Usa Thread

[Flashermac]

SNL alum on Obama: ‘What a f**king asshole’

 

 

Jon Lovitz, an early “Saturday Night Live†cast member, had some harsh words for President Barack Obama over the weekend.

 

In an interview with “Clerks†director Kevin Smith, Lovitz, a registered Democrat who voted for Obama in 2008, bashed the president for his class warfare rhetoric and the notion that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share in taxes.

 

“This whole thing with Obama saying the rich don’t pay their taxes is fucking bullshit, and I voted for the guy and I’m a Democrat. What a fucking asshole,†Lovitz said.

 

“First they say … ‘You can do anything you want. Go for it.’ So then you go for it, and then you make it, and everyone’s like, ‘Fuck you,’†Lovitz said. “[Obama] is the perfect example. He’s amazing. He had nothing … and the guy ends up being at Harvard. He’s the president of the United States. And now he’s like, ‘Fuck me and everybody who made it like me.’â€

 

The interview was part of a series on Lovitz’s podcast called “The ABC’s of SNL†where the comedian tells behind-the-scenes stories of his time at Studio 8H, where he was a regular from 1985 to 1990.

 

Lovitz also criticized Smith for “masquerading as a 99 percenter†— a reference to the Occupy Wall Street movement that the director said he supports.

 

Later on in the podcast when Lovitz’s diatribe against Obama really started to heat up, Smith suggested that the government would come and shut down the podcast.

 

“They’re gonna come in and shut this place down, man. They’re gonna be like: ‘We heard the fourth fucking episode. You won’t leave Obama alone.’ This is an election year, man … they’re gonna come in and make an example of you, man,†Smith said. “The government can do that. They can take your shit away.â€

 

As Smith goaded Lotivz, the lights in the theater abruptly turned off. Smith said, “Whoa, what the fuck happened? Oooh. The government’s here. They turned the lights off!â€

 

My link

[Bangkoktraveler]

I will vote for Mitt Romney if he will sit down with me

and have a cup of coffee.

[Steve]

http://news.yahoo.com/senate-votes-slow-closing-post-offices-210018033.html

 

The Senate offered a lifeline to the nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Wednesday, voting to give the struggling agency an $11 billion cash infusion while delaying controversial decisions on closing post offices and ending Saturday delivery.

 

What is the problem with the post office? I think I read somewhere (not sure) that the problems are the amount it spends on retirement, salaries, etc. as well as a decreasing need for it. Email has hurt it badly. As well as othe electronic mediums like texting, etc. What's the solution? I think a post office is one of the things mandated by the constitution. So we have to have a government run one, right?

[Steve]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/yahoo-news-david-chalian-election-outlook.html

The Yahoo News election outlook: 100 electoral votes will decide contest

 

The media will try and add drama and act as if its still a contest but as it stands now Obama wins fairly handily. He should have over 300 electoral votes. Unless something significant happens. Its Obama's. Republicans are writing this one off. Trust me.

[Steve]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/va-woman-fights-collect-10-million-debt-collectors/story?id=16205697

W. Va. Woman Fights to Collect $10 Million from Debt Collectors

 

Two years ago, a debt collector with a company called Reliant Financial Associates, or RFA, left a message implying that her house was in jeopardy if she didn't pay a debt. The message stated:

 

"I'm calling in regards to a preliminary asset liability investigation. They are in the process of serving some court documents in regards to case 29369... They have some information now pending questions at the property,... Springdale Avenue, in Wheeling, West Virginia. It is in your best interests to contact the department. You are required to contact 866-764-9779."

 

Courtesy Diana Mey

Diana Mey, of Wheeling, W. Va., won the... View Full Size

Courtesy Diana MeyDiana Mey, of Wheeling, W. Va., won the largest judgment ever against an abusive debt collection company -- more than 10 million dollars. But she is still waiting to collect damages. Hidden America: Life in 'Las Colonias' Watch Video

Carrie Underwood on Life and Career Watch Video

Girls Bought and Sold for Sex Online Watch Video

It is illegal for debt collectors to make empty threats about serving people with a lawsuit or seizing their home. And it was especially galling to Mey, who says she is debt-free.

 

"They threatened to take legal action against our property and it wasn't even our debt," Mey said.

 

Millions of Americans are victims of this kind of mistaken debtor identity, partly because of a new breed of collectors called "debt buyers." They purchase old debts for pennies that the original creditors have given up on and then try to collect them for a big profit. Critics say debt buyers sometimes use outrageous tactics to get the money where others have failed. RFA is a debt buyer.

