feloniusteabag

Dear Montgomery Burns, I must admit, I am against such a move. The U.N. needs an overhaul, not more revenues. I thought you said you weren't going to mention it?

Dear B. Max, You'd better hope the 'next big one' doesn't target the illiterate. Otherwise, one must weigh the pros and cons of being a hermit.

Dear Cartman, The only way to address the problem is a bit of 'social engineering', heavily taxing new developments, and giving tax breaks to inner-city and multiple housing development. Huge tax breaks if they are 'ecologically friendly', etc.

If Canada considers nationalizing oil, they should do so with all resources, not just the most lucrative one. However, you can bet that if we did, someone in the US White House would be heading to the basement and dusting off the old 'Canadian Invasion Plans'. I personally doubt that poll is indicative of the general feelings of even 25% of Canadians, at least the employed ones.

Dear Cartman, This was probably due to the fact that ambulances charge you, and there would have been no mechanism to alert the people to the fact that this particular ride was free. Would capitalism be better able to facilitate the needs of the general populace in all instances? I say no. Laissez-faire can work in only most cases, but for true necessity, gov't is crucial. As even Hugo admitted, while Anarchy (Libertarian-style) is to him most desirable, mankind isn't ready for it.

Dear August1991, Without taxes, (and gov't) capitalism is ill-equipped to take care of the 'common good' in cases such as devastating hurricanes. (Not that the gov't was any more prepared...) Profiteers would have been able to ride around New Orleans on sea-doos with signs saying "$20 rides to safety!" In fact, economics would dictate the price, for the demand high, supply low, and the cost would (or could be) exhorbitant. Gov't is supposed to put 'the common good' in the forefront.

Dear Shady, I agree with most of these points, but 'doing the right thing' is subjective. It was deemed that joining the US in invading Iraq was 'the wrong thing', (or at least, 'the wrong way to go about it').

Dear Melanie, Hopefully you didn't really mean 'suitably 'tainted'. I understand the Stanley Cup is probably the most 'teabagged' object in the world, so all of us hockey boys giggle a bit come playoff time...

Is Gov't necessary? This bit from Yahoo news today suggests it... No laws means ....

Dear Argus, I must whole-heartedly agree. The 'death of the family unit' is probably the single greatest (or worsThat in itself is largely a byproduct of economic factors, no?t) event of our times. As Black Dog points out,

Dear Melanie, Y...ye...yes.Mostly I just represent "SleepyTime". However, I am not sure if you are aware of the term 'teabagging', which, in most cases, would be illegal (one would hope!). Actually, I usually use the moniker 'theloniusfleabag', but I am in the midst of changing service providers (from Telus to Shaw) at home, so I slightly rearranged the letters and signed up at work to MLW as a 'temporary fix'.

Dear Montgomery Burns, Yes, a show 'by idiots, for idiots' is bound to do well down there. How are their ratings compared to inane pap such as 'Survivor' or 'Seinfeld'? That is because there is a difference, depending on the circumstances.

Dear August1991, Close, but not quite. All things have one or two attributes in common, not the least of which is adhering to the 'rules'.

Dear Montgomery Burns, Speaking of being behind the times, perhaps you could have read some of the thread, rather than quoting a months-old post. The CIA deemed the leak 'criminal' enough to ask the FBI to begin official procedings after their own investigation.

Dear Renegade, Not exactly, I am saying that the 'work ethic' is brought over, the mindset that striving to be in the top 5% is what is brought, (or ingrained) not the physical 'top 5%'.

One of the factors that seems to be overlooked here is environment. In China, etc. there is a huge population, and only the top few percent can go on to university. In North America, 70% marks can get one into almost any university, while in China one needs 90+%. Therefore, if one wishes to go to post-secondary school, you have to be the best of the best in a huge distribution curve, and your study habits must be equally excellent. To see asians in the top percentile in education in N America should be a surprise to no one. Their 'standards' are much higher, based largely on population factors. Then again, I can't remember the last time a white guy won the 100m dash...probably back when 'blacks' weren't allowed to compete.