Heated debate
Re: Thermometer rising, Mar. 10.
I read articles like these and I wonder if mankind is going to be doomed, along with the 18 to 37 per cent of species on Earth we’ve “committed to extinction” by 2050. The fact is, survival is our only option, and as much of a disaster as we’ve already caused, which is only getting worse every year, we will eventually have to rebuild a home for our children on this planet, come what may. We have to be conscious of the fact that it could get a lot worse if current trends continue. A one- or even two-degree rise in average temperature will be catastrophic for much of life on Earth (and much of the human race) that has adapted to delicate current conditions. A three- or four-degree rise on the other hand…heaven only knows.
That is why we must go beyond emotions of horror, disbelief, and most critically, apathy, and begin immediate emergency measures to eliminate our use of greenhouse gasses, as quickly as possible. Some of us at U of T have already taken a stand on the issue, and are campaigning for just that. We are striving to make our own campus car-free, and a haven for cleaner forms of transportation. We’ll be shutting down St George on March 31st to draw attention to this crisis. To help us and get involved, contact us at [email protected].
Gabriel Nicolau
OPIRG Environmental Collective
The Ebert of pop legal theory strikes again
Alan Dershowitz claims to be “pro-Palestinian,” while supporting the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians and their torture. He supports the collective punishment and execution of innocent civilians, while dismissing the deliberate massacre of Palestinian civilians as “counter-terrorism operations.” He also criticizes pro-Palestinian students for allegedly “ignoring” human rights violations in China, Cuba, Panama, and elsewhere, yet he doesn’t tell us what he did to try and force Israel to stop supporting oppressive regimes like apartheid-era South Africa or Iran’s former Shah Reza Bahlavi, or to get Israel to finally join the rest of the international community in acknowledging and condemning Turkey’s holocaust of the Armenians during WWI. Not to mention that Dershowitz was also arrogant, rude, and vulgar; referring to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as a “son of a bitch,” and repeatedly interrupting students who tried to ask him questions, especially the pro-Palestinian students. He was nothing but a fraud, a liar, and a bigot full of hate. It is a shame that Hillel chose to endorse the views of such a despicable man.
Peter Riad
