• [OT] Pro-Palestinians in Toronto CELEBRATE Iranian bombs falling on Isr

    From Rhino@21:1/5 to All on Sat Apr 13 22:02:01 2024
    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to have
    finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article written in
    response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was interrupted to
    announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing on Israel. The
    crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism

    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as
    racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    He's even right about the solution: it's time to find a way to shed
    ourselves of the people who don't want to live here in peace with us.
    He offers no specific program but I think some kind of policy that
    involves deporting non-citizens who run afoul of major laws would be a
    good start. A further enhancement would be to establish a list of
    offenses that, if committed, would justify stripping the person of any naturalized Canadian citizenship they may have acquired and then
    deporting them too. There would obviously need to be very serious
    discussions to figure out the details and establish safeguards to
    prevent misuse but I think the handwriting is on the wall and we need
    to start to move on this.

    --
    Rhino

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to no_offline_contact@example.com on Sat Apr 13 23:11:32 2024
    On Sat, 13 Apr 2024 22:02:01 -0400, Rhino
    <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to have >finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article written in
    response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was interrupted to
    announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing on Israel. The
    crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism

    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as
    racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    He's even right about the solution: it's time to find a way to shed
    ourselves of the people who don't want to live here in peace with us.
    He offers no specific program but I think some kind of policy that
    involves deporting non-citizens who run afoul of major laws would be a
    good start. A further enhancement would be to establish a list of
    offenses that, if committed, would justify stripping the person of any >naturalized Canadian citizenship they may have acquired and then
    deporting them too. There would obviously need to be very serious
    discussions to figure out the details and establish safeguards to
    prevent misuse but I think the handwriting is on the wall and we need
    to start to move on this.

    I agree with him. Not sure you could strip Canadian citizenship once
    granted unless you could prove in court that fraud was committed on
    the citizenship application (this is what got Ernst Zundel stripped of
    his citizenship since he had been a member of the Waffen-SS which like
    the KGB are/were organizations proscribed from entering Canada at all
    much less applying for Canadian citizenship and since he had lied on
    that point in his citizenship application it was counted as forgery
    thus legally voiding his application) but certainly landed immigrants
    and folks on visitors or student visas could be deported - and SHOULD
    be if they're doing that sort of thing.

    Canada has enough looney toon "foreign cause of the day" socialists
    without having to host foreign looney toons.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to Rhino on Sun Apr 14 16:17:44 2024
    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to have >finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article written in
    response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was interrupted to
    announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing on Israel. The
    crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism

    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as
    racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    The American melting pot concept wasn't a government program. Many
    immigrants were both trying not to stand out and they were highly
    motivated to integrate into society because they were forced out of
    their shithole countries in Europe. They were fleeing persecution and
    war after war after war. If you were on losing side, society had
    essentially collapsed. On the winning side, you were going to be forced
    to fight a war you didn't support in a country you didn't want to go to.

    But there are plenty of prominent examples in America contrary to the
    "melting pot" concept. Certain Protestants throughout the 19th century
    and much of the 20th century accused Catholics -- especially Irish
    ethnics and immigrants -- of being Papists and therefore disloyal. This
    was absurd given that the Irish had always been here in large numbers
    since the colonial period. To counter that, municipal government
    patronage was organized "tribally" before civil service laws. The new administration fired everybody hired by the previous administration to
    put in his own clan. That and certain very public celebrations in
    America, like parades for Saint Patrick's Day, are about drinking (as if
    the Irish needed another excuse) and honoring the clan. It's not exactly celebrating a tradition in the old world as they don't have four major
    parades like Chicago. Columbus Day, as a federal government and state government public holiday (but not in the private sector) is to honor
    Italian ethnics. I don't believe Columbus leaving for the New World is celebrated in Spain (there's no reason to celebrate it in Italy which
    didn't have colonies in the Americas).

    Not everything melted. But what everybody found in America, at least
    after the first generation which may have organized gangs for, er,
    community protection, was that everybody got along because they never
    gave a shit about European national rivalries to begin with (except for soccer). Norwegians and Swedes get along. Pakistani and Indians get
    along. We managed to find new rivalries but artificial attempts to
    preserve old world culture couldn't possibly counteract that.

    He's even right about the solution: it's time to find a way to shed
    ourselves of the people who don't want to live here in peace with us.
    He offers no specific program but I think some kind of policy that
    involves deporting non-citizens who run afoul of major laws would be a
    good start.

    Of course I agree.

    A further enhancement would be to establish a list of
    offenses that, if committed, would justify stripping the person of any >naturalized Canadian citizenship they may have acquired and then
    deporting them too.

    Conviction of a felony, lying on immigration papers about having
    committed felonies in the old country (for crimes that would have been
    crimes in the new world, not just laws oppressing citizens), the usual
    reasons.

    There would obviously need to be very serious
    discussions to figure out the details and establish safeguards to
    prevent misuse but I think the handwriting is on the wall and we need
    to start to move on this.

    Aren't these laws already on the books?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rhino@21:1/5 to Adam H. Kerman on Sun Apr 14 21:13:00 2024
    On Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC)
    "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to
    have finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article
    written in response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was >interrupted to announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing
    on Israel. The crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the >article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism


    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as
    racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    The American melting pot concept wasn't a government program.

    That's an interesting thing to say. I've never heard it stated that
    way but it's important to say it to make clear that the melting pot
    idea was an expectation of many Americans but not something mandated by
    the federal or state governments.

    Many
    immigrants were both trying not to stand out and they were highly
    motivated to integrate into society because they were forced out of
    their shithole countries in Europe. They were fleeing persecution and
    war after war after war. If you were on losing side, society had
    essentially collapsed. On the winning side, you were going to be
    forced to fight a war you didn't support in a country you didn't want
    to go to.

