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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-11-02, Page 4Pogo 4 'limes -Advocate, November 2, 1983 • Ames Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 -4 •k 4411 t Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wee iesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Incalculable risks U.S. President Ronald Reagan has, so far, fallen short of a plausible reason for his decision to invade the tiny island of Grenada last week and perhaps even more particularly in the manner in which the aggres- sion was carried out. The impropriety of the situation is made more ac - cute by the lack of information U.S. officials have released; the majority of it coming only as confirma- tion of information trickling out from sources that have evaded the secrecy employed by the Americans. No one will dispute the President's claim that the U.S. government has a responsibility to go to the aid of its citizens if their right to life and liberty is threaten- ed. But he has not yet provided evidence that the right to life and liberty of any American was threatened. Nor has there been any proof that the resistance which the American soldiers met was prompted by anything more than a "kill or be killed" feeling on the part of those being attacked. Were they given any alternative? Canadians now arriving home from Grenada in- dicate that they were fearful for their lives in the face of the all-out war being waged and now there is con- firmation that a mental hospital was "inadvertently" bombed by the U.S. and several patients were killed. Ironically, it appears as difficult to explain an in- advertent bombing as it does to explain the inadver- tent downing of a commercial airliner that has been mistaken as a spy plane. The world still waits for a satisfactory answer from the Russians for the latter incident. Will the Americans, who were so quick in their condemnation over the loss of innocent lives, prove themselves superior in expressing their error and apology? That, among many others, remains a question to be answered as the two super powers take incalculable risks in attempting to save the world from the other! Not so shocking Attorney -General Roy McMurtry was undoubtedly under -stating the situation when he suggested recent- ly that the penalty served by a London man for im- paired driving could be considered as removing a very serious deterrent for drinking -driving offences. The circumstances to which he made reference was the fact the driver ended up serving only three days of the 30 to which he had been sentenced by a judge on two counts of impaired driving and two counts of refusing to provide a breath sample. After the three days in a detention centre, the man was released for reasons of employment and was re- quired only to check in via a telephone call each evening. "Obviously, if the impression is you get 30 days and only serve three days, it removes a.very serious deter- rent," McMurtry commented in asking his staff to prepare a report on the situation. For McMurtry's enlightenment, the impression held by many people is that few of thdse s > enced to jail or detention centre terms ever do serve the court - imposed penalties to any where near the full term. The impression is reinforced by the frightening statistics which indicate that many offences are com- mitted by people who are free on parole or outright ear- ly release from the sentences which have been impos- ed for previous crimes. That doesn't include merely those who have been sentenced to terms for drinking - driving offences, but involves sex offenders, murderers, arsonists and the whole gamut of criminal element in society. The judge involved in the London case indicated he was shocked that his 30 -day sentence ended up be- ing only three days plus a nightly telephone call. There's nothing shocking about that; sentences are drastically reduced on a regular basis. The only shock- ing thing is that McMurtry and a judge are apparent- ly unaware of it. Make reservations at Yellowknife While "hot news" is something for which journalists aspire, the latest to fall into that category is a bit of•a misnomer in that it won't become fact for another 20 years or so. The news is that this world is embark- ing on a "greenhouse" effect, a conclusion reached by two scientific bodies which have been studying results of the high levels of carbon monoxide being discharg- ed into the atmosphere. Warm air is being retained in a vast envelope around the earth and higher temperatures are building up. Although temperatures are expected to increase by only a few degrees over the next couple of decades, the ramifications of even such a slight alteration will be drastic. Eventually, claim the scientists, the polar ice caps will begin to melt, the level of the oceans will rise and low-lying coastal areas will be flooded. By the same phenomenon, the Great Lakes will shrink through loss of water by evaporation and there will be a general population shift in- to northern Ontario as it will become the main growing area of the province as the southern sector is changed into a dustbowl. It all sounds akin to something out,of a science -fiction movie and while the initial reaction is to take some remedial steps to avert or at least delay the process, ap- parently the point of no return has already been reached to a considerable degree. Presumably it's the same as turning off your furnance; it takes some time before there is any appreciable change. In this case, no one has been turning off thefurnaceand the emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas and wood con- tinue to build up and are causing the earth to heat up like a pot of flowers in a greenhouse. • . • . It's obviously too early to make a deci- sion on whether to invest in a new snow shovel in view of the warming trend that BATT'N AROUND with the editor is expected, but the situation does prompt some interesting conjecture. The most noticeable change would pro- bably be in tourism. Given the move to a more moderate winter, most area residents would propably be able to suf- fer through the cold spell and in fact would be looking for relief from the inor- dinate summer heat. So, rather than head out to Florida and Arizona in the winter, they'd be booking accommodation in the Northwest Territories to escape the unpleasant temperatures of July and August. Unfortunately, the experts note that the shrinking of the Great Lakes would result in more problems than advantages. While the beach at Grand Bend would increase in size to handle larger crowds of sun - worshippers, the drawing card of the water would be lessened as pollution would increase. Property owners along the shore wouldn't have to battle erosion to the cur- rent extent, but the energy saved would be required to hike the extra distance to stick their toes into the receding waters. May and