Moooo - Here comes our beef and the protesters!!!

[Bill Glasheen]

Just to keep you apprised of what's going on in the terrorist world, Justin.

Terror Attack Rattles Stocks
And Sends Oil Prices Higher

By SCOTT PATTERSON
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
December 6, 2004 1:54 p.m.

A terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia sent shivers Monday through the stock market -- and oil prices higher.

***

By HUGH POPE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 6, 2004 12:52 p.m.

Assailants armed with machine guns and grenades blasted their way into the grounds of the U.S. Consulate-General in Jidda, killing at least eight people, including five local staff, and driving another wedge between the U.S. and oil giant Saudi Arabia.

These targets are easier to get to - today.

- Bill

[cxt]

And at least one Islamofacist website has already proclaimed a blow stuck vs the "athiesit." (sp)

[Mary S]

I guess we can't be all bad...

Company lets U.S. travelers 'Go Canadian'
Tuesday, December 7, 2004 Posted: 1109 GMT (1909 HKT)

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) -- An American T-shirt company has a solution for their fellow citizens who want to vacation in Europe without having to answer questions about U.S. politics -- pose as Canadians.

For $24.95, T-shirtKing.com offers the "Go Canadian" package, full of just the kind of things an American traveler needs to leave their country and its politics behind.

There's a Canadian flag T-shirt, a Canadian flag lapel pin and a Canadian patch for luggage or a backpack. There's also a quick reference guide -- "How to Speak Canadian, Eh?" -- on answering questions about Canada.

It's the brainchild of employees at the Mountainair, New Mexico-based company known for novelty T-shirts it sells worldwide on the Internet.

"It's not meant as a slight against the United States or Canada," explained T-shirtKing.com President Bill Broadbent. "It was meant as something Republicans could give their Democrat friends to say 'C'est la vie.' ... But maybe not c'est la vie because that's a French word."

The "Go Canadian" idea sprouted after one of Broadbent's colleagues heard of someone being harassed about U.S. politics during a recent overseas trip.

Some people might not mind, but others "just want to be on vacation," Broadbent said. "So we were joking that they could just go as Canadians, and that just kind of evolved."

The package went up on T-shirtKing.com's Web site November 12 and the company had sold a couple hundred in the first two weeks or so. Many of the out-of-state buyers were in Michigan, Illinois, and the Seattle area, Broadbent said.

When lifelong Democrat Dani Delaney saw the package, she was immediately sold. After the general election, she said, "if I could move to Canada, I would."

"I admire their liberal, progressive stand on things," said the 57-year-old, part-time writing instructor at the University of New Mexico. "And I thought, 'Well, that's a good way to peacefully protest.'"

Sylvia Dawson's boyfriend has been joking that she needed to find him a Canadian flag for an upcoming trip to Spain. That's after his daughter, who is studying there, warned that he might be questioned about politics when he comes to visit.

So she bought a package.

"I said, 'What are you going to do if someone asks you about the prime minister of Canada?' And he said, 'I'll study up,"' Dawson said.

Such questions are the reason for the package's quick reference guide, which offers tips in case an American in disguise gets quizzed on Canada.

When it comes to sports, the guide suggests: "This is easy to remember. There is only one real sport in Canada and it is called hockey. Regardless of any trivia question, the answer is 'Wayne Gretzky."'

If a Canadian says he had to "deke out of a meeting," it means he avoided the meeting. If someone is headed to "Hogtown," that's Canadian for Toronto. A trip to "Cowtown" means the person is going to Calgary.

And in all cases, the guide advises: "If your vacation is to be stress free, leave those heavy politics behind and travel with a light heart and quick wit, Canadian style."

[Bill Glasheen]

Funny, interesting, and revealing...

Many of the out-of-state buyers were in Michigan, Illinois, and the Seattle area, Broadbent said.

Uh huh...

When lifelong Democrat Dani Delaney saw the package, she was immediately sold. After the general election, she said, "if I could move to Canada, I would."

"I admire their liberal, progressive stand on things," said the 57-year-old, part-time writing instructor at the University of New Mexico.

Yep!

FWIW... Last trip I took to Germany was a piece of cake. Nobody said word one about politics. Everyone (in Bavaria) seems to want to hug and be hugged.

Good people are good people. Good Uechika leave it all on the floor, and enjoy life afterwards.

