Egypt yanks Harper’s chain
February 11, 2011, is a day to remember and commemorate (NOW Daily, February 12). Thirty-two years ago, on February 11, 1979, the Iran Revolution turfed out the despotic shah. He escaped to Egypt.
Today, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, despotic ruler and footstool of American imperialism, dictator and torturer, has dropped out of sight.
The Egyptian Revolution will not be co-opted by ayatollahs, because there are none in Egypt. Hopefully, Stephen Harper will also disgracefully resign from office for supporting scumbags like Mubarak. I wonder who was yanking Harper’s chain? Was it Israel leader Benjamin Netanyahu?
Bogos Kalemkiar
Toronto
Can U.S. be trusted?
Egypt rising (NOW, February 3-9) makes one wonder how trustworthy U.S. leaders really are.
Hosni Mubarak became George Bush’s most respected ally, a golf partner and champion of “democracy.” He opened Egyptian land, sea and airspace to American warplanes, warships and rocket launchers during the war in Iraq.
Now U.S. leaders have urged Mubarak to step down to usher in democratic rule. Will it be the kind of democracy that is being enjoyed in Iraq?
Rudolf Manook
Toronto
Black-on-white sex is cliché
The cover of the Love & Sex Guide (NOW, Februry 10-16) shows a muscular black man with a blond white woman. Nothing wrong with that, except that it’s becoming clichéd to show such pairings.
Blond white women are the clichéd idea of the most desirable female, not just by white men, but as in trophy wives for men of all races. Muscular black males have also become a cliché. Isaiah Mustafa, of the Old Spice ads, is yet another manifestation.
In perhaps the most ethnically and racially diverse city in the world, it seems odd that politically correct, NDP-loving NOW would not try for a more original idea of a romantic heterosexual couple – like an athletic South Asian man with a black woman.
Thomas Graff
Toronto
Walmart mixes messages
While I applaud Michelle Obama’s move to reduce obesity in children by endorsing Walmart’s switch to less salt and sugar in its products (NOW, February 10-16), I have to wonder if Walmart told her about the other socially significant move it’s making. That would be the one targeting eight-year-olds as makeup consumers.
A significant amount of research shows that young girls have serious issues with how they are perceived by society and how that affects their lives and behaviour regarding nutrition. A very bad mixed message in the making?
Nicholas Brooks
Toronto
Nuclear payload questions
Regarding Bruce Power’s plan to ship nuclear waste to Sweden (NOW, February 10-16). What happens when the refined waste is returned to Canada? Burying it may prove more dangerous than shipping the containers to Sweden.
Patricia Warwick
Toronto
Lake Shore garage band
Your approbation for the TTC’s planned Lake Shore facility (NOW, February 10-16) may be premature, unless planning takes into consideration how to mitigate the inevitable congestion, environmental and/or safety issues that would undoubtedly arise with any project relying on a Lake Shore level crossing. God (or whatever higher power) help pedestrians, cyclists and motorists!
Alan Liston
Toronto
Bad math on private trash
There seems to be a troubling lack of accountability around Mayor Ford’s plan to outsource garbage service (NOW, February 10-16). There are a number of questions about the estimated $8 million in savings promised by the mayor’s plan, particularly when the city would lose assets and millions already invested in recycling and waste diversion programs. It seems obvious that outsourcing is not about saving us money after all, but about driving down workers’ wages so private companies can profit instead. Low wages and poor working standards are how private companies make their profits. The rest of us should stand up for decent jobs for current and future generations.
Preethy Sivakumar
Toronto
In Ford’s T.O., the poor pay
Rob Ford’s rule so far has been mostly one of right-wing optics. Denying councillors cost-of-living increases (NOW Daily, February 10) is one of a number of symbolic gestures. But don’t forget he is giving managers a raise. Other non-solutions of his, like selling off city property and privatization, won’t balance the budget in a genuine way. It will become clear that if richer people don’t pay through land sale taxes, vehicle registration fees and property taxes, the poor and workers will pay. “Respect for taxpayers” means “No respect for workers and the poor.”
Gary Morton
Toronto
What the feds are smoking
That full-page ad about how third-party cigarettes or “contraband” cigarettes act as a gateway for other crime (NOW, February 10-16) is total bullshit, and I’m not happy seeing it in NOW. If the government of Canada truly cared about the safety and well-being of others, it wouldn’t facilitate the mass production of smokes in the first place.
Aaron Vaccariello
Toronto
