>The lesson here in my mind is to learn that one's intentions should never be confused with one's judgement. Don't lose the good intentions but learn about good judgement.>

Now you're starting to sound like THEM. You know it's not about intentions, it's results. What did 40 years of giveaways do for poor people... it made them dependants. The intention MAY have been good, but the outcome was off 180 degrees. Good intentions without outcome measurements are at least as bad as bad intentions, IMHO.

Mike appears to be a good guy with a good head on his shoulders. I'm sure he will learn that there should be consequences for actions, if he doesn't already believe that. I just thought I'd seize the opportunity to point out that when someone impacts the rest of the world in such a non-productive way, they should pay the price for their actions.