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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-17, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1993. ditorial !Looking for a home Letters IHE EDITOR, How often must we read this iterative drivel that D. Trollope insists on writing to this paper? A humanist he certainly may be, but I'm quite skeptical as to how humane he might be! Egoism may be a word that better describes this man's actions. In reference to his March 10 letter apparently, he doesn't understand how to cure constipation. That's something he should find out considering ... After reading his letters can you tell me how anyone could think of this man as an authority on life's concepts? By the way D., this is not a war either. I am just forming an opinion by means of critical thinking and human reasoning, shaped by all available evidence including the garbage you put in this paper. I don't have to be a humanist to do this. G. Semple. THE EDITOR, I had thought of ignoring R. Packer's letter (Feb.24 Citizen) without response, but after much thought and reading it a second time, that seemed impossible for me to do. Murray Straus and Larry Baron stated "communities with more pornography sales report more rapes", yet subsequent research with Joseph Scott and Loretta Schwalm found "higher incidences of rape in areas with strong sales of any men's magazines, such as Field and Stream or Popular Mechanics." They found "hypermasculinity" was responsible. Barons 1990 study found a "positive correlation between sales of sexually explicit material and high gender equality." When a professional uses a psychopath's own rationalizations and reasoning to explain why they did it, it makes one wonder who should really be the patient. Fifty years ago it was the devil made them do it, now it's porn, a trendier Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot or more politically correct explanation. Recent information on porn is in a book published in January 1993 by Wendell Walters, M.D. professor emeritus of psychiatry, sex therapist at McMaster University in Hamilton, which states no evidence exists that even hard-core pornography has a direct harmful effect on society, but rather a "safety valve" effect. He calls the current legislation in the House of Commons an "embarrassment". Denial is the best word to describe the phenomenon occurring in society. This is the best demonstrated by an article I read by the United Church on child sexual abuse which used the research of David Finkelhor. He stated point blank that the very home environment Christianity promotes, one that is sexually restricted and repressive with traditional sex roles, creates, promotes, and encourages incest, sexual abuse, and violence with a child's receptivity to it. In fact, if one could look at the research of Dr. John Money, _a leading expert on Continued on page 8 The Citizen Is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.) for local; $31.03/year ($29.00 plus $2.03 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier In Goderich, Hanover, Ustowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $60.00/year for U.S.A. and Foreign. Advertising is accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copywrlght. Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 VERIFIEO CIRCULATION • 4'410 C itize The North Huron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 iii CCNA r-- Serving Blyth, Brussels, Auburn, Belgrave Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and the surrounding townships. A little bit means a lot Huron County councillors made a good decision, though not all of them will agree, when they decided not to reduce the amount of grant money available for local groups in order to chip a little bit more off the county's requisition for 1993. The $70,000 in grants to the Goderich airport and groups like fair boards and Women's Institutes and arts and recreation facilities like Blyth Festival or the Vanastra pool have been a favourite target in the past of councillors trying to shave money from the county budget. Long debates have been held on whether or not the county should get out of the grant-giving business and let the organizations fend for themselves. Cutting the grants is an inviting way of cutting money without having to lay off employees or step on the toes of department heads. But the money given out by the county to these many groups probably goes further than any other tax dollars. Most of these groups provide important services to the county at a rate far less expensive Clan it could be done if government picked up the whole tab. People all over the county, for instance, make use of the pool at Vanastra, even though it is nominally owned by Tuckersmith Township. The several thousand dollars the county gives to support the pool isn't really going to make a lot of difference on the county's tax bill but it could be the difference, in these tight times, between the county having an indoor pool and not. The biggest item on the grant list is the $17,500 the county gives toward to the Goderich Municipal Airport. Does the county get it's money's worth? It might be hard to prove if you wanted to put it down in a ledger, but for $17,500 a year all people in the county get the benefit of an airport large enough to land small jets. Even if you never fly, the attraction of that airport may help attract (or hold) and industry that may provide your children with a job. If the county operated the airport itself, it would cost a lot more than it does now. Compare the situation with the Huron County Museum to that of Blyth Festival and Huron Country Playhouse. All three are important parts of the cultural scene in the county, enriching the lives of local residents and helping attract tourists who pump millions of dollars into the local economy. The county-operated museum, however, supported only by county taxpayers, costs $315,000 a year. The two theatres each get about one per cent of that amount, pulling in a lot of volunteer donations and grants from senior governments as well. Many of the grants to other groups are so small, they'd hardly make any difference to the county budget if they were cancelled, but might hurt the volunteer groups that need all the encouragement they can get. As much as $70,000 may seem like a lot of money, it buys a lot for the county taxpayers.—KR Maybe it just costs too much The federal Progressive Conservatives find themselves in a strange situation with a leadership campaign about to kick off. While it's nice to have a potential leader who has caught the public imagination like Kim Campbell, the party is having a hard time finding anyone who wants to run against her. Michael Wilson, Barbara McDougall, Bernard Valcourt, even highly-touted Perrin Beatty, they've been dropping out of the race before it even became a race. All felt they couldn't win because Kim Campbell was too far ahead (a Maclean's poll Monday showed her 'with five times as much support as her closest possible rival, Don Mazankowski). It's getting almost embarrassing for the party because nobody wants to challenge Ms Campbell. The excitement of a close race at a nationally televised convention can boost the fortunes of a party as it prepares for a general election. If Ms Campbell wins easily, the party loses its edge. Perhaps the problem is that it has become too expensive to run for the leadership of a party in Canada. The cost of winning the leadership for both Jean Chretien of the Liberals and Brian Mulroney of the Conservatives was in the neighbourhood of $2 million. That lofty figure presents two barriers for those seeking leadership. First of all a potential candidate has to have the feeling he or she has enough strength to have the possibility of winning or there's not much sense risking ending up in debt. Second best doesn't pay the bills and who can risk that kind of debt. Then there's the fact that the companies and individuals who make the donations that support leadership bids, like to back a winner. They're unlikely to support anyone unlikely to win. Maybe it's time all parties looked at reforming the system before we end up without any choice in leaders at all.—KR