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Times -Advocate, March 6, 1991
Publisher: Jim Beckett
News Editor: Adrian Harte
Business Manager: Don Smith
Composition Manager: Deb Lord
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EDITORIAL
The biggest weapons test
I
s it possible we could have
lost the war after all?
Certainly there isn't a shred
of doubt as to the decisiveness of the
victory over Iraq. Most of us were pre-
pared, or at least told to be prepared,
for a lengthy and casualty -ridden battle
as the Iraqis fought to the bitter end.
Likewise we were almost stunned by
the immediate surrender of thousands
of Iraqi troops and the discovery their
army had little effect against the decid-
edly superior coalition forces - espe-
cially those of the United States.
As the war winds down, we will be
bombarded with statistics on the cost of
the Gulf War. Some of the most dra-
matic statistics will be of how thor-
oughly Iraq was crushed, militarily and
economically, and of the high numbers
of Iraqis killed, even though President
George Bush told us all his war was
with Saddam Hussein and not the peo-
ple of Iraq.
Is it possible that intelligence reports
grossly overestimated the strength of
Iraq? Or was the American government
so terrified of losing public favour
through coalition casualties and a
drawn-out war that they resorted to de-
liberate overkill?
But it is entirely possible that the
Americans trucked out their most ad-
vanced and dangerous weapons and air-
craft, not because they had any fear of
losing the war, but because they wanted
a chance to test all their high-tech hard-
ware on live targets. Have we been wit-
ness to the most expensive war games in
history?
The world will have to decide whether
a kill ratio of reportedly as high as 1,000
Iraqis to each coalition casualty was an
acceptable way to win the liberation of
Kuwait.
If many middle -east nations decide it
was just another example of western ag-
gression and ignore the war crimes and
atrocities committed in Kuwait by the
Iraqis, we may well find we lost this war
after all.
A.D.H.
Letters to Editor
-Y::rs 0., hagerla-bra rl
Jiwu�.4JIkv+lila.1x:111:1i.J YLIs+'
"ill'/ .l
Know your heritages
Dear Sir.
After 40 years in Canada (the
wife and I), we did not know that
Ontario had its own castle, and
that on a six -acre spread in Toron-
to.
Anyway last week we went on a
tour with the Hensall Horticultural
Society, to partly celebrate our
40th wedding anniversary. The
program included a visit to the To -
rondo Civic Centre; to see Casa
Loma and supper on
the way home.
111)
We must say
the flowers and
plants looked
very good. After a
few hours there,
we went to see the
Castle. We were amazed to find
that in Toronto, and not knowing it
•4`
for 40 years. Well, we can recom-
mend that to everyone who did not
see it, so go and have a visit there
and see part of your heritage.
We thank the Horticultural Soci-
ety for this outing and also for the
nice card and all the signatures on
it. It was very much appreciated.
John Groot
Varna
Minor sports for fun
To the Editor:
Well, well, well, wouldn't you
know someone has spoke the
truth!
Enclosed is a
copy of an arti-
cle I found in
the Ontario Slo I
Pitch magazine
and I think it is
true to form for
any minor sports.
I think this article should hang on
the refrigerator of a family that has
children in minor sports. They need
to be reminded as often as they
open the refrigerator.
A young baseball player, after
striking out, broke down in tears
because he felt he let his team
down. The coach tried to console
the child. "Don't worry, son", he
said. "Some of the best major
league players have struck cru in
worse situations." The crying child
simply said, "But they didn't have
to face my father when they got
ho
Hey kids, get out there, do your
best and have a great time. It's sup-
posed to be the fun time of your
life.
Stephen Township
Minor Hockey
Secretary -treasurer
Dianne Finkbeincr
Conventionally speaking
I drove to Toronto on Thurs-
day to attend the annual Ontario
Coriiiniinity Newir¢apers Associ-
ation convention, proving once
again no matter when you leave
Exeter for Toronto, it will al-
ways be rush hour when you ar-
rive.
This was my first time repre-
senting the Times Advocate at
the OCNA and I was more than
pleased to be able to collect the
General Excellence award an-
nounced for the T -A a few
weeks ago.
We all know there have been
many changes here in the past
few months, and it's great to be
recognized for still having a top-
quality product. No one here is
yet ready to declare perfection,
and we realize there are many
things we can be looking a1 in
the months ahead to continue to
make this a better newspaper -
some of which the community
will accept, others which may
not be welcome. We'll just have
to see.
I don't place a great deal of
faith in awards. Only the read-
ers truly decide how well a
Preserve a world-class decoration
Dear Editor:
Recent reports that the Govern-
ment plans to eliminate the Victor-
ia Cross as Canada's premier gal-
lantry award cannot fail to be
upsetting to all Canadians, and in-
sulting not only to our veteran:,,
but also to the brave young men
and women who arc serving in the
Persian Gulf. From 1972,‘decora-
tions and awards have been "Ca-
nadianized" - a good policy. But in
1987, Prime Minister Mulroney
admiued that he did recognize the
special place of the V.C., saying:
"1 have therefore asked officials to
review the possibility of 'Canadi-
anizing' the Victoria Cross... this...
would reconcile two significant
objectives: the continued develop-
ment of a truly Canadian system
of honours, and the maintenance
of an important link with our mili-
tary and Commonwealth heritage.
