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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-10-18, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, October 18, 1989 Times Established 1871 Adsocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Wednesday Morning at hetet, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1311 ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRI DR RIES CU TPosrtion. Manager PCNA TIM BECAETT Publisher & Adsertising Manager DO\ SMITH Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $27.00 Per year; U.S.A. $68.00 Remove temptation Whether London -Middlesex MP Terry Cliff ' - Scarbo- rough East MI ib Hicks ac- tually violated any laws in hiring each other's daughter, their actions cannot help but be one more blemish on the im- age of all politicians. The old -boy attitude of "I'11 scratch your back if you scratch mine" has con- tinued over the years in all parties and, surprisingly, results in little more than a token outcry from other members. Apparently MPs work on the honor system when it comes to accounting for spending of funds to run constituency of- fices. This practice in effect gives each of our members of parliament control of a personal slush fund to spend as each sees fit. In the latest example of Clifford and Hicks, an already sceptical ,public will find claims Canadian taxpayers received good value for their money hard to swal- low. It's time for an auditing system to be es- tablished which would restrict what poli- ticians can do with our money. If elected members find it impossible to fight the temptation of helping friends, families of friends or their counterparts, perhaps it's time to remove the temptation. Obvi- ously full audits are a must... and the sooner the better. by Jim Beckett At the tip of my tongue "I know the man's name," I said, "it's at the tip of my tongue". I think its starts with an R. Not Robertson, not Robin- son, but a common name like that, Only shorter.. I drove on for a few more ki- lometers, straining to remember. 1 felt like taking a spoon and scraping the crevices of my brain. The name I wanted was in there. Why did it refuse to come out? "Think of a two -syllable name starting with R," I said to Eliza- beth and the kids. Riddell? No. Russell? No. Rowan? No. Ryd- er? No, more common than that. It was driving me crazy. I think it's happcning more fre- quently as I get older. The most common words are simply not available when I need them. Something seems to be blocking the passage between the storage tank under my skull and the speaking tools in my mouth. We went on for half an hour or so, talking about an entirely dif- ferent matter. 1 must have seemed absent-minded because Elizabeth asked: "Did you hear what I said?" "Rogers," I answered. "Over and out," Elizabeth said. "No, Rogers. That's the name of the guy I couldn't think of - Rog- ers". "Oh, Malcom Rogers. Of course, I remember Malcolm Rogers. How could you forget his names?" How indeed? I wish I knew what is happcning inside my brain. I wish it would function (MC my computer with its wad - processing program. Wouldn't it he nice if my brainhad pull- down menus? If I could recall anything by pulling down SEARCH and selecting FIND? No such luck. Our biological computers may have certain ad- vantages, but retrieval from memory is not always easy. The other day we had friends for dinner, which doesn't hap- pen very often. The kids were in bed. Naturally, Elizabeth and I enjoyed this rare opportunity to have an adult conversation. About things that have nothing to do with school, skating les- sons, babysitters, Sesame Street, or pogo balls. Tom and Mary have no chil- dren. The have lots of time to travel, to sec all the latest mo- vies and plays, to read the new- est books. The conversation got around to South American writ- ers. "Oh yes," I said, "a few years ago I read a book by a South American writer I really liked, it's by - oh, what's his name, it starts with M, I think." Blank stares, "What was the name of the book?" Tom asked. "It was called, oh, I can't re- member just off hand, isn't that terrible? I can't think of the title either...I" "Was he Peruvian?" Mary wanted in trnn.., *rr- -- - • t, ruvian, I think he was Argentin- ian, but he could also have been from Colombia." "Talking about Colombia," Elizabeth smartly saved the situ- ation, "I'd like a little more cof- fee, please." In the kitchen I pressed my hands against my temples. Noth- ing squeezed out.. I looked up at the ceiling, as I had successfully done in math class so many years, ago. Nothing. I held my breath and made a super -human effortto concentrate. Nothing. I went to the bathroom. Nothing. Between the Colombian coffee and the Scottish Drambuie 1 tried again to remember the name of that confounded writer and his elusive title. Both were right at the apex of the tip of my tongue, but that's as far as they got. Tom and Mary left. Poor fel- low, they were saying to each other. I knew that they felt very sorry for me. Their car wasn't out of our driveway yet, when the name of the writer did a somersault at the tip of my tongue and jumped out: "Marquez! Garcia Garbriel Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude". How could I have forgotten the name of this Nobel laureate and the title of his marvelous book? I felt like hopping into my car, following our friends, passing them on the road, and flagging them down: "Marquez! I was talking about Marquez. Why didn't you gucss? Why didn't you help me out?" But I let them get away, feeling superior. At least for a while. No, I won't call them, and 1 won't write to them. The next time I see them, I'll casually say, rccrrrcn r tfre -Wi e f couldn't think of the name of that writer? It was-.... It was... M some- thing. Just wait, it's at the tip of my tongue." _ Letter to the Editor Dear Sir: We are writing to request your as- sistance in announcing the recruit- ment campaign for the 1990-91 Canada World Youth program. Canada World Youth gives young Canadians the opportunity to learn about international development through a challenging, seven month cross-cultural plogrant. With their counterparts from an exchange country, participants live and do volunteer work in a host communi- ty, first in Canada, then in a devel- oping country in Africa, Asia or Latin America. Each group of participants is un— der the guidance and leadership of field staff who are trained and exper- ienced in