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ChojinDSL
l33t
Joined: 07 Jul 2003
Posts: 783
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 Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:44 pm Post subject: Iraq Veterans targeted by Loan Sharks (German Article) |
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http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,333112,00.html
If you can find a relevant english article, please post.
Basically its about how Young Iraq veterans in the US are being targeted by dubious loan sharks that lull them into a loan with ridiculous terms.
I find that digusting. |
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pjp
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Joined: 16 Apr 2002
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Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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Yep. Since it isn't possible to force decency, people need to be aware of what they get themselves into. Nobody 18 years of age or older should allow themselves to fall victim to stuff like that.
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Leafo
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Joined: 29 Jun 2004
Posts: 68
Location: Denmark
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | Yep. Since it isn't possible to force decency, people need to be aware of what they get themselves into. |
Which is also why libertarianism fails. You cannot expect people to be decent, generally fair and give all relevant info at their own discretion and loss.
The article mentions a yearly interest of some 780% on late payments.
If others will help me, we could translate the gist of it.
Let's do some group work here.
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pjp
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Leafo wrote: | | Which is also why libertarianism fails. |
No system is perfect. Libertarianism just happens to be better than others. There are such things as checks and balances.
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lolgov. 'cause where we're going, you don't have civil liberties.
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hellbringer
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 82
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | | Leafo wrote: | | Which is also why libertarianism fails. |
No system is perfect. Libertarianism just happens to be better than others. There are such things as checks and balances. |
And anarchism much better than liberariasnism 
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pjp
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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| hellbringer wrote: | | And anarchism much better than liberariasnism |
Certainly the most accurate person would prosper.
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lolgov. 'cause where we're going, you don't have civil liberties.
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Slyde
Guru
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 314
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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| If you are <insert witty adjective here> enough to ask a "Get Cash Here!" store for a loan, you certainly are digging your own grave. It does not take one to decipher that you shouldn't accept money or give money to an everday joe. |
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Kai Hvatum
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 04 Feb 2004
Posts: 93
Location: Traveling around the US
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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Here's the first half, maybe someone else can get the second half. If not then I'll translate it later probably.
| Quote: | The Loan Sharks in the United States have found a new victim: Young Soldiers and freshly returned veterans from Iraq. With contracts bordering on extortion these companies push already poorly paid soldiers into ruin. The soldiers officers, instead of helping these debt ridden soldiers, are often the very ones who push them towards getting a loan.
New York This is not how Jason Withrow imagined his service for the Nation. As sailor in the Marines he earns just $1,600 a month. To help pay his bills and help his family he started working in a warehouse. After injuring his back in an auto accident he was sadly put out of service though. Withrow was then forced to take out a small credit to pay his bills. Thats when the nightmare really started.
In the Kings Bay Periscope, the local newspaper of the Submarine station in Kings Bay Georgia, Withrow noticed an add for a credit firm. A small company, located right next to his barracks offered a specialized Soldier Credit of 300 Dollars. In return Withrow would need to pay 390 Dollars back during his next shore leave.
It was a legal nightmare though. When Withrow barely missed the payback date an enormous yearly interest rate of 780% was immediately charged. No one told me about that, he said. Withrow was forced to take more and more loans just to pay the old ones off. At the end he had seven small loans and over 7000 dollars of debt, 2333 percent of his original loan. My marriage began to fall apart. I didnt even know what I should give my son for Christmas.
Soldiers as Attractive Targets
More and more soldiers are falling into the same trap as Withrow; young veterans returning from Iraq are hardest hit. The thiefs, loan sharks, and swindlers are turning the war into a feeding a frenzy. They use the raised deployment and legal holes to exploit the underplayed and overworked GIs. Such methods, although not new, have become more and more present during the Iraq war. Not for a long time have so many soldiers left for the front, leaving their families home without money.
In the area around the Navy base in Norfolk Virginia the largest of the world there are over 200 quick pay credit firms. The newest estimates from the New York Times predict every fourth military family to be in serious debt. It just gets worse and worse, much much worse, said Liz Kosse, the regional director of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief society, a help society for debt ridden soldiers.
The soldiers present themselves to the swindler agents, said John Cohoon, the commander of Kings Bay. He imagines most of the soldiers who fall into the trap to be young and trusting, just terrible with money. A report by the Consumers Union, a credit givers union, reached the same conclusion. They described these young soldiers as being perfect targets for payday companies. Many of these payday loan companies have quasi military names such as Armed Forces Loans, Military Finacial and often employ military veterans because they are even better at convincing these impressionable soldiers to take out a loan.
Ruined by Credit
If the debtors dont pay then their officers will often help the credit agencies to get their money. Whoever falls into debt is made by US military law punishable. Soldiers who dont pay their debts risk a military tribunal, said Commander Cohoon. Possible punishments are: Imprisonment, A forced leave, and discharge from the armed forces. These people, said Andy Leech from the Relief Society, are stuck in a financial catch-22.
There is no choice, complains Cristie Worrow, a 29 year old Marine from Jacksonville. Warrow took out a 500 dollar loan, after interest and charges she ended up paying almost 2400. Only after a court trial was she able to get out of debt: Other people would have killed themselves over something like this. |
These are indeed some evil companies, this should be stopped. Just the fact that so many popped up shows that this isn't a fair enterprise, it's simple exploitation of our underpayed military.
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BennyP
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Joined: 09 May 2003
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Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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i wonder whos getting the big money off these boys n girls
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