Said Kathleen Sokvitne, a citizen of Calgary, Alberta, quoted in "'We're Canadians': Some Albertans divided about separation in cross-province checkup/Republican Party of Alberta leader says membership has doubled since the federal election" (CBC).
For the annals of Things I Asked Grok:
1. What does "checkup" mean in this Canadian newspaper headline...?
2. In the US, we'd just say "poll," right? (Or "survey")
3. If Alberta became the 51st state, there would be a lot of odd language and spelling quirks that might make Albertans feel/seem like outsiders.
4. But within America, there are regional differences that we accept and think are kind of charming, like the pop/soda/coke variation and the way we here in Wisconsin call a water fountain a "bubbler." So, it's okay to be different... but drop that "u" in words like "colour." That's just unnecessary.
5. [After Grok brought up the metric system answering question 4:] What if we offered to switch to the metric system just to welcome Alberta? Do you think that would encourage them to come on in and be a United State?
6. I'm just kidding. We Americans are never going to accept the metric system!
పోస్ట్లు
94 కామెంట్లు:
Grok's answers: https://x.com/i/grok/share/ZCc6TREVy975tzUhnh1iYFUk1
I'd welcome Alberta, but it won't satisfy my craving for Greenland.
The Alberta separatists are making a Trumpian opening bid of way more than they really want, in order to strike a better deal with Ottawa. As for Trump's 51st state trolling, we Americans know he's a bullshit artist, but the Canadian electorate believed every word.
There's a lot of weasel language in that article. Also, there are existing language quirks between states, which seems more easily overcome than cultural differences. From what I've read recently, Alberta has more in common with Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming than the rest of the Canadian provinces.
"We're Canadians" doesn't mean what it used to. The brand has been damaged.
Maybe Trump can make a deal. Like instead of a 51st star on the US flag there could be 50 stars and one little white maple leaf...if they want to cling to their weird plant-based identity for some reason.
"What if we offered to switch to the metric system just to welcome Alberta? "
i Know you're Just kidding, but this is NO Laughing Matter!
we fought TWO wars against the brits, to keep this metric crap OUT!
F*CK Metric!
The leftist compulsion to claim that anybody opposing their crazy schemes is brainwashed is both IMAX-level projection and the reveals the utter lack of respect they have for voters. Same as Brexit. Same as Tea Party. Same as MAGA.
Any organizations that resist control by leftist authoritarians is the problem in their eyes. In our eyes, their authoritarian impulses are the problem. It's apparently an unbridgeable gulf. We'd be using their vax-passports right now to order our own meals at McDonalds (albeit vegetarian "beef") from a 100% robot crew if they had their way.
A poor article by an organ of the state.
There is no discussion of the issues that are causing the rift with the exception to vague references to a bad relationship and affordability issues. It would be like writing an article on the split between the North and South in 1856 and not mentioning the word “slavery”.
Has anybody polled the separatists to see if they would,want to part of the US?
Alberta would stick out funny. Bad enough two states are totally disconnected.
"She is manipulating the people of this province into believing that we should seriously look at separating," Sokvitne said. "It is just ludicrous. Not all of us think like that. I absolutely disagree."
Sounds like a typical Leftist. If you don't agree with me, you're an idiot (or a racists, xenophobe, homophobe, transphobe, etc.)
This just shows how stupid people are. Alberta would get a lot of special deals (ala Quebec) if it threatened to separate. Demand things from Ottawa, and if not provided, say Alberta will leave.
But hey, lets not do that. Lets sing O'canada and get taken to the cleaners. Morons!
This is all about revenue. All of the arguments are trying to force it as a societal issue, Canadians squabbling over 'cultural disparities', but the truth is, the entire, sparsely-populated nation runs on the revenue from lumber, mining, and oil and gas production. These are mostly in Alberta and Ontario provinces. The Maritimes and Quebec are just money-gobblers that have learned that the more they complain, the more they get. Like our own Blue cities, they've been doing it long and hard enough to be considered grifting professionals. They are a voting demographic kept under watchful cultivation by the moneyed political interests.
