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Page 4, News, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1992 Editorial= Tel.: 825-3747 The Terrace Bay - Schreiber News is published every Tuesday by Laurentian Publishing Limited, Box 579, Highway 17 at Mill Road, Terrace Bay, Ont., POT-2W0 Fax: 807-825-9233. Office hours Tuesday-Friday, 9-5. Second class mailing permit 0867. Member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. Single copies 50 cents. Subs. rates: $18 per year. Seniors $12 (local); $29 per year (out of 40 mile radius); $38 in U.S. Add GST to yearly subs. EGHOl i5....:.0-0.5 we Advertising Rep Canad ee (7 Admin. Asst...... Publishet.............. A. Sandy Harbinson Advertising Mgr....Linda R. Harbinson itive Darren MacDonald Sriseneccs Cheryl Kostecki BE aces Gayle Fournier CNA C cn Ka The dust of one volcano travels a long, long way Mt. Pinataubo is a volcano in the Philippines who's erup- tion earlier this year has had a direct--and negative--effect on this summer's weather. The volcanic eruption spewed tons of hot ash into the atmosphere, encircling the earth in dust and blocking out much of the sun's warmth. It's basically the greenhouse effect in reverse, but instead of locking in heat, the dust keeps it out, giving us a chilly summer. That theory is the contention of scientists who also say that, because of another Pinataubo eruption expected in 1993, next summer may be already skewered too. And it's not even September yet. So if you buy this theory, a volcanic eruption on the other side of the earth has ruined our summer, and is threatening next year as well. Interesting, you might say, but who cares? So I'm a bit whiter, and my peas and carrots are a bit smaller. Big deal. Well, big deal indeed. Another consequence of Pinataubo's hiccuping is our starving black bears. The poor animals have to eat an enormous quantity of food so they can sleep through the winter, But the retarded growing season has meant that the few berries that are in the bush are just starting to ripen now. So into town they come, risking life and limb and a night in the bear equivalent of the drunk tank, all in the hope of nab- bing some table scraps. The point is, actions and events that occur in far away places have a way of impacting on us in ways we can't easily see. It's difficult to say what something will mean down the road, or what the result of any action or decision will be. And, in the current state of constitutional fatigue our coun- try is experiencing, we're in danger of allowing some selfish people to get what they want on the basis of regional and ideo- logical wish lists rather than on the basis of genuine nation building. Items on this wish list include: an equal senate; native self- goverment; distinct society for Quebec; the North American Free Trade deal; decentralization of power away from Ottawa to the provinces; Quebec independence; and labour and envi- ronmental law reforms here in Ontario. Each of these issues are potential Pinataubos, each capable of setting the bears on us while we're not looking. Change and reform are not only a necessary part of life, but in many cases, are good things. But in the political arena, where principles are routinely compromised to make a deal, we need leaders who we can trust to act in the long-term inter- ests of the country, not in the short-term interest of their own political careers and parties. And do you trust your leaders? --- AND NOW --- UNITY TALKS ON A HIGHER PLANE / 108 of Arthur's a person of colour too There was a time when you could make a joke about just about anybody--thrifty Scots, sleazy lawyers, dumb Jocks, absent-minded pro- fessors, libidinous priests--and get a laugh. Those days are gone. We live in the Age of Sensitivity. Of Political Correctness. Never has the Importance of Being Earnest been more manifest. I read in my newspaper that psychiatrists are objecting to the movie Silence of the Lambs. They don't like the fact that. the villain, Hannibal Lector, is a cannibal. They want the : public to know that psychia- | trists, by and large, do not con- sume their clientele. Similarly, veterinary sur- geons are raising a hue and cry about the movie Beethoven, because it features a vet who kidnaps dogs for research. It's a familiar story. Nowa- days, any movie featuring mafiosi is sure to be picketed by Italians outraged at the "stereotyping" of their people. § Any new book that portrays 3 Iroquois or Apaches, Black- $ foot or Inuit, as. anything less . than noble and oppressed buckskin-clad saints is bound to draw howls of outrage. As topics for light-hearted banter, women, gays and, all minorities (save WASPS) are now off-limits. Verboten. Taboo. Nobody will mourm the passing of racist and sexist stereotypes--they're ugly and moronic. But there is a danger of over-sterilization too. We could become so hyper-censorious as to ren- der everything we talk about meaningless. Take the term 'people of colour'. Peel off its veneer of political rectitude and you find a pro- foundly racist 'us' versus 'them' term. It puts white people on one side and everyone else--black, brown, yellow and copper-skinned people--on the other. Well, damnit, I'm a person of colour too. Off- pink as it happens, but definitely coloured. Yet Arthur Black the term people of colour excludes me. It's not the only example of linguistic goofi- ness making the rounds these days. Are you fat, like me? Never fear. Once the New World Word Police get finished, no one will ever dare call you tubby, fatso or Mister Four-by-Four again. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance advises that the officially approved terminology for lardbuckets like us will hence- forth be "people of size." , Even the traditionally down- = to-earth world of agriculture is ot immune to Newspeak. Remember shepherds and milk- * maids? Well, forget 'em. In Britain, at last, they've been transformed into the Profession- al Herdpersons Society. Before you laugh too loudly at the silly Brits, I should tell you about our own John Efford. His busi- ness card describes him as the Chairperson of the United Fish- erpersons of Newfoundland and Labradour. Where does all this dopey stuff come from? From our schools, I fear. Mealy-mouth, meaningless loopy lingo flour- ishes in the Groves of Academe. Consider these recently harvested nuggets of' educational jargon: Learning facilitatorteacher Negative attention-getter-class troublemak- er Deficit at grading period--failed Where will the madness end? Beats me. British botanists are the latest target. They're being accused of "biological racism" for their habit of classifying plants as 'native' or 'alien'. Here at home, Mark Meisner of Pollution Probe is going after opportunistic corporate tycoons claiming their products are "environ- mentally friendly". Meisner's recommendation? He says almost anything labelled "green" should be blacklisted. Poor Mark. He has much to learn. I'm sure he © meant to say List of Colourlisted.