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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-07-11, Page 44 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, July 13, 2005 zkxna =CNA Editorial Opinion TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the Financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing casts. Jim Beckett Publisher and Editor Deb Lord Production Manager &Published by Metroland Printing, 1rt Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL Only time will tell with Live 8 Only time will tell whether or not Live 8 will achieve what it set out to do. The goal of drawing attention to poverty in Africa has certainly been accomplished. When more than a thousand of the world's top musi- cians join forces in simultaneous concerts around the world, people cannot help but notice. However, getting the world's wealthiest nations to share with the world's poor is another matter. Some of it is politics. World leaders like Prime Minister Paul Martin do not arbitrarily decide to dou- ble the country's contributions to international aid. They must have the backing of both government and voters; in Martin's case, neither the former nor the lat- ter is a given. Some of it has to do with the source of the money. The people who are calling on governments to pledge assistance to the starving in Africa would scream if their leader announced an increase in taxes to fund a new foreign aid initiative. The G-8 nations have now pledged to increase for- eign aid to $50 billion. It is unlikely this decision would have been made without the Live 8 concerts. However, a pledge of money does not necessarily translate into real dollars, and real dollars do not nec- essarily translate into productivity. Public opinion was successful in getting the G-8 nations to make the pledge of increased aid, and it will undoubtedly be a useful tool in ensuring they live up to it. People can learn through the media about aid agen- cies that have connections with terrorists or corrupt officials, have a very high overhead, or a history of inefficiency. The G-8 conference last week in Scotland might have been more than an opportunity for the world's most powerful leaders to get together. It might also have been one step toward world justice and prosperity. Apparently at least one group, al-Qaida was suffi- ciently afraid of what it stands for, to launch a vicious attack. Sometimes one can tell a lot more by looking at a person's enemies than his friends. If so, the decisions that were made in Gleneagles, Scotland, show tremendous promise. Now we have to make sure that promise is realized. About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Closed on Holidays. Contact Us By Phone or Fax Classified ad & subscription sales (519) 235-1331 24-hour automated attendant (519) 235-1336 Fax number for all departments (519) 235-0766 Subscription Rates One year rate for addresses in Canada: $38+GST Two year rate for addresses in Canada: $70+GST One year rate for addresses outside Canada: $130 Call (519) 235-1331 to order a subscription. /%F NOw IT'S MY TURN,,, Solutions for the silver screen In response to weekly reports that Hollywood is in its worst slump in years (poor babies), I've decided, at no charge, to offer several solutions that'll bring the movie industry back stronger than ever: • First, and this may seem overly obvious, and diffi- cult to achieve, but it would be nice if the billionaires and millionaires in California could actually make good movies. You know, hire some writers that can actually come up with decent, intelligent ideas. On average, my wife and I used to go out to the movies once a week. Now it's not rare for four or five months to go by between movies. • Dropping the prices would also help. There's no reason a family of four should have to put a second mortgage on their home to go out to the movies. And, call me a Scrooge, but a bag of cold, soggy popcorn and a cup of watered-down warm Pepsi shouldn't cost $10. The smart people are the ones who smuggle their own candy and beverages in. • Get rid of the commercials before the movies. Watching lame ads for lame products is one of the worst things about going to the movies these days. We've paid for the movie, there's no reason we should also have to watch ads. Ads on TV make sense — at the movies, ads are just one more way for corporations and conglomerates to bombard us with their mind -numbingly stupid slo- gans and propaganda. Show us two or three movie previews (they're usually better than the movie you're there to see, anyway) and get straight to the main feature. Oh, and you people who actually laugh at the ads — stop it. • Stop remaking TV shows that were bad to begin with. "Bewitched" was junk in the 1960s and it's junk now. Same goes with "Dukes of Hazzard" and "Charlie's Angels." I recently heard an "I Dream of Jeannie" movie is in the works. Will the insanity never stop? On the same note, remaking old movies should be banished as well. I can't wait until Will Smith stars in a remake of "Citizen Kane." • Force Clint Eastwood to make at least three movies a year. At 75, the man is at the top of his game, coming off the Oscar triumphs of "Million Dollar Baby" and "Mystic River." At an age when most movie stars are relaxing beside their pools in Beverly Hills, Clint is an unstoppable force and his direction and ability to tell a com- pelling story keep improving. Long live Clint. I've even forgiven him for those monkey movies he made in the 1970s. • Force Tom Cruise to stop making movies. And while we're at it, buy him a muzzle to ensure he never utters a public statement again. Cruise now proudly owns the title of Most Annoying Human Being on the Planet. His recent embarrassing appearance on "The Today Show," in which he berated host Matt Lauer, dismissed and criticized the practice of psychiatry and claimed "there's no such thing as a chemical imbalance" proved that Cruise is an example of an ego grown out of control. He makes me not want to watch movies. • Stop underestimating the audience's intelligence. It is possible to make intelligent, thought provoking movies adults can enjoy and even talk about after the movie is over. Explosions are nice, but not every movie needs them. I've said it before, but it bears repeating — there are a lot of out -of -work movie writers out there with original, intelligent ideas. Instead of blowing the budget on special effects, how about throwing some of that cash at the script writ- ers to develop new stories? Hollywood, stop repeat- ing yourself. Who knows, we might just start loving you again. SCOTT NIXON AND ANOTHER THING Classified Rates Word ads: $11.00 for 20 words, 20¢ for each addition- al word+ GST. Notices (births, deaths, announcements, coming events, memoriams, cards of thanks): $15.00 + GST for up to 50 words, All ads must be pre -paid. The classified ad deadline is Monday at 10 a.m. Display Advertising To place a display ad, (519) 235-1331 weekdays 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. or evenings (519) 235-1336 (leave mes- sage) or toll-free at 1-888-270-1602. Deadline: Fri. 4 p m. E-mail Us Web site: www.southhuron.com TA e-mail addresses consist of the person's first initial and last name followed by @southhuron.com. For example, Jim Beckett's e-mail address is <jbeck- ett@southhuron.com> Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team Publisher/Editor Jim Beckett ext. 109 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 REPORTERS Scott Nixon ext. 105 Pat Bolen ext. 113 Stephanie Mandziuk ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Kim Hern ext. 102 COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext. 114/103 Sharlene Young, ext 103 Heather Bilcke ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Christina Scott ext. 108 MargPertschy ext. 111 Heather Clarke