Remember children, play nice.
PS: If you’re Korean or overseas Korean and would like to post here as a guest blogger, shoot me an email.
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Remember children, play nice.
PS: If you’re Korean or overseas Korean and would like to post here as a guest blogger, shoot me an email.
Bad Behavior has blocked 18763 access attempts in the last 7 days.
54 Comments
First!
Yesterday, American 소고기 hit the shelves at Lotte Mart.
Shortly thereafter, (presumably) Korean 소똥 hit those same shelves.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com.....id=2878042
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....30020.html
This is another interesting one. After his KT&G adventures, how much of a kick in the balls would this be for Korean pride if Carl Icahn took over the company that Koreans are most proud of…
If they weren’t caught up in their predictable xenophobic reaction, they might realize that interest from Icahn can be interpreted as a compliment and recognition of the amazing potential of Koreans armed with their militant workforce. Just some management reorganization might be helpful…
Anyway, doubt Samsung Electronics will be “raided,” but sure would make for some interesting news articles and comments here if it happened.
Here’s a little something for folks interested in a different angle on Korean culture. Enjoy
Where’s Lloyd’s day in the sun? That dude’s hilarious!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0498076
What dumbass protesters. Don’t they know that American beef comes pre-loaded with manure, stuffed into the cows as part of the feeding process?
http://www.organicconsumers.org/shit.html
10DH, Jeju Island’s famous black pigs—renowned throughout Korea for their deliciousness—were long kept in outhouse basements, where they fed on the contents thereof. Some claim that their “crappy” diet contributed to the unique succulence of their meat.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com.....id=2872445
I think it’s interesting to compare both the content and the number of posts in the Marmot’s open threads since thread #1. When the Marmot/Oranckay crackdown first started, posters seemed to be feverishly biting their lips waiting for the next Open Thread to type whatever they wanted, however they wanted to express it. Now, the number of Open Thread posts are down, and at the same time I don’t see the moderators having to delete threads as much as they initially did. Hell, even that one Korean guy in the U.S. that used to regularly bait posters into profanity has started posting more civilly and making a little more sense (or so it seems from what I’ve read, but I admit I definitely don’t read every post on here).
Anyway, does this mean the Marmot’s audience has learned to behave themselves? Or does it mean they’ve come to accept a degree of censorship? Perhaps posters have figured out if they take a few seconds longer to reword their posts, they can make their post relevant to the topic and inoffensive to the general readership? I wonder if the site’s stats reflect a drop in posts after the crackdown, or if there are any other metrics to show some posters have gone to other websites to rant freely instead of coming here.
Shut up, Hwarang. You idiot.
(Just kidding.)
#7
“one Korean guy in the U.S.”
Can I ask you who you were talking about?
#9
No. I leave that to your deductive reasoning skills. I left his identity somewhat vague in order to avoid any sort of name calling. If anyone thinks that shoe might’ve fit in the past, then they should wear it.
My point is it seems to me posts at the Marmot’s have indeed changed quite a bit from pre-crackdown days, and I was pondering whether it’s for the better or worse. I have my own opinion, but am curious to hear anyone else’s.
“If you’re Korean or overseas Korean and would like to post here as a guest blogger, shoot me an email.”
I appreciate your desire to add an ethnic Korean voice to your blog, but I trust you will be selective about who gets a key to the kingdom.
#11 Yea, you gotta be careful with those idiot Koreans.
gbnhj:
:))
Thanks for that.
gbnhj’s video link is redolent of crisp autumn days when Korea is at its best. Well worth checking out if only for the imagery; but the soundtrack is amusing too.
Two thoughts. 1. Affirmative action. 2. Mistaking racial diversity for intellectual diversity.
Just read on the plane over to Seoul an article in 중앙일보, Sunday edition, mentioning the difference of treatment between regular employees and temps, calling this a system of cast, like India, where when born a 천민, you’ll stay a 천민 all your life. I wonder why the author – I’ll try to find the article again in the next flight – had to look as far as India in order to explicit the concept of casts. After all, replacing India with 朝鮮時代 [조선시대] would have been just as fine, and closer to home. Too close to home maybe?
The American dollar has been falling for a while against the euro, pound, Canadian dollar, etc. I’m wondering if the Canadian dollar will recover the former glory and become worth more than the greenback in a few years, if not in a few months, as it was for some time during the 70’s. If it happens, what would that mean to Canadians and Americans?
