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Riot boyyy
The Mirror's article on the St. Jean Baptiste day riot ["Running riot," June 28] was just a long non-clarification. The writer, Louis Rastelli, mentions at least six times where he's going, rather than where the rioters are at. He writes that McDonald's was trashed and that it "was impressive since dozens of cops were right there." Later he writes that after setting the McDonald's ablaze "the riot police finally caught up." So were the pigs there when the windows were smashed or not?
At the end of the article, Commander André Durocher--the fat-lipped media pig with a really slappable face--is quoted about how people were supposedly rioting in front of the cops. This is bullshit. We were hundreds there, and McDonald's wasn't targeted with the cops watching. The pigs were a block away, getting off the bus.
Typically, when rioting starts, the cops are absent. They pump people up by hassling them all day at the Tam-tams, they lose the upper hand as people get pissed, then the bastards leave to put on riot gear and come back after the riot's in full swing.
Did Louis Rastelli ever riot? He should put his pen aside for heavier objects before bullshiting about how rioters get their kicks: "It's actually boring to break windows for no reason--breaking them while being chased by police is a whole other story."
People riot for a lot of reasons and getting caught by the pigs isn't one of them, asshole. And it isn't boring--it's the most exhilarating high to see and hear a huge window come crashing down on the sidewalk. The better you throw, the louder it shatters, the louder the cheers.
-- A ghost of riots past
[Louis Rastelli responds: When the McDonald's was trashed, regular police were watching; the riot police showed up after.]
GM gripes
Your recent article "Seeds of Doubt," by Naomi Bloch, [June 21] seems to be well researched. However, your comments on the biotech industry's poster child, Golden Rice, are very misinformed since this product is at least five, and more likely 10, years away from being produced. It is still in the design stages and will then have to be tested for many years.
In addition, quoting Dr. Schwarcz in your article is a mistake since this man is a paid lobbyist for the industry, but is not identified as such. His comments would be less likely to be taken at face value if your readers were made aware of this important fact.
--Anonymous
[Naomi Bloch responds: Golden Rice was mentioned as an example of a product, in development, that is already ensnared in 70 patents. Dr. Schwarcz, who was quoted as a GMO proponent, is the director of the McGill Office for Chemistry and Society, and denies being a paid lobbyist for any industry organization.]
I wish you had dealt with my concerns about GM products and people's greed and ignorance. A GM plant should not be interbred with its weed relatives, but it happens because Third World countries are too poor, too ignorant, too corrupt to stop wealthy farmers from growing these plants.
Legislators have never faced the kinds of problems posed by the new GM products, therefore they cannot really deal with the danger.
A company in the U.S. is actually creating a new virus which is a combination of the AIDS and Ebola viruses to fight cystic fibrosis. They claim that the virus is non-virulent. Suppose, however, that the new virus combines--as happens with other viruses--with some older viruses. What horrible disease would result? Can the law force companies to research the effects of recombined viruses and to show there is no possible danger before letting them go ahead and do the work?
Another company is coming up with a new type of grass that doesn't need to be mowed. Are our laws strong enough to ensure that such a company will have to do ecological tests about possible dangers to pasture land before such a product is approved?
I don't find people on either side of the GM debate addressing my concerns. Will our government health safety units be able to deal with these new dangers? What will be the impact of human greed?
--Robert Feinstein
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