4/07/2007

Suze Orman Shows Her Ass

Ironically, Suze Orman was recently criticized for her investment advice on MSN Money Central for being “out of touch.” After tonight’s disgustingly content-free interview between Suze Orman and Casey Serin, I’ll second that motion.

Tonight, Suze Orman interviewed renowned mortgage fraudster Casey Serin on CNBC’s “The Suze Orman Show.” While Casey Serin’s critics had hoped that Suze Orman would tear into Casey like a wolverine on crack, Suze Orman proved that she’s all talk.

While I’ve never had any strong feelings one way or the other regarding Suze Orman, what I heard tonight proves that she has joined the ranks of Robert Kiyosaki and others who care more about profile than content.

With that, we’re going to have to downgrade Suze Orman’s professional reputation from “financial expert” to “financial guru.” (For the record, “expert” = self-explanatory; “guru” = an under-informed person who tells others what to do.)

From here, I can only assume that CNBC is changing the name of “The Suze Orman Show” to “Suze Orman Gives Financial Advice to Admitted Multi-State Felons.” Maybe when Casey and Galina Serin finally go to trial, Suze Orman can testify as an “expert” witness.

Tonight, Suze Orman threw a bunch of meatball pitches over the plate at Casey Serin, continually referring to him as “boyfriend” and using a tone that somehow implied her viewing audience was, collectively, a very naughty child.

Note to Suze Orman: Research your guests before you invite them to your show. Because by trying to earnestly parrot advice that Casey Serin’s readers have been giving him for about eight months now, you just sound like a jackass.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t entirely blame Suze Orman. But tonight’s interview with Casey Serin shows that the staff of “The Suze Orman Show” is lazy as hell.

Because if any of The Suze Orman Show’s staffers had logged a dozen hours on Casey Serin’s website, Suze Orman herself wouldn’t have sounded like such a rube tonight. A recent post by Mr. Bubbles over at ExUrbanNation best describes what Suze Orman should have known before interviewing Casey Serin:

Look at the facts:

1. CS bought 8 properties in a short period of time
on purpose so the banks, credit agencies, and all others involved would not be
aware of his actions.

2. CS bought 8 properties via fraudulently lying
on his applications about income, employment, and owner occupancy.

3.
Casey illegaly wrapped one of the houses without disclosing it the the lender.

4. Casey and Galina ran up over $175,000 in unsecured debt, knowing they
had no ability to pay, in order to sustain their lifestyle and further their
illegal real estate activity.

5. Casey and Galina opened up two DBA real
estate companies, never registering them with the state or incorporatin them.
Casey advertised these companies as real estate investment companies over the
internet and via the USPS. ( remember the 24% return letter, Able Buyer, iam
buying apartments)

6. Casey attempted ( perhaps succeeded) in acquiring
a shell company to fraudulently transfer his personal debt into and to obtain by
fraud credit from lenders.

7. Casey, while protesting to be insolvent,
spent some $30,000 on real estate seminars.

8. Casey while claiming to
be insolvent, has earned unreported income.

9. Casey has continued to
borrow money, knowing he has no intention or ability to repay the debt.

10. Casey and Galina spent over $375,000 ( from cash back at closings
and credit cards)over the course of 2006 and he cannot account for the spending.

Sorry if I missed some of the things, but this is from memory. My point
is that he and Galina knew exactly what they were doing. The plan was to keep
doing the illegal cash back at closings, flip the houses, lather,rinse, repeat.

But it went bad, so Casey being the life long conman, moved on to other
scams. The 24% return letter. Able Buyer. Buying apartments. The phony
corporation. Adsense. Duane. Nigel. Then some more illegal cash back in Utah.

He won't change until he's caught, prosecuted, and in prison. None of
his or Galina's actions were without intent. Each one was to defraud. His made
up persona on IAFF is to cover his tracks. Look at the earth blog and you read a
much different Casey.

I have seen in court many, many criminals. None of
them are guilty. All of them proclaim their innocence. Forget about what Casey
says and focus and what he did.

Actions speak louder than words.

