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3 - Qrooo Weekly times, Wednesday, July 26, 2000 ) Weekly Times East Clarington and beyond since 1937 Subscriptions $23.36 + $1.64 G.S.T. = $25.00/year ■ Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Publishing 50 Issues Annually at the Office of Publication 5310 Main Street, P.O. Box 209, Orono, Ontario LOB 1M0 E-Mail Address: oronotimes@speedline.ca Phone/Fax (905) 983-5301 Publisher/Editor Marg Zwart Wanted: Good book! With the mid summer break fast approaching, we prepare to shut down for a week. Next week there will be no paper. We close that week because its always been done that way, and there is no reason not to. First of all, it is with great regret we say good-bye to Rosey Bateman, who has been a vital part of Loyal Printing for close to 15 years, and nicely came on line with the paper when we took it over 3 1/2 years ago. Rosey very aptly filled the position of Sports Editor, reporting the stories behind the scores. She could look at a score sheet, and write up the story. We will certainly certainly miss her sports knowledge, and her skills as a graphic artist. Rosey feels it is time to move on, and is planning to go back to school this fall and take up web page design. Though we hate to lose her, we wish her all the best in her future endeavours, and thank her for her years of dedicated service. Secondly, though we are closed the first week of August, we don't actually go away till the week of August 21st That is the week the family loads the van and the boat (the boat serves better as a hauling vessel than a water vessel) and heads north to Bancroft to spend the week on the shores of Lake Baptiste. . Along with all the other paraphernalia I like to take on holiday with me, a good book pr txvo is; a mu$t, Thought'I'Ve' Bëëiï'kefejfiftgrny eyes-and mind opën ; ; for a good read fbr this holiday, the perfect book seems to be eluding me. In fact, It's been some time since I've been able to totally lose myself between the pages of a book. Two years ago I read Jane Urquhart's The Underpainter and haven't read anything as good since. . This is where I need your help. I'm soliciting for your suggestions of a good read. Though we are well into summer, there is no reason reason we can't make a summer reading list. Of late, I've focused my pleasure reading on fairly recent Canadian fiction, of which there is an abundant abundant supply . The fact that nothing seems to jump off the shelf at me is probably an indication that it's time to broaden my search. • Make your case for a good book to read on vacation, vacation, and I'll let you know how I make out. If I get enough suggestions, I'd like to publish the list. ; ■ You can mail, fax, e mail your entries, or slip them through : thg mail slot on our front door, at 5310 Main St, Orono. > I do have one standard that I'm still not willing to. compromise. If Oprah has read the book, I won't ! . The Gas Conspiracy Space, the television station, station, has a character called 'the Conspiracy Guy'. This fellow, with his wheezy laughter and twitchy hands like he was on some caffeine buzz, weaves conspiracy theories theories out of absolutely everything, everything, It's that old temptation to attribute all things to a bunch of white guys sitting in a boardroom somewhere who dictate the course of future events. The 'illumi- nati' or some such thing. I'm going to play his part today. I've got some zany idea about this whole gas/oil situation that I'd like to share with you. Yeah, I know, concocting concocting conspiracy theories is a sure sign of needing a trip to the shrink's office. But bear with me here, let me weave this out. The way I see it, the current current price of gas is a bit much. At about 75 cents per liter, the average car owner is looking to put a huge hole in his pocket. According - to several sources ("I know a guy who knows a guy...") the price is going to increase over the next little while and possibly reach an unheard of buck per litre; Now, about half of the reflected cost is taxes on gas. Certain gas stations have taken to affixing a sticker on their gas pumps to show customers customers that they are not making making profits 'hand over fist'. This is to appease those amongst us who flail their arms about and scream 'those corporate swine' each time the cost of tomatoes goes up a nickel. That, however, is another story. So, gas taxes are high and gas prices keep soaring. The question I have is: Why doesn't the . government lower their tax take on gas so that we can afford to visit our relatives in Alberta? The government, after all, is, supposedly, supposedly, set up for our benefit. benefit. Now I know that the Tories in Ontario plan on cutting the tax on car insurance insurance sometime soon (it was announced in the budget) but that just isn't enough to ease the burden. So why are they being irresponsive? In order to wrest economic economic clout away from gas producing producing countries like in the Middle East, of course. The trouble with the Gulf War, for instance, was that these countries have, enough resources in. the form of gas and oil in order to keep those Americans at bay. Soon, very soon, we will have hydrogen fuel cell powered powered cars. We already have the 'hybrids' (an electric and gas powered "vehicle) and they appear to be more and more attractive each day. This is what 'they' want you to think, 'They' want you to switch to these more expensive (initially) models with the idea of saving hundreds, hundreds, nay, thousands, in gas costs sometime in the future. by Peter Jaworski Sort of like an investment. This way, when the next round of 'trade', or whatever, negotiations^ between the U.S. and the Middle East crop up, the former group will have greater bargaining 'clout'. More clout means less difficulty in getting the latter group to acquiesce. No more worries about this 'scary' part of the world, everyone goes home happy. Okay, I exaggerate somewhat. somewhat. No, I do not think there is any conspiracy here. Yes, I do believe that gas prices are as they are due to certain market forces (with their distortion caused by government intervention). And I do think that the introduction introduction of these fuel-efficient fuel-efficient cars at this particular juncture is just coincidence. There is just this one nagging nagging trouble for me. Why isn't the gas tax being lowered lowered proportionately to the increase in tax revenue? After all, as all of us who've taken grade niàe math can ' testify to, fifty percent of a dollar is a lot more than fifty percent of forty cents. The government is making out like bandits here and they're taking it out on our hides. The answer to that question question I leave to your imagination. imagination. Comments, questions and thoughts, can be e-mailed to pj aworski@hotmail.com Sim doliyhan@lionie.com