LeCastor you are a riot, telling the IRS about a felony tax crime is not like snitching to the KGB about some gossip you overheard your neighbor said. Besides a majority of the country laughed at the Patriot Acts suggestion that we spy on our neighbors and report shit. We hated the red commies and genereally do not want to emulate any part of their government.

That all may be true, but just because americans don't want to emulate the "red commies" (what dated language!) doesn't mean they won't or don't, without their own knowledge.

Now if this was a case where this guy was fudging his expenses a bit, company lunches that really weren't, a computer for his home he charged to the business, ect. Then yes we would all agree that this accountant should keep their mouth shut. But it's not fudging, it's out and out stealing! From you, from me, from the USA.

Oh yeah, wow, a whole $1.3 million! It's a frickin fortune! C'mon, people, think about it. It's really not that much money, especially if it's over a few years. Our beloved corporations "steal" much more than that by using Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands, our very own government has lost dozens of billions of dollars to corruption in Iraq, yet none of thoese people are in jail, but one guy "steals" $1.3 million and he could actually go to jail. Does this seem a little barbaric to anyone? Jailtime for money? If you fail to pay anyone else (your supplies, your doctor, etc.) by contract, you don't go to jail, but if you fail to pay the government -- JAIL! It's kind of libe debtors' prisons.

We already have playground training about not tattling for petty shit, like if your neighbor or co-worker smokes pot once in a while or cheats on their spouse or lies about their sick time, ect.

Hmm, that's interesting."Cheating" isn't serious, but a big bag of money is. We see where your priorities lie.

But are you seriously advocating if you find out your neighbor is running a drug dealing business keep your mouth shut because we wouldn't want a society like the fearful one under the Communist regime? Now drug dealing and tax cheating aren't the same thing, but they each harm society as a whole.

I personally wouldn't tell anyone if my neighbor was a drug dealer. Especially if it were some mild drug, like weed. What's the harm to society? Maybe if you're murderous crack dealer, and my own safety were in danger, i would tell someone, but i don't think it's my duty to report when my fellow citizens are breaking the law. Maybe being born in hte USSR has something to do with my averson.

If I remember correctly, Broadsheet has a lively discussion a few months ago about the introduction of women-only train cars in Brazil.

and someone brought up the fact that, just like wtih train cars, could women who NOW take male cabs be perceived as really "asking for it" because they didn't choose to take the female-only cabs? Likewise, the women-only pink train cars run out of space, so some women may be forced to ride in the mixed car, and may be subject to even more harrassment now because they may be perceived as "not caring about being groped" or "loose women" because women who care and who are not loose take the women-only car. Yeah, it sounds preposterous, but i think it would make sense to someone who already thinks it's okay to grope women in taxis or train cars.

Another thought i had, about the jealous husband who was upset by his wife being driven everywhere by men, this is very heteronormative. Could lesbians grope women in women-only cabs and traincars? What it if it turned into a secret sapphic society?...

first of all, the whole letter is worded very conservatively. instead of talking about these young women, or this particular young woman, in her own right as a person, she's always referred to as a diminuative "niece," as if she needs "elders' advice" and protection. plus, the word "suitors" doesn't inspire confidence in the open-mindeded liberal ideas of this family.

Secondly, she's already out of college, so she's probably at least 21 years old, not an innocent little girl, and should be able to make these calls for herself. Presumably, she went to college in the US, which includes 4 years of socializing with american men and women.

Thirdly, the way these questions are described in the letter could be quite different from what is actually going on, especially if the LW is a socially conservative person. Perhaps the woman had a glass of wine or two with these "suitors," and in my book, it's okay on a second or third date to talk about previous relationships. It may have nothing to do with STD's or AIDS, simply getting to know someone. It may have nothing to do with the woman being tested for sluttiness.

Yes, i understand that, and I am an immigrant from a pretty conservative country myself, and grandma calls me and asks me when i'm going to get married to the man i live in sin with, and when i will give her great-grandkids.

However, i still think that the suitors' questions could be completely misconstrued by the family and the the woman herself. what may seem inappropriate and and intrusive to them may be much more innocuous and even just searching for conversation to someone who dates non-fundamentalist americans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_L%C3%A9pine

He thought feminists ruined his life, so he went to the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal and killed 14 women he thought took his rightful place at the college because of affirmative action.