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11:13 AM yesterday

raggeddog commented on SL Letter of the Day: Not A Prude... And Not Just Not That....

I only knew David Rakoff through his writing and appearances on This American Life - but I always thought he was someone I would have loved to have known in real life.

May 16

raggeddog commented on Occupy Offshoot Blockades Home to Save South Park Man From Eviction.

@11 I would still argue that losing a job is primarily what caused the default in that case, but it is certainly exacerbated by being underwater as you say. I guess I was speaking more about the cases of people walking away from mortgages they could afford to pay just because they're underwater.

@10 Don't call people concern trolls, it makes you sound like an insufferable know-it-all when you do. My point was simply that people take on loans for items that are worth less than what they owe on them all the time (car, tv, pretty much anything you put on a credit card). It doesn't mean you're a victim of unscrupulous practices when you can't afford to pay it off and can't recoup your losses by selling it. And comparing a house and car is valid - no one has ever been forced to buy a house in order to have a place to live.

For the record, I believe the overwhelming majority of people took out these "predatory" loans knowing exactly what they were signing on to. They just made a bad investment decision. And where in the post does it say anything about this guying taking out a risky loan? It sounds like he simply lost his job and couldn't pay. I sympathize with him and hope I never find myself in that position, but if I did I don't think I would blame my mortgage lender for my bad luck.

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May 16

raggeddog commented on Occupy Offshoot Blockades Home to Save South Park Man From Eviction.

I know banks are evil and all, but why exactly shouldn't this guy be evicted? I don't want to be insensitive, and even though he is handsome and has a cute dog, he defaulted on his loan (I know he lost his job, but that's often why defaults happen).

And I hate when it is implied that somehow being "underwater" causes defaults and foreclosures. My house has lost 10% of its value since I bought it in 2008, but I keep paying my mortgage (which I took on fully aware of the terms and risks) and miraculously have not been foreclosed on.

I'm underwater on my car loan too, should I quit paying the loan and feel victimized when it is repossessed?

Apr 29

raggeddog commented on Brian Carver Will Challenge City Council Member Richard Conlin.

@2,3: Didn't you see the part about him working for Amazon? As any reader of The Stranger knows, anyone who works for Amazon would have to be an asshole.

Apr 22

raggeddog commented on The Way That Wind Farm Is Dressed, You Know She Has It Coming.

@14 Close - I think the punchline is "you're/we're getting fucked".

Apr 22

raggeddog commented on Bombing Suspect Won't Be Tried as Enemy Combatant, Charged With Conspiracy to Use WMDs.

Congressional republicans are calling for an american citizen committing a crime on american soil to be classified as an enemy combatant, thus removing his constitutional protections? These are the same people warning us that we need to be able to protect ourselves against a tyrannical government that doesn't respect the constitution, right? So are they just trying to prove their latter point with the former, or am I missing a joke somewhere?

Apr 22

raggeddog commented on The Blunt Charm of Marilyn McKenna.

She's been pro-marriage equality for 4-5 years, and her husband still isn't? I get angry at anti-equality people I don't even know, how could you live in the same house and share a bed with someone you knew was such a sack of shit?

Apr 17

raggeddog commented on Beating Women Is Bound to Make You Thirsty.

I read the comments hoping someone could explain what the "joke" even is, but apparently everyone else is confused too. Beer should be like domestic violence...non-existent? used to subjugate women? huh?