I agree Casey may not be public enemy #1 on the FBI list, but his high
profile and outright disdain for the law is making him come under some intense
scrutiny.

Frankly, I would expect a lot more from a woman who was launched into the public spotlight by Oprah Winfrey. Come on, Suze Orman, did you not learn anything from Oprah about how to vet your guests?

So what should Suze Orman have asked Casey Serin while she had him under the glare of the television cameras? Here are some suggestions:

Suze Orman: So, Casey Serin, exactly how much money were you claiming to make while you were unemployed and lying on your loan applications?

Suze Orman: How are you and your wife Galina Serin six-figures in credit card debt after all of the sweet cash back at closing that you “earned” (sneers).

Suze Orman: Well, Casey Serin, since the topic of honor has come up, why have you not turned yourself in to the FBI office in Sacramento?

Suze Orman: You have mentioned bankruptcy several times on your website. Are you not aware that bankruptcy is a second chance for honest borrowers, not a way for admitted felons to escape both justice and repayment?

Suze Orman: While your wife Galina Serin was doing the books for your shell corporations and family finances, was she not concerned about the obvious fraud and illegal activities?

Poster Jean Val Jean at ExUrbanNation has kindly posted an audio file of Suze Orman’s interview with Casey Serin.

Click here to contact Suze Orman.

4/05/2007

Mocking Casey Serin on YouTube

Anyone who's been following the ridiculously comical and felonious tales of Casey Serin should definitely watch "Flipper Nation." This humorous mockumentary follows two earnest young entrepreneurs who are determined to successfully flip houses in a down market.

Casey Serin fans and critics will be particularly amused by the antics found on "Flipper Nation," complete with a smarmy mortgage broker. If you know the relevant players, you'll know just who to plug into each role. From a ubiquitous blue shirt to some sweet deals and close proximity to Starbucks, "Flipper Nation" is a funny take on real estate 's biggest "loosers."


EPISODE 1:



EPISODE 2:



EPISODE 3:

4/04/2007

Defining "Intent"

In multiple (possibly hundreds) of instances, Casey Serin has told the world a novel's worth of fiction about his intentions: He never intended to commit mortgage fraud; he never intended to force his banks into repossession; he intended to repay "every dirty penny" of the borrowed monies.

I've thought all along that this was a load of hooey, and Casey Serin's latest, repeated comments about exploring bankruptcy protection (ha!) prove that his actual intent is to get away as unscathed as possible from the financial trainwreck that he and his wife Galina Serin created.

I don't know how I missed this article, but 'lawnmower man' over at ExUrbanNation deserves major credit for bringing it to the forum's attention.

In January of this year, C. Robert Simpson wrote a fantastic article called "Truth or Consequence" in the Scotsman Guide. It is an incredibly insightful piece on mortgage brokers' role in the subprime lending meltdown, and I found myself nearly breaking my neck by nodding so vigorously in agreement.

I have been arguing with friends and family members for several months now that mortgage brokers should be held accountable (with buyers, of course) for non-performing, no-documentation subprime loans. The reason is that they are charged with vetting a potential borrower on behalf of the financial institution.

The bank trusts that when mortgage brokers approve a borrower as a good risk that he or she actually is. Did any of these greedy bastards ever think about why subprimes often paid a heftier commission? Because finding performing borrowers in this category is tough. Any asshole can give a loan to a crackhead, so to speak. Simpson agrees (although in a less profane tone, of course), saying:

Some months ago, I attended a loan-originator luncheon, where a speaker from the
FBI gave a presentation about the latest mortgage frauds and prosecutions. The
agent said that if a stated-income loan shows an income of $10,000 per month and
the borrower's actual income is much less than that -- say, $5,000 per month --
then it is fraud, and the FBI would prosecute it as such.

The loan originators were incredulous. One broker stood up to say, "But lenders created stated loans so we could state whatever income would get the borrowers the
loan."

If I read his facial expression correctly, the FBI agent couldn't believe what he had just heard. There ensued a lively give-and-take between the agent and the loan originators regarding the intent of stated loans.

