Hooray for nurses

I am a regular reader of the Mirror. Two weeks ago I opened the paper to read the wonderful tribute to all ER nurses ["Angel," Aug. 24]. Today, I have enlarged the tribute and posted it throughout our Emergency Department. The nurses are extremely appreciative of your acknowledgment. We try very hard to provide the best care that we can while maintaining our own sense of sanity.

At the same time, our entire department works as a team and I would like to acknowledge all the docs, orderlies, clerks, X-ray techs, pharmacists, housekeeping staff and social workers who constantly go the extra mile 24/7 for the citizens of Montreal. Thank you.

--Janet MacDonald, ER nurse, Montreal General Hospital

Green, again

The August 31 letter from Green Party candidate Sarwer-Foner opens with praise and agreement with what I had to say in my letter two weeks before (I was critical of party politics). It ends by saying he respects my reasons, but I should stop and "remain respectfully silent."

How can one respect and agree with what I had to say, then ask that I shut up? Despite what he says, the Green Party and activists like myself are not on the same side: the Green Party of Quebec would not help finance activist initiatives unless it could take the credit or keep some of the money raised.

As a result, the party was overtaken by radical greens, including myself, who put activism ahead of expensive electoral campaigning. I reject the notion (circulating in the Green Party of Canada) that I'm to be vilified for the party's self-destruction. All options were discussed in democratic meetings, decisions were made openly and publicized to all members. The party died because it was weak and inactive, not because some persons worked hard to kill it.

So as an anarchist, I'll be neither silent nor respectful of political party bullshit. Marginal parties are simply small-time illusion peddlers dealing in false hopes and aspiring politicians.

-- Bernard Cooper

Angel Lea

A glance through history shows that violence brought social changes positive and negative. Hitler, at first, gained much political power through his brown-shirt thugs. Montreal blue-collar workers have, over many years, gained exceptional working conditions using threats, intimidation and violence. The end result is financial difficulty for Montreal, meaning less services for all taxpayers. If you are desperately looking for a working-class hero, Lea Roback ["Angel," Sept. 7] is the name. She dedicated her life to improve the working conditions of all low-paid workers, not just the selfish fat cats.

-- Jean-Claude Boivin

Poor CHOM

In response to all the talk about CHOM: the station is crap and there is barely anything "Montreal" about it. The playlist is boring and the request line is a complete lie. Worse yet is the awful banter between co-hosts. Very boring, very not-fun and very insulting too.

CHOM and other stations are going to have to learn to listen to what people really want, very

quickly. In-car satellite digital radio is just around the corner, and that will open up the ears of Montreal listeners to hundreds of radio station possibilities.

I own an Internet hosting company here in Montreal. We encourage all our employees to listen to their own tunes and radio stations via the Internet by going to www.broadcast.yahoo.com. Here, you can find the coolest stations with better music, better news and funny talk-show entertainment. (WTKS Orlando, Florida is my current favourite. Check out "The Monsters of the Mid Day" show, 12-3 p.m., www.wtks.com)

And don't be fooled by CHOM's ads ("More people listen to CHOM because it is CHOM-R-ific!"). We, the 18-45-year-old demographic, that used to tune in to CHOM when it was cool, have been ignored by the CHOM programmers (please stop playing fucking Tom "Red Rider" Cochrane already!) and insulted (even little kids can beat "Quiz the Whiz" now) long enough. We have moved on to other radio stations that know how to get our attention, and keep it.

-- Andrew Martin