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Times-Advocate, 1983-03-09, Page 44 Times•Advotate, March 9, 1983 • fr imes Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 • dv�cate Serving South_ Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 • , Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited • LORNE EEDY • Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor • HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager *CNA 11' Published Each Wednesday Mornhng at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail 'Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' nd 'ABC' Police don't have chance According to a provincial judge, a London policeman made a mistake when he recently charged a man with possession of drugs. Seems the accused was stopped by the policeman on a matter not related to drug possession, but after being advised the man had previous convictions for drug offences, the policeman searched him and found a quantity of drugs. . The judge ruled that the officer had no probable cause to conduct the search for drugs and the case was dismissed. While the dismissal. is being appealed, the original decision does show the difficulty under which police work in their attempts to bring law -breakers to justice. Suppress Indications are that the decision by the United States to label as "policital propaganda" three films produced in Canada is backfiring. The films, which deal with acid rain and the con- sequences of nuclear war, have attracted huge au- diences since the neighbors to the south took their unusual action. The subject matter in the films is not politically popular in the U.S., and while the edict is possibly hav- ing just the opposite results as to those intended, there Moratoriums It appears ludicrous that any law -breaker should escape conviction merely because his wrong -doing is found out by chance. • Granted, there must be safeguards to protect in- nocent people from the harassment of unwarranted checks by police, but that safeguard does appear to be in place as law enforcement officers are kept busy re - catching criminals who get such lenient treatment from the courts that they are not deterred from their pillage against society. Perhaps the law should be changed so that part of the debt convicted persons pay to society is the waiv- ing of their rights to being excluded from the list of those who can not be interviewed or checked by police without probable cause. ive tactics When a farm commodity slump follows a land boom, some farm foreclosures are inevitable. A farmer who borrowed 90% of the purchase price on land that was 40%overvalued has gambled and lost. So has his lender. In such circumstances, enforced debt moratoriums are inappropriate. Seldom could they salvage the situation. Worse, they would make future borrowing more difficult and costly for all farmers. Farming is now a capital -intensive business. An must be some question about the apparent denial of free speech and thought that is indicated. However, equally. disturbing, is the fact that per- sons or companies which seek to use the filmsfor show- ing are to be listed for reasons that are at best dubious, and at the worst frightening. • . - 'he consequences of acid rain and nuclear war are of concern to many people, and even if the U.S. govern- ment feels they are over -stated in the films, the sup- " pressive tactics suggest the films may hit closer to the mark than some officials would like. inappropriate Government sources cannot meet more than a small portion of farm loan demand. But they won't if the threat of enforced moratoriums hangs over their heads. • The silent majority of farmers, who service their debts conscientiously, should remain silent. They should offer no support to the moratorium movement. Nor should they participate in illegal activities of the type which recently disrupted foreclosure attempts in Ontario and elsewhere. Country Guide unhealthy score on this quiz One of the major stumbling blocks ex- perienced by most groups attempting to better the lives of their fellow human be- ings, is that too often they end up preaching to only the converted. _ You seldom see war -mongers at disar- mament rallies, drug pedlars at drug awareness sessions or atheists at church. The overwhelming majority at most ses- sions of any particular interest group are those who are already believers The same can usually be said for those periodic quizzes you see in various publications. The majority of those wi,o take lh.' time to fill in the answers and check their- ratings will probably pass, because they have an interest in the subject. Many of us have a bias when we do see those quizzes. We tend to pre -judge how we would -fare and then move on to something else without testing ourselves. in reality, it is probably the fear of being found lacking that tends to discourage participation. The writer has to admit to being a non- participant in most of those questions. I kept flunking those that were -answered and find it easier and Tess stressful just to bypass them. One of the most recent quizzes that was forced upon me was in association with the CPtt (cardiovascular pulrninary resuscitation ) course taken last year along with members of Exeter council. The quiz was an attempt to determine one's vulnerability to a heart attack by answering questions about eating, work- ing and personality practices. The score attained indicated the writer was already living on borrowed time. It was small consolation that one other par- ticipant had a score that was as had. The frightening thing was that another whose score was considerably better had already suffered a heart attack. 