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<title>Greatest City On Earth (Trees And Things)</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280</link>
<description>London's "Independent" newspaper tried to determine which city on Earth was &lt;a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3276224.ece">fairest of them all&lt;/a>. They came up with &lt;a href="http://travel.independent.co.uk/news_and_advice/article3261398.ece">"objective criteria"&lt;/a> to make that determination, from miles of underground railway to number of symphony orchestras. Amazingly enough, they concluded that &lt;a href="http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article3276251.ece">Lon</description>
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<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:40:06 EST</pubDate>
<lastBuildDate>Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:19:04 EST</lastBuildDate>

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<title>PenitenziAgite: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#93</link>
<description>Who stole the Seoul?</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Dec 2007 17:19:04 EST</pubDate>
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<title>rEvolution inAction: Re:  The Warden of the Honour of the North</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#92</link>
<description>Halifax, population 300 some-odd thousand... not a city. Intimacy is not what festivals are supposed to be like... do you think anyone would care about Mardi Gras if it was only a few hundred people who all knew each other?&lt;p>&#10;with just the four big univer</description>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:55:18 EST</pubDate>
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<title>thefadd: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#91</link>
<description>Enough to keep me away from grand lux every time I go to vegas for the rest of my life:)</description>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:39:43 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#90</link>
<description>Does Emeril count? Does &lt;a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE4DB1F3EF93AA15755C0A961958260">Jean-Louis Palladin&lt;/a> count? Do nationally-renowned sommeliers count? How many different chefs and how many citations do you need for me t</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:51:12 EST</pubDate>
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<title>thefadd: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#89</link>
<description>Wolfgang Puck doesn't count.</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:45:56 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#88</link>
<description>Most famous chefs in US have opened restaurants there, and range of ethnic cuisines available has really increased dramatically. (So has size of city, which now stands at around 1,500,000.)</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:39:27 EST</pubDate>
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<title>thefadd: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#87</link>
<description>&lt;i>Las Vegas deserves points for ethnic cuisine, and cuisine in general&lt;/i>&#13;&#10;&lt;p>&#13;&#10;It does?</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:29:06 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#86</link>
<description>&lt;i>Huh. First, you complain that the rankings aren't "fair," and then you say that things don't have to be "fair" anyway. And as to your "only two real contestants," there's 4.3m people in Sydney who'd like a word with you (and when they're done, there's t</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:53:10 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: diversity wins</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#85</link>
<description>It has been my experience that ethnic cuisine filtered through North American sensibilities also bears little resemblance to actual ethnic cuisine. For example, Ethiopian restaurants that use actual Ethiopian spices or meats like goat don't do much busines</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:09:18 EST</pubDate>
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<title>JimmyHavok: diversity wins</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#84</link>
<description>I would guess that modern Sydney has a lot more ethnic diversity than Tokyo. &#160;The Japanese make great food, but their foreign restaurants feature bizarre versions of the food, filtered through the Japanese sensibility.</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:50:21 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#83</link>
<description>Sounds like I've overidealised Britain, in particular. Bulgaria doesn't surprise me as much as Britain does.&lt;p>&#10;"Overall, Europe is generally safer than many or even most U.S. cities, but that doesn't mean you don't have to keep your wits about you."&lt;p>&#10;I </description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:02:54 EST</pubDate>
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<title>PenitenziAgite: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#82</link>
<description>&lt;i>Do you think you would have to step over drunks or avoid large portions of town if you were in major Canadian, Australian, or European cities?&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;Speaking from experience, yes. &#160;There are sections of Glasgow that I would certainly avoid, and th</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:43:26 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#81</link>
<description>"Ugly places"? Here I was trying to present balanced view of your fair city. New York certainly has more going on that commercial towers in city centre, right? Did I link to pictures of industrial blight in South Bronx? Did I link to parts of Harlem off 12</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:54:04 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#80</link>
<description>You're totally, totally right to include &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Co-op_City_spring.jpg">Co-op City&lt;/a> in your list of ugly places in New York. &lt;p>&#10;I don't know what any of this has to do with gun rights or totalitarianism, &#160;but if</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:43:41 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#79</link>
