csyphrett

And that's not what I said is it. What I said was even in the eighties, McDonald's has been claiming one thing and doing another and when getting reported their fall back that's a lie. It's not a lie. Taco Bell gives more money to RMHC than McDonald's and they get none of the publicity. Think about that. The competition gives more to your charity than you do. CES

this came out in 2013 so it has been an ongoing problem Globally, Ronald McDonald House Charities gets less than one-quarter of its revenue from McDonald', the report says. And at the local level, the regional chapters and local Ronald McDonald Houses often get as little as one-tenth of their revenue from McDonald's.Even McDonald's customers, the report charges, contribute as much as 1.5 times more to the charity than does McDonald's itself."Most people think that McDonald's funds Ronald McDonald House Charities 100%," says Simon. "This is a disconnect between what most people think and reality."On its website, for example, The Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House, which is one of the nation's largest with 75 rooms, notes, "although our House shares a brand name with McDonald's Corporation, less than 10% of our annual $2 million budget comes as a result of financial contributions from the company's local owner / operators."

At one point years ago McDonald's got in trouble because they had raked in so much for their charity but the charity only got 1% of the money. This might have been a local thing, but we're talking decades ago. I wasn't even married then. Also the local branch of the United Way was paying their officers more than they were handing out back then. Both of these stories was on the news back to back. CES

It's okay. When I found out mcdonald's was keeping most of the money donated for their ronald mcdonald houses, I quit giving them my change CES

I'm one pick behind. My mythic monster and servant is the Water Kraken. This beast, formed of water, is known to serve as Roy's messenger, proxy, and executioner. It is as big as it needs to be and the constraints of the source of the water involved. A tiny creek is a tiny cute thing, an ocean is a titanic beast of war with as many tentacles as it needs. Roy can create as many of these as he needs, but only usually needs one to get his message across. CES

I will hug you and pet you and name you dinner CES

lake st dive doing take on me CES

Also the two guys that Winston's dad was waiting on to rescue him were killed by Syndrome. I expect the government covered that up. CES

They put up with Mr. Incredible because he's better than most of the other heroes that are shown like the guy who blew himself up with the missile, or the girl who fell into the jet engine and caused it to crash. In the real world, Mr. Incredible would have been immune to the lawsuits that started everything. His status as a government agent would have made him exempt from such a case. Essentially this is a marvel trope that doesn't make sense. CES

i have been waiting to see how Verus gets out of the mess with his apprentice basically screwed up. It's obvious now what Richard's power is, and why he covered it up. CES

This guy is sitting down to his beans and rice and the guards come along and say come with us. A couple of hours later they put the noose on. CES

I am going to take sailing as my third domain unless this impacts with Old Man's journeys/traveling. CES

Thanks for the ideas CES

I needed to be able to create hurricanes. CES

My third domain is the weather. CES

It doesn't start here til Friday. You fiend and your international date line CES

I'm picking waterways as my secondary domain. I was going to pick navigation but I wasn't sure if it fell in Old Man's grip CES

All the good domains are gone, even the one I picked last year. I'll take Roy, the god of Oceans. CES