I’m all for the weak dollar. It helps US exporters and makes American imports to Korea more affordable, while at the same time makes the Korean subsidiaries of US corporations more important to the overall health of their parent corporations.
I’m all for the weak dollar, as I plan to take an American vacation
“#9
No. I leave that to your deductive reasoning skills. I left his identity somewhat vague in order to avoid any sort of name calling. If anyone thinks that shoe might’ve fit in the past, then they should wear it.
My point is it seems to me posts at the Marmot’s have indeed changed quite a bit from pre-crackdown days, and I was pondering whether it’s for the better or worse. I have my own opinion, but am curious to hear anyone else’s.”
Ah, so you’re using a cypher!?…Nope,I don’t know a “#Nict Mcpo”. Are you sure you aren’t talking about some guy at occidentalism.org?
“#11 Yea, you gotta be careful with those idiot Koreans.”
No, you gotta be careful with those idiots who happen to be Korean. Had he issued a general shoutout for guest bloggers of any ethnicity, I would have made the same suggestion sans the reference to Koreans. A bit too sensitive, there, BK. Don’t worry. I wasn’t thinking of you when I made that statement.
I think Sonagi’s concern is justified - simply consider the friction caused by Shelton’s blogging efforts here. Like it or hate it, his stuff was the point of a lot of controvery here, not only because of his choice of subject matter, but also simply because of his style. In the end, few commented on the subject of Shelton’s posts; almost always comments dealt with how folks felt about him or his writing style.
FWIW, this isn’t intended as a rag on Shelton (though, my view on his writing style is no secret), but only as an example of the need for the very thing that Sonagi mentioned in #11.
As long as the weak dollar brings down the HK dollar, I am all for it… Being paid in Euros and living in HK
Your weak dollar sure makes my shopping trips south of the border great for me. Funny thing is Americans do not pay that much less for gasoline than we do and we pay much more tax than you do….hmmmm. With the lower sales taxes in the US compared to here, along with less disposable income of the US working class than that of Canada (ie lower prices), it makes for some real bargains.
I guess we have our commie, socialist, boleshvik government to blame for nine surplus budgets in a row. In fact, our EXTREMELY commie provincial government just posted the largest surplus (per capita) in Canadian history. We are also on the way to a record current account surplus.
Just goes to show the American way is the Best Way, the Only Way, and the Free Way, that victory in Iraq is right around the corner, the troops will be home for Xmas and Bush is the Best President in History!
kimchipig, the fact that the Canadian govt has posted continuous budget surpluses, means, that the govt took money from you for no good reason, and actually ended up finding no good reason to use it for.
Now, I’m just curious.
How much of your money is being taken away as tax?
Is it 50%?
Another thing I always wondered about was what drives Canadians to get their higher ed’s in the US.
Thanks a bunch.
I credit Bush for the mere fact that nothing has happenned in the 50 states since 911, whereas things did happen in Europe.
Kimchi you ought to start trailing your skirts here more often like you used to do, getting in a good taunt against the Americans always seems to renew your very essence.
Part of the reason for your country’s budget surplus is of course its modern-day austerity in defense spending. You must have been particularly proud of the Canadian parliament’s vote not to participate in North American strategic missile defense (Feb 05), that was definitely a money-saver; allow me to congratulate you, had it passed I would have been fearful for heart-stopping apoplexy on your part.
Here’s an excellent “ctv.ca” (CBC?) timeline (2001-2007) for Canadian forces involvement in Afghanistan, for anyone that’s interested:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Arti.....pr=showAll
Skimming through the headlines at this link shows both consistent polling results and substantial Canadian parliamentary opposition to Canadian forces presence there; an interesting parallel to the current US domestic political debate over Iraq withdrawl, too bad it’s so unknown to most Americans.
K, if you can use your rhetorical skill to exhort your countrymen to save even more money by withdrawing from Afghanistan ASAP, you can bring your own soldiers home to enjoy the good life in Canada. Such a withdrawl will put even more pressure on the American “regime” and perhaps hasten the day when we are forced to withdraw in defeat from Iraq and maybe even Afghanistan too.