    But there are plenty of prominent examples in America contrary to the "melting pot" concept. Certain Protestants throughout the 19th century
    and much of the 20th century accused Catholics -- especially Irish
    ethnics and immigrants -- of being Papists and therefore disloyal.

    I've always assumed Papist and Catholic were exact synonyms, i.e. all
    Catholics were Papists and all Papists were Catholics. Is that *not*
    true?

    This was absurd given that the Irish had always been here in large
    numbers since the colonial period. To counter that, municipal
    government patronage was organized "tribally" before civil service
    laws. The new administration fired everybody hired by the previous administration to put in his own clan.

    Tammany Hall and its equivalents in other cities.

    That and certain very public
    celebrations in America, like parades for Saint Patrick's Day, are
    about drinking (as if the Irish needed another excuse) and honoring
    the clan. It's not exactly celebrating a tradition in the old world
    as they don't have four major parades like Chicago. Columbus Day, as
    a federal government and state government public holiday (but not in
    the private sector) is to honor Italian ethnics. I don't believe
    Columbus leaving for the New World is celebrated in Spain (there's no
    reason to celebrate it in Italy which didn't have colonies in the
    Americas).

    Italy itself wasn't unified into its modern form until the 1860s; prior
    to that, there were a variety of Italian states. (Much the same was the
    case with Germany which only took on its modern form at the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.)

    The melting pot idea obviously didn't hold sway in other ways, of
    course. America took in many Jews and they didn't all convert to
    Christianity to fit it. Whatever concerns they must have had about
    persecution - and they were persecuted every other place they ever
    lived so surely must have expected more of the same in America - they
    still felt they could practice their religion here.

    Not everything melted. But what everybody found in America, at least
    after the first generation which may have organized gangs for, er,
    community protection, was that everybody got along because they never
    gave a shit about European national rivalries to begin with (except
    for soccer). Norwegians and Swedes get along. Pakistani and Indians
    get along. We managed to find new rivalries but artificial attempts to preserve old world culture couldn't possibly counteract that.

    I think this was largely true in Canada too, but with some exceptions.
    First, tensions between francophones and everyone else seem to have
    been a feature of life in this country since the British took over by
    the end of the Seven Years War. The francophones were never really
    assimilated but that's a delicate topic in our history so I honestly
    don't know to what extent the British even tried. I suspect they didn't
    think they could force assimilation too readily when the majority of
    the population were francophones.

    Kinsella mentions another important moment in recent Canadian history
    when he mentions the Air India bombing in 1985. Sikh separatists in BC
    blew up an Air Canada flight to India containing almost entirely people
    from India in their rage over Indira Gandhi's crushing of the Golden
    Temple of Amritsar, as led by a Sikh firebrand seeking an independent
    Sikh homeland. I believe there are still tensions between Sikhs and
    Hindus over this horrific act and it remains a source of tension
    between Canada and India given that Modi deplores the idea of an
    independent Sikh state and Trudeau is careful to defend the right of
    Sikhs to aspire to a homeland.

    He's even right about the solution: it's time to find a way to shed >ourselves of the people who don't want to live here in peace with us.
    He offers no specific program but I think some kind of policy that
    involves deporting non-citizens who run afoul of major laws would be
    a good start.

    Of course I agree.

    A further enhancement would be to establish a list of
    offenses that, if committed, would justify stripping the person of
    any naturalized Canadian citizenship they may have acquired and then >deporting them too.

    Conviction of a felony, lying on immigration papers about having
    committed felonies in the old country (for crimes that would have been
    crimes in the new world, not just laws oppressing citizens), the usual reasons.

    Yes.

    There would obviously need to be very serious
    discussions to figure out the details and establish safeguards to
    prevent misuse but I think the handwriting is on the wall and we need
    to start to move on this.

    Aren't these laws already on the books?

    These laws may exist but the politicians and/or courts are extremely
    reluctant to invoke them. As Horny Goat pointed out, they were used to
    deport Ernst Zundel, a neo-Nazi, back to Germany when he was a pain in
    the ass here, and they also TRIED to use it to deport some alleged
    Holocaust perpetrators back to Germany but largely failed. (For
    instance, Helmut Oberlander, a successful property developer in my
    hometown was supposed to be stripped of his citizenship and sent back
    to trial in Germany but he fought it in the courts; the legal
    precedings were still ongoing despite years of efforts when he finally
    died here in Canada at 104.

    I think our courts are reluctant to prosecute things that risk
    citizenship becase their political masters are inevitably going to be
    extremely cautious about the consequences. I don't think they're going
    to want voters to worry that the citizenships they earned are going to
    be forfeit for any but the most serious offenses. We have a very large percentage of naturalized citizens and residents that are going through
    the naturalization process. A party that seems ready to toss people out
    of the country after they've undergone the dislocation involved in
    immigrating, probably learning a new language, probably struggling to
    requalify in their old profession or often taken on a whole new one
    would risk grave issues at election time!

    Any legislation that proposed stripping people of citizenship would
    have to be the result of a strong concensus of practically everyone if
    it isn't going to become an anchor around the neck of just the dominant
    party in Parliament.


    --
    Rhino

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to no_offline_contact@example.com on Sun Apr 14 22:00:17 2024
    On Sun, 14 Apr 2024 21:13:00 -0400, Rhino
    <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    On Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC)
    "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to
    have finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article
    written in response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was
    interrupted to announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing
    on Israel. The crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the
    article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism


    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as
    racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    The American melting pot concept wasn't a government program.

    I'm pretty sure that was true though government in the US has always
    been more fragmented than in Canada due to there being many more
    states than Canadian provinces. The Canadian government on paper is
    more centralized than in the US but in practice I'd argue the opposite
    - largely because there are more states for power to be divided
    between. The recent fights between Alberta (our major oil-producing
    province) and Ottawa over an energy tax allegedly to "help us meet our
    2030 energy targets" is a recent but prime example.

