Letters to the Editor
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Tales from the border
I cross into British Columbia several times a year to watch hockey games or play in hockey tournaments, and the contrast between the two countries is so obvious.
The friendly Canadian border guards ask what we're there for, which rink we're playing at, and how we like our chances in the the tournament. Then they wish us good luck and wave us across.
The US border guards are surly (I've run across exactly two exceptions, ever). They're skeptical that an American female would be driving any significant distance to play that weird Canadian sport, and usually ask if "those hockey sticks belong to my boyfriend." I get grilled about who owns the car I'm driving, what college I went to, what I majored in, what I do for a living, why I have a friend from a different (neighboring) state in the car with me, and, of course, whether I went shopping in Canada. I've had them take my hockey sticks out of the car to investigate whether the tape over the end is fresh (the new sticks are all hollow and, I guess, could be used to hide drugs or whatever).
Interestingly, they've never yet discovered the Tylenol-with-codeine I nearly always pick up while I'm in BC, hidden in the stinky depths of my hockey gear bag. So their system of being jackasses is really working well.
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We Americans are the freest people in the world
And the price of that freedom is that we have to give up most of them in order to protect them.
I remember a time, not so long ago, when I could drive a few miles north to Vancouver, BC for a spur of the moment weekend getaway. The process was essentially no more complicated than saying "I'm going to Vancouver for the weekend" on the trip north, and saying "Just been to Vancouver for the weekend" on the trip home. Thank god the chaos of those days have now been replaced with all these "enhanced security techniques." I feel so much safer now; certainly I'm freer, now that leaving my country is such a pain in the ass.
If young Americans want to see the world, I recommend that they join the military. Chances are, they will eventually be deployed as an occupying force to any land that they could possibly want to visit. Think of it as a sort of working vacation. Naturally, of course, their first and foremost mission will be to spread American-style freedom and democracy to the oppressed peoples of the world, but in doing so, they will also be able to see the sights, even if it is from the back of a patrolling Humvee.
Me, personally, I'd like to occupy Scotland, the land from which my ancestors first invaded America. I'd also like to occupy Iceland. I hear that they have some really beautiful women in Iceland. Come to think of it, I know some really beautiful Canadian women, too. Maybe we could occupy Canada, and save them from all that freedom destroying health care.
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The Israelization of America
We have the neocons to thank for this!
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it's bound to help
the rudeness and hostility of the immigration officials as they eventually do let you into the US, will undoubtedly serve to discourage the al qaeda terrorists, who are quite sensitive to such things.
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Just erase the borders
And while you're at it, erase get rid of any kind of boundaries at all. Open your doors and let strangers into your house. Make them dinner, give them free lodging, trust them completely. No one will take advantage, trust me.
We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a better day, so lets start giving!
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A joke, right?
Passport requirements certainly don't stop people coming from CA going shopping inside the US, especially since our dollar value has dropped so far. Canadians are spending huge amounts in our stores on everything from clothes to vehicles. Perhaps the reduced spending power is the reason so few Americans want to go into Canada as well?
You know, Canada has much more open borders. I wonder what the average Canadian really feels like. I'm sure they're really happy their gov lets just about anyone traipse in. Oh wait, they aren't :(
If you want to traverse an international boundry, get a passport. Big deal. The wait is down to what, two weeks now? And it's good for how many years? Without it you need a photo ID and proof of citizenship. About as tough to figure out as which outlet mall has the best sales.
You could have summed your ideas succintly with DHS=BAD OPEN BORDERS=GOOD. Original idea there, chief.
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Canada is now richer than us
We should have free and easy access on the Northern border.
Go to Canada and you'll see that it's now far more prosperous than most parts of the US.
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At the old Soviet border with Finland
The trains ran on two different track gauges so that it was impossible to commandeer a train and go straight through in either direction. A special train was needed that could be lifted up off the rails and gauge adjusted.
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Get over yourselves, Americans...
Please quit your bellyaching about Canada's restrictive border laws. People are complaining about being kept out of Canada because past convictions in the United States.
Well guess what, Einsteins, the United States has long stopped Canadians at the border for the exact same thing.
Canadians caught for possessing a joint can't be allowed into the united states. And anyone else convicted of an offence faces the same draconian cold shoulder that you're complaining about.
Canadians have to put up with a lot of american ignorance and stupidity about our country. But on this score, we're EVEN.
We don't want your drunks, thieves and drug abusers. And you don't want ours.
Grow the fuck up. The world (Canada) doesn't exist to make your life easier.
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@ lmmaloney
Rather than moving to Canada, could your state perhaps secede?
I was in Vermont last September, thru-hiking the Long Trail. Lovely state - the most "Canadian" I've ever been to outside of Minnesota. Met so many great people.
I've often wondered what would have happened if I had just kept walking when I arrived at the northern terminus. There's no fence. No laser sensors. No spy-planes, as far as I could see.
Perhaps this would be the best way to avoid the whole passport fiasco. With a 5,000 mile border, we can all just walk across.