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Times-Advocate, 1988-08-17, Page 4Page 4 .Times -Advocate, August 17, 1988 limes fslablished IR- i Ads or. ale 1,tahfi.hr•et 188 I Nmalgamaled 1424. t/ s BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 imes ii• dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at heter, Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519=235-1331 rOrTtarklIrrmiLies ROSS i4A1 (.11 Editor -- NARR1 DISRIES (ompo .ikon . Stanager ee:ow IISt BR Ai l l - _ _ - -- - Publisher A AdeeAnrng Manager DO\ SMIiH 8usmc%s Stanager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 Crop insurance a hot potato Farm production groups must be dili- •_-gent to ensure that.the issue,of crop insu rance,reforni isn't lost inthe_ shuffle be tween -the federat and provincial governments. The drought ‘t•hich hit Ontario earlier this summer, -and which continues to be a Major factor in crop. production, broug-ht to the forefront long-standing flaivs.in the crop insurance system. - 'Fho"se flaws -must be addressed by both Jack Riddell, minister -of Agriculture and Food for Ontario, and Agriculture Cana • - . _cia ministcr•John-Wise. . "Their responses to -date have been unac- • ceptable. As- it now stands, Ontario farmers re- ceive coverage on 80 percent of their to- . tal average yield, calculated over a five- year period. The cost of the premium is divided evenly between the- farmer and the federal government, while the 'prov ince Picks up the -administrative costs. To his credit, Mr. Riddell has respond- ed to requests and asked that the crop in- surance legislation, which is in the.feder- al realm,` be amended so that farmers receive coverage for- 90 percent of their losses. But while he seems to: be respon- sive.to increasing the -province's share ol- die fthe financial burden, he has, effectively side -stepped -specific numbers. According to aides to Mr. Riddell, Mr. Wise will agree to the 90 percent cover- age, but only if the province will pick up a bigger percentage of the premiums. Rather than -reduce the farmer's financial burden, Mr. Wise apparently intends to reduce the federal government's finan- cial offering. in a 1986 crop insurance review, an ap- .pointed comillittee made several recom- mendations --..the key proposition being that cost sharing be as follows: federal government 50 percent, farmers 35 per- cent and province 15 percent. On a Tour of crops in this area at the - height of the drought, Mr. Riddell claimed that his department had adopted 20 of the .26 recommendations, but ac- cording to Terry Daynard, manager of the Ontario Corn- Producers Marketing l3oard, the minister's comment was mis- leading. Mr: Daynard maintains that many .of the resolutions adopted recom-- mended that things be left the same. The important suggestions, such as the above mentioned- recommendation, were left untouched. - There is also some suggestion that Mr. Wise is about to launch yet another study -of crop insurance. Mr. Daynard summed the situation up adequately when he noted trying to get results between the two tiers of govern- ment was like pushing on a balloon, re- moving a bulge in one spot only to have it reappear in another: .We are sure neither minister relishes the thought of being compared to a bal- loon, but their actions, or lack of actions on the crop insurance issue is, to say the least, discouraging. Rather than working themselves into a safe position where neither office is_spe- cifically to blame, both ministers should feel responsible for the efficiency of crop insurance and work toward strengthen- ing the program. in the mean time, farmers trust contin- ere to work together as a unified group, applying constant pressure until their elected representatives respond to their wishes. 11y Mark Bissell Letters to the Editor Dear Mr. Bisset: , - After reading your article "BEATTY'S FOLLY" i concluded -we arc both on the sank wave length, and -you support the same thing that i -do, so I enclose a rec-ent letter i sent to the London Fre' Pre{ss (July 27th). . Your article was vc ry good, and raiscdtnany good point.. It was so good I am making a copy and send- 'Mg- on 16 Ken Jarnc.S, our Sarnia M.P. in Ottawa. I have just returned from. Main- land China and two years ago was in Russia, our two main advcrsarics in a nuclear war. • Neither is capable of or intending to begin a war on Canada. Both countries 'arc struuggling sincerely and seriously to upgrade living stars= dards and move to a inorc democrat- ic society. i agree they have a long way to go, but 1 believe that war on the Americas is not on their agenda at all. So why all the mad rush for Can- ada to join in this. crazy,- wasteful nuclear submarine club. Also the recent tragic mistake by the United States Navy in the Persian Gulf proves how thc possibilities of mal- function arc so prevalent. •With these new and sophisticated war toys nobody, it. -..safe. • i am an ex - Royal Navy gunner --194046--and our record of misfires and accidents was often too close for comfort and that was Icing before all