@ai6yr@jsrailton In as much as banks will automatically set their overdraft fees at that cap...this probably isn't 'technically' incorrect, but even with a cap it is still one of the most expensive ways to borrow and yes, it is predatory and the article is completely tone-deaf.
When this happened in the UK, banks like HSBC doubled the interest rate on overdrafts, as they were around 15-20% but the cap was 40%.
@JaniceSelbie Though I’m now an atheist, I was raised in a Jewish home and have found Judaism to be much more matriarchal than patriarchal. The more conservative sects differ, I suppose, but fundamentalists are much more problematic in any religion or hierarchy. I would suggest that you consider several aspects that seem to be in opposition to your premise, such as the way the religion is passed through to the child by the mother, not the father and the fact that a woman can divorce a husband if he refuses her sex.
@JaniceSelbie I’m surely no expert and can only relate my own lived experience. My religious education at a primary grade was through a Conservative temple (not Orthodox) and as a teenager through a Reform congregation. My last temple had a woman rabbi, but my educators used the OT and the Talmud, which is the commentary on the OT stories that try to find meaning in the stories so that they stay contemporary to the world. When religion provides questions as well as answers, it gives followers a basis for reflecting on life and taken together I don’t think my education in Judaism was problematic but then I’m sure my perspective is very narrow with regards to misogyny and patriarchy and ymmv, but mostly I think it’s when religion invests power in the leaders as go betweens for the man in the sky is where the dangers lay.
I hate to ask, but I need some #legal help from an #attorney and I cannot afford one. My wife has been served with papers for a lawsuit by a #predatory#collectionagency. We have about 20 days left to respond. They are suing for $800 and legal fees in South Carolina. I need help responding and trying to minimize the damage to our finances. We already can't afford food and medication most of the month. Any help would be appreciated.
I’ve been getting email from them and my apartment complex. Flex is a new #payment options where they take your #rent and divide it over two to four payments. But of course flex has it own #fee.
So essentially Flex pays your rent with a fee and you pay flex back. Sounds good right.
But I did some digging because they are pushing this so hard.
Come to find out, Flex is horrible. It doesn’t tell you how much the fee is until you sign up. Once you sign up it’s damm near impossible to get out of it.
So let’s say you need to split September rent, but in October you are fine. You still have to go thru flex and pay the fee.
Then I found this article. Not only could the lady not get out of flex, she ended up owing them about 1k in fees.
That #article also states that Flex as a #business has 1 out of 5 stars on BBB. Their customer service is damm never nonexistent.
But I think we are missing a bigger issue. #Apartments are pushing flex because they know people can not afford the rent. And because people can’t afford the rent there are more #evictions and loss of payment. So instead of lowering the rent they push flex. They want it to seem like they are helping when they are not.
Most people get evicted and the apartment never get their money. 7 years later it falls off your credit report.
So to keep people in these buildings and to keep a steady income they offer some shit like flex.
It’s #predatory and will most likely leave a #tenant in worst standing than before.
We are pleased to inform you that MEGA JOURNAL OF CASE REPORTS (ISSN
2236-4960) is an International open-access peer-review journal which
has been listed in PUBMED and indexed in Google scholar and it
has (IMPACT FACTOR: 2.809**)."
If you've heard that Chinese research reforms "restrict" #OpenAccess publications, don't draw the wrong conclusion. The restrictions are merely "a prohibition to use research funding to pay for article processing charges (#APC), except for high-quality publications, and the blacklisting of #predatory journals." https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S1019331623020107
PS: Both are reasonable. Both are compatible with a strong preference for OA (tho this article doesn't discuss that).
I've seen 3 common explanations for why authors publish in #predatory journals: (1) they're deceived; (2) they're padding their resumes; (3) their work is weak.
"Many scientists from #LMICs…are rewarded with bonuses & promotions by their institutions [when they publish]…Many are likely to consider it worth paying an author publication charge [#APC] of $50 to secure a $300 research bonus for a guaranteed publication."
Some are cynical (padding their resumes), some naïve, some a strange mix:
"I was shocked by how adrift many authors seemed when faced with the workings of scholarly publishing…Several researchers mistook me for a journal and replied to my #survey e-mail by attaching articles, with comments thanking me in advance for their 'next quick publication' or asking me 'how much it will cost them in dollars'."
@petersuber It's nice that they identify SciELO as a model. Adoption of preprints and an "assessment quality" tier of publications would go a long way to ending this long-running scam.
It says w/o evidence that "most" APC-based journals are #predatory.
It says incorrectly that US #copyright law bars scholars at some public unis from transferring copyrights to publishers. (Nearest thing: work by govt employees is uncopyrightable.)
It's aware of APC waivers but not no-APC OA journals (#DiamondOA), their numbers, & the many initiatives to foster them.
This shit is why people stop contributing to open source and releasing open source projects: predatory companies taking open source projects and calling them their own with little or not contributions back. It burns innovation and demoralizes creators who keep pushing the needle.
As hard as it is for people to break into infosec, people often release open source projects to prove their worth. This kind of shit can ruin that spirit. As a long time member of the #DFIR open source community, I feel like I need to call BS where I see it. Companies must be held accountable and should abide by licensing and contribute back as warrented by said licensing. I hope to see some contributions and good faith back to https://cipp.app/
If #predatory#journals are very low in quality, dishonest, or both (my quick and dirty def), then the category covers both #subscription and #OA journals. Their defining condition is independent of their open/closed status.
To see this, it helps to point out non-OA examples now and then.
Please read the whole thing. This is not about #predatory journals in the usual sense. It's a new kind of #misconduct, both on the #publishing side and the side of parents buying #university slots that would have gone to worthy #students from less chiseling families.
@petersuber@academicchatter "A new industry is extracting fees from well-heeled families to enable their teenage children to conduct and publish research that colleges may regard as a credential."
So…. it looks like after decades of open secrets, and years of hard work to track down his victims, my friends over at BBC are very close to holding #TimWestwood legally accountable for his #predatory behavior with girls and women over the last 30 years…. and the #BBC for looking the other way. Once again, it’s about time.
Thank you Chi and Ruth, for your work. Please boost it if you can. Spread word. Thanks #fediverse.