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Canada is a whole different nation that has a much different way of life. Canada is more a Euro nation than an American one. A merger would be difficult. For example, Canada uses Euro measurements so you don't know if you are even speeding there or how far anything is because like 60 American miles is 100 Canadian miles. And if you buy gas there, you have to pay in Canadian money and it is sold in liters not gallons so unless you are good at math, you do not even know what you are paying for gas there. And Frankly our kids are having a hard enough time learning Spanish and we don't need to learn Canadian (French) too. And I have been driving on the right side too long to get used to going the wrong way.
60 miles an hour in America is exactly the same as 60 miles an hour in Canada or 60 miles an hour in any other country. A mile is a mile no matter where you are in the world. However, in Canada and most other countries in the world we use kilometers as a measurement of distance, so 1 mile is equal to 1.6 kilometers and 60 miles is equal to 96.5 kilometers.
If you buy gas in Canada you do know how much gas you're getting and how much you're paying for it. You are getting it by a certain amount of money per litre so you think in terms of litres, not gallons. Just so you know, there are 3.785 litres in a gallon.
In Canada we drive on the right side of the road, not on the left. I think this may be a very common misunderstanding for some people in the states who've never been to Canada so don't feel bad for getting that wrong. I gather that you live in Georgia but I've had friends and relatives visiting from Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama and California come up here expecting that they would have to drive on the left side of the road.
^^ true, but higher temperature in the summer doesn't really make a city much more attractive as a place to live than warm winters. 22C in July for Fairbanks is not bad at all for a city. San Diego's July high is 24, Copenhagen's is 20C - it doesn't matter. No matter how cool it is in the summer, it is still very livable, even if it is only 15C. On the other hand can't say the same for winter, as most people feel reluctant to live in a place where it is below freezing for 4 months. To have the entire summer below 22, what's the big deal?
People find it fine when the temperature is between say 0 and 30C, no matter what the season is, with 10-25 being the most comfortable zone. Anything below -5 or above 35, it comes very uncomfortable. In this sense, how "cold" it is in the summer really doesn't matter nearby as much as how cold it is in winter.
Shanghai's winter does feel bitterly cold due to the humidity although it rarely drops below -5C (more like Vancouver's winter without the rain), but it is usually short and over by end of February. Its problem is the long summer- for example today Nov 9, the high in Shanghai is 27C.
My point was that you are trying to compare incomparable climates. You need to compare two subarctic climates. Fairbanks and Yellowknife is a fairly good comparison actually. But comparing a subarctic climate to a monsoonal one is not a good idea. Just as comparing a subarctic to a coastal marine climate (Anchorage to Yellowknife) was pointed out as being unfair, so if that is unfair then monsoonal to subarctic is also unfair...
About Shanghai...
Yes, Shanghai in winter might be -5C but New Orleans at the same latitude is usually 10-15C. Right now Shanghai is 27C, New Orleans is 22C. New Orleans is much milder overall. In the summer, Shanghai is 35-40C, New Orleans is usually around 35C, so not much difference there. The difference is the Siberian arctic high pressure reaches Shanghai but arctic air rarely reaches New Orleans.
60 miles an hour in America is exactly the same as 60 miles an hour in Canada or 60 miles an hour in any other country. A mile is a mile no matter where you are in the world. However, in Canada and most other countries in the world we use kilometers as a measurement of distance, so 1 mile is equal to 1.6 kilometers and 60 miles is equal to 96.5 kilometers.
If you buy gas in Canada you do know how much gas you're getting and how much you're paying for it. You are getting it by a certain amount of money per litre so you think in terms of litres, not gallons. Just so you know, there are 3.785 litres in a gallon.
In Canada we drive on the right side of the road, not on the left. I think this may be a very common misunderstanding for some people in the states who've never been to Canada so don't feel bad for getting that wrong. I gather that you live in Georgia but I've had friends and relatives visiting from Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama and California come up here expecting that they would have to drive on the left side of the road.
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Well I guess I was wrong about them driving on the right side because I thought all Crown nations drove on the other side. So I am certainly sorry about that assumption. I do live in Georgia but we have some Canadians here. I know they have an Embassy here in Midtown. Maybe someday I will venture outside the USA. I have been close to Canada 3 years ago at Niagra Falls NY. I could see over into Canada.
Heh. I got curious about how many countries drive on the right and how many drive on the left so I looked it up. Red drives on the right and blue on the left.
Well I guess I was wrong about them driving on the right side because I thought all Crown nations drove on the other side. So I am certainly sorry about that assumption. I do live in Georgia but we have some Canadians here. I know they have an Embassy here in Midtown. Maybe someday I will venture outside the USA. I have been close to Canada 3 years ago at Niagra Falls NY. I could see over into Canada.
