Canada is (6), which is not bad. The falling of Oil Price and the value of Loonie is good news to some, but bad news to others. There is no perfect country on Earth. On the whole, Canada is still a great country to live in. What do you think ?
Showing posts with label country. Show all posts
Showing posts with label country. Show all posts
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Economic Freedom
In
the news, the U.S. ranks 12 in a report of Economic Freedom by the
Heritage Foundation. These are the top five with the most Economic
Freedom: (1) Hong Kong, (2) Singapore, (3) New Zealand, (4) Australia,
(5) Switzerland.
Canada is (6), which is not bad. The falling of Oil Price and the value of Loonie is good news to some, but bad news to others. There is no perfect country on Earth. On the whole, Canada is still a great country to live in. What do you think ?
Canada is (6), which is not bad. The falling of Oil Price and the value of Loonie is good news to some, but bad news to others. There is no perfect country on Earth. On the whole, Canada is still a great country to live in. What do you think ?
Sunday, November 24, 2013
World and Empire
The 19th century belongs to the British
Empire. The 20th century belongs to USA America. The 21st century
belongs to China. However, China is not perfect. It has many problems
yet to be solved. The difference is that China is not really a new
world power. It is only re-claiming its past glory. I am a Cosmopolitan
and Pacifist. Healthy competition between countries is OK, but
co-operation is a must. I believe in love and peace, not war and
destruction. One humanity, one world and one earth as home for all peoples !
(Imagine there's no country, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die
for, and no religion, too. Imagine all the people living life in peace
... John Lennon).
Sunday, October 20, 2013
O Canada
It is not the first time that Canadians take issue about their national anthem.I remember that Canada's men and women hockey teams both won gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Sidney Crosby's overtime winning score turned the whole country of Canada into a frenzy. It created some wonderful nationalistic feelings spontaneously. Everyone, even non-Canadians, got caught in the Canadian pride and excitement.Many joined in singing O Canada.
............................................................................................
Recently, O Canada became Ouch Canada again. The same old question resurfaced: should O Canada be changed to be gender-neutral ? A few prominent Canadian women, including Kim Campbell and Margaret Atwood said yes.
............................................................................................
There are 3 ouches in O Canada. The first ouch is that some women are upset about the line 'in all thy sons command'. This is sexist, they complain. Some suggest that it should revert to the old version of 'thou dost in us command'. Others suggest the change to 'in all of us command'. Yet some women say it is just fine to keep 'in all thy sons command' with no change.This is my opinion: 'thou dost in us command' is old English. It just doesn't sound right for our time.The words do not sound good for singing either. 'In all of us command' is O.K., but for singing, it doesn't sound as good as 'in all thy sons command'. My suggestion is this: change the words to 'in you and I command'.
.............................................................................................
The second ouch is 'our home and native land'. What does the word 'native' mean? Often when we see the word 'native', we think of the native people of Canada. The native people are the aboriginal or indigenous people. But then the people who were born in Canada are also natives of the land. Furthermore, this land or country called Canada belongs to all Canadians, not just the natives or native-born.Canada also belongs to the many immigrants from different backgrounds who chose to become Canadians.So what are we going to do with 'our home and native land'? I have a suggestion: just change it to 'our home Canadian land'. The meaning is appropriate, and it sounds good for singing.
...........................................................................................
The third ouch is 'God keep our land, Glorious and Free'. Canada is a free country. People belong to different religions and faith groups. The problem is that people believe in different gods, so which god or gods keep our land? Besides, there are agnostics and atheists, too. Canada belongs to all Canadians, whether you believe in a god or not. I suggest to simply drop this line of 'God keep our land' and replace it with 'O Canada'. 'O Canada, Glorious and Free' sounds very good, do you agree ?
...........................................................................................
Maybe the Government of Canada can hold a contest across the country, to come up with the best new version of O Canada, otherwise we have to keep living with the 3 existing ouches !
............................................................................................
Recently, O Canada became Ouch Canada again. The same old question resurfaced: should O Canada be changed to be gender-neutral ? A few prominent Canadian women, including Kim Campbell and Margaret Atwood said yes.
............................................................................................
There are 3 ouches in O Canada. The first ouch is that some women are upset about the line 'in all thy sons command'. This is sexist, they complain. Some suggest that it should revert to the old version of 'thou dost in us command'. Others suggest the change to 'in all of us command'. Yet some women say it is just fine to keep 'in all thy sons command' with no change.This is my opinion: 'thou dost in us command' is old English. It just doesn't sound right for our time.The words do not sound good for singing either. 'In all of us command' is O.K., but for singing, it doesn't sound as good as 'in all thy sons command'. My suggestion is this: change the words to 'in you and I command'.
.............................................................................................
The second ouch is 'our home and native land'. What does the word 'native' mean? Often when we see the word 'native', we think of the native people of Canada. The native people are the aboriginal or indigenous people. But then the people who were born in Canada are also natives of the land. Furthermore, this land or country called Canada belongs to all Canadians, not just the natives or native-born.Canada also belongs to the many immigrants from different backgrounds who chose to become Canadians.So what are we going to do with 'our home and native land'? I have a suggestion: just change it to 'our home Canadian land'. The meaning is appropriate, and it sounds good for singing.
...........................................................................................
The third ouch is 'God keep our land, Glorious and Free'. Canada is a free country. People belong to different religions and faith groups. The problem is that people believe in different gods, so which god or gods keep our land? Besides, there are agnostics and atheists, too. Canada belongs to all Canadians, whether you believe in a god or not. I suggest to simply drop this line of 'God keep our land' and replace it with 'O Canada'. 'O Canada, Glorious and Free' sounds very good, do you agree ?
...........................................................................................
Maybe the Government of Canada can hold a contest across the country, to come up with the best new version of O Canada, otherwise we have to keep living with the 3 existing ouches !
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