[IRCA] Canada, Mexico & Cuba

[Charles A Taylor <MWDXer@xxxxxxx>]

At 05:48 PM 3/23/2007 -0700, you wrote:
>Charlie,
>
>Like you, I have many friends in Canada. Bob & I went to the Lower
>Mainland often for many years. To think I need a Passport now, bugs me a
>lot. But I wont get into that.  But I love Canada. I always have from
>the days when I was six travelling up the Alcan Highway.
>    To tell you how much I love Canada, I even have a broker to I can sub
>to Canadian TV. I watch a lot of Canadian TV. I get TV stations from
>Victoria/Vancouver to St. Johns NFD.
>I am a real fan of CKNW 980, and I have been a listener of that station
>for many years.
>    With IBOC, we all lose, Canadians, Americans, Mexicans, Cubans, all
>DXers in North American. The noise knows no borders. As soon as it is
>gone, the better we will all be.
>
>73,
>
>Patrick
>========================================================

Patrick,

Share your feelings on Canada. I write to my Canadian friends that the US never
totally sundered relations with the Crown. After the initial period of 
bitterness
and fear of England, the US resumed its familial relationship with England.

My hero/author, Samuel Clemens ("Mark Twain") travelled and lectured
extensively in England. He served exceedingly well as an American ambassador
to England, and was instrumental in convincing the Brits that we were still
family.

That, and WWI and WWII show that the US remains a shadow member of the
British Commonwealth. Daughters of a common Motherland. I do wish the
Canadians would remember that.

México is quite a different story. I doubt that US and Mexico will ever be 
other
than civil neighbors. The Mexicans still resent the loss of Arizona, Colorado,
Nuevo México , Tejas and Alta California. This despite the fact that México
was not yet  independent of Spain when we acquired these states.

I observed the attitude of large numbers of Mexicans living together in Delano.
They have learned to play the Social Security cash machine very well.

Leonor observed this, and at times came home angry at Mexicans and Mexico in
general. Mind you, Patrick, she's from the Philippines (which has a closer
historical relationship with México and Spain then we do). She decided that,
as a group, the Mexicans were parasites. She totally refused to learn more than
a few Spanish words, and if faced with dealing with Mexicans, she was apt to
lecture them on learning English.

She learned English, and they derned well could learn it, too!

As for me and them: I struggled to learn Spanish well and without accent. The
prevalent Spanish taught in the 60s was Mexican Spanish (but I can (well, I 
could),
speak Spanish with a passable Cuban accent. But by and large, the NATIVE accent
of the majority of Americans who speak Spanish is Mexican.

Mexican Spanish happens to be vastly closer to Standard Spanish, too.

So, for me to face a Mexican in Delano was another opportunity to practice
Spanish. That, and as a people I LIKED Mexicans. The are several Mexican
families here in little Grifton, and I may have to write to communicate with
them by writing (or a little textual writer AKA "spell checker") , but BY DADDY
I WILL write Spanish.

There are two classes of Mexicans. One class crosses the border with the
objective of securing financial security, and then returning to Mexico.

The other class tends to follow the classical immigrant pattern of taking on
US citizenship and all its responsibilities.

The kids of the first class have their own ideas, though!

CUBA:

We have done EVERYTHING wrong with respect to Cuba.

I would like that we have normal relations with Cuba, but that is simply
impossible with the attitude of Fidel Castro Ruíz! For him, everything about
the US is wrong. Anything he could do during his tenure that would tend to
anger or hoodwink the US was what he would do.

Perhaps the Roa regime will moderate relations. But the Cuban community
in Miami/Dade and throughout the US is likely to sabotage that until the
issue of their confiscated property is settled. Their kids tend to be more
amenable to improved relations with Cuba, though.

The old Cubans saw Marxism-Leninism close up, and they totally hate it.

FACT: US acquired Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Philippines from Spain.
You know a little about that from American history.

If there's a country that ought to loathe the USA, it is the Philippines.
Lost in history is the fact that the bloodshed to put down the Philippine
Insurgency by the US is just about equivalent to the Vietnam war.

(Philippines was engaged in a most bloody insurgency against Spain,
had written  The Malolos Constitution [Remember VOA Malolos?] and
declared independence from Spain, and was aghast that the US merely
replaced Spain as their new, would-be owner).

We poured in troops to put down the Insurgency. General Aguinaldo
eventually saw the futility of fighting the American Behemoth, and
ordered his troops to surrender. He and they swore allegiance to the
US.

Then, wonder of wonders, the troops (US and Philippines) found out
that they actually liked each other! Instead of continuing a low-level
hostility toward each other, they discovered that they loved to get
drunk together, have free-for-alls, and fix up the bruises and cuts and
get over hangovers the next morning together. Buddies. Sworn
hostilities gave way to friendship. Then came WWII and the Filipinos
fought for the US flag as if it were their own (because it was, at the
time) .

I hope we can reach an agreement with Canada to avoid the border
problems. We had 9/11, Britain had the subway terrorist attack.
I believe Canada will get something similar.

I would like see an tight border around US and Canada together so
that both parties can be safer.

Got anything to add to that?

Charles
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