Meanwhile, we let Michael Moore visit France any time he wants. They can talk politics, drink inferior French wine (Napa valley is better...), and feel superior (a.k.a. "progressive") all they want.

I hear there are some good people in Nova Scotia... Where the heck were you when I went up there in the 1980s, Mary?

- Bill

[Guest]

Cxt, for the record, Canada was there; we asked for American help, we didn’t get any. We asked via diplomatic channels and we ask the Security Council of the UN, the US has a permanent seat, we received no help. Over 800,000 where killed in one hundred days, the tiny peace keeping force helpless to stop it.

Now I understand the US wasn’t happy about Africa they had just had a tough go of it in Somalia, we were there too, and it cost us much as well.



Then ten years later, the US decides the want to do a solo gig in the Middle East. But they decide to pressure friendly nations into joining them to give the invasion the optics of an internationally supported event.

Canada does not buy in, we make list 2 and suffer trade sanctions. For not choosing to break international law we are sanctioned. Yet when you failed to support Canada’s efforts ten year previous we respected and accepted your sovereign decision. I suggest
America’s treatment of Canada smacks of a double standard. If you don’t back us why would you expect any help from us?

But I guess we are not the worst neighbors you could have because we still are watching your back:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MAS109A.html

Your right the Slavic campaign was not about oil. The point I’m trying to make is there was an American interest, economic, i.e. energy, or strategic, i.e. place to deploy troops, etc. I don’t know what the motivation was, but it never is the big H humanitarian thing that folks like to spin. BTW we were there too. If you were that great of a humanitarian nation, you would have acted in Rwanda we told many times that there was going to be genocide.

America has a long history of tinkering in the affairs of other countries and a long history of invading other countries. Here’s a list I found on this site, don’t know if it’s complete, don’t know all the history, but I think we can all agree with Benzo America just doesn’t rattle the saber, they deploy it.

Frequently by our standards, hey the only nation to ever invade Canada was the USA, (3 times I believe) we always get nervous up hear CXT when we think the white house is over due for renovations.

1898-1910 Philippines Seizes from Spain, 600,000 Filipinos killed
1898 Puerto Rico Seizes from Spain
1901-14 Panama Separates country from Colombia and annexes canal zone
1903 Honduras US marines intervene against revolution
1912-33 Nicaragua 20-year occupation and war against guerrillas
1914-34 Haiti Military occupation
1916-24 Dominican Republic Military occupation
1917-33 Cuba Military occupation, made into economic protectorate
1917-22 Russia Five landings of troops to try to overthrow revolution
1919 Yugoslavia Marines intervene against Serbs
1925 Panama Marines suppress general strike
1927-34 China Marines stationed throughout the country
1932 El Salvador Warships sent during revolt
1945 Japan Firebombs Tokyo and other cities, drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (The first country to use Weapons of Mass Destruction)
1947-49 Greece CIA assisted coup, provides right wing fighters with napalm, arms and patrol boats.
1950 Puerto Rico Independence rebellion crushed
1950-53 Korea US and South Korea fight China and North Korea to stalemate. US threaten to use nuclear weapons. At least two million Korean civilians killed or wounded
1953 Iran CIA overthrows left wing democratic government
1954 Guatemala CIA directs invasion after government nationalizes land belonging to US United Fruit Company
1956 Lebanon US troops land
1960-75 Vietnam Two million Vietnamese killed in longest US war (Weapons of Mass Destruction were used - biological and chemical weapons against civilians)
1965 Indonesia One million killed in CIA-assisted coup
1969-75 Cambodia US carpet bombs, two million killed by years of bombing and starvation
1973 Chile CIA-backed coup overthrows democratically elected government
1976-92 Angola CIA assists South African backed rebels
1981 Libya Two Libyan jets shot down
1981-92 El Salvador Troops and air power assist death squads, 75,000 people killed
1981-90 Nicaragua CIA directs contra invasions
1982-84 Lebanon US forces intervene, navy shells Beirut
1983-89 Honduras US troops build bases for death squads
1983 Grenada US invasion
1986 Libya Capital Tripoli bombed in effort to kill President Gadaffi
1987 Iran Iranian passenger jet shot down over Persian Gulf
1989-90 Panama Invasion, thousands of civilians killed
1990-91 Iraq Gulf war US-led coalition kills 100,000 Iraqis
1992-94 Somalia US-led UN occupation
1995 Ex-Yugoslavia Bombs Serbs and assists ethnic cleansing
1998 Sudan US warplanes bombs pharmaceutical factory
1998 Iraq Four days of air strikes, raids continue until present day
1998 Serbia 78 days of US-led NATO air strikes
2001 Afghanistan US-led war kills thousands of innocent civilians (who had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks)
2003 Iraq
__________________________________________________


You folks have been busy little beavers.

