There were several things which happened or transpired last week which really should call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them. I'll share one in some detail, and a couple of others in passing. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as "unceasing," "grudging," and "vengeful destruction."
When I saw the headline "Terrorism concerns: Chase Bank stops dog owner's check over pet's suspicious name," I knew it deserved some looking into. Firstly, in the story but left out of the headline was the fact that this was a service dog. "Bruce Francis depends on his dog, a nine-year-old pitbull mix named Dash, for more than just companionship. Francis has a rare form of M.S. and Dash is a certified service dog." To their credit, both Raw Story and AlterNet put this information into their headlines. But to continue –
"Earlier this month, as was his routine, Francis paid Dash’s dog walker using his online banking account with Chase. On the memo line for the check Francis had typed Dash’s name." The next thing Francis heard was that the dog walker had not received the check. He went on line to look at his account, and found a message, "Please explain what Dash means. To OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control, an office of the US Treasury)."
Francis called OFAC and was informed that the transaction had been flagged because "Dash" is similar to Daesh. The bank stopped payment on the check. Francis says he thought, "Great, they're stopping the world's stupidest terrorist."
KTVU, which originated the story, is a Fox affiliate, so I must give them credit for seeking comment from Edward Hasbrouck of Identity Project, a civil liberties group, who pointed out that many (perhaps most) people don't realize that "banks are required to scan all the financial transactions of their customers and turn over anything suspicious to the Treasury Department." So Chase was simply following the law here. (A pity, because I had hoped to be able to bring Jamie Dimon into this, but it looks like he is off the hook.) But the law itself is questionable to Hasbrouck, because it's all done in secret. He says, "What happens is that the government requires the banks to become in effect, outsourced spies for the government.”
A spokesman for Chase told KTVU, “If a name on the OFAC list appears on a payment, we are required to review it. This is an important part of ensuring that crime does not filter through the us banking system. In this instance, the payment was flagged, reviewed and eventually released.” Oh, yes, the dog walker did eventually get paid.
Francis himself says, “I think anything we can do to stop the terrorists and the funding of terrorists, let’s do it. And if it means an inconvenience to me and my dog walker then that’s a price I’m totally willing to pay.” I think that's very understanding and kind of him. I'm not (willing to pay that price).
As Hasbrouck points out, because this is all done in secret, no one but OFAC and the banks know what is on the list. Are these terms, all IMO conceivable names of pet or service animals, on the list? Brand, Alice, Baker, Ace, Deuce, Barnes, Brother, Knight, Duke, Pioneer, Storm, Hammer, White. All these words come from the SPLC list of Hate Groups and have, or could have, some connection to one or more white supremacist hate group(s). Because, if they are not, point one, that is discriminatory; and point two, more importantly, we are not really being protected from real dangers.
Dear ladies, Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, I apologize for not having done all the detective work here. But I am only a citizen. There are secrets that I can't access. So, first, could you check out the list I compiled against the OFAC list? And, second, could you find out what law or laws (I have suspicions of the Patriot Act, but there could well be others) dictated the existence of the OFAC list. And then – well, you know what to do, probably better than I do. After all, I am only a citizen.
In other news, there's a fellow in Florida who likes to play with guns. A bit under two years ago, he was trying to show his guests how he could quick draw "like a cowboy" and ended up sending a bullet into the temple of a pregnant woman, killing her and incidentally the potential baby. He was not charged. He claimed to have sworn off firearms for life, but this month, he was caught trying to "teach his girl friend's daughter (16) how to shoot" and was therefore discharging a shotgun into the air. At least this time he was arrested. Convicting him of a felony would at least prohibit him from owning or purchasing firearms. There's a petition to that effect. If we can get enough signatures, the Furies may not have to go deal with him.
And one last thing – Lamar Seeligson Smith (R-TX) is the chairman of the House Science Committee. Last year, he started a campaign, intending to discredit all legitimate scientsts, which is a tall order, but he could make them so tied up in red tape that he could slow down their work. He subpoenaed thousands of emails – any email which contained the word "climate," "change," and "temperature." Supported by people and organizations, the NOAA refused to release them. But now Smith is asking (did I say "asking"? I should have said "demanding") again. And, yes, he is still wrong. I'm sure the Furies can instruct him.
The Furies and I will be back.
12 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes”
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Cross posted to Care2 at http://www.care2.com/news/member/101612212/3970356
Petition signed.
William DeHayes, 37, accidentally killed 25-year-old Katherine Hoover, at his home in Brooksville, Florida on July 26, 2014.
William DeHayes should have been charged with murder in the first place, at minimum of manslaughter. He should not be handling nor owning any firearms for the rest of his life. He belongs in prison.
