Trudeau doesn’t even believe his own hype
Leah McLaren (Trudeau’s disgrace is like watching a unicorn get run over, 8 March) writes that she “earnestly and passionately believed in Trudeau’s project”. What was his project, exactly? Electoral reform? Trudeau jettisoned that promise as soon as he won a majority government. Fighting climate change? Reconciliation with our indigenous peoples? Trudeau is so determined to pump more bitumen out of the tar sands that he is pushing a pipeline through First Nations territory in British Columbia - sending in the RCMP to smash the native people’s barricades.
Gender equality? He humiliated Jody Wilson-Raybould, as described in McLaren’s article; then, in a private meeting, he verbally attacked his own backbench MP, Celina Caesar-Chavannes, so aggressively that she went to the newspapers to complain about his “hostility and anger”.
Should we be surprised? One of Trudeau’s first actions as prime minister was to cross the floor of the House of Commons and shove a female MP aside with his elbow. Perhaps McLaren “believed in Trudeau’s project”, but he never believed in it himself.
David Josephy
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Palm oil is taking over from coconut and soy
The incredible expansion of the palm oil industry (1 March) has much in common with the trajectory of the coconut oil industry, which dominated world trade in edible oil from around 1880 until 1930. The coconut was already to be found globally in the humid tropics, but the shortage of edible oil in the rapidly expanding cities of Europe and the US created such demand that investors supported the development of huge plantations throughout the tropical world.
The industry declined in the latter half of the 20th century under the assault of the US soy industry, which took advantage of an ill-fated theory that saturated fat was a prime cause of heart disease. As that theory has collapsed, palm oil has swamped both coconut and soy in world trade.
Mike Foale
Maleny, Queensland, Australia
Extreme rhetoric can help produce violence
Over lunch yesterday I read, aghast, of Ukip’s adoption of a vehement anti-Muslim focus (Young and angry: meet the hard-right Ukip 2.0, 8 March). Minutes later, I saw the first notifications about the massacre of Muslims in Christchurch. Although these events are antipodean, it was clear that the second is a logical consequence of the first.
Graham Wilson
Canberra, ACT, Australia
Please don’t tell my grandchildren about this
George Monbiot’s article Cars are killing us (15 March) was excellent and I printed off copies for my grandchildren to read. But driving home in my V8 Mustang I couldn’t resist, at the traffic lights, burning off the tattooed biker on his Harley-Davidson, 0-70km/h, and I beat him by a length. Then cruising home on the freeway just 10km/h over the speed limit, I almost felt young again.
Don’t tell the grandchildren.
Rhys Winterburn
Perth, Western Australia
No level of bacteria would be acceptable
In his article on the Sea of Galilee (1 March), Oliver Holmes writes “Faecal bacteria in the pungent, murky waters have risen in recent years to up to six times the recommended levels”. I was unaware that any level of faecal bacteria could be recommended – surely that figure should be 0%, or zero parts per million, or zero in any other measurement?
Ken Burns
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Baklava is delicious, but packs on the weight
From 1976 my first wife and I occasionally made pans of baklava with butter, honey, walnuts, filo and rose-water (Recipe, Basbousa by Meera Sodha, 15 March). I gained around 7kg over a month once. Such desserts at falafel/gyros shops are wisely bite-sized.
RM Fransson
Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
Baked beans are key test for supermarkets
I judge supermarkets by their baked beans (The Aldi insurgency, 15 March). Initially sceptical of Aldi, I tried their baked beans. I’ve been a happy convert to the store ever since.
Jenefer Warwick James
Paddington, NSW, Australia