<description>You know what? You're totally, totally right! &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/bedstuy/pool/show/">Even when &lt;/a> you &lt;a href="http://home.comcast.net/~coopcity/pictures/my_pix.html">get out&lt;/a> of &lt;a href="http://generallyawesome.com/southbronx.html"</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:31:52 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#78</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>...there's 4.3m people in Sydney who'd like a word with you (and when they're done, there's the people from Vancouver, San Francisco, Tokyo, Munich, and on and on)&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Oh, please. There are only a handful of truly great cities in</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:24:03 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#77</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>...check out these murder rates in various US and European cities&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>You're totally, totally right! Oh, man, it sucks to be an American! I wish I could escape this god-forsaken land!&lt;p>&#10;&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>Pushing crime-ridden slums </description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 08:58:20 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Nameless Cynic: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#76</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>Would that make any difference? The only two real contestants on this list are NYC and London, so it doesn't matter if we're being "fair" to volumes of other exchanges.&lt;/blockquote>Huh. First, you complain that the rankings aren't "fair," and t</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2007 08:51:02 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: London is LA without ...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#75</link>
<description>Where did you live in each city? I expect that would make substantial difference in how you viewed them. For example, areas of metro LA near beaches feel very different than, say, San Fernando Valley.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 22:25:41 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Lou: Careful there</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#74</link>
<description>&lt;i>You need to try some more. As far as I am concerned Canada's beer is second only to American beer.&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;Trim that broad brush there, Z. &#160;By just saying "American Beer" you are including Micholob Light, Bud Ice, and [shudder] "Nastygansett". &amp;nbsp</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 22:04:19 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#73</link>
<description>Actually, I admit I've never been to Munchen, but check out these &lt;a href="http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html">murder rates&lt;/a> in various US and European cities:&lt;p>&#10;Washington, D.C., US, 69.3 murders per 100,000&lt;br>&#10;Philadelphia, US, 27.4 per 100,</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 21:04:03 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#72</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>Have you been to Canada, Australia, or Europe?&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>I've never been to Australia and have only been to a few places in Europe and Canada.&lt;p>&#10;&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>Do you think you would have to step over drunks or avoid large portions of</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:31:57 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: Canadian beer</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#71</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>all the Canadian beer I've had has been pretty sad&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>You need to try some more. As far as I am concerned Canada's beer is second only to American beer. (Germany, Belgium, and England probably tie for third place.)&lt;p>&#10;Just off t</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:23:28 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#70</link>
<description>Thank you for posting that list. I couldn't open your link, since I don't have Microsoft Office (perhaps explaining why I never saw that list when I write story), but this time I will take &lt;i>your&lt;/i> word for it. Still, both Independent and Master Card li</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:23:24 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: food cities</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#69</link>
<description>Varieties of &lt;i>ethnic cuisine&lt;/i> may be more extensive in Sydney even if Tokyo has more restaurants and more excellent restaurants. Since Tokyo has almost eight times as many people as Sydney, it would be beyond surprising if Sydney could match Tokyo in </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:13:47 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#68</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>On Independent's list, only city that makes top 10 is New York&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Oh my God! &lt;i>The Independent&lt;/i> posted the wrong list online. You had better write them a letter to let them know. Here's the top ten cities according to the &lt;a</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:13:32 EST</pubDate>
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<title>JimmyHavok: food cities</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#67</link>
<description>I find it hard to believe that a city in Australia (Sydney) could match the capital city of an entire nation of food fetishists (Tokyo).</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:05:52 EST</pubDate>
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<title>JimmyHavok: Canadian beer</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#66</link>
<description>So far, all the Canadian beer I've had has been pretty sad. &#160;I've only been to Niagara Falls and BC, but all I encountered was mediocre lager and thin ale that tasted like lager. &#160;The only brewpub we could find in Niagara had so much support it s</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:59:53 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#65</link>
<description>&lt;i>So you have to devalue the Euro to match? Shouldn't this mean we need to devalue everything to the level of the Singapore dollar? Or maybe the Bhutanese ngultrum or Indian rupee?&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;Would that make any difference? The only two real contestants on th</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:48:57 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#64</link>
