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ie Ae a Le IAS IN "epee, x a Yo 77 0 '- NN HAY Co Ce tae a p= mE AR ATH EOLA PANY RNR SRY CRY Sg 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday July 13, 1982 editorial comments LEY ERE A A a) Jig AEC Tt BS Ea ATU STI RIN EERE & SERN Ah POAT 3 } FERRO LISA A FARA TANGER oA BSN ALN CIO FL LANES MIDEAST SOCCER chatterbox by J. Peter Hvidsten SOME FAMILY A 36 year old Iowa housewife with five children aged 11 to 18 went on strike last week for six days because she was fed up with the way the kids had been treating her. Needless to say, this mother attracted a lot of attention as she camped on the lawn in front of the family home. She gave interviews to the press and answered all kinds of questions from curious neighbours. "All I want is a little love and respect from my kids. I want them to treat me like a human being," she said. She finally agreed to go back to work after all five children and her husband signed statements that they would change their ways and start showing dear old Mom a little respect. It's an interesting story. Sounds like a very happy family with excellent communications among the members. Mom made her points, but not before her 13 year old daughter had staged a counter-strike by locking herself in her room. That daughter, by the way, was the last member of the family to sign for Mom's demands. Seems the poor little girl was getting a lot of '"'peer ure' from her friends who were saying that if the Mom pulled this stunt, they sure as heck wouldn't sign anything. It is comforting to know that the nuclear family is alive and well. The family that strikes together stays together. Solidarity forever. Next thing you know, the Teamsters will be organizing housewives across North America. They would be dynamite on a picket line.~. "The whole thing could backfire, however. There are probably more than a few husbands who like to see their wives go out on strike. They'd change the locks on the doors and hire a live-in housekeeper from France or Sweden. PEACEKEEPERS There was a time not too many years ago when Canada had a well deserved reputation as in international peacekeeper in trouble spots around the world. ARE LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT Last week, however, the prime Minister and the External Affairs minister both ruled out any involvement by Canadian forces in the Beirut crisis unless it was under the auspices of the United Nations. As we all know the UN these days has about as much creditibility as the old League of Nations in the 1930's. And the chance of the UN getting a peacekeeping force into Beirut to help dis-engage the Israeli and Palestinian forces is nil. Ronald Reagan says he'd like to send the U.S. Marines in to get the job done, a move which almost certainly would trigger more fighting. Sadly countries like Canada have no diplomatic clout in this silly world, which has become totally polarized. It . is a great pity that a country like Canada is not able to play a mediating role in the trouble spots of the world. Now, it seems our political leaders are not even willing to try to take an active role in helping to ease tensions. Of course, the Canadian Armed Forces is in such a sorry state these days, that maybe the Prime Minister is worried that if we did send a peacekeeping force somewhere, the rest of the world might see that our soldiers are armed with pitch-forks and flint-lock rifles. ELECTIONS: Here it is the middle of July, the sun is finally starting to shine, the kids are out of school, the Blue Jays are in first place, and the beer store is the busiest spot in town. Summer has arrived. 4 One might think the last thing on people's minds right now would be municipal elections. In Scugog, there isn't even an issue of minor contention. Yet, there is already plenty of talk about the November elections and who will be riinning for what. It would not be prudent for me to start throwing out names at this time since the talk is only rumour, but I think there will be some very interesting races for the seats on council when the election rolls around. And for the first time, councillors will be elected to a three year term. That in itself has a few people mulling over their chances. It is often said that every election campaign needs a good hot issue just to make things interesting. I don't think an issue will surface between now and November. But that doesn't mean the up-coming election is going to be a big fat bore. Far from it. The very fact there is not much local turmoil may prompt people to take a chance and throw their hats into the ring It is too early for this paper to actually start asking potential candidates if indéed they intend to run this November. But each time we hear a name tossed about, it is stored away for the future, and about August 15, we'll start to ask people for the record whether or not they plan to run. That's when the fun begins. Watch for it. The Jitters? If you think the tough economy does not have a lot of people walking on eggs, consider what happened last week when a backbench MP stood up in the British Columbia legislature to announce he had inside information that the Bank of Commerce is in trouble and would go into receivership by October. As It turned out later, the statement by the MP was totally false and without foundation whatsoever. However, the mere mention touched off near panic on the Toronto Stock Exchange floor with Commerce stock plunging over $1 in less than an hour. ' Obviously, people who should know better about the banks and how the banking system works in this country are so nervous about the economy these days, they will believe just about anything. Senior officials with the Commerce had to rush statements' denouncing the MP's claim and informa- tion. But a certain amount of damage had been done. The MP finally admitted publicly he was wrong and his information totally off base. If one statement by one obscure MP (totally wrong as it turns out) can invoke near panic in the stock market and the feeling that one of Canada's major banks near collapse, what does this tell us about the confidence In the economy of this country? Beer and Ball Shocking. There is just no other word for it. The Provincial government is in the process of turning Ontario the fair and good into a bottomless pit of depravity. No, the government has not abolished the Censor Board (not yet, anyway) but the announcement that. beer will be allowed at baseball and football games in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton is almost as bad. That's right. Sports fans who pay to watch the Blue Jays, the Argos, the Tiger Cats and the Rough Riders will be able to buy a beer and actually drink it while sitting in the stands. And it's all legal. If there's beer at the ball park, what kind of evil will the government next throw at the citizens of this glorious province? One shudders to think. Could off-track betting be just around the corner? The announcement' last week caught many people by surprise. After all, the Government has stoutly refused over the past six years to allow the sale of beer at professional sports events, like Blue Jay and Argo games. There had been fears that sports fans would not be able to control themselves. Of course going to the games, won't be the same anymore. Part of the fun used to be dodging the mickey bottles. : And what about the poor Blue Jays. One thing that set them apart from all the other 26 major league baseball teams in North America was the fact that beer was not sold at the park. Thankfully, the government has not allowed this province to slip totally into the mire, however, as buying beer at Maple Leaf Gardens will still be a no-no. We find that rather strange. Now that the Blue Jays and the Argos are at least semi-respectable as sporting outfits, it is the Maple Leaf hockey fan who probably needs a beer or two just to get through sixty minutes of "hockey." : The summer of '82 will long be remembered as a milestone in the history of this fine province. Leslie Frost must be turning over in his grave.