British newspaper article on Canada

Lest we forget! British news paper salutes Canada . . . this is a good read. It is funny how it took someone in England to put it into words... Sunday Telegraph Article From today's UK wires: Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON: Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region. And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.. It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored. Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped Glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again. That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts. For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved. Yet it's purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada 's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle. Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the 'British.' The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone. Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time. Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity. So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British. It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers. Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces. Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia. Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit. So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan? Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well. Lest we forget. ********************* Please pass this on to any of your friends or relatives who served in the Canadian Forces or anyone who is proud to be Canadian; it is a wonderful tribute to those who choose to serve their country and the world in our quiet Canadian way.

Qantas please review your maintenance protocols ASAP

• SYDNEY - A Qantas jumbo jet flying from Los Angeles to Australia was guided into New Zealand by another airliner after its weather radar failed over the Pacific Ocean, the airline said Thursday.
  
  The faulty weather radar was discovered on the Boeing 747-400 flight QF12 carrying nearly 300 passengers a few hours after it left Los Angeles on Monday night, a spokesman said.
  
  
• In July, a mid-air blast caused by an exploding oxygen bottle punched a hole in the side of a Qantas Boeing 747-400 during a flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne. No one was injured in the incident.

• n October, a computer glitch caused a Qantas plane to plunge into a 200-metre nosedive, injuring more than 70 people, with some suffering broken bones.

This is not good news for the RNC

The Anchorage Daily and the Financial Times say: OBAMA

posted by womenagainstsarahpalin at Women Against Sarah Palin - 2 days ago

It was no surprise when newspapers like the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times endorsed Obama/Biden. But yesterday, Alaska's own Anchorage Daily News joined in. While they applaud Gov. Palin for her w...

This is what keeps the Secret Service up!

Neo-Nazi Obama Plot One of "A Handful" of "Serious" Threats

People grow up this is NOT 1950 it is 08!!!!
You do NOT want the Secret Service Mad at you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is going to make the PMO look like an idiot!!

The PM is not going to be happy!

Court upholds decision that loosens Ottawa's grip on medical marijuana access

1 hour ago

TORONTO — A court decision that effectively loosens Ottawa's tight grip on access to medical marijuana has been upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal.

The court dismissed an appeal today from government lawyers who argued Ottawa's monopoly on medical pot was the only way to provide a safe and reliable supply.

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I bet this will end up in the scc soon!

Get this ASAP.

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/10/microsofts_emer_1.html

Get it now

Microsoft's Emergency Patch

The talk show host has her say... Thursday 23rd Oct 2008

Yes you gusset it i do not have a problem with gay marriage at all.!!!!!

Ellen DeGeneres Pulls a 'Lindsay Lohan' Blasting SPalinPalin

The talk show host has her say...

Thursday 23rd Oct 2008

Ellen DeGeneres has blasted Sarah Palin live on US television, saying that she doesn't agree with the politician's views on same sex marriage.

The talk show host is following hot on the heels of Lindsay Lohan's very public criticisms of the US Vice Presidential Candidate.

Ellen told viewers on her show, "I don't know if you saw this but Governor Sarah Palin, says she's that in favour of a federal ban on gay marriage.