USA sucks

“Dismayed Americans contemplate Canada
Saturday, July 19, 2003 Posted: 9:49 PM EDT (0149 GMT)



Thomas Hodges talks to Jenny Walsh outside their math class at Georgia State University where they are students. Hodges says he would like to move to Canada.


NEW YORK (AP) -- For all they share economically and culturally, Canada and the United States are increasingly at odds on basic social policies -- to the point that at least a few discontented Americans are planning to move north and try their neighbors' way of life.

A husband and wife in Minnesota, a college student in Georgia, a young executive in New York. Though each has distinct motives for packing up, they agree the United States is growing too conservative and believe Canada offers a more inclusive, less selfish society.

"For me, it's a no-brainer," said Mollie Ingebrand, a puppeteer from Minneapolis who plans to go to Vancouver with her lawyer husband and 2-year-old son.

"It's the most amazing opportunity I can imagine. To live in a society where there are different priorities in caring for your fellow citizens."

For decades, even while nurturing close ties with the United States, Canadians have often chosen a different path -- establishing universal health care, maintaining ties with Cuba, imposing tough gun control laws. Two current Canadian initiatives, to decriminalize marijuana and legalize same-sex marriage, have pleased many liberals in the United States and irked conservatives.

New York executive Daniel Hanley, 31, was arranging a move for himself and his partner, Tony, long before the Canadian announcement about same-sex marriage. But the timing delights him; he and Tony now hope to marry in front of their families after they emigrate to British Columbia.

"Canada has an opportunity to define itself as a leader," Hanley said. "In some ways, it's now closer to American ideals than America is."

Though many gay American couples are now marrying in Canada, virtually all return home, hoping court rulings will lead to official recognition of their unions.

Hanley's situation is different because Tony -- a Southeast Asian -- is not a U.S. citizen. The men worried that Tony could be forced to leave the United States after his student visa expires in two years: They were elated when Canada's immigration agency said they could move there as partners.

Hanley, who works for a Fortune 500 company in Manhattan, doesn't know how the move will affect his career.

"It's a challenge, it's scary," he said. "We'll have to drop everything we know here, go up there and figure it out."

Thomas Hodges, a computer systems major at Georgia State University, said his dismay with American politics started him thinking last year about going abroad. He recently wrote an article in a campus journal titled, "Why I Am Moving To Canada."

"I'm thinking about Toronto, though I hear it's cold up there," Hodges, a lifelong Southerner, said in a telephone interview.

Hodges, 21, complained about a "neo-conservative shift" in the United States and praised Canada's approach to health care and education.

"The U.S. educational system is unfair -- you have to live in certain areas to go to good schools," he said.

Rene Mercier, spokesman for Canada's immigration department, said any upsurge in U.S.-to-Canada immigration based on current political developments won't be detectable for a few years, because of the time required to process residency applications.

During the Vietnam War, U.S. emigration to Canada surged as thousands of young men, often accompanied by wives or girlfriends, moved to avoid the draft. But every year since 1977, more Canadians have emigrated to the United States than vice versa -- the 2001 figures were 5,894 Americans moving north, 30,203 Canadians moving south.

Mollie Ingebrand, 34, said she has felt an affinity for Canada for many years, fueled partly by respect for its health care system. Her doubts about the United States go back even further, to a childhood spent with liberal parents in a relatively conservative part of Ohio.

"In school I was always told this is the best country on earth, and everyone else wants to be American, and that never really rang true to me," she said. "As I got older, it occurred to me there were other choices."

Her husband, George, 44, has spent little time in Canada, but said it seems to offer a more relaxed, less competitive way of life. He has no qualms about leaving his law practice and selling the family's upscale home in Minneapolis.

"I don't idealize Canada the way my wife does, but I'm ready for an adventure," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to be facing. That's what I'm reveling in."

The Ingebrands have completed the first batch of paperwork to apply for Canadian residency, hoping their talents and finances compensate for lack of specific job offers. As Minnesotans, they look forward to Vancouver's wet but mild climate: "Green all year, no mosquitos," Mollie said.

At Georgia State, Hodges said some conservative schoolmates have challenged his proposed move to Canada, saying he would be abandoning his homeland.

Conversely, Mollie Ingebrand says some of her friends -- people who share her left-of-center views -- argue that she should stay at home to battle for changes here.

"I've been there and done that," Molly said. "I don't want to stay and fight anymore. I can have that bittersweet love for my country from somewhere else."”

