Shady Canucks

[Boogahz]

psst, at least remove the "Copyright 1999" from a picture if you're trying to pass it off as a "Current" event.

[miir]

psst, at least remove the "Copyright 1999" from a picture if you're trying to pass it off as a "Current" event.

And don't try to pass off a photo from Reflections of Louisiana as being from Canada.




Here's one from Whistler Blackcomb.

[Winnow]

Most Canadians would fail own citizenship test

Mon Jul 2, 10:10 AM ET

Most Canadians know so little about their own country that they would flunk the basic test that new

immigrants are required to take before becoming citizens, according to a poll released on Friday.

The Ipsos-Reid survey showed that 60 percent of Canadians would fail the test. A similar poll done in 1997 showed a failure rate of 45 percent.

"Canadians appear to be losing knowledge when it comes to the most basic questions about Canadian history, politics, culture and geography ... (they) performed abysmally on some questions," the firm said in a statement.

Only 4 percent knew the three requirements a citizen had tomeet to be able to vote while only a third could correctly identify the number of provinces and territories. Just 8 percent knew that Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.

The survey was carried out for the Dominion Institute, which aims to boost knowledge of Canadian history and values. It said all high school students should have to pass a special citizenship exam before they can graduate.

"It is frankly disheartening to see the lack of progress made by our group and the countless other organizations working to improve civic literary of Canadians over the last 10 years," said institute co-founder Rudyard Griffiths.

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,005 adults was conducted between June 5 and 7 and is considered to be accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

wft? When are you Canucks going to take charge of your own country? Acknowledging British royalty is so 1700's!

[miir]

Only 4 percent knew the three requirements a citizen had tomeet to be able to vote

Being born and raised in Canada, I have no idea the third requirement (after age (18) and being a legal Canadian citizen). If I were to guess it would be that you have to be residing in Canada.

only a third could correctly identify the number of provinces and territories

Because 7-8 years ago the Northwest Territories were split to form Nunavut.

Just 8 percent knew that Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state.

Our head of state visits every 2-3 years.
The overwhelming majority of Canadians actually doesn't give a shit about British royalty.



I think the underlying reason that a lot of Canadians maybe aren't as knowledgeable about Canadian history as Americans are about American history is because they were taught a broader range of history... I know American schools are very tightly focused on America's place in history and less on the history of the rest of the world.
I was always been interested by American kids vast knowledge of all things American and their relative ignorance of things non-american. You ask any Canadian kid the capital of the US, France or England and there's a very good chance they will answer without hesitation. Ask an American kid (or adult even) the capital of Canada and they will probably be stumped.

[Dregor Thule]

The capital of Canada is Toronto, right?

[Boogahz]

Screw American history, Texas history was a required course in Texas during jr high and middle school years!

[miir]

Screw American history, Texas history was a required course in Texas during jr high and middle school years!

That just blows my mind.

[Boogahz]

Screw American history, Texas history was a required course in Texas during jr high and middle school years!

That just blows my mind.

World and American History came during high school

I seriously think that a higher percentage of Texans take pride in the state than Americans take pride in the country.

[Winnow]

U.S. citizenship questions:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19552808/

When immigrants want to become Americans, they must take a civics test as part of their naturalization interview before a Citizenship and Immigration Services (INS) officer. The questions are usually selected from a list of 100 sample questions that prospective citizens can look at ahead of the interview (though the examiner is not limited to those questions). Some are easy, some are not. We have picked some of the more difficult ones.

NOTES: The INS plans to revise its list of questions in 2008 (a pilot program is using these new questions at selected INS sites). Also, the questions in the test below are as asked on the official United States Immigration and Naturalization Services Web site. Candidates are not given multiple choices in the naturalization interview, which is conducted orally.

When I took the oath of citizenship in my teens, I don't remember answering any questions beforehand. Maybe Ronald Reagan pardoned me from that part of it! Maybe it's because I wasn't a foreign citizen and just wasn't a citizen of anywhere yet. I wonder what the German process would have been if I went that route instead. Blond hair? Blue eyes? You're in!

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

85% correct. Damn...

Failed on the question about which amendment that does NOT address or guarantee voting rights, the one about the introduction to the constitution and what INS form blahblahblah.

[Xyun]

my citizenship test consisted of 4 questions. I can't remember all of them but I know for a fact that I was asked "Who is the vice president of the United States?"

