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The Huron Expositor, 1985-11-27, Page 2Huron 4xposltor SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST BLUE RIBBON AWAR 1985 Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 527-0240 Published in SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER MciLWRAITH, Editor The Expositor is brought to you each week by the efforts of: Pat Armes, Bessie Broome, Marlene Charters, Joan Guichetaar,Anne Huff, Joanne Jewitt, Stephanie 1 evesque, Dianne McGrath, Lois McElwain, Bob McMillan, Cathy Malady and Patrick Ratlts, Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Cntarioomma PressalCouncil Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rates: Canada $20.00 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $60.00 a year (In advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1985 Second class mail registration Number 0696 Deserves applause Huron County Council has made a responsible, even courageous, decision and deserves to be applauded for taking' a stand on an issue many official bodies prefer to avoid. By backing the Huron County Board of Health on its decision to urge the provincial government to forgo the sale of beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores, County Council has struck a blow for continued and improved government regulation of substances which pose a potential health hazard. A motion to support the health board's position passed, even though several councillors felt regulation of retail alcohol sales is less effective than public education, where controlling substance abuse is concerned. Information and education are important tools in combating any problem requiring good judgement, but they can only be effective if they eventually result in action. There comes a time, when elected bodies must take a stand and initiate regulations to protect public health and welfare. Even under the current heavily -regulated alcohol distribution system, problems occur. Beyond the recognized troubles with alcohol abuse and drunk driving, the recent discovery that contaminated foreign wines reached the shelves in Liquor Control Board outlets makes a further case for careful control. It would seem strange indeed, if the government were to relax restrictions on alcohol, so soon after the discovery of an obvious quality control problem. People have the right to assume goods sold anywhere, especially at government run outlets, have been adequately tested for all manner of possible dangers. Alcohol is not the only legal addictive drug on which the upper levels of government have shirked their duty to the public. It is time the federal and provincial sectors stopped making vast amounts of money through heavy taxation of tobacco products, and began taking sincere steps to lower their instance of usage. Guidelines, restricting the types of advertising tobacco companies may use, have been ineffective. There is supposedly a ban in effect, prohibiting lifestyle advertising of tobacco products designed to encourage young people to take up smoking. However, one major tobacco company has escaped punitive measures, despite their recent creation and marketing of a new brand of cigarette, aimed specifically at young adults. Producers of alcohol and tobacco products may cry foul when new taxes or marketing restrictions are placed on their products, but they should bear in mind they are lucky to be able to peddle their wares at all. Tobacco for instance, if discovered today, would undoubtedly be banned immediately. No amount of economic reasoning would ever persuade consumers to accept a new product which is a proven cancer -causer and generally believed to be a factor in all manner of physical ailments. Tobacco survives only because smoking has been a traditional ritual for a large sectin of the populace for centuries. Despite the public demand for such proven killers as alcohol and tobacco, governments have a responsibility to keep a careful watch on the /distribution and advertising of these products. They should never be used, as they were by David Peterson's provincial Liberals in the last election, as a vote -getting device. By promising corner store access to beer and wine, the Liberals bought votes with a variation of the old election saying "A chicken in every pot." What the Liberals failed to see, is that promising "A beer in every refrigerator," is not quite as socially attractive as the promise of a good standard of living. — P.R. SWEAT SOCKS by Heather Mcllwraith Middling to poor They say that everybody has something they're good at, something in life they do exceptionally well• Myself, my endless attempts to figure out just what that "something" is, has convinced me in most things rm middling to poor. This weekend i did something I promised myself some years ago I would never try again - T went bowling. Now, it's not that I don't like bowling, i do • it's just that rm really not very good at it. And when you're not very good at something it's not one's ambition to go through on a frequent basis the embarrassment and humiliation that ultimaely results whenever one picks up a bowling ball. I don't know what it is about a sport that requires that I throw something out in front of me, I just can't do it, however simple it sounds. Oh certainly i can get the forward motion all right, it's just the side to side motion I can't get under control. Tell me I have to hit a pin at the left of the lane and I inevitably get the ball in the gutter to the right; tell me to hit the pin at the right and the ball ends up in the left gutter; tell me to hit the pin in the center of the lane, and it hits whatever gutter it chooses. it's a game I can't conquer. It's not that i haven't had instruction in the sport. I had more than enough people telling me how to throw the ball Saturday night. Use the dots on the floor to line up your throw, they told me, but to no avail. The dots meant diddly-squat to me, and my aim. I mean the only time i did half decently was when i tried to imitate the "spread Cagle, scoop -the -air -with -free-hand" style of one of the other bowlers present, and that looked ridiculous. Now I started out the evening doing fairly well, at least for me. in fact i even managed to break 100 (123.