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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-03-06, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, March 6, 1991 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord Second Class Mail Registration Number 0388 aJBS,CRIeTION RATES: CANADA " Within 40 miles (85 km.) addressed to non latter carrier addresses 530.00 pias 52.10 0.5.T. .�� 0 to Outlede 40 maks (85 km.) or any letter carrkr address 530.00 plus 530.00 postage (total 580.00) plus 54.20 0.5.T. Outside Canada 588.00 "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley Published Each Wedeasdsy Mended M 424 Mala M., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 255 by J.W. telly PrrWsMlses Ltd. T.Nphsee I-51,2354331 s.s.T. 11111.042109415 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. .4