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Cultural differences
The lead sentence in the Oct. 18 Election Notebook by Patrick Lejtenyi, the Mirror's news editor, states: "The upscale, heavily anglo-Jewish riding of Côte-St-Luc/Hampstead/Montreal-West faces some big questions."
The questions that Lejtenyi then writes about are a highway extension and the proposed development of a golf course, neither of which issues have anything to do with whether the population of the area is anglo, Jewish, or both. Why stress ethnicity in an item to which ethnicity is not relevant?
One recalls the blatant anti-Semitism of former Montreal Mirror owner Pierre Peladeau who once said that Jews take up too much room in his newspapers. One would have hoped that the editors of the Montreal Mirror would have progressed past that attitude. Apparently not.
--Helen Shapiro
Ed's note: We identified the neighbourhood as anglo and Jewish as we would identify Rosemont/Petite-Patrie as a heavily Italian neighbourhood or Centre-Sud as a low-income neighbourhood. Montreal is a diverse city, and our neighbourhood ridings often reflect this.
Whose cause is it anyway?
This mail is a response to the letter from Suhrid of da Bloody Gashes [Oct. 18]. I was wondering what cause it was exactly that you were agreeing with--the actual cause of the terrorists who committed the attack on Sept. 11 (do you even know what it is?) or one that you yourself have tacked on to this incident?
Do you really think those responsible for the attack give a shit about what you call "...[the U.S. government] oppressing the freedoms of untold millions around the world (including within the U.S.!), blocking their access to basic human rights and a cleaner environment in favour of U.S.-based multinational corporate giants''?
Time for a reality check, my illuminated Guardian-reading friend. Their cause ain't holier than capitalism.
--Mika
An affair to remember
In your Oct. 18 Angels & Insects column, your coverage of Mike Harris's resignation describes the move as a result of "personal reasons," including that "wags whisper about his attempts to salvage his marriage, which was on death's door following revelations he was diddling a Toronto TV personality."
While I am no fan of Mike "Duffer" Harris, he has been very publicly involved with Sharon Dunn for several years. "Revelations"? She is constantly in the media spotlight when she attends events with him. Don't you ever read Frank?! Wake up and smell the Duffer. Yours in socialism,
--BH
Ankle-deep
This is to comment on "Notes from a new war zone," by Ken Hechtman that appeared in the Oct. 18 Mirror.
This article from Pakistan offers very little political analysis and no historical context either. It is filled with simplistic caricatures of the Natives and "fanatics", among whom the author seems to be having a Wild West kind of experience.
For a region that has known an extreme level of warfare with the consequent human pain and suffering, there are many more important stories to be told. I lived and grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, which changed irrevocably under the shadow of the CIA-funded Afghan war with the Soviet Union, becoming home to more than a million Afghan refugees, later turned into residents.
There is little mention in the article of the horrendous conditions of the millions of Afghan refugees in the North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan region. The author is too busy with the "dinnertable gossip" of Islamabad, where hordes of Western journalists have descended for the latest scoop. The flippant tone of this article is insulting and there is no valuable insight offered into the complexities of the present political situation.
--Sarwat
Correction
Last week's People column ["Stuff It"] included an ironic inference that taxidermist John Matthai would stuff "any dead animal, including people..." In fact, Mr. Matthai does not stuff humans. The Mirror regrets any confusion this comment may have caused.
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