Alberta has had enough of being treated like both a cash cow for revenue and stepchild for budgeting purposes. But I don't think Canada is in danger of being split apart. Alberta will have to choke down the revenue and dare the newly-elected super villain to mobilize the army, if they want to see results.
Its too bad we can't trade New England for the Canadian west. Both countries would be better off.
I'll never forget that blockhead Jerry Ford wanted us to switch to metric. He also wanted to make PR a state (and give us 2 more Democrat senators forever). He was the dumbest President - ever. And he never could have gotten elected on his own.
I welcome Alberta if they wanna be the 51st state!! Even if they bring in more oil (I live in Texas) and thus compete with us. Languages??? Why East Canadians speak French... and are forced to by the government. Only wish British Columbia and Saskatchewan came to... make an easy drive to Alaska!
Aren't the cultural references a straw man to hide the far left/normal people political divide like we experience in the United States?
A few years back there was a controversy in Canada because a commercial said "From A to Z ..." and didn't pronounce the last letter as "zed." It's a happy land that argues about such trivia.
It's a very murky matter -- something to ask Grok about -- but in some accounts the US did officially adopt the metric system, maybe in the 1970s, maybe as far back as the 1870s. It was just that people didn't listen to the government and didn't fall into line.
In any case, we haven't drawn closer to our fellow holdouts, Liberia and Burma. Internationalism isn't in favo(u)r now, but shouldn't there be some organization to promote the alternative to the metric system? What would we call it, though? "English"? "American"? Certainly not "Imperial". Go Team ________!
I would welcome Alberta only if polls show they would have voted for Trump. That's my new standard of whether your politics is a net benefit to the nation and the world. Trump and MAGA are the only things capable of saving us all from the societal collapse from corruption and stupidity we were, and may still be headed for.
I also want the metric system. As someone who works with measurements all day long in fabrication of things, seeing the simplicity and logic of the Metric system is like watching cars drive by while shoeing my horse.
... the truth is, the entire, sparsely-populated nation runs on the revenue from lumber, mining, and oil and gas production.
In other words, it's a "gas station without nukes"? They could join with Russia, win the Cold War, and rule the world.
cAUTION, ALBERTA - NO SUDDEN MOVES - OR THE CORRUPT LEFT WILL FLOOD YOU WILL ILLEGAL aliens.
Where is Celsius, and why is it always cooler there?
wild chicken said...
“Alberta would stick out funny.”
It would look like the lower 48 is flipping the bird.
If Albertans can tolerate being forced into bilingualism, they'll gladly accept Webster's orthography in exchange.
I recall watching TV in Canada, and laughing at the way James Garner said "Mazda" in an ad.
Trump proclaimed he wanted all of Canada, a very weak, underdeveloped, over-regulated- with-liberals country, sort of a colder Albany on steroids, which produced the predictable political overreaction, which in turn finally pissed Albertans off to a very interesting point. Trump really only wanted the resource-rich provinces anyway, not the liberals from the east who would screw up the Senate ever more, and so here comes Albertans taking that bait. More 3D chess....
Clearly we need a catchy phrase, like 54 40 or fight!!
Grok suggested two, "53 North, Wild and Free!"
"49 to 60, Alberta’s Ready to Roll!"
Quora: “There are twenty-one states ending with the letter "a." They are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, and West Virginia.” Alberta would round it out to a nice even number of 22. But then we would have 51 states. Unless we can convince Alberta to split in two, like Dakota, becoming North and South Alberta.
I'd favor a compromise on the metric system. The US can adopt metric but keep fahrenheit. Best of both worlds.
The Left in Canada will shoot people to stop Alberta from leaving. If Alberta's citizens want out they will have be willing to spill blood, too.
