Horror and hope
Re Gunman's Rampage - Jan. 10: I wonder how many of the hundreds of American mourners bowing their heads in silence today over the mass shooting in Arizona are packing a gun? After all it's their constitutional right to do so, isn't it? So we have a mass killing every few weeks in the land of the brave and the home of the free. That's no reason to ban guns. They need guns to protect themselves from violent people. And anyway it must have been all that violent political talk that set off the gunman. It's not his fault that he happened to have a gun handy when he lost his temper.
Jim McDonald, Dundas, Ont.
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Just how many bullets does a semi-automatic hold?
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the U.S. is preoccupied with weapons of mass destruction in the hands of foreigners and yet is dead-set (almost by divine right) on allowing its own citizens to possess - and use them?
Jerry Reed, Qualicum Beach, B.C.
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Sack of choice
If reusable bags are environmentally unfriendly (Bag Woes - Jan. 10) because they are shipped from China, contain lead-based ink and require significant energy to be produced, well what are the alternatives?
Shall we use the single-use bags, that have been manufactured and shipped from how far, cost how much energy to produce, and end up either in the landfills or in the stomachs of many dead land and marine creatures? Or if recycled - cost yet more energy to melt down and recycle into another use.
Consumers should check where their bags come from and choose environmentally responsible sources, of which there are many now. Why throw the baby out with the bathwater?
Sona Mason, Pearl River, N.Y.
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Ethical oil
It would be wonderful if humans could get along without oil, coal or slavery to fuel their economies, but that is wishful thinking (The Oil-Sands Fight Renews - Jan. 8). Life would also be better if the world was not so overpopulated that our natural resources were being depleted and that pollution was poisoning us.
Is it better to buy oil from Canada than from OPEC? Is it more ethical to develop oil in democracies, where the population is free, than to purchase fuel from countries that have no concept of human rights?
With every purchase we make, we are voting our approval of the source of the product. We support companies and countries whose attitudes coincide with our own. When we have no choice, we are forced to support dictatorial regimes. So, countries that have no rights for women or gays, that accept honour-killings and that support terrorism are profiting because the developed world is held hostage to resources that we refuse to develop for ourselves.
Len Bennett, Montreal
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Public breastfeeding
When I go the mall there are several "rules" I must adhere to ('Lactivists' Rally To A Mother's Cause - Jan. 10). I cannot eat, or bring beverages into the stores. If I was to sit down and read a book, I am sure the clerk would ask me to leave - not because I am being offensive, but because I am not shopping and probably blocking the pathway for other shoppers. Malls have an abundance of public spaces where parents can comfortably sit and feed their children.
Stores are not against these actions, they just don't want them done in their aisles.
Lisa Dooher, Toronto
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Christianity's popularity
Hurray for Christianity! We are winning the religious numbers war! (The Globalization Of God In The 21st Century - Jan. 10).
The religious trouble in the world is mostly caused by the zealots. The fact of all these new Christians being evangelists is not comforting. If U.S. experience is any guide, the growth in fundamentalist - which usually means extremist and intolerant - Christianity is every bit as disturbing as is the growth of fundamentalist Islam or anything else.
Ted Syperek, Toronto
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Helping seniors
Re Making Cities More Senior-Friendly (Jan. 8): One relatively simple way to make a senior's life easier around town is to install push-button openers to the door of every building open to the public. I have often walked away from buildings whose doors are too heavy for me to open - waiting for someone to help me is not the answer.
Janina Milisiewicz, Toronto
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Inequality Matters
Margaret Wente's Jan. 8 column flippantly dismisses a very important argument. Wilkinson and Pickett's The Spirit Level is the most recent description of a well-established body of literature that demonstrates how greater inequality results in shorter, less healthy lives for people.
In inner-city Saskatoon, where I practise medicine, the growing inequality of our society has led to an astonishing level of poverty. With it we see the attendant epidemics of annoyances like bed bugs, lice and scabies and the far more serious concerns of addictions, prostitution and HIV/AIDS. Even though it may be easier to get their daily calories, the lives of many of my neighbours are as desperate as any Dickensian match girl. While Ms. Wente is right to cry foul at the "financial über-elite," to dismiss any call for greater equality as irrelevant will not help the situation.
Ryan Meili, MD, Saskatoon
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Presidential departure
The exit of Concordia University president Judith Woodsworth (Concordia President's Departure Creates Confusion - Jan. 8) is an abuse of power by the university's board of governors, a group of outsiders with little knowledge of the university's core academic activities. It is the latest in a series of dismissals and departures from the senior administrative ranks. I am among close to 200 faculty members and staff who have called for a complete review of the constitution and powers of the board.
These dismissals and departures cost money that we are told the university does not have. They damage Concordia's reputation. And they hurt our chances of recruiting future leaders. They overshadow and detract from all the good things going on at Concordia University.
Prof. Mike Gasher, Concordia University, Montreal
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Revisionism
If Huck Finn is a problem (Huckleberry Finn Was Never Supposed To Be Good For You - Jan. 8) then these three publications should also be revised: The American Constitution is flawed because it gives Americans a false sense of entitlement. The right to bear arms is immoral. The Bible should be revised since much of what it says with respect to women's rights, human rights and social responsibility is immoral or at least socially unacceptable. The Koran is also flawed in much the same way as the Bible.
Jacques Blanchard, Calgary
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Larry Davies (Letters - Jan.8) has got it all wrong. Stephen Harper is to blame for the junior hockey team losing to the Russians. He should have prorogued the game after the second period. That would have given them an opportunity to "recalibrate."
Andy MacKenzie, Woodstock, Ont.