 

Mey wrote RFA a cease and desist letter, telling the company not to contact her anymore, and sent it certified mail. Postal records show exactly when RFA signed for it. Precisely 23 minutes later, Mey started getting mysterious hang-up calls that showed up on her caller ID as coming from her local county government.

Last May, Mey sued RFA for harassment and illegal collection practices. In August, RFA's lawyer failed to show up in court, so Mey testified unopposed. The judge called RFA's actions "malicious" and ruled that all of the allegations were true. And then he awarded that record judgment of $10,860,000.

[Flashermac]

 

Though I'd feel even better if somebody beat the living crap out of the SOBs at RFA. These bastards (and those agencies like them) are nothing but thugs.

 

 

[Flashermac]

Was Newt Gingrich’s campaign the worst in history?

 

by Joseph Curl

 

 

You know you’re running a lousy presidential campaign when you get bitten by a penguin.

 

Newt Gingrich, still in the race only because a deep-pocket casino magnate is funding his pathetic run, was campaigning last week for the zoo-animal vote in St. Louis — on a private tour, of course — and got nipped by a Magellanic penguin. Oh, if only he’d taken a jaunt through Big Cat Country or fed the crocodiles in the Herpetarium: Perhaps we’d all be out of our misery now.

 

The Newt’s presidential campaign has got to be one of the worst ever run in American history (someone should ask the deep-thoughts historian to pontificate on that one). So let’s roll it all up in a ball, shall we, and take a look.

 

Last May, when Newt was casually campaigning, as is his way, he found himself exhausted. He had, after all, been at it for weeks. So, he did what any pooped-out candidate would do: He split on a luxury cruise to the Greek Islands with Wife No. 3 (22 years his junior — he was already out of college when she was born).

 

“According to an online itinerary,†Politico reported, “the ship departed from Piraeus, Greece, on May 30th and docked in Istanbul, Turkey today, with stops along the way in Mylos, Patmos, Rhodes and Mykonos. The company advertises week-long cruises starting at $2,499 per person.â€

 

When he got back in June, a group of his top aides, including his campaign manager, said “Enough,†and bailed. “His former spokesman, Rick Tyler, who was part of that group, told ABC News that he and ‘the senior leadership team of the campaign’ left largely because their candidate refused to campaign aggressively.â€

 

Of course, the island-hopping jaunt came just weeks after it emerged that Newt and Callista held up to a half-million dollars in debt with Tiffany‘s, the elite jewelry store.

 

With most of his staff gone and his campaign in turmoil, what did Newt do? Spend it up. On the campaign trail? Please. No, while Newt’s presidential campaign was hemorrhaging money, it was paying its staff exorbitant sums. So much so the Federal Election Commission demanded the campaign disclose why “nearly $1 million was paid to the candidate, staff and a small group of fundraising consultants for questionable reimbursements,†The Washington Times reported. Newt alone hauled in $88,000 in just one month.

 

“Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond had told The Times that the payments were a result of Mr. Gingrich footing bills early in the campaign and getting reimbursed because no bank would give the campaign a credit card.†Well, that is a campaign to get behind.

 

Newt rose during the debates — he is, after all, a professional talker — but quickly fell again. By the end of March, he ended up “dramatically curtailing his campaign schedule, laying off about a third of his staff and dismissing his campaign manager†— again — the Associated Press reported. “In the meantime, Gingrich planned to shift the campaign’s focus to digital outreach — in particular Twitter, YouTube and other social media.†Yeah, that’ll work.

 

The rest is a blur, too many blunders to catalogue. Newt accused Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican point man on budget issues, of right-wing social engineering. The Newt spent weeks explaining how he was not a lobbyist for Freddie Mac during the days he was lobbying for Freddie Mac. He launched an anti-capitalism attack against Mitt Romney for his time at Bain Captial (a self-made millionaire).

 

And lest we forget, just before the South Carolina debate, his second wife said Newt offered her a choice of an open marriage or a divorce after he revealed to her he was having an affair with Callista.

 

But wait, there’s still more: By this month, Newt was so desperate to dig himself out of a $4 million hole, he resorted to renting out his presidential campaign’s donor list.

 

“Campaign insiders,†Politico reported, “attribute the problems partly to Gingrich and his wife Callista asserting that the couple was unwilling to downgrade from private jets and security details even as the campaign floundered. Insiders say Callista Gingrich required an entourage of at least two staffers — including one who dressed in an elephant costume to promote her children’s book — and a contracted security guard who followed her even on non-campaign trips.â€

 

Newt even started charging supporters $50 a pop for a photo with him.

 

All of this would be amusing if Newt the Candidate wasn’t costing the American taxpayer $38,000 a day for Secret Service protection.