Better hurry though or simpatico American Democrats (presumably in power in both Congress and the White House in Jan 2009) will be the ones forced to make these withdrawals. But–unlike the Republicans, maybe that will turn out to not be a problem for them.
Reply to wkj: Half the federal budget surplus goes to reducing the national debt (now the lowest per capita of the G-8) and half goes to new spending on social programmes and infrastructure. The provincial surplus here in BC will be applied to the provincial debt. You can see the figures here although they are a littel out of date:
http://www.fin.gc.ca/ec2005/ec/ecc3e.html
As for what people pay in taxes here, this is an example of a person with two children making $1500 every two weeks, or $39,000 a year, pretty much an average salary here:
Taxable salary income 1,500.00
Cash income for the pay period 1,500.00
Federal tax deductions 146.30
Provincial tax deductions 62.43
Requested additional tax deduction 0.00
Total tax on salary income 208.73
CPP deductions 67.59
EI deductions 27.00
Amounts deducted at source 0.00
Total deductions on salary income 303.32
Net amount 1,196.68
You can play around with the numbers at
https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/rhpd/handleCalculationType.do
In addition, that family would receive $224 a month in Child tax benefit and $100 a month for each child under the age of six.
The information you need is here:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/benefits/menu-e.html
For very low income families, the benefits received more than outweigh the payroll deductions they incur.
Further, there is a programme to help offset the Goods and Services Tax we pay at the federal level on everthing except food and residential rent. For our typical family earning $39000 a year, the GST credit is $181 a quarter or $724 a year.
Based on 26 pays a year, the total payroll deductions would be $7878. The total benefits received would be $3412, for a net tax paid of $4466, or 11.45% tax on salaries for an average family.
Of course, we have very high taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and high taxed on gas guzzling SUVs. On the other hand, there are rebates on fuel efficient cars and transit is tax deductible. Americans visiting Canada often note that Canadians tend to drive small cars, which is much to do with the higher gasoline taxes we pay.
In this province, our family of four would pay $108 for medical insurance. Famlilies making less than $20000 a year pay nothing. Prescription drugs are similiarly paid for on a means tested basis.
As to my favourite Chickenhawk, Paul: As soon as the mandate for the Canadian mission is up, the Canadian troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan. Anything else would be political suicide. History has shown us correct in not getting in that debacale. We can deviate from American foreign policy and the world will not end. We did the same thing in the last war you lost, Vietnam.
And Paul, one of the major reasons for Canada’s windfall is American’s insatible desire for oil. Every dollar increase in price nets Canada $1bn in hard currency, increasing our current account and the value of our dollar.
Finally, Paul, I am sure that the war in Iraq would not be lost had you enlisted!
Marmot, it would be great to get a Korean person who lives in Korea and is fluent in English to do some posts.
Having someone post who lives overseas and doesn’t really know or understand what’s going on here, and takes any observation or criticism of a specific subject, like the Korean media’s over-the-top nationalism, as an occasion to make irrelevant knee-jerk attacks on other readers, will only detract from your fine blog. Just sayin.’
Brendon,
I will continue to write about adjusting to different culture here.
Many KoreanAmericans go crazy in the States. Different people, different language, different environment..The stress is overwhelming. I have seen several KA kids just go bonkers and hospitalized for life.
Some can take it. Others can’t.
A man has to think about what he wants in life. Success, money, fame, love, good family life, accomplishment? What is most important to you?
How are you and your kids adjusting to your new environment? Is your anger toward Koreans partly due to how your children are treated by Koreans? How they are cowered in school and how other kids treat your children? Koreans will not change overnight; it will probably take them decades before they come to the Western standard.
I have suffered in school system because I was a KA. I had a horrible teenage years. The only thing kept me going was my strong drive for success - my desire to fit into American society.
And, my church. I have gone to an Asian church and had wonderful time. If I had not had the church life, I might have become just like the kid in Virginia Tech - all twisted inside.
So, I am giving you a friendly advice, if you will allow me. Leave Korea and let your children grow in an environment where they can be happy. Do not sacrifice them for your own success. They have their own lives to live as well.
And, you will be happy too. There is no need to hate anyone. If the situation does not fit you, find the situation that will.
You are a very able person. I am sure you can find a comparable position in the States or in Europe. Unless you are a member of a military service (with no chance of getting out of the present assignment), I strongly recommend you move on.