• I think) in the first game. How I did it is still a mystery to me. But my game got worse as the night went on. In game two i was facing a dismal 79 score going into the tenth frame, and to my amazement and that of the others watching i got two strikes in the tenth frame. The only problem was, the old gutter ball resurfaced for the third ball. Isn't that always the case. Game three was a total write-off and the score was a disappointing 83. And at some point during the game someone actually had the audacity to ask me whether or not i played softball, or more precisely, was i a pitcher in the slow pitch league? Why? - Well, you know the sign that says don't bounce the ball....well, i not only bounced it, but it very nearly made it to the pins while still in flight. Anyways - at least i can feel consolation in that I bowl better than I curl. In curling, rm the only person I know to have thrown the rock behind rather than ahead of myself. Another consoling factor about Saturday's bowling endeavor is the fact that it was someone else, and not me, that ended up flat on their back, halfway down the lane. But rm not telling who that was. OPINION'°® WINTER WATERWAY by Patrick Raftis Weatherman needs. to be vague How would you like to have a job where you change your mind every two hours, are wrong half the time, and still get paid on Friday? Well, you should have gone through for a weatherman. First, it's supposed. to rain, then a possibility of rain, then a chance of rain, and then by golly it doesn't rain at all. It's like predicting horoscopes, if you make it vague enough you're hound to be right somewhere. Cover all the bases and you get a home run. The weather is covered on television morning, noon, and night, on the radio every half an hour, and in the newspapers in fine detail. There are maps on television that boggle the mind. They revolve and dissolve. There are giant suns and snowflakes that can be moved around at the weatherman's whim and there are satellite films giving us a view of the planet from somewhere where no one gives a damn about the weather anyway. In the paper there are enough lines, squiggles, circles, and big H's. to keep you reading until the weather the map predicts finally arrives. I know it's not easy. Unfortunately Meteorology was a required course for me at good old U of G. a use it all the time), I never quite got the hang of all the math that was involved, not to mention the movement of fronts, inversions, and ye gad! the killers known as barmometric pressure and relative humidity. It's niCc to know someone out there must understand if. Why else would they give it to you three times a day' Kilopascals just aren t the most Important thing to my life these days I stopped listening to weather reports the minute my day's plans couldn't he altered HERE'S THE BEEF by Carolanne Doig merely because the school buses weren't running. Oh fur those good old school days. On went the radio first thing in the morning and cheers would arise as the weather report was quickly followed by the list of cancelled bus lines and closed schools. Did you ever notice how the weather report and road reports seemed to be cut from the same cloth' The writers responsible must have gone to the same school. If you think the weather can't be reported, try the roads; hare to centre bare, snowy and bare patches. icy patches, some drifting. Just about anything you can get into a 30 second blurb. One of the best places for weather reports is a Bermudian daily paper. They not only give you today's weather and tomorrow's predictions but also yesterday's weather They're usually wrong about tomorrow's weather, and anyone can look out the window and see today's weather, and who gives two hoots about yesterdays....so no one runs out for a paper to see the weather forecast Unless Seaforth gets a radio or television station, or a daily paper. a lot of the success of local weather predictlonswilt depend on who what, and where, you get your forecasts from. Sometimes the announcer will state there's a 30 per cent chance of rain and you look out the window and its pelting Other times you get the perfect forecast for a day at Shoe quota bad for There was a news announcement Wednes day November 12 that pmhably went unnoticed by many but could have a devastating effect on the economy of Seaforth International Trade minister James Kelle- her issued a statement saying shoe quotas on foreign imports will he lifted December 1. That coming after Brian Mulroney had promised, during his election campaign, they would be left on For the employees of Genesco, that pronouncement is nothing less than a tragedy and the future implications regarding our town could be profound. Canada first imposed quotas on foreign footwear in 1977 and the shoe industry, each year since. has lobbied intensely when the threat to lift them had reared its ugly head The footwear manufacturers wanted the quotas to stay intact for at least another five years. During that time, they have promised. they would invest St S0 million to create 6,0t)o new jobs Uh huh One wonders why they didn't do this during the past eight years of quotas and government handouts It reminds me of (Thicken tittle screaming. "The sky is falling. the sky is falling " The employees of Genesrn have heard the tired refrain for years now The shoe industry is one of the lowest paying in the manufacturing sector and i would like to know where the $150 million is going to come from^ 1 think I just answered my own question the beach only to find out later you were tuned into Miami. Actually that's what I like to do .,. just keep changing the station until I get a weather forecast I like. - '1'here really isn't much we can do about the weather except put up with it. You can't live with it and you can't live without it. How would you ever open up a conversation without a comment on the weather? There are countries where the weather is the same day after day for years....yes years! If you meet someone in the street and say"lovely day" or "boy it's hot today" they look at you as if you've gone honkers. Why comment on something that never changes. It would be like meeting someone on the post office steps tomorrow and saying "i see the sun's up again." Try it