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---- IN ea oun aon, anit Lt NE 2 2 kn Sl § Hf cau CE Te Rn rs a ST 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 24, 1989 The Pof Perey Shae 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 The Port Perry Star is authorized as second dass mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: InCanada $20.00 per year Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50¢ EDITORIAL Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Editor - John B. McClelland News/Features -Julia Ashton PRODUCTION Annabell Harrison Trudy Empringham Darlene Hlozan BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby Billing Department - Louise Hope © & CNA = Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl, Tracy O'Neil ADVERTISING Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Advertising Sales Representative - Anna Gouldburn Advertising Sales Respresentative - Tanya Sheehey Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Lid. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment NOT SO SMUG Scanning the pages of the daily papers published in Toronto or any other major Canadian city these days has become an exercise in shock therapy. "Teens Sought in Murder" screamed the front page headline in one journal last week. The accompanying sto- ry told the grim tale of how a 44-year old Burlington man, a father of four who works for a department store, stopped at a gas bar late one evening, filled the tank and when he approached the kiosk to pay, he was clubbed to death. His body was stuffed into the trunk of his car, driven to a parking garage in downtown Toronto and left to rot. The paper said his murder was "randon," whatever that means, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. As of last Friday, the police had issued warrants for the arrest of two 17-year high school students, one male, one female, in connection with this grisly murder. Seventeen-year old high school students. Regular readers of the daily press no doubt are famil- iar with a court case in Toronto involving the death last year of a female "punk," a person of the street, who was brutally assaulted, beaten, stabbed, strangled with the strap of her bra and then her body was burned almost be- yond recognition. Two other young "punks" are on trial for this murder. The examples simply go on and on. And this is To- ronto, remember, not New York, not Chicago or Los An- gelas. Stories of drug deals are a dime a dozen. Muggings on the street are too numerous to report. Elderly women are attacked in their own homes. Most women, regardless of their age, are simply afraid to venture onto the streets at any time of the day or night. And this is Canada, remember? Not too many years ago, we were pretty smug in this country vis-a-vis the Americans, when it came to crime, especially the kind of brutal, senseless "street crime" we read about today. "The streets of this city are safe," was a favourite line spouted by civic leaders in Toronto just a few short years ago. Not so, anymore. And as the over-worked and stressed out police forc- es try to cope with the growing number of vicious crimes, we hear from an American Police Chief that Toronto and other cities north of the border had better start bracing for an invasion by especially brutal gangs from California. In fact, that American cop was quoted in one paper as expressing amazement that the L.A. gangs have not been identified yet in Canadian cities. "Just wait," he said, adding these gangs have an un- precedented reputation for mayhem. When they want to kill someone, they don't care how many people, innocent or otherwise, get in the way. He cited the example of Portland, Oregon, which just three years ago was gang-free, or at least civic officials and police thought it was gang-free. Today, there are some 12,000 members of youth gangs in that city. Will that be Toronto's fate? And these are just examples of stories that are pub- lished in the daily press and beamed into homes via the six o'clock news. Who knows what horror stories take place that never find their way onto the front page. A lot of decent law-abiding citizens are scared out of their wits at the violence that has invaded society. They feel powerless, helpless, and their feelings are heightened (Turn to page 8) CRUEL worLp !" Life's Like That by Julia Ashton - Unsolved mysteries You've come a long way, baby! October 18 was a very special day for wom- en across Canada. That date marked the 60th anniversary of women being recognized as persons. That's right. In 1929, the Privy Council of Great Britian finally recognized women in Canada as persons. According to Liberal MPP and former hous- ing minister Chaviva Hosek, the move by Great Britian made it possible for women to be in the senate. Now | wasn't around during that monumen- tal year so | don't know how we were classed before 1929. Were women invisible? When a woman died, did anyone notice? Did women have about as much clout as a flea-infested dog? Those statements may seem a bit harsh, but let's face it -- if we weren't classified as persons, just what the heck were we? LI 2 I I What is so appealing about a bunch of overgrown men prancing around a ring in spandex undershorts? You know what I'm talking about -- profes- sional (| use the term loosely) wrestling. The recent craze has made Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant household names. The names of some of their competitors are just as amusing: Ravishing Rick Rude, Brutus the Barber Beefcake, The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, The Ultimate Warrior, Sting. And then there's the tag teams: Demolition, The Powers of Pain, and the Killer Bees. Thousands of people crowd in to arenas, while thousands more huddle close to the tel- evision to watch their favorite brain-bashers. In between bouts, they can listen to their heros screaming into a microphone about how bad their opponents are, and how they're 'going to slaughter them in the next match-up, using bad grammar the whole way through the shouting match. But that's not all. Wrestlemaniacs, hanging for a fix, can rent or purchase video cas- seltes. | recently saw an advertisement for an in- structional video that got me quite worried. It's called Pro-Wrestling Finishing Holds by "Judo" Gene LaBell. (Volumes Il and Ill are also available.) The advertisement explains: "Each tape contains well over 40 tried-and- true techniques. Along with Mando Guerrero, "Judo" Gene demonstrates each technique personally. It is the only instructional tape you will ever need on finishing holds. "There are grapevines, leg locks, neck locks, chokes, and so much more -- it's like going to a university for professional wres- ting. Each technique is explained in detail. This is no fluff. It's all the real thing as only LeBell can do it -- it's instructional and enter- taining too. Play and replay each technique over and over again until you've got it down cold. In addition to everything else (as if this wasn't enough!) you will learn some of the best illegal holds in the world." Each volume (60 minutes in length) sells for a cool $78 but the LeBell Special entitles you to buy all three for a mere $188.85. After careful observation of the tapes, you too, can become a one-man wrecking crew. And that's what I'm afraid of. Too many ounger kids are watching this rubbish and Believing that it's the truth. Parents need to explain to their children that it's all an act. They're nothing but a bunch of actors para a well-orchestrated dance in their underwear. | remember when the word clothesline meant "something to hang wet laundry on." Ah, the good old days. EAT EE Tor Tn aa