There's an elite Canadian boarding school (Stanstead College) that I went to during my formative years. They admit quite few US & UK exchange students. Border agents were very friendly back in the day (80/90's). Us teenagers can just walk over to the US side by pointing and saying we're going to the groceries down the road when we check-in with the US border agents and they'd let us through. Back to the Canadian side, we just say we're Stanstead College students and they whisk us through.

We didn't carry passports. Not once did they not let us through. And I'm a visible minority (Chinese). Can't imagine they'd allow this anymore according to Mayor Dutil. Too bad...

My personal opinion is this is a cultural thing rather than a tipping thing. The times when I've interacted with customer-facing Americans, from memory, it's always been a pleasant experience, even though there's no tipping involved.

On the flip-side customers in NZ restaurants are often just as unfriendly as the staff which doesn't make it particularly rewarding to serve them. I think just having a table of people who really appreciate the effort you're putting in to serve them by being very friendly back and joking with you can go a longer way than a generic tip which, as the video pointed out, seldom changes based on the quality of service.

Kiwis are just grumpy. :-)

I had to laugh at the "news" of a friend of the officer that called into a radio station to corroborate the officer's story.

Oh well obviously if a friend backs up your story, it MUST be true!

Again, the real criminal here is the news. They just continue to report so little of substance. It's precisely why ChaosEngine is right that we know so little.

The problem is of course, the burden of proof. It will be the same as it was for Trayvon. The only other reliable witness is dead. so when it comes to charging the officer, it's going to be very difficult to prove.

But "not guilty" is not the same thing as innocent and no matter what happens, the officer's life is ruined anyway. He'll be a pariah in the public's eye

Which is why it's so much better to err on the side of not killing in the first place.

Most North Americans have no idea what actual coffee tastes like in the first place, and I'm no coffee snob (at least compared to some of my friends back in Melbourne), but I've never had a really good cup of coffee here. At the best it's been adequate.

As for wine differences, are you serious? I never liked red wine, until I had some actual "good" red wine. Yes some of the cheaper brands can be quite good, but generally if it's a $30 bottle, it's going to be better than that $10 bottle (and much better than that box)

You and I are battling for the Number One spot, my friend! Back and Forth, we go... currently we are one vote apart....

PS Yours is the far superior vid -- there is no contest. However, I shall take my kitty upvotes and run with them!

As an ex-Mormon, I'm going to do something a bit weird and quote myself from 2 years ago when this topic came up. I wish the guy in this vid had talked more about his reasons for leaving; I would have been interested to hear more about why he thinks their church is not honest or why it doesn't have integrity. Original comment posted for this video.
>> ^SDGundamX:

I was a Mormon for several years (lived in a rural area, was the closest church in town until I was about nine and a new Presbyterian church was built closer). I have to say I'm a bit confused at all the hate that's delivered towards them. Of all the churches I ever attended (and I attended lots as a kid), theirs had the most caring and active community I've ever seen. If you were sick, church members were there the same day with food and asking what they could do to help. They had lots of great family activities all year round, such as picnics and camping trips.
But what impressed me the most about the Mormon church is that they basically taught me the morals I hold true today. They didn't just teach the kids in Sunday school not to lie because "God says so." They explored the consequences of things like lying and stealing. We'd do role-plays where they'd make us think about the consequences our actions had on other people. Like, for instance, if you shoplifted a toy you really wanted, how would the toy store owner feel? How would he feed his family if people kept stealing the stuff in his shop? The fire-and-brimstone Christian churches I later attended never impressed me much with their Bible beating compared to this style of teaching.
This is not to say Mormons aren't without their flaws. In some ways, they do resemble a cult. When my family left, they hounded us for years trying to "save our souls" and get us to come back. They would just show up unannounced at our house or call at random hours. It was more annoying than anything else.
Another downside was the whole proselytizing thing--I distinctly remember being told as a child that if I wanted to be able to play with my friends in heaven that I'd have to convince them to become Mormons too. Otherwise I wouldn't see them there. To put that into perspective though, my Dad's priest (he was Catholic as a kid) told him the same thing about his Protestant friends back when he was a kid. The Mormon religion hasn't got a lock on the conversion market by any means.
All things considered, I find the Mormon religion to be relatively harmless. Yes, they believe in some odd things like the Book of Mormon, but at the end of the day, unlike a lot of self-proclaimed Christians, I found the Mormons to do more than just give lip service to their values and actually practice what they preach.

