Sunday, March 19, 2006
Canada: Our Mortal Enemy!
At least that's what Bush and his people seem to think:
For the first time since 1817, U.S. Coast Guard vessels on the Great Lakes are being outfitted with weapons – machine-guns capable of firing 600 bullets a minute. Until now, coast guard officers have been armed with handguns and rifles, but the vessels themselves haven't been equipped with weapons. The War of 1812 saw violent battles on Lake Erie and Lake Huron between U.S. troops and British forces, which were largely composed of militias from Britain's colonies in what is now Canada. After the war, the United States and Britain – and later Canada – agreed to demilitarize the Great Lakes waters. [...] Each vessel is now equipped with a 7.62-mm machine-gun, a light military gun that is the same calibre as a deer rifle but capable of shooting 600 bullets per minute. The guns are typically mounted because of their weight. But a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer William Colclough, said they will be stored below decks on the coast guard's 11 Great Lakes cutters and will be mounted only when needed. Warning shots will be fired when vessels refuse to stop, said Colclough, who is based at the U.S. Coast Guard's Great Lakes headquarters in Cleveland. Colclough said staff members have conducted live-fire drills in the past few months in American waters off the coast of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Can carry high-calibre guns that can down a helicopter A Canadian Foreign Affairs official said Ottawa has agreed to read the treaty in such a way that coast guard vessels may be mounted with guns by considering them weapons of law enforcement rather than war. Canada reserves the right to arm its own vessels as well, the official told CBC News.I guess that's no longer the world's longest undefended border any more. First BushCo demanded passports, now they do this. Remember, folks: BushCo says they're doing this to stop smuggling and terrorism. Yet there was tons more smuggling going on during Prohibition, and we never once outfitted our Coast Guard vessels with machine guns. As for terrorism, it might help if Bush didn't do dumbass things like invade and occupy countries that had nothing to do with 9/11. (But of course, that was really all about replacing the permanent bases that the US lost when the Shah was toppled next door in Iran.) Gee, and I thought that Bush actually liked Harper.
Comments:
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I don't know about you, but I feel much safer knowing that we can defend ourselves from our hostile neighbors to the north.
# posted by 
: 3/19/2006 11:42:00 AM
: 3/19/2006 11:42:00 AM 
There's a lot of oil to be had in those tar sands in Northern Canada.
# posted by : 3/19/2006 01:03:00 PM
: 3/19/2006 01:03:00 PM
You want to see an angry Canadian? Make fun of Joni Mitchell in front of a Canadian woman. You may not live to tell the tale.
Maybe Bush wants to seal the boarder to prevent a brain drain as anyone with an ounce of intellegence considers the possiblity of fleeing. Or at least to keep old people from filling their perscriptions up there.
Do we know that Harper doesn't approve of this? If they export any more David Frums there might not be enough crypto-fascists to staff the right wing newspapers up there.
The random generator has given us "etfugkzm", which expresses my opinion of the entire North American conservative movement.
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Maybe Bush wants to seal the boarder to prevent a brain drain as anyone with an ounce of intellegence considers the possiblity of fleeing. Or at least to keep old people from filling their perscriptions up there.
Do we know that Harper doesn't approve of this? If they export any more David Frums there might not be enough crypto-fascists to staff the right wing newspapers up there.
The random generator has given us "etfugkzm", which expresses my opinion of the entire North American conservative movement.
# posted by : 3/19/2006 06:14:00 PM
: 3/19/2006 06:14:00 PM << Home
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