Rights fights
We may call ourselves the "chosen people" but no Jew, including my grandmother murdered by the Nazis at Dachau, chose to be a victim of genocide (Rights & Wrongs – Focus, Aug. 20). Nor did 6 million Ukrainians, 2 million Cambodians, or hundreds of thousands of Tutsis, Igbos and Kurds.
The Canadian Museum of Human Rights must acknowledge mass slaughter of all human beings as having the same meaning. If not, the message will be one of racial superiority, quite opposed to the museum's stated purpose.
David Schatzky, Toronto
All 12 galleries in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights should be comparative, inclusive and thematic. No community's suffering should be elevated above all others.
Yet the CMHR's CEO, Stuart Murray, and most of its board ignores this. The only remedy now is for the federal government to remove Mr. Murray and reconstitute the board to make it more representative. Then, as Michael Marrus suggests, the government should find someone of sufficient intellectual integrity and experience to rethink what the CMHR should be about.
R. W. Zakaluzny, Chair, Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association
As victims of the victims of the Holocaust, the Palestinians played no part in the tragedies that befell the Jews in Europe. Yet the victims of the Holocaust punished them through ethnic cleansing, dispossession, discrimination and occupation, resulting in what the Palestinians call the Nakba (catastrophe).
Both the Holocaust and the Nakba are thus intimately linked. Were they twinned as organically connected acts in one installation, the museum would go some way toward earning its name.
Karim Durzi, Toronto
The classic definition of "museum" is "a place dedicated to the muses." These were the nine acolytes of the Greek god Apollo, the god of art and learning. Human rights was not one of the categories, although Clio, patroness of history, would surely be relevant to the Winnipeg institution.
However there is one Greek mythological figure with more relevance: Eris, the goddess of discord. Perhaps Winnipeg is the site of the world's first Eriseum.
Michael Johnson, Toronto
A royal pain
I must side with historian Jack Granatstein when he calls Stephen Harper's addition of "royal" to military nomenclature a "loony" historical throwback (Harper Spins A New Kind Of Patriotism – Aug. 20).
But I can't wait to celebrate the War of 1812 and the burning of the White House with him.
Presumably, it will be an opportunity for Canadians to remember Americans' brutal treatment of thousands of Loyalists, the U.S.'s support for (Fenian) cross-border terrorism, American meddling in Canadian affairs, and invasive designs on Canada's resources and waterways.
But instead, this two-year contretemps starting in 1812 will no doubt be officially portrayed as a happy little training exercise among friends and allies.
Michael Rapsey, Ottawa
As a former Lancaster bomber pilot in the RCAF, I don't recall anyone feeling diminished that we were obliged to share our name with a dance band, Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians, or a now-defunct manufacturer of discount cigarettes, the Royal Canadian Tobacco Company.
Nor do I recall any in our ranks taking offence that some expunged "Canadian" and simply made Royal typewriters, or the packaged dessert Royal Gelatin.
In retrospect, I'm shocked at our naïveté. Surely we should have been indignant and petitioned to have the shabby word Royal stripped from our name.
Les Morrison, Burlington, Ont.
Sunshine states
Margaret Wente says that California, due to its "high taxes, bloated public-sector unions, intrusive regulation and high unemployment," compares unfavorably with Texas, governed by presidential aspirant Rick Perry (It's All Breaking Bad For Obama – Aug. 20).
In fact, California outperforms Texas in median family and individual income, poverty rates, high school graduation rates, life expectancy and infant mortality. I have no idea which state is the better one in which to live. I do know I would rather live longer, have a better chance of finishing school, make more money, and be more likely to avoid poverty and the death of my infant child.
Then again, perhaps the joy of being home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state makes the sacrifice worthwhile.
Joe Killoran, Toronto
Yob export
Like Richard Florida (The London Riots – Focus, Aug. 20), I am concerned that the violence we've seen in London is headed to Canadian cities previously considered bastions of civil order.
However, I find his prescription wanting. "Turning low-wage, low-skill service jobs…into higher-paying, more fulfilling and more productive work" looks good on paper. But I'm afraid even the most enlightened social programs are powerless in the face of disintegrating families and the exchange of personal responsibility for victimhood.
Is the class divide the result of a lack of opportunity, or does opportunity find those who are taught – by parents, teachers and community role models – the ethics of hard work and sacrifice?
Stuart Sugar, Toronto
Does Mr. Florida have any notions on how to turn low-wage, low-skills service jobs into higher paying, more fulfilling and "more productive" work? I suggest focus should be on reducing the causes of the proliferation of such menial, unproductive jobs.
Loraine Hall, Brampton, Ont.
Giddy up, g'nap!
Thank you for marking the passing of Papa Smurf (Where Calgary's Most Famous Rodeo Stars Are Laid To Rest – Aug. 20). A great bucking horse, he loved his job, and he provided important paydays.
The spirit of the west, which most Canadians only see if they decide to attend a rodeo, is most alive in these great competitions between powerful animals and passionate and determined cowboys. May Papa Smurf's spirit run in the grasslands forever.
Lynn Foster, Richmond Hill, Ont.
For love of money
Re French Lingerie Firm's Pretty Babies Prompt Calls To Let Girls Be Girls (Aug. 19). I wonder how big the organization has to be before sexual exploitation of children for money becomes "okay."
One guy in his basement, no. But a bunch of suits in a lingerie company – fine, apparently.
Carolynn Broeke, Victoria
Waste not, want not
Re Rising Splat Complaints Drive Gull Deterrent Fund (B.C. – Aug. 20). For the last 45 years I have collected and transported fish waste from plants in the lower mainland of British Columbia. Since the beginning, after an accidental taste of splat, my motto has been "never look up with your mouth open."
Paul Voth, Tsawwassen, B.C.