this high- tech computer -dependent weaponry. I would like to see less of these submarines and weapons of death and destruction, which like the myth of the Maginot Line in France in 1940, will not add one iota of real defence to Canada or anywhere else. All they will do is deplete • Planet Earth of valuable resources and create thousands of hours of wasteful work that.couid be better .spent in building up the infrastruc- lure of this country with -the things we really need. Nuclear submarines arc a fantasy of the football generals, munitions manufacturers and a defence minisier who has ncvcr heard a shot fired in anger or lived through an air raid. • -Sincerely Philip H. Gamester . Press. Owner, GAMESTER ADVERTISING SERVICE, LTD. Dear Sir: The expression of opinion is the spi: c of :life and undoubtedly the pr: tirsor to many great .debates. While we as Canadians enjoy the right to express our opinion.opcnly and without fear, it, is. important to realize that to be of value the opin ions must he informed. • Unfortunately a great many sub ••jects that arouse our interest these day s arc influenced by the effects of .rapidly changing technology. In such cases if ohe is not abreast of "the technology it is virtually im- possible to pass enlightened opin- ion on its application.. This is . particularly true when matters of military or defence inter- est are addressed, since frequently, information is not available for se- curity reasons: in such cases as- sumptions usually replace . facts which then become embellished by trine to further exacerbate the situa- tion, making informed opinion all but impossible. Mark Bisset's opinion published in the Times Advocate under the title 'Beatty Folly on August 3 is a classic example of uninformed opinion. Beatty -bashing aside - for I suppose all is fair in love, war and • • politics - his condemnation of the Geis ct nment's decision to equip our navy with nuclear propelled subma- rines ekes simplistic arguments that betray his lack of knowledge on the subject of his opinion. -- -� The word nuclear invariably strikes an emotional chord with those `who don't understand its meaning in terms of anything other than -a destructive. force. i fear Mark's opinion is more emotional- ly driven .than informed, genuine though his feelings may be. 1 -lad it hccn written in anything other than the flippant form in which it ap- peared, it would have to have been taken seriously. I lowevcr, .some comment is invited. Mark's manipulation of words to make his case does much to weaken the value of his opinion. The subtle substitution of the word 'offensive' for attack in titling the submarine is an example. This little subterfuge changes the entire concept of the submarine to en- hance his argument. We are to pro- cure a quantity of 10 nuclear pro- pelled attack submyarines, not 10 offensive submarines. _, A most convenient slip of the pen perhaps, although I will admit that anyone on the receiving end of what an attack submarine has to of- fer would find it offensive. You could pia the word game a little further if you wish and call it a de- fensive submarine. That's truly what it is, of course, and perhaps it %would be more in with the perceived image of the passive Ca- nadian. Whatever you call it, the fact remains that if the need ever arises to defend our nation, the only thing that will matter is ordnance on target and attacking the enemy is the way this is done, like it or not. The art of undersea warfare has Please turn to page 8 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications limited News item: 5070 Dissatisfied with PM Ml LA? WHAT'S TI -1I S 110 -TE - ADDRESSED TO ' DEAR n4'/?' Would make my day Before we get at the subject at hand, thele are Many things that would make one's day. • pore rain and much lower temperatures seem to be what would make the day for most of- tts in Western Ontario. . What brought. the subject up was a release- across our desk from interfaith Communications . in 'Toronto and an article about "pew pains". - - - Dr. 1lanlllton 1loll said his tray would be made if churches would redesign their pews. - . According to Ilan there arc no major changes likely to occur in the structure of the human body in the next few years. And if we want to control the epidemic of back pain sweeping the country we illust conte to teens with the- etivirollillent. - Church pews -have been built with God in mince, but they were never planned for thc hu- man spine. Backs need a little more support particularly in.thc lower arca just at the waist. And if the pew doesn't have it, a small pillow or a rolled up sweater can do the trick. Posture is important and good posture without support needs food muscle control in the abdo- men, legs and back, along witti well stoned stomach muscles. Changing positions helps too. It actually puts Icss load oft the. -.back to stand erect, than to sit slumped forward without back support. Maybe that's why in church we occasionally sec .people slumping forward We always thought t1.cy were sleeping, but to give ,nem the benefit