The test was a joke.

In Oklahoma, Oklahoma history was a required class in Jr. High as well.

[Dregor Thule]

80%.. not bad I guess!

[Winnow]

It's on!

Canada and Russia are going to throw down over a submerged Artic land grab attempt!

MacKay mocks Russia's "15th century" Arctic claim

Thu Aug 2, 8:45 AM

CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island (Reuters) - Canada on Thursday dismissed Russia's claim to a large chunk of the resource-rich Arctic, saying the tactic was more suited to the 15th century than the real world.

A Russian submersible on Thursday dived beneath the ice under the North Pole and planted a titanium flag on the seabed, staking a symbolic claim as Moscow seeks to extend the territory in the Arctic it controls right up to the North Pole.

"This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory'," said Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay.

"There is no threat to Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic ... we're not at all concerned about this mission -- basically it's just a show by Russia," he told CTV television.

The five states with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States and Denmark via its control of Greenland -- have a 320 km (200 mile) economic zone around the north of their coastline.

Russia says its expanded claim is justified because the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by one continental shelf.

Canada's Conservative government is vowing to assert sovereignty over its Arctic lands and waterways. Last month Ottawa said it would build up to eight patrol ships designed to operate in the frozen region, which is believed to hold huge untapped oil and gas reserves.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

We need to hope they find an oil field that is double the size of all the middle east fields combined. It will be so much easier to invade Canada than Iraq. The only problem is, the women are uglier and they don't wear veils.

[Winnow]

What's going on up there?

2 killed, 6 hurt in Vancouver restaurant shooting

Thu Aug 9, 2:07 PM ET

Two people were killed and six people wounded in an early-morning shooting in a Vancouver restaurant on Thursday, police said.

Vancouver police were searching for two men who walked into the Fortune Happiness Restaurant in an east side neighborhood in this Canadian Pacific Coast city at about 4:30 a.m.. The attack was believed to be targeted.

"(Officers) arrived to a chaotic scene at the restaurant with tables and chairs overturned, customers shot, broken glass and frantic witnesses," police said in a statement.

Police said they were talking to several witnesses. One of the wounded victims was reported to be in critical condition.

To be fair, I don't think something like this would even make the news in the U.S. unless a half eaten human liver was found at the crime scene or something else that would make the story more interesting.

[miir]

Asian gangs.

[Winnow]

This is the coolest story I've seen come out of Canada in awhile:

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/dr ... chael.html

They look cool but probably are a bit smelly to explore! Nice pics.

[Winnow]

Latest developments in Canada's military:

[Forthe]

That looks like a typical beer run.

[Spang]

B double E double R-U-N, beer run
B double E double R-U-N, beer run
All you need is a ten and a fiver
Car, and a key, and a sober driver
B double E double R-U-N, Beer run

- Todd Snider

[Boogahz]

That looks like a typical beer run.

If it were a beer run, they would have had a bigger cart/basket to carry the beer in.

[Kaldaur]

Spang, you a fan of Bob and Tom? I heard that song on their show one morning, I was cracking up. Some of the later verses described my freshman year of college all too well.

[Spang]

Not really. I was doing a search for Todd Snider on YouTube, and watched most of the videos that popped up. A live performance of Beer Run was one of them.

[Truant]

That song has been around for quite a while. At least the 70's.

[Noysyrump]

For some reason, I find myself no longer angry when, some shiester tries to pass of one of those phoney coins made in canada, cause arent they actually worth MORE now?

[Forthe]

For some reason, I find myself no longer angry when, some shiester tries to pass of one of those phoney coins made in canada, cause arent they actually worth MORE now?

Not as of a few days ago, we had 2 sharp declines Wednesday and Yesterday; $1 Cdn went from $1.02 US to $0.98.

"The most recent decline is largely attributed to fears that the U.S. slowdown, which began more than a year ago in the housing industry, will drag down global demand for commodities that Canada produces, including oil."

[Winnow]

Not as of a few days ago, we had 2 sharp declines Wednesday and Yesterday; $1 Cdn went from $1.02 US to $0.98.

"The most recent decline is largely attributed to fears that the U.S. slowdown, which began more than a year ago in the housing industry, will drag down global demand for commodities that Canada produces, including oil."

Sweet!

Back on top!

No more of this for the moment!

