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Strange ... none of the Canadians I know give a rip about anything in those 10 points.
And given most Canadians are quite liberal by American standards, and philosophically wouldn't be so opposed to some of those in that list, ...
I can only conclude this list is totally fabricated by some right wing nut spouting the usual Tea Bagger bullcrap. *yawn*
A REAL Canadian's list of top 5 things they think we're stupid about:
1) Thinking that the "war on terror" does any good. In fact we're only sowing the seeds of future terrorists by blowing up the fathers of kids. Great job America! BTW, thanks for forcing ME, a CANADIAN, to POINT OUT I'm CANADIAN, NOT AMERICAN! QUIT PISSING OFF THE WORLD! My Australian and British friends agree.
2) I get that America is a big place. Bigger in fact than all of Europe geographically. So I excuse the lack of knowlege of basic geography, but man, I can't help but shake my head how woefully stupid most Americans are with their own country's geography. And no, Canada is not the 51st state. And we have provinces anyway.
3) Americans' fetish with gun rights is taking things a tad too far. In Alberta they love their guns alright. But ... arming teachers? Really? I can't help but think the NRA has long since stopped talking about the rights of the common man and more about the economic interests of the gun lobby. I wonder how big their kickback checks are and whether they think about the blood on their hands ...
4) The Imperial measurement system. Really, America? You gave us the Internet, landed on the moon, launch satellites into space, carry half the world's air traffic, more than half the cargo traffic, invented really awesome cars and machines ... and yet you can't read metric? Only you and ... two other countries. Both **** hole states. Winning! ... NOT!
5) Only in America would people rant about REQUIRING people to get health care. More people in health care = cheaper care for everyone while regulating business interests. DUH! Why else do you think the rest of the civilized world has long since gone towards socialized medicine. Because it works! And no, I don't have to wait 20 years for surgery. Again, conservatives whipping up fire and brimstone at the behest of corporate interests while feigning interest and common ideology with the "little guy." I think most Americans who vote Republican must have a hole in their heads. It's just SO STUPID.
Strange ... none of the Canadians I know give a rip about anything in those 10 points.
And given most Canadians are quite liberal by American standards, and philosophically wouldn't be so opposed to some of those in that list, ...
I can only conclude this list is totally fabricated by some right wing nut spouting the usual Tea Bagger bullcrap. *yawn*
A REAL Canadian's list of top 5 things they think we're stupid about:
1) Thinking that the "war on terror" does any good. In fact we're only sowing the seeds of future terrorists by blowing up the fathers of kids. Great job America! BTW, thanks for forcing ME, a CANADIAN, to POINT OUT I'm CANADIAN, NOT AMERICAN! QUIT PISSING OFF THE WORLD! My Australian and British friends agree.
2) I get that America is a big place. Bigger in fact than all of Europe geographically. So I excuse the lack of knowlege of basic geography, but man, I can't help but shake my head how woefully stupid most Americans are with their own country's geography. And no, Canada is not the 51st state. And we have provinces anyway.
3) Americans' fetish with gun rights is taking things a tad too far. In Alberta they love their guns alright. But ... arming teachers? Really? I can't help but think the NRA has long since stopped talking about the rights of the common man and more about the economic interests of the gun lobby. I wonder how big their kickback checks are and whether they think about the blood on their hands ...
4) The Imperial measurement system. Really, America? You gave us the Internet, landed on the moon, launch satellites into space, carry half the world's air traffic, more than half the cargo traffic, invented really awesome cars and machines ... and yet you can't read metric? Only you and ... two other countries. Both **** hole states. Winning! ... NOT!
5) Only in America would people rant about REQUIRING people to get health care. More people in health care = cheaper care for everyone while regulating business interests. DUH! Why else do you think the rest of the civilized world has long since gone towards socialized medicine. Because it works! And no, I don't have to wait 20 years for surgery. Again, conservatives whipping up fire and brimstone at the behest of corporate interests while feigning interest and common ideology with the "little guy." I think most Americans who vote Republican must have a hole in their heads. It's just SO STUPID.
4. I couldn't agree more, but you have to realize that switching over would be like deciding to switch which side of the road you drive on. And the fact of the matter is that the scientific community uses the metric system, so it's not near as big of a deal as it's made out to be.
