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The Brussels Post, 1978-01-04, Page 12Accident reporting law is changed Don't y ,m get a little tired of the touchiness of modern society in which, no matter where you step, it's on somebody's toes, no matter what you say or write, it's a •. slur on someone's background, color, creed or convictions? 'About the only areas left in which one may'. chance a remark without fear of inflicting a wound are politics and sex. It's extremely difficult to inflict even a bruise on a politician. He must have a fat ego in the first place, and he quickly acquires a brass hide to go with it. Add an ability to talk out of both sides of the mouth at once, and a certain skill in straddling fences, and you have cabinet material. In the field of sex, there don't seem to be any limits any more to what can be said, presented or simulated. Movies, magazines and theatre club us over the head with raw,,unembellished sex, or seek to titillate the spook in each of us with highly-embellished, freaky sex until the whole once-exciting subject has become a crashing bore. Aside from sex and politics then, there is scarcely an aspect of the human scene where even angels fear to tread, lest they step on someone's sensibilities. Ethnic jokes are out, black is beautiful, gefillte fish is glorious, Rhodesia is rotten, poor people are more noble than rich people, gay is gorgeous, and the only real sin is to be old. Lord forbid that we should ever go back to the days when a Catholic was a' "mick" or a "dogan", a black person was a "nigger," an Italian was a "wop," and Chinese was a "chink", and so on. But I do get heartily sick of a society in which you have to tippy-toe all the time for fear of offending some touchy minority, or trespassing inadvertently on someone's weird religious affiliations. We are developing into a society with a snobbish sort of reverse prejudice in which everybody is leaning over backwards in order to appear not even to be breathing on anyone else. As a result, we are losing much of that good old Canadian crustiness and turning into a nation of nice nellies in whose mouths margarine wouldn't melt. Even our media reflect this trend in our society. with few exceptions, our news- papers .are as bland as blanc mange. The letters to the editor have more bite, and are often better written, than the editorials. Our magazines are either tiresomely "liberal" or narrowly nationalistic, or both. Tied - in' tight bundles, they make better firewood than they do reading matter. Television and radio news reporting , most otit culled from the late editions of newspapers, is incredibly unimaginative and repetitious.TV programs, on the whole, are pure pap, offensive by being so inoffensive. Public figures are so frightened of. offending somebody or losing a few votes, that their public, utterances come out as mush wrapped in marshmallow. What this country, and this society, need is a good dash of cold water from somewhere, to wake us from our mind- numbing , paralyzing "niceness". We need a Bob Edwards or a Grattan O'Leary to jolt us with some honest vituperation, some colorful namecalling, some hard facts, and some common sense. We need some politicians with guts, who don't give a diddle for the popularity polls, and who would give us the facts of life without any sugar coating. We need some educators with backbone to tell the people who claim that Huckleberry Finn is racist and The Merchant of Venice is anti-semitic and 'h - 22 is dirty. and. The Diviners is usting, to go fly a kite. need about 10,000 fewer smart-ass nentators on what is wrong with this c, atry, and a few hund red honest men or women to tell us what is right with it. ' We need far fewer "reasonable" people and a heck of a lot more "unreasonable" people , who would refuse to accept something just because it's always been done that;way, or someone might be upset if things were changed. We need some thundering editortials, some pulpits pounded, some stiff jail sentences for racism, some honesty in high places. We certainly don't need a "good war" or a "good depression" to make Canadians stop whining and bitching and mealy- mouthing, but we certainly need a "good" something to turn us back into the sturdy, individualistic people we used to be.: I haven't the answers. I'm no prophet, But I'm sick to the ears of a society that thinks: .old people are a nuisance; young people are never a nuisance; supermarkets are sexy; social workers can make miracles; and everybody is as good as everybody else. Perhaps if you agree with me to some extent, you would enjoy reading ' The Golden Age of B.S. by Fred C. Dobbs. It's rambling and it's coarse in spots, but it's right on. As of J;trittary 1 you won't have to report a motor-vehicle accident to police unless you have • tamed $400 or more damage or the accident has resulted in an injury. That is a, change from the Kim Ainslie's report on. his inquiry into. public health related services and ...health planning in Huron County is completed and has been revived by the executive committee of the county. • Copies will now go to all county council members, department. heads. county hospital represen- tatives and hospital board chairman and members of parliament. The executive committee will Can be (by Charles Scott) Anger is often misunderstood and the angry person much abused. Psychologists tell us that anger is that personal emotion which triggers aggressive behaviour in defense of life and personal integrity. Aggression is that psychic tendency and the resultant , behaviour triggered in moving against objects and persons with the intent to harm. Both anger and aggression often lead to broken and