StreetScooby

Any links to these? Not finding anything searching. We are all engines of karma

Thanks!

Many other reasonable people have the same view, myself included. Granted not every one here thinks I'm reasonable, but I do subscribe to this view. We are all engines of karma

Agreed. It took me years to reach that point with this source, though. FYI. We are all engines of karma

That's the song that really caught my attention. Didn't realize it was that old (...10 years ago I was too busy listening to Social Distortion

I vividly remember the undefeated Dolphin's team. They had been my favorite team for several years before then. Several class acts from that team, including Earl. We are all engines of karma

So, you're questioning the ABA's and the author's creditability. That's fair. Not sure how to help you get through that one. Good link, thanks for posting it. Even by their own admittance, Justice is trying to scare folks into accepting fines for things that are just now being deemed "bad", as Justice sees it today. These companies really have no economical recourse, and those that settle are being used as "templates" for further steps by Justice. This isn't what the rule of law should look like, IMO. NY State justice, which has hopped on the band wagon, is simply putting on shakedowns, left and right. It is blatant, and there is no other way to look at it. From Donald Trump's "college" to banks that bought "bad mortgage companies", they are showing no limits, and nothing remotely reasonable. It has become an indiscriminate abuse of prosecutor power. It's interesting how Justice's focus has seemed to significantly expand over the initial one on payday lenders. I'm sure there is more to come on this, and it will be interesting to see how Justice explains their expansion to the 22 "business types" listed in the opinion article. Full disclosure - I take WSJ opinions as written. I no longer try and verify them through external means. We are all engines of karma

A friend pointed her out to me recently. Listening to this album as I'm cleaning up my office - Come Away With Me. My goodness, her voice blows me away... We are all engines of karma

Agreed. Agreed. We are all engines of karma

Of course it does, but some of us choose to look at luck as something that comes to those who are prepared. What does any of your examples have to do with how well you do in your life? Or your family's life? Or someone else? Throwing up your hands and saying "Oh, they hit the lottery" is just another specious liberal thought process, IMO. It leads to nothing but greed, resentment, and laziness. We are all engines of karma

Yeah, quade, luck has everything to do with life, everything... Feel better? We are all engines of karma

You and I both know this isn't close to the truth, and is the antithesis of what this country is about. We are all engines of karma

Agreed re: civil forfeiture. I recall reading about a long running scam by the Louisiana State Police in Hammond, LA(IIRC) where they would have dogs sniff over money. Of course, there was always a hit detected for cocaine. The folks could go on there way, as long as they left the money... On another note, you're not hearing a lot of this in the news, but Republican Attorney AGs are winning many cases taken to Federal Courts against the administration. It's striking, IMO. We are all engines of karma

From yesterday's WSJ, full article is listed below. This administration is out of control. =========================================== Full article: Justice Puts Banks in a Choke Hold A new probe goes after the lenders that help law enforcement fight fraud. By Frank Keating April 24, 2014 7:21 p.m. ET When you become a banker, no one issues you a badge, nor are you fitted for a judicial robe. So why is the Justice Department telling bankers to behave like policemen and judges? Justice's new probe, known as "Operation Choke Point," is asking banks to identify customers who may be breaking the law or simply doing something government officials don't like. Banks must then "choke off" those customers' access to financial services, shutting down their accounts. Justice launched the effort in early 2013 as a policy initiative of the president's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which includes the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulatory agencies. Though details are scant—much of the investigation has been conducted in secret—the probe aims to crack down on fraud in the payments system by focusing on banks that service online payday lenders and other services deemed suspicious by the government. Justice's premise is simple: Fraudsters can't operate without access to banking services, and so the agency is going after the infrastructure that questionable merchants use rather than the merchants themselves. Most of these merchants are legally licensed businesses on a government list of "risky profiles." These include payday outfits and other short-term lenders. Unfortunately, the strategy is legally dubious. Justice is pressuring banks to shut down accounts without pressing charges against a merchant or even establishing that the merchant broke the law. It's clear enough that there's fraud to shut down the account, Justice asserts, but apparently not clear enough for the highest law-enforcement agency in the land to prosecute. Banks, which need a reliable and safe payments network to survive, have always worked with law enforcement to fight fraud and even terrorism in the financial system. Banks provide tips to law enforcement when a customer's behavior seems fishy, and they assist in investigations when asked. In the past year alone, banks have filed nearly a million suspicious activity reports with regulators, including suspicions of mortgage fraud, identity theft, counterfeit debit and credit cards, tax evasion and wire-transfer fraud. But law-enforcement agencies and courts, not banks, are responsible for determining criminal violations. The 1970 Bank Secrecy Act spells out the proper partnership for banks and law-enforcement agencies. The law established record keeping and reporting requirements for banks so that law-enforcement agencies would have the evidence needed to prosecute criminals effectively. That is the division of labor and responsibility envisioned by Congress: drawing upon each other's strengths to fight crime. Justice is now blurring these boundaries and punishing the banks that help them fight crime. If a bank doesn't shut down a questionable account when directed to do so, Justice slaps the institution with a penalty for wrongdoing that may or may not have happened. The government is compelling banks to deny service to unpopular but perfectly legal industries by threatening penalties. This puts them in a difficult business position. Bank regulators—particularly the FDIC—have joined in the action, warning banks away from serving more than 22 categories of businesses, including "Get Rich Products," "Ammunition Sales," "Pharmaceutical Sales," "Home Based Charities," and even "As Seen on TV" businesses. Some of these businesses may indeed be risky. But that doesn't justify pre-emptively declaring them all criminals and freezing their access to the payments system. Operation Choke Point's goal to fight financial fraud is admirable. But forcing banks to make judgments about criminal behavior and then holding them accountable for the possible wrongdoing of others is not a legal or effective way to do so. Banks contribute significantly to the law-enforcement mission and remain committed to helping agencies detect terrorist financing, money laundering and fraud. Justice shouldn't turn that commitment against them. Mr. Keating is president and CEO of the American Bankers Association. He also is a former FBI agent, U.S. attorney and associate attorney general of the United States. We are all engines of karma

Oh my goodness, LOL!!! Need to clean up the coffee that's now all over my desk. ROFLMAO!!! We are all engines of karma

Holy smokes! I knew these guys don't wear G-suits. Now I really understand why. Can't risk an expanding leg suit to push the flight stick. Simply wow! We are all engines of karma

No, the word your looking for is HUGE amount of perseverance. Big difference. It also implies you don't quit, and learn from your mistakes. Liberal think-speak at its best. Could not disagree with you more. So, tax people who "hit the lottery" and give it to those who don't want to work hard. What kind of society does that get you? Utter nonsense... So, the "man" has got you, huh? Don't even bother trying? Just live with the "luck" you've got, vote Democratic, and get handouts from the government. Is that what you're saying? We are all engines of karma

Good point, +1 We are all engines of karma

Congrats! We are all engines of karma

That's the next article in this series... (seriously...) We are all engines of karma

In public? We are all engines of karma

I live in Westchester County, NY. You must take a 6 month course to own a hand gun here (target license, ...forget about carry here). It takes you at least 6 months just to get into the course... And, then, the LOHUD Journal news gets to publish your home address. Oh, and then there is the Castle Doctrine... If you can escape your house (with your family), you must do so. If you kill the intruder, you are subject to not only civil suits, but also, country prosecutors coming at you. Minimum $50K, assuming you survive the encounter. We are all engines of karma

If it's not on video, it didn't happen. That's my understanding... We are all engines of karma

Did you understand it? We are all engines of karma

LOL!!! We are all engines of karma