I have two hours before I can make my first pick. CES

secret service 1938- 14 Mick Brown looked at his men. He tried to keep the anger inside but he felt it burning in his face. He had been embarrassed and robbed at his own club. The man responsible had escaped to laugh at him. Brown picked up the old revolver on his desk. He had lost the most important part of his business to his masked enemy. He needed to get it back. That meant he needed leverage against the vigilante. The obvious connection was James Rafferty. The copper had been after him for a long time. He had thought he had gotten rid of the pest with the frame he had set in place with Corklin. Now he had a masked man snooping in his business and Corklin was dead. It didn’t take a mastermind to see that Rafferty had to be connected to both events. How did he get his accounting book from the ex-copper? That was the question he needed to answer. He needed to answer it quick before the book could be decoded and the information used against him. Brown forced himself to calm down as he thought about his problem. He needed the book back. He needed to get rid of Rafferty. He needed to stop this vigilante business in its tracks. He needed leverage on Rafferty. “Rafferty still talks to people on the police force?,” Brown said as he stood. He had a plan. It was risky, but it had to be done. “Our man says he’s in thick with the Inspector Hawley,” said Tony Simpson. The man didn’t see the connection. “Find Hawley,” said Brown. “Start at the Yard first. We need leverage to get the book back. We need someone we know Rafferty won’t sell out.” “All right,” said Simpson. He put together the scheme in his mind in a second. “Where do you want him taken?” “Take him down to the place on the river,” said Brown. “We will have to get rid of him no matter what else happens.” “Right,” said Simpson. Brown watched him leave. He hoped Simpson didn’t do anything to force the Yard to look at him. He couldn’t afford any more trouble. He grabbed the phone. He needed to make sure his backup books were still in place. He couldn’t afford to lose both sets. Two of his guys were still in the office. He needed to get them jobs. He decided that Luke could watch the book keeper. No one could be allowed to grab him while they were reeling from the break-in. “Cantor?,” said Brown. “Someone stole my books. He might be coming down there next. I’m sending Luke and some of the mob down there to keep an eye on you and the master set of books. No one is allowed in, or out, until I call you. Good.” Brown hung up the phone. He gestured at Luke. The minion nodded his head on his nonexistent neck and left the room. “Gilly, I want you to go down to the Rotten Unicorn and keep an eye out for Rafferty,” said Brown. “I want to make sure I know where he is at all times. If he calls someone, I want to know about it.” “Sure thing, boss,” said Gilly. He trundled out on thick legs with a smile on his face. There was a chance the mystery man wasn’t Rafferty. Brown thought that was a small chance indeed. As soon as he got word that his mentor had been taken, he would bring the books back immediately. Things had to be brought back under control. He wasn’t going to allow some nutty peeler take him on. Everyone would want to take him on if he allowed things to continue. Brown had silenced many a voice trying to stop his rise to the top of the criminal pyramid. Rafferty was just one more who had to be put down so he couldn’t keep meddling. Once that was done, he would make sure to destroy anyone else trying to get in his way. He supposed he looked soft. He hadn’t really killed anyone in a while, nor really did a big job to make his rivals say what happened. He mostly ran his business like a business, and kept things rolling. Maybe he should kill someone in a public way to let the people know he was still the King of London. While he was thinking about the future, he needed to get a safe in to replace the one the masked man had destroyed. Brown shook his head. He needed a better safe. He checked the rolodex in front of him. He had a card for Louie’s Safes. He searched his memory and thought that Louie had been a burglar before going into safe installation. He called the number and waited for someone to come on the line. His patience was rewarded with a sour voice of irritation. He smiled quietly. “Louie?,” said Brown. “This is Mick Brown. Someone broke into my safe at the club. I need it replaced.” He listened for a moment. “Just come to the club and look at the space,” said Brown. “Then I need you to put the safe in as fast as you can.” “No worries,” said Brown. “I know who broke in and I’m looking for him right now.” Brown set a time and hung up. He had a few meetings to go to that he couldn’t have at the club. It was his operations center, but it was also a conspicuous target for the police to try to raid when they worked up the nerve. The membership gave him cover, but he couldn’t abuse it. He didn’t need anyone reporting what they had seen going on upstairs. He couldn’t kill them all, and he didn’t have enough influence to make them all go his way. He pushed the button to summon Fred, the butler for the club. He pulled on his coat as the old man came into the office. The butler pulled himself to attention. “I have to go out, Fred,” said Brown. “Louie’s Safes are coming by to replace the safe. Make sure they don’t take anything when they