The Afghan burden
Come hell or high water, Canada’s mission in Afghanistan should not be extended (NATO Boss Wades Into Canadian Politics With Afghan Plea – front page, Aug. 7). We’ve already sacrificed 127 of our brave soldiers without making any significant change in Afghanistan. In fact, NATO’s presence is indirectly helping the gunrunners and poppy growers. The Taliban are also getting bolder by the day. Enough is enough!
Jalaluddin S. Hussain, Brossard, Que.
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While I remain a strong supporter of the Afghan mission and believe we should stay the course until Afghans feel secure in their own country, I think NATO’s secretary-general displays an incredible amount of gall to suggest that Canadians, along with American and British troops, carry the load. Canadians continue to die in Kandahar while our “allies” hide out in the relatively quiet northern provinces. Why do we keep getting the sharp end of the stick?
David Snider, Rossland, B.C.
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Your editorial After 2011, A Lighter Burden (Aug. 7) raises the possibility of a continuing Canadian non-combat presence in Kandahar with “teams focused on local development, and on the training of Afghan soldiers and police.” Perhaps Canada’s air force could play a continuing role. A Canadian air wing has now been established at Kandahar. It has Chinook (transport) and Griffon (escort) helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance; it also supports supply flights by Hercules and C-17 transport aircraft. Why not keep the wing at Kandahar after 2011 to support our allies?
Mark Collins, Ottawa
The ‘terror’ burden
Re Fighting Words In Washington As Obama Official Declares The ‘War On Terror’ Is Over (front page, Aug. 7). I wasn’t wild about the “war on terror” label, either, but I suspect it’s going to be difficult to get people to fight for Barack Obama’s “broad philosophical approach.”
Irwin Silverman, Toronto
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Senator Colin Kenny (Moon The Balloon? Or Better Security Soon? – Aug. 7) makes some prescient points for Canada’s participation in the U.S. surveillance web of the Great Lakes. But he undercuts his argument when he questions the “pattern of boats running from Oshawa to Syracuse very early in the morning.” The boats would certainly attract the attention of the American authorities, but it would be the New York State Highway Patrol whose interest would be aroused: Syracuse lies about 50 kilometres south of the Lake Ontario shoreline.
George Werniuk, Toronto
Antiviral sense
Alan Cassels and Arthur Schafer (What Do We Know About The Vaccines’ Safety? – Aug. 6) dismiss the effectiveness of antiviral drugs, while Shelley Scriver (Vaccine Volley – letter, Aug. 7) counters that they reduce illness duration by 1.3 days. Both arguments play down the value of antivirals for individuals prone to becoming critically ill.
Those at greatest risk from pandemic influenza – not for infection, but for serious consequences – are young, healthy adults. Why is the disease hardest on those with relatively strong immune defences? It may be their immune responses go too far. When infected with a virus such as influenza, our bodies produce chemicals called cytokines. Usually, they drive an inflammatory response needed to fight the invader. But, in some cases, this response gets out of control and a destructive “cytokine storm” results. Eventually, multiple organ systems fail and the patient may die.
Chances of a deregulated response happening may be reduced if the amount of virus in the body can be minimized. Such control of viral levels is the goal behind the early use of antiviral drugs. So, for some, the timely use of antiviral drugs may mean much more than a day or two less spent in bed.
Wendy Tamminen, Toronto
Honduran humph
Letter writer Todd Gordon (Honduran Hubbub – Aug. 7) referred to “Canada’s strong investment interests in Honduras, particularly in mining.” While two mines managed by Canadian companies continue to operate in Honduras, all activity to develop or explore for new mines has ceased since the Honduran government suspended all applications for, or transfer of, mineral licences a number of years ago. This suspension is still in place, so “Canada’s strong investment” is actually zero.
