Letters: September 27, 2001

Mergers and extrapolations

Louis Rastelli is quite right when he wonders where the usual left is on the merger issue ["Merger mania," Sept. 27]. Say what we want about the Gazette, but they are a sort of voice for anglo Quebec. And these forced mergers are an assault on the rights of the citizens. This is part of an anti-democratic tendency now very much in evidence. What's alarming is that centralizing forces in both capitalism and socialism make everything appear sound to those at the heart of the empire. But at the edges, disintegration is taking place.

The feds just said they'll be spending less on the environment and aboriginals because of this new war. So we can expect a big corporate grab of our public works, while our tax dollars go to buy high-tech ways to kill people in far away places.

The left has been asleep at the wheel on these matters. Mainly because there is a big difference between your statist socialist types and those who distrust any group bigger than a few. We are now experiencing the down side of putting all the eggs in one basket. Two buildings are destroyed, and with them, a chunk of the economy.

But here in Quebec, they want to put all the money and information on a huge island in one place, to be regulated by an extremely small group of officials. This is happening because the people who could react to this are too busy being distracted by money, fun, games and a world over which they have no control. Their own backyard is going to hell, but they think it's cool to be global--while suffering is taking place inside individual lives for which most of us have no regard.

--J.M. Wolowitz

Tormented women, troubled men

I'd like to respond to Kristian Gravenor's article about troubled men ["Men in torment," Sept. 20]. Although I recognize the fact that the government gives way less money to these "men in torment," there is one thing that we have to remember: women make up the large majority of domestic abuse victims, not men. Although I am sympathetic to the fact that abusers were often abused themselves and that they are obviously suffering as well, let's not lose sight of the bigger picture. Women are still the ones having to hide from their abusive husbands, often forced to flee by night and relocate in secrecy, causing much stress to their children and living in constant fear.

Sure, some women may falsely accuse their husbands of battery (although I've never heard of such a case), but the majority of women don't even report the very real incidents of domestic violence to the police, let alone to their friends and family. We mustn't forget why the government gives money to women's shelters.

Also, the article states that Mr. Sawyer's wife accused him of battery, but that he was subsequently acquitted. Although I can not speculate on Mr. Sawyer's guilt or innocence, it is a fact that many men get off on technicalities when it comes to domestic abuse, or end up serving very light sentences. So, yes, violent men need to be rehabilitated and, yes, it would be nice to have a centre for them, but let's not let our concern for their welfare eclipse the real victims: the wounded women and children who get stuck in a cycle of poverty and life in shelters.

--Louise Gagnon

Ride the wave?

I was wondering if the rumours of those magnetic waves (resonant) with wave carriers are true? If something is magnetically aligned, can it be moved with a magnetic pulse wave and, if this is true, can a satellite do the same thing? By this I mean, once the object has been located by detailed mapping and detailed localization by inputs, can this be done?

I would like to see an article or an elaboration in your paper soon.

P.S. Does this apply to lasers and masers too?

--Welcomé

Correction

In the story "X-ray van man ban" [Sept. 13], the Mirror reported that Dr. Jacques Chaoulli went on a hunger strike in '96 to protest the privatization of some medical services. In fact, Dr. Chaoulli went on strike in favour of privatization. The Mirror regrets the error.

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