Simpson included Casey Serin in his article, and there is a very telling bit in it that should keep Casey and Galina Serin up at night with cold sweats of fear. Because it's such a huge fucking smoking gun that you can almost hear the prison doors clang as you read the article.

Of Casey and Galina Serin's eight properties, Simpson states:

On six of the properties, he received cash back at closing. The largest check he
received was for $50,000. The cash was paid to a bogus company,
controlled by a third party. It was then funneled back to Serin. In all other escrows, cash was paid to the seller, then back to Serin after closing.

Wh..wha...WHATTHEFUCK?!?! This certainly clarifies the "INTENT" question. Holy shit, we've got shell corporations, an undisclosed third party....Look here, little Casey Serin--this goes way beyond "I didn't know it was wrong," which is something you've always claimed.

This demonstrates some serious intent to defraud. And since there are already hundreds of thousands of people in America who are calling for Casey Serin's head, there's just no way that the proper authorities can (or should) overlook his theiving ass. Same goes for his wife Galina Serin.

If you have joined the ranks of the people who are fed up with Casey Serin and Galina Serin still being allowed to walk the streets as free people, feel free to contact the following folks to express your displeasure.

You can report mortage fraud via the following:

FANNIE MAE
1-800-732-6643
mortgagefraud_tips@fanniemae.com

FBI
FBI Online Tip Form
Sacramento Field Office (916) 481-9110

SACRAMENTO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Real Estate Fraud Unit (916) 874-9045
Special Investigations Division (916) 874-5897

Whatever Happened to Frugality?

My family traveled extensively throughout my childhood. But my parents always placed a premium on spending time with their parents. Because of this, we lived in close proximity to one set of grandparents, and spent at least two months each year with the other set.

One grandfather, particularly, was incredibly frugal. When he retired, he took over the household management for my grandmother, under the guise of giving her her own retirement. But really, it was because he wanted to shave as much money as possible from the family budget.

To this end, he had a circuit of three grocery stores. One for the staples, one for the perishables, one strictly for milk. The family joked about his 'milk store', incredulous that he would take the extra time to pick up milk from a third store.

His explanation made perfect sense. It was directly on the path home from his second store, and stopping there for milk saved him a quarter per gallon. He could rattle off the savings in a heartbeat..."Fifty cents a week, two dollars a month, twenty-four dollars a YEAR!" he would finish off in visible glee.

When he purchased the Sunday paper from the vendor outside of our church, he liked to point out that the paper was paying him. After he finished clipping coupons and doling them out on double- or triple-coupon days, this was in fact true.

While my Baby Boomer parents and their siblings mocked my grandfather's grip on his money, I think they overlooked his earliest financial impressions. They had never wanted for a thing, and this sense of being 'well-off' led them to pay a premium for shortcuts. It didn't ever really click with them that my grandfather had lived through the Depression...an event that he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

Similarly, spending so much time with him as a child made its own impact on me. My grandfather liked to bastardize various sayings and cliches, making them his own. The one I remember most clearly was truly his own economic compass. He would look at me and say, "A penny saved is BETTER than a penny earned, because you don't have to pay taxes on that one!"

I'm indescribably grateful for the example that he set. When I learned that I would be responsible for paying for my college education, his lessons became that much more important. By working two full-time jobs and living on the cheap, I was able to pay for my private university. The discomfort of the situation catalyzed me to graduate as quickly as possible, and finished a dual-degree in three years.

I'm not sure when it started, but I myself have three grocery stores. I switch back and forth between two stores for the staples, depending on what's on sale during any given week. I round this out with a trip to Trader Joe's for the 'gourmet' items and wine.

I get a strange thrill out of compiling a crazily cheap meal. It's the same feeling of accomplishment that I have after completing a project or a fruitful day of work. I have been known to call friends and rattle off the contents of a dinner plate, complete with a cost breakdown.

This past week, for example, presented a fantastic array. Here's a sample of some favorites.

