Rest in peace dear friend privacy
A place of seclusion, known by her shortened name privacy, was truly the quality of being apart from company or observation. She was raised in a time when there were secrets and freedom from unauthorized intrusions. Privacy enjoyed a life that began when there were no boundaries; there was absolutely nothing and infinite ruled the day. Although cave paintings and the petroglyphs of prehistoric peoples threatened her existence, the advent of writing systems and writing implements changed her destiny. Stone tablets, clay tablets, wax tablets, vellum, parchment, paper, copperplate, styluses, quills, ink brushes, pencils, pens, lithography, type-
Grave desecration was shameful
Re Libyan mob desecrates grave of Canadi
an war hero, March 5 As a Canadian Libyan, who was involved in the last Libyan freedom fight in the capacity of a surgeon, I am ashamed of this irresponsible act by hooligans in Benghazi who desecrated the graveyards of the brave Canadian soldiers of World War II. This is also disrespectful to Libyans who fought alongside the Canadians to defeat the fascist forces of Mussolini. What the Canadian jet fighters did a few months ago over Libya is a continuation of what our brave soldiers did in the past. It is incumbent on the National Libyan Council to take appropriate action in this regard. Dr. M. Bendago, President, Physicians for Libya Organization, Toronto
Power just an illusion for P.E.I.
Re Some voters are more equal than others,
March 5 Christopher Hume says, “The most influentual voters in Canada, on a per capita basis, are those in Prince Edward Island.” His reasoning: P.E.I., with a population of 140,000, has four seats in Parliament (actually it has eight seats in Parliament — four in the House of Commons and four in the Senate). How can P.E.I., with four out of 308 people in the House of Commons, have any influence? If those four have managed to be influential, the Star should tell us about it. It would be hot news and a fascinating feature story. Joan Forsey, Toronto
Stung by the parking fleecers
The Toronto Parking Authority has a reputation (particularly among those visiting the city) as being a money-sucking, heartless entity, rather than simply an enforcer of the parking regulations. I’m not one to question the law, but when I received a parking ticket in the private parking lot of my ailing sister’s apartment (Breton Place) after driving for two hours into the city to help her out, I was irate and mailed in a letter (along with a cheque for the parking “violation”). In keeping with their reputation, your big city parking fleecers have cashed the cheque and discarded the letter. No wonder outsiders hesitate to come into the big city. Ross Kennedy, Warkworth writers, word processors, programmable electromechanical computing machines and, finally, programmable electronic digital computers all contributed to privacy’s ongoing demise. However, it was quantum computer architecture that provided the ability of any type of computer, netbook, supercomputer, or cellular automation to perform the exact same tasks. Then, fast networking technologies led to a very large portion of devices regularly connecting. Finally, it was wireless networking using mobile phone networks that made access to the secrets of privacy ubiquitous. So it was, that the beautifully elegant privacy became terminally ill.
Give peace a chance in Syria
Re West dismisses Assad’s referendum as
a ‘farce,’ Feb. 27 The Syrian government has just held a referendum vote on a new constitution. It was supported with a sizable vote and participation. The new constitution provides for a multi-party electoral system with the licensing of new parties, thus replacing the undemocratic dominance of the Baath party. Presidential elections will be openly contested and Syrians can democratically replace or retain the current President Assad. Elections are to be held within three months. Is this not what the democracy demonstrations were, at least originally, demanding — and for which they could now claim victory? Is it not the democracy that the international community is also demanding for Syria? Clearly, the alternative is a civil war with an unscripted outcome. Clearly the majority of Syrians prefer the peaceful resolution offered by these reforms while opposing outside interference. The U.S., Europe and the UN should support this path to democracy and peace as the only alternative to the escalating violence. Instead the West is punishing Syrians with sanctions and arming an opposition that refuses to negotiate. This they hope will somehow lead to regime change, while in fact they risk another Afghanistan. Ron Brydges, St. Catharines
TTC riders need to clean up
Re Here’s shocking news, TTC’S been
cleaned up, March 4 That’s great but wouldn’t it be even better if riders could be persuaded to “clean up” — i.e. take their trash with them or put it in the waste bin and keep their feet off the seats. Ian Murray, Richmond Hill
At first, governments, believing they should provide assistance for privacy’s ills, created legislation based upon primitive networks by creating “do-not-call” legislation. It was too late; the illness afflicting privacy was spreading rapidly. Physical networks were being overtaken by social networks and the largest social network had seduced privacy to her final resting place.
On the day that the world’s largest social network first sells part of itself into the ubiquity (Facebook’s IPO), there will be over 845 million inhabitants on Earth who are friends, sharing secrets, in a state of constant observation.
Rest in peace, dear friend privacy! James D. Godfrey, Windsor
Piety and the U.S. Christian right
Re Onward Christian Republicans, Opinion
March 2 Thanks Rick Salutin for muchneeded scrutiny on the twisted religious view and piety of Republican Christians and especially on presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
They say that true spirituality is invisible, so there is no need whatsoever to flaunt it. Most of us know and understand that religion and spirituality can be two separate things. How we define spirituality is, of course, based on how we view religion. And how we view religion is based on our upbringing, our view of the world and our mindset.
The best definition of religion I have ever read is by the Zen Buddhists. They simply describe religion as the way we live our lives, the way we treat people.
It is comforting to know that if Santorum were a Canadian running to become Prime Minister, he would fail totally. It is just the way we are. Just ask Stockwell Day. Carol Lim, Toronto
Fanaticism is in eye of beholder
Re Harper echoes hawks on Iran, Opinion
March 4 So Prime Minister Stephen Harper thinks the Iranians have a fanatically religious world view? He needs to take Religion-101-with Billy Graham, Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin or any of the other tea party evangelists.
They believe that Israel should take over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, drive the Palestinians out, tear down the Al-aqsa mosque and build a welcoming temple in its place — all in the name of Jesus Christ returning to Earth. Then Jesus is supposedly going to kill those people, including Jews, who have not converted to Christianity during the Armageddon.
It’s interesting how we can see the craziness in other religions but be blind to our own fanaticism. Or is this a case of the pot calling the kettle black? Michael Ali, Mississauga
Putting question another way
Re Doing battle with test scores, March 5 Annie Kidder asked, “If we focus on kids’ ability on standardized tests, do we miss seeing the forest for the trees?” We might better ask, “If we focus our assessments of school effectiveness on standardized testing, do we miss seeing the forest for the trees?” Sharon Craigen, Toronta