It’s a polite form of a protest. Other countries would be burning US flags and storming embassies. Canadians pull US liquor off the shelves and leave discreet notes explaining way.
The Canadians are very angry at the US government right now. I’m gobsmacked that so many US citizens are either puzzled by this or do not comprehend why that is so. Do you understand why the Canadians are so angry?
Agreed. To some, a situation is “unfair” only when a CEO or other elite is inconvenienced. Tough shit. Don’t whine at Canada, go complain to the party who started all this: Trump.
If he supported Trump he got what he voted for, which can be subtly different than what he actually wanted.
If he, remarkably, backed Harris (because I honestly don’t know how that guy voted) then he should still take his complaints to the US government.
Agree
But I don’t think this is just about the tariffs - Trump keeps threatening the sovereignty and very existence of Canada as a nation. Again, I am gobsmacked why so many of my fellow US citizens are uncomprehending of just how threatening and appalling that is.
That’s because a sizable portion of US citizens are themselves anti-gay and went to Chik-fil-A more to compensate for those boycotting.
On the other hand, I’m assuming a near-total support for Canada remaining Canada and not being the 51st US state (on top of not wanting the stupid tariffs) so the sentiment in Canada on this issue is much closer to near-unanimous.
You could if you don’t mind pissing off people in places like Texas. Second thought - go ahead, call us all Yankees. Or Yanks.
Okay, so why are so many Americans ignorant of this? Why is your media not covering your dissatisfaction? Or Canadians’ dissatisfaction? It’s news, so should be covered by AP, CNN, MSNBC, UPI, ABC, NBC, CBS. Why is his fight against Canada not reported in American media?
As a Canadian who is up-to-date with our Canadian media, I will say this: we are pissed that our closest friend and neighbour, whom we have stood by, and who has stood with us for over 200 years, would turn against us. In fairness, it’s not individual Americans, with whom we have many friends and relatives. Rather, it’s the US Government, which seems to be in the hands of an idiot, who is not a politician, who has not studied history, and who, even though going to the Wharton School, to which his Daddy got him admitted somehow (pulling strings, bribes, and in any event, Trump was not a good student in the end), is not an economist in any form. But he thinks he is, from where comes the problems.
Tell me, is Canadians’ dissatisfaction with Trump’s tariffs, his insults against our country, his boasting of annexation, his wanting to rip apart of our way of life, reported in the US media? Because right now, we’ve got a lot of Canadians not necessarily panicking, but certainly unsettled. I have no idea how Canadian parents are explaining to Canadian children how everything will be all right in the end. Do Americans understand Canadians’ angst about this? Do they understand how Canadian parents have to explain to their children that the United States is now … what? An enemy or a friend?
And all I get from US media on this topic is bullshit.
Your best buddy for over 200 years, your ally in two world wars and in Korea, your friend who saved six of your countrymen when Iran captured your Tehran embassy in 1980, who accepted your possibly dangerous aircraft on 9/11, who was first in to help on Hurricane Katrina, who always volunteers to help with forest fires—and you’re threatening us with annexation, when no Canadian wants that.
We didn’t even get to vote for or against the idiot; now, he thinks he’s been elected to run our country.
FWIW, “americano” in Spanish means “inhabitant of the whole continent that extends from the Arctic to Cape Horn”. Mercedes Sosa (famous Argentinian singer) had a hit song, one of whose lyrics was “canta conmigo, canta, hermano americano” = “sing along with me, sing, my American brother”, and that “American” there meant absolutely everybody from Canada to Chile and Argentina.
I know that the English-language meaning and usage is different, but us Spanish speakers would definitely think “I wonder if he means Mexicans” when we hear the word “americano”.
FWIW, in my experience in Spain, the preferred term is “estadounidense”. And if you want to be derogatory you say “gringos”.
As a Canadian, let me put it into even more worse words: “Fucking yanks.” Notice the lack of a capital Y; that is how much we have lost respect for you.
Social media, propaganda, and being members of a political cult is my current theory.
Too many Americans only get information from social media these days, NOT actual news or journalists (who are dismissed as “fake news”) and more specifically the social media approved/generated by the leaders of the political cult to which they belong. This “MAGAsphere” not only reports Trumps attacks on Canadian, it celebrates it because the leaders of that cult are, fundamentally, bullies and thugs who actively enjoy hurting people they view as their opposition. Hence the catch phrase “cruelty is the point”.