and see what kind of looks you get. We are fortunate to have the seasons and the resultant changing weather. Weather provides us with something to enjoy. moan about, and greet people with Around the snow belt it also provides us with ample excuses not to visit Great Aunt Sally, and plenty of reasons for missing a meeting or two. putting your feet up, and not feeling guilty about staying home for a change One thing is certain. the weather,pust keeps on coming, whether we predict it or not and tonight's forecast is dark Seaforth CORNUCOPIA by David Broome i have little sympathy for any industry that has coldly laid off workers in the name of survival, insults with low pay and passes off old, rebuilt, repainted machinery as new i do. however, feel deep concern for the employees who have endured the nonsense for years Here we are. again. bowing to foreign pressure. This time it comes from Trope. Taiwan. South Korea, Hong Kong and Brazil In a self righteous article in the Toronto Star a few weeks ago. it was stated removing the quotas would enhance Canada's position as a world trader and would help developing countries earn export dollars with which they could repay their mounting debt Translation We sacrifice our jobs and give them our money so they can pay off their debts to us. Then the cash they repay Canada goes to unemployment insurance for the thousands who have lost their jobs here at home Try and explain to a man or woman with a family the reason they are losing t heir job is to help increase the standard of living in Taiwan The long term effects are poverty for sonic and a severe lowering in the standard of living for others The same Star column said continued protectionists measures by developed Mt lions like Canada would lead to an interna tional banking crisis and a world-wide depression I had no idea Genesco held such omnipotent power in the world's complicated economic structure This country has sent billions of our dollar, overseas in foreign aid over the years and so much of it has been wasted We dig deep evervtime there is a flood, a famine. an earthquake and plague arid all e t, get is this in return if Genesco does shut down it will he interesting to see if this government will. w tib the same rabid vigor. mine to the aid of the out of work people here the same way it fervently rushes to help the rest of the world Don't hold your breath With their record of the past year. the long list of broken promises and decisions like this, it is not surprising the CggnservstIves are dropping like a mck in the ails (Continued on page A16 We're all good Canadians Le yourlife a cultural wasteland' Do you do the same old things. talk to the same old people on the same old subjects all the time^ Are you scared to take a risk, smile at someone you've never seen before, do something the neighbors will mutter about^ Do you want a decent tombstone. not flashy, hilt dignified^ Of course you do You're a good Canadian You believe in personal decorum. censorship. the family as a unit, and capital punishment On the other hand Do you go for a swim at midnight. sing a song at dawn, smoke marijuana, drink fairly heavily, march in protest parades, live in sin. abhor censorship and capital punishment, and contrive to do something that will offend friends and neighbors? Of course you do, You're a good Canadian You believe in individual liberty, acid rain. dirty movies and sexual irresponsibility. It doesn't matter which group you belong to. or whether you're somewhere in between. you all have much in common. Yob despise the government, but won't elect an alternative, since you despise it even more. You are caught by inflation and high interest rates. whether you are a 60 -year-old farmer trying to keep the place going, or a 20 -year-old punk trying to maintain his habit. You are basically anti-American, though if you were asked why, you could not give an answer that was articulate. You feel frustrated, in this land of wood and water, not to mention nuclear power, SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley because. if you are getting on in years. you see everything eroding around you, and if you are short in years. you see nothing but a stone wall between you and your aspirations. You wonder vaguely. if you're old enough, what became of the Canadian dream. "The twentieth century belongs to Canada " And if you read the papers and analyze the news, you realize that. while Canada still has a high standard of living, we are very low on the totem pole when it comes to production. strikes. economic stability, peace, happiness and goodwill toward men If you're very young, you don't give a diddle There's lots to eat, warm clothes, and the old man will kick in a decent allowance so you can feed the slot machines with their war games. But if you're a young adult. just about ready to launch into "real" life, you're so bewildered about unemployment, and esca- lating university fees, and the increasing shadow of the computer. and the wealth of choicesof a future tall lacking in security) that you can become so depressed you dropout, or dive into a stream and fight against the current. This isn't a doom and gloom column. It's merely a look at our nation today it is so rife with suspicion. fear of nothing much. anger over nothing much, that we are becoming paranoid Prom the Prime Minister, thmugh the head of the Bank of Canada, right down to your local alderman. you have lost trust, and feel that the ship is heading for the reef with nobody at the helm. This is nonsense. of course Canada has been going through this miasma ever since 1567, and before. Maybe the guy at the helm is blind -folded, and maybe we have scraped a few rocks, but the ship's bottom is still sound. and we haven't hit the big reef yet, if we do, we can always scramble into the boats, and become the new Boat People of North America We've had the PYench•Canadian separa, tism thing with us for generations, John A MacDonald almost put the country on the rocks, financially and politically, but he dared to take a chance. and had vision We survived a terrible depression, and came out smelling of roses (and the stench of our dead young men ), in two world wars Cheer up. you dour. gloomy Canucks (Continued on page A16) .e