O Canada

[ciroccoj]

• According to the United Nations human development survey, 2004, Canada is the fourth best country in the world to live in, in terms of health, education, safety, employment, life expectancy, etc. The only countries above us are Norway, Sweden, and Australia. We were at #1 for about 10 years, but dipped down to 8th in the last few years.
  
  
• Canada has gay marriage, semi-legal marijuana, and a foreign policy that does not "resemble a three-year old throwing a tantrum" (quoting either bear or snarkhunter).
  
  
• Canadians would never have elected Dubya.
  
  
• Canadians would never have elected Dubya twice.
  
  
• Canada believes in multiculturalism rather than assimilation.
  
  
• Canada has no death penalty. (This may not be a plus to Chris, but he's not here right now).
  
  
• Canada's rate of gun deaths: 3.95 per 100,000. The United States? 134.7 per 100,000.
  
  
• Canada signed the Kyoto Accord.
  
  
• Canada has socialized medicine.
  
  
• Canada's Supreme Court is split 4:5 female/male, as opposed to crazy/crazier.

Whaddup with the obnoxious jingoism and anti-Americanism today?

It's currently -26.5°C, -41°C with windchill. That's -15.7°F and -41.8°F respectively. If I don't have the above list to stop me, I'm going to drive my frozen butt down to the American Embassy downtown and demand asylum and immediate relocation to Florida. Providing I can get my frigging car door lock de-iced.

Comments

[bandgeek.livejournal.com]

So now you see why for years now, I've been planning to move in with myriad69 ...

I've also been toying with the idea of trying to pass myself off as Canadian when I'm in Germany for a month this summer ... I mean, they probably won't be able to distinguish between the accents, and as long as they don't see my passport ... right? ;)

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Heh - you wouldn't be the first ;)

Love the icon, BTW :D :D :D

[my-cat-tim.livejournal.com]

Governments rarely reflect their electorate. People vote for who is available not because they agree with the party they voted for. Most people feel that the political parties are out of step with their own views and those of other Canadians. A good eg of this is the fact that the majority of Canadians want to see a return of the death penalty. Don't forget that the Reform Party was 2nd party for years, which means they could very well have voted for Dubya.

Despite our cultural mosaic, racism is a severe problem here in Canada. There are many things to be proud of here in Canada. I am just not sure we're "better" than the USA. The USA has a fascinating history of political thought and theory. The building of their railroad is a mere footnote in their history. Here in Canada the railroad IS our history. We do not have much dynamic thought and yet we still managed to put the Canadians of Japanese ancestry in concentration camps along with the USA. Our new Bill of Rights has been consistently interpreted by the SCC to mean greater freedom for corporations to escape government regulations since in came into power in 1982.

All countries have their bugaboos I suppose and I love living in Canada, but the States in a pretty great place too.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Um... the tone of the post was supposed to be joking. Hence my characterization of it as "obnoxious jingoism" ;)

I'm very grateful to live in Canada right now, but have no illusions as to it being intrinsically "better" than anywhere else. I see the current political/social climate as a product of a whole bunch of (IMHO positive)things coming together nicely at this particular point in time. Give us a different leader, a slight recession, or a bad year for polar bear migration and we've shown we can be just as idiotic, bigoted, reactionary and ignorant as anyone else.

[tudorlady.livejournal.com]

Canada's Supreme Court is split 4:5 female/male, as opposed to crazy/crazier.

This is absolutely classic. Not to mention true.

You know, my father encouraged my ambitions for a legal career. He was, however, somewhat dubious when I told him I thought it would be cool to be a judge. Now, if you know me well, you will see that he was a man of great foresight. Supreme Court Justice M. Elisabeth Maguire. Hmmmmm. Interesting thought... wonder which side of crazy/crazier I would fall on?

[officerjudy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, really. You'd be boffing every cute attorney who argued a case before you!

::dodges thrown objects::

[tudorlady.livejournal.com]

You'd be boffing every cute attorney who argued a case before you!

Yeah, well, except it's good way to lose a nice cushy job. But still, you *know* I'd be thinking about it. ::nudge nudge. Man, am *I* dealing in the realm of impossibilities today...::

[officerjudy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it would be worth it! Screw the lawyers...and the money! ; )

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

This is absolutely classic.