    Many
    immigrants were both trying not to stand out and they were highly
    motivated to integrate into society because they were forced out of
    their shithole countries in Europe. They were fleeing persecution and
    war after war after war. If you were on losing side, society had
    essentially collapsed. On the winning side, you were going to be
    forced to fight a war you didn't support in a country you didn't want
    to go to.

    In my own case that's true but not so since of the 4 nationalities
    that make up my forebears, things are most problematic in Ireland
    since on the one hand most of mine are 'on the Protestant side of the
    altar rail', both the US + Canada got lots of both Catholic and
    Protestant Irish. Some Catholic Irish (mostly in North America) take
    the view that my sort aren't true Irish which is somewhat like the
    Palestinian claim that Ashkenazi Jews are non-Semitic - though most
    would argue that Irish are Irish from whatever side of the border.

    No question in the 19th century Protestant Irish tended to get along
    with the powers that be in both countries better than the Catholic
    Irish though that was true of Protestants and Catholics generally.

    But there are plenty of prominent examples in America contrary to the
    "melting pot" concept. Certain Protestants throughout the 19th century
    and much of the 20th century accused Catholics -- especially Irish
    ethnics and immigrants -- of being Papists and therefore disloyal.

    I've always assumed Papist and Catholic were exact synonyms, i.e. all >Catholics were Papists and all Papists were Catholics. Is that *not*
    true?

    I've always understood that the particularly religious Irish Catholics
    were the "Papists" though amongst Belfast Protestants it was used as a
    general epithet for ALL "on the Catholic side of the altar rail".

    This was absurd given that the Irish had always been here in large
    numbers since the colonial period. To counter that, municipal
    government patronage was organized "tribally" before civil service
    laws. The new administration fired everybody hired by the previous
    administration to put in his own clan.

    Tammany Hall and its equivalents in other cities.

    That and certain very public
    celebrations in America, like parades for Saint Patrick's Day, are
    about drinking (as if the Irish needed another excuse) and honoring
    the clan. It's not exactly celebrating a tradition in the old world
    as they don't have four major parades like Chicago. Columbus Day, as
    a federal government and state government public holiday (but not in
    the private sector) is to honor Italian ethnics. I don't believe
    Columbus leaving for the New World is celebrated in Spain (there's no
    reason to celebrate it in Italy which didn't have colonies in the
    Americas).

    That's fair though Toronto routinely also had July 12th "Orange"
    parades at least as far as the late 1950s notwithstanding the fact
    that in the 40s and 50s Toronto received 100000+ Polish and Italian
    immigrants as well as people from other countries strongly associated
    with Catholicism like the Croats.

    Italy itself wasn't unified into its modern form until the 1860s; prior
    to that, there were a variety of Italian states. (Much the same was the
    case with Germany which only took on its modern form at the end of the >Franco-Prussian War in 1871.)

    Yes though my great-grandmother was an Alsatian born after 1871 who
    despite that (which made her a German citizen) always considered
    herself French even after her family emigrated to the US in the late
    1880s - and was said to have sobbed for joy on 11/11/1918 since she
    knew Alsace would be French again.

    The melting pot idea obviously didn't hold sway in other ways, of
    course. America took in many Jews and they didn't all convert to
    Christianity to fit it. Whatever concerns they must have had about >persecution - and they were persecuted every other place they ever
    lived so surely must have expected more of the same in America - they
    still felt they could practice their religion here.

    And mostly did. To the extent people left Judaism it was mostly due to intermarriage with non-Jews rather than persecution.

    Not everything melted. But what everybody found in America, at least
    after the first generation which may have organized gangs for, er,
    community protection, was that everybody got along because they never
    gave a shit about European national rivalries to begin with (except
    for soccer). Norwegians and Swedes get along. Pakistani and Indians
    get along. We managed to find new rivalries but artificial attempts to
    preserve old world culture couldn't possibly counteract that.

    WHile what you say about Pakistanis and Indians is true, neither were especially welcomed to Canada till after WW2 and roughly half the
    Indians coming to Canada post-WW2 were Sikhs which from time to time
    has caused problems with the Indian government since about 1/2 of
    Sikhs seek an independent Sikh homeland particular under Modi who
    could reasonably be described as a "Hindu fundamentalist" or at least
    "Hindu Nationalist" meaning he's opposed to the concept of India as a
    religious melting pot.

    I think this was largely true in Canada too, but with some exceptions.
    First, tensions between francophones and everyone else seem to have
    been a feature of life in this country since the British took over by
    the end of the Seven Years War. The francophones were never really >assimilated but that's a delicate topic in our history so I honestly
    don't know to what extent the British even tried. I suspect they didn't
    think they could force assimilation too readily when the majority of
    the population were francophones.

    Lord Durham's report in the 1830s advocated a level of
    self-determination for the French culture in Quebec and tried to
    dissuade any ideas of assimilation in London. It led directly to the
    present status quo in Quebec though the government of Pierre Trudeau
    was rather weak-kneed in responding to demands for additional Quebec
    autonomy in the 1960s. (Notwithstanding the demands in both BC and AB
    for "whatever Quebec get we demand!")

    Kinsella mentions another important moment in recent Canadian history
    when he mentions the Air India bombing in 1985. Sikh separatists in BC
    blew up an Air Canada flight to India containing almost entirely people
    from India in their rage over Indira Gandhi's crushing of the Golden
    Temple of Amritsar, as led by a Sikh firebrand seeking an independent
    Sikh homeland. I believe there are still tensions between Sikhs and
    Hindus over this horrific act and it remains a source of tension
    between Canada and India given that Modi deplores the idea of an
    independent Sikh state and Trudeau is careful to defend the right of
    Sikhs to aspire to a homeland.

    Specifically that particular bombing was the biggest terrorist act
    until 9/11. (Which destroyed 2 jumbo jets - one on the ground in
    Japan, the other about 100 miles off the coast of Ireland)

    He's even right about the solution: it's time to find a way to shed
    ourselves of the people who don't want to live here in peace with us.
    He offers no specific program but I think some kind of policy that
    involves deporting non-citizens who run afoul of major laws would be
    a good start.

