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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-05-19, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate. Mav 19. 1982 imes- dvocate Times Established 1873 Serving South Huron,.North Middlesex Advocate Established 1881 & North Lambton Since 1873 Amalgamated 1924 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EERY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager PCNA Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class MaN Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada ;20.00 Per year: U.S.A. $55.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS `A' and `ABC' Don't relax the vigil There's no question about the value of a block parent program and the fact that there have been few times that local members have been called on to act in that capacity may indicate an incalculable benefit. Child molesters, bullies and other unsavory characters may well by leery of perpetrating their acts when they know that children can find quick refuge in a nearby home. The local organizers would like to have at least two block parents on every block in town and that appears to be easily attained if people accept their responsibili- ty for local youngsters. Adults who could provide this service should leave their names with the local police or Lois Godbolt. It is worth note that the organizers of the program are vigilant in keeping up-to-date to ensure that the community is well covered in every section and we know their efforts are appreciated by the communi- ty in general and the parents of school-age youngsters in particular. Encouraging, but costly Many people shake their heads in dismay when they look through the pages of the daily newspaper and see several articles pertaining to the court trials on murders, rapes, frauds, violent thefts, etc. They must have found it refreshing to see the report of a recent court sitting in Exeter. There were no hardened criminals present; no cause to back the government's plan to install metal detectors to prevent shootings of lawyers and court officials as has been the case in Toronto. The lone case on the local docket was for a park- ing infraction. Gross return to the court was $9.00. While there must be considerable satisfaction in knowing that the state of crime has hit such a low ebb in this area, there is cause to question the vailidity of going through all the expense of a court session for such a minor infraction. Surely court officials could have notified the ac- cused and adjourned the sitting until such time that there were enough cases to make it worthwhile. Secrecy isn't right • Even from the grave,. Tom Cossitt, the late Con- servative MP for Leeds -Grenville, continues to harass his Liberal adversaries. Just before his death last March, he placed several questions on Parliament's order table concerning the annual income of seven senior public servants. Last week, the government finally got around to giving its response - a terse no comment. It is government policy to reveal salary ranges for all civil service classifications from the bottom to the top. But the seven top mandarins singled out by Co`sitt .are outside this classification system,las they head in- dependent crown corporations or commissions. Salaries for these individuals are separately determin- ed by cabinet, which refuses to disclose the 'amounts out of concern for the right to privacy of the recipients. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission insists upon full disclosure of the salaries and benefits accruing to senior corporation executives so as to assure that shareholders .are not being bilk- ed. Similar rules should apply here �'1 Canada, especially to senior executives whose incomes are paid out of taxpayers' funds. Bank of Canada governor Gerald Bouey, one of the seven named by Cossitt, would seem to agree. Last March, he was eager to volunteer to a Parliamentary committee that his annual income is only $104,500. Even the fifth man on the corporate totem pole for Bell Canada earns twice that amount. None of the other six on Cossitt's list has been so can- did. Taxpayers have good reason to be interested in how much Mitchell Sharp, a long-time Liberal politi- cian, is earning as commissioner of the Northern Pipeline Agency. But Sharp won't say and the Trudeau government refuses to tell. That's wrong, and it's still almost possible to hear Cossitt saying so. Intended to write this With the pleasant weather of May lur- ing people out to their patios and backyards, it's not difficult to consider membership into the Procrastinators' Club. • That organization now has nearly 600,000 members, but only about 3,000 of them have got around to signing up accor- ding to literature from the group's president. The official publication of the group is entitled "Last Month's Newsletter" and it is full of newsy items such as the results of a contest for the best letter on "How Procrastination has Changed My Life for • the Better". The winning entry in the con- test read, "I'll write tomorrow.