West Coast Can-Am Politics

 The agonizing isolation of Point Roberts, Washington due to the COVID border closure hasn't quite ended.  All Point Bulletin: Border questions remain

 On the verge of Canada's partial re-opening of its land border crossings, now this news:  CBSA workers strike begins, border and airport delays likely

 Over the past 15 months, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have enforced border crossing restrictions. APB: The border cracks opens slightly, questions remain

I'm back after a long hiatus...... obviously a lot has happened since 2007.  Among them: the Peace Arch border crossing pictures are ancient history.  The Department of Homeland Security and General Services Administration demolished the previous port buildings and constructed a brand-new facility with state-of-the-art security features.  Canada's Border Services Agency similarly reconstructed its Douglas port of entry facilities. The Conservative Party of Canada has a majority government under Prime Minster Stephen Harper.  All of the NATO countries are facing a military resurgence of the air and land forces of the Russian Federation, the free world also phases the dramatic surge of the ISIS terrorist movement in the Middle East, and there have been deeply worrisome exchanges between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. While I'm not investing as much time on Can-Am politics as in the past, I remain concerned that our nations maintain healthy inter...

The Democratic National Committee's website aimed at " veterans and military families " contained a hugely embarrassing gaffe last week: the site posted pictures of a uniformed Canadian Forces soldier on the front page with the heading, " New Poll Shows GOP Broken Promises Hurting Our Troops ". The DNC just updated the "veterans and military families" site , omitting the pic of a brave Canadian Forces officer with a very tattered-looking U.S. flag. More coverage on this bizarre fiasco at: Michelle Malkin Wizbang! Blackfive Why, oh why, can't the lovers of freedom figure out what an AMERICAN military uniform looks like!

Blogger Steve Janke has outlined several multi-million-dollar aid projects paid for by Canadian taxpayers to benefit North Korea. The appalling question has to be asked: if North Korea so desperately needs emergency food aid from Canada and other industrialized countries to feed its people, why is it spending staggering amounts of money developing nuclear weapons technology?

In the aftermath of North Korea's claimed nuclear test on Sunday, it appears that South Korean government officials are continuing to naievely cling to a " peace at any costs " appeasement policy. I watched President Bush's press conference this morning and will be jotting down more thoughts shortly.

Mike McGavick's candidacy for U.S. Senate has taken a refreshingly different tone, which appeals to this middle-aged man who likes to study and write about politics but has become rather wary about becoming personally involved. Mr. McGavick has been a very successful business executive, most recently as CEO of Safeco Corporation, but the tone and overall emphasis of his candidacy connect well with ordinary citizens. One hopes and prays that Mr. McGavick doesn't lose this quality when the voters elect him in lieu of incumbent Senator Maria Cantwell. I'll be blogging a bit more about McGavick in coming weeks, looking at issues including security of the U.S./Canada border and immigration. I'll also get some information from the Maria Cantwell campaign as well.

The Northwest Washington Fair (August 14 through 19) is one of the most successful events of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. I thoroughly enjoyed attending there on Saturday. As the fairgrounds are located just four miles south of the Lynden border crossing, the fair attracts a significant number of British Columbia visitors. You might enjoy the "Magic in the Air" Video infomercial at http://nwwafair.com/default.asp?id=53&mnu=53

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's meetings with President Bush, including a joint press conference, seems to have been largely overlooked by the U.S. news media. It certainly has NOT been ignored in Canada.....

Born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut, today mark's George W. Bush's 60th birthday. In simple words: Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Saturday, July 1, 2006 marked 139 years of the formation of Canada's Federal Government. Note my emphasis here: Canada as a nation existed before July 1, 1867, but there doesn't seem to be a cut-and-dried date at which Canada declared itself as happened in the American Colonies on July 4, 1776. Perhaps Canadians would consider the September 1864 Charlottetown Conference as being their time of officially obtaining the spirit, if not the legal substance, of nationhood. It's worth noting that while Americans observe Independence Day as being the birth of the United States as a nation, the actual implementation of the United States Federal Government as we know it did not actually occur until the adoption of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787, and the effective date of the U.S. Government actually being March 4, 1789. On Canada Day 2006, yours truly traveled early in the morning from the Seattle area to a few Canada Day observances in the British Columbia Lower Mainl...

In recent weeks, I've been avoiding writing on my blog for various reasons including the recent death of two people who played important roles in my life. It may take some time to share a bit more about the grief around those losses. I am briefly expressing my extraordinary disappointment at the U.S. Senate's bizarre "Immigration Reform" legislation. If passed by the House, this legislation would cheapen the rule of law by rewarding individuals who have illegally entered the United States. To my Canadian friends: has anyone talked to Michel Jalbert of Pohenegamook, Quebec about what HE thinks of the Senate's action? Most Yanks have forgotten M. Jalbert's miserable experience of being arrested and imprisoned by U.S. border patrol officers in the tiny hole-in-the-border "Gaz Bar" at Estcourt Station, Maine in October, 2002 for allegedly entering the U.S. illegally. I understand after several months of legal hassles by Uncle Sam, he was forced to s...

Country music legend Alvis E. "Buck" Owens passed away early this morning at his Bakersfield, California home. The Buck Owens web site notice has these biographical remarks: Buck was born on August 12, 1929 in Sherman, Texas. The son of a sharecropper, Buck traveled with his family to the Phoenix, Arizona area in 1937 as they searched for a better life. Eventually, they traveled to California's San Joaquin Valley, doing farm work. At a young age Buck vowed that when he grew up, he would not be poor. He found a way out of his family's poverty through his musical talent. During the years I was born and raised in the Seattle area, my parents exposed me to a lot of country-and-western music on a day-to-day level. Buck Owens brought a very distinctive sound to his vocals and to his backup accompaniment (which became known in music circles as the "Bakersfield Sound"). I also recall watching "Hee Haw" when it was a current network telecast including B...

Associated Press : Cartoon Protesters kill, injure, and burn MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people in the deadliest confrontation yet in the whirlwind of Muslim anger over the drawings. CNN - 16 die in cartoon protest "Maiduguri [Nigeria] bore the brunt of Saturday's violence. Fifteen people were killed, 11 churches were burned and 115 people were arrested there, a national police spokesman said...... In Katsina [Nigeria], one person was killed, two police officers were injured and 25 were arrested, a police spokesman said." Associated Press - 9 Foreign Oil Workers Seized (Kidnapped?) "WARRI, Nigeria - Militants launched a wave of attacks across Nigeria's troubled delta region Saturday, blowing up oil installations and seizing nine foreigners, including three Americans. The violence cut the West African nation's crude oil exports ...