As for mainstream media - much of it is owned by CEO/oligarchs/billionaires at this point who don’t want to rock the boat either because they are also cult members or because they only care about making money and assume that if they kiss Trump’s ass they’ll be safe from Trump attacks.
There are outlets, such as AP, who are refusing to kowtow (see dust-up when AP refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”) but they are rapidly losing access to the administration as the MAGA cult attempts to sideline them. They are now viewed as opposition to be crushed.
Again - this is a CULT. I have a “friend” (he’s been moving from “friend” to “acquaintance” over time) who gets visibly upset if I mention I am getting news from anything other than two or three very particular sources (Fox and OANN seem to be perennials). According to him I should NEVER listen to/read/watch anything other than the “approved” sources. I mention reading foreign news - oh, no, never, they’re specifically lying to Americans! Um… even when I’m reading their news written in their language for their people? (He always seems stunned to be reminded I can read French reasonably fluently. Or maybe he just doesn’t believe it). Oh, no, no - ONLY those 2-3 sources are trustworthy, everybody else in the entire world is lying for… reasons? It’s not based on reason or logic, it’s a CULT.
Absolutely, justifiably so. I’m pretty goddamned pissed off about it, too, and I’m not even Canadian.
^ Yep, that sums up one of the major problems at present.
Yes, yes it is. It very much is. As is how appalled a good chunk of the US population is about the situation due to knowing/remembering how good Canada has been to the US over the centuries, businesses screaming that this is going to hurt US businesses and cost US jobs, economists yelling that this WILL cause increases in prices across the board for everyone in the US… while Trump says “we’re OK with that”. No, we’re not - at least those of us who aren’t in the 1% of the 1% are not OK with that.
Except for the MAGA cult members (it really is a cult, I’m not using that word carelessly) who think this is the greatest thing since Betty White and sliced bread, who think being a bully is the same thing as being strong and respected, who are so convinced they are the good guys no matter what atrocity is committed in their name, who are bigots and nationalists and quite frankly a danger both domestically and internationally since they’re currently in power in the US government.
I long for the days when the US and Canada were friends, with 5,500 miles of border that didn’t require even a fence, much less any sort of “defensive” installation. I miss those days. Canada has been the very best neighbor any country could hope for and Trump has taken a giant shit on you and it makes me furious that you have been demeaned, insulted, and economically attacked, with additional threats on top of it.
But, to be honest - Canada needs to defend itself. While I hope no more of Trump’s spoken plans are put into play Canada needs to treat them as real threats. You need to gird your loins and be ready to treat us as enemies, not friends, even if many of us individuals are not your enemies but also caught in this mess.
About 1/3 of Americans understand the gravity of what’s going on and how Canadians feel. About 1/3 of Americans are (still) in denial about Trump and will tell themselves he’s only joking, or it’s a negotiation tactic, or whatever they’re saying to avoid truly seeing the problem. And finally there is 1/3 of Americans who somehow, horribly, think annexing Canada and forcing them to submit is a really great idea and would whole-heartedly back an invasion and war, all the while completely baffled as to why the Canadians would fight back or NOT want to be Americans. Unfortunately, the man in the White House right now belongs to that latter 1/3.
So, I am deeply grieving this parting of the ways but I also completely understand why Canada must act in the interests of Canada, why you must be prepared to oppose us economically and potentially even take up arms to defend yourself. Do what you need to do for yourselves.
I get the sense that a lot of Americans think this is some sort of entertainment. They’re amused that Canada is angry because they never travel outside their own state, let alone their own country, and they believe that Canada has absolutely no military power and that they wouldn’t exist as a country if it weren’t for the United States.
They will see the price of things go up, our exports and the value of our brands go down, and most will have absolutely no idea why because they live in their own tightly-sealed information bubbles. If you try to explain what’s really happening, it won’t register because they watch Fox News and read Truth Social or X all day.
It’s actually pretty scary because I could envision a scenario in which right wing talking heads begin making a case to their legions of bloviating, brainless morons that we need to attack our neighbor to the north.
