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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-09-21, Page 44 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, September 21, 2005 C 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, rt Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL Response impressive The world's response to victims of Hurricane Katrina has been inspiring. As reported in the Times -Advocate, there are several local connections to the southern U.S., such as a former New Orleans resident who now lives in Clandeboye and is dealing with knowing that the area he grew up in is destroyed. There are also local Good Samaritans — mentioning everyone doing a good deed would be impossi- ble, but the initiative shown by Grand Bend girls Mallory Overholt and Ashlyn Brown is some- thing the community should be proud of. The Grand Bend Public School students have orga- nized a fundraising walk Sept. 24 at 10:30 a.m. from the Blue Water Motel to Dale's Countryside Antique Market and back. A bake sale will be held at the Blue Water Motel from 10:30 am. to 2 p.m. Local businesses have gotten in on the efforts to help those in the southern U.S. Hensall's General Coach has been swamped with dona- tions of clothing after it offered to send donations to the south in RVs it was shipping for housing. The business has received donations from all over southwestern Ontario and employees have generously been working after hours on their own time to help sort and pack the donations. These are truly impressive ventures. Hurricane Katrina's victims will not be forgotten. No surprises There has been a great buzz in Canadian poli- tics since Peter C. Newman released "The Secret Mulroney Tapes" last week. Quotes from the book reveal the former prime minister to be foul-mouthed, profane, rude, sex- ist, vain, thin-skinned, self-important, petty and paranoid. Is anybody surprised? It's always been known that Mulroney thinks very highly of himself. As for Mulroney's raunchy vocabulary, Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes did a pretty good job of informing the public that politicians, in private, can be as vulgar as the rest of us. As for those who think Newman betrayed his old "friend" — Mulroney should have been smarter than that. Good intentions and bad ideas The file of good ideas and bad laws grew again Sept. 1 with the introduction of the new booster seat rules for children. As usual, the thumb suckers have come up with an idea no one can argue with. The only problem is, how is it going to be enforced? The law requires that a booster seat be used for children who • weigh between 18 and 36 kg, or • are less than 145 cm in height, or • are less than eight years of age. While the Trudeauphiles believe the nanny state "has no place in the bedrooms of the nation," they firmly believe it has not just the right, but the duty to stick its nose into every other part of our lives. Instead of training on firearms, drugs and gangs are we going to see cops taking courses on how to guess the weight of a child? Are we going to see kids getting grilled in the back seats of cruisers on their age, or hooked to a lie detector machine? Maybe a required piece of equipment for cruisers in the future will be scales the pint-sized offenders will be required to step on to prove they are over the mandat- ed limit. And how long will it be before the Supreme Court hands down a decision that seven year olds can be measured against their will to check their height? Toronto police will be glad to have some- thing to do for a change other than investigat- ing the 58 murders in the city this year, or the gang wars that are hitting everybody but their intended targets. And locally it's not like meth labs and grow ops are a problem, so the most important job for overstretched police forces is obviously to look in every back seat to make sure Johnny or Janie ankle biter aren't breaking the law because they happen to weigh 35 kg or are 144 cm instead of 146. And which law is going to be the priority? Is a police officer supposed to respond to a call from a concerned citizen/busybody that gramps hasn't duct taped down little Sally like he was supposed to and should be busted, or the multiple calls on speeding/theft/domestic disturbance/assault and the rest of the usual Saturday night or Tuesday afternoon reports. Or here's a not so original thought. Maybe, just maybe, we could leave it up to the parents to decide what is best for their children. And let the police do their jobs instead of being babysitters. Because we've already made the teachers do that job. PAT B BACK 40 VIEW 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. OLEN 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 Nina Van Lieshout 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 4 y" • . ..: --. ,,fie,, C4NC ,- . Ak/k7/ 'I. 2005 Distributed Bv-Canaan Artists 5vndicgte jn` Good intentions and bad ideas The file of good ideas and bad laws grew again Sept. 1 with the introduction of the new booster seat rules for children. As usual, the thumb suckers have come up with an idea no one can argue with. The only problem is, how is it going to be enforced? The law requires that a booster seat be used for children who • weigh between 18 and 36 kg, or • are less than 145 cm in height, or • are less than eight years of age. While the Trudeauphiles believe the nanny state "has no place in the bedrooms of the nation," they firmly believe it has not just the right, but the duty to stick its nose into every other part of our lives. Instead of training on firearms, drugs and gangs are we going to see cops taking courses on how to guess the weight of a child? Are we going to see kids getting grilled in the back seats of cruisers on their age, or hooked to a lie detector machine? Maybe a required piece of equipment for cruisers in the future will be scales the pint-sized offenders will be required to step on to prove they are over the mandat- ed limit. And how long will it be before the Supreme Court hands down a decision that seven year olds can be measured against their will to check their height? Toronto police will be glad to have some- thing to do for a change other than investigat- ing the 58 murders in the city this year, or the gang wars that are hitting everybody but their intended targets. And locally it's not like meth labs and grow ops are a problem, so the most important job for overstretched police forces is obviously to look in every back seat to make sure Johnny or Janie ankle biter aren't breaking the law because they happen to weigh 35 kg or are 144 cm instead of 146. And which law is going to be the priority? Is a police officer supposed to respond to a call from a concerned citizen/busybody that gramps hasn't duct taped down little Sally like he was supposed to and should be busted, or the multiple calls on speeding/theft/domestic disturbance/assault and the rest of the usual Saturday night or Tuesday afternoon reports. Or here's a not so original thought. Maybe, just maybe, we could leave it up to the parents to decide what is best for their children. And let the police do their jobs instead of being babysitters. Because we've already made the teachers do that job. PAT B BACK 40 VIEW 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. OLEN 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 Nina Van Lieshout 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