Close Reading

I’m early for some reason

Robert De Niro’s statement on Donald is perfect. \n\n “I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men. I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly. I see an evil one. Over the years, I’ve met gangsters here and there. This guy tries to be one, but he can’t quite pull it off. There’s such a thing as “honor among thieves.” Yes, even criminals usually have a sense of right and wrong. Whether they do the right thing or not is a different story — but — they have a moral code, however warped. Donald Trump does not. He’s a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself — not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him, blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his “friends.” He has contempt for all of them. We New Yorkers got to know him over the years that he poisoned the atmosphere and littered our city with monuments to his ego. We knew first hand that this was someone who should never be considered for leadership. We tried to warn the world in 2016. The repercussions of his turbulent presidency divided America and rattled New York City beyond imagination. Remember how we were jolted by crisis in early 2020, as a virus swept the world. We lived with Donald Trump’s bombastic behavior every day on the national stage, and we suffered as we saw our neighbors piling up in body bags. The man who was supposed to protect this country put it in peril, because of his recklessness and impulsiveness. It was like an abusive father ruling the family by fear and violent behavior. That was the consequence of New York’s warning getting ignored. Next time, we know it will be worse. Make no mistake: the twice-impeached, 4-time indicted Donald Trump is still a fool. But we can’t let our fellow Americans write him off like one. Evil thrives in the shadow of dismissive mockery, which is why we must take the danger of Donald Trump very seriously. So today we issue another warning. From this place where Abraham Lincoln spoke — right here in the beating heart of New York — to the rest of America: This is our last chance. Democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator. And it won’t overcome evil if we are divided. So what do we do about it? I know I’m preaching to the choir here. What we’re doing today is valuable, but we have to take today into tomorrow – take it outside these walls. We have to reach out to the half of our country who have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House. They’re not stupid, and we must not condemn them for making a stupid choice. Our future doesn’t just depend on us. It depends on them. Let’s reach out to Trump’s followers with respect. Let’s not talk about “democracy.” “Democracy” may be our holy grail, but to others it is just a word, a concept, and in their embrace of Trump, they’ve already turned their backs on it. Let’s talk about right and wrong. Let’s talk about humanity. Let’s talk about kindness. Security for our world. Safety for our families. Decency. Let’s welcome them back. We won’t get them all, but we can get enough to end the nightmare of Trump, and fulfill the mission of this “Stop Trump Summit.””

Our allies have good reason to believe we are no longer a beacon of freedom. Coming from a family with ties to both countries since the early 1700’s I’m appalled at the lack of public confrontations with politicians who remain sidelined by fear of reprisals from a corrupt judiciary and President.

I always wondered why I had to be here when the snow tilted between 45 and 60 degrees in winter and hit my face at 30-40 km/h.\nquality of food, transportation, service from employees, speed of processing time, etc there were many things that made me really unsatisfied being living in Toronto.\nsame, at the first time I came Toronto, everything looks great. but not anymore \nI'm korean and I feel really unsafe when I go and live abroad. Korea, Japan, Singapore mainly all Asian countries are top 5 in safety all over the world I think. \nAsia especially Korean and Japan have great service, quality of food with reasonable price. I think I don't need to move foreign country. \nmy background is in South Korea but I can say living in Toronto Canada was horrible and harsh for Korean. Because of multiple reasons but the harsh weather is the biggest for me. Feels like winter in Toronto is 7~8 months long if I compare it to winter in Korea. Fall and Spring?? No, they don't have fall and spring and it's all winter. they have snow in early September late April or May. It was horribly hard because the cold air from the arctic and really powerful wind came all together. even though the weather and temperature look a little bit off from Korea, Canada has a much more harsh location with weather. not only harsh weather but they do provide really embarrassing experience such as expensive payment for everything, a lot of factors disturb me from leaking money. I don't think Canada is a good country. my view of this country totally has been changed 3 years ago.

I was never interested in moving to the States but I think my reasons are different then most.\n\nStarting in my teens, I couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly live somewhere you couldn’t wander in the wilderness without worrying about things like poisonous snakes and poisonous bugs. I couldn’t understand what was so great about swimming in the sea if you have to worry about what part of the beach and how far out you go. How can swimming be fun? Lakes and rivers are much better. \n \nWhen I got older, I couldn’t understand how anyone could enjoy summer when the sun goes down so early in the evening. I left Vancouver, BC partially because the summer days are shorter then home and the winters are too dark. Even on an overcast night in winter up here, the light reflects off the snow and makes the night brighter. Do I like -30C or colder when it happens? No. I can’t walk the dogs because their feet might freeze but they’re idiots and will wrestle in the house if I don’t.\n\nNow that I’m almost 60, I note that all of my American cousins who had duel citizenship have moved back to Canada upon retirement where the conversation rate makes their pensions worth more and after 3 months they qualify for BC medical.\n\nThe guns, healthcare, right wing “Christians”, loss of human rights and potential for violence are why I don’t want my daughter to ever move there.

I would not consider moving to the states for any reason, but my reason at this point is that I’m terminally ill and disabled and I can’t even get travel insurance to be able to visit my family there. My mother’s family are all Americans. I had a lot of fun visiting them in my late teens, back in the early 90’s but now I wouldn’t even drive across the border to go shopping. Well, I do go across the border to Alaska, because that’s just an hour away, but Alaska is very different from the continental United States. And I only go to Skagway for the afternoon to get fish and chips. I welcome Americans to Canada with open arms, but I have zero desire to ever live or visit there. One at a time, on my terms, in my country, Americans are great, but your nation is falling apart at the seams. I don’t feel safe there at all.

I'm a Canadian, and can comfortably state that Canada's reputation was cemented in the early seventies, and anyone choosing to come here based on that reputation, does so under false pretences. The majority of the immigrants I have come into contact with quickly become disillusioned with Canada, and eventually feel compelled to leave. The cost of living, combined with a lack of opportunities, and low wages, means that leading a normal life here is largely out of the question. Crime is a huge problem in BC, as Vancouver has become the de facto money laundering centre for North America. As a result, Canada is now extremely attractive for all the wrong reasons. At present, Canada is experiencing internal mass migration patterns driven by economic necessity, as the cost of living is prohibitively expensive in most urban centres. There is also a corresponding mass migration pattern of those who were born here away from the major cities, as Canada now lets in 500K, largely unvetted, immigrants into the country each year, most of whom are from war-ravaged, or third world, countries. With so many disparate languages and cultures from all over the world, it makes life utterly chaotic. The different nationalities never mix, and there is no effort expended to integrate with the Canadians who were born here. The Chinese live in Richmond, the East Indians in Surrey, and they have NOTHING to do with each other. Having traveled abroad, it's shocking how primitive it is in Canada. My advice to anyone thinking of coming here: Would you buy a ticket for a cruise on a ship that has a massive hole under the waterline?

I’m brown and I completely agree that racism is bad in Canada. I have heard n-words towards black people with the hard r, racism towards me, east asians, etc. High school was hell for me and the blatant racism continues with various friends and family. It was always overlooked and Ive been followed and pulled over by RCMP for no reason. RACISM EXISTS IN CANADA AND I LIVED WITH IT MY WHOLE LIFE AND IM ONLY IN MY EARLY 20S\nStats back it up as well. Indigenous and black people overrepresented in prison