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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/22/2011 in all areas
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This is, in a way, a lovely example of the positives of GDC and fans in general. Not what Dawn did or may have done, but the reaction from everyone else. Times like this, where people work to support each other, make me proud to be part of the Green Day family. Okay, squishy sentimentality over. Continue legitimate discussion.10 points
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A disabled soldier having cancer would have been too easily sensationalized for any media to pass up. There's a reason she didn't mention that. There's also a reason Fox News reported her injury as having taken place at a dentist's office in Texas in 2006. They're absolutely not my news of choice, but they're not dumb enough to print something that is as easily substantiated as that, either. Her previous MOS (military occupational specialty) was listed on her FB page, about a month or two before the AA incident. Google it: 68E, Dental Technician. I completely understand everyone desperately wanting to find some sort of good in this because no one wants to believe they've been taken advantage or made a fool of. I sympathize with Tony a great deal because he shouldn't be made to feel any guilt over supporting what he saw as a worthy cause. I didn't donate any money, but my husband and I did install attic fans in our house on May 28th (as a "green" project). So I participated to that degree. But as soon as I saw that she was trying to raise funds on FB to achieve non-profit tax status, that instantly raised red flags. You don't need to BE an non-profit to DONATE to a non-profit. Just donate directly to the non-profit and skip the middle man. I didn't really take much notice, though, until the American Airlines story came out, and the inconsistencies became glaringly obvious. There are obviously some serious lies involved here - criminal ones - and I doubt very seriously that much of what she has said can be believed at this point. At least I wouldn't believe it until she proves otherwise. People who have told such bold lies are unlikely to tell the truth about less important instances. And for the record, I don't "play law firm." I do that for a living. This is not "fun time" to me. I have only attempted to help people - with absolutely no other motive than I don't like seeing people wronged and I hate liars. The very first person who bought something and received a fake from Dawn was Billie Joe. He bought her story and she gave him a fake Purple Heart.9 points
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I know what you mean, Tony. I was discussing the party earlier with Alex and he said the same thing. The first time I actually ever spoke to Dawn at any length was at that party and she just seemed so out of it. But not blitzed in a good way (like some others at that party LOL). It felt more like I was talking to a really old person that didn't get what I was saying. I got an email from Dawn back when I was first selling the first miniature Blue ornaments on ebay, asking for the same thing she asked placenta - that I donate one to GDATW. I told her I didn't have any more complete at that time, but I would consider it for the future. By the time the GDC/GDATW party rolled around, I thought that was a good time to donate one, so I brought one to the party. I gave it to her there. I saw my friend Rita donate her poster to Dawn and later I saw Rita's poster on the GDATW ebay site. I never saw my miniature Blue up for sale, however. I figured it was a lost cause and chalked it up to life experience until Tony contacted me and told me he had the ornament. Not sure how that transpired, but the ornament got to Tony and GDA and as you probably saw, was auctioned properly via GDA eight months later with proceeds to the Red Cross. I never asked you how all that happened, Tony, but thank you.7 points
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7 points
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Like most people here, i'm still trying to piece all this together as best i can. Some of the thoughts running through my head now are: - The more this is unfolding, the more concerned i am about how serious it is. Whether that's due to everything blowing up at this time and an element of us all getting a bit ahead of ourselves, or, that in fact this whole thing was a complete scam from the very start. - I believe the answer may lie somewhere in the middle. I've said before, and i do believe this, Dawn was trying to do some good with this and i believe there were good intentions. - Was the motivation behind the whole project a way to get closer to the band personally, for Dawn? Quite possibly. Is that wrong? I'm not so sure. If it was all for a good cause and seen through properly to completion, i think it would have been a hugely good thing, regardless of the motivation behind it. - I feel a high level of responsibility, because i actively promoted the project believing (early on) that it was for a good cause. I had some skepticism about it from the start, but this was outweighed by the promising early developments. - The original thread for this project showed signs of skepticism from some quarters, very early on, and that put some doubt in my mind certainly, but i guess i wanted to believe, again, it was a good thing. - I feel this could be an extreme example of the irrational lengths fans can go to, to