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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, October 2, 2001 - 7 Question of the Week... As a result of the recent terrorist Debra Foggetti Kelly Matthews Pat Sleep attacks on America, Probably now that No, | have a trip to Not inside Canada, there is tighter Cuba in January. but | would think are you now more security. twice about going reluctant to fly? elsewhere. Norm Millar No, I'm not, flying is more safe than what it has been before the attacks. Ashley Kepka No, no I'm not afraid to fly. | think there will be a break between ter- rorist attacks. LETTERS War will not fix this threat of terrorism To the Editor: Terrorism is the type of cancer that we must attempt to keep in remission by treatment. Terrorism is the type of cancer that surgery, and this case war, will not fix. The Terrorists' attacks of Sept. I 1, 2001 have led to the realization of how fragile the world's financial syste.a really is and unfor- tunately, shows how America's air travel safety, espe- cially the cockpit area, has not kept pace with the times. Such a naive airline industry and the American govern- ment must share part responsibility for these events ... for they have bla- tantly disregarded an outdated aircraft and passenger security system for decades and regrettably this planet could pay the consequences. A safe world air travel industry is at the hub of the busi- ness and pleasure wheel that must continue to spin for our economic sur- vival. K. Adams, Orono Got an opinion? Email us: Searching for Smiles Hello neighbour. A diamond day, isn't it? No, nothing's wrong. It's just that so many sad and atrocious things have hap- pened lately. Smiles are a little harder to come by. Thank God for silly children who keep skipping and shrieking their way through the forests of somber adults. They just get on with the business of being kids, which in this household includes discovering that certain feminine hygiene products stick perfectly to the bottom of one's feet. Smiles arise in the unlikeliest places. | even got a smile out of Alex Shepherd's column in the Weekend Star. He warned, convincingly, that this solidarity-with-America wave was under- mining Canadian independence. And ohhh, he was ticked. "Why people can't see in George W. Bush's speech last week his lack of interest in Canada is beyond me. Some Canadians look like they are groveling," he growled. "Just what degree of independence do we think is attainable when we don't even own the companies we are working for?" he challenged. Passion is good. It reassures us that our political represen- tatives are not bloodless, two-faced talking heads after all. But I don't know friend, if anyone has taken Durham MPP John O'Toole's pulse lately. He may be a very good MPP, | wouldn't know. His columns are so screechingly boring I can never get through them. Somebody's got to tell him to stop writing, "I was pleased that..." and then pasting in the latest government press release. Somebody's got to assure him it's okay to have feelings, opinions even. Nah, not me friend. You tell him. Over the fence by Kay Langmuir But you know where most of the smiles were hanging out this past weekend? The chili cook-off and pumpkin contest at the Blackstock Arena -- the big fundraiser for the Cartwright Fields sports complex project in Nestleton. The cash wasn't all counted last time | checked, but you always do well when you offer hungry people lots of hot chili and cold beer. The chilis were wonderful, such a hard choice. In the end, folks gave the most votes to the chili of the Nestleton Mustangs, a ladies lob-ball league. Jackie Dempster made the winning chili, and generously revealed her secret ingredient - extra spicy Clamato juice. Her helper at the tasting table was, gee | didn't get her name, a blonde lady with a warm grin and a heart tattoo on her bosom, and I meant to ask, is that some kind of initiation thing for the Mustangs? Of the six chilis competing, my sentimental favourite, but also an excellent chili, was the "completely student made" Spirit Chili of Cartwright High School. Kyle Vernest, head of the student council, concocted an original chili recipe along with fellow council members Ryan Nesbitt and Celine Hunter. They just put everything in it that they liked, but they're not saying what. There was some hot sibling rivalry in the pumpkin contest. Dairy farmer Bob Hoogenveen of Blackstock grew the top bruiser at 375 pounds, but sister Ann-Marie Williams won the contest with her 345-pound pumpkin -- because each entry was awarded an extra pound of weight for every pledge dollar raised. And this sweet-talkin' lady collected $1,678 in pledges! Lately, we've seen too much of what is wrong with the world. On Saturday, the Blackstock arena and fairgrounds was a refuge from all that -- an example of all being as it should be - - people helping people, people helping themselves and trading smiles all the while. editorial@portperrystar.com And another thing By Rik Davie Let a woman do it! I read at least two newspapers a day. | read one non-fiction and one fiction novel a month, | visit enough news websites for three people and | have a passing knowledge of most things that | have been told can be quite annoying. And yet, I still do not know more than either my mother, or my wife and | never will! This has come to me as a result of not only having it pointed out to me on a daily basis for 15 years, but as a result of following politics closely enough to draw a rather sexist conclusion... things jyst simply run better when women do it. For those of you skeptical of the statement let me point out Hazel McCallion: Empress of Mississauga and the closest thing the 'burbs will ever have to Queen Victoria, along with a few other notables, which include: ~ Oshawa Mayor Nancy Diamond, the only politician | have met (male or female) who can tell you where to go in a way designed to make you enjoy the trip; ~ Gerri Lynn O'Connor, Mayor of Uxbridge Township since Mike Harris was just another ticked-off teacher. This lady was a journalist before she was a politician. What this means for the citizens she represents is a shrewd listener who believes little she cannot see and takes neither herself or her fellows to seriously. In a bar room brawl I'm on her side! ~ Janet Ecker? Strange choice perhaps, but another woman of eminent knowledge and a background in the media that allows her to convince her foes that the ringing in their ears is not related to her hitting them on the head with a mallet. Possibly the best choice to take the Tories back from the edge of the cliff they seem to enjoy meeting on. ~ Bev Freedman. Who you say? Pay attention, she is Superintendent for Programs at the Durham District School Board. Perhaps the most influential educator in Durham Region, she is behind the fact that special education in the Region is even still here. A past master at doing more with less she is widely respected among her peers for her forward thinking attitudes. Also, she returns my phone calls so why mess that up by leaving her out! ~ Marilyn Pearce. Ward 2 councillor for Scugog Township and a past Regional Councillor, Provincial Liberal candidate, mayor-in-waiting and the only other voice at local council besides the mayor who speaks from the point of view of the well-prepared advocate. Like her or don't like her, you don't have to guess what she thinks. My second choice in a brawl. | could go on, but you get the idea. Women seem to have a knack for cutting through to the core of the problem in politics. Women tend to think in black and white while we men tend to live in the gray area in between where little gets done and consensus is but a theory. You have heard the old expression about summer students? Summer help and summer not! The same can be said for co-op students. Those hapless high schoolers who flood into our places of work in the hopes of some job experience and an easy credit. We have lucked out this time around (as we mostly do with our local high school students) and got our- selves Nick Bronson. If you meet Nick on the street as he does one of our endless opinion poles, cut him a break. He really does work for a newspaper and no he didn't steal the camera, he really is a cub reporter.