“finally we're gettin rid of some liberals! ! ! let's buy them train tickets!

dun let da door hitcha in the ars, alaska ole buddy....YA HOSER!”

“Just married a Canadian myself. Great people up there, some of my best friends live in the Great White North. Also...good beer, hot women, good backpacking, low crime, the rest of the world doesn't want to kill them... Hey, I love my country and would never permanently leave it, but I can understand completely why some people would be thinking that way. Ehhh..to each his own.”

“oh, and here are our wedding photos if anyone's interested. I know someone asked for them about a month ago. I finally got them up: http://www.megananderic.net/photos.html”

“The psychology of the internet “Troll”

With the advent of the internet comes many surprising microcosmic views of human nature- One of them, perhaps one of the average internet user’s least favorites, is the Troll- A Troll is a person who, like everyone else, adopts a screen name to enter a chat room, bulletin board or forum- But once inside, the common Troll proceeds in the most energetic attempts to get under the other users skins. They will taunt, lie, post vicious statements, post irrelevant material, pick fights, post controversial messages- Anything to infuriate the other users.

Why do people do this? The first thing to consider when asking this question would be, what sort of a person does these things? Trolls did not come into existence with the internet, they existed long before- The internet is simply another outlet for their behaviour. Think of a person with tendencies towards kleptomania- They are compelled to steal, no matter what. Even if such a person were to have plenty of money to buy whatever he or she wanted, they would still be compelled to steal. A parallel could be drawn between the Troll and the elementary school bully, although I personally think this to be inaccurate. Of course there are similarities, however, they are limited. A bully thrives on the reactions of their victims, and without the desired reaction, the bully feels powerless- Rightly so. The same is true of the troll, and while they do use some similar tactics (Belittling comments, personal attacks) this is where the two part ways.

A bully feels the need to assert themselves physically. Often, they are dealing with insecurities of their own- They are typically overweight, less intelligent than others, ugly. These are hard things for a child to deal with, but if they can make other people feel bad, they feel as though they are in fact superior. A bully will threaten, and sometimes even use, physical violence as their tool. This is their vehicle, the “Way Of The Fist”, something that they feel they are better than the other children at. Of course, it’s been said for eons- The only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them. As soon as a bully realizes that their intended victim is going to fight back, they will lose their power over that person. There are a couple of major reasons for this- The bully wants to be in charge, unchallenged- Once they are seriously challenged, the game is over. They are looking for rules, and when faced with someone who will stand up to them, they quickly find one. (If I hit this person, they will hit me back.) The other major reason a bully will leave alone a person who fights back is because they don’t want to lose their standing with their other peers. If the other children see the bully get hit, they will cheer the underdog and the bully will be ashamed. So, we can see that the bully lives in a world of direct action and consequence- They will attack physically, and take the risks that come along with the territory.

A troll, on the other hand, suffers no consequences for their actions. While the same need for attention and imagined superiority are there, it’s easy to see how someone who spends time being an internet troll could never have been a schoolyard bully. The troll is the type of person who will only attack when they are one hundred percent assured of impunity- While most people adopt a screen name in an effort to keep their personal information off the internet, the Troll relishes the fact that they can be another person. Their offline personality is often far from the acidic, ruthless online one- They are timid, physically weak individuals who need to feel strong in some part of their lives. The internet provides them with the opportunity to be someone who affects the lives of others in a negative way. Trolls are the type of person who feels the need to live vicariously through some sort of engine- Before the internet (and today’s highly involved video games) it was Dungeons and Dragons and similar role playing games that would lure this type of personality. Serious deficiencies in a persons life can lead to these needs- More often than not, a very low self esteem is number one on the list. The troll does not think very highly of themselves, which is why they must get their elevating social interaction from the internet. Their personal relationships are usually lacking. A sense of no self worth is also usually prominent- Can you picture someone with a rewarding career trolling message boards? A decent career provides feelings of accomplishment that the troll has to find in other ways. If it were possible to punch someone through the internet, some might say the trolls would never leave their keyboards- This is inaccurate, however. A bully might be able to accept those terms- Punch people online, but face the possibility that someone might punch back- A troll would never log on.


Doctor Michael Ahksbig, PHD”

“Corp, you nailed Alaska to the "T".”

“Sierrapacktrip

Those photos are awesome!

The black and whites are very classy! I love the composition if the photos!

Where did you find that photographer?”