 

Well, they couldn’t protect him from that Magellanic penguin, and they can’t protect him from the American voter. They may have born been at night, but it wasn’t last night. And when Newt disappears this time, it’ll be for good. And good riddance.

 

My link

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting

 

...

The 28-year-old insurance-fraud investigator comes from a deeply Catholic background and was taught in his early years to do right by those less fortunate.

 

He was raised in a racially integrated household and himself has black roots through an Afro-Peruvian great-grandfather - the father of the maternal grandmother who helped raise him.

 

A criminal justice student who aspired to become a judge, Zimmerman also concerned himself with the safety of his neighbors after a series of break-ins committed by young African-American men.

 

Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account.

 

"Let's talk about the elephant in the room. I'm black, OK?" the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. "There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood," she said. "That's why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin."

...

 

My link

[Flashermac]

Supreme Court casts doubt on Obama’s immigration law claim

 

 

Supreme Court justices took a dim view of the Obama administration’s claim that it can stop Arizona from enforcing immigration laws, telling government lawyers during oral argument Wednesday that the state appears to want to push federal officials, not conflict with them.

 

The court was hearing arguments on Arizona’s immigration crackdown law, which requires police to check the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, and would also write new state penalties for illegal immigrants who try to apply for jobs.

 

The Obama administration has sued, arguing that those provisions conflict with the federal government’s role in setting immigration policy, but justices on both sides of the aisle struggled to understand that argument.

“It seems to me the federal government just doesn’t want to know who’s here illegally,†Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at one point.

 

The Arizona law requires all police to check with federal officials if they suspect someone is in the country illegally. The government argues that is OK when it’s on a limited basis, but said having a state mandate for all of its law enforcement is essentially a method of trying to force the federal government to change its priorities.

 

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. said the federal government has limited resources and should have the right to determine the extent of calls it gets about possible illegal immigrants.

 

“These decisions have to be made at the national level,†he said.

 

But even Democratic-appointed justices were uncertain of that.

 

“I’m terribly confused by your answer,†said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who went on to say that the federal government can always decline to pick up illegal immigrants when Arizona officials call.

 

...

 

My link

[Bangkoktraveler]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/va-woman-fights-collect-10-million-debt-collectors/story?id=16205697

W. Va. Woman Fights to Collect $10 Million from Debt Collectors

 

Two years ago, a debt collector with a company called Reliant Financial Associates, or RFA, left a message implying that her house was in jeopardy if she didn't pay a debt. The message stated:

 

"I'm calling in regards to a preliminary asset liability investigation. They are in the process of serving some court documents in regards to case 29369... They have some information now pending questions at the property,... Springdale Avenue, in Wheeling, West Virginia. It is in your best interests to contact the department. You are required to contact 866-764-9779."

 

Courtesy Diana Mey

Diana Mey, of Wheeling, W. Va., won the... View Full Size

Courtesy Diana MeyDiana Mey, of Wheeling, W. Va., won the largest judgment ever against an abusive debt collection company -- more than 10 million dollars. But she is still waiting to collect damages. Hidden America: Life in 'Las Colonias' Watch Video

Carrie Underwood on Life and Career Watch Video

Girls Bought and Sold for Sex Online Watch Video

It is illegal for debt collectors to make empty threats about serving people with a lawsuit or seizing their home. And it was especially galling to Mey, who says she is debt-free.

 

"They threatened to take legal action against our property and it wasn't even our debt," Mey said.

 

Millions of Americans are victims of this kind of mistaken debtor identity, partly because of a new breed of collectors called "debt buyers." They purchase old debts for pennies that the original creditors have given up on and then try to collect them for a big profit. Critics say debt buyers sometimes use outrageous tactics to get the money where others have failed. RFA is a debt buyer.

 

Mey wrote RFA a cease and desist letter, telling the company not to contact her anymore, and sent it certified mail. Postal records show exactly when RFA signed for it. Precisely 23 minutes later, Mey started getting mysterious hang-up calls that showed up on her caller ID as coming from her local county government.

Last May, Mey sued RFA for harassment and illegal collection practices. In August, RFA's lawyer failed to show up in court, so Mey testified unopposed. The judge called RFA's actions "malicious" and ruled that all of the allegations were true. And then he awarded that record judgment of $10,860,000.

 

 

Debt buyers are the worst sort of people in existence.

I use to have a debt buyer call me on a regular basis.

They insisted I had to pay a certain debt.

If I didn't pay they were going to do all kinds of nasties to me if I didn't pay it.

I told them not to call again. They continued to call.

What was the debt? It was a debt owed by some woman who

I had no idea who she was.