Archive for the Canada Category

Canada v. U.S.A. In Ice Lacrosse:  Keep Canada And America Great!  Oh, And Happy Groundhog Day! (February 2, 2026)

Posted in Boycott Series, Canada, Sports on February 2, 2026 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “They need to skate onto the ice together and stand proudly for the other team’s national anthem.  Never break ranks.”

K          “Keep Canada And America Great.”

. . .

J          “They must win together.  They cannot let Trump win.”

K          “They are getting sucked in.  Never dance to the music of your oppressor.”

. . .

J          “Ice hockey really seems to be lacrosse on frozen water.”

K          “Or lacrosse is hockey on hard dirt.  Both of them allow for play behind the net.  I like both sports.”

. . .

J          “The ‘Socs’ versus the ‘Greasers’ and the ‘Jets’ versus the ‘Sharks’ and the ‘Romans’ versus the ‘Greeks’ and the ‘Reds’ versus the ‘Blues’ and . . . there sure is a lot of confrontation and competition on the planet.  Friendly competition is okay if it is friendly.”

K          “The ‘Jets’ actually do play the ‘Sharks’ on the frozen water and usually keep it friendly.”

. . .

K          “I believe Oscar Wilde said that ‘life imitates sport far more than sport imitates life’ or something like that.”

J          “Skate like the world is watching.”

. . .

J          “I’m not sure what to make of the possible boycott of the World Cup being held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.”

K          “There are times when a team should participate and win with discipline and dignity.”

. . .

K          “Again and again, those in power are keen to keep the folks with the burning torches turning on the folks with the pitch forks.”

J          “Or to keep the folks with the pitch forks turning on the folks with the burning torches.”

. . .

K          “Those with the red and white hockey sticks should unite with those with the red, white and blue hockey sticks and skate on the ice together.”

J          “Those with the red, white and blue hockey sticks should unite with those with the red and white hockey sticks and skate on the ice together.”

. . .

[See “Political Tension Makes U.S. vs. Canada Hockey Rivalry Even Hotter at Olympics” by Pat Forde in “Sports Illustrated” dated January 26, 2026.]

[See the e-commentary at “Free” Speech At The “Free Speech Forum” (October 22, 2018) (noting the Smith, Norman, Carlos Olympic protest at the 1968 Mexico Olympics), On Joy; On Mudita (August 6, 2018) (discussing an Olympic reaction to a competitor’s success), Boycott The Olympic Boycott (August 12, 2013) (addressing the logic of an Olympic boycott), Memorial Day (May 27, 2024) (mentioning lacrosse), Expanding The Goal In Soccer (July 18, 2022) (debating expanding the goal in soccer), Boycott Futball? (February 3, 2014) (discussing a boycott of American football), On The Vernal Equinox (March 21, 2011) (discussing the biathlon, soccer, women’s rules and men’s rules lacrosse and co-ed inner tube water polo, one of the three ultimate sports), and A Moment of Silence (May 28, 2012) (noting the success of underdog sports teams from football to baseball to sailing to lacrosse).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Canada:  1; U.S.A:  1; World:  100

Keep your stick on the ice

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”  Wayne Gretzky

“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”  Henry Kissinger

Never dance to the music of your oppressor

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Americans Are Just Not That Happy (September 11, 2017)

Posted in Canada, Europe, On [Traits/Characteristics], Society on September 11, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “or even ducky.”

. . .

K          “Do you ask them or observe them?”

J          “Both.  Just engage in idle conversation about anything.  And listen to them reveal themselves.”

K          “Here too.  I hear you and hear them.  They are deeply and profoundly angry to the core.”

J          “The anger is undigested and simmering.  They are stewing and percolating in the toxic brew of hate and fear.”

K          “And intimating even obliquely to one’s neighbor that he or she is disquieted can incite the listener to be defensive.”

J          “And to reveal himself and herself even more.”

. . .

K          “The Constitution is silent regarding ‘happiness,’ yet when declaring independence we as a country aspired to the ‘pursuit of happiness’ as one of our core national aspirations.  ‘Happiness’ is a vexing and elusive thing.”

J          “I am reluctant to proclaim ‘happy new year’ or ‘happy birthday’ or ‘happy groundhog day’ because it is such a hollow and shallow proclamation.  How about ‘have a serene day’ and offer a smile and a nod instead?”

K          “Have a ‘peaceful day’ is a workable declaration.” 

. . .

K          “My poll of foreigners is unscientific and likely accurate.  Look at Canadians.  They are happier.  Look at Europeans.  They are happier.  America is causing much of the chaos in and exporting unhappiness to the world, yet so many fellow members of the planet are . . .  happy.”

J          “In the land of the freeway and the home of the Wave, there is not one American Dream, but rather a variety of American Dreams that are increasingly elusive and may now be unattainable.”

. . .

J          “For so many today, keeping up with the Joneses is not adequate.  Vanquishing the Joneses is the goal.  And the Jones cannot afford to keep up with let alone vanquish their neighbors.”

K          “No one is keeping up.  The populace knows that they are being exploited, but most of them do not recognize the real exploiters.  Some know that their government is a wholly owned subsidiary of the corporations.  Both lie, cheat and steal at every opportunity every day.”

J          “That makes me unhappy.” 

. . .

K          “A restive and restless people are not likely to rest.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary on the psychological consequences of unrelenting fear at “The Residue of Unrelenting Fear:  PTSD Afflicts The Populace (August 28, 2006)”, the challenges trying to create community at “On Community (June 3, 2013)”, the diminishing role and relevance of the consumer and citizen at “The ‘Superfluous Consumer’ (July 27, 2015)” and the domestic American battleground described in “Charlottesville . . . Chancellorsville? (August 14, 2017)”.]