try and get noticed by the band they love. It's something i think many, if not all of us, experience in some way with our love for this band. As i said, i think this could be an extreme example of that. - I still tend to believe that Dawn's situation is unique and may deserve some sympathy. I saw a lot of her first hand, staying with her in trips to New York for the musical. She showed me shrapnel wounds in her head from her war injuries, i don't see right now how she could have gone to such lengths to make all this up. Having said that, it does appear quite likely that stories have been twisted/exaggerated. - I also believe that Dawn is very ill at the moment, her recent disappearance from facebook (and here, but a longer time ago) leaves a lot of questions, unfortunately unanswered. I was surprised she didn't go to the texas show, but maybe her situation is worse than we all know. - All of this could already be beyond what we are speculating. Her recent actions have made national news in the US, so it may already be taken up to a large extent. - What can WE do now? I think we should focus mainly on trying to help the people that have been directly impacted by the collapse of the project. I feel i let that down to some extent with my involvement. My only excuse is it became more and more difficult to contact, and get answers from Dawn, until this point where i have practically zero contact with her. With that said i want to help as much as i can from this point to get this to the best resolution possible. I think as a community, together we can all help to get to that end goal.6 points
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Being a collector of anything Green Day-related, I was very interrested when I first saw the eBay-auctions pop up a while ago. I was highly sceptical to the authenticity of the signed items, especially seeing so many different items from the same seller - including some items that I guess the band would declined to sign. Seeing the auctions go towards a good cause, I decided to bid on a auction for a 39/smooth-vinyl that i ended up winning it on 25th february. The vinyl arrived safely, and I was promised that the money went towards a charity (witch was why I bothered to pay a relatively high price for the vinyl). The user ID on eBay was greendayacrosstheworld2011, and on questions on the authenticity of the signature, i was told (direct quite): "it was signed by billie after the talk backs in nyc on jan 9th as for the wording i don't know it was donated". A little while later, I noticed the same seller (but with a new eBay ID: gdatw_may_28_2011) posting auctions for various posters - some signed and some not signed. Since i have doubts on signed items, I wanted to go for one of the non-signed posters, but pointed out a duplicate listing with the same picture being used on two posters. I got a explanation that made me a bit suspicios, but ended up bidding on the item, and winning it. I was then told not to pay for it with PayPal due to "PayPal not accepting GDATW as a charity", but the item was placed on Amazon for me to buy it for the same price instead. I got suspicious, and never went on with that. Quote: "here is my Amazon store link and i listed the items you won for the same price you won it.if you dont have an amazon.com account they are very easy to get,easier than ebay even." A little while later, I noticed that the vinyl I previously won on eBay (and recieved) is listed on the same Amazon-store: http://www.amazon.com/GREEN-BILLIE-ARMSTRONG-AUTOGRAPHED-SMOOTH/dp/B005534XIW/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&m=A2FY1Q1XSV8I0L&s=generic&qid=1317762812&sr=1-37. At the same time, the exact same vinyl was being posted for sale on eBay. Picture of my vinyl, as proof: http://www.greendaycollector.com/temp/smooth.jpg My conclusion: Bad #1: I have doubts about the money that I paid have gone to any charity. I feel I've been sold something on the wrong premises (I would not have bought it if it wasn't for the fact that it was being fronted as a charity - supporting a good cause). This leads me to think that the whole thing actually could be a scam. Good intentions? Fair enough - but I actually gave money to this! Bad #2: Items that are no longer in possession of the people/person behind GDATW are currently being offered for sale on Amazon and have been tried offered on eBay. This is a obvious attemt to rip people off. On a "neutral" side note: The signature on this (and other items offered) are most likely fake. I assume we all can live with this, as any signed item from any known artist could possibly be a fake.5 points
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5 points
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I agree, Tony. Whether or not Dawn was intentionally deceiving anyone, there's no doubt that your intentions were 100% honorable. As I said to you earlier - people who are honest are easier to deceive than those who are devious themselves. Even the Armstrongs and a lot of the cast of AI believed in Dawn. And none of us really knows how much of what she said was untrue. I do believe a lot of her intentions were good, too. I personally ordered several items from her. Most of them arrived in good condition,though occasionally she seemed to get mixed up about what I'd ordered and sent me something different. When it all balances out, I have no complaints about that part of it. If Dawn has been lying and manipulating people, then I'm very disappointed. But she will be the one who suffers the long-term consequences, if that's the case. I can't help but feel sorry for her. She's obviously quite ill and not a happy person. But your behavior was above reproach, and I'm sorry you have to feel down about all this5 points