Just a heads up -- only Washington, DC has embassies, the other cities (such as Atlanta) have consulates.
I'm a lifelong US citizen from a red state that is pretty ridiculous and drives me insane (Kansas) With that said, I really like Canada but think a merger would really not accomplish anything. I really respect the fact that Canada's economy seems more stable and less banks there have shut downs and issues. I think the US could model after Canada in many ways and be better off in the long run and will probably be more like Canada is now in the next 20-30 years. But here's the question. What will Canada be like in 20-30 years?
.......... I think the US could model after Canada in many ways and be better off in the long run and will probably be more like Canada is now in the next 20-30 years. But here's the question. What will Canada be like in 20-30 years?
I think that's a tough question to speculate about because nobody knows what the global situation will be like in 20-30 years and much of Canada's economic development depends on global affairs. Canada has been slowly but steadily plodding along at growing and evolving positively for the past 150 - 200 years and I don't anticipate that it's evolution is going to change spectacularly or come to a stop. One of the reasons Canada is socially and financially stable at this time when several other nations are not is because Canada does things in moderation, conservatively .... it isn't a huge risk taker. It's a cautious, mostly sensible and in many ways humble country that observes what other nations are doing and learns from their mistakes and successes. Canada has not been trying to make any big political statements or impacts with the global community and it doesn't aspire to be exceptional or a superpower, it just wants to grow, to increase trade and continue being the friendly peacekeeper nation that it already has an established reputation for being. We have good trade with USA and other countries and we will continue to open up new trade opportunities as we expand and develop our own resources. Really, I just don't see any of that discontinuing and not carrying on with business as usual in decades to come. The country is just going to continue growing and evolving slowly but surely and steadily as it has always done. I'd like to see Canada be less dependent on so much exclusive oil trade with USA in the future, and note I didn't say less cooperative, just less dependent, but I don't expect that to occur for at least another good 30 to 40 years.
I'm a lifelong US citizen from a red state that is pretty ridiculous and drives me insane (Kansas) With that said, I really like Canada but think a merger would really not accomplish anything. I really respect the fact that Canada's economy seems more stable and less banks there have shut downs and issues. I think the US could model after Canada in many ways and be better off in the long run and will probably be more like Canada is now in the next 20-30 years. But here's the question. What will Canada be like in 20-30 years?
The USA knows what it's doing there are many things many people don't know about america that's really smart. For example we are saving all out gold until high demand, oil is starting to now sell...
Its painful for me to say this as a lifelong American. I don't think Canada would have us because we have more problems in our country than they would want to deal with. That makes all talk of an economic and/or political union irrelevant.
Canada is a very fortunate country in that it has a very large area, abundant resources, and a small population. Thirty million may not seem small, but when you consider the size of the country it is a very sparsely populated land.
Another hard fact for me and some Americans to face is that even though we share a language in common with Canadians (at least those not in Quebec), we have little else in common. One can begin by examining the founding motto of Canada: "Peace, Order, and Good Government". The closest thing we Americans can come to that is "liberty". The more I observe it too, the "liberty" that many Americans are thinking about is purely a personal liberty where they want a system where everyone and everything stands out of their way while they try to become wealthy. Cultural attitudes are very different. Canadians, on the whole, are more interested in building a good society. Its why they have national health insurance that covers everyone in the country and a social safety net for the poor and sick. They have little gun violence and violent crime in their nation. They are more interested in the environment than we are. Someone should compare the wars that Canada has fought with those the USA has fought. You'll learn very quickly that Canadians try to resolve their problems without violence when possible. A fool like George W. Bush could never have elected leader of their country. The conservative politicians in their country don't try to undo major social programs. They try to make them run more efficiently.
When I was a child, there was a belief that nothing could be better than being an American and living in the USA. I suppose in some ways, its still true. There is much to do in this country and we still are a center of technology and science. When Nobel Prizes are awarded, the USA always does well. Increasingly though, this country is just not working for large segments of the population. I know people who have been laid off and without a job for approximately two years. More and more of the benefits of that technology and science are flowing to fewer and fewer people. The wealthy often live in gated communities and send their children to elite private schools. Perhaps, the rest of us benefit from a small amount of the wealth they obtain "trickling down" to the rest of us. However, it seems clear that this amount seems to get smaller all the time. The recent nonsense in Congress where the Tea Baggers almost caused a default on this country's debts shows just how far this country has slid. Things like that don't happen in Canada.
The truth is that I wish the Canadians were interested in some kind of a union with the USA. I now believe the time when they would have agreed to that is long past. Sadly, many millions of innocent Americans will pay for some of the misguided and stupid behavior that has occurred for years in this country.
Last edited by markg91359; 11-11-2013 at 07:24 AM..
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I got curious about how many countries drive on the right and how many drive on the left so I looked it up. Red drives on the right and blue on the left.