` ' A column headed "Around the Chapters" is worth reading. Here's a typical item.'', "About 14 years ago an attorney in Ed- wardsville, Ohio, wrote asking the first step in setting up a chapter. We sent him the information. Recently he wrote again, asking, "What's the second step?" We're going to have a great chapter in Edwardsville." If anyone feels that a chapter would fill a need in Exeter, think about it for awhile, and some time when you get around to it, let me know. The international president is apparent- ly quite willing to assist in the formation of such groups. His letters close with the friendly admission, "If you have any questions about the club, hesitate to write," * •. • • * One of the wonders of modern technology is that science can produce an aluminum soft drink can that will last forever, and a $10,000 car that will rust out in three years. • • • • • • For lawn cutting procrastinators, there's 'help available as well from a group calling itself the Fruitarain Net- work. They've issued a list of reasons not to mow the lawn. For one thing, it wastes gasoline. It also fritters away human energy. But more importantly, perhaps, the net- work noted that mowing destroys baby birds, butterflies, toads and bumble bees...causes suffering to creatures caught in the machine, including those operators who periodically lose a toe or finger through careless operation. • Now who among us would want to be responsible for the death of baby birds, butterflies, toads and bumble bees? And aren't we all supposed to be conserving gasoline and electricity? • Turn off that darn machine and do your part! • .1 • We live in strange times. A man can • borrow $15,000 from his father-in-law, get a $45,000 first mortgage and a $20,000 se- cond mortgage and then call himself a home owner. • • • • • Hope area farmers didn't procrastinate in cutting out a recent Huron farm and home news column in this,towvspaper, in which John Heard outlined procedures London Free Press I long ago that should be taken to ensure the conti- nuance of primary food production in the event of a nuclear war. His advice came from a Canada Department of Agriculture publication entitled, "Fallout on the Farm --Blueprint for Survival". John concluded with a tongue-in-cheek comment that suggested the serious tone of the bulletin should convince farmers that low commodity prices may not be their biggest worry. It is encouraging to know that the government is thinking ahead to such matters, and while therere those who doubt that many would ave to worry about what they'd be eati g in the event of a nuclear war, the C.D.A. does at least remain optimistic. On the same subject, local senior citizens may get a.warm feeling knowing they too will have a special role to play in the event of a nuclear war. Researchers at the Oakridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, have completed a study financed by Union carbide about the ways in which the elderly can con- tribute to the general well-being in the event of nuclear attack. The committee recommends that the survivors of such an attack should send the old people out foraging for food and water, thus sparing the young from the of-" fects of radiation. The report notes that older people come to the end of their life spans before reaching the end of the nuclear risk plateau. Thus the same exposure will pro- duce fewer cancers in this group than in a younger segment of the population. And to think some senior citizens deem themselves unwanted and unneeded! For those seniors still actively engag- ed in farming, their two-prongedrontribu- tioni; will be immeasurable. • "I'm trying a new lawn fertilizer this year — shredded copies of MacEachen's economic policy" A night in the big city My . wife and I used to take off for the city fairly often to spend a riotous weekend in the flesh -pots. They weren't as wild as they sound. We'd take in a couple of hautecuisine meals, and enjoy lolling around in the morning, with room service breakfast, a morning paper, and an obituary of what we liked or didn't about last night's play. These weekends con- stituted a pleasant break from the old routine of making beds, cooking, do- ing the dishes, raking the leaves, or whatever. In the Last few years these weekends have dwindled to almost nothing. Not that the spirit isn't willing, or the flesh is weak. But the price isn't right. A decent hotel room has doubled to around $70-$90 per night. A couple of 'gourmet meals, with a bottle of wine, perhaps, have nearly tripled, over a few years. It seems only a few years since we saw Richard Burton in Camelot, excellent seats, at $6 each. A third-rate Broadway show, or a fourth -time revival of something like My Fair Lady, now sets you back about $15 a seat. Add it up. We used to blow about $120 and thought it well spent, coming home physically and culturally rejuvenated, ready to go bacleto the grind. Nowadays the hotel bill, with some room service at atrocious rates, runs about $200. Tickets for a couple of shows tack on another $60. A couple of good dinners will set you back another $100. Toss in tips and taxis and parking, and the two -bucks -a - gallon gas to get there and back, and you're well over $400. Even for sybaritic teachers, who make huge incomes and have all those holidays; and secure jobs, and not much to do except babysit about 160 kids a day, that's a little TV. One Saturday night, we even went to a real movie, downtown. The highlight of our weekends, culturally, is doing the quiz in the Sunday paper. We spend at least an hour over that, and I win every week, because my wife doesn't read the sports Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley steep, for a 48 hour break. And that's why our weekends have become rather mundane. Instead of calling room service, we make a pot of tea (sometimes, if we're feel- ing