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Trust me, there's no way Fox News would pass up the ability to play up the fact that she was a Purple Heart recipient who had been injured overseas. There's no way they would've left that out, unless it wasn't true.4 points
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Ok so I don't mean to sound horrible but, as this woman has pretty much lied about everything (well, I've come to that conclusion, personally) how can you believe the whole cancer thing?! If she had started her treatment 6months ago, I don't believe she would have been fit enough to fly to NYC to try and get into a Green Day show. Also it wouldn't be hard for her to cut her hair shorter and say that her hairs growing back. Especially as you dont see regular pictures of her. Also do you not think that these reporters wouldve been the first to put about her being in remission or something to do with her cancer in the stories they wrote up about her urinating herself on a plane?! So don't take offence, but some of you sound like youre in denial about the whole situation. It's just an observation but maybe you guys just don't wanna believe someone could do something like this. Especially about the whole military service, that makes me sick.4 points
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Update December 2, 2011: In light of new facts, here's a new thread open for discussion about everything related to this. Issues were brought forward to us about the Green Day Across The World charity event, so we hope to address them as best we can. I do want to clarify right away that GDA had very limited involvement with this, aside from promoting the event itself (the May 28th clean-up) and the NYC meet-up. We didn't actually have any role with any of the donation requests or selling any items for charity for this. We saw it as a really cool idea to engage fans and do some good in communities around the world, and that's why we decided to promote it. Over the last few months, concerns have been raised about some of the items that were listed for sale by "Green Day Across The World" on Amazon or eBay. Some people were promised prizes from the May 28th clean-up that hadn't arrived and others placed ordered never delivered. We do know that some people got the items they were expecting, but it is impossible for us to know with certainty all the details surrounding this because we didn't have direct involvement. We've tried reaching out to Dawn to get answers, as others have done as well. These have not proven successful, so we've decided to close the original GDATW threads so that people are no longer directed toward any of the charity links or sales (though my understanding is that some have already been removed). There are honest concerns people have, and the lack of communication has been unhelpful. We simply don't have the answers, because none of us knew enough of what was going on to actually know. If anyone placed an order through Amazon or eBay and didn't receive their items, please get in touch with us (you can email me directly, andres@greendayauthority.com). We can't make promises about getting your items or money back, but we do want to try and gain a better understanding of the whole situation, and help our users as best we can. It's hard for us to really make sense of the entire thing because this was organized completely outside of GDA's involvement, but we do want to make sure we're looking after Green Day fans after so many pulled together to make this event happen.3 points
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yeah, i also kind of like the idea of it being a separate day since a lot of places do help clean up on that day. maybe later or over summer when people in school have time. we should probably go ahead and save this conversation for a little bit.3 points
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I don't believe she had cancer. Nobody ever knew what kind of cancer she had, or what stage. We just know she went from supposedly being dying to miraculously able to fly across the country to try to get into the Webster show. And last night, I got a pretty interesting phone call from a good friend of mine. Dawn called her last night, in tears, claiming to be in a mental hospital for attempted suicide. She was going on and on about this thread. First of all- how she'd be able to make a phone call to someone, let alone view this thread if she was on suicide watch is beyond me. And another thing- she told my friend she has one round of chemo left, and she's in remission... If she was as sick as she claimed to have been months ago, hell, even just last month for the Green Day show- she sure as shit wouldn't be in remission right now. It doesn't happen that fast. Also, pure speculation here- but how many cancer patients do you know? They lose weight. She clearly didn't lose any. It just looked like she chopped off her hair.3 points
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whats even more sad???? some kids even used this on college applications... if anything further comes of this... i hope those peoples chances of school arent harmed... as alot of schools look for those who have done charity work. hell.. I even used it in a job interview.3 points