I'd love to take credit for it, but it's from a Slate article written right after the election, called "Moving to Canada, eh?" (http://www.slate.com/id/2109300/)

I've been thinking about it a lot recently. In particular I've thought about another part of the article that says, "Don't kid yourself. It is freakin' cold up there. While 90 percent of Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S. border, the places they live north of are Green Bay and Buffalo."

Supreme Court Justice M. Elisabeth Maguire. Hmmmmm.

:) :) :) That does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

And I won't comment on the crazy/crazier thing ;)

[tudorlady.livejournal.com]

:) :) :) That does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?

In my dreams. Especially the one where I'm suddenly 30 years younger, wealthy, and beautiful.

Another topic, but related: I think that's the only way to pick a kid's name, really. Just put 'Supreme Court Justice' before the name, as in 'Supreme Court Justice John James McCoy'. Now, if the name totally doesn't work, as in 'Supreme Court Justice Jaeden Brittany Yarboro' - they shouldn't name the kid Jaeden Brittany or whatever white trash monicker they've come up with. More people should consider it. Hell, it should be a fucking LAW.

::snork. Imagine that. Supreme Court Justice John James McCoy. Finally, a boinkable Supreme!::

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

they shouldn't name the kid Jaeden Brittany or whatever white trash monicker they've come up with.

::dying of laugher:: Oh god, if only.

::snork. Imagine that. Supreme Court Justice John James McCoy. Finally, a boinkable Supreme!::

::nerdy snort-giggle:: heh - you said 'boinkable' :)

[tudorlady.livejournal.com]

::nerdy snort-giggle:: heh - you said 'boinkable' :)

::very dweeby snorting laugh:: Heh heh heh heh... boinkable. SNORK! ::milk out of nose, embarrasses the hell out of everyone else at the lunch table::

[officerjudy.livejournal.com]

Yeah! AMEN!

Or 'Supreme Court Justice Benjamin T. Stone'.

What the hell does that T. stand for, anyway?

[stephantom.livejournal.com]

Hehe. But still, there are differences in different regions of every country.

I personally feel that Massachusetts is a great place. We have a few of the things you mentioned for Canada, such as gay marriage, no death penalty, very few guns (I don't know anyone who owns one), and WE didn't vote for Bush. :)

However, it is still f-ing cold. 6°F this morning. Now that's not quite -15.7°F, but when you're walking that long stretch of driveway from the parking lot to your school (PAST the senior entrance to the other entrance), it's cold enough. (not cold enough to make me move south though - ...sorry if that offended anyone)

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I personally feel that Massachusetts is a great place.

Oh, totally. If I had to move to the US, I'd go to Mass., Vermont, or California. Possibly Oregon.

This is also something that puzzles the hell out of me about Alberta. They lack or dislike most of what makes Canada worth living in to me - socialized medicine is being dismantled there, education gets deepsixed daily, relations with Natives are abysmal, they're the province that hates foreigners and gays the most, they chafe at our gun control laws... and they're FREAKING COLDER than most of the rest of Canada, except for the Northern territories.

I always wonder... why don't they just move south?

Probably because, in a stunning burst of irony, they hate the US more than any other province does. It's bewildering.

Then again, I suppose that's just as well. It would be a lousy thing for Canada to do, saddling the US with Albertans. Some of them would even make most average red-state voters wince at their sheer redneckedness ;)

[my-cat-tim.livejournal.com]

Hey Cirocco!

If you could see my face right now it is beet red with embarrassment! I am so sorry I missed the joking tone of your post. Somedays I am very slow! Please disregard me whenever I send you a dumb post!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry I missed the joking tone of your post.

No worries :) I had to laugh at your description of the railroad building thing though - it instantly took me back to 2nd year at Queen's, doing my required-by-the-History-department course on Canadian history. Our prof gave us an overview of what we were going to cover, and I wanted to hang myself when I realized that the frigging RAILROAD was going to take about a month's worth of lectures to cover. Gaaaahh.

I still worship that man, though. He did what I had earnestly believed to be absolutely impossible - made Canadian history interesting. Although I suspect he may have done so by pumping amphetamines into the lecture hall through the ventilation system.

[daf9.livejournal.com]

I hate you ciroccoj! I live in Buffalo - cold, lots of snow and Dubya. Worst of both worlds.