    Of course I agree.

    A further enhancement would be to establish a list of
    offenses that, if committed, would justify stripping the person of
    any naturalized Canadian citizenship they may have acquired and then
    deporting them too.

    Conviction of a felony, lying on immigration papers about having
    committed felonies in the old country (for crimes that would have been
    crimes in the new world, not just laws oppressing citizens), the usual
    reasons.

    Yes.

    There would obviously need to be very serious
    discussions to figure out the details and establish safeguards to
    prevent misuse but I think the handwriting is on the wall and we need
    to start to move on this.

    Aren't these laws already on the books?

    These laws may exist but the politicians and/or courts are extremely >reluctant to invoke them. As Horny Goat pointed out, they were used to
    deport Ernst Zundel, a neo-Nazi, back to Germany when he was a pain in
    the ass here, and they also TRIED to use it to deport some alleged
    Holocaust perpetrators back to Germany but largely failed. (For
    instance, Helmut Oberlander, a successful property developer in my
    hometown was supposed to be stripped of his citizenship and sent back
    to trial in Germany but he fought it in the courts; the legal
    precedings were still ongoing despite years of efforts when he finally
    died here in Canada at 104.

    I'm pretty sure there are no legal grounds in Canada for deportation
    of Canadian citizens resident in Canada. The law is stricter with
    respect to Canadians living abroad who hold another citizenship - the distinction being that there is an international convention barring
    countries from voiding a person's citizenship if they hold no other citizenship.

    This subject has come up in recent years as a few dozen Canadian women
    (mostly children of immigrants to Canada and born here) who joined
    ISIS/ISIL and bore children to non-citizen jihadis.

    I think our courts are reluctant to prosecute things that risk
    citizenship becase their political masters are inevitably going to be >extremely cautious about the consequences. I don't think they're going
    to want voters to worry that the citizenships they earned are going to
    be forfeit for any but the most serious offenses. We have a very large >percentage of naturalized citizens and residents that are going through
    the naturalization process. A party that seems ready to toss people out
    of the country after they've undergone the dislocation involved in >immigrating, probably learning a new language, probably struggling to >requalify in their old profession or often taken on a whole new one
    would risk grave issues at election time!

    Any legislation that proposed stripping people of citizenship would
    have to be the result of a strong concensus of practically everyone if
    it isn't going to become an anchor around the neck of just the dominant
    party in Parliament.

    In the Zundel case it was less controversial as he had falsely
    declared himself NOT to be a past member of a proscribed organization
    (in his case the Waffen SS) and had thus perjured himself on his
    citizenship application. The prosecution in that case made that point
    extremely clear.

    The prosecution's case would have been FAR more problematic if Zundel
    had renounced his German citizenship since again - by treaty you CAN'T
    void a person's ONLY citizenship - but since he hadn't, he was
    deported to Germany (where he died in 2017).

    I've said this before - there have been several international
    conventions through the years concerning the citizenship of parents of different nationalities. Generally speaking, children's initial
    citizenship is based on where they are born - thus my wife's cousin
    (he and his wife both Canadians) have one fully Canadian child, the
    other 4 being born in the US are US citizens all of whom get to opt
    either way at age 21. (They're all 21+ now though I don't know which
    way they chose) Whichever nation they choose (and by default their
    birth citizenship remains their citizenship if they don't make a
    statutory declaration for the other) and THEIR children gain no right
    to their grandparent's citizenship.

    This is how the grandchildren of Wayne Gretzky (who most Canadians
    would consider the most famous living Canadian) have no claim on
    Canadian citizenship...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to Rhino on Mon Apr 15 06:07:35 2024
    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>:
    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to
    have finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article
    written in response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was >>>interrupted to announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing
    on Israel. The crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the >>>article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism

    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as >>>racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    The American melting pot concept wasn't a government program.

    That's an interesting thing to say. I've never heard it stated that
    way but it's important to say it to make clear that the melting pot
    idea was an expectation of many Americans but not something mandated by
    the federal or state governments.

    Many
    immigrants were both trying not to stand out and they were highly
    motivated to integrate into society because they were forced out of
    their shithole countries in Europe. They were fleeing persecution and
    war after war after war. If you were on losing side, society had >>essentially collapsed. On the winning side, you were going to be
    forced to fight a war you didn't support in a country you didn't want
    to go to.

    But there are plenty of prominent examples in America contrary to the >>"melting pot" concept. Certain Protestants throughout the 19th century
    and much of the 20th century accused Catholics -- especially Irish
    ethnics and immigrants -- of being Papists and therefore disloyal.

    I've always assumed Papist and Catholic were exact synonyms, i.e. all >Catholics were Papists and all Papists were Catholics. Is that *not*
    true?

    It's an insult, accusing Catholics of being disloyal, having a higher allegiance to the Church and its head of state the Pope than to their
    own country. Have you ever heard a Catholic describe himself that way?

    This was absurd given that the Irish had always been here in large
    numbers since the colonial period. To counter that, municipal
    government patronage was organized "tribally" before civil service
    laws. The new administration fired everybody hired by the previous >>administration to put in his own clan.

    Tammany Hall and its equivalents in other cities.

    That and certain very public
    celebrations in America, like parades for Saint Patrick's Day, are
    about drinking (as if the Irish needed another excuse) and honoring
    the clan. It's not exactly celebrating a tradition in the old world
    as they don't have four major parades like Chicago. Columbus Day, as
    a federal government and state government public holiday (but not in
    the private sector) is to honor Italian ethnics. I don't believe
    Columbus leaving for the New World is celebrated in Spain (there's no >>reason to celebrate it in Italy which didn't have colonies in the >>Americas).

    Italy itself wasn't unified into its modern form until the 1860s; prior
    to that, there were a variety of Italian states.

