Yank backtalk

In response to your illuminating attack on the U.S. footballers in South Korea [“American Ugly,” World Cup Corner, June 13], all I can say is: fuck you. Yeah, that’s right, fuck you. Sorry, I didn’t see how Canada did in the W.C. this year. What? They didn’t get in? Is there even a Canadian national football squad or is it just the hockey team when the ice melts and the 12 year olds have taken over the roller hockey rink in Jarry Park? No bullshit please about the fact that the U.S. has eight times the Canadian population; Canada has a population six times that of Denmark and Denmark seems to do all right.

So why the attack? Jealous yet again that you suck and the States doesn’t? Yeah, we’ve just picked up on the game and it hasn’t reached the stage in the States where grown men will weep like small children when our squad gets throttled (as the Italians did on Tuesday). But is that reason to talk shit about the U.S.? Europe and the rest of the world are just now picking up on a little game called basketball and I don’t read columnists in U.S. papers saying the Croats play like drunken storks with wooden knees. Get over the U.S. bias-it just makes you look so… oh what’s the word? Canadian.

-Lee Mack

Railway rights

Kristian Gravenor’s story regarding Canadian Pacific [“CP’s citizen brush-off,” June 6] is replete with commentary and many errors. The railway crossing is not Canora, but Wilderton, and the CP “media flak’s” name is not Pierre, but Michel. I would expect anti-rail bias from fiscal libertarians such as Wendell Cox, but not from a newspaper such as yours. Perhaps your news commentary is of the limousine-liberal variety and truly not interested in the utility and efficiency of the railway.

On June 7, a GO train in Toronto collided with a van and five people were killed. Does Montreal really need another pedestrian rail crossing to encourage trespassing and possible injury to life and limb? The Melrose tunnel was built in 1952 in order to avoid accidents and loss of life. To improve the tunnel, the city may consider security cameras, better lighting and possibly wider dimensions.

According to a quote in Gravenor’s report, “20 to 30 trains go by fairly rapidly” on the Westmount subdivision. During the railway’s heyday in the ’30s and ’40s, as many as 86 passenger trains used the line. This number does not include the freight service that existed at the time as well. If NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard) grassroots citizens’ movements are concerned about railway noise, why did they move there in the first place? And why aren’t they bothered by the constant noise, racket and pollution emanating from Jean-Talon and St-Jacques?

-Avrom Shtern

As a Transport 2000 member, I found Kristian Gravenor’s article to be erroneous. CP’s Adirondack subdivision has been around since the early 1880s, so it’s not as if trains are something new to the area.

Here are a few ideas to improve conditions. Firstly, trees could be planted along Jean-Talon, between Aberdare and Glenwood to act as a sound barrier. Also, trains must crawl along the stretch of track between St-Luc and Outremont at 30 mph. If both federal and provincial governments were to provide assistance, the line could be upgraded to 60 mph. This would help expedite trains and would also be a boon for the AMT’s Blainville commuter trains.

-Andrew Dawson

More ISP options
I’ve read recent letters about Bell Sympatico’s new service downgrades and price increases and have been looking into alternatives myself. Here’s what I’ve found: just about everyone is cheaper than Bell and have larger bandwidth limits-if any at all-and most allow you to use your own modem. Please publish this information, since it seems most people out there think Bell’s the only game in town.

IStop • Colba • AccessVantage • CAM • DSL Communications • Look • Golden • Pathway • Interlynx • AEI • VDN Cable

Also, check out this comparison of ISPs in Toronto as many offer service in Montreal

-Sean McBride

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