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Nevermind, I found it in her interview: "I wanted to see Green Day from the pit because I just wanted to feel like a normal person. Which is something that was taken from me on Feb. 15, 2006 in the IED explosion which took my ability to walk away." I plugged that date into the database. No casualties listed that date - in Iraq or Afghanistan.3 points
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I know this sounds really random, but the grammar in those emails is appalling. Was she so crackers that she just expected/hoped people would believe her and never find out what she's done ? I just think if you wanted to come across as a professional you'd try a lot harder.3 points
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if there were to be a last Green Day album it would be called Apocalypse because thats exactly what would happening to the world3 points
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Tony, I don't think you should feel a high level of responsibility for this whole thing going sideways. You weren't the only one taken in by any means. GDA/GDC wasn't even the first place to promote Dawn and GDATW, it was just the most frequented place. You're only guilty of trying to be helpful with what you thought was an admirable and worthy cause and in the process, your involvement gave Dawn credibility she probably didn't deserve. But you're right - no one knows the whole story. I doubt we ever will hear the whole truth. If she is ill, I hope she feels better soon and comes online to address all the questions.3 points
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Since you promoted GDATW on the GDA front page you should post something on GDA as well now with links to paypal, ebay, and amazon dispute resolution procedures and a promise to keep folks updated if any information/clarification is gleaned.3 points
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In all fairness what is important to you may be quite different to what is important to the majority of the fan community. I think there is a big difference in unsubstantiated gossip and real and valid concerns over this whole situation. And I also understand you don't want this to turn into a bashing thread. However, you guys promoted her cause here and on GDA, so you made alot more people aware of it. Did you guys even check into it or check into her? I think this thread is a step in the right direction to at least make people aware of the fact that the whole thing is probably false. Green Day partners with NRDC and all the sudden this GDATW appears, Little Kyle has cancer and gets a call from Billie Joe, all the sudden Dawn has cancer, except no ones knows what kind or what stage its in, Billie Joe makes the news with an airline problem, all the sudden Dawn makes the news with an airline problem. I am not the only one that sees a pattern here. However, this is your forum, your rules. I will respect them even if i disagree with them. I won't say another word unless it's regarding the GDATW and the merchandise people didn't receive3 points
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2 points
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As I said a few pages back, that day was an incredible idea and I loved seeing photos from it. I'd love for us to organize something like it again next year on our own, not as a separate entity under another name.2 points
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I am just glad now there is somewhere for people to voice concerns... on this forum at least... I know GDA isnt responsible for any of this... but many people found out about this project through gda.... and I mean... MANY. And those who arent gdc'ers found out on facebook or twitter... via gda.. you cant really have a forum like this on twitter... and short of setting up a facebook page.. this is the best option A member of my team also won... she hasnt recieved her "prize" yet ... I may just share mine with her...2 points
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The thing that bugs me the most is the whole 'Purple Heart' episode and Billie Joe being duped.2 points
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Even when it was still being planned it was hard to get hold of her. She's asked for help on multiple occasions and I've offered her help multiple times, but if she replied at all (PM or email), it was all very vague. And she did all the work, she hardly let anyone do something else (not even the people who came up with the idea in the first place, before she bulldozered over it, as LMC put it) and she made all the decisions. I won't go into my grudges against how Dawn organized GDATW (I'm sure anyone who was actively involved in the thread will know what I'm talking about), but yes. That's funny, she told on GDC that she paid for the party out of her own pocket. She mentioned that a lot, though, how she "had to pay" for everything... Andres, I know this is not what you intended the thread to be for, but I'm not the only one who invested a lot of time into GDATW (if not money) and I think that while it may not matter to the image of GDA what exactly Dawn did besides the items on eBay and Amazon, the rest does matter to the people in GDC who want to talk about it. I'm a bit late in saying this, but I wanted to say it anyway.2 points
