Blair says reporting of Katrina by BBC "full of hate for Americans"

[MorganGrayson]

Tony Blair has pretty much risked/trashed his political career to be the staunchest ally of the US. I think hitting him with a comment like that is truly bad form.

[Sin]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

Tony Blair has pretty much risked/trashed his political career to be the staunchest ally of the US. I think hitting him with a comment like that is truly bad form.

Its okay, everything Canada does goes completely unacknowledged by the US with the exception being the US Ambassador to Canada or whatever (whatever the US guy is that lives up here in Canada)

[JR]

one thing i have noticed in my travels and living abroad is that all media is critical of other countries. "all is fine and well in france" is not a good news story for anyone. it seems a little strange when you are on the outside looking in, but i dont think its abnormal. obviously the story of the day with Katrina is "what the fuck is happening here" - when you spend all your time talking about being the greatest, strongest, freeist country on earth and the world is suddenly bombarded with helpless people seemingly abondoned - its obvious what direction the story is going to take.

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by Sin

Its okay, everything Canada does goes completely unacknowledged by the US with the exception being the US Ambassador to Canada or whatever (whatever the US guy is that lives up here in Canada)

Ok, what has Canada done recently that should be acknowledged?

Not being antagonistic, it's a nonjudgmental question.

[Sin]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

Ok, what has Canada done recently that should be acknowledged?

Not being antagonistic, it's a nonjudgmental question.

There's good reason why Canada has been not backing the US up on a lot of international activities, its because of how the country has been getting treated by the US ever since Bush got into office.

A brief summary of a few of the events, 9/11 we opened up our homes, airports, we had a "Canada loves NY" day where Canadians were called upon to go to New York to help give their tourism a boost, we donated so much blood to the red cross that it went bad, and we were very much in a position of supporting the US right up until Bush failed to acknowledge our efforts, and then named the UK as their closest friend & ally in their time of need.

Then there was the time the American pilots bombed Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. This might've been before or after the 9/11 thing, I can't remember exactly since it was a while ago. That went unacknowledged by Bush too and when faced with the matter on live television, his response was weak, he sputtered something about how we're "so close" that he thinks of Canadian soldiers as the same as American soldiers & didn't feel it needed mentioning as a result... except everytime an American soldier dies, we hear about it.

Then there's the Urban S&R teams we had in New Orleans that down there, probably weren't even reported about & again went unacknowledged except for a few people http://www.halifaxlive.com/artman/pu...0905_660.shtml

That's the most recent one, and I'm sure if I really wanted to, I could look up even more info to cover the time span inbetween those events.

The world sometimes wonders why Canada's support for the US is increasingly less on international fronts, this is why.

[gigi]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

Ok, what has Canada done recently that should be acknowledged?

Not being antagonistic, it's a nonjudgmental question.

argh...drav..you know I love you....but *thwap*

Dude, this is exactly what Sin means....you are sincerely asking this question...you have no idea because what Canada does is never acknowledged by the media or anyone else...

Did you know that 4 years ago when California suffered their black outs, BC redirected a large amount of our hydro to Cali?? Know why I'll never forget this??? Because MY HYDRO BILLS WERE RAISED BY 30% TO COMPENSATE AND HAVE NEVER GONE BACK DOWN. This isn't just a Canadian government 'sacrifice' thing...all BCers and Albertans are now paying more for their power because California is using more than their allotted amount...this is not a complaint, but a little acknowledgement would be nice.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/s...5/daily31.html

We have soldiers in Afghanistan helping to hold down the fort while US troops are in Iraq.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew..._name=&no_ads=

"Canadian special forces have maintained an almost-constant presence in Afghanistan since Ottawa first sent troops to the former terrorist haven in early 2002." - source: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Nat...21219-sun.html

We sent 4 ships to New Orleans full of emergency supplies and 1000 personnel, a 40 man military diving team and 2 air force helicopters
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=52744

And, did you know that Canada is the #1 supplier of oil to the US...ahead of the saudis?
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/can-am/...l050328-en.asp

These things may not seem 'huge' in proportion to things the US or the UK have to offer...but, they are none the less things that Canada can and does offer to our allies.

And yes, I do think Canadians have a complex, are needy for a pat on our backs every once in a while in order to feel wanted. We're like that kid in the group that is allowed to hang with the cool kids because his big brother is cool...and when he does something good he attempts to step out of his big brother's shadow and scream from the top of his lungs..."Look what I did!"

[MorganGrayson]

And (a word from an old folk) leave us not forget who risked all to smuggle some of our people out of Iran during the takeover of the embassy.

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by gigi

And yes, I do think Canadians have a complex, are needy for a pat on our backs every once in a while in order to feel wanted. We're like that kid in the group that is allowed to hang with the cool kids because his big brother is cool...and when he does something good he attempts to step out of his big brother's shadow and scream from the top of his lungs..."Look what I did!"

Ok, besides what I said about Bush, which is true ... I have a serious suggestion. It may sound flippant. It's really not.

If I looked at Canada not as a country, but as a business with a problem, I'd say, seriously, your problem is "marketing and promotion". You need a showman.

Look at America, we have people who tout everything. Trump for business. Paris Hilton for being a slut. Al Sharpton about racial inequality. Oprah for reading. Dr. Phil for interpersonal communication. Government and private people for America itself. Hell, you name it. (In fact, how can we even "hear" Canada over all these other people yelling?!)

Canada needs a booster, a cheerleader, (should I say it?) a Pikey!

[gigi]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

Ok, besides what I said about Bush, which is true ... I have a serious suggestion. It may sound flippant. It's really not.

If I looked at Canada not as a country, but as a business with a problem, I'd say, seriously, your problem is "marketing and promotion". You need a showman.

Look at America, we have people who tout everything. Trump for business. Paris Hilton for being a slut. Al Sharpton about racial inequality. Oprah for reading. Dr. Phil for interpersonal communication. Government and private people for America itself. Hell, you name it. (In fact, how can we even "hear" Canada over all these other people yelling?!)

Canada needs a booster, a cheerleader, (should I say it?) a Pikey!

I couldn't agree more! [well, the pikey part scares me...hehe...although I'd settle for a loud mouth frog.]

Originally Posted by Sin

Its okay, everything Canada does goes completely unacknowledged by the US with the exception being the US Ambassador to Canada or whatever (whatever the US guy is that lives up here in Canada)

what does canada do? when is canada in the news when its not some canadian government official calling bush an idiot? canada pretty much ties with greenland for its lack of being in the news and having almost no presence on the international political stage.

[JR]

^^^^^^^
stupid registration - my computer keeps logging me off if i close the page.

[Trev]

Originally Posted by JR

^^^^^^^
stupid registration - my computer keeps logging me off if i close the page.

Then don't close the page

[Newton]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

Tony Blair has pretty much risked/trashed his political career to be the staunchest ally of the US. I think hitting him with a comment like that is truly bad form.

He is not putting himself up for re-election next time around