O Canada

[O Really]

Seems like I learned that the US built its strength with our forward thinking "melting pot" theory of immigration.


Then There was Powell and reagan.

Reagan wasn't the cause of awful immigration problems. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was a Reagan law. It made it illegal to hire undocumented workers, but also gave a free pass to everybody who had snuck in before 1982. Back then, there were also processes whereby a sneak-in could jump some hoops, pay some money, file some forms and become legal. All that changed after 9/11 when Security Theatre opened and the Bush Administration apparently thought Mexican farm workers were going to start blowing up airplanes and big buildings.

But also, I think the "melting pot" concept started going away by itself. Most immigrants at one time did come to America intending to become Americans and assimilated to the extent the people already here let them. Children and grandchildren of non-English speaking immigrants were indistinguishable from everybody else and most no long spoke the mother tongue or followed old country customs. In addition to the occasional "Chinatowns" language and culture was imported and remained. IMNVHO, this is a good thing and creates a more diverse vibrant culture where everybody benefits. Many do not agree, resent seeing any "furriners" in their patch and don't accept any culture from away.

[Vrede too]

Speaking of diversity:

Canada Removes Gender Barrier in Figure Skating, Allowing Any 2 Athletes to Form a Team

Blades of Glory irl, 15 years later.

Domestic competitions only, international will take a few decades to catch up.

[Vrede too]

Adam Hadwin taken out by security at Canadian Open after Nick Taylor wins PGA Tour title



As far as tackles by security guards go, it was as textbook as they come.

There was the early spot of the target, laser-sharp focus while honing in, and a crunching body slam to the ground.

There was only one thing wrong. The security guard had taken out a PGA Tour professional.

Opps.

Thankfully, there appears to be no lasting physical damage to Adam Hadwin.

He is "still among the land of the living and in true Canadian form, apologised to the security guard for being tackled", wrote his wife Jessica on Twitter.

Hadwin was unceremoniously dumped on the green while trying to celebrate his friend and fellow Canadian Nick Taylor's win in Toronto on Sunday.

Taylor had just holed a 72-foot putt to become the first home player to win the Canadian Open in 69 years and Hadwin, armed with an open bottle of champagne, rampaged onto the green with spray flying everywhere, only to fall 10 feet short of his target.

GoCanadaGo!

... Fellow PGA Tour players also saw the funny side, with two-time major winner Justin Thomas tweeting "Hahahahaha man down!!!!!!" ...

Ouch. U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club:





It was a helluva putt, "the longest made putt of his (Taylor's) PGA Tour career". Video, article
How many greens are even 72 feet long?

[O Really]

Happy Canada Day!

For anyone who might say "what is Canada Day?"...
https://www.almanac.com/content/canada-day

[billy.pilgrim]

... It may be too late.

It is, indeed. I think that's largely because what we have now isn't much different from what's always been here, except more extreme and less humane. Now, there are no longer any positive forces that can improve or offset.

For example:

GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson Rants About Email Interference, Gets Sent Straight To Spam
"This can't be real," one critic fired back at the former White House doctor who once raved about Donald Trump's "excellent" health.

Too many hilarious responses to excerpt. Prior to his move to the White House beginning in 2006, this cretin had real patients.

Love this part

"And they were screaming that they did not effing care who he was,” she said. “And the next thing I knew, they had him on the ground, grabbed him by the shirt, threw him on the ground, face first into the concrete and had him in cuffs.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics ... index.html

[Vrede too]

Love this part

"And they were screaming that they did not effing care who he was,” she said. “And the next thing I knew, they had him on the ground, grabbed him by the shirt, threw him on the ground, face first into the concrete and had him in cuffs.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/01/politics ... index.html

Karma. Lying, corrupt, wingnutty Ronny supported the J6 terrorist attack on DC LEOs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronny_Jackson#Tenure

[O Really]

Another reason why, despite being separated only by an imaginary line in the ground, life really is different in Canada.
"In a new study published by online learning platform, Preply, 1,500 residents were surveyed in 44 of the largest cities in the country to determine which are the rudest and most polite, while also highlighting various prevalent behaviours."

Criticism if the "most rude" city:
"The most common behaviours reported in the city were being absorbed by phones in public and not waving thank you when allowing cars to merge lanes." Shocking


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/c ... ec29&ei=13

[Vrede too]

Another reason why, despite being separated only by an imaginary line in the ground, life really is different in Canada.
"In a new study published by online learning platform, Preply, 1,500 residents were surveyed in 44 of the largest cities in the country to determine which are the rudest and most polite, while also highlighting various prevalent behaviours."