As for Lamar Seeligson Smith (R-TX), he is the chairman of the House Science Committee. This climate denier should not be in charge of this committee. Another Texass GOP extreme right-wing puke and he most certainly needs to be booted out of office.
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Banks often exceed the laws in what they choose to do in bizarre ways that can harm consumers. I just read a story about Citbank flagging and emailing a customer whenever her tips exceeded 20%–with daily followup emails for a week…she used to be a tipped worker and was horrified at the implication that people should undertip rather than tip more than 20% given the realities of tipped workers' lives and workplaces.
Petition already signed. A good example of why we need improvements to our gun laws.
Smith doesn't understand his authority is limited to legitimate exercise of power and not a fishing expedition witch hunt and that privacy is warranted otherwise.
I can't believe that the people at a bank lost their s**t over a dog's name. Are we paranoid, or what? Glad that I don't have an account at Chase Bank. In fact, I hope that I can soon close my account with Bilk of America and rely entirely on my credit union. The only reason for staying with a national bank is the convenience.
How did a dork like Lamar Smith become chair of the House Science Committee? Only scientifically literate people should be on that committee. Smith comes across as a shill for the climate-change-denying Big Polluters.
Terrorism charge: Gosh, I didn't know that they do this. I wonder how one could find out if you're on the 'list'? This poor man, and how ridiculous that they spend time and money on investigating this man, and his service dog. If they were so good, why did they flag him? & Dash? Is Daesh going to advertise their next attack? I don't think so!
Fellow in FL: Why in the Sam Hill wasn't he arrested and thrown in prison for murder? for the first tragic incident in which the lady died, and her unborn child? He should be banned for life from owning a gun, as he's dangerous to others. Drinking and driving is bad enough, but drinking and shooting is worse!!! imo. Signed petition. Also, people who blame alchohol, or drugs for doing something horrible, such as this case, should be held accountable for that too!
Lamar Smith: His name is not mentioned by any science teachers I know, here in Texas. He's way overdue being shown the door, and, of course, he's an ID.
Thank you, Joanne for posting.
You have some excellent points for your furies to take care of in case of the stopped payment on a check an behalf of Dash, Joanne. I wouldn't be alright with it either, especially if they do it in such an incredibly stupid way. As you say, it's discriminatory to start with, because you can bet on it that local terrorist groups are not on the list and therefore not scrutinized. And because it is so abominably done by indiscriminately and digitally scanning ALL text on a words that sound like Isis or Da'esh, resulting in thousands of false positives that are not checked by a human with some sense of what he's looking at, it is only stopping"[] the world's stupidest terrorist." but not the really dangerous ones. Of course these would be smart enough not to write out a check to "Da'esh, P.O. Box Iraq." You wouldn't accept such blunt filtering from a spam filter you downloaded free from the internet, would you.
I signed the petition to convict William DeHayes for accidentally killing Katherine Hoover and her unborn child, but I'd like the furies to go after the idiots who let him off the hook in the first place, believing this ammosexual's blue eyes when he told them he'd swear off firearms for life. They are extremely lucky he hasn't shot and wounded or killed someone else in the meantime, then there would have been a petition to charge whoever was responsible for releasing him.
I find the other information on Lamar Smith's campaign against the truth about global warming, equally disconcerting. This man is the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology but that doesn't mean he's above lying and cheating to deny the truth of Global warming and Climate Change which 98% of scientists vouch for. This man is a disgrace as a representative in the House and as the chairmen of this commission and should be dumped as soon as possible before he can do more harm and spend more taxpayer's money, while he's obviously working two jobs: one in the House and one for the Kochs. Furies, seize him!
Rename Chase to Chaesh and break it up as a terrorist bankster.
If convicted of a felony, that Republican Ammosexual would just buy guns at gun shows.
Sadly the Republicans will be back too!
Good one JD!!
Chase Bank: This story is either laughable or depressing, depending on my mood. Our country has been made to be so terrified that even a dog's name requires an investigation. Pitiful. I think we have gone overboard. I signed the petition tokeep the gun nut from ever having another one. He should have been chargee with manslaughter at the very least after killing the pregnant woman. Oh, I forgot, he lives in Florida. Lemar Smith is an idiot, and idiots must have appointed him to the House Science Committee.
DeHayes petition signed. Can we get one to remove the putative brain from L.R.Smith?
Thanks Mitch. Gee, I don't know. I suppose we could draft a petition to Ben Carson – but do you think he'd be willing to come out of retirement?
How does your bank know your dog’s not a terrorist?
https://papersplease.org/wp/2016/03/30/how-does-your-bank-know-your-dogs-not-a-terrorist
Mr. Hasbrouck, I am both honored and humbled that you have been kind enough to share your and your organization's take on this with us. Thank you.