like living it up, a pot of real, perked coffee), and blow ourselves to a boiled egg. We go for a drive. Down to the dock to see if the boats are OK. Around the little lake in town to check on the indolent geese, too lazy to fly south, greedy as seagulls. Out to the beach to make sure the sand is still there. It's pretty ex- citing, actually, especial- ly.with both of us watching the gas gauge and doing mental arithmetic. Oh, we haven't given up the old, carefree cultural life entirely. Occasionally, I'll say, "Oh, to heck with it," and go out and buy a pizza or fish and chips. If I'm really in a mad, im- pulsive mood, I might even get take-out Chinese. We stay up late, sometimes past midnight, and watch a movie on the pages or the political news. Well. Not a bad life. And a lot cheaper than The Ci- ty. But this whole, peaceful, dull routine flew into bits on a recent April weekend when I got tied up with a couple of women, one of them rather mature, and the other quite young. We had a passel of guests for the weekend, and my wife was so busy - cooking and talking and setting tables that she couldn't keep the usual close eye on me. I'd admired the older woman for years for her poise, grace and warm smile, but she never gave me a look. However, she turned up on the weekend, and seemed to have alLthe old charm, so I was hook- ed again. I couldn't keep my eyes off her. The younger one was quite brazen. For some reason, she'd taken a shine to me, and though I did my best to fend off her advances, she -was ada- mant that we sleep together, have secret assignments, the whole bit. It was difficult, because her father kept a close eye on her, especial- ly when she'd throw herself into my lap, stroke my jowls, and run her fingers through my scan- ty locks. Some older men have that effect on young females. Well, there I was, caught in the middle. I'd rush to gaze at the one I'd admired so long, then be trapped by the younger one who was shameless. It was kind of nice, when I think back. I haven't been in such a fix since I asked two girls to the same dance, back in high school. And they both accepted. I don't want to make this too titillating for a family journal, so I'll have to spell it out. I got nowhere with mature lady, but I was used to this. With the young one,'I kept the secret assignments, and we parted with kisses and promises of an early rekindling of the affair. The first lady's name was Elizabeth, with a R • after it. She was handing over the Canadian con- stitution to a sodden mob in Ottawa. The other lady's name was Jennifer, and she is four years old. The latter did sleep with me for awhile, until she went to sleep and was car- ried to her proper place of repose. We did keep our secret assignment: bacon and eggs at 7 a.m. On Monday, I told one of my favorite senior female students, after she'd ask- ed how the weekend was, that I'd slept with a young lady, and her face fell a foot. Until I explained. It does happen here, I'm angry about it. Perhaps you should be too. You always hear about crime and violence in the streets of American cities and you say, "Tsk, tsk, It's really a shame the way they carry on down there south of the border," thinking that it could never happen up here. Balderdash. It can, and does happen. Right here in South-western Ontario. Right here in Smalltown, Canada. As I write this, prepara- tions are being made for the funeral of a 30 year-old policeman in the town of Arthur. He has a young wife and two small children. Coincidentally, this weekend Gilles Villeneuve, also thirty years old, was killed in a high-speed accident at the Belgian Grand Prix. Its interesting how peo- ple have reacted to both these situations. Villeneuve's death makes front-page news all across Canada. People sigh and say, "What a pity so young to die." Its almost as if he were 'a hero. He So what's new: Another cop bites the dust. Another one who won't be there to get you with the radar trap or annoy you knock - Perspectives risks his life in a foolish manner, benefitting no one, and everyone is very unhappy. To top it off, he is paid very handsomely for taking this type of risk and people flock to the racetracks to get his autograph and be thrilled by his antics. The storybout the OPP officer, on the other hand, will definitely not make the front page news in Vancouver. By Syd Fletcher oa % 4 ing on the door about an extra -loud party. So who cares. Listen! You better care! Something has to be done about a society which places 4 times as much value on the doctors who operate on bullet wounds than the guy who has guts enough to enter a darken- ed alley trying to prevent that bullet hole in your chest. Something has to be too done about a society which can send a person to jail for a year for shooting a cat (last week's story - London Free Press) and will let a self-confessed murderer out on parole after serving 10 or 12 years in jail. - What are you going to do about courts which con- sistently go so easy on first-time violent of- fenders, that our judicial system has become a farce, a laughing -stock to the rest of the world and certainly to criminals? What are you going to do about a system that en- courages criminals to carry guns into relatively minor crimes e.g. a break and enter situation because they know that killing a oliceman is no big thing? What are you going to do about those two little kids crying for their daddy in Arthur, Ontario - tonight after the funeral? ti