leave, other than the wrecked safe.” “Yes, sir,” said Fred. “I will watch them like a hawk.” “Some of the boys will be back from their jobs,” said Brown. “Tell them to go down to the place on the river. They’ll know where to go.” “Yes, sir,” said Fred. “I will have some of the staff help clean up this mess.” “Wait on Louie,” said Brown. “He’ll probably create a bigger mess switching the safes around.” “Very good, sir,” said the butler. “Nothing will leave this office while you are gone.” Brown nodded. He left the room and headed downstairs. He had a couple of guys on permanent club watching. He ordered them to keep an eye on Louie when the safe man got there. He stepped outside the front door. He looked up and down the street. His car rolled down the street to pick him up. He got in the back and gave Kevin, the driver, an address. He had a lot of work to do to keep his status as the king of the underworld. He smiled to himself. When he was a kid breaking in, he just assumed that you could push anyone around if you were tough enough. The years since the Great War had taught him it was better to get leverage on a guy and keep it than killing the guy out right. Putting an enemy down had to be done as a lesson, but it was something to do as a last resort. Killing someone meant having to deal with his replacement somewhere down the road. And sometimes the devil you knew was better than getting to know a new devil that you didn’t have any means to deal with at all. Kevin pulled to a stop outside a restaurant that seemed to have been painted by a blind man. Dents in the bricks had been caused by bullets. Brown got out of the car. He noted his security was already in place as he walked over to an outside table. “Monsieur Brown,” said Henri Dumas. He was lean, with a puffy face, and cravat around his neck. His hair still retained some of the red of his youth. “Fox,” said Brown. He settled into a seat facing his opposite number. “You are the only one who calls me that,” said Dumas. He smiled. “I remember things,” said Brown. “Have you come to a decision?” “I will buy the weapons,” said Dumas. “I have the money transferred to a local bank from my own in France. I am afraid that I will need them sooner than I thought.” “Wait here,” said Brown. “I will have one of my men take you to the pickup spot. As soon as I have the money, all you have to do is load the weapons on a boat and sail away.” “This is the account number,” said Dumas. He handed over a paper. “The bank is in the next street.” “Pleasure doing business with you, Fox,” said Brown. He stood. “I heard someone is taking action against you, Monsieur,” said Dumas. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” said Brown. “All the same, test the weapons and move them as soon as you can. You don’t want to be caught up in my troubles.” “I understand,” said Dumas. He stood. “Bon chance.” “You too, Fox,” said Brown. He turned and started for his car. He needed to get the money from the bank, and then finish his round of meetings. He gestured for one of his men to finish the rest of the deal with Dumas. He still had four more deals to do, and those customers weren’t as smart as the Fox. There was nothing he could do about that. He had learned over the years you could only do so much with what you had. He gave Kevin the next address on his list as he settled into the backseat of his car. He wanted to get things done before one of his idiots decided that they could take advantage of the masked man incident. He wasn’t about to lower his prices, or give merchandise away for free. He also didn’t want to make an example of a customer for the city to see. That drew down the peelers, and he didn’t need that at the moment. Once he had his talk with Rafferty, then he could try to smooth things over with the people he worked with in the other syndicates. He didn’t want to lose business but was aware that was a possible outcome to having someone invade your sanctum and making you look like an idiot. It wouldn’t be the first time he had quelled a rebellion and put down all challengers to keep his part of the pie. It wouldn’t be the last as far as he could see. Everyone wanted to be the King.

Warrant Moleville was a weapons man who supplied the Colonel with some of his more powerful hunting devices. Moleville turned state's witness and betrayed the Colonel during his time in Africa. Croc has tried to kill him in various ways since. This is Croc's last try at his elusive enemy, the Maltese Mole. CES

Mayborne Manor is a house belonging to the dreaded supervillain, Colonel Croc. Six villains have been invited to the Mayborne Manor for a reading of the will. Unfortunately for them, the mansion is one big trap/murder maze capable of stopping super powers in their tracks. Whomever gets out alive gets to inherit. Who are the six villains the good Colonel has targeted, and why? CES

Florence is a ten year old with the scruples that implies. Unfortunately, Florence has the Machine which is more than willing to make her happy, no matter the cost to others. Imagine a little girl and her giant shapeshifting robot friend. CES

Senior Murcielago is two things. He is an accomplished wrestler capable of tossing grown men around like they were little children. He is a vampire who wears the wrestler's mask so he can fight the forces of evil without letting them know what his weaknesses are so he can be stopped. CES