Makes me wonder when your army is coming north.

CXT I don’t want to debate Iraq, if you check some old threads you will find I backed this invasion I was for it .

I don’t want to debate any of America’s countless invasions or tinkering with governments and or electoral processes.

But for the record we were with you in WW1 And WW2…or you eventually joined the rest of us as you were slow to join us.

We were in Korea, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Iraq 1, and Afghanistan. We still are in Afghanistan and the Slavic Nations. We have been involved in almost every us peace keeping force since their inception.

You can posture all you want about how unappreciated America is, but the bottom line.. Canada spends a larger portion of it’s GNP on foreign aid than America does. Many nations do! But who really cares who gives what…what is important to consider is how it is given.

If your hungry and your given food that’s great! But if your benefactor wants something in return for the meal that’s less great! So if aid comes with military occupation or rape of resources, or religion or government is tinkered with… the hungry may eat the meal with strings attached, and when healthy turn their backs on the domineering benefactor.

So ask your self how aid is given.

All I’m interested in discussing is Canadian/US relationship.

I want to know why we are getting the dirty end of the stick.

My comments about other international matters were to provoke though about how America deals with other nations.

Think about it, Canadian embassies are not being blown up all over the world. So why are America’s?

Remember who got your people out of Iran? You sure have a funny way of thanking us for a century of support.

Why ?

[Guest]

http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do? ... ID=1787089

JTF2 went in first , behind the lines covert. Thanks for the citation....what exactly do you want from an ally?

[Bill Glasheen]

Laird

Interesting rant, and very thought provoking.

BTW, your list of interventions is relevent only in the context of history. We've been busy little beavers, but consider also that we are part of a global economy - with longtime enemies. There are actions, and then there are reactions. Also, it needs a bit of editing. There are too many omissions, half-truths, and lies in that historical list to mention in this short post. I'd love to know the source; that should say it all. Care to share?

I'm not a fan of a good part of the meddling, particularly as it has to do with the creation and support of puppet despots. That's inexcuseable - period. And it's also yesterday's news. In the long run, everyone is better served with representational governments.

So in THAT context, I shrug my shoulders when it comes to the bombing of embassies. By whom? By lovely A-holes like Bin Laden and his merry men? So he can make a better world for all of us? So we all can be good little Islamofascists while he enjoys all his many wives? Well he can kiss my hairy,infidel ass. In my book, those bombings are red badges of courage. Unlike Spain, we won't cower to suicide bombings, and won't sit back while he trains terrorists whose design it is to eliminate our way of life and create the next Ottoman Empire.

Right or wrong, good or bad, we are the 800-pound gorilla in this century. Maybe next century it'll be someone else. That makes you the most important cog in the global economy, without which most of western civilization would be hurting pretty badly. And that makes you a visible target.

You forget also in your discussion the whole issue of Middle East Arabs and Israel. That's a cesspool, and you don't make any friends by doing the right thing there - whatever the hell it is. Look no farther than there for reasons why the U.S. is unloved by many. Exterminating jews was a popular sport for generations, and the U.S. happens to be the killjoy. There's probably plenty that the world can do in terms of criticizing this country for uneven handling of the situation, but at least we showed up. Not much in the way of thanks - least of all from Israel.

As you can tell, I'm only halfheartedly arguing with you. There's some merit to your point of view. It just needs to be fleshed out a bit. We have biases as well...

- Bill

[cxt]

UglyElk

Sorry for the length--you gave me a lot to cover.

Ok, the Canuks were there AS PART OF SMALL UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE.

Don't make it sound like you guys took independent action.

You didn't.

Nor did you as a nation decide to "do the right thing" and act independently.

You didn't--if you had, you would have the moral high ground to lecture the rest of the world.

Nice list--so your NOW wanting to go the whole "prior bad acts" route??

Cool--before I run my own list of the various sins, crimes, mistakes, and grevious errors committed BY PRETTY MUCH EVERY NATION IN THE WORLD.

