Ta, Robyn. Medical debt that is no fault of one's own should NEVER keep anyone from renting an apartment or buying a home. Private medical insurance is one of the biggest scams and biggest curses on our society. Elizabeth Warren is my Hera. She took down (singlehandedly) that little fuck Michael Bloomberg's presidential ambitions, AND she invented the CFPB.
"They also announced that they would not be following through with the Biden-era rule to require non-bank financial institutions like debt collectors, mortgage and payday lenders, and credit reporting companies to report any actions taken against them for violating consumer laws by local, state, or federal governments, for the purpose of creating a registry available to consumers. Why? Because they felt that the benefit to consumers was vastly outweighed by the cost to those institutions — which was about $360. "
This a perfect example of the utter hypocrisy of libertarian fascists. Their standard mantra is that it is incumbent on the victims of swindles to be aware in advance and not sign a contract with a grifter. The pressure of the free market will cause bad actors to lose all their customers or business partners, and hence go broke. Of course, no consumer has the information of resources to do the necessary research to accomplish this. So at every opportunity, they block any attempt for consumers to acquire this information. That is the primary responsibility of CFPB (and the FTC and many other government regulators in many other areas), which is why they want to destroy them all.
Another problem is foreclosure debt. If you can't pay your mortgage because you were laid off, or if a hurricane or tornado destroys your home, and you are forced to sell it via Short Sale, and if you get less from that sale than you owe on the mortgage, the mortgage lender is supposed to report that amount as "forgiven debt income" to the IRS, even though it isn't actually money you will ever receive as income. It simply money you were going to pay, but now you no longer owe it to the mortgage company
However, if you write to the mortgage company and explain that your inability to pay is due to circumstances beyond your control (such as a hurricane or your employer going bankrupt because of tariffs), they can choose not to report that "income" to the IRS.
I had to do this after Hurricane Gustav, which was followed almost immediately by the collapse of the global real estate market, which made it impossible to sell my condo in Louisiana for anything approaching what I owed on it. My mortgage company was nice and did not report the forgiven debt to the IRS because it was due to circumstances outside my control.
However, most working- and many middle-class people of my acquaintance don't know how to write a letter. I guess they don't teach this in school anymore.
Personally, I think "forgiven debt income" is an oxymoron and makes no sense whatsoever and should be banned.
It's strange that if you deal with a mortgage company directly, sometimes they actually CAN be nice.
When my second husband and I divorced, I stayed in the house with the kids and paid the mortgage all by myself. Upon the sale of that house, even though I'd been paying the mortgage (his child support didn't help, it was only $25/month and that didn't even cover a couple weeks' worth of school lunches for our son), I had to split the proceeds with the ex.
My house had sold, and closing was going to be the day before my son's HS graduation, and we were leaving for England two days after that.
I thought, "why the hell should I be making payments on this place when it's already sold and I just have to split the money with my ex anyway?" Money was already tight because of the impending move, and I couldn't justify sending Chase Manhattan $360/month that could be used elsewhere.
So I quit paying the mortgage in February. Closing on the sale was May 27. In mid-May, I received a foreclosure notice, so I called them and explained the situation (like how I didn't want to split any more money than I had to with the ex). The woman I talked to was very understanding. They would hold off on the foreclosure as long as I PROMISED that the closing was on the 27th; if anything came up to change that date, I had to promise I'd let them know right away.
The closing went off without a hitch and the remainder of the mortgage was paid to Chase Manhattan that morning. I actually got a phone call the next day from the same woman I'd talked to previously, saying the company really appreciated being able to work with me and basically, 'thanks for paying off your house when you said you would.'
I was always grateful they did me a solid by not doing anything nasty.
Start off with Henry Cow. Once you’ve heard their catalog, along with all the live recordings introduce yourself to Hatfield and the North. These were both remarkable groups released by Richard Branson’s Virgin Records. Branson became a billionaire and these people are still paying off the studio time he charged them for making the records he released and profited from. The man that made Branson back in the 1970s was “Tubular Bells” composer Mike Oldfield.
I love Mike Oldfield and that video of Wish is a classic. and Henry Cow seems familiar but I've never heard of Hatfield and the North even though I love indie bands and used to have a lot of Virgin platters before I got stupid and thought analog was going away. I gave them all away (sob)
Hatfield* was comprised of Dave Stewart**(Egg) Richard Sinclair (Caravan, later Camel, later solo) Pip Pyle (Gong, later lots of stuff) Phil Miller (Various) and The Northettes. Guests included Geoff Leigh (also Henry Cow and others) and Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine, Matching Mole, solo). Their second and last album “Rotters’ Club”, is considered the epitome of the Canterbury scene. For the Cow, it’s both ”Unrest” and “In Praise of Learning”. I have listened to these recordings for more than forty years and find them to be unmatched in invention, musicianship, style, originality, awareness, and substance. You’ll find Henry Cow, Hatfield and the North, Faust, Gong (Daevid Allen version) Soft Machine, and others easily everywhere.