<description>I found it tempting to disingenuously thank you for seeing errors of your ways and letting it go at that. I also considered accepting your ostensible effort to disconnect from me by refusing to reliably disagree with me, but then your lengthy reply really </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:41:26 EST</pubDate>
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<title>ms sue: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#63</link>
<description>&lt;i>Nice.&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;And still just as touchy when affectionately teased but a wee bit. &lt;p>&#10;&lt;i>In a sense - you inspire me. Specifically, in the sense that if I marry well, I'll have tons of time to spend on the internet ;)&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;Sounds like a plan. Or you can</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 19:01:40 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re:  The Warden of the Honour of the North</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#62</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>Halifax - is it even a city?&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Yes, Halifax is a city. Sure, Montreal has more people, but so what? Halifax still has a significant population and is the chief city in the Maritimes. It is a center of banking and shipping and s</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:33:23 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#61</link>
<description>If London had a major UN office then they would have added the UN to their list of criteria.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:50:14 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: You're Totally, Totally Right!</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#60</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>I must say though that since I was hoping to find people I could disagree with on TnT, how convenient that I can count on you&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Sorry, but I have changed my mind and I completely agree with you:&lt;p>&#10;The US government fails to ad</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:31:25 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#59</link>
<description>Corn and popcorn should count too.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:20:52 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#58</link>
<description>DC/Baltimore really does suck. One wonders how powerful country can have such dreadful capital. I take your word on Halifax because Quebec City and Ottawa really could put any sensible person into coma. Toronto women may not be French, but "all the chicks </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:19:28 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Lou: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#57</link>
<description>At least one food (if you can call it that) is well and truly all-American...it was even invented by a &lt;a href="http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/potatochips.htm">Native American!&lt;/a></description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:03:38 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#56</link>
<description>Actually, they claimed Sydney as ethnic cuisine capital of world. These days, Las Vegas deserves points for ethnic cuisine, and cuisine in general, but not for anything else unless nude entertainment counts for something.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:00:31 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#55</link>
<description>Your reference to "Bhutanese ngultrum" justifies your entire post. &lt;p>&#10;But, like it or not, US cuisine really exists (although it gets called "Canadian cuisine" by your northern neighbours). On low end, pizza doesn't count as genuinely Italian, chop suey (</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:55:27 EST</pubDate>
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<title>permazorch: Re: The Greatest City on Planet Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#54</link>
<description>I like Chicago, too.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:49:08 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Lou: Don't diss the dog</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#53</link>
<description>Granted, the idea of a sausage goes all the way back to time of Homer.&lt;p>&#10;&lt;i>"Ok, Honey...the sheep are all slaughtered the good bits are put away. &#160;What should we do with all of this intestine and stuff that's too nasty to eat on its own?&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;But,</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:46:51 EST</pubDate>
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<title>permazorch: Re: There are no great cities on Earth anymore</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#52</link>
<description>So, uh, where's the well-priced and decent heroin - Boulder, Colorado? Doubtful.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:46:21 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#51</link>
<description>Since Seoul comes in No. 2 in population to Mexico City's No. 3, Seoul got screwed worse than Mexico City did. Independent called Mexico City "Capital of Latin America" but called Seoul nothing at all.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:41:38 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: Joe Stalin, is that you?</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#50</link>
<description>If you would rather call me that in honour of Plastic, fine. This was my original moniker, and it remains only one I have ever used on TnT. You can accuse me of trolling all you like, but I believe things I say, and I do my best to back up my arguments. By</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:38:29 EST</pubDate>
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<title>permazorch: Re: Joe Stalin, is that you?</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#49</link>
<description>If that is Joe Stalin, it's the &lt;b>new&lt;/b> &lt;a href="http://www.slovnik.cz/">one&lt;/a>.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:35:16 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#48</link>
<description>&lt;i>In reality, no. Eduardo posts very seldom on Plastic now. That's why his original post here struck me as odd. But then so does Ed. :-)&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;Nice.&lt;p>&#10;I was AWOL from Plastic for a while - my life has a negative amount of free time nowdays. A few weeks </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:59:30 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Steve Urkel: There are no great cities on Earth anymore</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#47</link>