5. You're preaching to half the choir. On the other hand, there is a smaller percentage of Americans that identify as Republican now than there ever has been. That has more to do with the Tea Party being completely bat**** than anything, but hey, we'll take what we can get.
For the person who asked " Does Canada have a pledge of loyalty , or some thing ' ?
The simple answer is NO, we don't. Not one that kids are required to recite while standing in school
every day, as in the USA.
BUT when a person ( who was born outside of Canada ) after being approved to come to Canada as a Immigrant, and who has lived and worked in Canada for three years, and has passed the Citizenship tests, and their personal interview with a Citizenship Court Judge, they "Swear an oath of Loyalty to Canada " at their swearing in ceremony. Then they get their Citizenship Certificate and wallet photo ID card, as a proof of their being a Canadian.
By the way.......... Health Care in Canada is NOT FREE. We all PAY for it through our individual income taxes, and through sales taxes on the things that we buy. Even those on welfare buy things on a regular basis, so they contribute too. What we have done is remove the "profit motive " from the program. Doctors and nurses are paid well, but their rates are controlled, and negotiated every two years by the Government on one side, and their professional associations on the other side.
Doctors here don't need to employ several clerks to handle insurance claims forms. With our system, the Provincial Ministry of Health gets all of a Doctors billing, for all services rendered in a month, by electronic billing, and they verify the amounts and 60 days later they issue a cheque to the Doctor for services . When I see my MD, his secretary scans my Ontario Health Card, and verifies that I haven't moved, and my card is valid for services. The computer connects to the Ministries data base and records my visit. If I have services at a hospital, the same system records my treatment and what resources I have used. The hospital gets paid by the Province, in 60 days by electronic transfer. The OHIP card has my photo, and my signature, and home address on it, in electronic form, and the mag strip on the back allows emergency access to my most recent treatment and drug record.
It works for us, and I can't for the life of me understand the reluctance of Americans to at least TRY it.
4. I couldn't agree more, but you have to realize that switching over would be like deciding to switch which side of the road you drive on. And the fact of the matter is that the scientific community uses the metric system, so it's not near as big of a deal as it's made out to be.
Interestingly, Thomas Jefferson proposed a metric system of his own devising at the time the US switched from the English monetary system. It was rejected at that time as too expensive to implement.
However, "switching" to metric would not be a big switch at this point. It's been more-or-less in progress since 1975. So they begin putting milk in the same sized containers they've been using for soft drinks for decades...no big deal.
I'd be totally happy to give up SAE tools and use only metric. No pain in that switchover.
Most automobiles already have metric indications on speedometers.
It just really wouldn't be a big deal, and certainly nothing as traumatic as changing driving side (which would include having to rebuild some freeways).
For the person who asked " Does Canada have a pledge of loyalty , or some thing ' ?
The simple answer is NO, we don't. Not one that kids are required to recite while standing in school
every day, as in the USA.
BUT when a person ( who was born outside of Canada ) after being approved to come to Canada as a Immigrant, and who has lived and worked in Canada for three years, and has passed the Citizenship tests, and their personal interview with a Citizenship Court Judge, they "Swear an oath of Loyalty to Canada " at their swearing in ceremony.
Every nation has some form of ritual affirming the citizen's allegiance to his/her country. Official transactions between the individual and the government are sealed by formal recitation of oath. Examples would be naturalization of new citizens, assumption of office by new government employees, swearing-in of newly enlisted soldiers and the like.
These rituals tend to be more subdued in nations secure in their identity, and/or democratic societies. It's the more authoritarian nations that incessantly trot out their national anthem and repeat public pledges of loyalty. It's yet another way to paint critics and dissidents as being disloyal, to paper-over disagreements amongst the populace by rallying around the flag, to aggrandize the prestige of the incumbent government, to venerate the leader, to erect barriers between the in-group (the nation in question) and the out-group (everyone else).
The US is not unusual in being proud of its national symbols and foundational documents. Some amount of pride is well-earned and well-justified. What IS however very unusual about the US is that, despite being a large and pluralistic democracy, it is so overt and strident about veneration of its national symbols, with their frequent public display and their inculcation in the minds of schoolchildren.
I have attended classical music performances in many countries, but only in America does the performance by a prestigious orchestra in a grand concert hall begin with the audience rising, and a playing of the national anthem. As one noteworthy data point, consider that during the days of the bad old USSR, the Soviet national anthem was never played before say a performance by the Leningrad Philharmonic... or before soccer or hockey games.
