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Your pasition is contradictory, requesting the sitence of "one‘s standards" and then preaching your own "of tolerance". 1 say to &you, tolerate my intolerance. What would have happened if Abraham Lincoln tolerated slavery? Freedom of speech allows us to express our beliefs of what we feel is just, there shouldn‘t be a double standard for those who stand for something that isn‘t a fad or inâ€"fashion ANetter "Don‘t project your stanâ€" dards on others" (Aug. 6, Waterloo Chronicle). You mentioned the state has to guarantee the rights that homosexâ€" uals are entitled to. I agree, however the constitution only protects the rights of individuals, not of relationâ€" ships. Also, the "state" or parliament voted down to approve sameâ€"sex marriages in the 1990s, based on scientific studies that concern the upbringing of children. Therefore, one could consider this issue one of public wellfare, not religion. The problem is a court ruling should not set a precedent and overrule a parliamentary vote â€" this is undemocratic. You asked if "the state has the obligation to represent all its people?" We all know this is impossible. For example, look at the teacher strike issue. With all votes, the state can only sepresent the majority, and in this case the majority are not homosexual couâ€" ples Be tolerant with my intolerance I share your appreciation that all Canadians do not think the same. we are all unique â€" "a melting pot" as you say. But we do share one thing, we are all governed by the natural law. We were all born and we will all die, this natural law canâ€" not be defined or controlled by the courts. Homosexual acts go against the natural law, therefore it is not the court‘s place to make judgeâ€" ments on this matter for the rest of 1 agree with you â€" the love homosexual couples have for one You said it QUESTION WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER THE LIGHTSWENT OUT DURING LAST WEEK‘S BLACKOUT ? egarding Mr. Frank Eisenhurth‘s 1O l | Ed Continued from page 8 another is deep and genuine, as you said "as I feel for my wife", for we are all called to love one another, gay or straight. However, the love that God has for us, his bridegroom, is greater than any love that two perâ€" sons can have for one another. His love is most experienced when "two become one flesh". Same sex unions cannot physically experience that love the same way, nor participate in creating new life. I agree with you, homosexuals have the right to be different, and yet we all have the freewill to choose moral or immoral acts. We Why? Because there is no public support for military expenditures. 1 am very grateful that 1 live in a peaceable country, but why don‘t people recognize the need for a decent military? We are getting subâ€" sidized day care because people want it. We are getting sameâ€"sex marriages because most people are in favour or don‘t care. Ottawa is providing millions of dollars worth of scholarships to deserving univerâ€" sity students because people want them. Governments threw millions the war, and the Dieppe raid showed we were far from beaten. It was a very great morale booster. What will happen the next time Canada is asked to contribute a sigâ€" nificant force for a worthwhile international venture? I suppose we‘ll just have to make our apoloâ€" gies and offer to send a token ship or two. Old soldiers never die The Waterloo Chronicle welcomes readers‘ opinions in the form of guest columns. Articles should be approximately 600 words in length and should be accompanied by a photo of the author. Please submit guest columns by eâ€"mail at editorial@waterloochronicle.ca, by fax at 8B86â€"9383, or by post at 75 King St. S., Suite 201, Waterioo, ON., N2] 1P2. "Drinking, I went to a friend‘s and helped him clean out his fridge." "I was in a restaurant. I‘ve only been in Canada for a couple of weeks after coming from Brazil. I was very scared because everyâ€" thing was dark. Everyâ€" body was scared." Marcilio Mendonca ) THE CHRONICL] Guest columnists welcome Mike Robinson ®=> COMMENT Regarding M. Knechtel‘s article "a loving God will not condemn a ‘soul‘ for being inclusive". It is important to define what you mean by inclusive. It is stated clearly, a loving God will condemn a soul that is indifferent (Rev. 3 15â€"16) and a soul that is immoral (Gen.19 1â€"29). To make moral and immoral acts inclusive is not loving, nor should it be accepted by Canadians. I am very proud to have had the honour to serve as a regular officer with the British forces for 37 years, to have taught at the Canadian Offiâ€" cers School of Logistics for three years, and of the many. many friends 1 made over the years in the Canadian forces. I am not some sort of quickâ€" draw warmonger, but I truly feel Canada‘s veterans deserve the recognition they earned, and that our current forces deserve the supâ€" port of the Canadian public. Only if the government feels the heat from concerned citizens will it ever see the light. Old soldiers never die â€" don‘t let are called to hate the sin not the sinner; to be a homosexual is not a Why can‘t people see the link between