    Right. Columbus was from Genoa and as far as I know, when he set sail
    isn't celebrated there with a national holiday.

    (Much the same was the
    case with Germany which only took on its modern form at the end of the >Franco-Prussian War in 1871.)

    Lied der Deutschen (Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles), the national
    anthem, was originally expressing a desire for a free German people to
    unify in a free republic in a liberal society. They were calling the
    remaining princes and others opposed to unification selfish, putting
    their own interest above society. Of course, the way Germany united --
    under a strong man after yet another war -- wasn't what they had in mind,

    It was a nice sentiment before it was perverted, and you can't go wrong
    setting your national anthem to the music of Haydn rather than a
    drinking song.

    The melting pot idea obviously didn't hold sway in other ways, of
    course. America took in many Jews and they didn't all convert to
    Christianity to fit it.

    But that would have been un-American. We may have had cultural assimilation
    to a greater or lesser extent, not religious assimilation. Which
    Protestantism anyway? There are lots of choices, and some are very
    different from each other.

    No national church and no king are two of the greatest gifts our
    Founding Fathers gave us.

    Whatever concerns they must have had about
    persecution - and they were persecuted every other place they ever
    lived so surely must have expected more of the same in America - they
    still felt they could practice their religion here.

    It was nothing like Europe.

    . . .

    Kinsella mentions another important moment in recent Canadian history
    when he mentions the Air India bombing in 1985. Sikh separatists in BC
    blew up an Air Canada flight to India containing almost entirely people
    from India in their rage over Indira Gandhi's crushing of the Golden
    Temple of Amritsar, as led by a Sikh firebrand seeking an independent
    Sikh homeland. I believe there are still tensions between Sikhs and
    Hindus over this horrific act and it remains a source of tension
    between Canada and India given that Modi deplores the idea of an
    independent Sikh state and Trudeau is careful to defend the right of
    Sikhs to aspire to a homeland.

    He does? That worked out just great in Yugoslavia. He should keep his
    mouth shut.

    . . .

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to ahk@chinet.com on Mon Apr 15 00:03:52 2024
    On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 06:07:35 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
    <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>: >>>Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    I've always assumed Papist and Catholic were exact synonyms, i.e. all >>Catholics were Papists and all Papists were Catholics. Is that *not*
    true?

    It's an insult, accusing Catholics of being disloyal, having a higher >allegiance to the Church and its head of state the Pope than to their
    own country. Have you ever heard a Catholic describe himself that way?

    Frankly no - and my in-laws (at least my mother) are fairly strict
    Catholics. Similarly my late wife's maid of honor (and best friend for
    most of her life) is a fairly strict Catholic to the extent that she
    never married because her sister has a fairly severe genetic disease
    which her doctor has told her she would have a good chance of passing
    on. I told my wife "so tell her to get her tubes tied and marry her boyfriend..." though I happen to know that she's 'strict Catholic' to
    the extent that were she to marry she would feel compelled to try to
    have kids. (She's 60+ now so doubtful - too bad cause she would have
    been a fantastic catch for the right guy)

    My mother-in-law (who lives 2500 miles away) asked me to attend mass
    for my wife on the anniversary of her passing which I did - and was
    surprised how much overlap there was between the Anglican prayer book
    and the current Catholic prayer book (which I heard they cribbed from
    to a fair degree once they finally decided to make the standard North
    American liturgical language English) and felt entirely at home until
    I heard a lady in the next section over praying to Mary which of
    course is a huge dividing point between Protestants and Catholics.

    But then my wife was definitely a non-practicing Catholic when we
    married (and never returned to it during our marriage) She knew I was
    fairly serious in my beliefs though not an over the top "SAVE THE
    WORLD!" type. But that I did take it seriously.

    This was absurd given that the Irish had always been here in large >>>numbers since the colonial period. To counter that, municipal
    government patronage was organized "tribally" before civil service
    laws. The new administration fired everybody hired by the previous >>>administration to put in his own clan.

    Tammany Hall and its equivalents in other cities.

    That and certain very public
    celebrations in America, like parades for Saint Patrick's Day, are
    about drinking (as if the Irish needed another excuse) and honoring
    the clan. It's not exactly celebrating a tradition in the old world
    as they don't have four major parades like Chicago. Columbus Day, as
    a federal government and state government public holiday (but not in
    the private sector) is to honor Italian ethnics. I don't believe
    Columbus leaving for the New World is celebrated in Spain (there's no >>>reason to celebrate it in Italy which didn't have colonies in the >>>Americas).

    Italy itself wasn't unified into its modern form until the 1860s; prior
    to that, there were a variety of Italian states.

    Right. Columbus was from Genoa and as far as I know, when he set sail
    isn't celebrated there with a national holiday.

    (Much the same was the
    case with Germany which only took on its modern form at the end of the >>Franco-Prussian War in 1871.)

    Lied der Deutschen (Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles), the national >anthem, was originally expressing a desire for a free German people to
    unify in a free republic in a liberal society. They were calling the >remaining princes and others opposed to unification selfish, putting
    their own interest above society. Of course, the way Germany united --
    under a strong man after yet another war -- wasn't what they had in mind,

    It was a nice sentiment before it was perverted, and you can't go wrong >setting your national anthem to the music of Haydn rather than a
    drinking song.

    The melting pot idea obviously didn't hold sway in other ways, of
    course. America took in many Jews and they didn't all convert to >>Christianity to fit it.

    But that would have been un-American. We may have had cultural assimilation >to a greater or lesser extent, not religious assimilation. Which >Protestantism anyway? There are lots of choices, and some are very
    different from each other.

    No national church and no king are two of the greatest gifts our
    Founding Fathers gave us.

    Whatever concerns they must have had about
    persecution - and they were persecuted every other place they ever
    lived so surely must have expected more of the same in America - they
    still felt they could practice their religion here.

    It was nothing like Europe.

    . . .

