Award: 4th of July: refWrite's 1st Annual Award for Best July 4th Greeting from a Canadian blog, goes to Canadianna

As an American immigrant landed in Canada, and resident here over 30 years but unable in good conscience to swear allegiance to a Monarch just as a matter of political-philosophical conviction. I am a democratic republican in that
philosophical sense. I must say also, that altho I do have great respect for Queen Elizabeth II, I am at a loss regarding how possibly to find the same regard for her apparent heirs. All that aside.

I would like to express my deep appreciation for the beauty of a marvellous blogsite Canadianna's Place and espeically in recent days for CP's Fourth of July salute to the USA, the blog's beauty in thawtful-words, and in its entire graphic and semiotic constructoin. Canadianna used her chosen Blogger template with it's not-always-easy-to-use black background to bring out the luster of her American Independence Day photos and visualities - all to great effect. Canadianna, you get my thanks and my nomination for the Best Fourth of July greeting from a Canadian, the best I've seen anywhere online. Thank you! - Owlb

Here's a hi-ly coded website exuding the opposite to Canadianna's warmth of friendship between our two beloved nations on this continent. But with one fragment of the sleight-of-friendship rhetoric on the American Birthday, I can agree with certain of its rhetoric by using Jacques Derrida's pun: Vive le différance! Actually, VleC's campaign No Deep Integration with US, on the surface has something both to commend its notion, and to draw into its propaganda net the unaware. At the same time, the slogan acknowledges that the Canadian/US continental integration process is more than superficial. It is present in the vitals of both countries, as is the US's near-deep integration with Mexico over even a greater linguistic difference than obtains, similarly but less so, with the francophone factor of Canada and the existence of Québec and la francophonie in New Brunswick. Of course, language differences are only one aspect of the near-deep continental integration, while in English Canada and English-speaking America there is indeed a deep integration - look at all the Canadian comedians who flock to Hollywood, and other Canadian performers too, and splendid cadres honeycombed into a large number of professions. But these could be regarded comparatively as superficial factors themselves, when compared to Canada's passing on the bill for continentalist military joint protection. On that issue, I advocate complete integration, and on that issue am a continentialist who wants mutual cooperation in continental defence and strategic defensive planning in order precisely to protect the grand and celebral differences of culture on many levels between these two countries I love. - Owlb