantages. First, they get to see all your spending. They know how you’re spending your money, where, when. They also usually get to see your other information. They know how much money comes into your balance accounts each month, they know how much your rent/mortgage costs, they know how much money is coming in from Venmo when you borrow from family to cover debts you can’t pay, how much money you spend on food delivery apps, how much of an emergency fund you keep. They know how much money you’re spending on things that you don’t have to be, which is money you could be giving them instead, if it becomes a running balance. And at 25% interest, they only need this scheme to work for 4 years before they make as much money as they’d lose if you default on your entire balance. Plus, when you do have money in the bank, they get to use that money for other things while it’s with them. If you have a $100,000 credit limit, odds are pretty good you have an account with them holding a few tens of thousands of dollars. They get to use most of that until you ask for it back.