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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1975-04-24, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1975 Do you get the message? Isn't it marvellous --this age of communication in which we livel Just' imagine—flying from London, England to Toronto in a little over two hours! That's what the new Concord jet can do, and since it beats the sun be several hours, it could deliver a letter in Toronto today that was sent from London tomorrow -- (barring a mail strike, of course). Now that's communication! Meanwhile, satellites are flashing picture messages around the world in seconds;. computers are spewing out a volume of infor- mative messages that boggles the mind --and sometimes the computer. How many telegraph wires and cables are sending messages at this very moment? How many telephones are ringing right now with potential messages? The irony of it is that in this great age of communication we find more and more evidence of lack of communication --between husbands and wives, parents and children, minority groups and the establishment, management and labour, and between nat- ions. Individuals, groups and nations reach out for the help of marriage counsellors, psychiatrists, group therapists, strike mediators, special ambassadors and truce teams --all in an eff- ect to communicate. Words pile on words to create a monument to our tragic inability to communicate with each other in a significant way. There is an ancient story which is, in itself, useful comment- ary on the art of communication. It tells of an old gardener and a very close friend who shared his love of gardening. They used to take long walks together and they drank their evening tea together, saying hardly a word but exchanging views and emotions by a shake of the head, a smile or a frown. In time, the friend was sem to a distant land and after many years, the old gardener was thrilled to receive a letter from him. The letter was very brief but it brought a flood of memories and joy to his heart. It said simply "Today I pruned my rose tree." ---It took mouths for the old gardener to compose a reply to his friend --one that would express all his affection, his memories and loneliness. At last, the return message was ready --an expression of the ties that bound the two old men together-- and it reads as folios: "Today, I too, pruned my rose trees." Surely, his friend got the message -- loud and clear. (contributed) A healthy trend in advertising! Recent years have seen increasing criticism of the advertising business. Unquestionably, much of this public reaction has been justified. Examples of advertising offences --bad taste, sexual innuendos, exaggerated and misleading claims, "keep up with the Joneses" themes and overemphasized personal image appeals --have been too apparent in T.V., radio and print media. Fortunately, corrective influences are at work. In today's climate of energy crisis, recession, inflation and shortage, advertising has had to become more realistic and informative, putting stress on value. This helps consumers make better dec- isions. Other restraining influences are found in increased government regulations and the watch -dog activities of consumer groups. In addition, the advertising business has strengthened its own reform efforts. The Advertising Advisory Board, disciplines off- ending companies. These and other national advertising org- anizations have, in turn, been influenced by the "Truth in Advertising°' ethical studies recently conducted by the Toronto School of Theology. Of course, some advertising excesses are still evident. For while false statements about a product or service can easily be checked, vague implications often go unchallenged. But the final verdict hies with the consumer's response, or, lack of response, to each commercial message. (contributed) ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LP CITED, ZURICH HERB TURI61E1m, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 s�A 1P !F Member: wA "�i� .cNA Canadian Weekly tdeassprpers Association ' 1E Ontario Weakly Newspapers Association .41 Subscription Rates: $6.00 per year in advance in Canada; . $8,00 la United States and Foreign; single copies 200 Isternatiouul Scan (by Raymond Cannon) VIETNAM NOT THAT IMPORTANT It is very tempting to agonize over what is going on in Viet- nam right now but I am going to resist the temptation. There is, after all, enough being written at the present time with all sorts of ideas as to what went wrong. or what is to be done. I have just heart that Phnom Penh has fallen and I presume that the analysts will now add Cambodia to their list of topics that require an agon- izing reappraisal. I have never been to Vietnam but I seem to have become acquainted with the place at an early stage. I was training French pilots for NATO when Dien BienPhu fell in 1954 and I had the job of breaking the news to them. It was the capt- ure of this" place by the insurg- ents that broke the back of the French resistance and led to the Geneva Conference later that year. 'Two years later when the Can• adians were participating in the ceasefire activities in Indo China- a lesson in frustration if I ever saw one, all the young single officers in External Aff- airs were expected to spend a year over there. I filled the bill for the requirements but escaped, not by getting married, but by coming down with a bad case of hepatitis which limited my activities anywhere for quite a while. Those of my friends who did go were not overly impressed with the place and talked mainly about the rampant corruption as well as the utter frustration of trying to enforce the ceasefire. Somebody with the same name as mine actually got killed over there which caused some confusion in the ranks in Ottawa for a while. A few people thought it was I who was killed and because of this, I had sev- eral people stare at me after- wards as if I were a ghost. If anybody is frustrated by the whole venture there, it inust be the Americans. After all, when you spend 150 billion dollars and lose 50, 000 of your young men only to see it all go down the drain, it is underst- andable why the Americans are so concerned. It would have been nice to have come out of it all, knowing that Saigon was run by some sort of democratic government but that is not the case. For the most part, the same corruption still prevails, the same lack of concern for the little man and the same lack of decisiveness. Perhaps what the Americans have to do here is to realize that when y9u get involved in world polit- ics, you win some and lose some. I know the Americans like to win but they have to accept that there are bigger things to worry about right now. One thing they have to do is to take a greater interest in places where democracy as we know it has half a chance. VACUUM, :CLEANERS - SAI ..8g, SERVICE .FOR AIL MAKES BOB. PECK rims* oklpsidrost4ms Europe in this respect is far more important to Washington than Vietnam ever was and right now things are pretty shaky in such places as Portugal, not to mention the fact that both the Greeks and Turks are not too impressed with Washington these days. Then. too, there is the task of following up Mr. Nixon's imaginative foreign policy in his relations with China and Russia. I know the former president is in utter disgrace these days but it should be remembered that he was resp- onsible for breaking the log jam between the United States and the communist superpowers. Now it is up to President Ford to follow up this initial success and so far I haven't seen much activity in this sector. While he is at it, Mr. Ford should also cement relations with Canada. I have the feeling that the Americans are going to need our natural resources as much in the future as they • have in the past and the Amer- ican president must realize that we are no longer inclined to give there away for a pittance. As a matter of fact, closer relations between Canada and the United States would do both countries a great deal of good. Since 70/o of our trade both ways is with the U.S., it is in our best interests to remain in constant touch with Washington. In Short, there is plenty to occupy Washington's mind these days. Vietnam may be a trau- matic experience for many Americans but it is a gamble that didn't work and where the blame lies should now be left up to the historians. llanghart,lte![y, 'Doig and Co. Chartered Accountants 268 Main St., Exeter • ARTHUR W. READ Resident Partner Bus. 235-0120, Res. 238-8075 Business and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS 1. E. longstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527.1240 Tuesday, Tattarsday, Friday. Sat- urday a.m.. Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 Issas Street 4112.7010 Monday and Wednesday Cali either office for appointment. Norman Martin OPTOMETRIST Office Hours: 9-12 A,M. -- 110-9 P.Q. Closed all day Saturday Phone 233. Eacetea INSURANCES Robert F. Westktk Insurance "ipeclalleing Ire General Mevveaue" Phone 236.4391 Z rleh Guaranteed Trust Certificates 1 YR - 71/2 °%o 2YR-73/4°jo 3 YR - 8 1/4 0/o 4YR-83/40/o 5 YR - 9 1/4% J. W. UAB ZURICH PHONE 2344346 AUCTIONIIRRS PRRCY WRIGHT LICENSED AUCTIONEER Kipper, OM. 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