October would probably become the favorite months for the resort area as the water in July and August would be too warm for bathing. . . . The area's agricultural products would see a noticeable switch to products now associated with more balmy climates but it wouldn't change the size of the headaches. Instead of worring about frost on the beans in the spring and fall, farmers would have to be concerned with getting their oranges nipped. Air conditioning would become as much of a concern as heat for animal enclosures and that added cost would certainly be a further burden to hog, beef and poultry producers. If water is going to evaporate in the Great Lakes, presumably the same thing would happen in the Ausable. So, rather than building dams for flood control the conservation authority would have to start looking at the same type of struc- tures for water storage to facilitate irriga- tion and give the suckers and carp a home. While most of us won't be around to worry about the full ramifications of the greenhouse effect, it is apparently not just some dream and one leading government official has already urged that a sizeable budget be set aside to study the problems that will accrue. However, for those who do like to plan ahead, it may be a good idea to start look- ing for a location for a couple of more shade trees in the backyard. Your grand- children may well appreciate the thoughtfulness. JNmontactarir ''\ Scaremongers Are you frozen with ter- ror, these days? You're not? Then wake up, you vegetable. You're suppos- edtobe. Haven't you noticed the relentless campaign to scare the living daylights out of us ordinary souls? There seems to be a con- spiracy, in the com- munications media, to put you and me and our wives and kids into a perpetual state of fear. Advertising is the most prevalent, though not the most powerful, weapon of the scaremongers. It is suggested that if we have greasy hair or a greasy sink, we're sunk; that if we don't use a certain soap, we stink; that if we dont drink a man's beer, we're a bunch of you- know-whats. Well, all this is enough to set up a certain nervous tension in the ordinary amiable chap. What man wants to admit he's a failure because he can't rush out to his friendly neighborhood dealer and snap up an all-new Super Aurora Borealis Shooting Star Sedan, with safety belts? Or has dandruff? But this is for the morons. You know, all the people who don't read this column. If they want to at work wind up with acid munists and cancer; birth stomach, upset nerves, control and bingo; high migraine headaches and school drop -outs and irregularity, as constipa- homosexualism. .cYx2 ar u ,.JAS'. ��. Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley tion is now known, serves them right. Anybody who is frightened by that kind of advertising deserves it. But it is not on the hum- ble commercial -watcher that the big guns of the horror -brigade are train- ed. It is on the serious reader -viewer. They have moved, lock, stock and frightfuls, into the newspaper, magazine, book and "serious" TV field. Every time I pick up, leaf through, or switch on one of these media, somebody is trying to frighten the wits out of me about something. It's a bit hard for a fellow to cope with. Black headlines or graphic pictures suggest that I'm supposed to be shaken rigid about Com - Simultaneously, I'm supposed to be stricken by integration and insula- tion.lf I'm not in favor of the former, there'll be a terrible bloodbath. If I'm agin the latter, my heating bill will soar. Sometime during the day, I'm supposed to be whimpering in a corner because of: high-priced funerals; the computer, which is going to put me out of a job; the unfulfill- ed housewife; and all that leisure time I'm going to have next year, when automation takes over. You'll notice I haven't even mentioned nuclear fission, which is old hat, nor the squirrels in my attic who, at this moment according to an article, are chewing my wiring to start a fire in which we'll be cremated, and do we have enough insurance? If people weren't basically so tough,,sensi- ble and mean, they'd all go to bed and pull the covers over their heads. Fortunately, we're as sen- sitive as an old rubber boot. But, in case the scare -distributors are bothering you, let me give you a formula that is guaranteed to steady the nerves. One thing at a time. Communists - most of us are twice as scared of our wives as we are of the Red menace. Juvenile Delinquents - hit them on the head. Hard. Cancer - you wantto live forever? Creeping Socialism - better than the galloping type. Computer - so who wanted a job in the first place? Leisure Time - be happy to have a chance to sit on your butt. Unfulfilled Housewives - fill them. Population Explosion - see Birth Control; also Nuclear Fission. High -Priced Funerals - you don't have to pay. And so on. Berated over abortion The topic that the gentleman last week took issue with was my stand on abortion. I had stated that though I admired the courage of Dr. Morgen- taler, the doctor who is trying to open clinics in various parts of the coun- try for abortions, that I could not possibly agree with allowing abortion on demand. At present the Criminal Code forbids abortion, ex- cept when performed in an approved or accredited hospital, after approval by a Therapeutic Abortion Committee, who certify that continuation of the pregnancy would, or would be likely to en- danger the life or health of the woman. In many rural areas there is no such commit- tee in the local hospital, therefore denying access to many rural women for Secondly, I believe that public education is a necessity, and that all Perspectives By Syd Fletcher t this service. I think that such a committee should be mandatory for all hospitals, so that all women have a chance to present their case to the doctors (at persent the woman is not allowed to speak her piece to the panel and explain her reasons for the abortion. To me this is also wrong). young people have the right to good solid sex in- formation. At present this is being done and done well in the county in which I teach. I would hope that it becomes man- datory in all parts of the country. Finally, and. I won't burden you with this topic again, I feel that yes, there may well be some cases where abortion may well be justified: I can't possibly agree with anybody who insists that a 12 year old child, the vic- tim of rape or incest, should be asked to bear an infant. There may well be many other reasonable and justifiable excuses for abortion. (Just as we ex- cuse killing in war -- time for a variety of reasons, perhaps there are other reasons for abortion. However I don't believe every person has the right to make that individual decision.) My concern comes with making abortion so easily available that countless healthy children are killed because the mother and father have not taken sim- ple precautions.