Sally Redux

Why do you think the American troops are looked after better?

dgjamison

we used to have a timeshare in Marbella Spain, it included our golf, so we used to play in competitions, in one competiton i was placed with 3 men, one being an american ex marine, the other two where ex squaddies, and listening to the conversation it was so plain that the usa troops had a better benifits package, and were better looked after than the British guys. Then it was followed by news reports that the britsh forces, did'nt have appropriate equipment for the desert, it was scandalous, also if you need more proof ex army generals resigning because their troops did'nt have the necessary equipment for the job??: and felt they were being treated badly confused: the short of it is the British ran out of money and the cutbacks are serious, ask a few of the families who have lost loved ones, and I don't know the whole story, but they do, my last word on this is please tell me who has ever won a gorilla Warfare? I know it will never be won so why waste the lives of innocent young men, seen it all before

Alan2005

Charlton Heston?

dgjamison

would'nt it be great if all wars ended like in Holywood, the good guys always win, problem is who are the good guys?? depends where you come from I suppose

fledermaus

Indeed, and the winners write history.

Lord Vader

Yes, but unfortunately, Aqsa Parvez got to experience her father's culture.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/sto...socialcomments

She told her father she did not wish to wear the hijab any longer. She wanted to dress in Western clothes and have the same freedoms as the other girls in her high school.

"In an interview with police, she says her husband told her he killed his youngest child because "this is my insult. My community will say, 'You have not been able to control your daughter.' This is my insult. She is making me naked."

I think what you are trying to say is that "multi-culturalsim" and sticking to ones own kind should be the way to go. That is the worst policy in existence IMO and sounds quite racist. It has nothing to do with a nation of immigrants coming together like they should be.

BTW, what do you call a "cradle"? 1st generation children from Italy? Portugal? Greece? India? China? 2nd or 3rd generation? Ancestors of earlier immigrants from western Europe and British Isles? Is it simply white people to you? What the hell is a cradle?

Lord Vader

America the Beautiful is what you are thinking of. God Bless America is another one. Before O Canada the Anthem was the Maple Leaf Forever. I like the German anthem myself.

dgjamison

Yes it is nice, and the Russian one, I do like it as well. and then there are the dire ones, the really boring slow ones, sorry I am hopeless with the names but one I think is the swiss one It is America the Beautiful, I think it is a lovely song.

RN1

Trouble is Star Spangled Banner is not so easy to sing, it goes over nearly everyone's vocal switch point (the place where you, almost physically, have to change alter how you produce your pitch when you sing) & that makes it a problem. Oh Canada stays within most peoples range, so I would argue it is better!

What I won't argue with is that the UK national Anthem is boring & turgid

Lovely story to start this thread! For me I knew my daughter was becoming moper Canadian when I couldn't tell if it was her or her friends talking in the back of the car! Her English accent is disappearing so fast! However, when she reads aloud (or by the time the weekend is over) she sounds really English again!!

dbd33

Most people sing badly and should not be encouraged to do so. Better to have an anthem that only a few people will attempt which sounds good when they get it right than one anyone can mumble along to but which never sounds very good. I expect there's a metaphor there somewhere.

dbd33

Canada is not about immigrants coming together. If you want a "melting pot" philosophy then move to the US. Canada stands for semi-detached citizenship, dash Canadian is something one tacks behind one's primary identity, it's not an identity in itself. I think there's only a case that this policy is racist if you accept "cradle" as being a race. Even then no one seeks to deny any sort of human right to the unhyphenated.

I use it mean someone who has lost track of his or her cultural identity to the extent that he or she can offer no better self-description than "-Canadian" without being sure what goes in front of the dash. It's a running joke here being that one cannot find a person born in Canada to two parents who were born in Canada, I suppose if there is such a person then that's the definitive cradle.

More succinctly, someone for whom the World Cup is not the biggest sporting event of 2010.

Lord Vader

Canada is all about immigrants coming together, that is what built the country. This segregation sh*t is very recent.

so 90% of the country outside the GTA?

dbd33

Outside of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, perhaps.

Lord Vader

sure, the Olympics weren't very popular in Vancouver and the Habs playoff run didn't matter much to montreal, the Hockey team gold medal game shut down Young St in TO I beleive and was watched by about 80% of the country.

Oakvillian

More than the range issue, what really bothers me about pre-game singers of the Star-Spangled Banner is the lack of breath control in the penultimate line. Surely if you're a trained singer you should be able to make it through without that huge "Oh, say does that star-spangled <enormous heaving gulping breath> banner yet wave..." thing going on right in the middle of the phrase?

God Save the Queen is indeed a dirge. The Marseillaise is good, as is the Russian anthem. Fratelli d'Italia is probably my favourite, even Advance Australia Fair is rousing. Of the Home Nations' "Rugby Anthems", there's nothing to stir the soul like a packed Cardiff Arms Park (sorry, Millennium Stadium) belting out Land of My Fathers - so long as the don't go on to win the game, of course.... Flower of Scotland, imho, is down there with GSTQ in terms of its ability to rouse the emotions.