The priciest meal of the week:
scallops, $2.50 on sale
brown rice, $0.18 per portion
fresh asparagus, $0.87 on sale
Total cost: $3.55

Another favorite:
mahi mahi, $2.26 on sale
brown rice, $0.18 per portion
frozen corn, $0.10 per portion
frozen green beans, $0.10 per portion
Total cost: $2.64

Veggie burritos, a quick and easy regular:
whole wheat tortilla, $0.11 per portion
brown rice, $0.18 per portion
black beans, $0.20 per portion
homemade salsa, $0.10 per portion
shredded lettuce, $$0.15 per portion
Total cost: $0.74 !!!!!!!!

If you open my pantry right now, you'll find at least a six month supply of my favorite mineral water. Normally $3 per bottle, I stocked up when it was on sale for $0.99. It won't go bad, and I know it will be consumed at some point. Hopefully the store will run another sale as I start to run low.

The frugality shines through in other elements. I go out of my way to live in places that have a variety of shops and services within walking or biking distance. Not only does this exponentially increase my quality of life by reducing the amount of time spent fighting traffic, but on average, I use less than one tank of gas per month. Most months, actually, it's about a half-tank, but other months are obviously higher.

These small steps in my life make a huge difference. And that's a good thing, because I have expensive hobbies. I love to travel; and I believe that the highest and best use of 'extra' money is spent having a spectacular meal and gorgeous wine with my best friends. Whether this means going out to an incredible restaurant, or inviting people over for a lovingly-prepared dinner party, the cost of these events comprise the majority of my recreation and entertainment budgets. It is the one area where I don't take shortcuts.

Even when I travel, I'm an off-season traveler. This is in large part a survival tactic. I despise crowds. By traveling off-season, I get to enjoy a much more leisurely pace to my days, receive attentive service, am far more likely to be upgraded on my flights/hotels/cars, and spend anywhere from one-half to one-third than if I traveled during peak times.

I know that in our world, there is such an emphasis on various shortcuts to wealth. But I have to tell you, I'd love to see some of those crazy financially-based reality shows (Flipper Nation and the like) replaced with some good common sense application of the FUNDAMENTALS of wealth building.

4/03/2007

Send Galina Serin to Prison

Casey Serin has gone out of his way in recent months to deny that his wife had any role in his multiple frauds and felonies. But his own words (and photos) betray that. In truth, Galina Serin has been involved in Casey's scams and get-rich-quick deals since the beginning.

Casey claims that wife Galina Serin was merely an outsider in his multiple frauds and schemes. But ignorance or stupidity has never been some sort of 'get out of jail free' card. In fact, of the four states where Casey and Galina Serin perpetrated their crimes, all four state that debt is a community property.

Since Casey and Galina Serin are California residents, the scenario is most easily clarified through California Family Code:

§910. (a) Except as otherwise expressly provided by statute, the community estate is liable for a debt incurred by either spouse before or during marriage, regardless of which spouse has the management and control of the property and regardless of whether one or both spouses are parties to the debt or to a judgment for the debt.

In short, Casey Serin can prattle on all he wants about Galina Serin having signed quit-claim deeds so that he was in sole possession of the properties. The state of California doesn't care who's name is on a particular bill. This is further reinforced by the fact that Casey Serin admits that the couple used credit cards in Galina's name to support various issues for their shady 'real estate business.'

That first co-mingled dirty penny confirmed to the state of California that Galina Serin was a willing participant. Of course, the business licenses are damning enough. It's a fairly implausible situation for two spouses two jointly register a corporation (or LLC or DBA) yet somehow only one spouse expects to hold liability for the venture.

Now, before you go crying a tear for Galina Serin, let's not forget that, as Casey has pointed out, Galina Serin has been studying to become a Certified Public Accountant. So she would have actually have been far more qualified than Casey to read over the mortgage documents, or at the very least, assess the gravity of the situation her husband was entering into.

Just as I'm inclined to not believe other spouses whose husbands commit various crimes, I find it impossible to believe that Galina Serin had no knoweldge of her husband's nefarious activities. By Casey Serin's own admission, Galina Serin has been the point person for their shady accounting since the beginning.



