Canadians Can Be Proud - Origin of the Star Spangled Banner. -

On August 25th, 1814, British troops from what would become CANADA, burned every federal building in the 14 year old Capital of Washington, DC including the White House.  President Madison and his wife had escaped to somewhere in Virginia. The British troops then sailed on to Baltimore where they attacked the city.

On Sept 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key, a Washington Attorney was a prisoner on his sloop in Baltimore Harbor.  The Britsh fired some 1500 bombshells at Fort McHenry, some of them the relatively new Congreve rockets. The rockets' red glare, bombs bursting in Air is a description of what Francis Scott Key saw as the British attacked Fort McHenry.  In the morning, the British warships withdrew leaving Key's skloop alone in the harbour.  As the smoke cleared, teh flag was still flying over Fort McHenry.  That is the story behind number 11 below.  So next time a Canadian or American or a dual citizen hears the Star Spangled Banner, we can all take pride in the fact that it also celebrates the end or just about the end of the last war between The United States and what became Canada.

Now, my political question.  Why do we not have a free border.  A major number of Canadian families have a close relative in the US.  I have a brother in San Diego and a sister in Wheeling West Virginia as an example.  We are coming up to the 193 year of peace between our two countries and yet we have a US/Canada border guarded by some 10,000 mostly armed people and a US/Mexico border guarded by more.

In Europe, in my lifetime, just 62 years ago, Germans were killing everybody.  We were at war with Germany and Italy.  Germany was sending Romanians and Hungarians and Frenchmen and Jews and Gypsies and anyone else they wanted to concentration camps where defenceless millions were executed.  But today, 25 countries have opened their borders to real free trade of goods and people and a common currency.  You can drive across 25 borders withouot showing a passport or talking to anyone. 

My personal kudos to the President of the US and the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico who are holding discussions on a similar structure for North America.  There is no evidence that France or Italy or England have given up any sovreign rights with the EU.  Canada can remain Canada, the US can remain the US and Mexico will always be Mexico if we do the same.

You can read more about this at http://www.irpp.org/events/archive/apr04/noble.pdf

A very negative treatise dealing with the recent SPP  (Security and Prosperity Partnership) meeting on the subject by the three participants at Montebello Quebec can be found at   http://ottawa.indymedia.ca/en/2007/02/4130.shtml

Do some thinking about this.  There are some 10,000 readers of this email who are in Canada or the US on NAFTA or work authorization visas.  You all know the problems and sometimes machinations you went through to get the visa.  With a SPP or Fortress North America EU type of border, that would not happen.  You could come to Canada to work for XYZ and change jobs at will without governemtn permission if you so desired.  Same thing for a Canadian or Mexican working in the US.  Because that is what the EU is.  I and my children are all entitled to British passports.  With a British passport, I can work in any one of 15 to 25 countries without question at ANY job, not just a super professional or scientific job.

Opinion by INGRAM

 
SO, WHAT DO CANADIANS HAVE TO BE PROUD OF?
1. Smarties
2. Crispy Crunch
3. The size of our footballs fields and one les s down
4. Baseball is Canadian
5. Lacrosse is Canadian
6. Hockey is Canadian
7. Basketball is Canadian
8. Apple pie is Canadian
9. Mr. Dress-up kicks Mr. Rogers butt
10. Tim Hortons kicks Dunkin' Donuts butt
11. In the war of 1812, started by America , Canadians pushed the Americans back...past their 'White House'. Then we burned it...and most of Washington .
12. Canada has the largest French population that never surrendered to Germany .
13. We have the largest English population that never ever surrendered or withdrew during any war to anyone. anywhere. EVER.
14. Our civil war was fought in a bar and it lasted a little over a half hour.
15. The only person who was arrested in our civil war was an American mercenary, who slept in and missed the whole thing... but showed up just in time to get caught.
17. The Hudsons Bay Company once owned over 10% of the earth's surface and is still around as the worlds oldest company.
20. We don't marry our kin-folk.
21. We invented ski-doos, jet-skis, velcro, zippers, insulin, penicillin, the telephone and short wave radios that sa ve countless lives each year.< FONT face="Arial Black" color=white size=4>
22. We ALL have frozen our tongues to something metal and lived to tell about it.
23. A Canadian invented Superman.
24. We have coloured money.
25. Our beer advertisments kick butt
26. Coffee Crisp
27. We don't bomb our allies
28. Our elections only take one day
29. We invented zambonis
BUT MOST IMPORTANT:

30. The handles on our beer cases are big enough to fit your hands with mitts on.


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