[See the e-commentary on this Patriot Day at “World Trade Center Building 7 And The AIA (May 18, 2015)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Yuck Fou

Sick Fucker on Board

Be patient  I’m reloading

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Title III –> Chapter 17:  Bankrupt States . . . Going Bankrupt (May 1, 2017)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Blue States / Red States, Canada, Cartoon Reference, Climate, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Kleptocracy, Pensions, Supreme Court on May 1, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Who thought the bricks would crumble.  The fifty brick house may not survive politically and will not endure economically.”

J          “The state of the states is dismal and abysmal.  When municipalities fold or water districts dry up, some interior curtain walls are dismantled and the curtains and furniture are sold.  Yet they are all just political subdivisions of the state, not a state itself.  Until recently, interior curtain walls were relieved whereas now the exterior load bearing walls are under stress.”

K          “Pick a metric.  If you input a realistic rate of return in calculating the solvency of state pension funds, most of them are not only under water, they are drowned with no chance of resuscitation or c.p.r.”

. . .

K          “Puerto Rico is the canary in the coal mine, the guinea pig and the alpha testing ground.  Congress concocted Title III’ as part of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) that imports many of the notions of bankruptcy law to address the island’s insolvency.”

J          “Up north, the HealthCare of Ontario Pension Fund directed funds it may not have to bail out the Toronto-based Home Capital Group for investments it never should have made.”

K          “That seems to be some type of capitalistic synergistic entropy.”

. . .

K          “On this Law Day, we should consider drafting and crafting a ‘Chapter 17’ provision to allow a state to file bankruptcy and write the next chapter in the Bankruptcy Code and American polity.  A PROMESA on steroids for the states.”

J          “The legislation may attract bipartisan support because half of the seriously distressed states are ‘red’ states and half of the seriously depressed states are ‘blue’ states.”

K          “Alaska, Kentucky, South Carolina and Louisiana counterbalance Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York among the states that are going.  Going states need some way to go.”

. . .

K          “State supreme court justices use their position and power to advance their economic interests and protect their pensions.  In the court across the street, federal bankruptcy court judges will be forced to distribute a smaller sum of money in a more equitable and efficient manner to all citizens.”

J          “This Republic had such great promise.”

. . . 

[See the discussion of the Peoples Climate March for climate, jobs and justice in “Climate March Draws Thousands of Protesters Alarmed by Trump’s Environmental Agenda” in “The New York Times” by Nicholas Fandos dated April 29, 2017, “Climate March draws massive crowd to D.C. in sweltering heat” by Chris Mooney, Joe Heim and Brady Dennis in “The Washington Post” dated April 29, 2017 and yesterday’s Doonesbury cartoon.]

[See the e-commentary at “Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 1 (April 14, 2008)”, “Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 2 (April 28, 2008)”, “Outsourcing Pensions? (Sept. 7, 2009)”, “Pensions, Conflicts Of Interest And The Illinois Supreme Court (June 1, 2015)”, “May Day (May 1, 2006)” and other e-commentary under the Category on “Pensions.”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Chapter 17 – Coming to a state near you

The United States dominates the world not because it is a “City Upon a Hill” but because it shoots, and shoots regularly, from the top on the hill.

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Building The Great Wall of Canada: Keeping The Americans Out, Eh (January 30, 2017)

Posted in Canada, Great Canadian Wall, Great Wall of Canada, Immigration, Personal Stories Series, Personal Story, Walls on January 30, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1        “Taking pot shots at the Americans sneaking over the border seems so . . . unCanadian.”

C2        “And yet so American, eh.”

. . .

C1        “For years, my neighbors warned that America was percolating, festering and roiling.  The melting pot was a boiling pot.  A civil war is so like them, so American.  I am surprised the wankers in Ottawa anticipated that so many refugees would flood our borders.”

C2        “I told my MP the idea was daft.  I opposed the bill for so long.  The American’s stubborn refusal to pay for the Wall was appalling.  Yet in the end building The Great Wall of Canada was as inevitable as the American Civil War II that necessitated it.”

C1        “When I calculated that five percent of the Americans were likely to become war refugees, I concluded that we could not accommodate sixteen million of them.  I capitulated and agree that we had to build the bloody bugger.”

C2        “We could overcome the language barrier, yet so few of them bring any useful skills to bring to the table.”

C1        “Or even table manners.”

. . .

[C1 = Canadian 1; . . . ]

[Mary Tyler Moore 1936 – 2017]

[See the article in the “Burrad Street Journal” titled “Canada Declares State Of Emergency As Millions Of Americans Attempt Border Crossing.”]

[See the e-commentary at “Black, Yellow, White, Brown, Red and Green:  An E-ssayer on Immigration (March 28, 2005).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

A people who describe their primary currency as the “Loonie” cannot be all bad.

How can you tell the American kids from the Canadian kids backpacking in Europe?  The American kids have a 5 by 7 inch Canadian flag sewn on their backpacks whereas the Canadian kids have a 3 by 5 inch Canadian flag sewn on their backpacks.

The Great Wall of Canada is right up there with the Beaver.  Thirty years ago, the DHC-2 Beaver was selected as one of the top 10 Canadian engineering achievements of the past century for its engineering, social and economic impact around the world. 

[Picture of O’Bama] Miss me yet?

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