Shitting in our own den

[Re: “Federal funding for climate deniers,” Insect, News, Dec. 17] Something is inherently wrong with our society when the majority of our scientists claim the world is warming, and we ignore them. We have been fatally seduced by our lust for material wealth that we ignore our country’s leader flipping his chin at environmental concerns.

Something needs to be done, and it disgusts me to state that Canada is fighting against it. Maybe by screwing our children over with a collapsing ecosystem, we will all be able to live it up as lavishly as possible. Despite the political excuses, this is what we stand for. Canada of the 21-century.

Our nation should be setting the example and leading the way, not submitting to corporate interests and our own—admit it—greed. It’s time for all concerned, every one of us, to learn to live on Earth sustainably. Can we do it? Modernize and create sustainable existences, stop taking life for granted.

Perhaps when we finally slash and burn the last of the planet’s forests for some monster homes and begin incorporating jellyfish into our diets, all the filth-ridden fresh water we waste will still be flowing in our rivers.

We must begin to rethink the very core of our ways and see that our national priorities are dangerously flawed if we are to continue prospering. Putting corporate interests over the health of our shared habitat, something we are all without a doubt utterly dependent on, is not particularly intelligent. It’s like a bear shitting in his den, isn’t it? Sooner or later, he’s going to be laying in it. Let’s instead bundle it up in cheap political wrangling and give it to our future generations. What a proud moment for Canada.

>>CORY KELEHER

Though utterly disgraceful, it’s not surprising that Harper’s government is now reduced to funding climate change deniers. The Conservatives are essentially a rebranded Reform Party, as vividly illustrated when their minister of science, yes, science, refused to deny creationism or even affirm evolution.

A shrewd strategist, Harper knows well Napoleon’s dictum that “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than 1,000 bayonets,” and conversely, that a supportive media is indispensable to winning a majority government. Hence his shameless pandering to the vast (and staunchly Zionist) Canwest Global empire. 

Loudly supporting Israel’s collective punishment in Gaza and delegitimizing criticism of Israel by conflating it with anti-Semitism certainly wins Harper gushy accolades from The National Post and its satellites across the country. But disregard for rights, whether human or environmental, carry a cost. The scathing reaction to Canada in Copenhagen was but one example that our reputation is tarnished when our principles are prostituted.

Going to church on Sunday, the rest of the week Harper methodically steers Canada towards a fundamentalist Christian-Zionist path that is deeply troubling—and contrary to Canadian values. Alas, Sinclair Lewis’s warning is becoming increasingly relevant. “When fascism comes to America,” he predicted, “it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.”

>>JOHN DIRLIK

Truthers and
their rubbish

[Re: “Splitting the truth,” News, Front, Dec. 3] I consider myself politically on the left and in solidarity with so much that activists undertake to promote a better world in various fields. But I’m regularly thrown into irritation and despair at the ignorant paranoia that pervades some progressive circles. To wit, the Mirror’s Patrick Lejtenyi actually promoted a lecture by a certain “Splitting the Sky,” another of these idiotic 9/11 truthers who purport to have “incontrovertible” evidence that George W. Bush et al. actually carried out those atrocious attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Their evidence is all rubbish, but due to space limitations here, I can’t refute everything. I’ll only let a well-respected figure on the Left make a few logical comments about these matters. Noam Chomsky has stated that while the American government stood to benefit from the incident, “every authoritarian system in the world gained from September 11th.” He argues that the enormous risk of an information leak and subsequent consequences for the Republican Party would have made such a conspiracy foolish to attempt. He adds, “If you look at the evidence, anybody who knows anything about the sciences would instantly discount that evidence,” arguing that even when a scientific experiment is carried out repeatedly in a controlled scientific environment, phenomena and coincidences remain that are unexplained. (See YouTube: “Chomsky dispels 9/11 conspiracies with sheer logic.”)

>>MARCO ERMACORA

Merry Xmas from Bob White!

In New York City, the kids living uptown (Harlem) are smarter than the kids (white) living downtown—they know that at Christmas time, the Santa Claus that they see (white) is not coming into their neighbourhood after dark.

>> BOB WHITE

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