As you can see from the above, Galina Serin had a much broader and clearer picture of the family finances than anyone else. I'm just not buying that she couldn't perform the basic addition/subtraction functions to see a negative amount in the final line of the accounting.

So while Casey Serin was playing with his tech toys and other assorted shiny objects, it's just too precious to think that Galina Serin was blind to the multiple schemes and frauds, making her a party to them.

But let's say she is 'mentally challenged.' At least one state where Casey and Galina Serin committed their crime spree won't care. The Great State of Texas is notorious for prosecuting (hell, even executing) retarded folk. So Galina Serin's 80 IQ won't get her out of this, either.

Now, as we've recently been told, Galina Serin has been studying full-time for her Associates Degree in accounting...for at least four of the past six years. Whether or not this is another Casey Serin lie or not, anyone who has been in school for a specialized certification would have learned the very basics of the field.

When Galina Serin was doing the books for the Serin family frauds, she had to have known that there would be just a wee problem with Casey Serin's stated-income loans where he reported to earn $200,000-$300,000 per year. (This was one of Casey Serin's late-night admissions during last weekend's beg-a-thon.)

Now onto the Serin family's new path to righteousness: Bankruptcy.

First of all, to even remotely qualify for bankruptcy protection, Casey and Galina Serin would have to come clean, under penalty of perjury, about the frauds. I doubt they're willing to do that. So let's assume that they will continue to compile one lie on top of another, and 'ignore' the fraud element, because, well, everybody's doing it.

Should they take that route, the feds can tack on some additional sweet charges such as perjury and bankruptcy fraud, just for starters. But at the end of the day, bankruptcy does NOT protect anyone from the financial condequences of FRAUD and CRIME !!!

Here are some other fun charges for the dynamic dumbasses. Let's move onto Conspiracy. Black's Law defines Conspiracy as "an agreement by two or more persons to commit an unlawful act, coupled with an intent to achieve the agreement's objective, and action or conduct that furthers the agreement; a combination for an unlawful purpose."

It is worth pointing out that just because the desired outcome was not achieved does not eliminate conspiracy. In other words, even unsuccessful criminal enterprises such as those perpetrated by Casey and Galina Serin fall under conspiracy.

Galina Serin can probably look forward to some other fun charges: RICO (pattern of racketeering), racketeering (including but not limited to mail fraud, wire fraud, financial institution fraud), and money laundering (Galina's keeping the books and more than a few folks have noticed that there are at least a couple hundred thousand dollars unaccounted for).

Among the wait-and-see charges, we might also see some tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud thrown into the mix just for fun.

Joe Rogan Udate

There are some past stories in this blog that need an update. Let's start with Joe Rogan. If you're sitting there wondering why I even remotely care about a feud between two comedians, check out the previous story about Joe Rogan, plagiarism, and why all creatives should care.

As these things are wont to do, the story of the Comedy Store incident between Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia took on a life of its own. Joe Rogan had taken a break from speaking publicly about the incident, but has issues one final word.

Much of the public outcry surrounding the Joe Rogan-Carlos Mencia feud was centered around the way that Rogan was punished for defending the original authors' rights to protect their work from joke-stealing Carlos Mencia.

Indeed, Joe Rogan was banned from the Comedy Store and dropped by the Gersh Agency, which up to that point had represented both Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia.

Like almost any whistle-blower will tell you, the consequence of doing the right thing can often be severe. Rogan's entire sign-off on the topic can be found on his website.

I recently received a quite ridiculous 5 page typed letter from the current
management accusing me of trying to get comics and patrons to boycott the comedy
store, which is completely and totally untrue. I have never told anyone to stop
going there. Some of the comics have chosen not to go, but that was purely out
of their own personal disgust with the store’s handling of the situation, not because I asked them to stop going.

I still have some good friends that perform there all the time. They’re very funny, and if you go there and see them you’ll laugh your ass off. Plus, it’s a great space to see comedy in. It’s a really cool old building that hasn’t changed all that much
from the time when it was a mob run nightclub in the 1940’s. It’s one of those very few remaining old Hollywood landmarks that’s still around. So please, by all means go there and have a good time. You just won’t be seeing me there ever again, and here’s where we get to why...