    Kinsella mentions another important moment in recent Canadian history
    when he mentions the Air India bombing in 1985. Sikh separatists in BC
    blew up an Air Canada flight to India containing almost entirely people >>from India in their rage over Indira Gandhi's crushing of the Golden
    Temple of Amritsar, as led by a Sikh firebrand seeking an independent
    Sikh homeland. I believe there are still tensions between Sikhs and
    Hindus over this horrific act and it remains a source of tension
    between Canada and India given that Modi deplores the idea of an >>independent Sikh state and Trudeau is careful to defend the right of
    Sikhs to aspire to a homeland.

    He does? That worked out just great in Yugoslavia. He should keep his
    mouth shut.

    . . .

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rhino@21:1/5 to Adam H. Kerman on Mon Apr 15 11:53:25 2024
    On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 06:07:35 -0000 (UTC)
    "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman
    <ahk@chinet.com>:
    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to
    have finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article
    written in response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was >>>interrupted to announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were
    landing on Israel. The crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video
    included in the article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism


    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as >>>racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    The American melting pot concept wasn't a government program.

    That's an interesting thing to say. I've never heard it stated that
    way but it's important to say it to make clear that the melting pot
    idea was an expectation of many Americans but not something mandated
    by the federal or state governments.

    Many
    immigrants were both trying not to stand out and they were highly >>motivated to integrate into society because they were forced out of
    their shithole countries in Europe. They were fleeing persecution
    and war after war after war. If you were on losing side, society had >>essentially collapsed. On the winning side, you were going to be
    forced to fight a war you didn't support in a country you didn't
    want to go to.

    But there are plenty of prominent examples in America contrary to
    the "melting pot" concept. Certain Protestants throughout the 19th >>century and much of the 20th century accused Catholics --
    especially Irish ethnics and immigrants -- of being Papists and
    therefore disloyal.

    I've always assumed Papist and Catholic were exact synonyms, i.e. all >Catholics were Papists and all Papists were Catholics. Is that *not*
    true?

    It's an insult, accusing Catholics of being disloyal, having a higher allegiance to the Church and its head of state the Pope than to their
    own country. Have you ever heard a Catholic describe himself that way?

    Good point!

    I wonder if loyal Catholics had an equivalent insult for the former
    Catholics that followed Henry VIII into the Church of England? (I'm
    guessing they didn't dare use such a term too openly given the
    discrimination that soon came their way.)


    This was absurd given that the Irish had always been here in large >>numbers since the colonial period. To counter that, municipal
    government patronage was organized "tribally" before civil service
    laws. The new administration fired everybody hired by the previous >>administration to put in his own clan.

    Tammany Hall and its equivalents in other cities.

    That and certain very public
    celebrations in America, like parades for Saint Patrick's Day, are
    about drinking (as if the Irish needed another excuse) and honoring
    the clan. It's not exactly celebrating a tradition in the old world
    as they don't have four major parades like Chicago. Columbus Day, as
    a federal government and state government public holiday (but not in
    the private sector) is to honor Italian ethnics. I don't believe
    Columbus leaving for the New World is celebrated in Spain (there's
    no reason to celebrate it in Italy which didn't have colonies in the >>Americas).

    Italy itself wasn't unified into its modern form until the 1860s;
    prior to that, there were a variety of Italian states.

    Right. Columbus was from Genoa and as far as I know, when he set sail
    isn't celebrated there with a national holiday.

    I looked that up and it turns out that Columbus Day had been a national "celebratory day" in Italy since 2004. I don't think it's a national
    HOLIDAY - there's a separate list - so it may not be any bigger deal
    than Mother's Day or Valentine's Day is here.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_Italy

    (Much the same was the
    case with Germany which only took on its modern form at the end of
    the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.)

    Lied der Deutschen (Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles), the national anthem, was originally expressing a desire for a free German people to
    unify in a free republic in a liberal society. They were calling the remaining princes and others opposed to unification selfish, putting
    their own interest above society. Of course, the way Germany united --
    under a strong man after yet another war -- wasn't what they had in
    mind,

    It was a nice sentiment before it was perverted, and you can't go
    wrong setting your national anthem to the music of Haydn rather than a drinking song.

    Germany took some particularly tragic turns before finally getting on
    its current good path after WWII....

    The melting pot idea obviously didn't hold sway in other ways, of
    course. America took in many Jews and they didn't all convert to >Christianity to fit it.

    But that would have been un-American. We may have had cultural
    assimilation to a greater or lesser extent, not religious
    assimilation. Which Protestantism anyway? There are lots of choices,
    and some are very different from each other.

    No national church and no king are two of the greatest gifts our
    Founding Fathers gave us.

    Agreed!!

    Whatever concerns they must have had about
    persecution - and they were persecuted every other place they ever
    lived so surely must have expected more of the same in America - they
    still felt they could practice their religion here.

    It was nothing like Europe.

    Most of the time, sure. But there was still discrimination, some of
    which persists today based on what we hear from Jewish students at
    Harvard and other major universities....

    . . .

    Kinsella mentions another important moment in recent Canadian history
    when he mentions the Air India bombing in 1985. Sikh separatists in
    BC blew up an Air Canada flight to India containing almost entirely
    people from India in their rage over Indira Gandhi's crushing of the
    Golden Temple of Amritsar, as led by a Sikh firebrand seeking an >independent Sikh homeland. I believe there are still tensions
    between Sikhs and Hindus over this horrific act and it remains a
    source of tension between Canada and India given that Modi deplores
    the idea of an independent Sikh state and Trudeau is careful to
    defend the right of Sikhs to aspire to a homeland.

    He does? That worked out just great in Yugoslavia. He should keep his
    mouth shut.

    I assume you mean Trudeau, as opposed to Modi, should keep his mouth
    shut. I heartily agree. But Trudeau is shameless in pandering to people
    whose votes he wants.

    But you see the same thing with respect to Biden putting heavy pressure
    on Israel over Gaza so as to avoid losing support in Michigan and
    Minnesota. It's what politicians do when an election is coming up....