I totally agree with the onset time. I was like, "I don't think I got a good hit, lemmme try again.... oh wait..." Then half the kitchen we were standing in dropped into a waterfall of yellow fleur de lis bathroom tiles. It wasn't a dreamy vision of a waterfall either, it was a vivid in your face waterfall of tiles - so real I kept my hand on a friends back to keep him from falling in.

Well, I hope things are going well. Keep your chin up, etc.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
No, I'm just kidding. Nothing a middle-aged man can't handle.



In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Something happen? D:

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I'm alright, all things considered - that I live in hell.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Thanks man, I'm finally finding time and energy to attempt at a few sifts every now and then. Just got a kitten, so that's got me a little busy and entertained, but work isn't as busy (double-edged sword, that), so I have a bit of free time once again, lol. How have you been doing?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
It's always good to see old friends back in town, know what I mean?

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Oh yar what is this I don't even...



P.S. the new picture on your profile is awesome.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*promote the JAPR fest!

No, I'm just kidding. Nothing a middle-aged man can't handle.



In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Something happen? D:

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I'm alright, all things considered - that I live in hell.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Thanks man, I'm finally finding time and energy to attempt at a few sifts every now and then. Just got a kitten, so that's got me a little busy and entertained, but work isn't as busy (double-edged sword, that), so I have a bit of free time once again, lol. How have you been doing?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
It's always good to see old friends back in town, know what I mean?

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Oh yar what is this I don't even...



P.S. the new picture on your profile is awesome.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*promote the JAPR fest!

Something happen? D:

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I'm alright, all things considered - that I live in hell.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Thanks man, I'm finally finding time and energy to attempt at a few sifts every now and then. Just got a kitten, so that's got me a little busy and entertained, but work isn't as busy (double-edged sword, that), so I have a bit of free time once again, lol. How have you been doing?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
It's always good to see old friends back in town, know what I mean?

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Oh yar what is this I don't even...



P.S. the new picture on your profile is awesome.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*promote the JAPR fest!

I'm alright, all things considered - that I live in hell.

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Thanks man, I'm finally finding time and energy to attempt at a few sifts every now and then. Just got a kitten, so that's got me a little busy and entertained, but work isn't as busy (double-edged sword, that), so I have a bit of free time once again, lol. How have you been doing?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
It's always good to see old friends back in town, know what I mean?

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Oh yar what is this I don't even...



P.S. the new picture on your profile is awesome.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*promote the JAPR fest!

Thanks man, I'm finally finding time and energy to attempt at a few sifts every now and then. Just got a kitten, so that's got me a little busy and entertained, but work isn't as busy (double-edged sword, that), so I have a bit of free time once again, lol. How have you been doing?

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
It's always good to see old friends back in town, know what I mean?

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Oh yar what is this I don't even...



P.S. the new picture on your profile is awesome.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*promote the JAPR fest!

It's always good to see old friends back in town, know what I mean?

In reply to this comment by JAPR:
Oh yar what is this I don't even...



P.S. the new picture on your profile is awesome.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
*promote the JAPR fest!

haha! missed me! nyah nyah na nyah na!

I refuse to not call them "twits", rather than tweets. I'm thinking of joining facebook but I don't really want all my old friends back. Eh, maybe. Plus, I don't want you all to meat my IRL friends, because they'll tell you what a dick I really am.

>> ^schmawy:
I refuse to not call them "twits", rather than tweets. I'm thinking of joining facebook but I don't really want all my old friends back. Eh, maybe. Plus, I don't want you all to meat my IRL friends, because they'll tell you what a dick I really am.


I'm going to find you on facebook and rape you with my status updates! Bwah-haw-haw!