I am an old person with some experiences in “trans-cultural adaptation”. For some, it has dangerous consequences.
1) “As to my favourite Chickenhawk, Paul: As soon as the mandate for the Canadian mission is up, the Canadian troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan.”
What’s your exact projected date for that? I’d like to make a note of it so I’ll know whether to cluck approvingly or disapprovingly when the time comes.
Feb 2009 seems to be the current projection, but this story implies some ambiguity about a Canadian presence after then, perhaps reverting to a non-combat role:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Arti...../20070622/
2) “…And Paul, one of the major reasons for Canada’s windfall is American’s insatible desire for oil. Every dollar increase in price nets Canada $1bn in hard currency, increasing our current account and the value of our dollar.”
You are to be congratulated on your country’s good fortune.
3)”…Finally, Paul, I am sure that the war in Iraq would not be lost had you enlisted!”
Naw, I’m not that good. And it’s not lost yet, except in the eyes of various braying jackasses.
sorry, but regarding the comment about black jury, white jury, I continue a comment here.
So far in the last 10 years, I have seen either a USC #32 jersey or a Buffalo Bills #32 jersey in only one type of location.
Take a guess.
Hmm?
Black neighborhoods.
I don’t look for it. I just recongize it when I see it, though.
“Here’s an excellent “ctv.ca” (CBC?) timeline (2001-2007) for Canadian forces involvement in Afghanistan, for anyone that’s interested:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Arti…..pr=showAll”
No, it’s just CTV, not CTV/CBC. We have more than one TV station in Canada, you know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.....on_Network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CTVglobemedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CanWest_Global
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videotron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Communications
i don’t share the anger that whites get when I notice their faces flare up red when OJ is mentioned.
I know in my heart OJ’s a murderer who walked, but somehow it doesn’t hit me that I should hate him intensely.
Someone want to explain that to me?
When a see a black man wearing an OJ #32 jersey, I wonder why he’s wearing that for.
Someone want to explain why they wear it?
Interesting post on Bin Laden and Afghan history:
http://icga.blogspot.com/2007/.....laden.html
thanks, kimchipig.
I’m confused, though.
Are you telling me that the avg Canadian keeps 80% of what he earns after taxes,
whereas the American is keeping usually much less than that?
I would conclude that Canadian taxes are lower with more social benefits.
Maybe I’m brain dead.
Thanks, anyway.
By the way, Mr. Kimchipig, could you explain why Canadians choose to spend money on higher ed US education instead of like Univ of Toronto?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19762513/
WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think you have to credit Bush once again for this success in North Korea.
I’m kind of doubting it’s true, but North Korea says so, and IAEA says so, so I’m leaning towards it’s true.
Bush dealt with the North Korean nuclear crisis successfully.
wkj, I am showing you what an average family in Canada would pay in income taxes. If you play with the calculator links you will find that high income Canadians indeed pay very high taxes. However, the 50% tax rate you quoted does not apply to someting like 80% of the population. Do we pay more or less than an American family of similar income? Well, you’ll have to supply that information to me.
The University of Toronto has an enrollment of 63,100 students and has no problem filling its chairs. Many notable people attended the UofT, some of them Nobel Prize winners. Here is a partial list:
http://www.nndb.com/edu/751/000068547/
Why do some Canadians decide to study at US universities? I suppose such institutions in the US offer programmes more suitable to an individual’s need. The same could be said for here as there are many internation students in Canada and many locally at institutions such as the University of British Columbia. Many academics study all over, including in the UK, France and many other places.
Paul, it is interesting how you hold you countrymen in such contempt. The latest Gallup poll states that “More than 7 in 10 polled said they were in favor of removing nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by April 2008.” Interesting that you would call these people “braying jackasses,” Several of whom now include GOP senators. Here is the scource:
http://www.editorandpublisher......1003609344
The recruiters are have a more difficult time than usual, too:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07.....mp;emc=rss
You are correct that Feb 2009 is the withdrawal date for Canadian forces in Afghanistan. Canada is a democracy and the troop deployment is very unpopular. It is now opposed by almost 70% of the population and any politican that campaigns for renewing said deployment would be committing political suicide. But that democracy thing has always been a bit pesky for neocons.