>> 1. What does "checkup" mean in this Canadian newspaper headline...? <<
Every Canadian will get the reference:
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Country_Checkup
"Sounds like a typical Leftist. If you don't agree with me, you're an idiot (or a racists, xenophobe, homophobe, transphobe, etc.)"
Not to mention, in everything I've read on the topic, I've never seen where anyone is claiming that "all of us think like that".
"I recall watching TV in Canada, and laughing at the way James Garner said "Mazda" in an ad."
I subscribe to NHL Center Ice and typically get each team's broadcast for most games. You can tell which one you're watching without checking the guide by the way they pronounce "Mazda" in the ads. Rhymes with "pasta" in Canadianese.
I've lived in Canada for 12 years now, but only since COVID has it become clear what a ramshackle country it is. We all know about Quebec narrowly rejecting secession every 20 or 30 years, but lots of people feel underappreciated by the government in Ottawa and are getting increasingly angry about it.
tcrosse said...The Alberta separatists are making a Trumpian opening bid of way more than they really want, in order to strike a better deal with Ottawa.
If they're smart--this is what's happening. The federal government is held hostage by the jerks in Quebec while the provinces that keep the state from going bankrupt are taken for granted (treated like colonies, as one pundit recently put it).
In the end, it may amount to the same thing--Quebec won't accept anything less than being showered with money and special privilege; if other provinces are serious about being treated fairly, the government may find it an impossible circle to square.
I'm happy with the size and outline of my country already. If it comes to a vote on new states (ANY new states), mark me as
'No.'
"Quebec won't accept anything less than being showered with money and special privilege"
This is why the Quebec secession nonsense is just that- nonsense. Separate from what- the money spigot? Like that's going to happen.
Let them keep 'colour.' It's mutually intelligible, and unambiguous.
If we do not at some point make the switch to the metric system, we are going to go the route HG Wells predicted in The Time Machine. We are going to have people who understand technology, and people who don't. Literally every engineer I know is proficient in both systems, because you need Imperial to coexist with the Luddites, and you need metric to actually do engineering with any sort of efficiency. Look, I get it. Change is hard. But it is past time we started pushing it a little.
wild chicken said...
"Alberta would stick out funny. Bad enough two states are totally disconnected."
Add BC and Yukon.
bagoh2o,
You are perfectly welcome to use metric in your manufacturing operation. Knock yourself out!
I don’t want Alberta at all. They may be conservative by Canadian standards, but everyone they sent to Washington would be a liberal Democrat.
Weird Al - Canadian Idiot:
https://youtu.be/C_TfBbR6L0M?si=DwCw6TmBDzgmvjQ3
Here is an absolute serious infurious NO to British Columbia unless they detach Vancouver.
We've been using metric in the machine tool industry for quite a few decades now.
I like how they think that Albertans are being manipulated. As if the average Albertan can;y see how badly they are getting screwed.
It's more useful to use your favorite AI to look up the procedure for provincial separation. It requires negotiation with the Canadian Federal government, an amendment to the Canadian constitution, and confirmation from 50% of the population of Canada. That's after the people of the province vote to leave. In other words, short of Canada deciding to disestablish itself no province is going to be allowed to separate.
We're already on the metric system. The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 that amended the 1975 Metric Conversion Act to designate the metric system as the "preferred system of weights and measures" for U.S. trade and commerce." Heck, U.S. customary units have been defined in metric terms by NIST since the 1893 Mendenhall Order.
"Literally every engineer I know is proficient in both systems, "
Yes, and it's not like it's hard, because it isn't.
Mountain out of a mole hill.
Tim said...If we do not at some point make the switch to the metric system, we are going to go the route HG Wells predicted in The Time Machine.
I don’t see why. It’s simple enough to learn both and the Imperial system is superior in any scenario not requiring the one and only advantage of metric—ease of conversion.
There’s a reason not one society anywhere on earth has adopted the metric system except by government edict backed by brute force.
the elois are already among us,
I believe most States DOT are metric already.
