Thanks, RaTTuS! Appreciated.
First, allow me to comment on that entire tread, sourced above.
Fuckin' WOW! (apologies to those who would have used 50pt font bold in red)
Upon reading that thread, I feel I owe Josh/BFL an apology and should make a trip to go suck his dick with a promised reach-around. Looks to me like people are ready to abandon ship, for I would if I were invested upon reading the latest, especially the posts by those who know their shit.
Concerning the CNY date: I started reading the post with an open mind, with perhaps a bias toward it being a mistake. I held that belief system all the way till I reached the 3/4 mark of the post, quoted below.
So Basically if I can get the ASICs at least on their way here before the 10th I think we will be in very very good shape, and this is what I am striving for - everything else is either already completed or nearly completed and things are falling into place.
To me, the above is predicated on his belief, or worse, perpetuating a falsehood with the mistaken date, for it clearly reads that the 10th of January is an important timetable.
Further in the same thread, I read something else. With apologies to Dave and Jody, respectively, consider and compare the following two quotes:
Please understand that if you bail out on us, we won't be able to sell you your position back again - I've already been asked by several people to let them buy back into their positions. A sad number of Batch 1 positions (really, really good ones) have been given up already.
If we have extended our date beyond your ability to stick with us, we at Customer Service are ready to refund money for those who want to get out of the line.
I have read similar statements elsewhere.
With the above penned, here's to hoping that the wool is not being pulled over our eyes in regard to this ongoing saga and that it all works out in favor of Bitcoin. If not, the resulting fallout will pale in comparison all previous fiascos combined, cementing The Year of the Snake in the minds of bitcoiners beyond the last block mined regardless of how it'll be hashed.