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s a person who has studied A:'nd appreciated many forms f music but is also an infreâ€" quent international traveller, 1 had my first exposure to French rock music when I visited my brother in France in September of last year Food irradiation is being proposed as a method for extending shelf life and reducing bacterial contaminaâ€" tion. Your food won‘t become radioactive when zapped with gamma radiation. However, the safety of new chemicals created by the process remains uncertain. What‘s the beef? Shhhh! Health Canada is just completing an eightâ€"city tour across a Canadian landscape of winter storms and a busy holiday season. They asked for your concerns about the proposed approval of irradiation treatment of beef, chicken, shrimp and mangoes. Potatoes and onions have been approved for years, but as yet are not treated. The distinguishing "radura" symbol, and thus food irradiation itself, remains virtually unknown to Canadians. For over a year, committee MPs have not responded to the justice minâ€" ister‘s request for a review, nor have they paid more than lip service to the increasing problems of impaired driâ€" ving. Recent statistical data reported to Transport Canada reveal that impaired driving fatalities are on the rise in Canada â€" and this should be our wake up call that we cannot become complacent. Our Canadian laws have As the national president of an organization at the forefront of the fight against impaired driving, I would like to share with your readers the fact that MADD Canada has urged the MPs of the justice committee to review the outdated law relating to blood alcohol concentration (BAC) legal limâ€" its. Local MP Lynn Myers is one of those committee members responsiâ€" ble to ensure our impaired driving laws are as effective as they can be. Potatoes and onions have been I attended the slick presentation in _ urged to move irradiation ahead as approved for years, but as yet are not _ Guelph on Dec.12. Health Canada _ fast as possible. treated. The distinguishing "radura" _ representatives extolled confidence If you missed the advertisement symbol, and thus food irradiation _ in the safety of irradiation treatment _ for the public consultation and are itself, remains virtually unknown to _ based on the evidence presented to _ concerned about what may get Canadians. them. I reminded them that it was _ shoved down your throat by the gov Food irradiation is being proposed _ this same "good science" that supâ€" _ ernment, now is your chance to act as a method for extending shelf life _ ported the approval process for hunâ€" _ The 90â€"day comment period ends and reducing bacterial contaminaâ€" _ dreds of chemicals that are now _ Feb. 21 tion. Your food won‘t become _ banned after causing tremendous Visit the Sierra Club of Canada radioactive when zapped with _ damage to human health and the _ and the Health Canada websites for gamma radiation. However, the safety _ natural environment. Thalidomide, _ further information. of new chemicals created by the _ breast implants and DDT immediateâ€" Henry Kock, process remains uncertain ty came to mind Guelph Music transcends language barriers The effects of the food irradiation process are uncertain Canada‘s laws concerning BAC limits are outdated You said it QUESTION DO YOU THINK THE U.S. HAS PROVEN THE CASE FOR WAR IN IRAQ? . I always thought Colin James and Bob Segar were good, but 1 wonder how many people have ever heard of the name Johnny Hallyday He has been around since the early 1960s. but because his lyrics MADD _ Canada‘s _ website (madd.ca) offers Canadians a lot of information on how our laws can be made better. Currently, we are urging MPs to consider a new law that will lower the amount of alcohol a person can consume and legally drive. The less a person is allowed to drink, the safer he is as a driver on our roads. Our recommendation is good sense, it reflects an international trend toward sober driving habits, and it has tremendous support among national stakeholders whose aims are to save Another concern is that recontamâ€" ination is inevitable without other proper foodâ€"handling practices such as thorough washing. Irradiation is thus a poor substitute for appropriate sanitation and good animal husâ€" bandry â€" no one should have to eat irradiated feces. not kept up to the international expeâ€" rience in curbing incidences of drinkâ€" ing and driving. There are numerous police enforcement measures, couâ€" pled with the lowering of BACGs to 0.05 per cent, that will make a positive impact on the numbers of Canadians being killed and injured as a result of an alcoholâ€"related crashes. "Hell no. It just seems that the evidence they use is flimsy. I don‘t think they have the justification to kill thousands of people in Iraq." "No, I just don‘t think that war is the answer." ) THE CHRONICL] Kvita Mongroo COMMENT Jamal Seif â€" WR ° These days Johnny Hallyday is just about the only artist I do listen to. Go Johnny‘ are in French, he is only well known in his own country If you missed the advertisement for the public consultation and are concerned about what may get shoved down your throat by the govâ€" ernment, now is your chance to act. The 90â€"day comment period ends Feb. 21 The Health Canada scientist and PR entourage included cheerleaders from the poultry and beef industries (one being a Cattle Producers Associâ€" ation representative from Minnesoâ€" ta). Health Canada (the same folks that approved genetically engineered corn, canola, and soybeans) was urged to move irradiation ahead as fast as possible. We ask the local public to join with us and speak with Mr. Myers and let that needs his commitment to act. It is very important that the justice comâ€" mittee commences its review this spring so that we might realize improved laws within the next few