RULES OF THE GAME

I am going to steer clear of the pot debate, but I will say this: I did not
once say that I was against the decriminalization of small amounts of
marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes [Politicians gone to pot,
April 6, Advance News].

And neither did our editor in his responses to some of the many letters.

Making light of the possibility of a B.C. Marijuana Party's post-election
celebration was just satire, and nothing more.

Hey, I love Bob Marley. I have his greatest hits stuck in my CD player.

I've been to Amsterdam. I even ventured through the Red Light District in
October, but I held my breath as I strolled by some of the coffee shops.

I'm hip to the scene, man.

I'd rather focus on the people who really have their heads in the clouds -
the Yankee-Doodle American journalists who write sports columns. The furor
over a pair of Denver columnists who attacked our Vancouver Canucks hockey
team, and worse yet, our country and our culture in their daily newspapers,
has lit a fire under Vancouver and our province.

First off, we should all congratulate Canadian all-star hockey players Joe
Sakic, Adam Foote, Rob Blake and Ray Bourque, who played key roles in the
Colorado Avalanche's exciting, hard fought four-game playoff series sweep
over our game Vancouver Canucks.

It is too bad these great hockey players ply their trade in a country where
many people, particularly sportswriters, are infected by ignorance. It is a
proven fact that two per cent of the United States' populace hasn't the
slightest clue who Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is.

In Canada, we have two official languages, English and French, which is
found predominantly in Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, and among a large
Metis population in Manitoba.The U.S. has two languages, English and,
unofficially, Spanish, but ask some Americans, and they'll puff their
chests out and huff that there is only one official language in the home of
the brave: American. In educated terms, they means English.

Canadians bite their bottom lips and survive in a punitive tax system, but
hey, we have a decent form of Medicare. If a Canadian crosses the right t's
and dots the right i's, he won't have worry about re-mortgaging his home to
treat a wrist fracture. Most Americans can't say that.

Canadian beer brings tears to the eyes of tourists. If Queen Elizabeth II
consumed it in copious amounts, she would likely grow hair on her chest.
American beer has as about much potency as Mountain Dew. Canada rules.