Criticism if the "most rude" city:
"The most common behaviours reported in the city were being absorbed by phones in public and not waving thank you when allowing cars to merge lanes." Shocking


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/c ... r-AA1fImiZ

Life is not all that different for everyone in Canada. Racist, oppressive policing in Montreal:


Black Restaurant Surrounded By Race Soldiers Over Noise Complaint

1312

[O Really]

So we'll be starting the Fall migration first of the month, but it's been a very good summer. Lots of walks/hikes in old growth trees, lakes, along rivers and in mountains. Went kayaking a couple of times. For the first time in many years, we've seen at least two current films that will be up for awards. Got a hotel for three days downtown Vancouver and did the town well. Went to a BC Lions game. Took a charter boat around the San Juan Islands.

After our summer in Victoria and then this year, we're pretty much indistinguishable from BC Canadians. Comfortable with temperature in Celsius and speed in K/ph, as well as the random mix - like temps on a stove are Fahrenheit and giving your body height and weight in feet/pounds. Find a "washroom," and leave the car in the "parkade." "Been" rhymes with "seen." Those funky looking postal codes like V4W 1C5 are pretty simple once you know that there's a pattern: letter-number-letter/number-letter-number and that the first three numbers are a wide area, such as a town and the last three are smaller divisions, like neighborhoods. Not much different from zip code system. And maybe best of all, going all summer with lots of different people in different places and situations and knowing that probably not one of them within 1000 km voted for Trump.

And to top it off, we got a good view of Northern Lights, and again tonight. Not my pic, but it was a good show.

[Vrede too]

Another reason why, despite being separated only by an imaginary line in the ground, life really is different in Canada.
"In a new study published by online learning platform, Preply, 1,500 residents were surveyed in 44 of the largest cities in the country to determine which are the rudest and most polite, while also highlighting various prevalent behaviours."

Criticism of the "most rude" city:
"The most common behaviours reported in the city were being absorbed by phones in public and not waving thank you when allowing cars to merge lanes." Shocking

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/c ... r-AA1fImiZ

... According to their survey, Canadians swear on average nine times daily, with Burlington, Ont., ranking first with 15 swear words per day.

Conversely, Burlingtonians also ranked first for being the most apologetic in Canada. The average resident says “sorry” nine times per day, but those in Burlington apologize 18 times per day....

This is largely explained by the common local quirk of saying, "Fucking sorry."

Another difference:

Canada's House Speaker Resigns After Honoring Man Who Fought With Nazis
Speaker Anthony Rota expressed his "profound regret" for inviting the veteran to Parliament right after a visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In Canada pols who accidentally honor Nazis resign in shame.
In America GQP pols who intentionally honor Nazis are elected to Congress and win the nomination for POTUS.

[O Really]

So we left a little early, on the chance the Republifools would close the border and missed the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, that recognizes the damage done in "residential schools" and honours those who were victims.

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-herit ... ation.html

The US had similar culture-destroying schools where students were not allowed to speak their native language or wear any clothing that looked "Injun". Hmmmm, wonder if there is any similar recognition in the US of that atrocity.

Nope, indigenous students can't even wear commemorative items at their "American school" graduations. Still suppressing native culture after 200 years.


https://kfor.com/news/school-officials- ... -ceremony/

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/ ... fc1a0.html

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2 ... ts-beaded/

[Vrede too]

So we left a little early, on the chance the Republifools would close the border and missed the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, that recognizes the damage done in "residential schools" and honours those who were victims.

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-herit ... ation.html

The US had similar culture-destroying schools where students were not allowed to speak their native language or wear any clothing that looked "Injun". Hmmmm, wonder if there is any similar recognition in the US of that atrocity.

Nope, indigenous students can't even wear commemorative items at their "American school" graduations. Still suppressing native culture after 200 years.


https://kfor.com/news/school-officials- ... -ceremony/

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/ ... fc1a0.html

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2 ... ts-beaded/

Burlington, Ontario. Police 911 operator told truck to stay put 43 seconds before animal rights protester killed. But it never came up in court.


Surveillance video and 911 calls from the scene of animal activist Regan Russell's tragic death

Driver: "I'm in danger."
He knew they were nonviolent protestors. He was setting up an alibi for the murder he intended to commit.

$2000 fine and 1 year probation, no loss of commercial driver's license.