years. Each day, an average of more than four Canadians are killed and hundreds are injured as a result of drinking and driving. This is a preâ€" ventable crime,yet regrettably it is Canada‘s number one criminal cause ofa%th. We all need to be concerned for safer roads and help to reduce the senseless tragedies resulting from impaired driving crashes. Please make your views known to your MP lives and prevent injuries on our roads. MADD national president "No, I think there‘s a conspiracy going on. Bush has oil interests, and it‘s interesting that he should go to war in the same place his father did." "I‘m biased against say ing no. I think there‘s something that Sadâ€" dam has in terms of weapons. But if you‘re asking me if we should go to war, I‘d say no." Christopher Nowak, Kitchener Jonathan Frost In an address to the International Womnen‘s Forum in Johannesâ€" burg, former South African President Netson Mandela said, "A war on traq is something we must condemn without reservation. All Bush wants is Iraqi oil, because Iraq produces 64 per cent of oil and he wants to get hold of it. Bush is acting outside the United Nations and both he and (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair are undermining the United Nations, an organization which was an idea sponsored by their predecessors. One power with a president who can‘t think propâ€" erty... wants to plant the world into holocaust." According to an article posted at Salon.com ("A national state of confusion," Feb. 5, 2003), a survey of Americans conducted in January asked, "To the best of your knowledge, how many of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Iraqi citizens?" Of those surveyed, "only 17 per cent knew the correct answer: that none of the hijackers were Iraqi. Fortyâ€" four per cent of Americans believe that most or some of the hijackers were Iraqi; another six per cent believe that one of the hijackers was a citizen of that most notorious node in the axis of evil. That leaves 33 per cent who did not know enough to offer an answer." If so many Americans are ignorant about the supposed justification for their country leading a war against Iraq, then clearly the propaganda machine is working. An article posted at ZNet ("Powell‘s Flimsy Evidence," Feb. 9, 2003) systernatically pokes holes in the "evidence" provided by U.S. Secreâ€" tary of State Colin Powell in his presentation to the U.N. Security Coundcil (other articles have done the same thing). The article notes that "the before and after" photos of the alâ€"Musayyib site are not to the same scale, so it‘s impossible to tell if Powell‘s allegation that the site had been recently buildozed and graded is really true, nor can we tell if the "forklift and bulldozer" are really vehicles, and not just shrubbery or storage tanks. Even basic logic tells us that something is wrong with these phoâ€" tos. Why does he show us pictures of empty cargo trucks? Surety, with the billions of dollars the U.S. has spent on satellite technology and aetial reconnaissance, the CIA can find a photo or two of cargo trucks filled with dirt or with missiles piled in them. Of course, entering into the public debate on any issue requires you to be informed. With so much filtered information and outright lies on this issue, this is bound to be a more difficult task than usual But, ultimately, it‘s worth the effort to sift through the misinformation, to ask questions, to seek alternate sources. Here are a few tidbits of information to get you started: Action can‘t stop with a few hours of ‘ e protest on Saturday. We have to speak up, 3 | even if it makes people uncomnfortable or ‘ 4 gets us into trouble (for some bizarre reaâ€" | b f son, being in favour of war is seen as | d . 300 (> "patriotic," whereas being opposed to war . | \ e is seen as "political"). That means talking . | Â¥ to taxi drivers and hair stylists and barâ€" Ves :;:lders â€"â€" as well as to politicians about . | SCOTT ‘ war and why you are opposed to it. It means talking back when our news plATKOWSKI ‘ media call on us to "support the troops." e raine Write a letter to the editor. Call a phoneâ€"in show. Tell jokes with an antiâ€"war spin (e.g. "How does the U.S. know that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction? They kept the receipts.") A Walk for Peace It, starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Seagram Drive entrance to Waterloo Park and travelling down the Laurel Trail down to the Young Street exit from the park. For more information, contact Louisette Lanteigne at 885â€"7619 or eâ€"mail butterflybluelu@rogers.com. A bus will be taking people from Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo to the Toronâ€" to Peace Rally. Departure times are 10 a.m. from University of Waterâ€" loo, 10:15 a.m. from Waterloo Town Square, and 10:30 a.m. from Kitchener City Hall. For bus tickets, call 578â€"1425 (after 3:30p.m.); or join Guelph‘s rpseme l "Snow People For Peace" for a rally at 11 ‘ ANOTHER a.m. at the War Memorial Hall. A march to VIEW Guelphâ€"Wellington MP Brenda Chamâ€" x beriain‘s office will follow. I Those of us opposed to war in Iraq may not have a lot of power or a lot of resources, but we do have a lot of voices. On Saturday, Feb. 15, we‘ll have the opportunity to use those voices in any of several peace rallies as part of a worldwide day of action against the war (on the day before Operation Burning Bush is expected to begin}. The following protest opportunities are available. e drums of war are pounding louder than ever, and it seems I almost certain that they will soon be accompanied by the pounding of the bombs of war. Among people that I talk to, there seems to be a widespread discomfort about the presumed inevitability of war. At the same time, no one seems to know what to do about it. Do something for peace | ANOTHER _ VIEW (e 7y i) SCOTT PIATKOWSKI