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Letters To The Editor News

Letters to the Editor

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Missing out on WADE

re Wading Into Trouble (NOW, July 1- 7). WADE was a series of exciting, playful installations and performances in Toronto parks. Fourteen artists in 12 pools and 16 scheduled events connected artists’ work to a broad audience. The overall community response was very positive. It was unfortunate to see that the only coverage of WADE in NOW focused on a series of unfortunate miscommunications. WADE presented Debbie O’Rourke with substantial material for her piece. Too bad she missed out.

Christie Pearson


Sandra Rechico

Curators, WADE

PETA’s point

re Peta’s Penis Principle (NOW, July 1-7). (The message of) PETA’s billboard is not that a buxom blond is a piece of meat, but, rather, that vegetarianism is sexy and meat-eating is not. Lest we forget, the obesity epidemic is raging while your hard-ons are not. Health and wellness are little more than a corporate slogan to most North Americans, warranting the use of more creative measures to (promote) anti-cruelty (and) pro-humanitarianism. The voluptuous blond on the billboard is hardly being held against her will in atrocious conditions unfit for insects.

Using pictures of slaughterhouse torture and maimed animals rarely gets meat eaters’ blood pumping (unless testing new assault weapons), but the sight of beauty and sex appeal is sure to arouse.

Interesting how face value is always tantamount to faulty half-witted analysis when the shoe fits.

Holly Heglin

Toronto

Big on Ben

re The Pulse Column (NOW, July 1-7) . Thanks to Benjamin Boles. He consistently manages to avoid cynicism and jadedness in his writing, giving a sincerely positive outlook overall without ignoring things that need to be criticized, which he does succinctly. This gives balance to his writing and criticism. Keep it up!

Adrian House

Toronto

Green misconceptions

This election, NOW magazine worked hard to spread three misconceptions about the Green party. First, NOW told its readers that voting Green was a wasted vote. I am disappointed that this advice would come from a magazine that positions itself as a voice of citizen involvement and empowerment.

Second, NOW would have its readers believe that the Green party is a party of MBAs, consultants and Tories, when in fact our members, candidates and executives are more likely to be educators, students, artists, farmers, activists and health care professionals.

Finally, the Green party is not responsible for Olivia Chow’s defeat. The people of Trinity-Spadina, including the thousands of new residents who joined the riding in an electoral boundary shift, simply preferred the Liberal party to the NDP. The fact is, our data is quite clear: one-third of our supporters are traditional non-voters. What’s more, it’s more likely we took support from (Tony) Ianno than from Chow. If anything, we enhanced her chances.

Gabriel Draven

President, Green Party of Ontario

NOW’s blatant partisanship

Once again you show how out of touch you are. The suggestion that the Greens are the reason behind NDP losses (NOW, July 1-7) just goes to show your readership how blatantly partisan your paper is. NOW is quickly earning a reputation as the National Post of alternative weeklies. Many of us who vote for the Greens would not support the NDP. Complaints about vote splitting just perpetuate the phenomenon of strategic voting, and it seems to me that the NDP has nothing to gain from this. It also shows how much NDP supporters (NOW staff) are the same as (those of) the other two big parties: lots of lip service on the need for inclusion as long as you toe the party line.

Corey Wall

Toronto

Ianno wins, some trade-off

Olivia Chow lost to Tony Ianno in Trinity-Spadina by approximately 900 votes. The Green party received approximately 1,700 votes in that riding. Was that a good trade-off?

Nora Winter

Toronto

Democracy online

James di Fiore demonstrated that he could easily have voted three times by filling out registration forms at different polling stations (NOW, July 1-7). I know another flaw. Find someone who isn’t going to bother to vote and use their registration card. No one asked for ID when I voted. If banking can be made secure, why not online voting? Imagine how quick and simple it could be. Governments could easily have frequent referendums or inclusive polls on important issues. Those without online access could vote at libraries or special stations.

Stephen Leckie

Toronto

Silva should be ashamed

I am disappointed that Mario Silva started his campaign with a lie. He came to my door and told me emphatically that there was a huge risk of the Conservatives winning in Davenport and hence I should not vote NDP. I told him at the time that this was a lie, because Conservatives were never a risk in our riding. Shame.

