The United States of America and Canada

President Biden's speech was greatly welcomed in Parliament and all across Canada; still reading the posts. Lots of discussion with the Prime Minister and the President resulted in some really good decisions being made. We share a huge amount of land in North America along with Mexico. We have managed to be friends all of these years, all of us, and have one of the most productive free trade agreements in the world from the original NAFTA to the now CUSMA as we familiarly call it in Canada. The United States and Canada also have a defense agreement NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and we are both partners in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Both defensive organizations which grew out of the end of the Second World War with the Iron Curtain that fell across Eastern Europe put in place by Russia. We believe in democracy and support it 100% around the globe when people ask for our help. We are both founding members of the United Nations - the organization meant to be there for everyone and to end all wars. Everyone has one vote whether you are a very small country or a huge one. We, the members of the United Nations, invited the People's Republic of China to take over the Chinese seat that was held by the Republic of China (Taiwan) after a vote in the United Nations General Assembly 25 Oct 1971 and they were given both the seat in the General Assembly and became one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. We, some of us, guaranteed Taiwan's security and right to self-determination but have been rather low-key on that through the years - visiting them, trading with them, is low-key in my opinion. As a country they are larger than many of the existing countries in the world and they are a nation that has been and continues to be a great contributor to the advancement of science and people (I do tend to see countries in that way). Thank you to President Biden for such a stirring speech in our House of Parliament. The United States of America and Canada are linked by every way you can think including blood; even I with my very small Canadian line - my mother, her father and his mother - have cousins in the United States who have served in the military and work everyday lives as well. Their ancestors were sisters to my grandmother. So we are linked by blood and friendship; we are family. 

Yesterday I worked on the hits in Find My Past moving forward to Page 39. It was a busy day though as I was still contemplating the wills that I had transcribed and James Sanders book. I am not sure what to do with the interesting stories now from the 1600s/1700s about individual Siderfins. They are in his book and I could simply refer to them and only put in information that gives details on the generational aspect of the Siderfin family. That involved a little of my contemplation time (I thought about an Appendix as well). 

I have also accumulated a number of matches on Ancestry once again and today I will work through them and assign them to my excel file - I record all the fourth cousin and up matches in a table which compares the four of us on ancestry. I have been able to make some good use of this material simply because so many people have produced family trees. With matches on these same family lines in databases that do give me chromosome material I am able to conclude where we are matching in many cases. I seldom write matches simply because I would be on my email all the time if I did that. I do reply to any queries although they tend more towards people trying to find their relationship with me rather than knowing it. 

I must admit that President Biden does quite amaze me. At 80 years of age he has taken on a formidable task and he has done an excellent job for the American people - if he didn't have a label of Democratic Party he would be beloved in all of the United States I believe (I was a Conservative for many years but now I am an Independent although do tend to vote Liberal because the Conservative party has put "social Conservative" as the more important aspect rather than "fiscal Conservative including putting defense at the top of the budget" as their banner). I do not believe it is our place to tell people personally how to live their lives so long as no one is injured (I also believe abortion is a woman's decision; it does not belong in the criminal code). President Biden has brought the United States through COVID and into the time after COVID including the invasion by Russia into Ukraine - a free sovereign country and member of the United Nations. He has been a friend to all Americans and helped the youth which is perhaps the most important thing that a government can do especially in trying times. His going to Kiev (after informing Russia that he would be going) was truly an amazing feat especially by an 80 year old. What it said was beautiful; something that the United States can be proud of for many years to come. God Bless America and Canada too. We are a God-loving; God-fearing people. Our time on earth is a blessed gift from God and respect for the earth was uppermost in President Biden's speech as well. We need to work hard to protect the earth (particularly from war mongers and childish testing of weapons - threatening us is simply ignorant). God is ever with us but only watching these days; but loving those who love Him in the way that He demands. 

Matthew 22:37-39: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On to Breakfast.