<description>They've all been ruint. Everywhere you go it's the same bad traffic, the same ugly architecture, the same over-priced heroin, the same boring vulgar "attractions", the same shops selling the same overpriced shitty clothes for the same ugly poseurs while th</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:40:51 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Nameless Cynic: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#46</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>If who did anything?&lt;/blockquote>Sorry. My snark fell flat there. Let's try it over again.&lt;blockquote>While NYC is not a capital, it is the seat of the UN and therefore incurs at least as much "prestige [and] ... economic activity" as any of th</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:20:19 EST</pubDate>
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<title>rEvolution inAction: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#45</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>(Sorry, rEv, you can have Montreal.)&lt;/blockquote>That's right, the vity is mine!</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:01:20 EST</pubDate>
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<title>rEvolution inAction: Re: Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#44</link>
<description>It'll only be patriotic posturing once we take over the world.&lt;p>&#10;&#10;&lt;ol>&#10;&lt;li value="1">we have a mountain in the middle of the city&lt;br>&#10;&lt;li value="2">we are on an island&lt;br>&#10;&lt;li value="3">we have great weed&lt;br>&#10;&lt;li value="4">we have great festivals&lt;br>&#10;&lt;li </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:00:06 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#43</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>And American cuisine is what, exactly?...Besides, what they probably did was go through the phone book (or equivalent) and pull out any restaurant &lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Actually they used a London-based guidebook. The New York version of that gui</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:40:57 EST</pubDate>
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<title>PenitenziAgite: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#42</link>
<description>Hey, why not Mexico City? &#160;If we're going to go by population....</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:40:37 EST</pubDate>
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<title>ckm: London is LA without ...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#41</link>
<description>... the good weather. &#160; Everything is a 20-minute drive, both have a large underclass, business/shopping centers are separated by vast, boring residential areas, both have a class-driven social structure dominated by a particular industry (finance and</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:27:33 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Joe Stalin, is that you?</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#40</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>How come richest country on Earth consistently falls behind Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and countries across Europe in quality of life surveys?&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>So, Joe, is this your first foray into Trees and Things, or have you been her</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:26:48 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Nameless Cynic: NYC = Wretched hive of scum and villainy</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#39</link>
<description>Hey, 'duardo. Couple of minor nitpicks in your assessment.&lt;blockquote>First, the weak dollar diminishes the relative value of the trades done in the US compared to those denominated in GBP in Lodon.&lt;/blockquote>So you have to devalue the Euro to match? Sho</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:14:58 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#38</link>
<description>If London gets tagged as being "highly dependent on US support (in all senses - technological, political, and operational)", then surely Brussels' NATO Headquarters deserves same tags. But even nominal HQ for NATO ought to earn Brussels some points, maybe </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 12:12:12 EST</pubDate>
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<title>port1080: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#37</link>
<description>&lt;i>no military decisions get made in Brussels&lt;/i>&#13;&#10;&lt;p>&#13;&#10;&lt;a href="http://www.nato.int/">They would beg to differ:&lt;/a>&#13;&#10;&lt;p>&#13;&#10;&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>&lt;b>NATO Headquarters&lt;/b>&lt;br>&#13;&#10;Blvd Leopold III&lt;br>&#13;&#10;1110 Brussels, Belgium&lt;br>&#13;&#10;natodoc@hq.nato.int&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>&#13;&#10;</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:40:12 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#36</link>
<description>I admit I hadn't seen him there much either, but I figured I should give him presumptive credit for posting on Plastic before I got there based on his assertions. </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:24:01 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#35</link>
<description>I agree with you on this. Washington, DC, doesn't compare well to other world-class cities, but should be considered "great" anyway because of its influence on world affairs in general. Beijing may be China's third largest city after Shanghai and Canton (G</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:22:11 EST</pubDate>
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<title>ms sue: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#34</link>
<description>&lt;i>I guess now he's kept busy on Plastic&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;In reality, no. Eduardo posts very seldom on Plastic now. That's why his original post here struck me as odd. But then so does Ed. :-) </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:13:10 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#33</link>
<description>I acknowledge that US government doesn't help out cities much, even as your first comment claimed it did, to ill effect. Yes, that differs from how things work in Canada and Western Europe, where cities generally look and feel more livable. This &lt;a href="h</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:03:20 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#32</link>
