Quoted from Fifty:This might be the best damn thing I've ever read on Pinside. My hat is off to you sir.
This thread is such a disappointment. I really wanted to cheer Mike on, but things turned dark quickly. I'm in Canada so, there has been plenty of USA bashing especially now that Trump is in office, but to say it the way Mike said it just turns my stomach. Canada is often referred to the Americas by other parts of the world so I can't help but feel anger for his attitude to the USA and up here too.
I'm with you & Aurich here.
I have sort of quietly reserved judgment with regard to Mike because I can only imagine the stress and grief of simultaneously burying a wife AND losing the person most crucial to the initial success of a start-up (during the most critical period of R&D no less). I imagine there have been times when it's all been nearly unbearable, and it is probably a contributing factor to some of the more outrageous statements and gruff treatment he has subjected everyone to. I've given a large benefit of the doubt and tried to chalk it all up to this plus a simple deficiency in adequate social skills development, but that just doesn't cut it at this point.
I'd like to think I'm compassionate above all else but even I have my limits, and for him to repeatedly insult an entire nation then proceed to copy the work (ethically no different than outright theft given that Ben declined Mike's request) of one of that nation's best and brightest pinball programmers is just a bridge too far and is unfortunately likely a clear window into his character.
