Starting today, I’d like to lay even (albeit virtual) money on the probability that the recent powerball winner from pig knuckle depot W.Va. will be either…
A. Embroiled in a scandal after he’s caught with a 15 year old boy (or girl) he paid for sex. :smack:
B. Stone broke from giving his winnings to his church, that is in need of a constant supply of paper fans and serpents. ;j
C. Shot dead by a jealous and scorned lover or employee after denying thier demands for compensation whilst in the midst of an attempted blackmail. :wally:
or
D. His pick-up truck will be struck by a speeding freight train after getting stuck at the crossing in the rain, while en route to the prison with his mama to pass out fudge and bible tracts to the inmates. :wally:
100 virtual bucks and all of my hope on “D”
he’s not a preacher, he’s owns a small construction company. He did give 10% of his winnings to the church and say “thank you god for letting me win.” Had he lost, he wouldn’t be thanking god for letting him lose. Meanwhile, his church just got $17 million which will surely be squandered. Oh well, at least someone won’t have to pay taxes on all this lottery money.
Strange take on the situation there, Kalt. For one thing, the winner elected to take his prize in one lump sum and paid a huge tax bite for doing that.
Uhm, firewitch, first of all, no bet. Second, my best friend lives in that town in West Virginia. Third, from all the reports I’ve seen, he sounds like a pretty decent, respectable, well-balanced type. Buying a helicopter and donating 10% to charity sounds like a pretty good balance between fantasy and practicality to me, and one doesn’t run a successful business without a lot of practicality.
I admit, his CNN profile does sound like one of those Reader’s Digest “Profiles in Courage” inspirational stories…
"…Single grandmother raises 16 grandchildren while battling floods, famines, brush fires, and Evil Developers who want to take the family land, while slinging hash at the diner and studying for her law degree on the side.
Plus she had brain cancer.
…but it must be true. The man’s apparently a saint, and as for the money “being squandered” by “his church”, he’s giving it to three different churches and they’re going to set up a fund.
And one of my best friends is from that town, I went to college 30 minutes away, and I saw this guy on TV last night—he seems like a respectable, nice guy. Good for him.
By the way, not all churches in WV are serpent-laden. Oh, and many of them have air-conditioning! Go figure!
This guy is a real American. The kind of capitalist that you want to see in your town. It makes me proud to hear about it. Seriously.
Self-made millionaire, gets more money… and he uses it to hire people he had to lay off back. AND he, fully in a voluntary fashion, sets up a fund for the poor… wisely, with three local churches so he knows where the money goes.
Ayn Rand would be proud, before she went raving loonie.
I agree with most of you. I’d rather see this guy win than some hobo who hasn’t worked a day in his life. This guy is hard working, compassionate, practical, and generous. I’m glad he won.
On top of the donations he said he was going to do, he also said that he was going to hire back some 25 people who he had to lay off from his construction company - it seems to me that’s a pretty laudable aim. Firewitch, what’s your problem? I’m not being mean, I’m really curious.
Thanks for moving this to the Pit, Gaudere, so I can tell the OP what freaking, bigoted moron he is.
FireWitch, I live approximately ten miles from “Pig Knuckle” Depot, WV. This is NOT a state full of ignorant, incestuous, child molesting, bible thumping idiots, though we have our share like any other state (yours, maybe?)
I gotta admit, when I first read the article about how this guy was praising God for the winning ticket and was going to give the money to his church(es), I was cynical, just like the OP. I had a knee-jerk reaction of, “Well, I bet he didn’t curse God for all the other times he spent $100 and didn’t win.” Which is still probably true, but it’s no longer relevant. The guy does seem like a good fellow, and he’s being as responsible as anyone could ask of him, considering he just won an unimagineable windfall.
So I guess this atheist isn’t too big to admit that he was apparently wrong. Good on ya, Mr. Whittaker, and keep up the good works.
