I didn't want to let this thread sink to the bottom without saying that I appreciated reading the answers of some Real Canadians (do you have "real" Canadians there or the US unique in having real and unreal citizens?)

ineedcolor:

Quote:
I spent 14 months of my military career on peacemaking ops (Yugoslavia).

Why, I never would have guessed this from your avatar or demeanor! Quite interesting to read about that, and my hat's off to you.

canuckinLA:

Quote:
I most certainly don't advocate a "it will never happen to us" mindset. I just believe that the first line of defence should be built on diplomacy and respect, rather than "fear my wrath". The latter only works for a little while, as the US has currently shown by the Iraq fiasco.

I cast my vote in agreement. I am afraid that the whole "fear my wrath" approach may only prove out to work inside our border. Externally, if we can't somehow extricate ourselves from this mess (and I am not optimistic) I think we are in for a very big wrathfest.

It *is* interesting to contemplate how the "overall" Canadian political and military stance might have evolved without a nuclear-tipped neighbor patrolling beneath the waves, but that's the alternate history that I'm no good at.

When I started this thread, I started looking up stats on average household size, average household income and other bits to make some comparisons. I was struck by a headline a few weeks back about how "Bush looks north for flu vaccine" and the irony of the Republican's historical criticism of Canada's bureaucratic, state-run, soshulistic health care.

I'd like to construct a comparison of the cost to that "average" family of the cost of a major no-fault illness, say appendicitis/appendectomy or having one's pelvic crushed by a runaway hay wagon. I don't think the "average" US family -- including a pretty fair number of uninsured Red State Republicans -- would fare too well. But, hey, Freedom, right?