    --
    Rhino

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to The Horny Goat on Mon Apr 15 16:35:28 2024
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    Sun, 14 Apr 2024 21:13:00 -0400, Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>: >>Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>: >>>Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    Warren Kinsella, a self-admitted long-time Liberal shill, seems to
    have finally had his fill of multi-culturalism in this article
    written in response to a demonstration in Toronto today that was >>>>interrupted to announce that Iranian bombs and missiles were landing
    on Israel. The crowd responded with *CHEERS*. (Video included in the >>>>article.)

    https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/kinsella-is-this-at-long-last-the-result-of-multiculturalism

    He's exactly right about the history: multiculturalism was pitched
    for many years as a good thing and any opponents were demonized as >>>>racists. Look where that's gotten us!

    The American melting pot concept wasn't a government program.

    I'm pretty sure that was true though government in the US has always
    been more fragmented than in Canada due to there being many more
    states than Canadian provinces.

    No. It's federalism, not fragmentation. Canada isn't a voluntary
    federation like the United States.

    . . .

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to ahk@chinet.com on Mon Apr 15 11:01:26 2024
    On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 16:35:28 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
    <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    Sun, 14 Apr 2024 21:13:00 -0400, Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>: >>>Sun, 14 Apr 2024 16:17:44 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>: >>>>Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

    I'm pretty sure that was true though government in the US has always
    been more fragmented than in Canada due to there being many more
    states than Canadian provinces.

    No. It's federalism, not fragmentation. Canada isn't a voluntary
    federation like the United States.

    . . .
    Fair enough - though you might think differently if you knew the
    history of British Columbia, my home province. Got the same impression
    when I visited the PEI Legislature back in 2004. The difference
    between BC and PEI is that BC started small (population-wise) and
    became relatively big (at least by Canadian standards) at 5 m vs PEI
    which started small and remained small (population roughly 130k) - one
    grew, the other really didn't. Land size wasn't really a factor in BC
    as 90+% of the population is within 100 miles of Vancouver (which
    happens to be the largest Canadian port not only on the west coast but
    in Canada - and larger than #2, #3, #4, and #5 combined at least in
    terms of annual tonnage moved)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to The Horny Goat on Mon Apr 15 18:21:50 2024
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    Mon, 15 Apr 2024 16:35:28 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>:
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

    I'm pretty sure that was true though government in the US has always
    been more fragmented than in Canada due to there being many more
    states than Canadian provinces.

    No. It's federalism, not fragmentation. Canada isn't a voluntary
    federation like the United States.

    Fair enough - though you might think differently if you knew the
    history of British Columbia, my home province.

    I stand corrected. Your province voluntarily federated with the Dominion
    of Canada. Of course the price was construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad on that useless all-Canada route instead of heading toward St.
    Paul to get to Chicago, which is what would have happened if they'd
    federated with the United States instead.

    Got the same impression
    when I visited the PEI Legislature back in 2004. The difference
    between BC and PEI is that BC started small (population-wise) and
    became relatively big (at least by Canadian standards) at 5 m vs PEI
    which started small and remained small (population roughly 130k) - one
    grew, the other really didn't. Land size wasn't really a factor in BC
    as 90+% of the population is within 100 miles of Vancouver (which
    happens to be the largest Canadian port not only on the west coast but
    in Canada - and larger than #2, #3, #4, and #5 combined at least in
    terms of annual tonnage moved)

    Ok. I just read the brief political history of Prince Edward Island on
    its Wikipedia page. Federation into the Dominion of Canada wasn't
    desired on the terms offered and they remained a colony and briefly
    explored federation with the United States. Basically, they had a series
    of financial scandals, starting with all of its land having been gifted
    to political supporters of George III who intended to run the place
    under feudal law. They were all bought out over close to a century. Then
    they had an unaffordable debt for railroad construction.

    They joined Canada and not the United States not as a voluntary
    association of equals nor in the best interest of both parties, but
    having been bought out. This is comparable to the purchases of Louisiana
    and Alaska by the United States and not voluntary federation.

    It set the stage for bailing Newfoundland out and its joining Canada,
    which was not voluntary in any way.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Rhino@21:1/5 to Adam H. Kerman on Mon Apr 15 20:11:58 2024
    On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 18:21:50 -0000 (UTC)
    "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    Mon, 15 Apr 2024 16:35:28 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman
    <ahk@chinet.com>:
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

    I'm pretty sure that was true though government in the US has
    always been more fragmented than in Canada due to there being many
    more states than Canadian provinces.

    No. It's federalism, not fragmentation. Canada isn't a voluntary >>federation like the United States.

    Fair enough - though you might think differently if you knew the
    history of British Columbia, my home province.

    I stand corrected. Your province voluntarily federated with the
    Dominion of Canada. Of course the price was construction of the
    Canadian Pacific Railroad on that useless all-Canada route instead of
    heading toward St. Paul to get to Chicago, which is what would have
    happened if they'd federated with the United States instead.

    Got the same impression
    when I visited the PEI Legislature back in 2004. The difference
    between BC and PEI is that BC started small (population-wise) and
    became relatively big (at least by Canadian standards) at 5 m vs PEI
    which started small and remained small (population roughly 130k) -
    one grew, the other really didn't. Land size wasn't really a factor
    in BC as 90+% of the population is within 100 miles of Vancouver
    (which happens to be the largest Canadian port not only on the west
    coast but in Canada - and larger than #2, #3, #4, and #5 combined at
    least in terms of annual tonnage moved)

    Ok. I just read the brief political history of Prince Edward Island on
    its Wikipedia page. Federation into the Dominion of Canada wasn't
    desired on the terms offered and they remained a colony and briefly
    explored federation with the United States. Basically, they had a
    series of financial scandals, starting with all of its land having
    been gifted to political supporters of George III who intended to run
    the place under feudal law. They were all bought out over close to a
    century. Then they had an unaffordable debt for railroad construction.