* Named after a traffic sign exiting Heathrow Airport
I've got Soft Machine I believe, somewhere, but like you I've been collecting for 40+ years and no longer know how much stuff I have stored down in the basement.
Masked Goon Mom: "Well, at least now he finally has a job. And he's not on the basement computer all the time, demanding that I bring him another damn Hot Pocket."
I think we need to move toward laws that acknowledge personal responsibility. If you donated to the NRA you're on the hook for the costs involved with any shootings using hand guns or high capacity magazine type weapon. Dems need to shift their focus to this. It's not society's fault, it's yours. That's something libertarians can get behind.
Remember, in horrible times like this when Americans give the unreconstructed party power, we must look for the hurters instead of the helpers. And it feels good for a great many people to stick a dagger in the back of others. Many of those others are sometimes members of minority groups they hate...whether Black people, trans people, or even women with "danger hair" and pronouns who won't fuck them.
Yes it will hurt them too but as long as at least some of those minorities are dying alone, destitute and afraid in a ditch, it's all worth it. The libs were owned.
OT, Preventable deaths: The medical journal The Lancet published a study in 2025 warning that the elimination of USAID could lead to 14 million additional deaths over the next five years, putting the impact on par with a global pandemic or major conflict.
Bill Gates after pledging to donate an additional $200 billion to his foundation for the worlds most afflicted, regarding the Elon DOGE death of USAID, “the worlds richest man killing the worlds poorest children is not a pretty picture “
One of my quarrels with Gates is that he had enormous leverage over global public health, food aid, and nutrition programs for decades and never learned how to use that power well.
If he had just provided funding for the campaigns that the majority of on-the-site local subject-matter experts recommended, I would have cheered the guy whole-heartedly.
But he didn't. He decided his engineer brain always knew better, and he was going to bless the third world with his genius, running roughshod over local expertise.
... "In the morning at 6:30, he's cooking a steak and eating sauerkraut," Hines said. ... He's so dedicated to this diet that he's eating that he will bring his own sauerkraut to a restaurant," Hines continued. ... And he'll hand me a bag of sauerkraut and say, 'Can you put this in your bag?' and I'll say, 'I actually cannot.'"
I admit I’ve never had that combo. Though it is possible to get on hot dogs. Maybe I should take another look one day, I don’t know. I have come around on cabbage in certain respects (I love it in most cole slaws, and corned beef).
I “discovered“ it in Vienna. Before, I had only tried a little by itself and it gagged me. Adding the savory sausage transforms it.
But i’m an uncultured cretin and you shouldn't believe anything I say, especially regarding food.
Although I could point you to some sub-10€ Spanish red wine that is quite drinkable and some that's under 30€ that is literally some of the best in the world.
Now that I think about it, the sauerkraut that was pushed on me as a child was right out of a can, a big old Stokely Van Camp can, I think, and was probably the worst possible representation of the authentic food.
Yep. Sigh. Found this out yesterday during my $40,000 chemo infusion. Which I’ve been doing every month for 15 years. #Vasculitis https://substack.com/@mellymed1/note/c-171885440?r=6p6x93&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
States rights!
Wait, not THOSE rights!
Ta, Robyn. Medical debt that is no fault of one's own should NEVER keep anyone from renting an apartment or buying a home. Private medical insurance is one of the biggest scams and biggest curses on our society. Elizabeth Warren is my Hera. She took down (singlehandedly) that little fuck Michael Bloomberg's presidential ambitions, AND she invented the CFPB.
"They also announced that they would not be following through with the Biden-era rule to require non-bank financial institutions like debt collectors, mortgage and payday lenders, and credit reporting companies to report any actions taken against them for violating consumer laws by local, state, or federal governments, for the purpose of creating a registry available to consumers. Why? Because they felt that the benefit to consumers was vastly outweighed by the cost to those institutions — which was about $360. "
This a perfect example of the utter hypocrisy of libertarian fascists. Their standard mantra is that it is incumbent on the victims of swindles to be aware in advance and not sign a contract with a grifter. The pressure of the free market will cause bad actors to lose all their customers or business partners, and hence go broke. Of course, no consumer has the information of resources to do the necessary research to accomplish this. So at every opportunity, they block any attempt for consumers to acquire this information. That is the primary responsibility of CFPB (and the FTC and many other government regulators in many other areas), which is why they want to destroy them all.
