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 Thursday, May 10, 2007
Beware of the Canadians
Posted by Debbie

I feel like we’re back in the 1950s when there was a Commie lurking behind every door. Only this time it’s the Canadians who are out to get us.

At least that’s what you’d think from a recent report on the ominous Canadian red poppy quarter. So ominous-looking was the 25-cent piece that the U.S. Defense Department issued a false espionage warning earlier this year.

It all started when some U.S. Army contractors traveling in Canada happened upon the unfamiliar coins. They filed confidential espionage reports describing the coins as “filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology.”

Uh, no. That would be a mere protective coating applied to prevent the poppy’s red color from rubbing off.

It’s a fascinating story, which you can read in full at http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/211189.

But it’s sad, too. These weren’t obscure little coins. They were first minted in 2004, with nearly 30 million produced in honor of Canada's 117,000 war dead. Not exactly a secret, folks.

So what’s up? Are we so spooked by worldwide terrorism that we question everything we’re not familiar with? I sure hope not. Life is not meant to be vanilla.



5/10/2007 4:03:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
5/10/2007 10:35:13 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
Remember the poppy field outside the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz? To quote the Wicked Witch of the West "And now, my beauties, something with poison in it. Poppies... Poppies. Poppies will put them to sleep. Sleep. Now they'll sleep!"
I guess the U.S. has had an unreasonable poppy fear for quite a long time now...
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