peacekeeping, internaâ€" tional policing, and the need for a respectable (it doesn‘t have to be large) military? of dollars at a rock and roll extrava ganza because nobody said no. them fade away. "I was working at a restaurant and helpâ€" ing close it down. It was totally chaotic." "I starved for a couple of hours. Then I hoped that it would stay off for a week or two because of all the work I have to do." ETNE Leah Calverley Robert Lee Joel Corbeil, Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton didn‘t start talking about public power when the grid failed; he‘d been talking about the issue for years. He‘s been as consistent as he has been forceâ€" ful. He‘s written a compelling book on the subject. His party‘s campaign is based on a slogan that grew out of the campaign to save the public hydro system. Cries of opportunism just don‘t wash. In fact, if ever there was a time that a politician had earned the right to be heard on an issue, it is this politician on this issue. In a media release distribâ€" uted on Friday, Hampton noted that, "the Conservatives and Liberals have been playing a risky game with our hydro system and now it‘s collapsing like a house of cards. The blackout demonstrates the public power system Ontarians have built together over the last 100 years is more essential today than ever. It‘s too essential to be put in the hands of companies that put profit before reliability." Writing in The TOTONIO StaF, HAMPâ€" lozmrmmemmmmemmce / ton suggested that we, "not blame the !‘m Americans for the econemic gamage and great irconvenience suffered here. Ontario‘s portion of the blackout originated at Queen‘s Park eight years ago, with two decisions made by the new Conservative government. The first was a commitment to eventually deregulate our electricity marketplace and privatize Ontario Hydro in order to follow the Americans into a fully marâ€" ketâ€"based, private sector, profitâ€"driven electricity system. The second decision was to cancel all the energy efficiency programs put in place by the NDP government during the previous four years. After all, the Conservatives reasoned, private power supâ€" pliers want to sell more, not less, energy. Continuing those enerâ€" gy efficiency programs would have depressed the market value of Ontario Hydro‘s generating assets to potential private sector buyers. The Conservatives were hoping to scoop billions of dolâ€" lars by selling off our electricity system and use the money to finance even deeper tax cuts." A lot of things were delayed by last Thursday,s massive power outage: baseball games, shopping trips the longâ€"anticipated Ontario election (and not just because Ernie Eves had been scheduled to be nominated in his riding on the night that the lights went out). _ Unless Eves has a penchant for committing political suicide, the chances of Ontarians going to the polls this fall now range from slim to none. I‘ve heard several commentators say that it‘s unfair, or even opportunistic to blame the Ontario government for a power failâ€" ure so massive in nature, especially when it appears to have origâ€" inated on the American side of Lake Erie. *A But, let‘s be realistic. The fact is that the deregulation policies that are clearly to blame for the failure of the electricity grid are only a few more years advanced in the United States than they are in Ontario. It could have started here. The next one just might start here if we don‘t change our policy direction. Events like those that occurred last week may well give proâ€" ducers the incentive to coâ€"operate or they may give governâ€" ments the incentive to force them to coâ€"operate. Certainly, Eves and Energy Minister John Baird have seen the light (or lack thereof) regarding the need for conservation to avoid further outages. Considering their government‘s earlier decision to canâ€" cel conservation programs that were destined to reduce dernand by up to oneâ€"third, this is too little, too late. Indeed, you could even call it "opportunism." Hampton goes on to say that, "at 4:10 p.m. Thursday, these fateful decisions came home to roost. Ontario has not had enough domestic generating capacity to meet peak summer and winter demand for more than five years and was unavoidably importing about 2,000 megawatts from New York at the time of the U.S. system failure. Because of this chronic dependence on imported power which has at times reached over 4,0PO megawatts Ontario‘s transmission grid got caught up in the casâ€" cade of blackouts that rippled across the northeastern part of the continent in a mere nine seconds." In 1999, David Nevius of the North American Electric Reliaâ€" bility Council, told a congressional committee hearing that the competitive system was the cause of the comparatively minor blackouts that the U.S. was then experiencing. "We may not be able much longer to keep the interstate electricity grids operatâ€" ing reliably. (It used to be that) transmission system users and operators coâ€"operated voluntarily to ensure reliability. Now, however, they are competitors and don‘t have the same incenâ€" tives to coâ€"operate." Power outage could leave Tories out of power SCOTT PIATKOWSKI