of thc doubt we'll say it'waS for their health. Kneeling can rcducc lower back strain particularly when some of the weight is taken through the arms on the pew ahead or when you sit back against the scat. From the editor's disk by Ross Haugh Dr. -Ball concluded his article by saying, "'The amount of mien? lion you can give the service may depend on the amount of atten- tion you have already given the way you sit. Praising God with a pain-free, hack can certainty Make - lily Day." When this article was received we dropped over to sec good friend Don McCaffrey at Exeter Furniture. Don's specialty is manufacturing pews for churches and his market stretches through- - out Canada and the United States. I lis ultimate- goal is to makc pews pain-free. First steps arc upholstered scats and now a few churches arc ordering backs also with upholstering. McCaffrey says he expects this trend to increase and be more popular in more ways than one: in addition to being more com- fortable, the upholstery will be- come more econimcal with the in- creasing rise in the costs of oak which has been traditional for church benches. The goal for McCaffrey is -to produce a church pew which is so -comfortable that the worship- pers are so still prat the minister • will think they arc asleep. This would certainly allow the mini- ster or priest to extend the length of senllon without anybody real- izing it. - If you are able to •accomplish this.dream, Don, we will be glad to say "Amen". * * * * By. the time this issue hits the street we Will be on holidays en- tertaining.fricnds Alia- and Shir- Icy Obst frons Australia. When they arrive in this arca they will already have seen a lot of Canada from British Columbia through to Toronto and Niagara Falls on.a 17 day bus strip. • On the -local agenda will he day trips to Sarnia, Goderich, the. Mennonite. settlements in and around Elmira and Si. Jacobs and a visit .to the Iluron Country Playhouse at Grai.id Bend- to see Windfall. • 'It's natural, to assume that the Ohst's are friends we met when we visited Australia in the, spring or 1985. . That's not quite the case. After Visiting with Lynn -arid Jeff Woodhart in Manildra. in •New South Wales we went on a bus tourof New. Zealand and that's where we nice Alick and Shirley. They arc residents of Gulbum, also in New South Wales, about 100 miles from Manildra. The two couples down under did not know each other until a few weeks ago when Alick called thc Woodhart's to tell them of their intended visit to Ontario. All we will add now is that Shirley likes ice cream so we should be making a lot of stops at the Derby Dip and -Shaw's and other local ice cream facilities.. We all deserve just desserts No dinner is complete without dessert. Not for me. anyway. A dinner without dessert is like Christmas without presents. I need dessert. Not for its nutritional value, that's for sure. For its comfort value. Our kids have been programmed to feet' -the same way. They classify dessert into three categories: yummy. O.K. and blah. Their yummy group includes ice cream, pudding, and anything with whipped cream. Duncan also thinks all berries are yummy. The others can take them or leave them. On the other end of their scale is the blah group with bananas, apples. pears, and oranges. The kids usually ask: "Is that all we're having for dessen?" And then instead of saying: "Count yourselves lucky to get any dessert", we apologize: "These have to be eaten. they're getting too soft". But I want to talk about ,my desserts. the ones that make my mouth water, the ones that mate eating the main course worthwhile, even if the main course isn't my favourite dish. I want to talk about desserts so rich and satisfying that they should be banned. Desserts so PETER'S POINT. • by Peter Hessel tempting and tantalizing that they are downright indecent. Desserts which guys like me should stay away from. shouldn't even dream about. Desserts invented for skinny people who never gain an ounce no matter how much they eat, people who if they were farm animals would be considered poor feed converters. When -I eat a dessert like that, my taste buds get excited and send enthusiastic messages over the wires. The left half of my brain responds by saying: "This is • good, keep going!". while the right part signals: "This is pleasurable and therefore bad. Stop it right now!" It is your guess which side usually wins. And I don't want to mention the comments made by my stomach. Without a doubt one of my favourite desserts is cheesecake. Even as I am writing this. I'm beginning to drool, and I am wondering when we're going to have cheesecake again. i guess rIl have to drop a hint. Cheesecake - has got to be one of the devil's own inventions. -It is totally delicious and downright deadly because it oozes with the three C's: calories, carbohydrates and cholesterol. not to 'speak of sugar. 1 am not exactly addicted to cheesecake. but I can certainly sympathize with people who are. High on my list of priorities are chocolate mousse, crepe souzette. apple pie. lemon Please turn to page 5