The really funny part of this silly 5 page letter that they sent me was where they claimed that the “real reason” that I was banned from the comedy store, was that they had asked me to stop filming there for my little internet reality show, and by releasing that video of The Carlos™ and I onstage I had violated their rules, and that I had to be “disciplined” for that. What was so funny about that to me, was that the
reason they stated that they wanted me to stop filming there was that they’re claiming that those clips that I put up on my website constitute a “Show,” and that if I’m filming this “Show” at the club, I should be compensating them financially for it.

What’s so funny about that? Well, what’s really funny to me about them asking me for money to film there was that the entire time I performed at the comedy store, over 13 years, literally one third of my entire life on this planet, I performed FOR FREE. For the hundreds of times my name was on the Marquee on sunset advertising “Fear Factor’s Joe Rogan” I did those shows for them 100% for free. I even advertised when I was going to be there, sending out myspace messages to everyone on my list, every time I performed there.

Not only that, I even purchased the very sound system they use in there right now to this day. They had a cheap, tinny system there that would cut in and out, and the speakers were blown, and it was a real nuisance to perform with. The club didn’t have the money to fix it supposedly, so I decided to take care of it myself. I bought a whole new set up with top of the line shit - speakers, CD burner, the whole 9 yards. I paid for all of it 100% out of my own pocket.

It wasn’t just the LA club that I performed at for free for them either. The comedy store has a sister club down near San Diego in La Jolla, and on two separate occasions I traveled down there and packed the place for the whole weekend, did press for it, radio interviews advertising it, sent out letters to everyone on my email list and my myspace page, and never took a penny from them. They even jacked up the ticket price for those weekends because I was there. I did it all completely as a favor to the club.

So after all that I’ve done for them, the fact that they would tell me that if I wanted to continue filming my clips for the internet there that they expected to be paid money for it was fucking mind blowing. It’s like this situation is getting more and more surreal, and this was just some new level of gross that I was somehow expected to digest.

What’s really funny, was that the way I was looking at the typed words on the pages of this letter they sent me asking me to pay them, was exactly the same as the looks on the faces of those poor Fear Factor contestants when I was trying to feed them
boiled horse rectums. Like, “I can’t fucking believe you expect me to swallow this.”

That's some serious 'insult to injury' right there. While that would sting, the fact that Rogan took a while to compose this "last" message on the topic suggests that he's now on the back side of this. He goes on to say that he and Pauly Shore spoke on the phone shortly after the initial fracas and that they've buried the hatchet.

He then goes on to wax nostalgic about the Comedy Store and everything he's been able to take away from there. These are the words of a person who is truly passionate about his work. It was this passion, and the sense of justice, that first brought me to care about this story. Read for yourself:

I had a great fucking time all the years I was performing there, and I wouldn’t change a thing about the way it all went down. Like all things in this crazy life I’m living, it was all imperfectly perfect, exactly the way I like it.

When I was first starting out doing stand up in Boston, the comedy store was always this ultimate destination that could never really live up to the expectations that we had for it. It was larger than life. It wasn’t just another club, it was like Mecca to us comics that had never been there. It was the place where Sam Kinison and Richard Pryor performed. It represented something above and beyond the rest of the clubs.

It was an idea.

It was an idea – that there was one club, one place, all the way across the country where they GOT it. Where the smartest crowds would go to see the sharpest comedy. A place where no hacks were allowed.

A place where the inmates ran the asylum, and the person responsible for it all was this great woman that loved stand up comedy and understood the nature of the beast. When I first started performing there, it was far more important to me than even getting on TV. I mean it was cool to be on a TV show and all, but what was
REALLY cool to me at the time was that I was a regular at the motherfuckin’
comedy store. I was finally THERE.

I always knew that was the club that I needed to perform at, and I was there.

