GhostofBiedny
Celestial
Yes it's a mandatory part of the Schemology course.
Gene Steinberg's Financial Shenanigans @ Paracast forums
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Yes it's a mandatory part of the Schemology course.
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
Don't mean to worry you guys, but it seems he is "sinking fast" (into a giant pile of his own BS). Better start sending him money:
goblin
Noble
If he is telling the truth then his bills exceed his income. He must be relying on donations to make up the shortfall, which is a bad plan. Even banking on driving for Uber to make up the shortfall is not wise at this point.
He needs to get real about what they can actually afford each month. Or just keep hoping someone bails him out.
I take it that saying it will be far easier to keep going means no promises he wouldn’t “need” to keep begging.
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
I doubt he is telling the truth in terms of what needs paying. What has been clear for the last ten years or so is that he lives beyond his means and he will never ever change that. It is such a simple thing which would sort out all his money worries but he has never even considered it an option. It would be tragic if he weren't such a loathsome scumbag.
The shadow
The shadow knows!
209 his cell phone now.. does he pay for anything? he expects to have us pay everything? note no storage locker..
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
He forgot about the storage locker.
Standingstones
Celestial
It seems quite clear that Steinberg can’t or won’t change his ways. He can’t figure out that people have seen through his charades. The begging money has been drying up and he can’t bring himself to tighten his budget. There is only one thing to do in his mind. Send out more emails and beg for more money.
He won’t take any advice or get help by government or local means. That is so beneath the mighty Gene Steinberg. I wonder if his gut churns putting himself and the wife through this lifestyle. Some people can’t bring themselves to change. He is one of those types. He will just have to suffer until the end comes.
He won’t take any advice or get help by government or local means. That is so beneath the mighty Gene Steinberg. I wonder if his gut churns putting himself and the wife through this lifestyle. Some people can’t bring themselves to change. He is one of those types. He will just have to suffer until the end comes.
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
It is not so much beneath him (although that is how he frames it). The more likely reason is that he would need to turn over details of his finances in order to get government help.
That would reveal that he had more than enough money to live off and make it clear that he was living beyond his means.
At that point he would simply be told that he was on his own and could sort his own problems out.
That is why he always rejects such suggestions.
He knows he would not qualify for any help, at least not unless he makes significant changes to the way he lives and as we all know that is something he completely refuses to do.
erickson
Honorable
The last email is simply a reminder that Gene has clung to a fantasy. How long has he been "working hard" to boost the Paracast revenue? How many times has he assured people that the problem is temporary, that if he can get through a crisis it will be easier to keep up? How long has it been apparent that ride sharing is not a way out?
Gene - and I hope you are reading this - your email raises a series of other questions. How many times have you visited the senior center and eaten a meal there? How many applications for low income senior housing have you completed to get on a waiting list? And even if the present situation is real, how many times have you thought about apologizing for all the money you received under false pretenses?
I think Gene is in a difficult situation - the motel rent probably exceeds social security. I would be surprised if the Paracast and NightOwl brings in as much revenue as it did when the bankruptcy petition was filed. Ride sharing is not a solution. Mr. Amazing will not give him another commercial loan and how many people will do what Torson did for him? Even if Gene could find an apartment, a landlord that would somehow rent to him, it will not be easier to keep going in the future any more than it has in the past.
As I have written before, the only way out that I can see is for Gene to find subdsidized senior housing that is tied to around 30% of his income - even if that means rethinking whether the Paracast should be run as a commercial venture. Anything else is an illusion. An endlessly repeating cycle. But I am just repeating myself and don't see the need to do that very much longer (if at all), unless something new happens.
But one last time - Gene, don't repeat that you are doing all the things that have not worked for the past ten years. Demonstrate that you are have an exit plan, that you are using the resources available to you and taking steps to actually change.
It's time for Randall, Grayson, and anyone else who knows Gene, to do an intervention. It is not simply that Gene has destroyed whatever credibility he had - and whatever credibility the Paracast had - but Gene is incapable of changing on his own.
Gene - and I hope you are reading this - your email raises a series of other questions. How many times have you visited the senior center and eaten a meal there? How many applications for low income senior housing have you completed to get on a waiting list? And even if the present situation is real, how many times have you thought about apologizing for all the money you received under false pretenses?
I think Gene is in a difficult situation - the motel rent probably exceeds social security. I would be surprised if the Paracast and NightOwl brings in as much revenue as it did when the bankruptcy petition was filed. Ride sharing is not a solution. Mr. Amazing will not give him another commercial loan and how many people will do what Torson did for him? Even if Gene could find an apartment, a landlord that would somehow rent to him, it will not be easier to keep going in the future any more than it has in the past.
As I have written before, the only way out that I can see is for Gene to find subdsidized senior housing that is tied to around 30% of his income - even if that means rethinking whether the Paracast should be run as a commercial venture. Anything else is an illusion. An endlessly repeating cycle. But I am just repeating myself and don't see the need to do that very much longer (if at all), unless something new happens.
But one last time - Gene, don't repeat that you are doing all the things that have not worked for the past ten years. Demonstrate that you are have an exit plan, that you are using the resources available to you and taking steps to actually change.
It's time for Randall, Grayson, and anyone else who knows Gene, to do an intervention. It is not simply that Gene has destroyed whatever credibility he had - and whatever credibility the Paracast had - but Gene is incapable of changing on his own.
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GhostofBiedny
Celestial
I very much doubt that, unless he is really only paying day to day instead of paying in advance, which makes no sense whatsoever.