[Winnow]

U.S. Steals Canada's Fish!

http://www.adn.com/money/industries/fis ... 59411.html

Funny reading an article from an Anchorage news source. Fishing's big news up there!

Some herring had to be sent to Canada for processing, he said.

heh, Canada gets the scraps!

Sitak is located in Southern Alaska (the part that blocks Canada from the ocean.)



It also looks like the home of the nomes is over there close to Russia! Zeep!

Sitka fishermen strike herring mother lode
In two hauls, boats catch more than 10,000 tons

By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK
ebluemink@adn.com

(03/29/08 00:49:22)

How about a job grossing half a million bucks in 60 minutes?

That's what some commercial seine fishermen in Sitka scooped out of the water on Wednesday -- in the form of fatty, silvery Pacific herring.

The Sitka sac roe herring fishery is already legendary for netting megabucks in minutes, but that day's catch was still a shocker -- for fishermen, regulators and seafood processors.

Expecting healthy numbers of spawning fish, state biologists are allowing seiners to harvest a record-breaking amount of herring in Southeast Alaska's Sitka Sound this year -- 14,723 tons.

But in just two stunning hauls on Wednesday afternoon, the fishermen netted more than 10,000 tons of fish -- most of their quota.

At a price of $550 per ton of herring, that was at least a $5.5 million day.

Some eight to 10 boats each bulged their nets with 500 or more tons of Pacific herring in the first 30-minute opening, said Chip Treinen of Anchorage, a seine fisherman who participated in the fishery.

That's like hauling up several blue whales or fully-loaded 747s. Ordinary seine boats can't carry that much weight. The fish have to be pumped out of the nets while they are still in the water, he said.

The commercially-caught herring, which are also highly valued by Southeast Natives for their eggs, are exported to Japan for their roe.

About 50 permit holders jockeyed for a sweet spot on the water near Kruzof Island on Wednesday, fishermen and biologists said Friday.

But as usual, the big hauls were made by a few lucky boats. Treinen said he was one of the lucky ones but declined to reveal his total catch.

"For those of us who were in the area ... we were like kids in a candy store," he said.

NO ESCAPE

The huge hauls were mainly due to the unique spot the herring chose to spawn, said Treinen, who has been involved in the Sitka herring fishery for about a dozen years.

Very dense schools of herring appeared in very shallow water next to Kruzof Island right before the fishery opened at 2:25 p.m., he said. Some of the crowded fish seemed to be dying -- they turned belly up in the water before the fishery opened, he said.

Because the fish were in shallow water, about three fathoms deep, they couldn't dive to try to escape the nets. "We could contain bigger sets than we've ever been able to contain before," Treinen said.

The state Department of Fish and Game wouldn't have allowed two fishery openings if managers realized how many fish were getting caught, according to Eric Coonradt, the department's assistant area manager for commercial fisheries in Sitka.

As it turns out, the concern wasn't about violating harvest levels. The main concern was the ability of processors to handle so much fresh herring, Coonradt said.

The massive amount of herring required extra work and coordination among seafood processors over the past few days, but everything worked out OK, said Jon Hickman, general manager for Sitka Sound Seafoods.

Some herring had to be sent to Canada for processing, he said.

MONEY FISH

In one day, the Sitka Sound herring fishery exceeded last year's gross earnings, garnered over nine days.

Last year, 50 permit holders, the majority of them Alaskans, earned $3.8 million -- an average of $107,709 per permit -- by catching 8,320 tons of herring.

Prices were lower last year -- about $465 per ton.

Participating in the fishery isn't cheap. Permits are worth about $283,000 this year, according to the state's Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.

A net to catch the herring is a $50,000 investment, according to Treinen.

[miir]

U.S. Steals Canada's Fish!

http://www.adn.com/money/industries/fis ... 59411.html

Funny reading an article from an Anchorage news source. Fishing's big news up there!

Some herring had to be sent to Canada for processing, he said.

heh, Canada gets the scraps!

Sitak is located in Southern Alaska (the part that blocks Canada from the ocean.)


It also looks like the home of the nomes is over there close to Russia! Zeep!

Your reading comprehension is pretty fucking awful.

[Winnow]

...can't comprehend it if you don't read it!

So what's the story behind the skinny part of Alaska that runs down along the coast? I figure this would matter more in Canadian history classes than U.S. so you should know!

[Wulfran]

...can't comprehend it if you don't read it!

