Past, Present, Future: Patriotism Is a Terribly Important, Very Elusive Concept.

I'm sure you're aware about my feelings about patriotism. I've posted more than once that it saddens me to see athletes kneeling when the National Anthem is played, that so many show disrespect for the Stars and Stripes.  I have always felt, as the author does, when he wrote:

"One thing I DO know, patriotism has nothing to do with politics.  Now and then the helm of the ship of state is handed from one person to another, but the course should never change."

I always argued that the flag and the national anthem are constant symbols of a country, and respect for them should not change with a change of administration.  Notwithstanding that I am a Canadian, I am emotionally moved when I hear songs like the American National Anthem, or The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and I have always had respect for the Stars and Stripes.  

The author also wrote:

"If you live in a country, you should respect the ways and traditions of that country, or find someplace else to live."

...which is a nice way of saying "Love it or leave it" with a little of "Do as the Romans do" mixed in.  Some may not understand why I am happy living in China when I'm not a Communist, but maybe it's because I'm not an activist, I'm totally apolitical here (but have supported the Canadian and Ontario Conservative Parties for the past 40 years), I mind my own business and I'm very comfortable and happily married to a beautiful Chinese Buddhist woman who treats me like an Emperor. 

a beautiful Chinese Buddhist woman who treats me like an Emperor. 

And hopefully you treat her just as well if not better.

LOL. Damn right I do.  Here is my Empress.

Wow Buzz, my first thought was of Klimt.

Klimt?  

"Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism." (Wikipedia)

Why did you think of Klimt?

All the gold, I thought that was obvious.

He was also madly in love with the subject of his art.

Totally beautiful. She looks very royal, and the awesome regal gown and headdress is just gorgeous.

Thank you for sharing your lovely Bride. 

LOL. I won't ever share my bride, but I'm happy to share photos of her.  

Oh, okay, I wasn't that familiar with the works of Klimt. My favourite artist is J.M.W.Turner. 

LOL!!  Got'cha!

I wrote a really nice comment about the very positive seed topic, agreeing with it, and then I get a whole bunch of comments bitching about where I live.  I make the mistake of saying I happen to be happy here and many of you get on your high horses and post hateful comments about China.  What the fuck is the matter with everyone?  Bitch about your own damn near civil war between your parties and their supporters, and about your gun murders (that don't happen here), and the faults of your present administration, or is it just easier to seek out other countries' situations in order to take the attention away from some of the horrors YOU live with?

I’m glad you are happy where you are Buzz; your patriotism is obvious. 
Just don’t expect to tell lies about China, and not get a response back. 

I talk about what I see, you talk about what you read.  Fair enough. 

Buzz if you are “seeing” nothing but people happy with their government, and internment camps as “vocational training”, your patriotism has delved into propaganda. Duly noted. 

I'm NOT a Chinese "PATRIOT".  I'm not even a citizen here, but only a resident.  I'm a lifelong, never-to-end being, CANADIAN citizen who will never give up his Canadian passport and right to hold it.  

I'm as free as I want to be, and as far as anyone I have ever known here, so are they.as much as they wish to be.

I don't think democracy is perfect (especially when I see what it causes in the USA and the boondoggle in Israel).  Neither is Communism (which is NOT fascism no matter how many times you call it that). Which is better is only a matter of opinion. 

Did you not think there is capitalism in China?  How do you explain Jack Ma or the other billionaires and millionaires here?  I'm sure my brother-in-law who lives in a small mansion in a community surrounded by a golf course and drives an almost brand new BMW SUV as ONE of his cars is more of a capitalist than YOU are. 

The vote is a creeping right. At this point in the mainland there is only a vote for lesser municipal positions, but that's a start.  I'm sure when the present government has accomplished its aim for every person to have their needs satisfied (they are already almost entirely successful with their goal of elimination of poverty) the right to vote will be increased step by step. Maybe I'm wrong with that, but nobody I've ever met has said they wish they could vote. 

I have no intention of returning to Canada, certainly as long as Trudeau and his party are in power - I hate what is happening there, I still cannot believe that Trudeau voted to condemn Israel - the first time Canada has EVER voted against Israel. Trudeau, the wannabe Muslim, did that to assure the loyalty of his growing Muslim voting community, so fuck the Jews.

I really don't wish to argue about this any more, because I'm not exactly happy about having to defend myself just because I happen to be happy here.  I was thinking that if everyone else despises China so much, maybe I should just go back and delete all the photo-essays, and articles I've posted about the beauty and historical aspects of China because maybe they just arouse the hatred that's been thrown in my face here. 

