Actually there is plenty of history I don't know, especially things that happened after 1860 which was the self imposed cut off point for history courses that I took.
This tidbit of information comes from the Toronto Star article, "Border history repeated."
Just as the Bush administration sees Canada as an indifferent ally in the war on terror, in late 1864 Abraham Lincoln's administration felt much the same way. Annoyed by raids across the frontier by Confederate States agents based in Canada and puzzled by Canadian sympathy for the Southern cause, Lincoln decided to act, ending the laissez-faire attitude towards cross-border traffic that had existed for half a century.
Although the law lasted just three months, it stifled trade, created long lines at the border and was condemned in the court of public opinion on both sides of the frontier. But just as the Bush administration's actions have forced Canada to take notice, so did Lincoln's.
Canada is a great neighbor to the US, and our cross border ties are substantial. We already have a "complex" relationship with Canada, but I suspect this new passport requirement won't be a lot of fun for the honest people who need to cross the border on a regular basis. Anyone who really wants to cross the US Canadian border illegally can probably find a way especially since most of the guards will be busy checking passports.
My old college roommates and I were having a chuckle at some writing in this morning's Halifax Chronicle Herald.
After two years of driving rain and wintry chill to numb the competitors, the sun burned through the fog Sunday in Halifax to warm roughly 4,000 runners and hundreds more volunteers and well-wishers near the start-finish line below the Old Town Clock.
I made the comment that two years was a long rain even for Nova Scotia. While Jon chimed in that it was obviously an incredibly long race.
It's easy to make mistakes writing, the good thing about the web is that once you catch them, they're easy to correct.
Hopefully I haven't made too many today since I am a guess author this morning at the "The Only Trait of a Leader" blog. I met John West, the author of the book, "The Only Trait of a Leader" a few years ago in a briefing on super computing. I got to listen to John, a key member of the government's Major Shared Resource Center's super computing team, debate Srinidhi Varadarajan, one of the creators of Va. Tech's System X. I learned more about super computing in that two hours than I would have with a year long course. A few week ago, John asked me to share my views on leadership, and today my thoughts are on his web site.
I'll be commenting more on John's book in the days ahead.
Moving on there's a very good article by Joe Kennedy today about Roanoke in today's Roanoke Times. There are lots of good things to be thankful for in the Roanoke area. Joe manages to list a number of them in his article, "There's a lot to love about the Star City."
Comfortable would be the word.
In many towns, things like markets and shops are facades or throwbacks to a long-gone time. Our market is real. The faces of the produce vendors are familiar to most all of us. The shops are run by small-business people, for the most part, and the throngs of cubicle-inhabitants who make their way to the market and back at lunchtime each day is of a manageable size.
Yes indeed, Roanoke is comfortable, and I'll be in the crowd headed to the market for lunch today.
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