1t was, therefore, rather difficult to reason why 1 atte►npted to fill in a ques- tionaire sent out by the Huron County health unit in conjunction with the current nutrition month program. Not only are nutrition habits diagnosed in the quiz, it also is intended to help con- sumers determine whether they are get- ting the most vaule for their food dollar. A score of 20 and over indicated that the respondent is a great. inflation fighter and nutrition conscious too. A score of five to 19 is average but suggests a need for look- ing for ways to improve. Under five in- dicates one should have a will made mit,. My score? A minus 27! It probably would have been worse without the sav- ing factor of eating out at mother's once a week. The quiz started out alright. I picked up an easy two points on the first question for eating poultry once a week. That, BATT'N AROUND count for something is beyond me, but that's the way it goes apparently: Having a vegetable garden was worth only one lousy point, despite the hard work involved, although I cheated by not counting the spoiled squash in the base- ment as among the spoiled food tossed out. Surprisingly, there was an opportunity for picking up points for having "bag lun- ches". If the nutritionist can explain why , someone who carries sandwiches to work gets credit while those of us who eat them at home don't, it would be much ap- • preciated. Perhaps it's the bag you're supposed to eat, because it apparently doesn't matter what's packed in it. I figured that the minus points picked up would be quickly reversed for faithful- ly preparing a huge roast for Sunday din- ner. A six -pound roast is usually reduced to nothing but the string, plus two pieces of fat the kids leave behind. Barbecuing a steak for another meal should also be great, right? Weil, that resulted in a minus eight. Obviously, nutrition experts are not in the good books of the beef producers. Still reeling from that, i lost another quick eight for consuming too many packaged cake and pancake mixes, frozen pies, TV dinners and other pre- packaged meals. Failure to make out a regular shopping list not only cost two points, but probably was responsible for the for the loss of an additional six for shopping at a conve- nience store. Can 1 help it if the super- market is closed when we run out of but- ter for bedtime toast and jam or there isn't any milk for the sugar-coated cereal. As you can imagine, things started to go from bad to worse when the blank came .to be filled in for declaring the number of times per week one has an alcoholic beverage. There isn't even any reduction in the minus score for the peanuts and pretzels consumed at the same time. Milk drinkers are the fair-haired boys! Obviously, nutrition experts sure take the fun out of eating and drinking, to say nothing of all the extra work and plann- ing they want us to do. if I wasn't feeling so lethargic and under -nourished I'd write a column about their poor advice! however, was halvedquicklywhenasubse- quent question on eating at a restaurant forced an admission that the chicken came from the Colonel. It was naturally with some chagrin to learn that eating lamb didn't get any points at all, despite the fact it is the most nutritious red meat available. Surely a bad slip on the part of the nutrition expert who authored the quiz! Because ju jubes and donuts are seldom advertised, there were no points picked up for knowing of supermarket nutrition. specials this week. Throwing out those moldy crusts of bread the kids disdain, plus the one wiener that was slightly furry, resulted in ,a minus four. Really, the baker and meat processor should share in that poor score because one makes buns in packages of eight and the other puts a dozen wieners in his package, and try as I will, they never balance out without wasting one or the other. Bologna sandwiches, oddly enough, resulted in a plus of four (for the bread, not the bologna) and in the same category the tabulation was a whopping five, due mainly to Kraft dinners and number one son's penchant forgettingout the spaghet- ti when the old man is late getting home for supper. Drinking coffee lost four points and there was none picked up for drinking water. Why the water in coffee doesn't 4.1 An Random thoughts on a drear March day, with a terrible head -cold, about the fourth this winter. About which many peo- ple have been most unhap- py. For ski and snowmobile enthusiasts, ski resort operators, ice fishermen and snowplow owners, this winter has been the pits. For people who get sick to death of shovelling snow, of driving in bliz- zards, of wading to the thighs through ' snow- banks to get to work, this winter has been a boon. I'm in the second category, but I'm not rav- ing about this particular open winter. I don't like bitter cold, and I detest battling snow. However, it's been a dreary winter. Too much rain, mud, ice; too little sun. Dull day after dull day makes Jack a dull tool, and even the winter worry -wart would like to see a bit of sunshine. It's also been a rotten winter for the health. 