In Europe Budweiser is a decent Czech beer that has no longer anything to do with Anheuser Bush (the history is complicated: Nazi-Germany, communist Czech People’s Republic and interesting trademark disputes,–> see link above). American beer is not popular in Europe in general, and now probaby even less so.
Really? Wow. Is there a reason for that?
I’ve always said “US-Americans”, as derived from the Spanish (from Spain) estadounidenses and from the German US-Amerikaner. For some reason I don’t understand this (saying US-American) seems to piss some US-Americans off. But I am ready to switch to Yank or Yankee if it pisses the right people even more off.
This. Or “gringos de mierda”. Or “putos gringos de mierda”. Or “putos gringos de mierda de los cojones”. I could go on, but you get the general idea.
During a buyer’s boykott: forever. That is the point. The shop owners have better things to do with shelf space than to fill it up with stuff that does not sell and makes the customers angry.
No, please, go ahead. It is most enjoyable. Even if the ocasion to rant is a sad one.
TBF, much of South America uses “Norteamericano” as the casual reference. The Caribbean basin is partial to yanquis or gringos if we are feeling upset (gringo originally just meant anyone who does not speak Castillian and before the rise of US hegemony was applied to Greeks, Italians and Catalans too)
And yes, even in the Southern Cone usually context makes it easy to know who you mean
“…y nacen convencidos,
que no hay nada en el mundo,
que sea más importante
que los Ameriicaaaanoooos…”
… Alberto Cortez
Trump was furious that they wouldn’t impose “Gulf of America” on the entire rest of the world. It wasn’t enough that they would say “Gulf of America” in Trump’s presence, they would have had to say it everywhere, in all languages, to everyone and they refuse to do that because for the rest of the world it is still the Gulf of Mexico (as it has been for 500 years). Trump won’t be happy until everyone else uses his terms and not theirs.
Yes, but Trump’s fury does not obviate the fact that they met him 75% of the way immediately. Just because he’s mad at them for not caving 100% does not mean they are resisting.
When I was in Scotland in 1996, I worked for a couple of months at an inn that went on to win a Michelin star. Suffice to say, it was a high-end place that stocked whiskeys well into the double digits, maybe even triple, a pour. My first day after a shift, the staff asked me what kind of beer I wanted. So I picked something local I had heard of: McEwan’s. They looked at me, puzzled. Don’t all you Yanks drink Budweiser? We drink Budweiser in this kitchen. I thought they were having me on but, nope, they were being serious. So we drank Buds in that kitchen. I even have a photo of the sous chef holding up a case of it with Loch Linnhe in the background. (I know you said “English people,” but same island, at least.)
You may be surprised at what the most popular beers in England are. Bud isn’t top five, but it’s number seven last quarter among all adults. Among Boomers it’s #5. Among women, apparently #1. At least by whatever metric they’re using. (Seems to be opinion, in this case. I know I’ve seen sales data where Bud was up there, as well. ETA: Yeah, by sales revenue it was #2 in 2023.)
You know, if you want to interview a serial killer you might have to go in addressing him as “Mr. Bundy” or “Mr. Dahmer” and otherwise meeting him part of the way if you’re going to get anything useful out of him rather than spitting on him or trying to beat to death with a 2x4 to remove evil from the world.
A bunch of other new agencies were willing to cave 100% and kiss Trump’s ass. AP was willing to do it when dealing with the current administration, but that wasn’t enough. Trump wants to police and control everyone in the world.
They don’t accept returns here in Ontario, either. The reason is simply that when bottle deposits went into effect, they weren’t set up to take returns so it was more practical for the government to arrange with the private beer store system to handle returns, since they’ve been set up for that from the beginning.
Personally I don’t find it worth the hassle, so I just put liquor bottles in the recycling bin. It amounts to the same thing except in return for the convenience of not having to schlep all the empties to the beer store, I don’t get my bottle deposit back (20¢ a bottle).
I weep for my country. I mean, it’s only one country in my selection of passports, and here in South Africa we don’t have Bud, let alone Lite unless you pay a huge premium.
But my English part is deeply ashamed. And England is the country that gave us Tesco “on special” Miller Lite, when I lived in London. The only worst beer in competition is Corona.
As stated above, second contender is the Brazilian “Sol”, which is pretty poor. But drinkable if only for rehydration.
