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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-12-02, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, December 2, 1992 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte 11015 Manager: Don Smith COMpO/It)Ol1 Manager: Deb Lord Pub:'cations Mall Registration Number 0386 $LJRSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (85 km.) addressed to non tetter carrier addresses $30.00 plus $2.10 O.S.T. Outside 40 miles (85 km.) or any Setter canter address $30.00 plus 626.25 (total 58.25) + 3.94 Q.S.T. Outside Canada $88.00 "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley Published Each Wednesday Mornleg at 424 Mein St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Pvblieatfons Ltd. Telephone 1-519-25.1331 O.L.T. 1R10521035 I': I) I TOR I A I. %/ice'%%i NirAcexe CBC tarnishes its freedom of speech he funny thing about freedom of speech is this: if you don't have it, you can't ask for it; those who have it, don't need it. Periodically, this issue is revolves around pornography (sometimes mas- querading as art) and protectors of free speech find themselves - unconvincing- ly, for the most part - trying to view, sex with children, say, with a certain amount of equanimity. In a sane socie- ty that can't be done; freedom of speech must be sacrificed to protect something more important. More often, however, freedom of speech issues revolve around politics and history, and newspapers and other public media are generally fighting for the cause. That is why a recent decision by the CBC to publicly censure two docudra- ma filmmakers for their series The Val- our and the Horror is so strange and disturbing. The CBC paid for the series, ap- proved it, vetted it; but when some groups didn't like the view of history contained in the series it started to trem- ,. ble and eventually apologized. The problem here is complicated by the fact that the CBC is not private en- terprise; it is a slave, utterly, of govern- ment funding; and docudramas are at best a questionable forum for the treat- ment of history. But without even considering the con- tents of the series which may very well be worthy of criticism and something to apologize for to boot, it wasn't up to the CBC to do what it did. The apology has profoundly altered the relationship between the corporation and the public. How are we ever to believe again that the CBC has not first cleared its pro- grams with its subjects? Does it check first with the Prime Min- ister's office before airing controversial material. Does it get Bob Rae's approv- al before running stories about the NDP? It is the job of the CBC to defend free speech; in this case it has acted in a cow- ardly and craven manner that runs abso- lutely contrary to the public good. St. Marys Journal Argus Bye bye bagel fingers The bagel fingers arc gone for good. I came to that realization in a hurry Friday afternoon when I grabbed a stainless soup ladle and found I could no longer han- dle hot utensils with my bare hands. If you happened by the 3AAA Restaurant Friday lunchtime you may have seen me volunteering my time as one of the "celebri- ties" serving food, taking orders, and pouring coffee (not neces- sarily in any sensible order) while raising money for Child Find of Huron County. I was quite flattered to be asked to be one of the celebri- ties, although I'm quite sure most people wouldn't recognize a newspaper editor even if they drove over one. They all recog- nized CFPL's Jay Campbell, of course, who arrived just in time to take the over town police chief Jack Harkness' spot who couldn't make it after all. Jay seemed to do quite well on the tips. I don't think he was promising good weather in re- turn for generous donations to Child Find, but I think it would have been a good idea. Also on duty with us were Beth Pimm and Al Penn of the Exeter OPP, in full uniform and puzzling unsuspecting custom- ers as to why the police were ransacking the kitchen. 1 can say with some pride that I didn't actually spill anything on anyone except myself (rice pudding) and I didn't break any- thing either. Although I'm not sure if I should be flattered or wounded that the waitresses Hold that thought ... By Adrian Harte found this rather surprising. But I never said I didn't work in a restaurant before. I used to endure the long hours, testy cus- tomers, and overheated condi- tions when i needed a job to support that financial bad habit they call university. Yes, I used to have bagel fingers. "Bagel fingers" is what we delicatessen veterans used to call the ability to seize a red hot bagel out of the toaster, flip it over on the counter, butter it, douse it with cream cheese, and wrap it up to go all without screaming blue murder. The neophyte staff used to be amazed at this trick, not realiz- ing that soon, they too would have killed off all the nerve end- ings in their finger tips. My nerve endings grew back years ago, I guess, and that hot t eittr to Editor soup ladle brought that realiza- tion back in a hurry on Friday afternoon. This is not to say the entire experience of being wait- er -for -a -day was all painful. In fact, it brought back great mem- ories of a simpler, but hectic time forme. It also reinforced the point that job skills are not interchangea- ble. As a journalist I must have in memory the names of hun- dreds of sources and contacts; at my virtual fingertips the facts and figures associated with al; the hot issues. But do you think I could keep straight a pad of or- ders and remember that the table in the comer is waiting for a tuna sandwich and a hamburger and the one by the door still hasn't got coffee or soup yet? Don't answer that one, I al- ready did. As much as I enjoyed my stint as a waiter, I would like to point out that there is one group of people who truly deserve a lot of credit for Friday's luncheon and who might otherwise be over- looked. I'm talking about the regular waitresses in all those participating restaurants. Not only did they put up with our well-intentioned bungling for three whole hours, but they also gave up all the tips they would otherwise have earned on one of the busiest days of their week. Three cheers. Campaign to save mammals Dear Editor: i am writing to appeal to the many thousands of animal lovers among your readers. You and they are probably aware of the cam- paign-IFAW (Canada), the Inter- national Fund for Animal Welfare, is waging in regard to the cod cri- sis and renewed calls, in some quarters, for a resumption of a mass harp seal kill off the east coast. Our television and newspa- per adverts recently appeared ac»�fCanada. ''tee