"but the Canadian electorate believed every word."
Worse, they seemed to believe he'd grab them by the....
Would western Canada be satisfied being a US territory?
"Bad enough two states are totally disconnected."
Contiguous empires are hard to come by, but we did pretty well.
Hard no on adding any new states. Territories, sure.
Canada has California prices but Mississippi wages. Net Zero policies and open-door immigration are incompatible with prosperity, as Germany has learned, but they are what Carney has promised.
tcrosse said..."Where is Celsius, and why is it always cooler there?"
True dat. It would be below zero for most of five months a year in states along the northern tier.
A Canadian canard or a call to accountability?
I watched the press conference that Premier Danielle Smith did about the seperation referendum and it seemed to me that she was being very cautious and specifically not encouraging Albertans to leave Canada. The reason that the political left in Canada does not want Alberta to leave is that most of the natural resources in Canada are there. East Canada takes and takes from west Canada and gives little back in return. (Especially in terms of political power.) It's similar to the way that the west coast cities in California treat the people who live on the east side of California.
As for the language, I think that Albertans have more in common with Americans than Eastern Canadians. (Many of whom speak French)
And in the United States, more than have of the stuff is metric. Even when we would buy lighting equipment from American companies, it usually came with metric hardware. The main holdout from the metric system is the lumber store. (Where you buy a 2" x 4" that isn't really two inches by four inches anyway.)
"Canadian: "Double-double" (Tim Hortons coffee with two creams, two sugars) vs. no equivalent U.S. fast-food term."
GROK has never been to In-N-Out Burger. Plus, there are 656 Tim Hortons in the United States.
I'll be celebrating my 23rd birthday in Celsius soon.
I hope they don't cut off my Social Security and Medicare.
I hate Canada, but I have a warm spot in my heart for Alberta. I plunked my money down on a Canadian vacation in 2019, only to have the country lock down (and the tour operator refuse to return my money) until 2022. I came down with a cold in Vancouver, but all the Vancouver doctors cared about was COVID, COVID, COVID. Once I tested negative for COVID it was “You’re fine, enjoy your trip.”
I got worse, and days later in tiny Jasper the ER doctor diagnosed me as having bacterial pneumonia. A healthy dose of antibiotics and a couple days’ rest and I was finally okay. But as far as I’m concerned that doctor in the tiny ER saved my life after the doctors in Vancouver got fixated on COVID.
Loudogblog is right. Read Mark Steyn to see how quickly Canada is becoming literally a fascist state. Alberta should be welcome, with strict border control.
Imagine the effect on that
...hag Atwood. Sorry.
I think Fahrenheit versus Celsius would be a bigger stumbling block than the metric system. 35 doesn’t sound particularly warm but 95, the same temperature in Fahrenheit, sure does. And negative temperatures in Celsius are warmer than negative temperatures in Fahrenheit.
As to population, Alberta might be sparsely populated, but it has 8.5 times as many people living there as Wyoming. If Wyoming is populous enough to be a state then Alberta surely is too.
I think Fahrenheit versus Celsius would be a bigger stumbling block than the metric system. 35 doesn’t sound particularly warm but 95, the same temperature in Fahrenheit, sure does. And negative temperatures in Celsius are warmer than negative temperatures in Fahrenheit.
As to population, Alberta might be sparsely populated, but it has 8.5 times as many people living there as Wyoming. If Wyoming is populous enough to be a state then Alberta surely is too.
"I think Fahrenheit versus Celsius would be a bigger stumbling block than the metric system. 35 doesn’t sound particularly warm but 95, the same temperature in Fahrenheit, sure does."
Internet meme:
Fahrenheit...
0 - Really cold outside
100 - Really hot outside
Celsius...
0 - Fairly cold outside
100 - Dead
Kelvin...
0 - Dead
100 - Dead
“If Alberta became the 51st state, there would be a lot of odd language and spelling quirks that might make Albertans feel/seem like outsiders.”