When all this shit went down a few weeks ago, the decision to never come back by me was made when I called Mitzi to discuss what happened, told her about the video and explained to her that it was going on the internet, she told me to just avoid The Carlos™ and she gave me a spot at 10pm that night. About an hour later when the manager called me to tell me I was banned- not knowing that I had just talked to Mitzi herself- it was a very obvious moment.

I could FEEL it.

I saw the man behind the curtain, and I realized that the moment we comedy store comics had always feared had finally come to pass - the moment where Mitzi was no longer running things. I also realized that I had done my last set there.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, if I truly loved the idea of what the comedy store meant to me, then I had to walk away, because the reality of the situation was
completely contrary to that idea. To stay and accept their bullshit would be a complete insult to the art form itself.

If the fucking comedy store –THE place- openly accepts a blatant plagiarist and punishes the guy that exposed him, there really can be no more obvious offense. That, and the fact that they somehow think that this video shouldn’t have been released -arguably the most important anti-plagiarism event EVER in the history of stand up- just shows how completely out of touch they are, and how there’s no fucking way they should ever be trusted again to do the right thing.

I was 99.9% sure that it was over for me, but the ridiculous letter they sent me
completely sealed the deal. There’s no sadness though, and I’m entering this new stage in my life with giddy, childlike enthusiasm, and I’m happily going where the universe takes me. I’m really fucking loving performing in all these different places, and the idea of what the comedy store meant to me, lives on everywhere I go.

I remember one night Joey Diaz and I were on the road in Houston, and after a
particularly wild show the audience was screaming and cheering, I thanked
them, handed the microphone back to Joey to say goodnight, he gave me knuckles and he yelled into the mic, “That’s the comedy store, motherfuckers! That’s how we do it!!” I’ll never forget that moment. He wasn’t just talking about a building back in Hollywood where we performed at; he was talking about an idea. He was talking about completely uncensored, raw and honest stand up comedy, and as long as there’s stand up, that idea will always be alive.

I take it with me everywhere I go, and if you come out to see me on the road with Joey Diaz, Ari Shaffir, Duncan Trussell, or anyone else I’m with, we bring that idea with us. We take that idea everywhere we perform. We took it to the Upright itizens Brigade in LA last Friday night, and I’m taking it to the improv in Pittsburgh tonight.

It’s not about some special container that you perform in, it’s about what you bring to whatever place you’re at, whether it’s a gigantic theatre or a tiny coffee house. hat idea will live on.

Long live the idea of the comedy store."

With any luck, Rogan will work out a deal to buy out the Comedy Store. I would think that if Mitzi Shore still has any say in the club's operations, she would want to pass the torch to someone like Joe Rogan, whose passion for that space is palpable.

As for Rogan being dropped by the Gersh Agency, it truly sounds like Gersh lost big time and that Joe Rogan came out on top. Joe Rogan gets the last word there, too, saying

As far as my agency goes, once Gersh dropped me, I got on the phone with my
manager and we signed on with the William Morris agency literally 5 minutes
later. They’re my stand up agents now. As for the backlash against Gersh’s
unethical behavior, Louis CK left them over this, so did Nick Swardson, and from
what I understand a lot of other large name clients either have left them, or
are looking for new agents now.

Carlos Mencia won't be let off the hook so easily. Comedy fans continue to circulate petitions to have his show removed from Comedy Central. Some cite the fact that Mencia just isn't funny, while others advocate for the show's removal because of Carlos Mencia's blatent plagiarism.

While the early days of this story seemed to have Joe Rogan by the throat, I'm thrilled to see that, well, justice really does prevail. Carlos Mencia's reputation is severly tarnished, while hundreds of thousands of people (like me) who didn't have either of these guys on their radar perked up to the issue.

By standing up to one of the comedy industry's most visable plagiarists, Joe Rogan developed the kind of following that can't be bought or manufactured. Meanwhile, Carlos Mencia is left with a storm of notoriety.

4/02/2007

America's Love Affair With Deadbeats

I still have a bit of a financial-disgust hangover from Casey Serin's weekend beg-a-thon. Of course, in this frame of mind, it was probably not the right day for a friend to send me an email about the latest tax numbers.

