OT Food for thought

Peter Charles wrote:

He is serious - have you forgotten mad cow?

Bad example, Peter.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Peter Charles wrote:

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 19:38:40 -0700, rw
wrote:


Peter Charles wrote:

He is serious - have you forgotten mad cow?

Bad example, Peter.


Why? Explain

It's my understanding that genetic tests and records revealed that the
BSE-infected cow that was found in the US came from Canada.

Is the Canadian media reporting something different? If so, I'd like to
hear about it. I'm serious. I know the Canadian government objected to
the initial report as "premature," but AFAIK they haven't been defending
that position.

When this news came out, there was no anti-Canada sentiment in the US
that I ever heard, and some of my friends are cattle ranchers. It was
just one of those things.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 20:46:29 -0700, rw
wrote:

Peter Charles wrote:

On Sat, 28 Feb 2004 19:38:40 -0700, rw
wrote:


Peter Charles wrote:

He is serious - have you forgotten mad cow?

Bad example, Peter.


Why? Explain

It's my understanding that genetic tests and records revealed that the
BSE-infected cow that was found in the US came from Canada.

Is the Canadian media reporting something different? If so, I'd like to
hear about it. I'm serious. I know the Canadian government objected to
the initial report as "premature," but AFAIK they haven't been defending
that position.

When this news came out, there was no anti-Canada sentiment in the US
that I ever heard, and some of my friends are cattle ranchers. It was
just one of those things.

No, the Canadian media did not report anything differently. However,
almost every CNN, NBC, etc. newscast on the subject went on and on
about this being a Canadian cow with the strong implication that the
US cattle industry was not to blame. You have probably heard that
Canada has had a recent case of mad cow disease that predates this
case and that the US closed its borders to Canadian beef as a result.
Did you also know that this cow origniated from a US herd? I suppose
CNN etc. left out that detail. Contrary to the CNN etc. coverage of
the US case, the Canadian media did not blame the US for our mad cow
case.



Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

"rw" wrote in message
. ..
Tim Lysyk wrote:

Quite the opposite. It is usually the US who blames their problems on
Canada.

Get serious. Most Americans don't even have a clear idea where Canada is.

Funny how you can make a very important point and not have a clue what it
is.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang wrote:

"rw" wrote in message
. ..

Tim Lysyk wrote:

Quite the opposite. It is usually the US who blames their problems on
Canada.

Get serious. Most Americans don't even have a clear idea where Canada is.


Funny how you can make a very important point and not have a clue what it
is.

I intended it to be self-deprecating (being an American), but maybe you
didn't get that.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"rw" wrote in message
. ..
Wolfgang wrote:

"rw" wrote in message
. ..

Tim Lysyk wrote:

Quite the opposite. It is usually the US who blames their problems on
Canada.

Get serious. Most Americans don't even have a clear idea where Canada
is.


Funny how you can make a very important point and not have a clue what
it
is.

I intended it to be self-deprecating (being an American),

Well, of course you did.

but maybe you didn't get that.

Get serious.

Wolfgang

Peter Charles wrote:

No, the Canadian media did not report anything differently. However,
almost every CNN, NBC, etc. newscast on the subject went on and on
about this being a Canadian cow with the strong implication that the
US cattle industry was not to blame. You have probably heard that
Canada has had a recent case of mad cow disease that predates this
case and that the US closed its borders to Canadian beef as a result.
Did you also know that this cow origniated from a US herd? I suppose
CNN etc. left out that detail. Contrary to the CNN etc. coverage of
the US case, the Canadian media did not blame the US for our mad cow
case.

Let me get this straight. You're saying that what you see on CNN, NBC,
etc. proves an anti-Canadian bias in America. Is that accurate?

My take is that the country of origin was a very important angle in the
recent BSE incident. Should that information have been suppressed?

Maybe you should tune into CBC occasionally.

Please believe me about this, Peter. Americans, by and large, are not
anti-Canadian. You are well below the radar. I think that's the real
problem that some Canadians have with America.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

rw wrote:
Please believe me about this, Peter. Americans, by and large, are not
anti-Canadian. You are well below the radar. I think that's the real
problem that some Canadians have with America.