bruised relationships which alltoo often end up in separation and divorce in human relationships. Properly understood and directed, both these emotions can be positive and health affirming. It depends on your outlook and life-desire. Many take that energy and direct it into humanitarian channels or good causes. A goodly number 61 our advances in the social and humanitarian field stem from a personal desire 'to change ideas, concepts, insti- tutions or rituals. "Hats off" to those people who can stay with it and who develope the capability of turning personal anger and aggression into positive channels. They have previous $200 or more damage. A section of the Highway Traffic Act has been amended, The change reflects the increased cost of car repairs in recent years. give further consideration to the matter in 1978, according to-- Chairman Bill Morley. Ainslie was retained by council in May to prepare a brief to support passing legislation to provide that Huron County Council, rather than the board of health. should have legal •respon- sibility for the Huron. County Health Unit as well as the planning and co-ordination of health services in Huron. healthy learned how to function physically behaviourally, and spiritually in an affirmative, assertive, forward-moving manner. Their by-line is affirmation rather than denial, defensiveness or even attack with , a view to hurt or destroy. Putting it' another way, the positively "angry and aggressive" person has the desire and, capability of moti- .vation—of moving towards a goal; of working with and through , hindrances rather than letting them 'destroy personal motivation or determination. Particularly is this drive/desire helpful in the field of human relationships. Such persons "cut through" the maze of inter- personal bunk. They initiate, they penetrate, they change—not with a desire to harm or hurt but with a genuine intent to move ahead and upward. The resultant affirmation of self and others is therapeutic and health affirming. Happy are those who can use their anger and aggression for good. Such risk-taking is challenging and particularly rewarding, especially when a new trust and faith in one's capacity is an offshoot of such endeavours. 12—THE BRUSSELS POST JANUARY 1978 ,ugar and Spice by Bill Smiley A nation of nice nellies Public health report presented to county Anger and aggression Amen by Karl Schuessler They all came home All the kids came home for Christmas. And so did Pepper. It's only right. Christmas is a family time and that's when everyone comes back home to ma and pa. So why shouldn't Pepper come? 1 bet you never knew she went away. Well, that's the truth. It's just I never said anything. You never feel that good in your soul when you have to ship out the older generation. Put them off in -some home. It could be the best home in the world, but still you feel a bit guilty. But when I saw Pepper at Christmas time, every trace of guilt vanished. Pepper's never looked better--ot bigger. Fatter would be more like it—with her shiny black fur around an expanded carcass that would make any Santa Claus jealous. And with claws grown long and sharp, but neyer used. She had no aura of barn smells or mouse breath. For her Christmas present we gave her a knitted mouse to play with. We had to remind her of all those former good days when she actually leaped arid sprang to catch a real live one. And if a fake mouse wasn't enough ; it came with catnip inside--a little something to pep the old girl up, It worked for five minutes. And then zonk. Pepper dozed off for one hour while we unwrapped all of our Christmas presents. Pepper, 'I'd say, has moved into the Ritz Villa of the cat world. I hate to let out her new address, and say it's R. R. #5, Mitchell: It might give some more cat retirees some ideas about applying at David and Laura Drummond's place. But those two newly weds know how to spoil a cat rotten. Pepper• has the run of the house. She does, though, stay ,'retty close to the kitchen and the hot air register. There are no no-nos in tile house. The couch is hers. The bed is hers. The rug is hers. The left-overs are hers, And not, mind you, served from broken dishes, but good ones. You'd think all this good life would make any.cat sweet and lovely, Not at all. Pepper's cranky as all get out, Growls at any other animal that invades her space and threatens her good life. And when We tried to re-introduce her to her male offspring that resides at our house, she just ,arched her back and hissed and ran him off. Yes, that's another thing I haven't bothered to nriention. Pepper is replaced. Seetris as if your job with one generation is no longer finished when the next one comes along. It's a re-run. Same meowing, same clawing, same pestering--all, of course, with some pleasuring. Cat life--new life--is starting up all over again. Same with our own family. The family decreases. ' The family increases. It all depends on when you're counting. And at Christmas time it counts the most. At this Christmas I counted our own four". Then their two more. And then there was Pepper and her one more. Ten all. Quite a ball and it's bound to get bigger. I figure that's what Christmas is for It's counting time. It's enrollment time once again--when the family gets together for a grand homecoming. It lets you see the increase of your bounty and the blessings of His grace. There's so much in store--so much in galore. Christmas is bounty. Christmas is profusion. Christmas is plenty. There's so much. Too much. All you can say is' Thank you, Lord, for everything. And that would have to include cats and claws, mouse and spouse, arid all the sips and nips, and even catnip, at this Christmas time.