<description>Since House of Representatives can't pass legislation by itself either, presumably it has to reach compromises on everything with rural-dominated Senate and President who represents rural Americans much more than urban Americans ("red states" = South + rur</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:16:33 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#31</link>
<description>I guess now he's kept busy on Plastic, or here, in preference.</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:10:34 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Nameless Cynic: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#30</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>Do you really consider yourself "Plastic person" or internet free agent?&lt;/blockquote>Actually, dating back to his original nick on Plastic, he sort of belonged to &lt;a href="http://cookiepus.blogspot.com/">this site&lt;/a>, which was really a suburb</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:05:15 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#29</link>
<description>You completely ignore the fact that US cities are not funded by the federal government, but raise their own revenue from local taxes. That differs somewhat from the way other nations handle things, but it also means that if a city is starved of "operating </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 08:00:36 EST</pubDate>
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<title>port1080: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#28</link>
<description>&lt;i>As for "foolish chest thumping", you have to admit that most people engage in it to some extent. US politicians seem obsessed with it, and "patriotism" in all its flavours revolves around it. Humans really did evolve from great apes, and telling us not </description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:41:21 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#27</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>I'd say since the US Senate was configured to give two senators to every state regardless of population&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Right, and the Senate can pass laws all by itself. Oh, wait...they can't; the House has to agree to anything that the Sen</description>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:28:50 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#26</link>
<description>Point taken. On food front, I guess I have to go back to Independent's No. 1 rating for Sydney for variations of ethnic cuisine and general quality of restaurants. French food doesn't suck (well, except for "escargot"; that stuff really qualifies as frog f</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:14:24 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#25</link>
<description>&lt;i>If not crime, how about Michelin stars for restaurants? Tokyo got more than any other city on Earth, while New York didn't even measure up to Paris. (And what happened there anyway? Did all those great chefs move to Las Vegas or something?)&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;That </description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:03:33 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#24</link>
<description>&lt;i>If not crime, how about Michelin stars for restaurants? Tokyo got more than any other city on Earth, while New York didn't even measure up to Paris. (And what happened there anyway? Did all those great chefs move to Las Vegas or something?)&lt;/i>&lt;p>&#10;That </description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:02:01 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#23</link>
<description>If not crime, how about Michelin stars for restaurants? Tokyo got more than any other city on Earth, while New York didn't even measure up to Paris. (And what happened there anyway? Did all those great chefs move to Las Vegas or something?)</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:48:41 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#22</link>
<description>I do hear Tokyo is quite a baller city although I'd disagree with you about using crime stats to make the case. Crime kinda stems from the city being... well... a city, so it would seem wrong to use it as a penalty. After all, we're measuring urbannness he</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:41:55 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#21</link>
<description>No doubt Independent cooked their study to come up with their home city as world's best. But you seem to accept most of their "objective criteria" as appropriate for judging greatness of world cities. At last, you just tinker with their study rather than c</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:58:43 EST</pubDate>
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<title>thefadd: Re: The Greatest City on Planet Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#20</link>
<description>Maybe I am too bored of NYC having grownup in such close proximity but I will take Chicago over New York any day. The folk are far more laid back and accessible. Chicago offers everything New York does in a more user friendly manner. NYC is just over kill.</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:46:31 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Acefantastik: Re: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#19</link>
<description>stay here, mofo. &#160;Plenty of us are polygamists. &#160;I post here, and over on gawker sites. &#160;Plastic less so. &#160;We'd love to have you. &#160;</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:45:36 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#18</link>
<description>First off, I agree that "cooking the results to make the answer London sells papers in London". I pointed out in story that giving points to London for being "capital" changed their result by itself, not to mention giving New York and other cities no credi</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:39:27 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#17</link>
<description>As to your first point, rural voters in US get overrepresented in several important ways. Acefantastik correctly notes that structure of US Senate guarantees overrepresentation of rural states, with places like North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming,</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:21:28 EST</pubDate>
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<title>eduardo: NYC = Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#16</link>