Not a problem. The public schools are turning out a generation that can’t spell, so nobody will notice the Canadian spelling variations.
"I think Fahrenheit versus Celsius would be a bigger stumbling block than the metric system."
We just got back from 2 months in New Zealand. Highway distances and speeds in kilometers was no problem, but I was forever turning to my iPad to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. But I imagine that would go away after awhile.
What would Alberta get from joining the US? One thing would be refining capacity. Alberta’s oil is mostly high sulphur crude, and while Alberta does have refineries in the province thst can proceed high sulphur crude, there is a lot more capacity for processing high sulphur crude down by the Gulf of America. If Alberta was in the US the ability to send crude to those refineries would not require an international agreement.
They’d get relief from onerous Canadian firearms laws. Large parts of Alberta are not just “rural,” they’re still wilderness. And that wilderness is populated by gray wolves — the largest members of the canine family since dire wolves went extinct. Also black bears and grizzlies, which come out of hibernation in the spring very hungry — hungry enough to put humans and human children on the menu. But the rules, written by city dwellers for city dwellers, forbid carrying handguns and restrict the ability to carry rifles in public.
And they’d get freedom of speech, which Justin Trudeau restricted and Carney shows no interest in restoring.
We’d get crude oil, lots of wheat, a bunch of nice national parks, Banff, and two pro football teams (though they’d have to learn NFL rules). Looks like win-win to me.
News stories about succession by disgruntled people are merely slow-news-day filler tbh. Every so often we hear about how some in eastern Washington want to merge with Idaho is the most common version IIRC. Hawaii becoming a semi-autonomous ethno-state along the lines of an Indian reservation is another one I've heard, but none of this ever pans out. There are too many impediments and people are fickle. How I see it.
What I remember most about °F versus °C, is from working in the FSU. In the wintertime, if it was -40°, then the scale was irrelevant because they're the same at that temperature. The regional temperature range was an easier mnemonic to refer to in Celsius, because the range there, summer to winter, was +40 to -40°C. Absolutely brutal severe continental climate.
The process would have to be initiated by Alberta, and there would be a lengthy interregnum (perhaps one to two decades) supported by trade deals and mutual defense agreements. Canada would fight like hell to get Alberta back in the fold. If Saskatchewan joined with Alberta, things would move faster.
Give the vastly disproportionate contribution by Alberta to the wealth of Canada and the penalties imposed by Canadian commies on Alberta’s petroleum production, etc., only a crazy lefty would refuse to follow Smith’s lead.
MadTownGuy said...
"Let them keep 'colour.' It's mutually intelligible, and unambiguous."
So if Alberta becomes a territory of the US, it would be a territory of colour.
Alberta doesn’t need to be a whole state. They have some really nice scenery there, so it would make a great National Park. If the some Canadians don’t like it, well, we might have to do a little ethnic cleansing, no big deal.
Deep State Reformer said....
"Every so often we hear about how some in eastern Washington want to merge with Idaho is the most common version IIRC. "
-----------------------
Actually I believe it's Eastern Oregon not Washington.
It's both, with Spokane the cuckoo in the nest. If Eastern Washington went, rural-ish SW Washington would want to go along. It does make you wonder how tenable the state-ruled-by-one-or-two-cities model is. The Donks example of "sanctuary" scofflawing will be thrown back in their faces in a myriad of ways.
No to metric. If we go metric on everything, I'll have to replace even more 10mm sockets.
Actually I believe it's Eastern Oregon not Washington.
@William50, I understand that it’s both.
The military uses kilometers or "clicks." How long does it take for anyone to think that way instinctively without doing all the mental math? 3/5th of a mile? 10 football fields?
*
Was Canada's transition to Celsius easier than our own would be? There's little chance up there of dressing for 50° and finding out that it's actually 120°.