GOP = "Grifting Other People"
Another problem is foreclosure debt. If you can't pay your mortgage because you were laid off, or if a hurricane or tornado destroys your home, and you are forced to sell it via Short Sale, and if you get less from that sale than you owe on the mortgage, the mortgage lender is supposed to report that amount as "forgiven debt income" to the IRS, even though it isn't actually money you will ever receive as income. It simply money you were going to pay, but now you no longer owe it to the mortgage company
However, if you write to the mortgage company and explain that your inability to pay is due to circumstances beyond your control (such as a hurricane or your employer going bankrupt because of tariffs), they can choose not to report that "income" to the IRS.
I had to do this after Hurricane Gustav, which was followed almost immediately by the collapse of the global real estate market, which made it impossible to sell my condo in Louisiana for anything approaching what I owed on it. My mortgage company was nice and did not report the forgiven debt to the IRS because it was due to circumstances outside my control.
However, most working- and many middle-class people of my acquaintance don't know how to write a letter. I guess they don't teach this in school anymore.
Personally, I think "forgiven debt income" is an oxymoron and makes no sense whatsoever and should be banned.
It's strange that if you deal with a mortgage company directly, sometimes they actually CAN be nice.
When my second husband and I divorced, I stayed in the house with the kids and paid the mortgage all by myself. Upon the sale of that house, even though I'd been paying the mortgage (his child support didn't help, it was only $25/month and that didn't even cover a couple weeks' worth of school lunches for our son), I had to split the proceeds with the ex.
My house had sold, and closing was going to be the day before my son's HS graduation, and we were leaving for England two days after that.
I thought, "why the hell should I be making payments on this place when it's already sold and I just have to split the money with my ex anyway?" Money was already tight because of the impending move, and I couldn't justify sending Chase Manhattan $360/month that could be used elsewhere.
So I quit paying the mortgage in February. Closing on the sale was May 27. In mid-May, I received a foreclosure notice, so I called them and explained the situation (like how I didn't want to split any more money than I had to with the ex). The woman I talked to was very understanding. They would hold off on the foreclosure as long as I PROMISED that the closing was on the 27th; if anything came up to change that date, I had to promise I'd let them know right away.
The closing went off without a hitch and the remainder of the mortgage was paid to Chase Manhattan that morning. I actually got a phone call the next day from the same woman I'd talked to previously, saying the company really appreciated being able to work with me and basically, 'thanks for paying off your house when you said you would.'
I was always grateful they did me a solid by not doing anything nasty.
That's an awesome story. Thanks for sharing it.
Is it weird that Trump is doing this even though he defaulted on more debts than I have had hot meals?
Money. Pink Floyd
Says it all.
Uh, their net worth is what now? And Syd early in his grave!
Hadn't thought of that! Well at least some bands are virtuous and poor.
but no one listens to them 😕
Start off with Henry Cow. Once you’ve heard their catalog, along with all the live recordings introduce yourself to Hatfield and the North. These were both remarkable groups released by Richard Branson’s Virgin Records. Branson became a billionaire and these people are still paying off the studio time he charged them for making the records he released and profited from. The man that made Branson back in the 1970s was “Tubular Bells” composer Mike Oldfield.
More examples if needed.
I love Mike Oldfield and that video of Wish is a classic. and Henry Cow seems familiar but I've never heard of Hatfield and the North even though I love indie bands and used to have a lot of Virgin platters before I got stupid and thought analog was going away. I gave them all away (sob)
Hatfield* was comprised of Dave Stewart**(Egg) Richard Sinclair (Caravan, later Camel, later solo) Pip Pyle (Gong, later lots of stuff) Phil Miller (Various) and The Northettes. Guests included Geoff Leigh (also Henry Cow and others) and Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine, Matching Mole, solo). Their second and last album “Rotters’ Club”, is considered the epitome of the Canterbury scene. For the Cow, it’s both ”Unrest” and “In Praise of Learning”. I have listened to these recordings for more than forty years and find them to be unmatched in invention, musicianship, style, originality, awareness, and substance. You’ll find Henry Cow, Hatfield and the North, Faust, Gong (Daevid Allen version) Soft Machine, and others easily everywhere.
* Named after a traffic sign exiting Heathrow Airport
** Not THAT Dave Stewart
I've got Soft Machine I believe, somewhere, but like you I've been collecting for 40+ years and no longer know how much stuff I have stored down in the basement.
Mothers of ICE agents, are you proud that your son has earned the title of "masked goon"?
Tell your son, tell your community, that you are bitterly ashamed of him.
Masked Goon Mom: "Well, at least now he finally has a job. And he's not on the basement computer all the time, demanding that I bring him another damn Hot Pocket."