“I ususlly don't do this sort of thing......read political threads that is but..I think you ought to post that wedding pictures link in a friendlier thread. The photos are some of the best wedding shots I've ever seen. Of course you're a handsome couple a kids so that helps. Best wishes and congratulations.”

“what awesome pictures!!!! Those are great! I love black and white photos too.

Oh yeah the cananda thing..I use to lIve in alaska and I drove the alaska canadian highway a few times. The lower 48 is feared by many northerners. As soon as you cross that border into washington state its loud cars, alot of midle fingers, and road rage. But I wouldn't want to live somewhere that people would rather quietly express how they feel lol. True canadians are awesomly nice people. I had a blast all the way through cananda but there seems to be an eeriniess and silence there I am not quite use to.”

“Not another puppeteer!”

“"In some ways, it's now closer to American ideals than America is." Legal marijuana, gay marriage, ties with Cuba, and universal health care, ah yes, these are my ideals as an American.”

“i'm sure canada is really an awesome place. i'd love to go there and see it all....i think it's great if someone wants to move up there and that makes them happy. it's probably a better solution to their political frustrations too...makes more sense to go to somewhere you like than to try to make the place you're in be like the other place you like....more power to um

maybe i can go visit tilt or violin up there sometime and do some pike fishing....”

“The wedding was in Duncan, BC on Vancouver Island. The photographer was this really cool young guy (artistic type with lots of piercings) and his girlfriend. We picked him up for $1,100CAN or about $750US at the time. The wedding was really cheap, and really fun. The whole thing only cost us $6,000US and that includes a 100+ person 2nd reception we had a few weeks ago in California (open bar at both).”

“I don't fish.

And your imagined conservative majority is melting away. People voting for Bush were a minority in 2000 and the pendulum is now swinging back.



(and isn't an urn usually a piece of pottery?)”

“SPT - nice pics and you have a lovely wife - congrats!

I think this is the first time we've had a thread regeneration!”

“Like I said in SPT's wedding pics thread- I love it when this happens to troll threads.”

“I went to Canada once...in June in Quebec there was snow on the ground.....way too cold for me.”

“this thread hasnt degenerated, its effing schizophrenic”

“i would move to canada just for the more relaxed atmosphere, less people, and beautiful scenery.”

“I wouldn't mind moving to Vancouver Island....its a beautiful place and I can't wait to go back!”

“i would move to canada just for the more relaxed atmosphere, less people, and beautiful scenery."
2scoops
05:11:14 PM
07/20/03

Lots of people move to Arkansas for the same reason. However; I would not recommend it for you.”

“In a few years, Canada might be the 51st state if the politicians keep on fu@!&ng up the country!!!”

“Right Stan, one day it will be a rainy day, the president will be sitting at his desk working and there will be a knock at the door...

He opens it to see Canada standing there, in the rain, no coat, soaked to the bone... they ask to come in and if they can stay with the US from now on.”

“...and Canada will be carrying a six-pack of Lethbridge Ale and the the president will say say, "Glad you dropped by!"”

“Or the USA may become the 15th Canadian province.”

“'Klick' - That's a short form for kilometre. As in, 'Yeah, my car has 152,345 klicks on it... just nicely broken in.'

Loonie - That's our one dollar coin. It has a loon on it.

Twoonie - That's our two dollar coin. It has a polar bear on it. Couldn't think of a half-decent nickname for a bear-imprinted coin, so we got lazy and said 'twoonie'.

'Eh?' - A universal Canadian thing. Every Canadian utters this word at practically the end of every sentence they utter (well, not quite but almost). It usually holds the connotation of 'don'tyathink?'

Hoser - This word was coined by the MacKenzie brothers characters from the SCTV troupe. It made them famous, and it gave us a new word of insult that is still somewhat polite. To be a hoser is akin to being a dimwit, basically.

Zed - That's the last letter of the alphabet, and 'zed' is the proper pronunciation of the letter. The Camaro Z28 is the 'Zed28', not the 'Zee28'. I'd rather be seen cruising in a Zedder than a Zee-er, thank you very much!

Kerfuffle - I love this word. Its funny. It means to be in a flurry of agitation and chaos, usually a massive state of argument and/or confusion.

Booze - To those that tipple, this is liquor.

Mickey - That's a 12oz bottle of booze.

26er - That's a 26oz bottle of booze.

40 pounder - That's a 40oz bottle of booze. (Guess by the bottom of the bottle, it begins to feel like 40 pounds or something.)