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I feel the same way. If this really was some grand-scheme to make money, she did a pretty poor job of it because we all know first hand that she did do stuff for the community. I don't want people to feel like we're trying to defend any of her actions or bad decisions, but I am a strong believer of innocent until proven guilty, and I don't think anyone here has all the facts. There is some chance that all the of the worst is true, but until we know, I just don't like people assuming they are. And like I already said, the military service stuff, while also incredibly egregious, it's not as important to this community as the fact that anyone here might have been taken advantage of. That's an issue that is less relevant to this, even if still very important.2 points
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All these issues currently raising concerns were all much less to do with the actual day that people met-up and did something good. Thay day was absolutely a success, with people all over the world working to do some good in their communities. Even the original charity went by without any concern as it seems most people got their items. It's only been in the recent months where things seem to have gotten weird. I'm glad we helped promote the GDATW event itself. That was where GDA was involved and I think it was a worthwhile event and something I hope we can organize and run ourselves in the future, without all this extra stuff that eventually led to the situation we see today.2 points
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Agreed. That day of people doing worthwhile environmental stuff really isn't related to the auctions she's done or any of the other stuff. It was just different people around the world doing various stuff to help the environment and any money they raised they sent off to charity themselves. There's nothing dodgy about that part of it.2 points
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I want to add that i think there is a danger that Dawn is vilified for this, when it's possible that she had good intentions and never went out to purposely scam people for money. I do believe she is very sick and that is a big contributor to all of this.2 points
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Ooh right, I see. Well, not to accuse anyone but those medals are pretty readily available online to buy. Or replicas, anyway.2 points
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Tanya, you don't need to apologise. You interviewed her with no reason to believe she wouldn't be truthful and wrote down what she said in response to your questions. You're not at fault in any way.2 points
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As the person who published Dawn's interview, I feel really weird about all of this. If the interview turns out not to be true, not only was I used, but it also stains my reputation, something that I work at to maintain as a person. If you read the interview, her answers are written verbatim to the questions that I asked, similar to the interviews that are conducted with members of the GDC. As a blogger I'm not a journalist, but I probably should have asked for more proof since her story is fantastical. From what she told me, she became a dental technician after she went to came back from Afghanistan... but at the same time, I originally wrote that she was an Iraqi veteran because that's what she told me and then she told me she was in Afghanistan, not Iraq after I published it. There were red flags for me when I posted the story, but seriously, I don't know anyone who would go to the lengths she did in her interview to say she was injured in war if she wasn't. I tried to verify it through an Army friend, but that information is not available, from what I was told. While I can't apologize for publishing the story since I did and since at the time I believed it to be true (and whether is it or isn't, I, nor anyone else at this point, knows for sure), I do know that at the least, I have been lied to recently in regards to the airplane and funeral story, of which I related to Fallyn and a few others. I don't want to turn this into gossip, so I'll just leave it at that. Truthfully, I am not sure what to believe, especially since some people received their GDATW merchandise while others didn't. When I talked with her during the GD show/airplane fiasco on Facebook, she pleaded with me saying that she would never lie about serving in the military and being injured in Afghanistan and reminded me that about the Purple Heart that she gave to away to certain people at AI. So, like Andres said, since we can't verify information regarding her past, the only thing people can do is report that their GDATW merchandise was never received and try and delve into those issues as layed out in Tony's post. I'm really sorry if my blog post lent credibility in a way that shouldn't have, if this is the case. It was not my intention for that to happen. I just wanted to highlight not only a Green Day fan, but a war veteran as well. That was my only intention, and it will suck if it's not true. Truly, truly, truly, suck.2 points
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I doubt that, to be honest. If you're seriously ill, you don't take the time to delete all your online profiles, you just go to hospital. Seems more like a cover-up than anything else.2 points
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I hope they give the album a name that isn't also the name of a song. Even though it's sometimes appropriate to do that it's never gonna be as interesting as having a different name.2 points
