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BTA Sw 3 P [I editoriol comments The New Year As 1981 moves towards its conclusion, there seems little cause for optimism in the New Year. Events in Poland and the Middle East have heightened tensions in a world that Is stretched almost to the breaking point. In Canada, the economic picture is grim and widespread lay-offs in recent weeks have told us that we are indeed in the middle of a recession that is the worst in many years. And forecasters are saying the situation will get worse before it gets better. Interest rates, unemploy- ment, inflation are all tough problems which just don't seem to go away no matter what measures are taken. It is difficult to greet the New Year with anything but feelings of trepidation and concern. However, now is the time for Canadians to shake loose from the doldrums, be thankful that in a world filled with problems, Canada as a country is still head and shoulders above most others. ) If there is one resolution the people of this country should adopt collectively for 1982, it is the realization that times are changing and changing faster that we ever anticipated. And the coming year is going to see more change. We must recognize it and be prepared to adapt to this change. We must also resolve that our problems, serious as they may be, are within our capabilities for solution if we approach them properly and with the serious intent that they can be solved. To do this requires conciliation rather than confrontation; compromise rather than stalemate; "dialogue rather than shouting matches; and most important, a willingness to look at all sides of an issue. Canada is a country where everyone seems to be pulling in opposite directions: It is time in 1982 to collectively put a stop to this dangerous tug-of-war. To do it means a change in thinking at the individual level. This is a resolution the country cannot afford to The .05 Law Under legislation passed last week, the Ontario government has given police officers the authority to temporarily suspend the licences of drivers found to have more than 50 milligrams alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. It is a tough new law, and there has been an outcry from some circles that it is too tough and an infringement on basic democratic rights. Tough measures are exactly what's needed to force drivers in this province not to consume alcohol if they plan to get behind the wheels of their cars. It is as simple as that. HIS MASTER'S BREATH Any arguments about rights and infringements are 'hollow indeed when one considers that about 1500 people lost their lives on the province's roads and highways last year, and alcohol was involved in more than half of these deaths. A driver stone cold sober who gets behind the wheel of a car takes control of a potentially lethal piece of machinery. Society accepts that a bus driver, train engineer or pilot is not permitted to work with even one drink under his or her belt. And how would the critics of this law feel if they were wheeled into an operating room for an apendectomy and the surgeon had just consumed a couple of beers or glasses of wine with lunch? The .05 blood/alcohol level dues mean a charge of impaired driving. It simply gives police the power to suspend the drivers licence for 12 hours and if necessary have the car impounded. The intent is to stop drivers from starting to drink if they plan to get behind the wheels of their cars. And it is a warning to everyone that drinking and driving is a very serious problem that must be dealt with by what seem to be harsh measures. In some cases, the most dangerous driver on the road is one who has had just a few drinks, maybe not even enough to register more than the legal .08 blood/alcohol level. These drivers may fully believe they are capable of operating a vehicle under the influence of 'bottle courage," when in fact their judgement, reaction time and even vision may be affected. What is needed is a change in attitude towards drinking and driving, where it is acceptable for a person at a party or in a bar to say 'No thanks, I'nt driving." The .05 law may be harsh, but it may also be a step in the right direction. ACTIVE FAMILY Sometimes, when my family gets partic- ularly active, another word for manipula- tive, I wish I were a crusty old bachelor, living in a shack up north somewhere, smoking my pipe, reading my old favourites and communicating with nature, and quietly and philosophically facing the only sure thing in this world: death. These moods don't last long, and they are not indicative of deep depression. I'm not a bill smiley Then, of course, there's my wife. Time and again she has laid it on the line: No more money to those kids. They've been bleeding us for years." Then comes a woeful phone call, or a down-in-the-mouth letter; and all her resolu- tion flies out the window. Or down the phone line. She thinks nothing of $100 a month long-distance bills, when the "kids", 34 and _ 30, need help. Last weekend, she phoned my daughter wrist-slitter or a pill-taker. I'm just a poor old guy, slogging away at his daily chores, caught in the web of a nutty family. My daughter, after eight years of alter- nating between having babies, collecting degrees, and moving from one sleazy place to another, seemed to have reformed. A little over two years ago, she got a job, teaching in Moosonee, one of the armpits of Canada. But the money was good, she enjoyed her work and she swore, "I'm never going to be poor again." That sounded pretty good to me, having bailed her out on half a dozen occasions and spend a goodly few thousand dollars on tuition fees, living , baby presents and such. She was offered a department head's position, accepted it, and seemed ready for another year in the 'north, Three weeks later she informed us that she was quitting the teaching game, moving to Hull, Quebec, and looking for a job. Three months later, she's poor again, and hasn't a job. That's about standard in our. family. * My son is equally impervious to the fact that we live in a capitalist society. Perhaps that's not quite accurate. But he doesn't exactly ooze with the work ethic. He's not afraid of work, but he's an idealist. That, and 40 cents, will buy you a cup of coffee in this country. At present, he works two nights a week as a waiter in a classy restaurant. Makes good money, but working more at that would cramp his other life. On the side, he treats people with reflexology,' a type of massage, at $25 a rattle. So he's not broke. But he rents a piano, takes lessons in music composition and jazz, and recently forked out $500 for a course in healing people. All he wants is about ten thousand bucks to go back to Paraguay, buy some land, build a centre for the dissemination of Ba-ha-i and healing by. natural methods. When he has money, he blows it. Ex- pensive gifts (to his parents long-distance calls, buys his clothes at second-hand shops. Recently gave us a beautiful book, and a week later applied (to us) for a $300 loan, interest to be paid. He was "A little short." Only after the cheque was written and gone did we find out what for: to visit an old friend in a hospital in New Jersey. I wept a little, but not for long. I'm insured. One thing about Hugh. He brings us interesting guests, The last one was a diviner, 84 years old, as spry as a cricket, .and full of either super-sensitivity or you- know-what. This octogenarian's name is Campbell. I never got his second name because he never stopped talking or divining. He'd brought his divining-rod with him, and went dowsing around the house, He discovered that there were six streams, flowing under our Rouse, sending off radiation that was making my wife insomniac. Immaculately dressed, he'd flop in the floor in his expensive gray flannel suit, assure us that you had to sleep with your head to the east, leap up, and do some more dowsing. Claimed he could find water, (oil for all I know): Then he and Hugh went out and pounded stakes into the ground at strategic spots around the house, to destroy the radiation (I think). Campbell was in both world wars, slogged it out on a prairie farm in the depression, worked in mining, and is all set to take off with Hugh for Paraguay, 'just for the hell of it." He's a little deaf in one ear, a little blind in one eye, and just plain little, about five feet six. But he's full of ginger and has more interest in life than the average 16 year old. ; three times, told her she was coming to visit, to take her out to dinner, to take her to a super hairdresser, and to buy her a new _ wardrobe. Then she asked me if I could scratch up a grand. And I don't mean a grand piano. We have one of those, And yet I hope shé carries out her promises (threats?). It would be 'worth a cool thousand, which I don't have, to get the old lady off my back for a week, buck up my- daughter's morale, improve the grandboy's manners, and crash the daughter into a job as head of the CBC or something, which my wife is not incapable of doing when she gets rolling. Just today comes a letter from a nephew in'Costa Rica, telling me his mother's estate is still not settled even after my intervention and that he thinks he's being screwed by a Toronto lawyer, who refuses to answer the boy's letters. So I have to dig into that one and do some bullying or threatening. My Uncle Ivan is still the patriarch of the family, at 90. They say 1 look just like him. I'don't want to be the: patriarch of the family. I just want to be a uly. old bachelor, ete, etc.