Anyone in particular you want me to start with??

By the way, nice intellectul rigor in the way you list things like "fire bombing Japan" etc.

WITHOUT THE CONTEXT OF A WORLD WAR!!!

Like it happend in a vacum-like we just woke up one morning and said "hey lets go firebomb a city"

Sadly telling and all to common with rants like yours--you have the venom to list what you see as "bad acts" but you just can't summon up the energy to place any of it in the proper historical context.

Nor is there even the attempt to list OTHERS that have behaved in a like manner (care to discuss the plight of the Metis sometime-or perhaps the various seperatist movements?)

Telling, in that you single out the USA---see, its not the ACTS that bother you (otherwise you would be hammering everyone)

What gets to you is WHOM does it.

All "also rans" want to talk about "percentage of GNP"

What you really mean by that is-

"We don't give nearly the amount you do--BUT we need something to make us feel better and insult you about"

Notice that you couldn't even give us our propers even here?

You have to try and slant it pro you and negative us.

Thats sad.

Your own statements are self negating--you list a long, one sided ditribe then claim your only "interested" in Canadas relationship with the USA--really cause that not what you did.

Or is this more of the "do as I say not as as do" thing.

And your right in WW2 etc you were "with us" but "with us" and whom does the real "heavy lifting" are two very different things.

And without us--no-one would have stopped the genocide in Kosavo and Bosina.

You didn't act until WE DID.

Ugly truth--without us both World Wars and Korea would have been major losses for the world.

Without our intervention they would have managed to finish off the Muslums in Kosavo and Bosnia.

Without us you never woud have acted.

Sloppy thinking dude--"Canadian embassis are not being blown up all over the world... why are Americas?"

Sloppy thinking for 2 reasons.

1-Plenty of folks OTHER than Americans are being killed--I seem to recall a bombing in Spain, an attack on schoolkids in Russia, a bombing on Bali, various attack in India and Pakistain, One notable incident in Holland.

Or don't those deaths count?

(of course not, that would force you to deal with more complex causes and issues than the whole "just blame the USA" rant)

2-Argument could made that you have not been attacked because you don't act--oh, you send your contingent to the UN and all--but act on your own?

Fund and crew an independent action??

You folks have allowed the US to bascially carry most of the weight in the defense of the west over the last 50 years.

No real military spending allowed to develop your "nanny state" and let us protect you and the rest of the world.

[Bill Glasheen]

One correction...

I've been "bagging on" the French for a few years... Sorry, I can't help myself. It's too easy.

- Bill

[cxt]

Bill

Actually your right--I have done that myself.

And in re-reading the last part it sounds much meaner than I meant it.

So I am going to remove it.

[cxt]

Ugly Elk

I feel I owe you an "I'm sorry."

I suggested above that you lacked courtsy.

I suggested that we could "bag on" Canada--and pretty much any nation in the world.

But we had the courtsy not to do it.

Then said it was shame that you could not do the same.

That was wrong of me factually.

And was less than polite on my part.

Despite my view that your almost totally wrong here.

You have never failed to act in polite and adult manner.

I disagree (most strongly:) ) with the substance of your post--and I am happy to argue the point.

But I am sorry for giveing back less than I have gotten.

[Guest]

Bill, I'm only half heartedly arguing it too You know whose side I'm on. Glad to hear the effort has provoked some thought. I thought I might get buried under a barage of rabid dog responses, but soo far only one!

I got the list from an old post from Leon. Yes I know the list is warped but it seemed like a very comprehensive list so I thought it would ilustrate the point.

I was surprised by the thought of the army driving the economics of your nation. I thought that economic sucess was not driven by military intervention. They sure didn't mention that in my economics courses at University.

But having thought a bit about the dynamics of government change through military intervention, and financial sucesses realized through intervention, I begin to suspect it should have been part of the corriculem.

I think the British Empire was spread with the very same tool

I wonder how we managed the standard of living we have in Canada without invading anone. Guess we are just resource rich and we don't spend anything on defense.

[Guest]

CXT, no worries, it's difficult not to be hijacked when the disscussion is near and dear to our hearts.

[benzocaine]

http://www.thoseshirts.com/french.html

[Bill Glasheen]

I can tell you're French, you know.
You have that proud expression, that superior look,
and I can smell your crotch from here.

Are you a separatist? Listen closely. Hear that?
It's the sound of no one giving a $#!+.