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You're right that the only people who might consider themselves "injured" by what potentially has happened here are anyone who bought something and didn't receive it, or anyone who donated money or goods and had no idea if their donation was used properly. BUT there is some impact on many of the members of this forum who trusted and perhaps admired the person Dawn presented herself as here. No one wants to be manipulated and made a fool of, and there is some rather damning evidence that most of the things she said about her experiences as a soldier and the circumstances regarding her injury are fabricated. People will want to discuss this situation - it's a bit much to ask them to limit themselves to discussion about GDATW gone bad when they may have some angry feelings about being duped - but they should be able to do it in a respectful way.2 points
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It would be my recommendation to people who purchased things on eBay or Amazon and did not receive those items to contact the Killeen, Texas (seller's location) Sheriff's Department or the Bell County Texas District Attorney ( www.bellcountytx.com/da/home.htm ) and report it as theft. If you have paid for something that was not delivered and tried to contact the seller to no avail, there's no other term for it. You should also report it to Paypal, eBay and or/Amazon, but since these purchases are likely outside of their 30-day window of protection, they won't be able to help you much (nor will you be able to get your money back from them). Although most of these amounts may be quite small, enough reports of the same thing will raise eyebrows to the District Attorney's office. I'm sure they could and would pursue multiple charges of the Texas equivalent of Theft under $500, which is a misdemeanor in most states. If you do decide to do this, be sure to have all of your facts correct (date of purchase, amount of purchase, proof of such, etc.) lined up before calling and don't waste their time. Don't go into great detail about it being Green Day merchandise, the drama around GDATW, and unnecessary info when making your report, but be sure to provide any pertinent information. Law enforcement officers tend to disregard people who they feel like are only whining or wasting their time. It would also be helpful to have Dawn's address when you call so that they know where to find her. I'm sure that someone who actually received their merchandise has her address. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions about that process.2 points
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I'm a fan of your covers and this is quite nice. You should post the tabs . . . . please?1 point
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I am disappointed by the whole thing... being the "team leader" from detroit.. ha... I actually put together an event here... I will say... I had a complete blast doing so and loved meeting devan and addision and their moms!! And I too was one who sent in video for 'rage and love productions See The Light' of course my clip wasnt on it... I paid the 5 bucks for my copy... aired it at my event... eh. I was skeptical about all the details surrounding actual exchanging of monies... so i didnt buy or donate any... just paid whatever little cost to get my event going..With all the hype surrounding all these supposed treasures she had collected over the past 20 yrs... signed this and that.... imagine my excitement when I learned I actually was one of the 50 people to win the drawing!!!! after waiting like... 3 months... and I know I put myself at risk of sounding like an ungrateful ass because I am unsure of her health ... However.... what I recieved... I couldve printed online myself. That being said... I truly do hope those who lost money... even those who lent her money to go to a show... ahem.. get paid back... I will say this... I will still pick a day next year and get together with my local idiots to clean a park or something.... just on our own.... As far as all the lies... or... truths coming out... I believe in Karma.1 point
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Well that was mainly due to one of the main organizers in Ireland being a tool we all wanted to avoid, but that is best saved for the regulars thread where all the gossip is1 point
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No one WANTS to believe anyone could do something like this, because it's completely disgusting.1 point
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I also just confirmed that she is not in the hospital at Darnall Army Medical Center.1 point
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I assumed she was simply stating what one would need to contact police, I think everyone here is smart enough to do that stuff thru pm's..... http://greendaymind.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/interview-with-dawn71-green-day-fan-and-iraqi-war-veteran/ http://greendaymind....-joe-armstrong/ yes there you go. I know at least one other person that did receive their stuff but said it was very disappointing to be honest and stuff they could have printed out on their own. I completey understand what is important to you Andres and why you want to keep it related to the items received or not, at this time its all hush hush and these fans that are just finding out just want a place to discuss their feelings on "possibly" being taken advantage of. Maybe they'll do it on FB or twitter or tumblr. who knows.1 point