With respect to mad-cow disease, the real issue is not country of
origin, but the length of the US embargo against Canadian beef. Beef
imports into the US from Canada have been a long-standing issue between
the US and Canada. Before BSE, Canada shipped billions of $$ worth of
cattle to the US. For years, the US accussed Canada of unfair trade
practices, and at one time, placed a tarrif on incoming beef from
Canada. This was eventually overturned, but the issue remained. When
Canada had its one case of BSE, the US was the first to ban Canadian
beef. Canada did everything, and more, to demonstrate that the case was
isolated. Thousands of animals were slaughtered, and no other case was
found. The US has refused to lift its embargo on Canadian beef, even
though all the surveillance requirements were satisfied. The US is on
record as saying it will not lift the embargo until Canada addresses the
other issues that the US considers as unfair trading practice. The issue
has moved from science and food safety to politics, olitics that reflect
the anti-Canadian bias of your government. As a result, the Canadian
beef industry is suffering greatly, and rural economy in my area of the
country is also suffering. All because of long-standing US bias against
Canada.

Beleive me Steve, there is a huge anti-Canadian bias in your country. IT
has existed for years, has directly affected trade in spite of all the
free-trade agreements in place, and has been at its nadir ever since
your country appointed its current leadership. You don't see it because
of bias in your media. I have to deal with it daily.

On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 01:14:33 GMT, Tim Lysyk
wrote:

rw wrote:
Canadians have a tendency to blame all their problems on the US. This is
the first time, however, I've heard a Canadian blaming the looming
failure of their health care system on the US.

Quite the opposite. It is usually the US who blames their problems on
Canada. Canada was blamed for the attack against the WTC (the
accusations were made that the terrorists enetered the US from Canada,
whic was ludricous); the US blamed Canada for the power outage last
summer (it started in Ohio). The US has a rather large trade deficit
with Canada; Canada sends a lot more goods to the US than the US does to
Canada. As a result, the US usually drums up some bogus reason for
imposing imposing tarriffs on goods imported from Canada because you
cannot compete otherwise (softwood lumber, durum wheat....). The WTO
has ruled against the US 10 of the last 14 times the US has placed
tariffs on imports from Canada.

As far as our health care system....most Canadians are still satisifed
with it, and the only reason it is peril is because of the efforts of
corporate medical care companies to convince us otherwise. I get
excellent care, so does my mother who is institutionalized because of
Alzheimer's, so does my wife and kids. I pay $600 a year for complete
health care coverage. When I lived in the US, it cost us over $3,000 for
our child to be born. The differnece in care....Canada's was better.

Tim Lysyk


And of course don't forget all those "unsafe" Canadian prescription
drugs that the US FDA won't allow into the country.

g.c.

Tim Lysyk wrote:

rw wrote:

Please believe me about this, Peter. Americans, by and large, are not
anti-Canadian. You are well below the radar. I think that's the real
problem that some Canadians have with America.


With respect to mad-cow disease, the real issue is not country of
origin, but the length of the US embargo against Canadian beef. Beef
imports into the US from Canada have been a long-standing issue between
the US and Canada. Before BSE, Canada shipped billions of $$ worth of
cattle to the US. For years, the US accussed Canada of unfair trade
practices, and at one time, placed a tarrif on incoming beef from
Canada. This was eventually overturned, but the issue remained. When
Canada had its one case of BSE, the US was the first to ban Canadian
beef. Canada did everything, and more, to demonstrate that the case was
isolated. Thousands of animals were slaughtered, and no other case was
found. The US has refused to lift its embargo on Canadian beef, even
though all the surveillance requirements were satisfied. The US is on
record as saying it will not lift the embargo until Canada addresses the
other issues that the US considers as unfair trading practice. The issue
has moved from science and food safety to politics, olitics that reflect
the anti-Canadian bias of your government. As a result, the Canadian
beef industry is suffering greatly, and rural economy in my area of the
country is also suffering. All because of long-standing US bias against
Canada.

Beleive me Steve, there is a huge anti-Canadian bias in your country. IT
has existed for years, has directly affected trade in spite of all the
free-trade agreements in place, and has been at its nadir ever since
your country appointed its current leadership. You don't see it because
of bias in your media. I have to deal with it daily.


There may very well be government bias toward Canada, however your
example and George's aren't in place "all because of long-standing US
bias against Canada." As I understand it, the Canadian government
subsidizes feedlots and the grain fed to cattle. The Canadian government
also regulates the price paid for drugs. I don't think that either of
these practices are necessarily bad, however, they do provide an unfair
playing field for American businesses competing in these fields. What
you would see as fair treatment to your country would be putting
American businesses at an unfair disadvantage.

Willi