This is Audrey in washington state who has a friend in Australia with pd.. In response to the non pd Canadian news article, I am reminded of a conversation my friend John and I had some months ago. He said much the same that the US is derided by the very countries that we rush in to help given an emergeny; earthquakes, floods, even disease. I would like to thank my friends and neighbors across the border especially so because your have shown me that whatever the faults and transgressions we have, we are not always the *ugly * americans: that inspite of criticism we are generous and we do have a heart. :)
A foot note from me an uninformed friend of a John who has PD... what are the other letters that I see reading the messages I am receiving? PD I understand but are some of these to do with parkinsonian symtoms or ?? I hate to ask questions that the rest of you take for granted but I need to understand as much as I can..
----- Original Message -----
From: plmaddux
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2000 5:30 PM
Subject: Non-PD Canadian news article
This was sent to me by a friend,I am posting iton the listserv because we have many Canadians on the list.
BUTE TO THE UNITED STATES
This is from a Canadian newspaper, it's worth sharing.
America: The Good Neighbor.
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a
remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto, Canada by Gordon Sinclair,
a
Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his
trenchant
remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as
the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the
earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were
lifted
out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of
dollars
and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today
paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the
Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and
swindled
on
the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that
hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened
by
tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars
into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are
writing
about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over
the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does
any
other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet,
the
Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas 10? If so, why don't they fly them?
Why do
all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or
woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get
radios.
You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk
about
American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but
several
times
- and safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the
store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not
pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them,
unless
they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma
and pa
at
home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down
through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the
Pennsylvania
Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old
caboose.
Both are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of
other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone
else
raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help
even
during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone,
and
I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around.
They
will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do,
they
are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over
their
present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Stand proud, Americans
Lanier Maddux Chattanooga Tn