Gotchies - An endearing term for underwear.

Wedgies - What you end up with after somebody's grabbed your underwear and pulled it up.. errr... yeah, it's uncomfortable, anyhow.

Sniggler - This was a new one for me, but apparently its as Canadian as snow. Its a derogatory term to call somebody when they steal your parking spot, and the like. Oh, and somebody who grabs your gotchies and gives you a wedgie is a sniggler in my books.

Suck - That's either somebody's who's on easy street, spoiled, or a crybaby. As in, 'You big suck - must be nice.' Or, 'Don't be such a suck.'

Pogey - That's the dole. Or, drawing on welfare or unemployment (which, incidentally, has been changed from the term 'unemployment insurance' to 'employement insurance'... gotta love these times of political correctness, eh?).

Poutine - This is a distinctly French-Canadian thing that's grown in popularity across Canada of late. Even Burger King is serving this stuff. Its a mixture of french-fries, melted cheese and curds. Sounds disgusting, but apparently its quite good. Can't give you my opinion, because I haven't worked up the courage to try any yet.

Cruller - That's the absolute best doughnut (errrr, donut) you can get. Oh, and Tim Horton's (YAY!) has the best to be had. By the way, that's pronounced 'crew-lure'.

Anglophone - That's an English-speaking Canadian.

Francophone - That's a French-speaking Canadian.

Down East - That's a reference to the East Coast and residents.

Out West - That's a reference to the West Coast and residents. Actually it refers to anybody west of Ontario. ;)

T.O. - That's Toronto. (A short for Toronto, Ontario I take.)

Scads - This means, well, 'lots'. As in, 'Man we hauled scads of junk to the dump today.'

As all get-out - Heheheh. Love this term. It's a spontaneous one... can't lay it into conversation deliberately. For example, 'Man its cold as all get-out today!!' Translation: "The temperature is such today that it feels extremely cold out." Somehow 'as all get-out' sounds cooler. ;) Another example, 'I tried as all get-out to get here on time, honey.' Translation: 'Yeah, I'm late, I know. I really tried to get my act together to be here on time, but it just wasn't a happening thing, you know?' The slang term has a more emphatic impact - and it gets one off the hook for dawdling most of the time.

Dawdle - This means you're being slow and pokey. 'Quit your dawdling around already, would ya?!'





Here's a few favourite terms of greeting up here in the Great White North:

'How's it goin', eh?'

'How's it hanging?'

'Cold enough for ya?'

'Close the door... were you born in a barn?'”

“Hey, hoser, you forgot "pissed". When we get drunk, the Canucks get pissed.”

“awesome pics, best of luck to you both.”

“Great posts aero and Dunadan! I say "pissed" too by the way.

One other point to make...(I tease all my Canadian friends about this BTW) The Camaro Z28 is an American car. So whether or not you think the last letter of the alphabet should be pronounced "Zed", we're talking about a name here - an American name. So...the proper pronunciation is "ZEEE 28"!!! :-)”

“Folks in northern New England get "wicked pissed", by the way.

In the Boston area some would say, "...it was pissuh!" or, extraordinary.

ThePackMan, that was so lame as to be not nearly funny, ......"Canada wants to come in and stay..."
I think that may be true of Mexico, but Canada???
Shall we welcome Mexico to become a "state"?”

“I know a guy who had a 240 Z... He called it his '24 Ounce coupe'.”

“I'd move cauz I hate the heat more and more everyday. I could live where the daytime high only reaches 40 everyday.”

“The climate in Canada is most suitable.”

“The winters keep out the riff-raff. Plus, it's easier to flood your backyard for a hockey rink.”

“How aaabout a game of hockey, ey?”

“I don’t think I could get used to wearing a flannel shirt every day.”

“ViOLiN, wearing a flannel shirt is how the humans are distinguished from the bears.”

“You could wear a fleece instead of the flannel.”

“ey?”

“Yeah, Tom, I forgot about Bostonians. But that's a different country, too. I think the whole Northeast is "wicked".”

“My ice cream would be safe there.”

“It's eh this, eh that
Backbacoon and beer each day
Those Canadians”

“Lots of people move to Arkansas for the same reason

youre kidding, right?

huh. too sweltering, too bubba.”

“too bubba?

what in the name of i'mgonnkickyera$$ are you taling bout, bubba?


arkansas is the natural state


you gotta problem wif dat?”