What a proud heritage that isl
Establishedin 1856 by Queen Vic-
toria, the "Mother of Confedera-
tion", the V.C. was from its incep-
tion more than just "British" - one
of the first recipients was Canadi-
an A.R. Dunn who acted with out-
standing valour in the Charge of the
Light Brigade. The third Canadian
winner was William Hall, a black
Nova Scotian. When American
blacks were slaves, Canada's Queen
was giving her highest deco-
ration to one of
her black sub-
jects. In all, 93
Canadians, from j
every Province, of
many ethnic groups,
11
have received the
V.C. In a country not
over -endowed with recognized he-
roes, what better material for Cana-
dian pride could there be?
Australia recently incorporated
the V.C. into its Honours system; in
the same way, a "Canadianizcd"
V.C. would be given by the Queen
of Canada, on the advice of Canadi-
an officials, administered by the
Honours Chancellery at Rideau
11x11.
It is tragic that this aspect of our
heritage has fallen into the hands of
those forces who seem to hate Can-
ada's traditions, and wish to annihi-
late our heroes and declare them
and their deeds non -Canadian.
Many Canadian traditions have
been suppressed in the last 20
years in the name of "national uni-
ty". A look at Canada today sug-
gests a less united country. If a
faceless Canada continues to be
created we will be left a rootless
people, unaware of who we are.
Discarding the Victoria Cross
would be the latest step on this fa-
tal path.
Those who wish to preserve a
world-class decoration (available
for any Commonwealth country
who wishes to' use it) and honour
our History and our living tradi-
tions should tell the Prime Minister
and their MP (House of Commons,
Ottawa K1A 0A4) their opinion,
now. Background material is avail-
able from the Monarchist League
at Box 1057, Oakville, Ontario L6J
5E9. Let's act together to force. Mr.
Mulroney to do re -affirm his 1987
intentions, and preserve Canada's
Victoria Cross.
newspaper represents them, but
it is still inspiring to know that a
complete stranger (but experi-
enced newspaper judge) can
pick up your paper and see good
things in it - good enough to call
Hold that
thought...
By
Adrian Harte
it best in its class. It's nice to
know we're on the right track.
Forgive me for taking a mo-
ment to blow our own horn. I'm
sure you're well aware we don't
do it often. While there are pa-
pers out there that seem to spend
more time telling everyone how
wonderful they art than report-
ing the news, that's not really
our style. We try to be a little
more humble and we don't like
to ignore our mistakes.
After having the ch ce to talk
with other editors antiporters
from all over the province"auhee
convention, I discovered we're
not alone at the T -A for feeling
this way. It's a common prob-
lem, they complain, that you can
spend hours . working up a pow-
erful story and never really find
out if anyone read it. However,
if a mispelled name slips
through our system, or we run
out of news space and have to
leave out a photo or small item,
we will likely never be forgiven.
Then again, if other people can
begrudgingly live with that ar-
rangement, then so can I.
I did meet some fascinating
people in Toronto, each of
whom seemed to have a unique
way of dealing with news or
their communities. All the small
towns and suburbs across the
province appear diverse in many
ways, but yet so similar in oth-
ers.
But fascinating people also
came to meet us. What other
convention can boast of having
guest speakers of Lieutenant-
Govemor Lincoln Alexander,
Premier Bob Rae, and comedian
Charlie Farquharson? We must
be more important that we real-
ize.
What do you mean I'm mean?
Our kids divide their teachers
into two categories: those who
are mean and those who are not.
Now I know the entire staff at
the school. They're a wonderful
bunch of educators, and not one
of them has fangs.
"What do you mean by mean?"
I asked Stephanie.
"A mean teacher gives you lots
of homework just because you
don't have time to finish all your
work in class."
"Ya, and a mean teacher gives
you a detention for no reason at
all," added Duncan.
"Did y u get a detention?" I
asked su iciously.
"Not ."
After some further questioning
1 learned that mean teacher tell
students not to disturb others,
make them stay indoors during
recess, send them to the princi-
pal's office, and won't let them
go to the bathroom if they really
have to.
"Are your teachers mean?"
"Sometimes."
"So a teacher can be nice one
minute and mean the next?"
"Ya. But some are mean all
the time."
When I went to school, we
PETER'S
POINT
e
by
Peter Hessel
Or
never called our teachers mean.
That word wasn't in our vocabu-
lary. We had other names for
them. I went to a boys' school,
and naturally all our teachers
were men. With one or two ex-
ceptions, they were the weirdest
assortment of social misfits and
rejects you'd ever want to avoid
meeting in a dark alley. They
weren't mean, they were sadis-
tic. They took great delight in
whipping, strapping and beating,
in knocking their knuckles
against our skulls, pulling and
twisting our cars and noses,
slapping our faces, and keeping
us standing at attention until we
were ready to drop. The word
"abuse" wasn't in vogue then as
it is now. But Iknowwhat itis.
And that was just the physical
side of the maltreatment. We
were verbally threatened and
bullied, publicly embarrassed
and ridiculed. For the most triv-
ial offences we were given tedi-
ous and time-consuming extra
assignments.
So when kids today arc call-
ing their teachers mean, they are
obviously talking about some-
thing else.
As with so many other words
in our language, the term
"mean" seems to be undergoing
(a change in valise.
fo"Gay" once was a synonym
r happy and cheerful, not for
a sexual preference. "Cool" was
only a state somewhere between
warm and cold, not admirable.
Please turn to page 5.
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