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*                         CYBERSPACE                         *
*         A biweekly column on net culture appearing         *
*                in the Toronto Sunday Sun                   *
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* Copyright 1999 Karl Mamer                                  *
* Free for online distribution                               *
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When McDonald's raised the Golden Arches over Moscow and 
officially ended the Cold War, political pundits wondered who 
America would pick as its new enemy. In the relatively unfunny 
movie /Canadian Bacon/, film maker Michael Moore, creator of 
the hilarious /Roger and Me/ and the highly treasonous /TV 
Nation/, explored the idea that the American psyche needs an 
evil empire and could find a convenient, albeit ironic, 
adversary in Canada.

Given the rise of so-called militia groups, it appears many 
Americans haven't searched much farther north than Washington 
D.C. for a new enemy. Online Americans have, however, noticed 
that they're sharing cyberspace with Canadians and they don't 
much like it. Sometimes, they've got valid reasons.

The ".ca" top-level domain is reserved for Canada. On net.news, 
the ca.* news hierarchy covers issues relating to California. 
Too many Canadian newbies aren't aware of this difference and 
frequently include a sampling of California newsgroups in their 
rants about the Avro Arrow or Jean Chretien. One would think 
the newsgroup ca.earthquakes is a tip off that the hierarchy 
might not be about Canada.

If you're looking to intentionally irk Americans, you can find 
a never ending cross border flame war on alt.nuke.the.USA. 
Americans are pathetically easy targets, given their ignorance 
of basic geography and their disturbingly high ratio of 
handguns to live births. Oddly enough, a lot of Americans don't 
seem to think these are problems.

When it comes to returning fire, Americans are a bit perplexed 
as how to attack citizens of a nation they know little about. 
Most seem to boast of military prowess and issue dire warnings 
about turning the Great White North into the 51st state. (I've 
long thought this notion of the second largest country in the 
world becoming one American state problematic. When that dark 
day comes, Canada will likely become the 51st, 52nd, 53rd, and 
54th states.) The occasional well-read American will know 
enough to make fun of some of the noticeable cracks in our 
healthcare system. Don't despair, however, if you're on the end 
of a particularly painful zinger ("Oh yeah, at least we elect 
our judges and get to vote on tax increases!"). The Great 
Canadian Comeback page at www.primenet.com/~nep/canada.html 
provides an extensive list of clever ripostes.

It would be interesting to write one of those tres chic web 
filters (see the ValleyURL page at 
www.80s.com/Entertainment/ValleyURL/) that let's the Great 
Canadian Comeback page duke it out with the Anti-Canada Website 
at www.neptunenet.com/antican/default.htm. But that would be 
cruel, as the author of the Anti-Canada Website goes to great 
lengths to remind his sensitive Canadian readers that it's all 
a big joke. Or is it? I do seem to recall reading once that 
emperor worship began as something of a joke.

    Source: geocities.com/lapetitelesson/cs/text

               ( geocities.com/lapetitelesson/cs)                   ( geocities.com/lapetitelesson)