Rating: NNNNN
Thanks for the page of photos of cyclists riding on sidewalks (NOW, August 7-13). Apart from the fanatical warmongering of the Bush administration and the moral hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, is there anything more frustrating and dangerous? The basic problem, of course, is that there are not enough bike paths and trails, so cyclists are forced to choose between the perceived danger of the streets and the relative safety of the sidewalks.
Cyclists who choose the sidewalks are being selfish: you can’t inconvenience and endanger pedestrians just because you don’t have the heart to ride the streets. The streets are not really as dangerous as some people like to think. You do have to be exceptionally attentive and breathe some nasty crap into your lungs, but they are generally safe.
W. Jones, Toronto
NOW nabs cyclists poaching side walk rides but lets them off easy by asking, “Can we blame them when riding the streets can be so death-defying?” Sure we can! None of these 12 so-called “renegade riders” was wearing a helmet. One had his Walkman on. Another was reading as he weaved between pedestrians. Death-defying is right!
I’ve biked to and from downtown Toronto almost every day since moving from bike-friendly Victoria, and I agree that the city and its drivers have a long way to go before cyclists feel truly welcome on its blacktop.
But our legitimate complaints won’t be taken seriously as long as bozos like the ones caught by your candid camera continue to expose pedestrians to the same wilful disregard for health and safety that they seem to show themselves.
David Leach, Toronto
Went to caribana and a man on the train shared your paper with me (NOW, July 31-August 6). It was most informative and enlightening. NOW was the best written and most interesting of all the papers I read while in Toronto.
Leah Theodore, Chicago, Illinois
re so far away, so close by robert Priest (NOW, August 7-13). Your comments about the SARS concert seemed to me the quintessential whining of a Torontonian concert-goer. What the hell do you expect for a concert that hosted over 400,000 people? I was in and out in no time when I needed to be, and from where I was standing the sound was superb.
Andre Skinner, Toronto
re radical rules by todd parsons (NOW, August 7-13). I’ve been grappling with the tactical efficacy of property damage for years myself. But non-violence requires grappling, too. As the sainted Saul Alinsky points out, Gandhi’s pacifism was tactical, not moral, so outcomes need to be considered on both sides.
In fact, Parsons prescribes exactly the kind of disciplined mass arrest I witnessed at the DC demos against the World Bank – peaceful, festive, invigorating. But also ineffective. I saw zero coverage of this action, which can’t be called an improvement.
Perhaps Parsons would blame all this on the conniving media darlings over in the diversity of tactics camp.
But then, he also blames them for the unprovoked and (for what it’s worth) unconstitutional mass arrests in Montreal. Or does he think that, given the broken glass, the cops were right to arrest him? Either way, a reality check is nicely suggested.
Jonathan Culp
Vineland Station
now’s mention of luther wright and the Wrongs’ upcoming gig at the Horseshoe (NOW, August 7-13) reminded me that the band had recently been honoured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition show. Not maybe the kind of “honour” they would appreciate, I expect: they were included in the show’s regular Another Batch Of Annoying Music segment.
Personally, I kind of liked Rebuild The Wall. Must be an American-Canadian thing.
Peter Stock, Toronto
lots of people read now, and a number of them drew my attention to Robert Priest’s description of me in his article on Greg Gatenby (NOW, July 24-30) as “a benign, nurturing presence.” Thank you, Robert! At the same time, I would not want readers to think that Greg Gatenby elbowed me out of the literary reading business to build his own empire.
I wanted to edit and write books. Dropping his plans to study whales, Gatenby decided to continue as a staff member and professionalize the reading series.
No one would ever describe Gatenby’s personality as “a benign, nurturing presence.” Perhaps the image that comes to mind is that of a Brillo pad. Yet the Reading Series and the International Festival Of Authors remain remarkable accomplishments.
Now is the time for someone to create an International Authors Centre in Toronto. I happen to know someone who could build this institution: Greg Gatenby.
John Robert Colombo, Toronto
Re All that rage is just pr (NOW , July 31-August 6). This article about the police trying to score brownie points and tighten the screws on sex offenders displays a spectacular lack of sensitivity and an ignorance of the pathetic state of our justice system in this country. Why would we not want to seriously revamp the laws pertaining to sex offenders? Should people like this then have the right to choose whether they can or cannot opt to chemically extinguish their impulses to have sex with little kids? The article makes it sound as if everything in our system is working fine.
Scott Wilyman, Toronto
aisles of trouble was right when it pointed out that Wal-Mart’s “Everyday Low Wage” strategy threatens the future of all Canadian workers (NOW, July 31-August 6). Where it’s wrong is in its suggestion that the 12,000 current employees of Loblaws are about to see their hard-won wages and benefits rolled back. That’s simply not true.
What is true is that their union, UFCW Canada, has developed a strategy to allow Loblaws to open unionized (unlike Wal-Mart) superstores that would offer employees wages and benefits far superior to any other big-box chain.
In stores currently open, food-handling employees and cashiers would continue to receive their current salary and benefits package. No change. No rollbacks.
New superstore non-food employees’ (handling household merchandise) starting rate would be lower than food employees. But their benefits and union protection would be the same as their brothers and sisters. And as vacancies come open on the food side, these new employees could apply and move to the higher wage scale.
One of the reasons Loblaws is one of the world’s most profitable food chains is because of the quality of its union workforce. Workers who are treated with dignity and respect are more productive.
Michael J. Fraser, National Director
UFCW
let’s not kid ourselves. the real beef with the U.S. ban on Canadian cattle (NOW, July 17-23) is political vengeance by the Bush administration for Canada’s refusal to join in the concocted Iraq invasion. Canadians might want to consider pitching an economic curve of their own by refusing to buy U.S.-made products, since Canada is the largest buyer of U.S. goods.
Bruce A. Gorcyca , Mississauga ,
thanks for printing nicole curl ing’s article on her sexual harassment case and for the excerpt from Pat Capponi’s book (NOW, July 10-16). Both stories highlight the unacceptable levels of violence women are exposed to. Too bad the way Curling’s story was billed on the cover, MPP Daughter’s Sex Scandal, undercut the story she was trying to tell. Amazing how women keep getting screwed, isn’t it?
Katheryne Schulz, Toronto