[O Really]

US now exporting gun violence. Indirectly, if not directly.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/l ... r-AA1kBLbW

Rstrong's hometown.

On Sunday, just after 4 a.m., police said they went to a residence in the 100 block of Langside Street where they found five people wounded.

A man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene, while three were taken to the hospital. One man later died, and on Monday police confirmed the death of another injured woman.

The remaining injured victim, a 55-year-old man, is still in hospital in critical condition. Police said his identity is not being revealed for privacy reasons.

[Vrede too]

US now exporting gun violence. Indirectly, if not directly.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/l ... r-AA1kBLbW

Rstrong's hometown.

Another homicidal ex-soldier:

Suspect in Winnipeg quadruple homicide served in Canadian Armed Forces for over a decade

No word on possible motive and I can't find anything more recent than Dec. 4, 2023.


Still wiser than us:

New Poll Reveals What Terrifies Canadians About Trump 2.0
The possible death of U.S. democracy ranks high.

... In an Angus Reid Institute survey of 1,510 adults, almost two-thirds (64%) agreed or strongly agreed that U.S. democracy may not survive a second Trump presidency.

Almost half (49%) of the respondents worried the U.S. is “on the way to becoming an authoritarian state.”

Some 62% said the U.S. would be “much worse” under Trump again.

Regarding relations between the U.S. and Canada, 64% thought Biden was a more stable POTUS.

More than 50% said Biden is better for Canada’s economy, with 29% saying whoever occupies the Oval Office doesn’t matter, economically speaking, to Canada....

[Vrede too]

Another reason why, despite being separated only by an imaginary line in the ground, life really is different in Canada.
"In a new study published by online learning platform, Preply, 1,500 residents were surveyed in 44 of the largest cities in the country to determine which are the rudest and most polite, while also highlighting various prevalent behaviours."

Criticism if the "most rude" city:
"The most common behaviours reported in the city were being absorbed by phones in public and not waving thank you when allowing cars to merge lanes." Shocking

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/c ... r-AA1fImiZ

Houston, TX
Woman with both a criminal record and documented mental health issues (schizophrenia) attacks a megachurch with her legally owned AR-15–style rifle. Two off-duty officers, serving as security at the church, killed the shooter and shot her abused seven-year-old son in the head. Ted Cruz and Don Trump Jr falsely claim shooter was transgender.

Kansas City, MO
Super Bowl parade shooting: 1 Dead, 22 People Injured. Three suspects have been detained. The eight injured children are expected to make a full recovery. This will be the legacy of one of the all-time great SBs. Does anyone remember who won the "Earthquake World Series"?

High River, Alberta


Alberta woman threatened with jail time for riding horse around town, rides again

Spoiler:

Cops shamed, she can legally ride.

Yep, "life really is different in Canada."

[O Really]

Good grief.
"British Columbians told to stop using term 'British Columbians' because it's offensive now"

The Province of British Columbia is now instructing its residents not to refer to themselves as “British Columbians” as the term is offensive.

The guideline — first publicized by True North — is contained within an official guide for B.C. government workers drafting “Indigenous content.”

Writers are told that the term British Columbian “excludes Indigenous Peoples who may not identify with it.”

In referring to First Nations, bureaucrats are told to avoid any moniker associated with B.C. or Canada, a “nation that has actively worked to assimilate (Indigenous) people.”
“’British Columbians’ also excludes other groups such as newcomers and refugees,” it adds.

The correct term, according to the guide, is “people living in B.C.”

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/b ... 2ed9&ei=35

...

According to the government’s own style guidelines, the official name for this gender neutrality project is now itself offensive. It is overseen through a regulatory process known as Better Regulations for British Columbians.

How far back can I roll my proud summer British Columbian eyes?

[Vrede too]

... How far back can I roll my proud summer British Columbian eyes?

It depends on how you feel about “people living in B.C., including snowbird tourons like the O Reallys”

[Whack9]

I'm gonna be up in Vancouver for a few days in May! Also a few places in Washington.

[O Really]

I'm gonna be up in Vancouver for a few days in May! Also a few places in Washington.

There's a lot of places to enjoy all around there. Try to get time to take the ferry to San Juan Island or over to Vancouver Island and Victoria. If you're looking for boonies, Olympic peninsula and North Cascades has 'em.

[O Really]

... How far back can I roll my proud summer British Columbian eyes?

It depends on how you feel about “people living in B.C., including snowbird tourons like the O Reallys”

Hey we're not tourons - we may be snowbirds but we're residents in training.