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The Citizen, 2007-02-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007.Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, Ken Warwick & Kelly Quesenberry The CitizenP.O. Box 429,BLYTH, Ont.N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152,BRUSSELS, Ont.N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels,Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc.Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $32.00/year ($30.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada;$92.00/year in U.S.A.and $175.00/year in other foreign countries.Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error,only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com February 15, 1950 Princess Eristavi-Tchicherine of Romania was rumoured to have a jewelry collection worth more than most people of the time made in a lifetime. After a thorough inventory of her many diamond encrusted pieces, it was determined that the Princess owned $2 million worth of jewelry, becoming one of the most expensive collections in the world of the era. Cleveland, Ohio saw one of its hometown boys become the light heavyweight boxing champion. Joey Maxim knocked out England’s Freddie Mills in the 10th round to ensure his trophy win in London, England. February 15, 1960 Famous Olympic skier and actor Tony Sailer arrived in New York after his long flight via a Lufthansa Jetliner. The movie star was in New York City to attend a Winter Sports Show. In addition to his skiing and acting careers, Sailer was also just starting his own company which would set up factories to manufacture fibreglass skis. A special nursery was set up in Tibet in order to care for children whose parents had jobs which were extremely time demanding and could not possibly care for their children properly. Established by the Dalai Lama, the CARE nursery school housed over 200 children of different ages, providing them with food, clothing, beds, and an education. These children’s parents were mostly those who had been sent to road construction sites or other work projects across the country, making it extremely difficult for the parents to give their kids a good home where they would be looked after at all times. Retiring American Ambassador to Britain, John Hay Whitney stunned the crowd at his own Farewell Feast when he made a surprisingly critical speech. Whitney told the audience of the “extraordinary picture of a trigger-happy America”, an image he said which many Britons have of the country. This comment came after news that the U.S. planned to use force to try and violently put an end to the Laotian crisis. The Whitehouse retaliated, saying that this was not true and that it was Britain who wanted to use force. The public was left to decide who to believe, but no action had been actually taken as of then. President Kennedy appointed a new physician by the name of Dr. Janet G. Travell, a native of New York City. Already called “a genius” by the President, Dr. Travell would become the first woman civilian to hold the position. A 31-pound chimpanzee named Emos was in training to become one of the first animals to be sent into space at the Halloman Air Force Base. Two American prisoners of war were released and were finally able to return home, shaken and traumatized. Lieutenant Freeman B. Olmstead and Lieutenant John R. McKane were passengers of a U.S. RB-47 fighter plane when it was shot down by Russian forces on July 1, 1960. The men were held prisoners in the Soviet Union, and came close to being prosecuted and punished as spies before being saved by negotiations by the U.S. government. February 16, 1972 Susan Langlois, a Grade 6 student from Brussels Public School, was the first-place winner in the junior division of the Royal Canadian Legion public speaking competition held in Goderich. Langlois was one of nine speakers in her division, and came out on top with her speech on “The Black Donnellys”. As a prize for her good work, she received a diploma, travel clock, and the rights to continue on and compete in the next level of the competition to be held in Clinton the following week. A group of six people from Brussels were setting off on a 400 mile trip to Chicago to extend a special invitation to John Ainlay, the great grandson of the founder of Brussels in honour of the village’s Centennial Celebration. Members of the travelling party were Harold and Karen Bridge, Murray and Ruthe Lowe, and Dave and Karen Hastings. February 17, 1988 A total of 240 well-wishers and family members signed a telegram to be sent to the pride of Brussels, world-class figure skater Kevin Wheeler and his pairs partner Michelle Menzies of Preston. Kevin and Michelle were gearing up to compete at the Calgary Olympics after many successful skates at various national events as well as international. The telegram read “To Kevin and Michelle -- in our hears you won the gold, and the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics will be a wonderful experience for our community as we watch with feelings of great pride and cheer you both on. Best wishes for a great performance, your friends and neighbours in Brussels, Morris, and Grey.” Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Planes, Trains and Automobiles, starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Also playing at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham was the best selling murder mystery novel turned film, Flowers In The Attic. THE EDITOR, It is beginning to appear that the issue of global warming is about to take precedence above all else with all of our political parties. Not only in Canada but worldwide. There is no indication that anything meaningful can happen other than the creation of many more lucrative careers for civil servants. I have directed a letter to John Baird, Minister of the Environment, a copy of which follows: Dear Sir, I follow with interest the ongoing concerns and discussions re: global warming and wish to comment directly to you and your colleagues in the regard. I am 81 years old and have worked with nature all my life and am quite certain that global warming is gradually happening, and glad to hear that you don’t wish to throw money at things that don’t work. It is my opinion that the real reason has yet to be recognized and dealt with. As you must know we have come through a long period of time when soft coal and wood smoke were everywhere, and did not have the effect of creating global warming. You also must know that nature has been successful in cleaning the air below cloud level with natural precipitation and gravity. It is my opinion that fossil fuels that are and have been expelling residue above cloud level are out of reach of natural means of cleansing and for about 50 years have been slowly building and creating a layer of pollutants that havethe effect similar to the sun’s rays shining through glass. This will continue to get worse if it continues to be ignored while governments worldwide expend their efforts and taxpayers’ money where nature is working well without human assistance. All efforts directed below cloud level will be in vain if the real reasons are allowed to persist at will. So I am suggesting that all of the present programs and methods should be discontinued worldwide until the pollutants in the upper atmosphere are controlled. Until that happens all else is futile. I hope the above will be considered by you and your colleagues and sometime soon start “Scratching where it itches.” I look forward to your response. Respectfully, Mason Bailey. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright A competition of ‘good things’ In today’s complex world, what can be a good thing for one reason, can be all wrong for another. Since the free trade election of 1988 it has been a given that trade was a good way of creating wealth. Consumers have enjoyed an increased standard of living with ever-cheaper goods as manufacturers found sources of cheaper and cheaper labour around the world, while our cost of living has grown slowly. But for just as long as this free trade movement has been going forward, environmentalists and climatologists have been warning about the dangers of burning too much carbon-based fuels, which can change our climate and reduce our quality of life. Transporting all those goods half-way around the world instead of making them close to home burns a lot of fuel that contributes to global warming. While the world has finally become aware of the importance of curbing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, the momentum for more trade continues in World Trade Organization talks in Geneva. One of the changes could bring more world-wide trade in food. This comes at a time when some consumers are becoming concerned with the fact the average food on an Ontario plate travels 2,500 km. Canada’s self-sufficiency in dairy and poultry products may vanish through the WTO talks as supply management takes a hit from demands for lower tariffs against imported food. Already, some of the cheese you eat is being made with reconstituted milk protein that comes all the way from New Zealand or Brazil. Most of the ice cream you enjoy is made with imported products that get through a loophole in the tariffs because milk was blended with sugar before it was imported. Other good things get all mixed up in the good things about trade. Our government forbids the use of Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rbST) by our dairy producers to increase milk production because of health concerns, yet we import dairy products that can be made with these products. We forbid the use of certain pesticides on our crops and delay approval of others until they can be proven safe, yet we have no restrictions on food coming into the country that is produced with these same chemicals. Some people want to increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour yet we import goods made by people earning pennies a day, and even by child labourers. We have high environmental standards for our own industries, then allow them to be driven out of business by imports made in plants in Third World countries that have no environmental restrictions. While it’s a good thing if Canada reduces its greenhouse emissions and at least takes a shot at meeting its commitments under the Kyoto accord, it doesn’t make much sense if we just shift the creation of more and more consumer goods to countries who have no restrictions because their only concern is growth, not the environment, then create even more carbon dioxide getting those products to Canadians. Simply saving money, we’re learning, doesn’t always add up. — KR & Letter to the editor