The elephant in the fridge
Margaret Wente is perplexed as to how to tame her rampaging "elephant" of desire - which is driving her to eat another piece of key lime pie (Taming My Elephant, And Yours - July 31). As she says, the answer is not more information, since presumably she already knows the effects of eating too many pieces of said pie. And her suggestion of simply leaving the pie on the store shelf isn't likely to placate her elephant for long either, since she probably has a vehicle and lives within range of a 24-hour grocery store.
No, the key to taming her elephant will be her ability to transfer the disappointment she will inevitably feel tomorrow (at having eaten the key lime pie) to the immediate present (as she contemplates having yet another piece). The more vivid a picture she is able to create in her mind of the inevitable emotional and physical consequences of her actions - i.e. how she is going to "feel" and "look" tomorrow - the more success she will have in taming her elephant of desire.
Of course, all of this is assuming that Margaret really wants to tame her elephant - because once she does, she's probably going to be eating a lot less key lime pie.
George Parker, Cobourg, Ont.
.........
I was surprised to read that Margaret Wente's internal elephant was a male. Talk about a battle of the sexes!
Don Paetkau, Winnipeg
No such thing as bad publicity
The premise of your story on the expected decision by the United Arab Emirates to block BlackBerry services has it backwards, in my view (UAE's BlackBerry Pledge Clouds RIM's Future - Aug. 2). What could be better advertising for Research In Motion than that its devices are too secure to be spied on?
The UAE has a young, wealthy population that expects connectivity. Eighty-five per cent of its work force is expatriate and it has the highest migration rate in the world. The service sector accounts for half of its economy, and 1.8 million tourists visit every year, many of whom will be none too happy when they arrive to find that their BlackBerrys will not work.
In my view, the UAE's BlackBerry pledge clouds the UAE's future, not RIM's.
David A. Welch, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, Ont.
Power struggle
As documentary filmmakers who've resided full-time just outside Bala for most of the past decade, my partner Shirley and I have observed the growing battle over plans to construct a new power dam in the centre of town (Green Energy Plan Gives Tourist Town The Blues - Aug. 2). It's clear there exists a genuine concern that Bala Falls - a unique, rustic and beautiful gem in the heart of a lovely and modest little town - will be permanently altered by the construction process and necessary water diversion.
This view has only been reinforced by assessments from independent contractors who have looked over the plans and advised the townspeople that Swift River Energy's assurances to the contrary are optimistic at best. The folks we've spoken to have expressed no objection to hydroelectric development once this contradiction is addressed through a clear and open process.
An independent environmental assessment would seem to be the minimum action required before steps are taken that cannot be undone - and this is all the town is asking for.
Michael Lennick, Bala, Ont.
Casting doubt
Christie Blatchford's defence of the Canadian military after the disclosure of military documents by WikiLeaks is a cause for concern, especially if it is a common view (Assertions, Insults And Innuendo: These Fine Soldiers Deserve Better - July 31). The fact is simple: We are not being told the whole story about Afghanistan. Given the doubts about the mission's goals, the tight grip on information by the Harper government and the unknown treatment of prisoners handed over by Canadian troops, we've been given plenty of reasons to doubt the "official" story.
Paul J. Graham, Woodstock, N.B.
Love, loss and yearning
I'm sorry your researchers into the poem The Life That I Have, which was read at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, did not dig a little deeper (It's A Nice Day For A Red, White And Blue Wedding - Aug. 2). While the poem "appears an anodyne paen to marital bliss," it was in fact written by cryptographer Leo Marks as a tribute to his love before they could marry. She is identified only as Ruth in his memoir Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945, and she was killed in a plane crash while training in Canada during the Second World War.
The book is compulsory reading for anyone interested in wartime Britain.
Helen Coleman, Saskatoon
David and Goliath
Whatever happened to Canada's sense of fair play (Dust-up With Russians Used As Pitch For Fighter Jets - July 31)? The Russian planes intercepted by Canadian CF-18s were TU-95 bombers, first flown by the Soviet Air Force in 1956. The TU-95 holds the world speed record for propeller-driven aircraft at 871 km/h (541.23 mph), well below the speed of sound at sea level. Instead of blowing $16-billion on new F-35 fighter jets that can max out at 2,065 km/h (1,283 mph), how about saving some bucks and restoring some Canadian aviation history at the same time?
Just tune up the Snowbirds' T-33s. The T-33 was also developed during the 1950s and has a maximum speed of 965 km/h (600 mph). Using F-35s against turboprops is overkill. It should be our old clunkers versus their old clunkers.
And whatever happened to reduce, reuse and recycle?
Bill Templeman, Peterborough, Ont.
The world is watching
We launched the Re-Think Alberta campaign to expose the fact that Alberta, in aggressively promoting its tar-sands industry, is interfering in Canadian, U.S. and European efforts to end the world's addiction to oil and transition to cleaner energy sources (Take An Alberta Break - July 31). Alberta's government, not our campaign, is the greatest threat to the province's tourism industry.
As a result of international media from oil company shareholder fights across Europe, pipeline policy fights, as well as pipeline spills in the U.S., the world is learning that Alberta is home to the second-largest and most carbon-intensive oil reserve in the world. The public sees images of mining pits, fragmented forests, huge toxic lakes, dead ducks, pipeline ruptures and bluish smoke from upgrader smokestacks.
Even without our campaign, these disturbing images, not Lake Louise and other majestic destinations, are coming to represent Alberta.
Michael Marx, executive director, Corporate Ethics International, San Francisco
Fun with words
As someone brought up on the maxim "actions speak louder than words," I sympathize with Al Colodey's letter on political labels (It's All In The Verb - July 31). Sometimes, however, a well-chosen adjective is essential. In the case of the Harper Conservatives, for example, now that they have scuttled the long-form census, rebranding them as the Regressive Conservatives is surely inevitable. In this case, the adjective says it all.
H.W. MacFadyen, Canmore, Alta.
Getting colder on warming
Re Deconstructing Temperature (Aug. 2): According to a recent study released by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 97 per cent of all climate scientists back the findings and tenets of the climate-change reports put out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. While Norman Paterson may have a very good idea of how things work below ground, he does not represent the vast majority of reputable scientists who have spent their careers studying climate change in the atmosphere. The issues he raises have repeatedly and thoroughly been debunked.
John Gzowski, Toronto
Off the rails
Your editorial's opposition to light rail transit in the Region of Waterloo shows a lack of understanding of local conditions (An Undesired Streetcar - Aug. 2). There may be no single "downtown," but Kitchener and Waterloo have strong centres, and the trams will run through both of them. The line will also serve other high-volume destinations, such as office towers, a hospital and two universities.
The terminals are at shopping centres and were chosen because they're the sites of major bus interchanges, allowing for an integrated system covering the entire area.
As for your complaints about low bus ridership, every step toward integrated transport that the region has taken in the past 10 years has led to vast increases in usage. This project will consolidate the area's busiest bus routes, replacing them with fast, direct, comfortable, high-capacity electric trams.
Waterloo Region is set to grow rapidly in the coming years, and its council wants the infrastructure in place to ensure that this happens in an urban, rather than a suburban, fashion.
David Arthur, Cambridge, Ont.
Wake me up when it's over
It was disconcerting to read in Collected Wisdom (Detached Thinking - July 31) that if I were ever beheaded, I would have 30 seconds to contemplate my demise. I would much prefer Woody Allen's desired end-of-life experience: "It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens."
Joseph Leinwand, Thornhill, Ont.