    They joined Canada and not the United States not as a voluntary
    association of equals nor in the best interest of both parties, but
    having been bought out. This is comparable to the purchases of
    Louisiana and Alaska by the United States and not voluntary
    federation.

    It set the stage for bailing Newfoundland out and its joining Canada,
    which was not voluntary in any way.

    I think you're missing some facts. Newfoundland got independence from
    the British in 1907 and was a full Dominion. Then the Great Depression
    came along and Newfoundland couldn't make a go of things and returned
    to being dependent on the British. After WWII, Britain encouraged
    Newfoundland to stand on its own two feet again. Three different
    ideas materialized: become a standalone country again; join Canada or
    join the US. A referendum was held offering all three options and the "standalone country" option won. Since none of the choices got 50%
    of vote, a second referendum was held offering only "standalone
    country" or "join Canada", which were the two most popular options
    from the 1st referendum. This time, "join Canada" won. If the referenda
    results had been different, presumably Newfoundland's fate would also
    have been different. I'd call that democracy in action!

    --
    Rhino

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to no_offline_contact@example.com on Tue Apr 16 05:04:13 2024
    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    On Mon, 15 Apr 2024 18:21:50 -0000 (UTC)
    "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    Mon, 15 Apr 2024 16:35:28 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman
    <ahk@chinet.com>:
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

    I'm pretty sure that was true though government in the US has
    always been more fragmented than in Canada due to there being many
    more states than Canadian provinces.

    No. It's federalism, not fragmentation. Canada isn't a voluntary
    federation like the United States.

    Fair enough - though you might think differently if you knew the
    history of British Columbia, my home province.

    I stand corrected. Your province voluntarily federated with the
    Dominion of Canada. Of course the price was construction of the
    Canadian Pacific Railroad on that useless all-Canada route instead of
    heading toward St. Paul to get to Chicago, which is what would have
    happened if they'd federated with the United States instead.

    Got the same impression
    when I visited the PEI Legislature back in 2004. The difference
    between BC and PEI is that BC started small (population-wise) and
    became relatively big (at least by Canadian standards) at 5 m vs PEI
    which started small and remained small (population roughly 130k) -
    one grew, the other really didn't. Land size wasn't really a factor
    in BC as 90+% of the population is within 100 miles of Vancouver
    (which happens to be the largest Canadian port not only on the west
    coast but in Canada - and larger than #2, #3, #4, and #5 combined at
    least in terms of annual tonnage moved)

    Ok. I just read the brief political history of Prince Edward Island on
    its Wikipedia page. Federation into the Dominion of Canada wasn't
    desired on the terms offered and they remained a colony and briefly
    explored federation with the United States. Basically, they had a
    series of financial scandals, starting with all of its land having
    been gifted to political supporters of George III who intended to run
    the place under feudal law. They were all bought out over close to a
    century. Then they had an unaffordable debt for railroad construction.

    They joined Canada and not the United States not as a voluntary
    association of equals nor in the best interest of both parties, but
    having been bought out. This is comparable to the purchases of
    Louisiana and Alaska by the United States and not voluntary
    federation.

    It set the stage for bailing Newfoundland out and its joining Canada,
    which was not voluntary in any way.

    I think you're missing some facts. Newfoundland got independence from
    the British in 1907 and was a full Dominion. Then the Great Depression
    came along and Newfoundland couldn't make a go of things and returned
    to being dependent on the British.

    There was a ruinous financial scandal, from what little I've read, much
    larger that Prince Edward Island's.

    After WWII, Britain encouraged
    Newfoundland to stand on its own two feet again. Three different
    ideas materialized: become a standalone country again; join Canada or
    join the US. A referendum was held offering all three options and the >"standalone country" option won. Since none of the choices got 50%
    of vote, a second referendum was held offering only "standalone
    country" or "join Canada", which were the two most popular options
    from the 1st referendum. This time, "join Canada" won. If the referenda >results had been different, presumably Newfoundland's fate would also
    have been different. I'd call that democracy in action!

    London was highly opposed to the United States expanding, so British
    Columbia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland were blocked. And
    again, the "join Canada" option came with a major resolution of the
    massive debt. Not exactly voluntary.

    Let's see if Quebec asks to leave Canada and federate with the US. I'll
    bet London wouldn't care at this point.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to ahk@chinet.com on Tue Apr 16 09:41:00 2024
    On Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:04:13 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
    <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Let's see if Quebec asks to leave Canada and federate with the US. I'll
    bet London wouldn't care at this point.

    Likely true though even more likely Washington would never in a
    gazillion years accept the Charter of the French Language. The US
    would be far more likely to accept Scotland (EU and all) than Quebec.

    (sarcasm off)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Adam H. Kerman@21:1/5 to The Horny Goat on Tue Apr 16 18:24:59 2024
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    Tue, 16 Apr 2024 05:04:13 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com>:

    Let's see if Quebec asks to leave Canada and federate with the US. I'll
    bet London wouldn't care at this point.

    Likely true though even more likely Washington would never in a
    gazillion years accept the Charter of the French Language. The US
    would be far more likely to accept Scotland (EU and all) than Quebec.

    (sarcasm off)

    The United States doesn't care. While we expect to conduct business in
    English, we don't have the concept of national language in law. We
    already have laws on the books with language translation requirements in government programs if census demography reports a large enough ethnic
    minority if English isn't the primary language. Quebec representatives
    in Congress would have to accept that English would be spoken in debate.

    Quebec wouldn't care. The joke was always they pretended to their fellow Canadians that they spoke no English but spoke English with Americans.
    We didn't conquer Quebec so they aren't holding a centuries-long grudge
    against America which didn't even exist at the time.

    Considering whatever dialect of English Scots speak isn't understandable
    by anybody else (maybe in Appalachia), no, the English get to keep them
    in their United Kingdom. They'd all have to learn the Received English
    dialect as spoken on the Beeb first.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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