<description>Hello TnT people, I am here because Plastic is down so enjoy me while I am here.&lt;p>&#10;NYC is clearly the best city in the world. The fact that it only "lost" by 1 point in an insanely subjective list done by a Lodon paper is pretty much proof of that. It's a</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:12:45 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Shy Elf: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#15</link>
<description>Re: Mastercard ratings&lt;blockquote>Business Center (22%) - Degree to which the city intermediates the flow of goods, services, people, finances and information, etc.&lt;/blockquote>And your rank the financial hub of the world, NYC 4th? &#160;This study is tota</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:50:55 EST</pubDate>
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<title>Acefantastik: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#14</link>
<description>&lt;i>Since when did rural Americans have so much political power?&lt;/i>&lt;p>I'd say since the US Senate was configured to give two senators to every state regardless of population. </description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:49:38 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#13</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>...rural Americans outright hate cities and prevail upon their representatives to starve cities of operating capital and subsidies even as they insist on enormous farm subsidies for themselves&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Since when did rural Americans h</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:41:13 EST</pubDate>
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<title>permazorch: The Greatest City on Planet Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#12</link>
<description>that I've ever been to, was hands-down, New York City. Prague and Madrid were both quite fine, but not even close to NYC.&lt;p>&#10;I think the limeys are all wet on this one. London?! Pah!</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:12:38 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#11</link>
<description>Toronto matches up well against most US cities anyway, even putting cultural diversity to one side. Some large US cities have sections that look war-damaged even though there haven't been any wars, many others have large sections where every building has b</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 16:06:10 EST</pubDate>
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<title>TonedEff: I'm sorry.</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#10</link>
<description>I didn't make myself clear with my initial post. &#160;I really don't care that much about whether Toronto is the greatest city in the world or not. &#160;Another set of criteria and you might end up with Shanghai or Mumbai or Singapore or Abu Dhabi as bei</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:13:27 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#9</link>
<description>Actually, &lt;a href="http://www.citypopulation.de/World.html">Toronto&lt;/a> (at 5,350,000 people in its urban agglomeration) ranks No. 63 in the world, not just behind 3. Mexico City, 4. New York, and 8. Los Angeles, but also behind 27. Chicago (9,800,000), 35</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:49:02 EST</pubDate>
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<title>TonedEff: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#8</link>
<description>I'll refer you to zyxwvutsr's post on Toronto. &#160;Home to virtually every ethnic group on earth and a total population of 4.5 million and growing, it's the fifth largest city in North America (after Mexico City, New York, LA, and Chicago). &#160;I've he</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:16:43 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#7</link>
<description>Please tell us more about Toronto's cultural diversity. What makes it more culturally diverse than New York or London or Sydney. Would you say Toronto reflects cultural diversity of Canada or that it has unique elements as Canada's magnet for immigration? </description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:41:59 EST</pubDate>
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<title>zyxwvutsr: Re: We're all wetbacks...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#6</link>
<description>&lt;blockquote>&lt;i>if cultural diversity is a key factor, then Toronto would probably rate a higher mention than New York City&lt;/i>&lt;/blockquote>Pfft. Even &lt;a href="http://queens.about.com/od/queensalmanac/f/languages.htm">Queens&lt;/a> all by itself has more cultu</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:32:14 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#5</link>
<description>Please share with us why Montreal ranks No. 1 in your book, aside from patriotic posturing. Comparisons with other cities you've visited would be helpful. Next time I visit, I'd like to know what I missed last time.</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:25:07 EST</pubDate>
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<title>TonedEff: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#4</link>
<description>And, if cultural diversity is a key factor, then Toronto would probably rate a higher mention than New York City (and with all apologies to rEv, forget about Montreal).</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:18:45 EST</pubDate>
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<title>novy: Re: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#3</link>
<description>I would have been tempted to put Tokyo at Number One just because of that size and congestion. At 33,600,000 people in its metro agglomeration, it stands as biggest city by some 10,000,000 citizens, putting it in class by itself. Its extreme wealth also ar</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:09:31 EST</pubDate>
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<title>rEvolution inAction: Re: Greatest City On Earth</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#2</link>
<description>what a bs list, Montreal is #1.</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:04:25 EST</pubDate>
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<title>port1080: They're all wet...</title>
<link>http://www.treesandthings.com/story/2007/12/24/04930/280#1</link>
<description>It just seems like an odd list.  Is there any way to "objectively" rate cities, anyway?  What's good for you depends on the person.  To me, Tokyo's size, expense, and congestion would take it off my top list right away.  Other things are contradictory - fo</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:47:52 EST</pubDate>
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