*
James Polk got us California and about 5 other states, but gave up our claims to British Columbia. I wonder if Trump thinks he could have gotten us a better deal. Maybe without even going to war with Mexico.
Less then 50% of colonists supported the Revolution when it started.
Less then 50% of the citizens of both sides wanted the Civil War when it started.
Doesn't matter what Kathleen Sokvitne wants. She'll get what the agitators and activists want.
Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, has announced a set of demands, so we shall see how badly Ottawa wants Alberta to stay. Let the negotiations begin.
Look over yonder
What do you see?
America's calling
Most definitely
A new day is coming (whoo-hoo!)
Alberta's changing
Ain't it beautiful? (whoo-hoo!)
Red White and Blue Persuasion
Better get ready
Gonna see the light
Separation's the answer (whoo-hoo!)
And that's alright
So give those commies the finger (whoo-hoo!)
And let's move the line
Just look at your tax bill (it's huge!)
And open your mind
Red White and Blue Persuasion, Mm-hmm
It's a new vibration
Red White and Blue Persuasion
Red White and Blue Persuasion
Americans use the metric system when it makes sense, and use the Imperial system when it makes sense.
We can actually handle 2+ systems. Because we aren't idiots.
Independence doesn’t really work for Alberta. It needs a path through either America or Canada to get its petroleum to market.
Canada has summoned its king for the opening of the new parliament in a couple of weeks. I’m sure a visit by the charismatic King Charles III will put an end to the secessionist talk.
Cross Country Checkup is a CBC open- line radio program broadcast on Sundays
Celsius is a dumb system with no reason to exist (it lacks the one and only advantage of the metric system—ease of conversion), but there is a quick and dirty conversion trick if you don’t need the exact temperature—to go from C to F, a little less than double plus 32 gives you a pretty close approximation.
So 10 C is about 18 (a little less than double) + 32 = 50 F
To go the other way, you subtract 32 and your temp is a little more than half what you have left
40 F is about 5 C (40 - 32 = 8, a little more than half is 5)
West TX Intermediate Crude said...
“I'll be celebrating my 23rd birthday in Celsius soon.”
My shoe size is 28.6 in metric, or 45 using the European standard.
My other key measurement is 20.4 in metric, or 10.5 in the US.
How we came up with those ring sizes I’ll never know.
I'm not going to drive in KM, buy food in KGrams, get weather readings in C, or hear a football anouncer tell me its 4.5 meters to the goal-line. If engineers and others need Metric for their work, use it for your work. Otherwise, stuff it.
If its so easy to think in metric, then its even easier to use imperial. Because that's what we've been using for 200 years. Change for change sake is moronic.
Rocco said...
...How we came up with those ring sizes I’ll never know
The same people who designed hat sizes- mine is 7-1/8. Not idea what it actually is measured in relation to.
But, as Mason G pointed out with temp- the Imperial system is human sized, metric isn't. Oh- Rankine also goes in there- 0°R-100°R=dead. Humans all fall from 0-10 feet- easier gradations then 0-3 meters. A cup or a pint is an easy amount to drink, a half liter is about a pint, and a liter is good for sharing. As is a qt.
Now a yard being 3 feet and a foot being 12 inches and a mile being 1760 yards instead of all being divisible by 10 makes the math a little more challenging, but for everyday needs, they're also easy to understand as they are human sized.
Then- there's the nautical miles- 2000 yeads, or, one minute of arc around the equator. Little known factoid.
The biggest reason to avoid the metric system? It was designed by the French.
pious agnostic
Yes. As anyone who has worked on a GM car will tell you.
Wouldn't the people of Alberta get 2 things that are priceless beyond measure in return for being the 51st State ?
Well, they would technically get the entire Constitution but they could immediately use Amendment 1 , in like the very worst way.
And they would appreciate having Amendment 2 immensely also.
It's great for conversation, but let's face it, it isn't real. But, I think us changing to metric and them dropping useless "u's" in words is a win-win situation. We would dominate world trade and science if we went metric.
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