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‘Wonderful women' should be thanked for helping others 1am writing IO send out a heartfelt thank you to the two women who stopped and helped me and my rtve-year-old daughter (last week). I was walking to the mall when these two ladies pulled over and offered me not only the use of their cellphone. but also a ride to Con- estoga mall. So I just wanted to say thank you to these two wonderful women for caring enough to help out a stranger in need. My van broke down on the Expressway near the King Street North exit by Conestoga mall. - l was very near tears when they pulled over, and was doing my best to remain calm so as not to upset my daughter funhur. It's almosi impossible to drisie more than a few minutes without seeing a flag at half staff. iIe spending a few days in the United ngates this week and driving through vari- ous places, it has occurred to me the us. has a real tinge of sadness and anger these days The result of four years of war in Iraq and more than 3,000 men and women who have died. I won't use any other words to describe that; soldiers die or are killed. "Making the ultimate sacrirrce" is a term I think governments and others try to use to soften the blow. Don't get me wrong those who have signed up for military service deserve our respect and gratitude. - Moi, of us, Apeciaity in a time when there is tannin, would not have the rourageto do that. _ _ Perhaps some of those people join for u,.a.2 the wrong reasons, but, in the end. bombs and humus are not very picky about their targets. it's apparent though, from talking to people here, that this war has lost any nobility it might have had... any sense' of a higher purpose. - Then; is a real podrizatior/or the debate in the ILS., and I some a big change in that - even in the men months since I was last there. At that timc. the mkrterm elections were? under. war. hut with huge victories by the Democrats. the tone of the dawnsuon has changed (in the um- "de people wan} to pull their "alps out of Iraq mm [711' other wants In "stay till the bob no you have a beef with something you've read in these m - or with something happening in Waterloo? Better yet. do you have something positive to higttlittttt thath going on in our city? Put your thoughts down on paper and send the Chronicle a letter; it my be pubhhed in an upcoming edition, hee our complete letters policy on page l2 for more infbrmation. War has become unwinnable Send us your letters Conflict should have been stated earlier During the 2006 municipal elec- tion, the voters of Waterloo made their choice based on the platforms provided by the candi- dates. The voters should be able to rely on the representatives they elect to stand by the positions they took during the election campaign. I was therefore dismayed to read in the Record recently that Water- loo Coun. Diane Freeman would not be voting due to a conflict of interest. At this juncture. it is much too late to side-step the issye. A Anyone with a conflict of inter- est needs to declare that conflict before engaging in the (pte-elec» tion) debate - not after stating their potentially biased View. which may impact others. If Freeman's husband is involved with the public-square project, she needed to declare a connict of interest during the campaign - not conveniently later when the issue became too hot. By stating her opinions during the campaign. Freeman created an BRIAN BOURKE COMMENT No one really seems to know what that means. Will the "job" ever be done? Can that "job" be done What is the "job?" - -- _ is done" thugs or tertorists. They don't follow any rules when they fight. but ofcourse our soldiers must respect the rules of war. - After tour years people Md themselves staring at an unwinnahle scenario with no definable enemy. ls that a noble pursuit? Or is it madness? I wish I knew Perhaps that's the reason?or the sadness and anger here. _ _ _ . Hear more of Brian's thoughts on life with the " X " Morning t imp slurry uwktiay morning from 6 to 9 a m on Waterloo radio Manon “15,3 KIN ll FM There's no easy way to define what conditions will have to exist before sol- diem can be brought back to Iraq, but it seems misguided to me to expect that after all this shooting and bomb- ing, we will wake and Iraq will be on the road to peace and democracy. During ihe Second World War, it was easy to galvanize the people of almost any nation involved: - The bombs stiii go off. The enemy is largely faceless and nameless. just like he was in Vietnam. Now it's gangs of Europe' and the other allied Coun- tries were facing a clear and definable enemy in Hitler. _ Nd such galvanization is possible now. Saddam Hussein is dead arfd that has not changed much. expectation that she would repre- sent the same view when called on to vote. If her stated conflict now is legit- imate, then