Have Your Say

Re: the theft of curling equipment from the Swiss Olympic team.

Didn't you know? That's the Winnipeg Olympic sport. The crimeathlon. You start by assaulting someone on your way to a busy intersection. There you carjack someone and then drive down the wrong side of the road. Points are awarded for the most damage done during this phase.

Then you have to quickly select a target for theft. The real trick is making sure the vehicle can hold whatever else you plan on stealing. After this, you have to take the vehicle full of stolen goods to the North End and abandon it after ploughing it into a dumpster.

I can't stress how demanding and comprehensive the training for this event is. It typically takes an entire city to wilfully put in the effort to develop a team.

Alexander Trauzzi

Winnipeg

Shame on Ticketmaster

I recently bought tickets for both pre-Olympic hockey games in Winnipeg featuring Belarus and Switzerland. The Tuesday game was great, but the Thursday afternoon game was chaos. I had bought great seats for both games. But on Thursday when my friend and I went to be seated, the usher told me that the game seating was a "free-for-all" and I could not sit in my seats without him kicking out the junior high students (8,000 were at the game). He then offered to let me sit in the wheelchair-accessible seats and he couldn't understand why I was angry. After some discussion, I did get refunded. But why was Ticketmaster selling assigned seating instead of "rush seating?" I'm sure I wasn't the only person would got screwed over that day. Oh well. I guess I got to see one pre-Olympic game. Shame on you Ticketmaster!

Trevor Bernat

Winnipeg

The rest of the world

Since Jan. 12, there has been widespread media attention focused on the earthquake in Haiti. It's near impossible not to see some form of coverage, whether it's the front page of the paper or even a global telethon by Hollywood celebrities. As of Jan. 26, $783 million has been donated to aid Haiti. Canadians alone have donated more than $82 million to agencies involved in quake relief. It is evident that the world feels a sense of moral responsibility to help in the quake-relief efforts.

However, have we forgotten about the other numerous injustices around the world? According to the Haitian Health Ministry, the latest death toll is estimated at 150,000 and 194,000 injured Haitians. In comparison, torrential rains in West Africa in June 2009 killed 30 people and displaced at least 350,000. In Sierra Leone during the 1990s, civil war killed thousands, displaced millions. Yet in both accounts, and many others, there were limited funds and minimal media attention.

The world has an obligation to help those less fortunate, regardless of widespread media attention or celebrity support.

Cheryl Boyd

Winnipeg

Anti-Catholic tolerance

As one who is new to the theatre, I was excited to attend Opening Night of Mother Courage and Her Children. My excitement soon melted into disappointment as I was appalled to hear a recurring chorus of anti-Catholic sentiment throughout the play. I waited patiently for that to shift but it didn't. I pondered how much anti-Semitism would have been tolerated had it been in the production. I would dare say, none.

Darrell Phillips

Winnipeg

Transfer Catch-22

I'm confused. Your paper reported that it is known that critical incidents in hospitals often occur when patients are transferred within a hospital or to another facility. Dr. Rob Robson, chief patient safety officer of the WRHA, corroborates this. He says, "Those are situations where there are many opportunities for breakdowns in communication."

Since January 2009, emergency general surgeries are only done at the Grace, St. Boniface and Health Sciences Centre hospitals. This means that patients needing this kind of surgery at the other hospitals in Winnipeg will be transferred to receive the care they need.

Robson's statement recognizes that it is situations like this that put a patient at risk. How was the WRHA allowed to go forth with this?

Nadine Scholl RN

Winnipeg

Man vs. machine

Lindor Reynolds' mockery of Winnipeggers protesting the new garbage-bin plan is a joke in itself. She failed to mention how many Winnipeggers lost their jobs due to the new automated system. The way I see it, if you replace a human being with a mechanical arm, you can expect less service. I am sure, however, that the company which has the contract will be thanking the city all the way to the bank.

PAT MALIS

Winnipeg

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RE: Bigger garbage carts rejected (Feb. 10).

In theory, homeowners will take extra time to sort more of their garbage into the new recyclable and non-recyclable bins and everything will fit. In fact, the 240-litre bins will not likely be large enough even for medium-sized families, particularly after holidays. Where will the extra garbage go?

Conscientious folks will drive their bags to a landfill, releasing extra exhaust emissions along the way. Less conscientious folks will stuff the extra bag into the bottom of the recycle bin or throw it in a ditch on the edge of town, or a vacant lot, or a business dumpster. Give everyone the larger bin and be done with it. If need be, charge for the extra size. Smaller isn't necessarily greener!

GREG BARKER

Winnipeg

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The garbage-cart debate of late shows how the city lacks a waste-management strategy. Accommodating larger carts and developing a fee structure to accommodate those who generate more waste is moving policy in the wrong direction. Why does the city not engage with its citizens about how to reduce the amount of garbage they produce? Why is the city not encouraging people to throw away less and educate them about composting and responsible consumerism?

The mayor is encouraging citizens to "have a talk" -- so discuss getting to zero waste and implore our city councillors to take concrete action to help us get there.

TERRI EVANS

Former Winnipegger

Coquitlam, B.C.

He can't spell

The writer who reviewed my book, Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map seems not to have read it. Some examples:

The reviewer writes: "If the U.S. doesn't support Canada's claims of Arctic sovereignty with gunboat diplomacy, Paskal says, the Russians will dominate the entire Arctic." The book doesn't advocate gunboat diplomacy. It recommends using legal mechanisms and co-operation to increase security in the region.

The reviewer writes the opening of the Northwest Passage will result in "injecting new life into ports such as Churchill." Conversely, the book points out the promotion of Churchill doesn't take in to account the debilitating effect of thawing permafrost on the stability of the only land link to Churchill, the railway, putting current development plans in jeopardy.

The reviewer writes: "Paskal accuses the Chinese government of exporting people to settle in other countries to be called on to join the Chinese side in future conflicts." This is absurd. The book describes how the CCP seems to be facilitating the movement of people to specific countries, but the primary reasons are economic and/or related to resource extraction.

The reviewer writes the book states "China and Russia have abandoned world domination through communism." The book does not say China or Russia attempted world domination through communism -- or anything else that sounds like it came out of a 1950s comic book.

In the fourth paragraph, the reviewer misspells my name.

Cleo Paskal

Montreal

Pageant idea rude

I am writing to you to comment on the Miss America Beauty Pageant. I think that this show degrades women in America, especially the ones competing because they might think that they are not beautiful enough for the world. I think that the girls lose self-confidence and little girls might think that they need to be that beautiful to be popular in the world.

This show brings down confidence because the girls think that Miss America is the most beautiful in America, and they think that they are not beautiful enough. I think that all the women in the Miss America Beauty Pageant are not being humble and they think that they are the best and they will beat all the other girls and that is very rude and I think that they should at least have respect for the other competitors

Overall I think that the Beauty Pageant is bad and it should stop, unless it encourages other girls to go out in the world and believe that they are all beautiful in their own way.

Tyson Slaa

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 16, 2010 A15