The World According To America

[Bangkoktraveler]

Does Canada have electricity, because they are a bit backward

 

 

Some Canadians have crack up generators and watch TV on old USA black and white TVS.

 

 

[Bangkoktraveler]

...and the USA will drink Canada Dry or something like that!

 

 

How will they do that without ice? Everybody knows ice comes from Canada.

[Bangkoktraveler]

Munchie,

 

Sounds like a bit of jealousy here! Inside every foreigner is an American just dying to be free. Or so they taught us in school.

 

 

 

[color:red]Even Mexicans are willing to die to get to America.[/color] Nobody has told them they were Americans also. Maybe HH will hand out leaflets explaining to them that they are Americans also.

[Old Hippie]

Well, they aren't "real Americans" but they try, and who could you blame them? We all know Real Americans are white god fearing Christians. And well, we all know every non white christian truely wishes he was. Of course they seldom realize the burden this can bring. It isn't easy being #1.

 

Hatch was right, but what the fuck kond of name is Oran?

[chuckwoww]

Plenty of ice in Canada...

 

[Flashermac]

Aboriginal Canadians divided over Vancouver Olympics

 

 

 

The Canadian city of Vancouver is gearing up to host nearly four weeks of Winter Olympic and Paralympic sporting action in February and March.

 

The Games, set to attract international attention, have a particular importance for Canada's aboriginal peoples, as many of the sporting events will take place on their ancestral land.

 

The peoples involved - the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations - who live on and share the land, have joined forces.

 

Together with the Vancouver Olympic Committee (Vanoc), they will be hosting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games in a partnership that is making Olympic history.

 

This is the first time that aboriginals have been official partners in the Olympics and have been involved in every aspect of the Games starting from the bidding process.

 

For some aboriginals, this partnership is seen as a unique opportunity for Canada's indigenous peoples to show their culture to the world.

 

For others, the Vancouver Olympics are a waste of money and resources that could be better spent on serious issues facing aboriginals in Canada.

 

Canada's indigenous peoples have suffered a long history of poverty, unemployment, and problems with addiction and high rates of suicide.

 

Tewanee Joseph, head of the umbrella group known as the Four Host First Nations, sees the Vancouver Winter Olympics as a great time for aboriginals to rebrand themselves in a positive way.

 

"What people will learn is that we're business people, we're entrepreneurs, we're visual artists and we're performing artists. You know our culture is really living and thriving today and it's been through challenges," says Mr Joseph.

 

"We no longer want to be seen as just Dime Store Indians, just beads and feathers. I think for us those stereotypes are very important for us to break."

 

Despite all the potential positive attention on their culture, many of British Columbia's aboriginals still feel that the decision to hold the Olympics in Vancouver (and the resort town of Whistler) was wrong.

 

"A lot of First Nations considered the land to be stolen," says Josh Anderson from the Lil'wat Nation.

 

"Our people were actually there to watch the construction of the facilities for the Olympics just in case the lands were desecrated or disrespected in any way."

 

A number of First Nations continue to be concerned about how the expansion of Whistler for the Olympics is affecting their land and the environment.

 

Despite the opposition by some of his people, Mr Anderson welcomes the arrival of the Olympic Games and intends to use the exposure as an opportunity to educate the world about his culture.

 

He will be teaching Lil'wat history to visitors at the new Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, built with provincial and federal government funding.

 

"A lot of people think that we, the Lil'wat and the Squamish, are Eskimos and that we live in igloos and that we have teepees here. We don't have teepees and we are not Eskimos," Mr Anderson says.

 

"We do have cold winters and we used to live in underground dwellings in pit houses. We call them istkens."

 

For aboriginals like Rose Henry, of Sliammon heritage, and Jayson Fleury, who is Saulteaux-Cree-Sasquatch, the idea that Vanoc is spending C$1.7bn ($1.6bn;£1bn) on the Games is upsetting. They both belong to the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) whose motto is "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land."