So what's the story behind the skinny part of Alaska that runs down along the coast? I figure this would matter more in Canadian history classes than U.S. so you should know!

When we argued about the border of Alaska, we (both nations) let the Brits mediate it and you offered a bigger bribe to them than we did.

[Winnow]

When we argued about the border of Alaska, we (both nations) let the Brits mediate it and you offered a bigger bribe to them than we did.

You guys should have fought for a dip below the 49th parallel somewhere in the middle of the continent...like maybe take Montana and North Dakota or something.

[Winnow]

Deadbeat Canadian Potheads!

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008 ... 86-cp.html

lol, look at the picture they used for the story:



Nice

April 13, 2008
Medical marijuana users owe feds $500K
Deadbeat dopers
By Dean Beeby, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Medical marijuana users are on the hook for more than $500,000 in unpaid bills for government-certified weed, raising questions about the effectiveness of Health Canada's troubled dope program.

Newly disclosed statistics show that Health Canada has sent final notices - and sometimes dispatched a collection agency as well - to 462 registered users since government marijuana first became available in 2003.

"Most of the 462 individuals who have received a letter regarding their accounts in arrears have had their shipment ceased," department spokesman Paul Duchesne said in an e-mail.

The unpaid bills, totalling $554,255 as of Dec. 31, have tripled in value in the last two years and have resulted in some seriously ill citizens returning to the black market for their medication. The marijuana distribution service was specifically designed to give patients a legal alternative to street dope.

Officials have handed 29 overdue accounts to collection agencies who so far have been able to recoup just $2,000.

The statistics, acquired through the Access to Information Act and questions to Health Canada, suggest a deeply flawed program as the number of users in arrears has soared to about two-thirds of all 739 patients licensed to buy government dope.


A series of adverse court rulings since 2000 forced Health Canada into the medical marijuana business. The program licenses certified users who've been prescribed cannabis by their doctors, and allows them to grow their own, have someone grow it for them, or buy directly from the department.

Health Canada has paid Prairie Plant Systems Inc. more than $10 million to cultivate a strain of pot in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man. Accredited patients can then buy the dope, with a THC content - the active ingredient - of 12.5 per cent, for $5 a gram.

The department has said it plans eventually to end its licensing of home-grown dope, forcing all medical users to buy their supplies directly from the government, perhaps through pharmacy distribution. Prairie Plant Systems now couriers the weed in 30-gram packets directly to users.

Spokesmen for the department did not respond to requests for comment and reaction.

Health Canada previously allowed a 90-day grace period for payment but has since reduced it to 30 days before considering an account in arrears. Other restrictive changes have been made to the program in the last two years, including efforts to persuade doctors to keep doses low.

Many seriously ill medical users are impoverished, unable to work, and survive on disability payments, provincial drug plans and charity. Medical marijuana has never been assigned official drug status by Health Canada and is therefore not covered by pharmacare programs.

Users typically smoke marijuana to combat nausea and pain associated with chronic ailments, resulting from such infections as HIV and hepatitis C, after standard medicines fail.

Mark Schollenberg, 42, of Stoney Creek, Ont., uses marijuana to control chronic pain from a series of workplace injuries. Unable to work and on disability, he initially used street marijuana but changed his mind.

"I thought instead of causing myself any problems, I should get a licence and do it legally," he said in an interview.

With a doctor's approval, Schollenberg got a licence and ordered his first batch of Health Canada dope last summer assuming Ottawa would cover the costs.

He was cut off in October, now owes $3,962.34 including interest, and is back on the street to purchase his medicine.

"I can't even afford the black market," he says of his five-gram-a-day requirement.

Jason Wilcox of Victoria currently owes Health Canada $6,770.06, a number that will increase with interest charges each month.

Wilcox, 37, has been HIV-positive since at least 1993, and needs 10 grams of marijuana daily for nausea, for severe pain in his foot and to help him sleep.

He says he became angry on learning that Health Canada charges users 1,500 per cent more than it pays Prairie Plant Systems for the dope.

"At that point, I refused to pay," he said in an interview. "Also, not to mention that their product is crap."

Wilcox and his wife Theresa Anne Genovy, who herself owes Health Canada $3,297.21 for medical marijuana, now grow what they can but must still return to the streets for their full doses.

"I have no other source than the illegal underground," he says. "The only medication I pay for in this province is cannabis."