“Squamish reaches out to US tourists attacked while camping


By Clare Ogilvie

Squamish is a safe, friendly place that loves tourists says Mayor Ian Sutherland.

And that is why the town wants to pay for three US campers attacked in Squamish on Canada Day to come back and re-visit the area.

"The simple fact is that 99.9 per cent of the Squamish population loves the fact that Americans come to visit us and loves the fact that tourism comes to our community," said Sutherland.

Late in the evening on Canada Day Jeremy Dahl, girlfriend Shannon Scott, and Jay Barclay were set upon by about 25 to 30 youths in a campground on Loggers Lane in Squamish.

"I got punched I don’t know how many times – at least like three or four times," said Barclay, a firefighter in Kennewick, Washington.

"And I got kicked in the face. My jaw is still sore from the ordeal."

He also ended up on antibiotics for an ear infection stemming from the beating, which left one ear black and blue.

The incident apparently started when the youths, who were partying nearby, wished Barclay and his friends a happy Canada Day. The US tourists replied by wishing the group a happy Fourth of July.

A bit more banter took place, then the U.S. campers went to bed around 12:30 a.m.

The Canadian youths returned and threw rocks at the US camper’s tents. When Barclay and Dahl stepped out of their tent the situation got ugly with one youth attacking with a knife.

Three of the tires on Barclay’s truck were slashed; his windshield was smashed, as was the hood of his car and the passenger window. Their tents, sleeping bags and other goods were also destroyed in the attack.

Dahl called the RCMP and the youths scattered upon their arrival.

Two were arrested and the police are continuing to interview people about the incident, which may lead to more charges being laid.

"Unfortunately you had a group of 20 to 25 young people who got drunk and did something really stupid," said Sutherland.

"But you have to put this in perspective . This is a group of young people that did something stupid and it could and does happen in other communities too."

"Tourism is very important to us. The Squamish area has moved forward a lot in the last few years … and we want to take advantage of that and so we are taking things like this very seriously.

" I take it very seriously, and council takes it very seriously, and the RCMP is taking it very seriously".

Dahl admits to being nervous about returning to Squamish in the short term but says he will come back when things have died down.

"We are not too excited to go back … right away," said Dahl who wants the police to take firm action against the youths that were involved.

That’s a sentiment Sutherland totally understands.

"They are feeling a little bit skittish about Squamish and rightfully so," he said.

"We want to give them a chance to really know Squamish and to understand that 99.9 per cent of the population love the fact that American tourists come here."

Squamish did redeem itself somewhat on the night of the incident as a local motel offered them a special rate, the tow truck driver helped them get their pick-up truck fixed quickly and reasonably, and a bike shop helped out too.

The story was covered by local media and both Komo and Kiro television news out of Seattle came up to cover the story.

When Gerry O’Neil saw the story in Vancouver he decided he needed to do something to repair the damage done to B.C.’s reputation.

"The attack is really not what British Columbia is all about," said O’Neil who owns and operates AAA Horse and Carriage in Stanley Park.

"I just want to give a clear message that that behaviour is not acceptable. I am just a small businessman but I am taking this very seriously because I feel that if everyone does a little bit to repair this all will benefit."

At least 85 per cent of O’Neil’s business comes from US tourists.

"We depend on them big time here and lets face it the coverage by the American TV last week on this story did not send out the message we want to get out.

"We want people to know that Canadians are not bad people and that is the message I want to get out ASAP."

He plans to bring the Americans to Vancouver for a fun-filled all expenses paid holiday weekend.

That’s a trip the trio is looking forward to and, said Barclay, all of them are trying to put the frightening incident in perspective.

"We don’t blame Canada, we don’t blame Squamish, we just blame the kids in the group," he said.

"We know it could have happened anywhere."

Meanwhile yet another camper was attacked at the same campground, Kinsmen Municipal Campground on Tuesday night.

Police were alerted that a group of youths were causing a disturbance and drinking.

A car was being driven around erratically, hitting picnic tables and doing doghnuts. When police tried to stop it the car was driven into the bush and abandoned. The car was stolen.

Six youths were detained.

During their investigation police also learned that a camper from Sechelt had been assaulted by one of the rowdies.

No charges have been laid yet.

http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/index.lasso?cat=C_News&content=Squamish%20reaches1029”

“Americans are scum thanks to dickhead republicans.”

“Dude, hate the playa not the game”

“Dude-I hope Matt bans you for that post.

Go rant to someone who cares.”