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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 1, 1986 Editorial Comments A Senator's Protest While we are forced to admire his courage, that's about all we can say about the 62 year old Canadian senator who has completed three weeks of a hunger strike in protest over. the Conservative Government's scrapping of the $20 million per year Katimavik youth program. : There were indications over the Easter weekend that Senator Jacques Hebert may have forced the Government's hand as ap- parently some kind of negotiations were underway to extend the pro- gram for a year. Hebert said that extension would be enough to end his three- ~ week protest. We can only hope that Brian Mulroney and his Cabinet also show some courage in this issue and not give in to what is really nothing more than blackmail on the part of the Senator. Nobody can quibble with Hebert's contention that Katimavik had some merit. It allowed young people to do "community work' at $1 per day plus room and board. If they completed their year with the program, they received an additional $1,000 lump sum payment. The cost to the tax-payers was $20 million annually. But it's the kind of program that a Government $30 billion in debt this year (give or take a billion) simply cannot afford. The Senator should know that. Sure, it may have been a good program (that's open to debate, the youth might get the same intrinsic benefits from a stint in the ar- my) but the plain simple truth is that the government well has gone dry. And what about the precedent that Hebert is setting. If the Government caves in to save his health, maybe his life, can we ex- pect to see similar action when another senator, member of Parlia- ment, or anyone else doesn't like what is happening? You bet we will. The hunger strike has been used by all kinds of people as a pro- test tool the world over. We are anything but convinced it has a place in a democratic society, especially from a member of the Senate to protest Government policy. : Woe also are forced to wonder just why Senator Hebert is getting special privileges in being allowed to use the foyer of the Senate for his 24 hour per day protest. Any other citizen would have been turf- ed out long ago. Senator Hebert and his misguided idealism is setting up some rous precedents in this country. We hope he calls off the hunger strike before he does serious damage, or worse, to his health. We also hope the Conservative Government doesn't cave in to his demands. ~The place to debate Government policy is on the floor of the Com- mons, not by starving one-self in the foyer of the Senate. And besides, the $20 million saved in the Katimavik program is $20 million that won't have to come from the usual source this year. Congrats Are Due Congratulations are due to some people in our community who have recently helped to raise our image in the province. Firstly, to Tom and Daphne Mitchell of Settlement House for win- ning a design award at the Metro Home Show recently. They never miss an opportunity to give Port Perry a favourable plug. Nice going. And secondly, in a totally different context from home design, to a local Broomball team (Goreski Insulation) who won the Ontario Intermediate championship in Cornwall. We're not sure the guys on the team were actively promoting Port Perry as they fought tooth and nail for the victory. But there were more than 3500 people in the Cornwall Arena for the final, and you can bet they all know where the heck Port Perry is now. the ooprymore | (ERE © eo s0a% cn POET PLATT ONTASO -- 3) Yn Kerr v/ J. PETER HVIDSTEN Member of the Publisher Canadian Community Newspaper Association 4 and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ad ising Manager Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd . Port Perry. Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash CATHY ROBB payment of postage in cash News & Features Second Class Mal Registration Number 0265 TAN COM who Mun) ,. Qn Ww » » Alia, avy 0S Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year. Elsewhere $45.00 per year. Single Copy 35 OCOPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyright and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher IT WOLLD BE NICE \F WE GOT THE Plow & MATCH BALK AGAIN! NEWS ITEM: Durham Region puts in bid for 1990 International Plowing Match. Chatterbox by Cathy Robb THE TEN COMMANDMENTS No, this is not another religious column. It's just that I found myself glued to the TV set Sunday night watching the movie referred to above and I have a couple of questions and observations. First, it's an interesting story. For me to watch four hours of anything it has to be in- teresting, and nothing is more amazing than the "legend of Moses and the Ten Commandments. The movie itself, you know, the one starring Charlton Heston and a cast of millions, is an en- tirely different matter. That thing is the longest, most drawn out piece of celluloid I've ever set eyes on. On and on it went, detailing the soapy love lives of Moses, Nefferteri (or however you spell the Egyptian queen's name), and a whole slew of slaves and other assorted guest stars. It reminded me of a Biblical version of Dynas- ty, and if the movie had been made in 1986 instead of the late 50's, I'm sure Joan Collins would have had the Nefferteri roll. The luckless queen was portrayed as a prime (excuse the language) bitch, right up Alexis's alley. Actually, wouldn't it be neat if the movie was re-made? If so, Arnold Swarzenegger would pro- bably take the part of Moses, since his gutteral monotone acting ability and muscles are about on par with the way Heston acted. And if the Ter- minator star did appear as Moses, The Ten Com- mandments (etched on the stone tablets) could be known as Tablet-ator. Great name for a flick, no? Some heavy metal group like Iron Maiden could write the musical score, perfect for the head-banging slave scenes in the mud pits, and a record could be released call Top Ten of The Ten Commandments. The best thing about a re-make of the movie would be the special effects. In the movie I saw the other night, the effects were okay, at best. The famous parting of the Red Sea was rather cartoon- ey, however, and I giggled at the way most of the scenes were shot in front of painted backdrops. Can you imagine if the same movie was re- done by someone like Stephen Spielberg? Can you imagine the special effects? It has the potential to be a cross between Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the PTL Club. But the movie will probably never be re- made. The existing one i> considered a classic, even if the acting was corny and the film itself far too long. ~ By the time Moses parted the Red Sea, I thought the movie was over. I was more than "READY for it to be over. Silly me. I still had to wait a good half hour for Moses to bring the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai. The whole thing was just too "dramatic" for my tastes. Why, for example, did all the women in this movie continue a relentless dialogue, even after they had made their point? Nefferteri, for exam- ple, found about fifteen thousand ways of telling Moses she loved him. If the director had restricted her passion to a simple "I love you,' the movie could have been two hours shorter. And why did the beautiful slave girl, serving water in the mud pits, not have dirt on her face? All the men were covered in slime, but not this girl, who had her peaches and cream complexion un-marred by anything dirtier than lipstick. Did she sell Avon in her spare time, or what? How about those dancing girls? Were the dancers in the Egyptian palace the same girls who danced in the shepherd's tent? I wondered about this while watching the movie, and it's still bugg- ing me. Could somebody help me out on this im- portant question or will it torment me all my days? And why, why, why did Nefferteri leave Moses's Hebrew swaddling cloth lying in the mid- dle of the floor? I mean, she went to all the trou- ble of killing her maid so Moses wouldn't find out he was a son of Hebrew slaves and not a prince, and yet she left an obvious clue sitting where he could see it. ' But that's fine, he found it and questioned her about it. So why did she tell the truth? If the secret meant enough to her to murder someone, why did she spill the beans so easily? It wasn't as if Moses put splints under her fingernails or anything. He just asked her a question and the truth came burbling out. Believe me, Joan Collins wouldn't have given in so easily. : . And whatever happened to Nefferteri and her hubby Ramses? The last thing you see of them, they're sitting on their thrones in a snit. Did they rebuild their kingdom, fly to New York, join a commune, or what? The world may never know.