Reminder: Postage rates up Sunday (2026 Update)

Many Americans are sensible, reasonable, friendly people. It's the politics and foreign policy down there that tend to draw the ire of Canadians.

Honestly, it isn't that bad, although it does take some adjusting. Once you're used to it, it's quite pleasant most of the year. Most places in the country only get really cold (below -20C) for a few weeks a year.

It's odd how you say that. I've visited Texas, and thought that I could never live there because it was just too hot. :-) It's all what you're used to, I guess...

Except for China, I didn't know those other countries HAD a military. China does it all on manpower--they don't need any expensive high-tech equipment other than a few swords. What is Canada's military? Just a few fags dressed up in queer-looking red uniforms riding around on horses?

I pay $112 a year for private health insurance. That equals what--about $24 in Canada?

Actually, I feel sorry for you. I know several Canadians, and they are all either alcoholics or are suffering from bi-polar disorder. I guess that is what happens when you have that nasty beer to drink and eat that mad-cow beef.

You sound like a Newfie. Folks in Ontario are basically Americans because everyone knows that Ontario will soon be the 51st state.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that China's military gets by with nothing but swords. The Americans have the only modern, well-equipped military in the world, after all.

Those folks in red uniforms are the RCMP, and they only wear the red for ceremonial purposes. The RCMP is a national police force (sort of like the FBI), not the military. But I'm sure that's just a technicality to you - God forbid that you actually learn about how things work north of the 49th parallel.

You would appear to be spending far less than the average, or have a good plan from your employer. According to USA Today, the average family health policy costs around $11,000. Here's a link to the story that cited that number:

Your calculation of the exchange rate would peg the Canadian dollar to be worth well over $4.50USD. Last I checked, the Canadian dollar was worth a little bit less than the US dollar (but much stronger than it's been in a long time, since the US dollar keeps weakening). Currently, your $112USD equals about $130CDN.

I probably know far more Canadians than you do, and none of the ones I know are addicts or mentally ill. In any event, I don't think that either of our limited experiences with Canadians yields a very accurate picture. There are over thirty million of us, after all, and something tells me that only a small minority are addicts or mentally ill. I'd bet that the rates in Canada are similar to those in the USA.

As to the beer, that's a matter of preference (most people think Canadian beer is quite tasty). Regarding the beef, the chances of contracting Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in both Canada AND the USA is basically zero. In both countries, only extremely isolated cases of the disease have been found, and not a single human case has been diagnosed.

You're wrong, culturally and geographically. I'm an Albertan.

I'll be sure to let the folks in Ottawa know. They'll be interested, I'm sure.

In what has to be the least publicized postal rate hike in memory here in Canada, the basic domestic letter price (0 - 30g) will increase by one cent, from $0.50 to $0.51 on January 16, 2006.

Just a service to the public of UseNet. I'm sure that lots of Canadians come here to read about home repair, and our friends in other countries must be clamouring to get this information as well.

According to GE, who makes them, there are more MRI machines in Seattle than in the whole of Canada.

You must have great welfare up there to be making fun of our working poor. Most Canucks I know aren't elitist pigs like you, so you must have picked it up being a US liberal before you dodged the draft.

Thanks for telling me just after the Post Office closed! ;)

Jealous?

Man, you Canadians can shut any American hole any time in seconds. Good job. Poor Americans can't get a break from anyone. LOL

And, as we all know, diagnostic imaging is the be-all and end-all of health care. Cost to get a medically-necessary MRI in Canada: $0. Cost to get a medically necessary MRI in the USA: A lot more than $0.

What's your point? There certainly gun crimes in Canada, but they are considerably more rare than in the USA. Murders involving guns happen about EIGHT TIMES as often in the USA as in Canada. For 1987-96, the average firearm homicide rate was 5.7 per

I'm not making fun of anybody - I'm just pointing out that there are plenty of Americans that live in nothing more than a shack along a highway (or less). Americans seem to ignore that fact.

Actually, I was born here, and the whole concept of a "draft" is a foreign concept to me.

Nah. It's a lot of fun to make fun of American politics and political leaders. GWB is the funniest thing to come to American politics in many years. It's too bad he won't be in office for too much longer.

Nothing cost $0. It just comes down to the method of payment. The government gives you nothing, it takes from the people and re-distributes it. This is true in every country. Be assured, you are paying for it. My wife recently had an MRI. Cost to me, $0 out of pocket, but you can be sure the money came from me and others at some point.

Why do so many Canadians come to the US for elective surgery? They get tired of being on a long waiting list.

Man, you Canadians can shut any American hole any time in seconds. Good job. Poor Americans can't get a break from anyone. LOL

Yeah, and Paul Martin is a f****ng genius.

What a joke.

You bore me.

here to

to get this

I'm in the US, and liked getting a notice of their postage increase. That one is today (and to 39 cents), strange the postal service picked today, they don't work on Sunday.

Yeah. Strange.

About as strange as canada picking January 16th. Most of them NEVER work. They live off government handouts.

Go figure.....

True in a sense, but I dare say that my taxes aren't $13,000 higher than they would be in the USA. Do Americans pay less in taxes because they've got private health insurance?

True, and some Canadians will choose to pay out of pocket for things like that. The Canadian health system tends to focus its efforts on essential services. Elective services tend to have longer waiting times.

Canada's unemployment rate is 6.5%. In the province that I live (Alberta), the unemployment rate is 4.1%, lower than the national rate of 4.5% in the USA.