Jeff Edmonds

Toronto

Ethyl’s damage control

re Ethyl Corporation’s letter to the editor (NOW, July 1-7). Why take the risk of damaging our children’s brains with heavy metals if it can be avoided? Good question, right? This is called the precautionary principle. It is our right as a nation, but it has been stolen from Canadians by NAFTA’s Chapter 11. In 1998, Ethyl Corporation was given the unprecedented power to force us to take that risk with our children. And now it has the gall to write to NOW that “it has been proven… that (the fuel additive) MMT (is not) a health risk”? There is no such thing as a categorically “proven” zero risk. Overall risk is always determined over the longer term.

It took 60 years to establish exactly how lead in gas (a heavy metal just like MMT) presents dangerous risks. Guess who tried to stop governments from finally removing that risk by making all gas unleaded?

Boyd Reimer


Rena Ginsberg

Toronto

Miller’s police puppets

Mike Smith needs to look up the definition of “progressive” so that when he makes a statement like “even this most progressive of (police services) boards still spins its wheels” he has some idea of reality (NOW, June 24-30).

Even the current board chairman, when giving reasons for his impending resignation, referred to the PSB as dysfunctional.

It is very evident that the majority of those members selected by Mayor David Miller are nothing but puppets.

So much for openness and transparency at City Hall.

W. Petelka

Toronto

No one-man woman

Let me congratulate Dan Savage, since I am sure he is congratulating himself for the “shock” he gave women everywhere when he revealed that being in a relationship with a man does not guarantee that you’re the only woman on earth that man wants to fuck (NOW, June 24-30). Well, let me shock you, D. S. As a sexually voracious woman, I’ve endured arguments with many a boyfriend simply because I couldn’t convince them that they weren’t the only person I wanted to sleep with.

It’s time you knew that women are no longer being bred for celibacy.

Shocking, isn’t it?

Kristen Schooley

Toronto

Cyclists just complainers

re Michael Fountain’s Is Crack Down A Cash Grab? (NOW, June 17-23). Although it is plainly true that our city needs more bikes, I don’t believe cyclists help anything by complaining about being fined when they break the law. We are vehicles, and if we want to be acknowledged as such, then we also need to accept the responsibilities.

I take issue with Fountain’s idea that sidewalks are ever the “safe” option for riders. Speaking as an occasional pedestrian, your chances of hitting my ass are greatly reduced if you get off the damned sidewalk. I sincerely hope sidewalk cyclists are the target of the OPP’s next “cash grab.”

Shane Stapley

Toronto

Blame left for cab problem

The next time letter-writer Anne Hansen feels encroached upon by a cab while cycling (NOW, June 10-16), I hope she knows that much of the blame lies with her political idols at City Hall, Mayor David Miller, Olivia Chow and the entire civic NDP, who are in the process of adding 1,500 taxis in Toronto. Breathing problems related to exhaust fumes and road space for all are less of a concern than the opportunity to devastate long-time taxi operators like myself.

Larry Weinrib

Toronto

Lollapalooza heartbreak

Like most, I am deeply saddened by the cancellation of Lollapalooza (NOW, June 24-30). Record companies and radio stations are directly responsible. A piece of crap like Edgefest goes off without a hitch and Morrissey and Sonic Youth get a continent cancellation? It’s beyond nonsense. Very heartbroken,

Sal Puma

Toronto

Moore’s early warning

I completely agree with John Harkness that Fahrenheit 9/11 (NOW, June 24-30) is an important film primarily because it has a hope in hell of influencing the outcome of the next U.S. election. And while I laughed and cried along with the rest of the audience, I also found myself distracted and disturbed by Moore’s soft, slow, spacey voice-over. What was he thinking about in that padded room? Was he thinking about a big piece of pie? Was he thinking about the Palme d’Or? Or was he thinking about running those right-wing bastards out of office?

We’ll never know for sure, but I’ll bet he was aiming to reach way down deep into the heads of as many voting Americans as possible and raise a red flag. In order to accomplish this mission, he sacrifices some of the film’s potential cinematic value, but I think we can all agree that it’s for a good cause. We’ll soon see who joins the choir.

Amy Macfarlane

Toronto

Fringe not French

In reading the capsule online review of Overlords! by Glenn Sumi (NOW, July 1-7), I noticed that he refers to the show as a “French” show. I assume his spell check substituted this word instead of “Fringe.” In order to avoid any unnecessary confusion, could you correct this as soon as possible. It would be much appreciated!

Lee Smart

Toronto

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