Peter Bradshaw, Vancouver
Harmonizing exemptions
Your editorial’s claim that harmonization will provide “billions of dollars in tax savings on machinery, equipment and other expenses” (Sales-Tax Momentum – Aug. 7) overlooks the exemptions that provincial sales taxes already provide for machinery and equipment. The billions saved by business will be on office supplies, construction materials and other inputs currently subject to sales tax in some provinces. While specific tax exemptions for “new investment” make sense, it is doubtful that exempting all business inputs from sales tax is a cost-effective way of promoting investment.
Erin Weir, economist, United Steelworkers, Toronto
Brothel business booming
Do you really think a fourfold increase in the sex trade is a sign of success (Where Sex Means Success: Japan Sees Green Shoots In Its Red-Light Districts – front page, Aug. 7)? For Japanese women who “have been finding it increasingly difficult to obtain work”? For young Japanese who “have drifted into jobs once scorned in Japanese culture”? Would you want your daughter to aim for success by applying for work in a brothel? Maybe your headline would have been more accurate if it said: Men At Bank Of Japan See Green Shoots In Red-Light Districts.
Alicia Priest, Victoria
The skull beneath the college
May I add another snippet to Richard Lock’s letter History Of The Head (Aug. 7), about Oliver Cromwell’s skull? My grandmother was a resident of Kettering, Northamptonshire and, after her husband’s death in the 1950s, took in lodgers. One of them was Canon Horace Wilkinson, who we learned had two idiosyncrasies. The first was he had a silent piano in his room – a keyboard, really – that he would play for long periods of time; the second was, yes, he had Oliver Cromwell’s head in a box.
I often wondered what became of the head, until I read Antonia Fraser’s biography of Cromwell. That’s when I learned it had, indeed, been buried on the grounds of Cambridge University’s Sidney Sussex College.
Ian Savidge, Brampton Ont.
Prescient day at Site 41
It’s appalling that residents rightly concerned about the long-term negative impact of Dump Site 41 on the aquifer above which it’s located are being arrested by the OPP for blocking the landfill (Seven Charged With Mischief For Landfill Protest – Aug. 7). Any type of landfill membrane will eventually deteriorate, allowing seepage to contaminate the community’s water supply. It might be decades before any problems arise, but arise they will.
The advanced years of these wise souls give them a perspective that seems to be lacking in local officials who want to charge ahead with the dump’s completion. The protesters are to be commended for their prescient action: protecting a precious resource for the benefit of future generations they will never meet.
Douglas Counter, Toronto
When a language is a language
It’s no surprise the ambassador of Romania denies there’s such a thing as a Moldovan language – it’s her diplomatic duty to do so (Romanian/Moldovan Update – letter, Aug. 7). The first thing one does when one wants to deny a group of people independence is to deny they have their own language. One can then co-opt some “scientific body” to confirm the opinion.
Any self-respecting linguist, the only kind of scientist whose opinion should matter in this case, will refuse to tell you what a “language” is – for the simple reason there is no “scientific” way of defining the concept. A language is a language when people treat it as such.
This is exactly why linguists avoid terms such as “language” or “dialect” and use the more neutral “linguistic variety.” So call it Moldovan or Romanian or whatever you like, but please don’t try to convince anyone there’s anything remotely “scientific” about it or that someone else’s name can be incorrect in any way other than politically.
Inge Genee, associate professor of linguistics, University of Lethbridge
‘I coulda been a contender’
Screenwriter Budd Schulberg (Obituaries, Aug. 7) did not originate the On the Waterfront line, “I coulda been a contender.” Roger Donoghue, a prizefighter who killed another boxer in the ring and quit “contending,” was hired to coach Marlon Brando. When asked by Mr. Schulberg how far he could have got, Mr. Donoghue uttered the famous phrase that Mr. Schulberg incorporated into his script.
Gary Waller, Toronto
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It appears that a complex vocabulary is not necessarily perceived as a mark of intelligence (How To Seem Smarter – Social Studies, Aug. 6). Mark Twain once said, “I never write ‘metropolis’ for 7 cents, because I can get the same money for ‘city.’” How’s that for intelligence?
Sharon Speck, Pointe-Claire, Que.
