@dead

I have a buddy who worked on these games. They got sued to shit after the game's first commercials aired. Their funds were gouged to death in the lawsuit, but the games were still well-received enough to warrant a sequel.
When it came time to market the sequel, some stubborn executive(s) decided: "you know what? fuck those guys. we're doing it anyway!"
Snuggle took every penny they made off the sequel. If I recall, they had nothing to show for an entire sequel's worth of efforts but their giant, golden balls. Just crazy.

Even the guy who told me the story does so with a hint of "That's right. We fucking did it anyway" tone himself.

Hilarious.

As cool as this is, it's annoyingly typical of Penny Arcade. Amazing world building, great setting, but the barest of characters and no actual story arc.

It always feels like Jerry is only interested in the fun early part of creating a setting and bored by the mechanics of actually telling a story.

I understand completely what this man has said. My wife passed away a bit over 3 years ago, and after all was said and done from the funeral, to the headstone at the cemetery, I had spent nearly 15k. You know what? I don't regret a penny of it. Her funeral service was lovely, and gave myself, her friends, and other family members an opportunity to say goodbye and to reflect on the good experiences she brought everyone. It was beautifully done and I honestly believe I'd regret not having done that.

Another year already? Like a bad penny, I'm back to wish you an oh so delightful Birthday criticalthud. Enjoy your day

Hey Fritz my pet ... hope you aren't peeved that I'm back to wish you a very Merry Birthday. I'm like a bad penny that way

Me too, but I knew it would be a pretty penny even at a dollars to the penny ratio.

I just realized, he just unintentionally told us ALL how to do this for ourselves....if you have debt, simply start a company that buys debt (you can start one for almost nothing in many areas), buy your own debt at $.005 per $1 of debt and write it off as a business loss, then close the doors....debt gone! Thanks John, that could actually work! Brilliant. EDIT: Maybe I should start a service that allows people to do just that for 1% of the final cost....so if they buy their $20000 debt for $100, I make $1. Hmmmmm...my idea, nos scopies mees.

Um, I don't think so.

The credit card companies or the hospitals or whoever the original lenders were had already sold the debt at pennies on the dollar, long before it was resold to Oliver. They had already taken the loss and no debt collection company was going to change the amount of their actual losses. The debt collection agency pockets the profit -- the difference between what they paid for it and what they actually collected.

The only thing the government isn't getting is income tax on the forgiven debt. (If your debt is forgiven, that is taxable income in a lot of cases.)

I think that the GOP is in full-on panic mode, and doesn't care about legitimacy / shot at winning for this election.

They (the party elites) will do absolutely everything they can to prevent Trump from getting enough delegates to lock up the nomination. Hence Colorado and Wyoming. Those actions make it seem like they prefer Cruz, but actually they dislike him close to as much as they hate Trump.

Although it is still mathematically possible for Cruz (559 delegates) to get enough delegates to lock up the nomination (1237 needed), realistically it is out of reach (826 still available). Trump (756 delegates), on the other hand, could well manage it. So, the GOP strategy is to avoid that at all costs by encouraging people to vote for Cruz or Kasich in primaries, or even better to encourage more state GOP offices to hold a smoke-filled room convention that grants all the delegates to #NeverTrump instead of even bothering to let people vote.

If they manage that, the contested national convention will get ugly. They (GOP elites) would turn on Cruz instantly -- cast aside. In any other election cycle they would have turned on him already, but with juggernaut Trump, they have to use him to get to the contested convention.

So the question becomes who if not Trump or Cruz? Who will the GOP try to push in? I think that right now, they aren't as worried about answering that question as they are about trying to get there. That being said, they have some options:

Mitt Romney was their first thought. He took some tentative steps towards playing along with the GOP plans, failed to generate any excitement, and has since faded back into relative obscurity. But he remains an option.

Next up was Paul Ryan. A lot of the GOP see him as the future of the party; the "great white hope". There was a flurry of activity making it seem like he was going to take up the flag, but has since denied that he would be interested in or even accept getting the nod. However, he was cagey and close to as vocal against getting the nod to be speaker of the house, and then accepted that. You never know.

Kasich would be another option. He's relatively benign, and wouldn't offend many more of the republican base than the GOP is already ready and willing to offend in order to prevent Trump (and to a lesser extent Cruz).


Of those, I tend to think that Romney is the most likely choice for the GOP in the end. I think it would be extremely stupid to foist "future of the party" Ryan into this election, which would certainly taint his political future. Kasich makes a lot of sense, but on the other hand, "in for a penny, in for a pound" -- as long as the GOP is willing to go to these great lengths to keep Trump out they might as well just own the illegitimacy of it, shoot the moon, and hand pick someone that a) they have complete control over, and b) has nothing to lose in terms of political future. Voila, Mitt Romney.


I also don't think that the GOP will just throw in the towel if Trump locks down the number of delegates needed for the nomination. I'm sure they already have some last-ditch, scorched earth preliminary plans in place for that contingency.

However, I think that they essentially already have thrown in the towel with regards to the election in general. At least to a sufficient degree that they don't give a rats ass about the chances for whoever is the republican nominee winning. That's a *distant* priority behind NOT TRUMP, among other things. Which is pretty stupid, because the likely nomination of Hillary on the democrat side gives them what should be a *golden* opportunity to steal the election. IF they could come up with a vaguely tolerable candidate ... which they won't.

Go into any community in America practically. If you look you will find churches feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, visiting the sick, and generally providing help for the neediest members of the community. Because I am part of such a community, I see that going on first hand each and every day. I know people who have been tirelessly doing these kinds of things for decades and have never received a penny from any of it. The only reason they do it is because they love God and love people. You dont get to see those kinds of Christians because they don't call attention to themselves. Many of them, especially the older generations, aren't even on the internet.

