Yarn Harlot--- Take Your Best Shot on Canada Day...

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The day after tomorrow it's Canada Day---a grand holiday for all Canadians.

It's a day to remember how Canada became a country, the anniversary of the enactment of the Constitution Act of 1867 which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada.

We Americans think that was a great day. And that is because we feel blessed to have such a wonderful country as Canada on our northern border. We feel love, friendship, and a host of other positive feelings for our beloved neighbor.

Now, to the point of my post today. I have received this week some emails from Canadians who hate me, declaring that they "can't wait for Yarn Harlot's Canada Day Post" and how they "can't wait for her to write anti-American remarks like she did last year". What they are referring to is how I wrote a protest to Yarn Harlot's 2009 Canada Day post because I felt she had ridiculed America in it and had taken some cheap shots against America while writing praise of her own country.

When I wrote my protests and comments, YH (who is incapable of taking constructive criticism) banned me from her blog and wrote a whiny post implying that I was an evil, dangerous stalker, for which I received an enormous onslaught of negative hatemail which continues to this day.

God, the people writing me the hatemail cursed me for being "dangerous" to the point that they suggested YH notify Homeland Security! It was so utterly ridiculous that I actually laughed. And, like I said, I receive hatemail to this day simply for my protesting her criticism of my country. NEVER, and I say NEVER, did I ever threaten her physical safety or anything of the sort!!!!! It was simply an exchange of emails---because in answer to my comments, she wrote me protracted emails where she childishly insulted my intelligence.

Basically, Yarn Harlot cannot take criticism. And her whining to her cronies has branded me as evil, for which I have received ugly, hateful emails and comments since then.

And before you get angry at me, thinking I'm a "ranter and raver"--let me tell you that I'm not the only American who feels insulted by YH's Canada Day posts. Which leads us back to the point of my post (and I'll repeat)---that on Canada Day the Yarn Harlot always writes a blog post about it, proclaiming her pride in her country--as she should. But in doing so she frequently feels it necessary to declare her love for her country by doing a strange thing---she writes the blog post in a way in which she sneaks in some comments that many Americans interpret as cheap, ridiculing, rude, pot-shots at America.

Why does she do this? We Americans have no idea. We celebrate our 4th of July (Independence Day) three days later without feeling it necessary to compare ourselves more positively than Canada. That would be silly---we're both good and wonderful countries---EQUALLY SO.

But Yarn Harlot feels it necessary to describe our country in a less than flattering light when comparing it to Canada on Canada Day.

Oh, it's done in a subtle manner---a joking manner, even. But the jokes are wearing thin. They're wearing thin because she's been doing this for quite some time, as described next.

Lest you think I'm the only one who has protested this habit of Yarn Harlot's (or lest you think I'm imagining things) let me remind you that I never said a word about the topic until 2009. But I was not the first. In fact, one year (2007) she offended so many Americans with her Canada Day remarks that in her 2008 Canada Day post she began it by writing a highly arrogant "explanation" of how she writes her Canada Day posts, completely denying that she had written things which offended Americans.

Her cheap pontifications of an "explanation" in 2008 can be seen here .

What is really funny is that, in that arrogant explanation, she actually makes a statement admitting that "every year she gets a whuppin' for this."

Which means that she has been counseled about this ugly habit of making rude remarks about Americans many times before!!! So I was NOT the instigator of this issue at all!!

As for me, I am going to take this opportunity today to do exactly the opposite of what Yarn Harlot's probably planning to do on July 1st. Instead of writing a post about my country's July 4th Independence Day while adding rude pot-shots at Canada, making thinly veiled insults about Canada, or arrogantly comparing the two countries with America being portrayed as being the "better", like Yarn Harlot does in the reverse--- I'm going to write a post which talks about how much I love and revere Canada.

Yes, it's true. I love Canada with all my heart. I love Canada as much as I love my own country. And I'll tell you why.

And I am going to break down this huge topic into a smaller piece---that of my own feelings for Canada based on my own life's experiences.

First and foremost, let me remind you that I grew up as a "Diplomatic Brat", a rather rude term for the child of diplomatic parents. My parents were US Foreign Service Officers and were transferred every 18 mos to 2 years to different countries overseas, where they worked for the American Embassy in whichever country in which they were stationed.

And due to the transient nature of diplomatic families in that lifestyle, we always had friends hither and yon in many other countries due to the inevitable fact of crossing their paths in all the constant globe-trotting within the Diplomatic Corps.

In the Diplomatic Corps, we also made the acquaintance of many international friends from other countries' diplomatic corps who were were also globetrotting. And thus, we met and befriended many Canadians. We loved Canadians because they were our "neighbor buddies" and we felt closer to them than we did to people from other countries. We loved them because Canada has always been a friend to the United States of America and vice a versa.

And now I'm going to tell you one of the greatest reasons I love Canadians.

It is because they helped saved some of our asses one time---a very dangerous time.

It was 1979, and the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, had just been stormed and overtaken by Iranians.

Yes, it was stormed, for political reasons having to do with the ruling Shah and other political reasons during the revolution which was occurring in that country. And when they stormed the Embassy, many American diplomats and military personnel were taken hostage by the Iranians---and you can read about the situation which led up to this incident and the American hostages' horrifying ordeal here.

But....not every single American was captured and taken hostage.

Want to know why?

Because a wonderful thing you can read here about, called the "Canadian Caper" , happened....

Basically, some Canadian Embassy diplomats saved 6 Americans and hid them in their homes---at a great personal risk to themselves. And they helped those 6 Americans sneak out of Iran. The Canadians performed this dangerous task with no hesitation---out of pure hearts. And the US Diplomatic Corps hearts were filled with gratitude for this sacrifice by those brave and courageous Canadians.

The story is nervewracking and full of horror and danger--you can read about it all over the internet---and it still brings a tear to my eye today----because my family had friends in that particular American Embassy. In fact, the breach of security of that American Embassy caused my father and others to work for the next ten years on newer and more tighter security measures to prevent a similar occurrence.

It wasn't the first time we Americans have nearly been massacred overseas and it won't be the last. You guys already know about the time me and my mother were almost killed in an anti-American event in Damascus, Syria, in 1998. (An event which lives on in my nightly PTSD nightmares to this day--a recurring dream where I'm running for my life in a foreign country, and where I wake up in a cold, fearful sweat almost every single night---which the therapists have as yet been unable to help me overcome.)

Anyway, those of my generation will never forget the 1979 incident whereby the Canadians put their own lives on the line to save some American diplomats.

And so I would like to say:

Canada? I salute you! You are WONDERFUL! You're tops in my book!

And no matter what negative or ridiculing things Yarn Harlot might say about us Americans on her Canada Day post, it won't matter to me. Because I still love you. And I will never forget, to my dying day, the time Canadians put everything they had on the line for some Americans.

I love you guys and so this is my tribute to you guys on your Canada Day.

May your celebratory holiday fireworks be beautiful, my friends.....

Love,

Bo

(and P.S. to the Yarn Harlot---if you make anti-American comments on this Canada Day's post, I will send them to all your various publisher companies along with a letter asking them not to sell anymore of your books in America.)

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