Just curious.  Did the USA pass resolutions about this event in Canada, where the actions of separatists caused the whole country to be put under martial law?

The October Crisis - Martial Law in Canada

Oct 5, 2010     Source: historyofrights.com

In October 1970, the nation held its collective breath as events in Quebec unfolded. The October crisis, initiated by the kidnappings of James Cross and Pierre Laporte by the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), was one of the most stunning events of the period, and the subject of intense discussion in the media as well as academic and political circles for decades. For the second and only other time in Canadian history, twenty-four years after the espionage commission, the powers of the War Measures Act were employed to suspend Canadians’ fundamental civil liberties in peacetime.

FLQ activities date back to as early as 1961 with graffiti and other forms of vandalism calling for an independent Quebec, with the first bombs exploding in an army barracks on 7 March 1963. Soon after, bombs detonated at a federal tax building, a Canadian National Railway station and rail tracks at Lemieux. Twenty-four sticks of dynamite were found at a broadcast tower of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Mount Royal (they failed to detonate) and the statue of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham was topped by vandals. Wilfrid O’Neil, a night watchman, became the FLQ’s first victim, killed during a bomb attack on a Canadian forces recruiting centre in Montreal in April 1963. On 19 February 1969 the most spectacular bombing by the FLQ took placed at the Montreal Stock Exchange where 20 people were injured. The attack was initiated by one of the most violent cells of the FLQ network, led by Pierre-Paul Geoffrey. He was soon arrested and pleaded guilty to all the actions of his cell. Judge André Fabien, presiding over Geoffrey’s trial, handed down the most severe sentence in the history of the British Commonwealth: 124 life sentences.

After years of conflict, however, the FLQ upped the stakes on 5 October 1970 by kidnapping a member of the British consulate in Montreal, James Cross. The police immediately organized one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history. Between 7 and 10 October, police carried out nearly 1000 raids; they arrested, questioned, and then released about 50 people. When the provincial government balked at giving in to the majority of the terrorists’ demands, such as releasing ‘political’ prisoners and sending the kidnappers to Cuba or Algeria with an armload of gold bullion, another cell of the FLQ proceeded to kidnap the provincial Minister of Labour, Pierre Laporte.

While the Quebec government negotiated with an FLQ lawyer, military reinforcements poured into Quebec. Six thousand troops were stationed in Montreal by 15 October. Soldiers lined the streets of the city and patrolled government buildings. Desperate to find a solution, on 16 October Premier Robert Bourassa and Jean Drapeau (Mayor of Montreal) sent a letter to Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau declaring their belief that an apprehended insurrection was at hand and called on the federal government to intervene. Trudeau responded with the imposition of the War Measures Act. The next day Pierre Laporte was found in the trunk of a car, murdered by the FLQ.

For further details on the crisis, refer to the list of readings on this site for the October Crisis of 1970. In sum, Cross was eventually released on 3 December and his abductors, who would return to Quebec ten years later, were flown to Cuba. Laporte’s killers were arrested and sent to jail, although none of them served their full sentence. The army remained in Quebec until 29 December. The War Measures Act was replaced soon after by a more restricted series of public order regulations which lasted until the summer of 1971. Under the emergency powers, two hundred and eighty-eight people were arrested in the first night, and eventually 438 were detained and police conducted 3068 searches without warrants. As had been the case in most police raids dealing with FLQ violence, raids and arrests were directed against nationalists and the political Left in general. Each individual arrested under the War Measures Act was denied their basic rights to due process. Habeas corpus was suspended and individuals were detained without notifying their families. Most were not permitted to consult legal counsel while others were held incommunicado. The regulations passed under the War Measures Act made membership in the FLQ a crime and, most importantly, the crime was made retroactive. A person who had attended a single FLQ meeting in the early 1960s was, by the wording of the regulations, criminally liable. 

The statistics on those arrested during this period is a testament to the over eagerness of the police in employing emergency powers, as had been the case in 1946. Those arrested spent an average of a week in jail or up to 21 days (legal limit) without charge; a large majority, almost 90 percent, were eventually released without ever being charged. Those who were charged with a crime spent an average of two and a half months in jail before being released on bail; 95 percent of them were either acquitted or had the charges withdrawn. Only 20 people were ever found guilty of a crime arising out of the October crisis of 1970.

The arrest and detention of suspected terrorists was only the tip of the iceberg. The effect of invoking the War Measures Act would be felt as far away as British Columbia, and had widespread ramifications in Quebec politics. The crisis was also the pretext to the formation of new civil liberties and human rights groups across Canada, including the Canadian Federation of Civil Liberties and Human Rights Associations.

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