I have attended classical music performances in many countries, but only in America does the performance by a prestigious orchestra in a grand concert hall begin with the audience rising, and a playing of the national anthem. As one noteworthy data point, consider that during the days of the bad old USSR, the Soviet national anthem was never played before say a performance by the Leningrad Philharmonic... or before soccer or hockey games.
OTOH, an anecdote:
In the mid-90s, I had an Air Force staff sergeant working for me who was an exquisite, professionally trained tenor. He sang the Star Spangled Banner differently from most. He sang it always a capella, but instead of powering it out as most people do, he sang it with quiet tentativeness, emphasizing the fact that it's actually a question.
He sang it for the Russian Air Force Chief of Staff on one occasion, and brought that general to tears (as he always brought us to tears). The Russian general begged for a recording to take back to Russia.
Interestingly, Thomas Jefferson proposed a metric system of his own devising at the time the US switched from the English monetary system. It was rejected at that time as too expensive to implement.
However, "switching" to metric would not be a big switch at this point. It's been more-or-less in progress since 1975. So they begin putting milk in the same sized containers they've been using for soft drinks for decades...no big deal.
I'd be totally happy to give up SAE tools and use only metric. No pain in that switchover.
Most automobiles already have metric indications on speedometers.
It just really wouldn't be a big deal, and certainly nothing as traumatic as changing driving side (which would include having to rebuild some freeways).
Actually Jefferson's plan was not rejected as too expensive. Since we didn't have any system of measurements at the time, there wouldn't have really been any cost. Jefferson's plan just never got any support, and he gave up on it. The English system came into use by default.
The sad thing is that the metric system was invented in 1799. Some historians believe that if it had been invented 10 or 20 years earlier, congress would likely have adopted it. But by 1799 the English system had already been in use for a while.
As it was, Congress authorized the metric system in 1866, and we have been struggling to make the change, ever since.
Because claiming it's a "Canadian" list when it was written by a RW American is lying.
Thank goodness that was blatant to other people, too. It became obvious by the second point that that list wasn't written by a Canadian (unless that Canadian is Ted Cruz OR a disgruntled American who is, for whatever reason, living in Canada).
Clearly OP has never met an actual Canadian or else that would have been immediately clear to her. They're generally more liberal than we are! If one were to write a "Only in America" list, it would read like something written by the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Sure there are people on the far-right up there, but not in the same numbers that they exist here in the States.
For the person who asked " Does Canada have a pledge of loyalty , or some thing ' ?
The simple answer is NO, we don't. Not one that kids are required to recite while standing in school
every day, as in the USA.
BUT when a person ( who was born outside of Canada ) after being approved to come to Canada as a Immigrant, and who has lived and worked in Canada for three years, and has passed the Citizenship tests, and their personal interview with a Citizenship Court Judge, they "Swear an oath of Loyalty to Canada " at their swearing in ceremony. Then they get their Citizenship Certificate and wallet photo ID card, as a proof of their being a Canadian.
By the way.......... Health Care in Canada is NOT FREE. We all PAY for it through our individual income taxes, and through sales taxes on the things that we buy. Even those on welfare buy things on a regular basis, so they contribute too. What we have done is remove the "profit motive " from the program. Doctors and nurses are paid well, but their rates are controlled, and negotiated every two years by the Government on one side, and their professional associations on the other side.
Doctors here don't need to employ several clerks to handle insurance claims forms. With our system, the Provincial Ministry of Health gets all of a Doctors billing, for all services rendered in a month, by electronic billing, and they verify the amounts and 60 days later they issue a cheque to the Doctor for services . When I see my MD, his secretary scans my Ontario Health Card, and verifies that I haven't moved, and my card is valid for services. The computer connects to the Ministries data base and records my visit. If I have services at a hospital, the same system records my treatment and what resources I have used. The hospital gets paid by the Province, in 60 days by electronic transfer. The OHIP card has my photo, and my signature, and home address on it, in electronic form, and the mag strip on the back allows emergency access to my most recent treatment and drug record.
It works for us, and I can't for the life of me understand the reluctance of Americans to at least TRY it.
Jim B.
Toronto.
Removing the profit & greed from our medical system would reduce campaign contributions.
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