Who is this Canuck that sings the praises of Canada. Is this the same Canada where they cross the border to get medical care. The same Canada they sent a regiment that had to hitch a ride because their vehicles broke down and had to be rescued because their rifles were misfiring and to top it off got bombed by the US Airforce who concluded that the groundforce without vehicles and modern electronic equipment must be the Taliban (Nope, just broke ass Canadians without weapons and vehicles). The same Canadians who bought a used diesel sub from Britian that promptly imploded killing in one blow ten percent of the Canadian navy? The same Canada that sells its citizenship openly for 1.5 million dollars on the open market. The same Canada where every French Canadian sits at home living off public welfare? The same Canada that can’t win hockey games against the US?
“Paul, it is interesting how you hold you[r] countrymen in such contempt…”
On the contrary, I would say that contempt for my countrymen (the ones who don’t agree with you) exudes from every one of your postings. I find it very Osama-like of you (ie the strong horse and the weak horse):
“…History has shown us correct in not getting in that debacle. We can deviate from American foreign policy and the world will not end. We did the same thing in the last war you lost, Vietnam….”
Sumo, there’s no need to taunt back at Canada as a whole in return. Check out this blog: http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/
Scroll down all the way to the right and you’ll see 84 names, Canadian KIA to date in the Afghan campaign; I think they deserve better than to have their country insulted.
Unlike Kimchipig’s rant, you’ll find a lack of constant obsessiveness with the US at “The Torch”. Not that they are “poodles”; it’s just that they think that Canada also has a self-interest in taking part in the fight against these monsters (rather than leaving it all up to the Americans).
Kimchi is a Canadian and I’m not, so he may be right that Canada’s involvement in active ground combat in Afghanistan may not last beyond Feb 2009 (right after the new US President takes office).
I don’t see the US getting out of Afghanistan for the next decade at least (I think even if the Democrats sweep into big majorities in both houses of Congress and the Presidency, they won’t want to downsize in Afghanistan even if they do take US out of Iraq precipitately).
In fact the Dems will probably reinforce in Afghanistan to show that they really are tough, and that in turn might well provide Canada with “cover” to leave in Feb 2009 — right on schedule. And “cover” is the name of the game (meaning: how can an “allied” country best position itself to show domestic voters that it’s the Americans’ fault).
A neat little thing I found a while back when I was looking for Stephen Colbert’s Kpop video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6gkDvbSm4w
Paul H., I stand corrected, I apologize to the brave who did give their lives with honor.
#39
The same Canada that grows whatever you’re smoking.
“The same Canada where every French Canadian sits at home living off public welfare?”
There are approximately 8,000,000 people in Canada whose native tongue is French. There are appromimately 1,000,000 people in Canada collecting welfare. Those numbers don’t add up.
And yes, there is a lot of pot grown in Canada, particulary in my province of BC. It is traded to US buyers for cocaine.
There are 32 major vessels in the Canadian navy. Losing one is, by my math anyway, not 10% of the navy.
“Nope, just broke ass Canadians without weapons and vehicles”
Our federal government has posted nine consecutive surpluses and has the lowest debt/GDP ration in the industrialised world. Compare the standards of living of the working class and Canadians live much better.
And besides, we don’t really care what Americans think. You’ll keep buying our oil, gas, cars, steel, timber. Our current account surplus was over $20 bn US in 2006 and on the way to $30bn in 2007, #16 in the world. The US, incidentally, now has a current account defecit of $-862,300,000 or #163 in the world, in an economy 11X the size of Canada’s.
So fight your wars and flame away. Canadians don’t care. The Canadian dollar closed today at another 30 year high of 0.958422.
International rankings
Organization Survey Ranking
A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine Globalization Index 2005 6 out of 111
IMD International World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005 5 out of 60
The Economist The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005 14 out of 111
Yale University/Columbia University Environmental Sustainability Index, 2005 (pdf) 6 out of 146
Reporters Without Borders World-wide Press Freedom Index 2006 16 out of 168
Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2005 14 out of 159
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom, 2007 10 out of 161
The Economist Global Peace Index 8 out of 121
Canada was ranked number one country by the United Nations’ Human Development Index 10 times out of 16 between 1980 and 2004
Some people with a lot of spare time on their hands put together this S.K. protest roundup:
http://www.who-sucks.com/peopl.....n-protests
Then me, bored at work, posts it here. The circle is complete.
long time ago, i used to buy a pretzel at school in new york city for 25 cents. A lot of canadian quarters found their ways in my change allowance. The kids in charge of the pretzel sales used to take my occasional canuck quarter without question. As a a child, I truly thought they were valued the same.