Ride sharing might be a solution, if he did it - which he quite clearly doesn't.
Randall wants him to stay in this position. Indeed the worse Gene's situation is the closer (in his mind) he gets to taking over the Paracast completely. What he doesn't realise is that Gene will never give that up. There's a certain poetic beauty to two scammers who each think they are taking advantage of the other - it's a dynamic equilibrium of poor judgment married to lack of ethics.
Standingstones
Celestial
For whatever reason, Steinberg and Murphy fail to see that the Paracast is a lost cause. Steinberg has run his websites into the ground. Yet he fails to understand this. He feels as if he “improves” the look of the Paracast the money will start to flow to him. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Murphy has his own failure of a website. He is misguided if he inherits the Paracast and suddenly becomes the top dog. There is a reason the Paracast is now a failure. The members have been driven away or have been banned. Host and co-host can’t get that fact into their feeble minds. The one thing I am interested in is when it all comes crashing down. It may be days, months or years but one day the whole sordid affair will end for both of these charlatans.
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goblin
Noble
*gasp*
Live within his means?!?!
That would be like a death sentence! (to use a routine bit of Gene hyperbole)
goblin
Noble
I pretty much agree with all you have said here (as I usually do with your posts).
It's so hard to know what in his emails is true and what is bs calculated (right or wrong) to move people to shovel cash at him. But I have to think if I ran Gene's circus, my first step would be to get rid of the car payment. Unless the ride sharing is bringing in enough money to cover the car payment, car insurance, and cell phone bill each month, plus more on top of that, then what's the point? Ditch the car payment and car insurance and use Uber yourself, along with public transportation.
Next step, forget the storage facility. It's a waste, if your priority is getting to an apartment. Make an actual real monthly budget and abide by it.
To one of your points Erickson, pursue subsidized senior housing, and avail himself of the senior center meals and any related options. Forget about any streaming services. If the podcasts cost more than they bring in, figure out quickly how to bring those costs down. Hobbies are good but not at the expense of being homeless.
I'd also insist on a lot more honesty, though how I'd get it out of him, God alone knows. And no more begging emails, if I ran the circus. Patreon? Sure, maybe that, but none of these fundraisers or endless sponging.
They call me the Ringmaster, though I'm really just another clown.
goblin
Noble
Oh, sorry, P.S., one more thing -
You mention an intervention, and while I don't disagree with you such is way overdue, I believe Gene to be intervention-proof so long as he has some enablers and people who occasionally give him money.
If J. Randall Murphy and Anders and perhaps others work with him, he has enablers. If anyone still gives him cash (and I suspect it happens) he has hope he can somehow squeak this one out. (Well, "somehow" = suckering someone more generous than informed into giving him thousands of dollars.)
He is delusional, I'd say, but just maybe if he has no one left to prop him up he can finally see his 'strategy' has been ruinous rather than slick or clever, and accept an exit from the crazy train. Well, maybe. Perhaps he is in for a much harder stop than he has yet encountered.
Dewey
Honorable
I refuse to send money but I do have this old (but big and heavy) anchor I'd donate to aid in his sinking even faster.
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
The funniest part of the latest beg is that he now wants everyone to pay his cell phone bill too. I bet he kicked himself when he realised he hadn't asked people to pay that one. Now it will become a fixture.
Double Nought Spy
Celestial
When it comes to cars, people do all sorts of irrational things. I've been guilty of that, but my poor decisions there didn't cause any real trouble for anyone but me. I've seen people get "locked" into crappy jobs just because of car payments making it risky to do anything but stay and put up with it. We drove a car that my wife bought new for over 20 years when we were doing a lot of moving, and finally sold it with over 200,000 miles on it. It was still a good car.
Gene, listen:
A) Your car is not earning its keep, even if you really are using it to drive for Uber, which at this point looks like bullshit anyway. Either way, it's a moneypit you cannot remotely afford.
B) You don't need a car.
A+B=Get rid of the car. You should be an Uber customer, since you only occasionally need a car trip and that's a hell of a lot cheaper than owning any car, let alone some fancy ass thing you are paying an obscene amount of rent on. Public transit can get you most places you want to go. Better yet, do some walking. It's astonishingly good for you.
Gene, listen:
A) Your car is not earning its keep, even if you really are using it to drive for Uber, which at this point looks like bullshit anyway. Either way, it's a moneypit you cannot remotely afford.
B) You don't need a car.
A+B=Get rid of the car. You should be an Uber customer, since you only occasionally need a car trip and that's a hell of a lot cheaper than owning any car, let alone some fancy ass thing you are paying an obscene amount of rent on. Public transit can get you most places you want to go. Better yet, do some walking. It's astonishingly good for you.
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
That's true but that is quite different to Gene's situation. Those people have jobs and whilst they may end up working more hours to support their car loans they are not homeless and claiming to be unable to pay their rent.
Nobody but Gene prioritises car ownership above their house.
Further I've never come across someone who is unemployed who thinks they need a fancy car.
His car payments are more than any car I've ever had and I've had some decent cars. It is the most insane example of skewed priorities I've ever seen.
He is even basically admitting in his latest begging message that whole Lyft/Uber thing is garbage (by using his age as an excuse rather than laziness) but we already know he doesn't do any ride sharing.
So there is absolutely zero excuse for that massive expense beyond his ego and it being a personal representation of status.
It is just beyond ridiculous.
The shadow
The shadow knows!
sinking Fast
GhostofBiedny
Celestial
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