I think we need to move toward laws that acknowledge personal responsibility. If you donated to the NRA you're on the hook for the costs involved with any shootings using hand guns or high capacity magazine type weapon. Dems need to shift their focus to this. It's not society's fault, it's yours. That's something libertarians can get behind.
Guidance Missiles.
You know what image sustains me? It is this one https://wonkettebazaar.com/collections/elizabeth-warren-2020/products/warren-for-progress-sticker
Remember, in horrible times like this when Americans give the unreconstructed party power, we must look for the hurters instead of the helpers. And it feels good for a great many people to stick a dagger in the back of others. Many of those others are sometimes members of minority groups they hate...whether Black people, trans people, or even women with "danger hair" and pronouns who won't fuck them.
Yes it will hurt them too but as long as at least some of those minorities are dying alone, destitute and afraid in a ditch, it's all worth it. The libs were owned.
MAGA is a Lobby of dead-enders seeking the return of the Chain of Being.
The caste system must be maintained!
Robed terrorists formerly known as SCOTUS need to go.
Elie Mystal wrote not only about that, but put together a whole plan to fix it that was released in 2020
4 years ago
https://youtu.be/bnMx-YTH3Yw?si=8-kl2sKNdL75aUzE
3 years ago
https://youtu.be/Z_0qf4UUlfg?si=3z6xeW5nUAbZfkAg
1 year ago
https://youtu.be/aLjvzQfPQs0?si=km_565G13ekDHxcM
9 days ago
https://youtu.be/s0FIuck4Gxc?si=ZStVTsS4BOnXx-m0
Can't imagine why nobody wanted to hear about it
🤔
Y'all make me tired sometimes
OT, Preventable deaths: The medical journal The Lancet published a study in 2025 warning that the elimination of USAID could lead to 14 million additional deaths over the next five years, putting the impact on par with a global pandemic or major conflict.
Bill Gates after pledging to donate an additional $200 billion to his foundation for the worlds most afflicted, regarding the Elon DOGE death of USAID, “the worlds richest man killing the worlds poorest children is not a pretty picture “
Needs more media.
Prosecute Elon for murder. Then reopen Alcatraz to store all the techbros for eternity. Gates too. He was the monopolistic Elon of his generation.
Here I am agreeing with Bill Gates, is it the end times yet?
He's been talking about this since Elon did it
https://youtu.be/c4Y_w0jJtis?si=YNslJwZ0jXpcySTp
One of my quarrels with Gates is that he had enormous leverage over global public health, food aid, and nutrition programs for decades and never learned how to use that power well.
If he had just provided funding for the campaigns that the majority of on-the-site local subject-matter experts recommended, I would have cheered the guy whole-heartedly.
But he didn't. He decided his engineer brain always knew better, and he was going to bless the third world with his genius, running roughshod over local expertise.
Most tech dudes are like that
Especially the White ones
Miasma, Pestilence, Famine and Calamity...that is the Republican plan for us!
OT. Weirdo.
"'Whoa': RFK Jr.'s wife reveals husband's bizarre diet"
... "In the morning at 6:30, he's cooking a steak and eating sauerkraut," Hines said. ... He's so dedicated to this diet that he's eating that he will bring his own sauerkraut to a restaurant," Hines continued. ... And he'll hand me a bag of sauerkraut and say, 'Can you put this in your bag?' and I'll say, 'I actually cannot.'"
https://www.rawstory.com/rfk-jr-2674244411/
Who among us does not bring a baggie of sauerkraut to a restaurant?
He isn't making his own sauerkraut. He just opens a can and dumps it into a bag?
Plot twist, the sauerkraut is actually tapeworms he got from rawdogging poached bear meat.
Well, now I'm never going to eat food again.
Not so coincidentally, sauerkraut has topped my Do Not Like list since I was three,
Yeah I loathe sauerkraut. People around where I live love the hell out of it though it seems.
De gustibus...
I didn't "get" sauerkraut until I took a forkfull with a nice hunk of brat. That flavor combo sold me.
I admit I’ve never had that combo. Though it is possible to get on hot dogs. Maybe I should take another look one day, I don’t know. I have come around on cabbage in certain respects (I love it in most cole slaws, and corned beef).
I “discovered“ it in Vienna. Before, I had only tried a little by itself and it gagged me. Adding the savory sausage transforms it.
But i’m an uncultured cretin and you shouldn't believe anything I say, especially regarding food.
Although I could point you to some sub-10€ Spanish red wine that is quite drinkable and some that's under 30€ that is literally some of the best in the world.
Now that I think about it, the sauerkraut that was pushed on me as a child was right out of a can, a big old Stokely Van Camp can, I think, and was probably the worst possible representation of the authentic food.
Is it time for the peasants to rise up against the petty "let them eat cake" tyranny? I'm just asking questions.