Until, one day, the upperclassman shaked his head, and told me,
“No, this is NOT a quarter.”
Huh? Was my reaction. This coin with the deer and an image of a queen isn’t a quarter? I got thru 1.5 years of school doing this. Then, they proceeded to explain to me that one was of the United States and the other of Canada, and one was worth less, apparently.
True story.
Cheap shot, irrelevant shot, yeah. Um, yup.
A good historical exchange rate chart for the Canadian dollar vs the US, from 1950-2004, can be found at the wikipedia article on the Canadian dollar:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_dollar
Looks like somebody in Canada (maybe a designated public relations employee at the Bank of Canada?) is keeping this wiki article current! There’s a sentence there about today’s (16 July 2007) exchange rate vs US dollar, highest in 30 years; this must be a big story up in Canada.
When I was a kid in the 60’s same thing would occur ref: getting change in Canadian coins. Probably happened (& happens) a lot more in the northern US states (such as your NY).
From 1950-76 Canadian dollar remained within 5 to 10 cents of par with the US dollar. Of course for part of that time it was fixed by the Canadian govt at a specificed exchange rate, now that I think about it I do remember this:
“…The Canadian dollar returned to a fixed exchange rate regime in 1962 when its value was set at about US$0.925, where it remained until 1970.”
Canada managed to do that while supporting a much larger defense establishment back in those days as well (here’s an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Bonaventure).
Now that prosperity for Canada is here again, maybe she’ll return to the days of maintaining a strong defense establishment as well. If not to support objectionable US defense and international policies, then perhaps at least to provide sorely needed robust military peacekeeping support of general world/UN approved objectives (such as: a genuine first-rate Western military presence in Darfur, maybe starting around Feb 2009).
Surely Canadians of conscience will want to do something more with their renewed prosperity (other than just flaunting it at sullen US neocons).
Well, Paul, I can remember as a kid in 1972 when the Canadian dollar was worth more than the US dollar, I believe about $1.04. That was when US ovespending due to the Vietman war was coming home to roost. The same thing is happening now. Curiously, when America gets into unwinnable wars, it has a very positive affect on our economy. That Canadian prosperity was then sqandered by 21 years of defecit spending. I note that today, the Canadian dollar is trading at even more highs.
Believe me, Canada’s return to prosperity was a very painful process. We had high umeployment rates, high inflation, a low dollar and soaring taxes. Now that the economy is on track, we are seeing real tax cuts
Paul, different nations decided to take different paths. America has taken the path of world policeman. This has been debated within your country for many years if this is a correct policy. In Canada, we traded a large military for social welfare. This was part of the democratic process of an independent nation.
Besides, having a small military acts positively to keep politicians from getting into ill-considered adventurism and unwinnable wars.
I know I said something very similar before, but…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07.....ref=slogin
YAY!!!!!!!!!
#39:
“The same Canada where every French Canadian sits at home living off public welfare?”
In spite of my occasional criticism of some specific aspects of francophone Canada I regard such a sweeping generalisation of the economic activities of francophone Canadians (or rather of the supposed lack of such activities) as an expression of extremely poor taste.
When I lived in Montréal, Québec for a year in the 1990s I found it to be an econmically quite vibrant place. And this was only partly due to the city’s anglophone minority…
By the way, with regard to the international position of the French language I want to report a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court of the German province of Baden-Württemberg. The government of this province intends, for political reasons (better understanding with our French neighbours), to compel all high school students in a certain region close to the French border to learn this language as from age 5 as a “second native tongue”, instead of learning English, which most of the students (and their parents) prefer to learn.
The court has now struck down this government regulation, stating that for such a drastic measure a formal statute, enacted by the legislature, was required (which is not likely to be forthcoming, due to popular resistance against the “francophonisation” of parts of Germany.
http://www.spiegel.de/schulspi.....65,00.html
(soory, the text is in German, but the map shows the area in question)
I meant “sorry”, not “soory”
#12 BK, I am an ethnic Korean, a fan of this blog and happened to be not an idiot.
#21 Sonagi, I can’t agree with you more.
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