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Clinton News Record, 2014-11-26, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, November 26, 2014 www.clintonnewsrecord.com Clinton News Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.cl intonnewsrecord.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company MARIE DAVID Sun Media Group Publisher - Grey Bruce Huron Division 519-364-2001 or 519-372-4301 n NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca MAX BICKFORD Advertising Manager max.bickford@sunmedia.ca TARA OSTNER Reporter clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative clinton.ads@sunmedia.ca TERESA SMITH Front Office clinton.class'Ifieds@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2 YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a Typographic error advertising goods or services ata wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Ad- vertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at anytime. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No.40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519)482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada pcna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association editorial Stephen Harper confronts and shirtfronts Vladimir Putin ()MI Agency Once again, Canada is punching above its weight. Harper knows how to handle Putin. If only the same were true for other world leaders, like President Obama. Because if that were the case, we wouldn't be where we are today in Ukraine. We all knowhowthe world - or at least much of the Westem world - feels about Russian PresidentVladimir Putin. Theythinkhe's a thug. We all know Russian forces treat the border with Ukraine as more of a suggestion than a rule. So why doesn't any- one come out and sayit to the guy's face? Enter Prime Minister Ste- phen Harper. Both Harper and Putin were in Australia recently for the G20 Summit. Our guy laid quite the smackdown to Vlad, one he's not used to getting. The prime minister's spokesman Jason Mac- Donald confirmed Harper told the Russian leader: "I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one tiling to say to you: you need to get out ofUlcraine" Unequivocal. Clear. Direct. That's how it's done. Harper became the toast of the town in Brisbane. Down under, the international media are applauding this approach. But it's a no- brainer, really. Here's the thing about foreign affairs: Heavyweights act like heavyweights. One main reason Putin feels so embold- ened is because Ameri- ca's status is in decline. It's an apologetic country, laden with debt, afraid ofwalking with swagger. American politicians in the age of Obama don't act like heavyweights. In Hillary Clinton's term as secretary of state she practiced "soft power" - in other words, nice words and polite conversations. Look what that brought us. Observers may think Putin's macho image is cheesy, but it doesn't change the fact that that's how he projects himself and engages with the world. So ifyou project aweakimage, he'll walk all over you. Putin claimed he needed to run away from the summit on the weekend and skip a major lunch because he had to catchup on his sleep. Pfft. The truth is that there was a growing environ- ment of animosity towards him and he realized nobody was buying his routine. Now the world knows, whenyouwant the job done right, call Canada. column Ruminating can be beneficial and useful Tara Ostner The Clinton News Record Some people with depression ruminate and this is commonly thought to be a bad thing. It's thought that when depressed people fixate on their problems and think about them over and over again this will only make matters worse. However, according to a recent study done by McMaster University and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), ruminating might actually be benefi- cial and useful, not detri- mental and pointless. In the study, 600 people completed a 20 -question test and researchers dis- covered that people with symptoms of depression consistently analyzed their problems. Therefore, a conclusion from the study is that there is an associa- tion between depressed people and people who think analytically. Why do the researchers regard analytic thinking as a positive thing? What is so great about thinking analytically? These are fair questions and it is true that implicit to this study is the assumption that analytical thinking is a trait to be val- ued. However, I think that the researchers are correct to assume this. To be analytical means to proceed by or use analy- sis. And analysis refers to the study of the nature of something. Therefore, when people ruminate, fixate, etc., they're analyzing the very nature or essence of their problems and when we can know the basic and primary element of our problems we can gain an understanding of the cause and, thus, a remedy. In other words, people who ruminate are system- atically focusing on and working out their problems. Another interesting aspect of this study that the researchers want to stress is that rumination is actu- ally an adaptation that we have gained through evo- lution and that it has great adaptive value. If rumina- tion was harmful to humans, after all, evolu- tion would not have allowed it to persist. As Paul Andrews, an assistant professor of psy- chology, neuroscience and behavior at McMaster Uni- versity and one of the lead researchers of the study states, "depression may be an evolved emotional response to complex prob- lems, and its function is to promote changes in body systems that promote analysis of those problems:' It's important to realize that, when taken to the absolute extreme, rumina- tion starts to become detri- mental. For instance, when someone's rumina- tion immobilizes them and prevents them from action then, of course, it can't be a benefit. It's also important to realise that in this study the researchers only con- sidered the depression that exists as a result of a spe- cific stressor or incident (say, as opposed to bipolar depression). Nevertheless, I think that the researchers' con- clusion - that rumination can be beneficial and useful - is bold and thought-provoking and, as a person who has relied on rumination to guide me through certain problems, I must say that I agree with it; I have never been intimated by the possible harm of "thinking too hard:' Far from causing harm, any ruminating that I have done in my life has pro- vided me with clarity and eventually a feeling of liberation. In the end, I think that the authors of the study are right when they conclude that there is a bright side to being blue after all. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The News Record welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Letters can be sent care of the Inter- net at clinton.news@sunmedia.ca, sent via fax at 519-482-7341 or through Canada Post care of The Editor, P.O. Box 39, Clinton, ON NOL ILO. 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