RD - Boy Howdy Big Time !

running dogg wrote:

uncle arnie wrote:

David Wilkins was interviewed on CBC/RCI show "As it Happens". He
doesn't know anything about the country he has been appointed ambassador
to. Nothing. He deflected all questions about Canada, apparently b/c his
qualification for the job is that he is about as informed as the
appointer. He knows no geography, no idea of the national anthem, let
alone being
smart enough to turn down an interview until he gets briefed. Those with
low expectations for an appointee could not have imagined such an idiot
in their wildest dreams.

Oh, and it is important to you if you're an American. Wilkins doesn't
know
why. Do you?

Ambassadors for the US are political appointees, meaning for the most
part people that the President owes a favor to (or their families or
companies). They are NOT career diplomats with extensive knowledge of
their host countries. Canada may have higher standards. But most US
ambassadors don't know the language of their host countries, much less
any of the country's vital stats. Wilkins got an easy
assignment-Canadian English is pretty close to American English, except
Canadians use British spelling. It may be fun for the Canadians to put
Wilkins on the hot seat and laugh at him for being an idiot, but he is
the rule rather than the exception. Ambassadors for the US are Pretty
Faces, meant to look good and take all the credit for the grunt work of
lower level staffers, the people who know everything about the country
and advise the guy at the top. This is also common within the US-the
politicians are bloviators who posture while the lower level guys keep
the country running but get none of the credit. Hell, America even had a
president with early stage Alzheimer's serve for eight years, and he was
incredibly popular and remains so even after his death. Reagan faced
down the Soviet Union and got the economy going again after a decade of
stagnation, yet he couldn't remember the names of his cabinet
secretaries. As for the seat's current occupant, he has been affected by
heavy alcohol and cocaine use, has suffered a number of mini strokes,
and wears a defibulator (sp?) in case his heart quits without warning,
yet the country still functions. Would you rather have a dictatorship on
your border where a fatal heart attack means all out civil war?

That's pretty sad. Probably would be better to have more 'with it'
ambassadors and presidents. Maybe a least a medical before taking office.

uncle arnie wrote in
:

I wonder if he knows how to say Quebec?

Originally pronounced qwa beck, or (long A) Ka Beck, it has now morphed
into (short I) Ki beck (as in kite). Amazing how a word can change over
10 years or so.

Anyone worth their muster MUST say (short I) Ki beck, it's infested the
American sportscasters as well. I can't even listen to the Canadian news
shows, since they also have shed ules (schedules), yet their kids go to
school, said as we say it, they don't go to shoe ools.

I once heard that Canadians in general try to be more British than the
British, and the Quebecers try to be more French than the French.

Though they desire to remain neutral in world politics, I thought it
ironic that they didn't want any missile defense to include Canada as
well. This will force the U.S. to protect the northern U.S. borders. I
wonder where the debris would land?

It's a shame when China outstrips Canada concerning the Space Program as
well. Q.V. http://space.about.com/b/a/118894.htm

"Saskatchewan Town Prepares For Launch of Canadian Rocket
CBC News reports that the da Vinci project aims to send the first
Canadian rocket into space, launching from Kindersley, Sask.

The Toronto-based da Vinci team had planned to enter the X Prize contest,
a private space race, with a launch from the Kindersley airport on Oct.
2. The launch was put on hold indefinitely, however, because an important
part of the spacecraft hadn't arrived."

I like Canada, I just don't like condescending Canadians.

Dr. Artaud


http://www.bartleby.com/61/30/Q0023000.html

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionar...ebec&x=10&y=17

David Wilkins was interviewed on CBC/RCI show "As it Happens". He
doesn't know anything about the country he has been appointed
ambassador to. Nothing. He deflected all questions about Canada,
apparently b/c his qualification for the job is that he is about as
informed as the appointer. He knows no geography, no idea of the
national anthem, let alone being smart enough to turn down an
interview until he gets briefed. Those with low expectations for an
appointee could not have imagined such an idiot in their wildest
dreams.

Oh, and it is important to you if you're an American. Wilkins doesn't
know why. Do you?

€ Dr. Artaud € wrote:

uncle arnie wrote in
:

I wonder if he knows how to say Quebec?

Originally pronounced qwa beck, or (long A) Ka Beck, it has now morphed
into (short I) Ki beck (as in kite). Amazing how a word can change over
10 years or so.

Anyone worth their muster MUST say (short I) Ki beck, it's infested the
American sportscasters as well. I can't even listen to the Canadian news
shows, since they also have shed ules (schedules), yet their kids go to
school, said as we say it, they don't go to shoe ools.


Ki-bec is the pronunciation in French, with the "i" between "key" and "kit".
Kwi-bec is English and also acceptable. I'm sure he would not be able to
say Saskatchewan - correct is Saskatchew'n , commonly mis-said
Saskatchew-awn. You can spot an easterner in a heart beat this way. Try
Newfoundland, which is correctly said NewfunLAND, or Charlottetown -
sharla-town. And the old joke Toronto - tronna. C'naid'jun, eh?

An interesting couple of trends for American and Canadian English is making
the first vowel long: eek-conomic instead of ek-conomic, and the clipping
or shortening of the final vowel in other words: candi-dit candi-date ,
dee-fense d'fense . The second is which syllable is stressed: MARSH-mellow
marsh-MELLOW , BIG-bird big-BIRD . The first in each of these is American,
the second Canadian.

If we're complaining, the most annoying thing is the backwards US dates.
Today is 03/05/2005 dd/mm/yyyy, though the trend is to avoid the number for
the month and go to 03 May 2005 to avoid confusion with 05 March 2005.

uncle arnie wrote:

€ Dr. Artaud € wrote:

uncle arnie wrote in
:

I wonder if he knows how to say Quebec?

Originally pronounced qwa beck, or (long A) Ka Beck, it has now morphed
into (short I) Ki beck (as in kite). Amazing how a word can change over
10 years or so.

Anyone worth their muster MUST say (short I) Ki beck, it's infested the
American sportscasters as well. I can't even listen to the Canadian news
shows, since they also have shed ules (schedules), yet their kids go to
school, said as we say it, they don't go to shoe ools.


Ki-bec is the pronunciation in French, with the "i" between "key" and "kit".
Kwi-bec is English and also acceptable. I'm sure he would not be able to
say Saskatchewan - correct is Saskatchew'n , commonly mis-said
Saskatchew-awn. You can spot an easterner in a heart beat this way. Try
Newfoundland, which is correctly said NewfunLAND, or Charlottetown -
sharla-town. And the old joke Toronto - tronna. C'naid'jun, eh?

An interesting couple of trends for American and Canadian English is making
the first vowel long: eek-conomic instead of ek-conomic, and the clipping
or shortening of the final vowel in other words: candi-dit candi-date ,
dee-fense d'fense . The second is which syllable is stressed: MARSH-mellow
marsh-MELLOW , BIG-bird big-BIRD . The first in each of these is American,
the second Canadian.

If we're complaining, the most annoying thing is the backwards US dates.
Today is 03/05/2005 dd/mm/yyyy, though the trend is to avoid the number for
the month and go to 03 May 2005 to avoid confusion with 05 March 2005.

Inhabitants of CanaDuh are obviously easily annoyed and confused!

Most 'tards are!

dxAce
Michigan
USA