If the taxpayers of B.C. needed any more proof that Gordon Campbell’s Liberals were far removed from the citizens that elected them, it came with the second round of obscene pay increases [Straight Talk, August 14-21].

Lisa Penney’s letter claiming a link between childhood leukemia (and a number of degenerative diseases) to power-transmission-line fields is long on scare-mongering and very short on substance [Letters, August 21-28].

Thank you for the article on the big pile o’ trash floating out where none of us will ever see it, and, consequently, are unlikely to think about it [“Waves of disaster”, August 14-21]. However, amidst all the reporting on nasty things these toxins and debris are doing, there was not much said about prevention.

Kevin Purton of Surrey Environmental Partners is right: the Port Mann Bridge is only seriously congested at peak periods [Straight Talk, August 21-28].

I’m afraid, Prof. Anil Hira, that the “mythologizing” of 9/11 has not been the product of those of us who saw through the event’s glaring anomalies right from the start but by those media cogs who obediently fell in line, failing to investigate the forensic-void official conspiracy tale [“Domestic 9/11 probe urged”, August 14-21].

Those who feel that transmission lines over a school won’t hurt children’s health might want to remember the children in hospital with leukemia [“Parents oppose power lines”, August 7-14]. Electromagnetic radiation does affect children’s rapidly growing cells, and to have it over a school is criminal. As a society, many of us continue to deny the effects of how we treat the planet and our bodies. We just assume that illnesses come out of nowhere.

As architects for the current Vancouver East Cultural Centre, we take exception to the inaccurate claims made by Donald Luxton of Heritage Vancouver [Arts Notes, August 14-21]. Mr. Luxton says the city rushed through the approvals and consultation process when, in fact, approvals stretched out over a period of six years.

In response to Rob Cardinal’s letter believing we have the right to cull seals [Letters, August 14-21]: why do we have the right to shoot the seals when they are not responsible for the decimation of salmon? Just to clarify, I am not someone who values the lives of seals over the livelihoods of generations of fishermen and their families. What I do believe in is taking responsibility for human behaviours and lifestyles that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.

We would like to correct Pieta Woolley’s statement that “COPE did not have a party [Facebook] page” [Straight Talk, August 7-14]. This is entirely incorrect. COPE does have a Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2406039618 ) and was one of the first parties to have one. In fact, an internal COPE slate (made up of predominantly candidates in their twenties) was called “the Facebook group” by the media for their successful use of Facebook in a May 2007 COPE election.

I read today’s news column by Carlito Pablo with great interest [“Vision delays dealing with UBCM motion”, August 7-14]. I have to applaud the NPA (councillors Capri and Ladner) for leading the charge to help present a Green party voice at this year’s UBCM convention. [As the former interim president of the party] I know all too well the challenge the Green party of B.C. faced in the buildup to last year’s vote. It was a close one, and that’s a signal to me that B.C.

While the Straight remains one of my favourite sources for news, Matthew Burrows’s recent piece about proposed copper mining in Clayoquot Sound was disappointing [“Locals oppose Catface mine”, July 31–August 7]. A key component of this issue (completely ignored in this article) is that Catface Mountain lies in the traditional territory of the Ahousaht First Nation, which signed a memorandum of understanding with Selkirk Metals Corporation earlier in the year.

Ernie Crey, a fisheries adviser to the Sto:lo Tribal Council, is absolutely right in regards to fishers having the right to get permits from…Fisheries and Oceans [Canada], to shoot seals in order to prevent their salmon catches from being pilfered [“Native seal kills on the Fraser raise questions”, August 7-14].

A fabulous report on Pemberton [Concerts, July 31–August 7]. Congrats to all involved. No wonder the Straight is such a highly regarded weekly.

The Tofino–Long Beach Chamber of Commerce strongly opposes the open-pit copper mine on Catface Mountain in Clayoquot Sound [“Locals oppose Catface mine”, July 31–August 7].

While Pieta Woolley’s article on Wreck Beach made some good points, it did not create a very accurate image of the beach community [“Wreck Beach under siege”, July 31–August 7]. Painting with brushes that are too broad, she gave the impression that regulars are either a bunch of weird old fogeys or sexually motivated young hedonists, with no regard for others.