Looking North, I am not defending or supporting Tim's views on everything but to be fair and objective quote it accurately and it does have a slightly different emphasis:
I (along with heaven-knows how many other people) think this saga is a complete joke
I would be inclined to say "the saga" is but the project certainly isn't.
Commendation where it is due to the great efforts of the fund raisers, well done. How long before the next deadline? I hope they can re-invent their business model and learn to harness those volunteering instead of runnning it like a private club for those in the know. God knows they would have got there much quicker and easier.