Don’t take Verdun
for granted

[Re: “Election notebook,” News, Oct. 1] Thanks to the Mirror for looking at things in our neighbourhood. Verdun, the Point and St-Henri have changed a lot over the past few years, and not always for the better.

We still don’t have much access to the water (and forget about trying to swim in the river!), and we’re still missing jobs. The only thing we have a lot of, it seems sometimes, are drug addicts and burglars and fat guys drinking on their porches! It’s time this city’s politicians wake up and smell the coffee! We need jobs down here more than anything.

It’s nice that our apartments, that used to be cheap, are appealing to people who make way more money than the old residents ever did and to students who don’t have to work or stick around once they’re finished at school. But for those of us, like me, who were born here and want to die here, Verdun is home. Always has been, always will be. And it’s always being taken for granted, whether under the old guys like Georges Bossé or the new bosses at city hall.

We need a new broom to sweep out some old crap.

>>Jim Francoeur

Keep it green

[Re: “Field of possibilities,” News, Oct. 1] It’s nice to hear that there are organizations out there fighting to hold onto our green spaces. Le Champ des Possibles sound like they’re on the right track but some of their positivity sounds naive to me.

Of course, the city official was kind and courteous to this group, it’s only good publicity. But whether they will actually consult le Champ before making any decisions is another thing altogether. The city has likely been wanting to get their hands on that spare bit of land for a long time and I’ll be surprised if they don’t bulldoze it into a parking lot for city vehicles (an STM bus depot is just on the other side of the tracks).

With the eastern expansion of St-Viateur on its way, it’s clear the city has some big plans for this neighbourhood, plans that probably won’t involve public opinion. With elections looming, now’s the time to make sure our voices are heard.

Beyond joining community groups and starting a community-based blog, what else can we do to protect the city from destroying what little bit of green space we have left?

>>Sarah Marchand

Debating Dershowitz

[Re: “Dershowitz and Voltaire,” Letters, Oct. 1] Quoting George Orwell and Voltaire, Ed Binder only demonstrates he understands neither. It is hardly “Orwellian” to compare Alan Dershowitz to an ambitious Gestapo medic when he advocates excruciating torture. Who should someone who wants to legalize shoving needles under fingernails be compared to? Mahatma Gandhi?

Orwell’s 1984 was an indictment of totalitarianism that brilliantly explored the prostitution of language for political purposes. If anything, “Orwellian” applies to how Zionists regularly distort words to invert reality—as when they refer to a “peace process” that really means more time to steal Palestinian lands, a “Palestinian state” that actually refers to an apartheid Bantustan and “fighting terror” that translates to collective punishment and terrorizing Palestinians.

As for his alleged approval of Voltaire’s famous maxim that free speech means defending even the right to express despicable views, I am waiting for Mr. Binder to lobby for the decriminalization of (Jewish) holocaust-denial.

>>Patrice Bombardier

[Re: “Dershowitz no hero,” Letters, Sept. 24] Lina Magliola suggests that I choose some slightly more meritorious “heroes” than Alan Dershowitz.

I gave up on the concept of “heroes” a long time ago. I do, however, admire Mr. Dershowitz for his defence of Israel and the Jews. We are always under attack and we do need defenders. Since Alan Dershowitz is doing such a good job at this, I am willing to disregard his imperfections.

>>Barry Merson

Critic called dumbass!

[Re: “Uneasy money,” Film, Oct. 1] If Malcolm Fraser seriously thinks Michael Moore is the “Rush Limbaugh of the Left,” or that Malcolm himself is a member of the “liberal elite,” then that would make Malcolm the “Self-Important Dumbass of Mediocre Critics.”

>>Joe Newman

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