it existed in October just as it does now. How many more key decisions will Freeman be required to bow out of due to potential conflicts of interest? Given her involvement in the Ontario Professional Engineers' Association, will she need to, in good conscience. declare a conflict each time a friend or family mem- her is directly involved in the proj- ect? What voice does this provide the residents of northeast Waterloo? At the debate during the elec- tion, Freeman, when asked about the time commitment involved, said that if she were elected, her employer would consider her duties on council a measure of her job performance. Would it not be up to the voters to measure a councillor's job per- formance - or lack of it - since they are paying the salary? Waterloo her three rounds of tennis, five games of bowling. nine Ni):?),, matches and 18 holes of golf this past weekend, it's not surprising I'm feeling some aches and pains. As part of our IO-year wedding anniversary celebrations, my wife, Sylvia, and I purchased a Nintendo Wii video-game system last month. One of the Wii's distinguishing features is the motion-Sensi- tive technology that requires players to act out their character's movements. wielding the game's controller like a sword or swinging a golf club. What impressed me most is that finally a video-game maker has succeeded in getting kids. and grown-up kids like Sylvia and me, off the couch and moving around. Fitness through video-gaming - who would have thought? Even people utterly disinterested in video games have likely heard of the successful console, still selling out in stores and winning high praise from critics and video-game buffs every- where. Video games aren't child's play any- more. Contrary to popular stereo- types. the average gamer is not a teenager. but instead a more mature fun-seeker old enough to be a teenag- er's parent. according to a recent U.S. entertainment software survey. The average age of video-game buyers is 38, with men making up 59 per cent of the playing audience. ' Sure, it's not a traditional anniversary gift, but how much fun can you have with a bouquet of flowers? We're having a blast with the Wli _. and we're having a blast together. _ Tiroiir arprise, some games, like boxing, offer vigorous physical workouts - leaving non-athletic people like me soaked in sweat from head to toe and in need of a shower. Sylvia and l have been playing video games since our teens. purchas- ing every new Nintendo system along the way. And although we don't have as much free time as we used to, we have recently increased our game- play time at the expense of watching TV and renting movies in the evening. They are powerful computers that have been optimized fot graphigsgpd squn_d. __--__ _ _ _ . And although the Wii may lack some of the multimedia and online capabilities of its competitors. its innovative motion, sensitive technology opens up huge possibilities while attract- ing casual players and newbies. Who knew fitness is fun? Adventur; games like The Ligand of Zelda: Twilight Princess provide countless hours of cinematic story- telling and mind-bending punks. set in imaginativg Tyslifal wqrids The Wii Giaso play a selectiBn of olde} Nintendo games. like Super Mario and Donkey Kong, allowing us to take a nos- Ialgic. button-mash/ng trip down memory hm: _ _ . "Some of my earlieEl childhood membries involve playing Pong on the pioneering 1972 brown-box home console known as the Magnavox Odyssey, - __ . n _ In theUars, the" Ninlendo Entertainment System. along with Sega Genesis, revived the iroundering video-game worid and made a deep impression on my prneratlon, . _ _ Kids. liens and even adults were captivated hy this new technology, and soon almost every household on the block was part of the phepqmenon. deay. systéms like Nintendo's Wii. Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox bear little resemblance to the toy-like game consoles of the lems and 199t% "With friends. we discovered the experience of playing the Mi with others is even more hm - providing many evenings of intense, competitive and blissfully silty entertainment. The Mi also has a hm system for creating alter-egos you can use to rcpmscm yourself in various games. They are called Miis. and mine. with his full heard and was“. makes for an uncanny. almost eerie likeness. introducing goo/accessibility ahd complexity. they became more than just a computer geeky obsession, - _ _ - By focusing less on superior graphics and more on making downright fun games, Nintendo has come up with an addiv rive revolution in gaming. So addictive. In fact. that I could really 1w- some If!" packs and A massage for my nvcmorkcd muscles Wcll. mayhe pus! ont' more boxing match frrst Marshall Ward " " I'Lmul ants! and "trieprndertt filmmaker Hum! 05 uvlrnmc' at mttrtrdgrwl" m WATEIUDO CHIDNICIE . My. May 9, 20tt? . "