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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 11, 1983 editorial comments DESO SSA TEE Nal SES GR ST hash Te ANN ot Zn Ye ER : ISH; ; XE: Ta "HE CouNTRY'S BILLIONS IN DEBT AND you GO 5PE OVER AN' B92 OVERDRAFT?" chatterbox by John B. McClelland THE SKATERS There is a lot of controversy going on right now about the recent Soviet-NHL hockey series and the showing by Canada's National Junior team at the World Championship in Leningrad. First, the NHL series. It is very plain that the Soviet national squad is going to beat NHL club teams on a fairly regular basis, no matter when the games are played. But I believe a team of NHL All-Stars would beat Soviet club teams on a fairly regular basis, too. Second, it is pretty obvious that taking a group of Juniors to Russia as a team with a week or so prepara- tion is not going to result in a gold medal when the Soviets, Czecks and Swedes spend months grooming their teams together for world championship events. It just can't be done. However, I think Canada's Juniors must have played pretty good hockey to win a bronze medal. What bothered me were the reports coming out of Leningrad that the' Canadian Juniors were staying in a second-rate hotel without TV or radio, and they were upset because there wasn't a hamburger stand or piz- za joint on every street corner, or they could not get milk or fresh water. Surely, they all knew what the condi- tions would be like. It's ironic these complaints only began to surface after the Russians had beat the Canadians, thus knock- ing them from any chance at a gold medal. Had the Canadians won that gold, no doubt we would have hadi plenty of stories about how much they enjoyed the Rus- sian hospitality, the food and all the cultural treasures of a city like Leningrad has to offer. It was the old story of the poker game. The winners smile, the losers say shut up and deal the cards. Still, I do feel a little sorry for the Canadian youngsters, most of them 18 years old, away from home for the first time and over Christmas no less, in a strange land like Russia where there are no drive in movies, record shops, or McDonald's restaurants. It was pretty tough for ten days for these young guys, who in the next year or so all be inking pro- fessional hockey contracts to play hockey for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some may even be millionaires by the time they are 30. Tough life. As for the gripers on the NHL teams, just once I'd like to hear one of them say that playing an exhibition game against some of the best players in the world is a privilege, a challenge, even an honour. But what we hear mostly is a chorus of whining from guys who should be very, very grateful to the game of hockey and all that it has given them. The Soviets won four of the six games, and the two they lost were by one goal. Does that prove they are "better?" Hardly. Don't forget, that team was made up of the very best 25 players in the Soviet Union, including a goalie considered by most observers to be the best on the planet right now. I wonder what calibre team they could put together from the players-left behind in Russia? We'll never know. But I have a suspicion the difference between their "best" and the mediocre is pretty wide. So let's not wring our hands in despair and come to the conclusion that hockey in North America-is in-- | - ferior to tht in the Soviet Union. As I said before, a team of 25 of the best NHL players would fare pretty well against the club teams in Russia. THE COLUMN I always get a bit of a chuckle when people say to me that they'd like to write a column for the paper each week. My usual answer is "be my guest." Writing one column would not be difficult for most people. They could find a topic and do justice to it. But try it four weeks running, or 52 weeks a year. Putting together a column is the easiest thing in the world once you've come up with something to write about. Staring a a blank page in the typewriter when the ideas just aren't there is tough, darn tough. Still, if there is anyone out there who would like to take a whack at column writing for the local paper, give me a call, and we'll kick it around. But be prepared. It is not that easy. WINTER This has to be the kookiest winter on record. How many people can remember a Christmas Day with the temperature nosing above 50 degrees? Are we going to get a real blast during the latter part of January as some people are predicting? ; A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about how much I dread the onslaught of the snow and cold. But frankly, as I sit writing this column and look out the window to see the tiny skim of snow melting in the streets and people walking with their coats open, I wish that winter would arrive. I'd like to se some fresh, crisp snow on the ground rather than dirty slush. I'd like to see the temperature get cool and dry (Turn to page 6) The Bishops The social affairs committee of Canadian Catholic Bishops is both right and wrong in their statement on the economy which has stirred much interest since its release two weeks ago. The Bishops are right to label our unemployment rate as immoral. They are right in using very strident and tough language in their report because that helps to guarantee that it will not go un-noticed. But they are wrong in some of their suggested remedies such as workers rights taking precedence over the process of maximizing profit, or the need for labour to take priority over technology. The capitalistic system, despite all its warts and inequities, is still far superior to any other kind of economic system or order. It needs fine tuning from time to time to be sure, but not a total dismantling. More Space Junk Don't forget your umbrellas later this month. That's when the U.S. Intelligence department predicts a Soviet satellite equipped with nuclear power radar will break through the atmosphere and quite possibly tumble in pieces down to earth. If these radioactive pieces of space junk fall in a populated area, there is a definite risk to human health. The Soviet Union is the only country which sends satellites into orbit equipped with nuclear power plants, despite strong concern expressed by the international scientific community five years ago when radioactive chunks of a satellite fell on Canada's Northwest Territories. The satellite now in space is experiencing "abnor- mal behavior." Apparently the booster rocket used to send the thing into deep space has failed, and consider- ing this Cosmos 1402 was launched only five months ago on August 30, it's an example of shoddy technology that could pose a real threat to innocent people. Scientists tracking the orbit of this doomed space traveller predict that when it does drop out of the sky, they will only have a few hours to pin-point its location. There's not much anyone can do except hope it falls into some ocean or an uninhabited area of the earth. Still, no matter where it falls, there will have to be efforts to recover the junk. The last clean-up of Soviet space junk cost the Canadian government $6 million. The Russians paid half, but only after much delay and without any of- ficial admission it was even theirs. How nice of them. Pop This Balloon ***" Federal cabinet ministers like to float trial balloons on policy changes to guage public relations. It's done all the time. A proposed change will be "leaked" to the press in Ottawa. The story will make headlines for a couple of days. The cabinet minister will issue a statement denying that such changes are indeed close to being passed into law. Or, if the public reaction is favourable to the trial balloon, the minister may call a press conference to elaborate and of course, take credit. Such was the pattern last week when M.P. Judy Erola, the minister responsible for the status of women was credited with a Cabinet proposal to either end or heavily reduce the tax break for people whose spouses do not work. Currently, a working person can claim up to $3300 on a spouse who does not have a taxable income. Ac- cording to the reports, Ms. Erola wants this exemption cut or reduced and the tax revenue used to increase the deduction for child-care expenses. The latter is probably a good idea, but it seems very foolish to take that money out of the pockets of families where there is only one principle bread-winner. Many parents make the decision and the financial sacrifice to have one spouse (usually the mother) stay home and devote full time to the young children. It may be considered old-fashioned in some circles, but there are lots of people who still believe it is better for the children to have them home with their mother during the pre-school formative years. SR Tdking away the spousal exemption with the resulting increase in taxes would in effect be a penalty and financial burden on a great number of families. That's not to say that the ceiling for child-care ex- (Turn to page 6)