Inevitably, the US Government will end the tax exemption for the church because that is the way things are going in the world. Eventually, anti-christians will have their wish; Christians will be hated by all nations and there will be an attempt to exterminate them globally as it is happening right now in the middle east. That is prophecy from the Lord Jesus Christ, and when that happens, remember that He said it would happen. I hope and pray for all of you, as the world grows darker and the end looms, that you will know in your soul that what is happening is wrong even if everyone else says it is right. I pray you will have the conviction in your heart to turn to the Lord before it is too late. God bless.

Matthew 24:9

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake

OMG...I was SOOOO hoping you would make that argument.
The 'blanket' minimum wage is the minimum we have decided that those living in the cheapest places to live should be paid. I agree, it should be based on cost of living...but the $15 an hour standard is what we've said should be the minimum in back woods Appalachia, and in larger cities it should be well over $20. Reduce the pay at the top to a reasonably high level and that won't cost most businesses another penny.

OK, bay area....you said ""those who choose to live there need to consider their income" ....ignoring the majority of people who are 'stuck' there without sufficient income; those who've lost financial stability, or those born there to poor parents who have never made any choice, and usually their parents who no longer have a choice to make at this point. They simply can't afford to move. The same goes for most low income people anywhere, they don't "choose" to live there, they don't have the luxury of a 'choice'. ...or are you lobbying for free moving and relocation services for the poor?

10 years ago, $15 an hour was not a living wage in many places, the bay area for one. I left there 20 years ago, and $15 an hour was pretty hard to live on as a single man sharing an apartment THEN, I can't imagine how it is now, especially for those with children.

No, you didn't say ONLY kids living at home have minimum wage jobs, but you did mention them as if they are a large percentage of minimum wage workers, and the group we should focus on, and implied that wages should be determined (at least in part) by THEIR needs. They are in fact the smallest group of minimum wage workers, and even they need more money to eventually move out.

Really? " those unwilling to put in the effort and gain the skill required to actually do a decent service to society." If you really believe a large percentage of people working for minimum wage are "unwilling to put in effort" to better themselves, I just don't know what to say. That's completely batshit insane, they work insanely hard for little compensation, with little respite, and absolutely no respect. Most are putting out more than a reasonable maximum effort just to go deeper into debt constantly, there is no amount of effort that makes more time to make more money to pay for training, or an amount of effort that makes tuition free. Also, who do you think will take over for them if they all put in the effort and gain the skill required to actually do a decent service to society"...(whatever the hell that insulting statement is supposed to mean besides implying they aren't decent or serving society today...by choice)?
What are you talking about "Complacency shouldn't be allowed to make life more difficult for all of us"? WHAT?!? OK, yes, so stop being so complacent about the horrendous way we treat those at the bottom of the financial system because that makes life more difficult for all of us by forcing those with 'more' (but not enough 'more' to avoid taxes) to pay higher taxes for welfare, prisons, policing, housing, etc....by making the nation more crime ridden because it's the only way to make a living for so many...by overtaxing our medical system because so many can't afford to be preemptive with their health and only accept medical help when it's at emergency stage...etc.

If the funds to raise the lowest wages don't come from the extravagant pay that goes to the top and are instead being transferred directly to consumers, yes, it's a vicious cycle. That's why you have to ALSO lower top compensation by law, like maybe tie it to the lowest paid worker in the company. That would stop inflation from being a feedback loop with wages.

Nice profile pic Sketch! Like a bad penny, I'm back to wish you a Happy Birthday. Savor the day

You have been awarded 1 Power Point for fixing the embed code for Dead Pool video Penny Lane Literal Version. Thank you for helping maintain VideoSift's reliability.

Like a bad penny, I turn up again to wish you a Happy Birthday tsarsfield! Enjoy

Once again, the Catholic Church is clearly and incontrovertibly guilty of being a criminal organization. Why in the hell have they not been brought up on RICO charges and had every penny they own in each country converted to public property? They are actually more guilty than NAMBLA, who at least admits who they are and what they do, rather than using their considerable power and influence to hide it and continue the abuse in 'secret', or protecting well known perpetrators from prosecution.
Fuck the church. Organized religion is one of the most disastrous ideas in human history.

So this is just fucking great. I'll tell you, i recognise the kid in the picture and i remember what happened to Jamie Bulger. What a fucking wonderful way to sensationalise it and get a few quid from youtube views.

Just so you know, that young boy was led away from safety and led on a death march through populated areas, crying himself hoarse and scared - no, terrified and desperate and pleading - in a way that only a child can be. He was marched past some 30 odd people and everyone looked away because they thought they were brothers. To his poor little mind, he must have thought that all those strangers were in on it.

Once he had been walked miles away from where he was found to a secluded spot, he was tortured and mutilated, the details of which are harrowing even to simply READ about.

One can only imagine the relentless fear that this poor little kid went through and it brings tears to my eyes to contemplate it. This is something that affected me really strongly as a child, when it happened, and i can't believe that there are people who would use that to make money. Every single penny that they made off this video should be going to the families that suffered.

I hope whoever made money off this fucking video chokes on it and knows that what they've done regardless of their intent is to glorify and profit off some of the most desperate suffering that very few humans will ever experience. Profiting off the misery of a kidnapped, tortured, dead little baby.

By fucking god i hope there is a heaven and i hope Jamie Bulger is there and happy right now. I couldn't even bear to watch the majority of it. I look forward to the day that the bastards who did it are found and killed and i hope it's fucking slow. It makes you want to wipe the human race out and let nature start again. What a truly disgusting video to make and to present.