"A Family Tradition for 131 Years" -- _---- ETTERS Some dogs are taking a bad rap To the Editor: My family and I are very upset regarding your article, the youngster recovering after attack by dog (Aug. 12). Our deepest concerns and sympa- thy for Nathan Brown and J.D. I am very upset with the media and how certain ani- mals are always being used to terrify the public. As owner of a very lovable Staffordshire Bull Terrier, I am angry because they are labeled as mean and vicious. The so- called pit bull is as kind and lovable as any other breed of animal. It is all in the way you take care of them. They are lovable, happy and can adjust to just about any life style, just the same as any other animal can. Why do we hate something we don't even know? Because we don't want to get to know them, we are always afraid. No one is thinking how Nathan or J.D. are feeling inside. I know if it were my pet To the Editor: Listening to Ontario Hydro's vehement insistence that its problems were with its management, and not with the technology, brought to mind something which Hydro protests too much Shakespeare wrote some 400 years ago: "Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Is this an example of 'life imitating art, or what? Bernie Gotham, R.R. 1, Bowmanville Nudity law To the Editor: Recently, a number of politi- cians have said that municipal governments in Ontario are legally unable to prohibit women from baring their breasts at public swimming pools; in the words of one of them, these governments have "no power to regulate the mode of dress of persons in a public * place." But most -- if not all -- munic- ipal governments in Ontario prohibit cross-dressing at pub- lic swimming pools, and/or the teasing the animal. and someone told me to have him put to sleep, I would feel it was like one of my children having to die. Some children don't realize that what they are doing is I have been to zoos and seen children push sticks through the fences at lions and tigers, and par- ents don't seem to care. Also I feel that parents need to watch children more around animals and teach them respect for the animal, and things like this might not happen. I really feel this is not J.D.'s fault. It was just an accident and he should not have to die because of this incident. I also feel that maybe baseball games, animals, and children don't all belong together, espe- cially in very warm tempera- tures as it was on that Saturday. Nancy Paffrath, Lindsay deserves our support wearing of Brazilian-style thong bikini bottoms there, even though neither legally constitutes a publicly indecent act. If municipal governments in Ontario are legally able to pro- hibit either cross-dressing at public swimming pools, or the wearing of Brazilian-style thong bikini bottoms there, . then they are also legally able to prohibit women from baring their breasts there. In any case, I urge every municipal government in Ontario to pass a resolution endorsing Scarborough West MPP Jim Brown's private mem- ber's bill, the Municipal Amendment Act, which would give all of them the same legal authority to prohibit women from baring their breasts in public places in general as they have to prohibit female strip- pers in adult entertainment establishments from choosing to allow their customers to touch their breasts. Helen St. Claire, Sunderland Got something on your mind? Write a letter to the editor You can fax us: 985-3708 Editor's Notepad by Jeff Mitchell ON THE RUN IN SCUGOG ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Fresh back from holidays, and thrown into the fire. Yes, it was a busy weekend in Scugog, criss-crossing the township to take in everything from horse shows to home shows to fashion shows and antique car shows. Aquarama, three-on-three, and a few season-finale ball games to boot. At the end of a day like either Saturday or Sunday this past weekend, it's nice to get home and stop moving for a while, pop a beer and stoke up the barbecue, and sit with feet up considering one's accomplishments while the chicken burns. All too soon this sunny season will be over, and newspaper guys everywhere will be pining for Saturdays with assignment books full to bursting, but sunny warm skies under which to perform our duties. FAIR ENOUGH: A sure harbinger of this kind season's waning is the fall fair. And we've got two of 'em, on back- to-back weekends. First up is Saturday in Blackstock, when the Port Perry Star will attempt to regain the Media Milking Contest Crown, lost last year when Your Correspondent (ahem: Reigning Champ at the time) was edged ever so slightly by one Mayor Howard Hall. The main event's at 3:30, and there's a lot of other stuff going on, too. You can read all about it elsewhere in today's paper. Labor Day weekend, as usual, brings Port Perry's fair, and organizers have been working diligently to bring you the very best line-up of displays, attractions and activities they can. Make sure you take time to visit both fairs, and enjoy the best of what country living has to offer. LIGHTS OUT: All the pun-laden headlines with the word 'shock' in them screamed last week, when we learned that Pickering's were among the Ontario Hydro nuke reactors marked for closure. While Pickering was deemed to meet minimal standards in many areas of its operations in a study commissioned by the utility, it failed on "Emergency Preparedness". Yeesh. When a plant that has sprung as many leaks and | crossed as many wires as Pickering doesn't have a clue of what to do in the case of an emergency, one has to agree that maybe pulling the throttle back just a tetch might be prudent. The alternative to this potential China Syndrome is burning more oil and coal, which, as we know well, is disasterous for the environment. Some choice, eh? ...Take your chances with a reactor that's held together with duct tape, or pump tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Modern times. : s, precariously worn half it legs dragging on the int wide open in the $s oneby shoes or