The Tax Founation has released its latest special report, Who Pays America's Tax Burden, and Who Gets the Most Government Spending? The report finds that,

"Overall, we find that America's lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America's highest-earning households received $0.41. Government spending targeted at the lowest-earning 60 percent of U.S. households is larger than what they paid in federal, state and local taxes. In 2004, between $1.03 trillion and $1.53 trillion was redistributed downward from the two highest income quintiles to the three lowest income quintiles through government taxes and spending policy."

While I questioned the rise of America's bottom-feeding class this past weekend, who knew that my Inbox would unearth even more of Casey Serin and his ilk. Maybe this is the "richness" in the lethargic class's "get rich quick" idea. After all, here in America, you can contribute the least and take the most, with few if any consequences.

As if that weren't bad enough, the Tax Foundation points out that "'Americans will work longer to pay for government (120 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (105 days)," said Hodge. "Since 1986 taxes have cost more than these basic necessities. In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone (79 days) than they will to afford housing (62 days).'

In 2007 Americans will work another 41 days to afford their state and local taxes. That makes taxation a bigger financial burden than housing and household operation (62 days), health and medical care (52 days), food (30 days), transportation (30 days), recreation (22 days), or clothing and accessories (13 days)."


A rabid Libertarian friend has been advocating "No Representation Without Taxation" for years. In his mind, this means that, for example, the unemployed should not be able to vote on issues such as welfare spending or reforms.

After all, how many of us make an 800% return on our investments in one year? Far from it, most of us will spend the first 120 working days of 2007 to not only contribute to our communities' infrastructure, but to support the underachievers around us.

Have at it.....

4/01/2007

Casey Serin,
The End is Nigh

Casey Serin, dancing monkey, is winding down the show. After groveling to people he's been calling "haters" for the past several months, Casey returns to his petulant and arrogant self.

The very day after readers save his ass from the long arm of CashCall, Casey Serin starts posting some whiny rants about even greater amounts that he feels his readers owe him.

Fuck him. Apparently Friday night's beg-a-thon produced a couple of results. The lowlife circus atmosphere of Casey Serin taking photos of the contents of Yulia's refrigerator was a new low. Even the questionably-abled and ethically-challenged "mortgage lender" Nigel Swaby said 'enough.'

It was always a curious alliance--a mortgage lender befriending and defending a multi-state mortgage felon. But bloggers had been speculating for months that Nigel was positioning himself to eventually take over Casey Serin's website to use as a lead-generator.

And sure enough, after Casey Serin's whoring on Friday night, Nigel Swaby informed Casey he was severing whatever partnership or business dealings that were planned. I'm only surprised that any legitimate real estate pro would touch Casey Serin with a ten-foot pole. Who could possibly imagine that would be a career booster?

Other events in the world of America's favorite fucktard, Casey Serin is his idea of an April Fool's joke.

I Bought 1.3 Million Shares of GSPG
Via my corporation. On Friday. At
$0.0034. Why not?

Yeah, that's really funny. Shows a lot of gratitude to those folks who saved Yulia's couch from the CashCall collectors. You're an asshole, Casey Serin. The only thing we want to hear from you is when you stand up and reply "Yes" to the judge who asks, "Mr. Serin, is it true that you won't be testifying on your own behalf?"

The only thing I thought was funny was that, for all of the BITCHING that Casey Serin does about his supposed "haters" and the "Casey Serin hater sites" out there, he keeps one in particular in his toolbar for what could only be frequent reading.

No, this is not photoshopped. No, this is not an April Fool's joke. As we suspected all along, Casey Serin is Rob Dawg's biggest fan. Even Casey gets that he couldn't exist in the blogosphere without people like Rob.



Okay, Blogger is squashing the pic and I'm not in the mood to futz with the resolution too much. In case you don't have eyesight that allows you to see clouds around planets, it basically shows that Casey has ExUrbanNation open in his browser, obviously hopping back and forth to Rob Dawg's site.