We are just watching as our wildlife is wiped out
THE Living Planet Report of 2018 makes sad reading. It says that global wildlife populations have fallen by 60% since 1970.
Here in Ireland, that figure must be quite a bit higher as we have removed so much of our woods, scrublands, hedges, wetlands and tree cover, year on year, without much more than a casual comment. We still do this.
In the recent Presidential election, the environment was hardly even mentioned and the other elections of recent years did not do much better.
So is it just our leaders, or are we all simply indifferent? If so, then change for us must mean change for the worse? JOHN MacBREG, by email.
Anti-semitism problem
I WON’T hold my breath waiting for expressions of condolences from Irish Liberal Leftie groups to the families of the murdered Jews who were victims of the crazed gunman at the synagogue in Philadelphia last Sunday.
What has been quite galling to me of late has been the airtime given by RTÉ current affairs department to former broadcaster Mike Murphy and the erstwhile performer Charlie McGettigan, who were allowed to freely express their anti-Israeli rhetoric, without fear of contradiction, on TV and radio.
It is sad to see these previously respected ‘entertainers’ having to engage in unnecessary political activism in their latter years.
Mike Murphy may have tried to emphasise on the Claire Byrne Live TV show that he is ‘not antisemitic’. However, Murphy’s antiIsraeli sentiments surely cause offence to many and also nurture anti-semitic aspirations within some sections of the Irish populace. TOM BALDWIN, Midleton, Co. Cork.
Everyday horrors
HALLOWEEN is upon us again, with corpses, clanking chains and the tormented screams of the damned. But why do we need a fake Halloween when we can witness this horror and ghoulishness any day of the year inside our slaughterhouses?
Every day millions of innocent individuals, quaking with fear, are goaded into pens and lines, to wait in gut-churning horror for their turn with the chains and the blades and the saws.
These intelligent, sensitive individuals are well aware that a diabolical fate awaits them.
Eyes bulging and frothing at the mouth, they do all in their power to escape – but to no avail.
Only we, the consumers, have the power to save them and to do so is as easy as refusing to support the animal industries with our consumer dollars.
Given that November 1 is World Vegan Day, what better time to help end this Halloween hell. JENNY MOXHAM,
by email.
Fly our flag high
A COUNCILLOR in Dublin has suggested not flying the national flag because it could offend foreign residents!
A flag represents many things to people, although the national flag represents the country, its history and what it stands for. There are very few flags that should not be flown high and the only ones that come to mind are those used by terrorists as a rallying point.
The idea of not flying a flag because it may offend some foreigners devalues the cost that many paid to protect it.
The foreigners who have come to a new country do so because they want to be part of that country, and the flag represents the qualities they want.
Honour the values that the flag represents and make sure it is flown high. DESMOND FITZGERALD,
by email.
Freddie’s big moment
HAVING thoroughly enjoyed the new film, Bohemian Rhapsody, I have to say thank you for the ‘sanitisation’ that has been the subject of much criticism by reviewers.
The producers have acknowledged filmgoers have an imagination and do not need to be bombarded with explicit images. We are all aware of Freddie Mercury’s lifestyle and the film did refer to this.
A 12 rating means a wider audience can enjoy Rami Malek’s outstanding performance. It is the first time I have witnessed a cinema audience applaud at the end of a film. KAREN MOORE, by email.
Death of comedy
IT’S dismaying to see that the creators of the Simpsons are reportedly bowing to pressure from some quarters and dropping the longstanding Indian character Apu.
Those who advocated for his removal say the shopkeeper ‘bolsters racial stereotypes’. But how is he different from the wild-eyed and irascible Scottish character Groundskeeper Willie, or the Mexican Bumblebee Man?
The show has lots of characters based entirely on stereotypes – Chief Wiggum is a slovenly, doughnut-eating cop, Homer is an alcohol-dependent father, Bart is a feral brat. Are these characters offensive too?
If we go down this route, unable to poke fun at stereotypes and observe the world around us, comedy will be dead.
DEREK CAREY, Dublin 9.