Holy fuck, he's killing me! He weaseled out $715 bucks out of 15 people.
Here's The Griftfather in his prime, baby!
"I've struggled to make it this far, from living in a van down by the
river to about 3/4 of a bachelor's degree. I'm out of funds for the last
lap."
Yep, Beth Aultman closed the ATM. Of course, John trashed her too.
You have to check out the pages.
Go through the "Story", "FAQ", "Updates" and "Comments".
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-me-finish-my-ba#/updates/all
"Help Me Finish My BA" - which he never did. John dropped out a lot of
credits short before that could happen. John claims he had done about
75%. Beth aultman indicated he flunked a few courses and never got to
the third year.
1. Let's start with the "Comments". It claims there's 2 comments. But
there aren't any. That's likely because John deleted them or made them
private.
2. FAQ - It's kind of boilerplate screed. Enough said.
3. Updates - More begging!
"So it's been an up and down kind of first week. First we'll get to the
up:
An anonymous donor - anonymous to you, I mean, someone I know - has sent
me two thousand dollars.
On the up side, that means my rent is paid up and I only have the
outstanding bills remaining to unlock my account. What was left
amounted to about $2,200-ish...except sitting right next to the check
was a court date for an eviction notice, and so there's been $1133 added
to my bill for that, but I'm going to see how much I can fight them on
it since that pressure added or subtracted not a single moment of the
time it took me to pay the bill. But as things stand now, the $3600 I
owe the school is more like $4750, but part of that ($1350-ish) is taken
care of now, and I have enough food to last a couple of weeks.
The difference between that and $7500 is rent and food hopefully to last
me through next spring.
For now, let's just say that whatever that number is on the right, add
$2000. The goal is still $7500. I'll have more about where it's all
going, what happens if I raise more, what I'm doing to help myself, and
much more soon.
Also, depending on how you make your payment, your perks may be
available before the end of the campaign. It appears that payments made
to IGG directly through PayPal are processed right. A couple of the contributions thus far have been made that way. If you make your
payment through PayPal (i.e. if I get the money) before the end of the campaign, I'll get your shirt to you soonest.
More to come soon."
Needless to say, that never happened.
4. The Story - Well, here's the best part of the grift:
"The Final Lap
I have worked my way from literally living in a van down by the river to
almost completing my bachelor's degree in media production, with a
political science minor. I have struggled greatly with finances
throughout my life and my college career, and now I've hit the final
challenge - I need help to get this done.
I'm a 43 year old father and grandfather who has constantly wavered
between following my heart and dreams, and "doing the right thing."
"The right thing" has constantly proven to be a short-term solution with
no long-term benefit, and it's time to focus on doing what I know I can
do well. I need to finish my degree for various reasons. Primarily, I
want the education; secondarily, in my line of work (as in most) you
simply won't be taken seriously without a degree. This degree helps me
take a huge step forward from "guy on the internet" to "subject matter
expert regarding social and political issues and mass communication."
"John Henry the long-haired guy screaming at a camera" isn't going to
get booked on Jon Stewart or have access to start-up funding - or for
that matter the credibility to support a successful crowdfunding
campaign - for a media company. Instead of being a drain on the
resources of social welfare programs, I can once again become a taxpayer
and, ultimately, job creator. I have big goals for my education, and
the only thing standing in my way is lack of funding. Current Situation
At present, I am several months behind on rent for my dorm room - in
fact, I was sent an eviction notice giving me 7 days to pay up 14 days
ago - I literally could be homeless at any moment. I'm also in debt to
the school's food services for several months of meals charged on
"credit" against my student account, due to having no other options
available for food. As a result, my student account is "locked," meaning
I cannot register for more classes, which means I can't access the
student loan system until the existing debt is paid off.
My current total outstanding debt is about $3600. I have set my
fundraising goal to $7500 so that I can not only pay the debt off but be certain that I'm able to cover my rent for my remaining time in school
and pay for food to cook at home rather than relying on the $10/meal
cafeteria service."
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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