1 don't know whether the wild swings of temperature have anything to do with anything, but I've never seen so many people so lingeringly ill with 'flu and colds. Seems that a bright, cold crispy winter is better suited to the Canadian physique than the kind of hermaphrodite we've been through this year: Besides the head, it's been a tough winter on the other end, because of freezing rain. I wonder how many Canadians busted their bums this winter, slipping on ice.' Recently, i slithered out the back door, skidded "See = I told you it would bottom out!" odd sort of winter down the back steps, and went on hands and knees to the car. Arrived at the school parking lot, which was like a skating rink, and almost wiped out a couple of cars when I tried to stop. Crept from car to school � » Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley heart attacks, but when they take a day off for a twisted back, just because they can't get out of their car, or up from a chair, that's a bit much, forcing me to soldier on with hangnails and a.,corn on the sole of my foot. ":4 like ancient Chinese coolie. Score for the day was: one teacher with badly broken wrist, one teacher with badly wren- ched back, one teacher's wife with badly bent head. Didn't mind the broken wrist. it was only a guidance teacher. But I was fed up with the rest; The wrenched back belonged to one of my English teachers, and I had two missing already. Ile'd come down his (un- salted un'salted) front steps, taken a flier, and landed on his not inconsiderable back. Thought he'd shake off the pain and shock, drove his daughter to school, and by this time was ready to head for the hospital. Had just checked in to tell the great white sahibs of his intentions, when he got a phone call saying his wife had gone down their steps (still unsalted) in similar fashion, knocking her head hard on every step. They went off to the hospital hand in hand. i can put up with teachers staying home with minor things like Hoping to cheer myself up, I took a look at the fashion page in the newspaper, featuring the new spring models by Chanel of Paris. Thank the Lord I'm not a woman. That peek at the paper would have plunged me into a deep depression. Here are some of the items: "The deceptively demure dinner, dress in navy silk with a wide - waistline define'f by stit- ching, $1,150; the revised Chanel suit has a cropped jacket over a slender skirt, $1,950, worn over a tucked silk blouse, $500. Separates are a $795 knit • cardigan and a wrap skirt, $475. How would you like to read that if your old man had just been laid off, in- definitely? For a miserable $4,800 you get a dinner dress, a suit, and a casual outfit. None of which you could wear more than once, twice at the outside. Some idiot once remark- ed that the poor are always with us. They are indeed, but that's obvious. No so obvious is the fact that the rich are always with us, come hell, high water, shaky economy, unemployment, downright depression. Something else that fail: ed to cheer me up this winter was The Night of the Long Knives, when the Tory party once more made a national ass of itself by indulging in its favorite game: cutting its leader into large chunks and throwing them to the 'wolves. 1-iear those Liberal laughing? Oh, the winter hasn't been all dark and gloomy. My tailpipe has not fallen off. Yet. My rubber boots haven't sprung 4 leak. My wife has wracked up neither the car nor the garage, as is her wont. One more cheery note. My old lady finally bought a stereo outfit, and she plays it so loud she can't talk to me, though she tries, oh. she tries, mouthing words while i just put my hand to my ear. Sometimes 1 even get the paper read. And there's a bonus. The kids gave us a rag- time and a couple of jazz records for Christmas. After forcing the classics on longsuffering me for years, the old girl has discovered she loves jazz. Unfortunately, .she has insomnia, and gets up about 4:30 a.m. About .5 a.m., I am awakened by the booming of ragtime, dixieland, or far-out modern jazz shaking the very foundations. I like it, but there is a time and a place. Yes, it's been an odd sort of winter. How about yours.? Losing touch with reality From some of the col- umns i've been writing it would appear that I've got a strong anti -Liberal bias. i've criticized Mr. Trudeau for his one -finger salute, for his arrogance, and for his seemingly un- caring attitude. To be honest, i have never voted on a party basis. i prefer to listen to what a man has to say and what his record shows and then what he promises to do if elected. Then if i vote for him i kind of hope that he'll live up to even half of what he has promised figuring that the man is only human anyway, and that he can only persuade his caucus to do a few of his pet projects. 1 guess my primary con- cern with the Liberal par- ty ( federal) is that they seem to have been in power for so long that they • • to the point where the average person, who has no recourse to all the tax - Perspectives By Syd Fletcher 1111111111111111.11111 have begun to lose touch with reality. in the years that they have been around, the federal budget has doubl- ed and then tripled as has the size of the federal bureaucracy. income taxes, which were in- troduced during war years as an emergency measure, have increased saving measures that the Liberals have given to wealthy persons and cor- porations, is carrying the load of the whole country. I have never seen Joe Clark as a viable alter- native as leader for this country. He seems to be too wishy-washy in a lot of ways. IY will give him credit for one thing though. He strikes me as being honest. I've got a long memory for one thing that he talked about in the last election. Mr. Trudeau laughed Mr. Clark to scorn about the 18 cent a gallon increase in the cost of gasoline, then when he won the election increased the price by over 70 cents per gallon himself. Similarly Mr. Stanfield was mocked for consider- ing , wage and price controls. Guess who turned around and brought them in. Next week I'm going to comment about one of the greatest injustices that I've ever seen any govern- ment, Liberal or other- wise, bring about.