seals are being blamed -for the cudshortage even though sci- entism agree that the seal's diet consists of less than 1 percent fwd. Studies also show that the 111) seal population is expanding very slowly, if at all. The seals are be- ing used as scape- goats for the overfishing that caused the crisis. Earlier this year, Fisheries Minister John Crosbie suggested that 5001300 seals could be killed. With the present cod fish- ing moratorium pro -sealing forces will pressure fur a mass slaughter sof baby seals. Such a slaughter would be unjus- tified and unforgivable. It would cause immense damage to Canada's international reputation. It would also harm the seal watching tour- ism that currently produces more than SI million a year for Canada. What we need is a marine Mam- mal Protection Act, like the United States and New Zealand, not a re- newed slaughter. I encourage your readers to join IFAW's campaign immediately. For an information package, con- tact IFAW on 1400.668.1503 or, if you're calling from Toronto, on 481-1585. Sincerely, Paul Seigel .4 DOYO1I Coe Uei Oftgn' REMIND ME. To TALK To PETER Not fl4 ABOUT ouR NEW ??URlsM sLoGAN .00000,49 1 don't know anything The German poet Goethe was perhaps the world's last univer- sal genius. When his famous character Dr. Faustus made his pact with the Devil. he said: "I know a lot., but I would lila- to know everything." During the Middle Ages, a highly educated person might have know almost everything there was to know in that world. In Goethe's time it had become increasingly and frustratingly more difficult to get a handle on even the major arts and scienc- es. Today, knowledge has escalat- ed to such staggering heights that not even all the great think- ers and scientists and their com- puter networks together could claim to come even close to know everything That's what 1 tried to tell Alex- ander the other day. After he had expressed his great disap- pointment in me, his father: "Dad, how come you don't know whether salad dressing is a mechanical mixture or a solu- tion'" "Because 1 either haven't learned it, or I've forgotten." "Dad, how come you know so little?" I guess this is coming as a shock to the boy. Ever since he was little, I've tried to impress him by, giving him more or less Peter's Point Peter Hessel satisfactory answer to all his questions. "What makes the moon round?" "Why is snow always white and not orange or blue?" "Who is the richest boy in the world?" When 1 couldn't think of an answer, I ran to the Guinness Book of Records or the encyclo- pedia. But now that he's in grade 8, the questions are get- ting complicateder and compli- cateder. I don't want to do the research for him. He knows where tits books Letter to Editor are. He knows his way around libraries. Let him find out for himself. "Dad, who invented the square root anyway? "I don't know." "What would you get if you mixed carbon, oxygen, and ni- trogen?" "I don't know. 1 guess it de- pends." "On what?" "On the proportions." "Let's ;ay we take equal parts, then wha, do we get?" "I haven't the faintest idea." "Dad, 1 thought you told me once you took chemistry in high school." "I did, and I remember the day when -the lab almost burned down." "But you don't know any fact." "I guess not. I'm sorry." Well, at least I can still bluff my way with Duncan and Steph- ania. When they want to know why the sun looks bigger when it sets than when it's almost overhead, 1 tell them: "Because we're looking Please turn to page 5 In support of the Rae government Dear Editor: There is no issue in Ontario at the moment that surpasses the po- lice/firearm issue when it comes to unnecessary hysteria and overreac- tion. i know that 90 percent of the people in North America are in a sour mood. I know (hat economic problems have helped to tum many people against all politi- cians. Witness the major turn- around in the United States and witness the fact that 49.9 percent of the people of Ontario voted against the referendum. i know that the climate of the times makes it easy for people to bash as well the Bob Rac govern- ment. However, the recent "jump- ing on the bandwagon" hysteria over the police issue is just plain ridiculous. Yes, we all know that police work in a large city like Toronto is getting more and more difficult all the time. We all know that most of us feel that the court system is not supporting the police or the public the way it should. We also know that some members of. the Toronto ethnic community may be exag- gerating the point when they refer to the Toronto "Racist cops". That again is not the point. The point is that racism does ex- ist - both iii general society and amongst the Toronto police force as well. The point is that the police should be addressing the charges of racism - not throwing in the red herring of the new gun laws. The fact that some injustices may have been done against the reputation of all police in general does not ex- cuse the reprehensible conduct by the police forces in dis- regarding the orders of their chiefs and stamping their feet like spoiled brats. I can't help but to think that there is another underly- ing motive to these actions - and that is to see to it that the Rae gov- ernment doesn't get elated. What has -happened to the age-old adage in Canada that the police are above politics? Those who support the police in their actions overlook a few impor- tam facts. Firstly. If you bother to check, you will see that in the ma - 49r U.S. cities, where the crime rate is much higher than in Toronto, the police must fill out a report when a w spgrt is drawn. l know of a re- eset conversation with several New York State troopers where they re- ferred to Ontario police as "cryba- bies" on this issue. Secondly, we must remember that, unlike many U.S. cities. the Toronto committee that was set up to investigate the accusations of ra- cism contains police representa- tives as well. Thirdly, people forget that the Rac government has committed an extra 545 million to hire more OPP officers, has endorsed the use of aerosol "pepper spray" and has committed another 55.6 million to the Ontario Police College for training purposes. The simple fact is that the Rae government is very supportive of the needs of policing in Ontario. However, other facts reflect that we must address the problems of racism in our communities and that includes the police. While previous governments chose to ignore the problem, Bob Rae is facing it head on. I admire him for that. We must either address the prob- lem or sit by and watch it fester and get worse. It is time for the po- lice to do the same. R.J. Harrington, Regional Council, Niagara Falls