 

They believe that some of that money should be spent on issues like homelessness and addiction.

 

"If you go to Vancouver's downtown eastside, you will see that most of the homeless are First Nations people and they are from this area," says Mr Fleury. "So their rights, their livelihood are not being honoured in any fashion."

 

"It is costing us a lot more than just the dollars," adds Ms Henry.

 

"Many of our community members are paying with their lives with the inadequate housing and healthcare and so the rippling effects go beyond the 17-day party that's going to be happening here that we can't afford."

 

The province of British Columbia, Vanoc, and the Four Host First Nations still believe that the Olympics will have a lasting positive impact on Canada's aboriginals and have set up economic, art and sporting legacy programmes.

 

One fund has helped to create the First Nations snowboard team which started with 10 members and now has two 200 from 13 First Nations across British Columbia.

 

 

Beebee See

 

 

 

 

 

[Steve]

It is kinda funny and may even be a bit accurate to some older Amerians.

 

I would be very surprised if the rest of europe didn't think similar things about England a few hundred years ago when they had their empire. Huge empire and most people in northern counties that don't know the difference between Austrailia and Austria. Perhaps in London as well. Even today northern counties get stick for being a bit brutish (apologies to anyone from that area on here, just repeating what I hear on football forums).

 

 

[Steve]

Saw a great interview today with author Gore Vidal on Charlie Rose (american interview show to non yanks).

 

84, in a wheel chair but still sharp as a tack and witty.

 

He said America had an empire. Also said he was a Hillary supporter at first then Obama. He was very close with JFK and said Obama was the smartest president he's seen. He said Adlai Stevenson (yes, Vidal is THAT old! and yes pedants Stevenson wasn't prez but he was discussing pols) and JFK were very intelligent but said Obama is smarter. I was surprised he didn't include Clinton in there who was regarded as being pretty smart as well.

 

He showed a lot of disdain for Bush. He thought Churchill was all bluff and not smart at all. He told an interesting story that the OSS, the intel agency before the CIA had a plan to kill Hitler but the Brits told us not to. He said they said Hitler was his own worst enemy and that he was one of our biggest assets in ending the war because he was inept. If he is killed and someone else comes in who actually lets the generals, and they were very good, do their jobs, it would be a difficult war to win.

 

He isn't a big fan of foreign wars and said we provoked too many, which I agree.

 

I'm not writing it because I agree with him necessarily which I do but that he was very astute and echoed some of the things that our european friends have been saying about us. He also poo pooed the idea of 'American exceptionalism'. Basically we do things better than others.

 

I think the country is irreparably gone. Its a matter of when not if. I see NO evidence to suggest otherwise. When either party has/had all 3 branches, we still went out of control with regards to spending, etc. Its just spent on different things. Reagan and Bush spent on the military and the Dems spent it on social programs. Either way its still debt that can't be repaid. Its a matter of debate that what the monies was spent on was a good thing or not. What can't be argued successfully is that we can pay for it.

[dave32]

Well written. Agree with most points except the irreparably gone part. A little skeptical there. Been through much worse.

 

And for all cultures it's a matter of when not if. Our 'done' date isn't even close.

 

Also, while we could learn a lot from European experience, one of the beautiful things about America is that were not bogged down by centuries of culture ingrained into the population. America is like a young adult on the world stage. A little naive and foolish, but there is hope and room to maneuver and define yourself.

 

I should bring my grandpa, the Irish immigrant, onto this forum... he'd start a war. (Of course, then I'd have to clean up my posts and erase evidence).

 

.02

[gravelrash]

The USA was the only superpower, now they are a...corrupt Banker Power. The constitution has been thrown out, and if you harbor any lingering doubts about the utter criminal corruption of the Obama administration (Bush no better) then dear reader feast your eyes on this little snippet from Rolling Stone:

 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16488

 

If you are American how do you feel about this, share with us your disgust, impotency and utter outrage.