the areas of international development and education. All ex- penses are covered by Canada World Youth. Over the past 19 years, 100 com- munities in Ontario have hosted the Canada World Youth program, and we have had participants from near- ly 300 cOliicnutlilics! Each year, we attempt to recruit young people from all parts of On- tario and from a wide variety of so- cio -demographic backgrounds (rdral/ urban, students/ workers/ unemployed, etc.). Applicants need only be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants and between 17 and 20 t years old as of December 31, 1989. We would greatly appreciate your cooperation in encouraging young people to apply as soon as possi- ble, as our final deadline is January 237, 1990. If you would like further informa- tion or it you would like to meet someone who has -.participated in the program, please contact us. We also 'have a video ("Challenges) which may be borrowed from our offices in Toronto and Ottawa. Thank you for your support! Sincerely, Jo -Anne Bund Program Officer Canada World Youth. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited Where it all started Right now when the World Series is in full swing and the baseball season is almost over when a lot of wives will breathe a huge sigh of relief, we thought it might be interesting to pass on information on how the game started. When you finish reading this, you will know that Abner Dou- bleday has to take a back seat when discussing the origin of the game. The information coming up has been furnished through courtesy of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. "My sermon today said .Rev. Jones is baseball and whence it came. Now if you take the good book and you take a good look, you will find the first baseball game. • It says Eve stole first - Adam second - Solomon umpired the game. Rebecca went to the well with a pitcher And Ruth in the field made a name. Goliath was struck out by Da- vid- A base hit was made on Abel by Cain, And the Prodigal Son made a great home run. Brother Noah gave checks out for rain. Jonah wailed and went down . swinging. 1. From the editor's disk by Ross Haugh 115 Later he popped up again. A lion -drive by ole Nebuchad- nezzar Made Daniel warmup in the pen. Delilah was pitching to Samp- son , When he brought down the house with a clout, And the Angels that day made a double -play That's when Adam and Eve,,. were thrown out. Ole St. Pete was checking er- rors- Also had charge of the gate. Salome sacrificed Big John the Baptist Who wound up ahead on the plate. Satan was pitching that apple And looked as though he might fan them all. But then Joshua let go with a mighty blow And blasted one right at the wall And then the Lord wound up and took good aim, And started that very first base- ball game. * * * * Did you know that short men are twice as likely as tall men to have "a heart attack in middle age? A study by the British Heart Foundation showed that over an eight-year period, 118 of 1,553 men shorter than five foot, six inches suffered a heart attack - compared with 62 of the same number taller than five foot, 10 inches. The shorter men tended to have higher blood pressure and cho- lesterol levels and smoked more. But researchers said the key fac- tor was that shorter men tended to have poorer lung function. Thought for the Week: Could we call nostalgia the thing that turns the past tense into past per- fect? Grandchildren are grand Don and I are the parents of three sons. We were not blessed with any daughters. I used to say that I gave my husband three chances, and he showed abso- lutely no originality. Then some-. Reynold's Rap by Yvonne Reynolds one said that was not true: Don was a specialist. This put the whole matter in asquite different light. As life progressed, our sons got married and began their own finilies.JJntil-you-are-one your- self, no one can accurately de- scribe what it's like to be a grandparent, to hold a little grandchild in your arms and real- ize that child is .a brand new link in the chain stretching down through countless -generations, and is also part of you. The ex- pericnce,is "better felt than telt". We now have three grandchil- dren, all girls. All are extremely beautiful, and very advanced for their ages. How's that for ob- jectivity! Twenty -two -month-old Stepha- nie and her three -month-old sister Melanie visited us at the farm over the Thanksgiving weekend. Melanie acted like any little baby. She drank her bottles, napped, and melted her grandpar- ents' hearts with her wide smile of dimpled innocence and con- tentment. Stephanie petted the goats, ad- mired the hens, ran from the ducks, and treated our Himalay- an cat like an animated toy. She was allowed to do all the things her father could not when he was her age - come and goat will at the dinner table, have her dessert before cleaning up her plate, touch the objets d'art scat- tered around the house, pound out her own composition on the organ, slam doors, and rely on diapers rather than a visit to the bathroom when nature called. But that's what grandparents are for. God created them just to love their grandchil- dren. Let the parents worry about discipline, and teething and toilet training. We arc more con- cerned with such important matters as hugging;' and rocking, and sto- ry -telling, and hand-in-hand walks and heart- to-heart talks. Even after the playpen, the dia- per bag, the toy bag, the car scats, the baby walker and the three complete wardrobe changes for each child had been packed up and gone. back to Burlington, Don and I were left with a memento of the grandbabics' visit. We arc accustomed to being gently awakened each morning by the dulcet tones of the CBC announcer issuing from the bed- side clock radio. The morning after the children's visit, we were propelled from sound sleep to in- stant panic alert by a sound like 10 smoke detectors going off at once. We sat bolt upright, trying to figure out the source of the ter- rible noise. The light dawned in both our brains simultaneously. We have never used the alarm feature on our radio. A little girl with blond curls and hazel eyes hadobviously decided to readjust our routine. No wonder she was so quiet after waking from her af- temoon sleep! Tiny fingers can work quickly, and with deadly effect. We have recovered from our experience, our hearts arc once again beating normally, and we arc looking forward to the next visit from the grandchildren.