veo DUUESILE. OF UNDETERMINED
AGE, WANDERING IN THe STREET.
ALONE, NOSIGN OF PARENTS,

OFRHAND CHEF. ID SAY THS 19

AWTHER HOBIE ALONE” CASE

“TO EVERY action there’s
an equal and opposite reac-
. tion, goes a basic law of
physics. One hopes it is

“ equally true of the bady

. politic -—— where the death of
Political Correctness i is long
“overdue.

Future historians will analyze

.the PC phenomenon that dominated |

‘the close of the 20th century for
exactly what it is: a brazen bid by ©
' _ self-appointed social engineers dis-
= guised as higher-purpose role mod-
“els to destroy democracy by stifling
“public debate. In order to achieve
this they first rewrote the language.
Then, armed with their NewSpeak
dictionary, they were able to smear
into silence almost anyone —
“except for a handful of Doug .
: Collinses — who questioned their |
‘totalitarian concept of the “equi-
, table” society. Thus, use of the
~ ferm “chairman ”. stamps you as a -
i“sexist.” So do the terms “wait-
ress,”: “stewardess” and “actress.’”’
Calling any female over the age of
ia “oirl” labels you as a “male
chawvinist pig.” Trendy priests

-«{nteoduce their flocks to a sanitized’

. Lord’s Prayer that begins “Our:
+-Mother ...” If you’re Caucasian and
-, not ashamed ef it, you're almost:
certain to be a “white supremacist.”
“ Criticize Canada’s irnmigration
in policy and you're a “racist.”.If you -
_feel homosexuals and lesbians are
less than ideal candidates for cer-'
tain role-model positions, you're a
“homophobic gay-basher.”

HITHER AND YON

As unpleasant as it may be, sim-
ply being called such names does
not in itself, of course, destroy
democracy. This is accomplished
by that all-important byproduct of
PC — the victim industry. In the
PC world anyone to whom one of
the now forbidden thought process-
es once applied automaticaily
becomes a “victim”— bursting
with rights and relieved of respon-
sibilities. Prominent at the moment
are women “‘victims,” ethnic “‘vic-;
tims,” aboriginal “victims”. and
homosexual “victims.” But with a
little ingenuity almost anyone
except a normal white male can
qualify for “victim” status. Once a
“victim,” you have a stranglehold
over all non-victim citizens. Any

Tube boo

HE ROGERS Communications Inc.
decision last week to allow its cus-
tomers the choice to stick with the
channels they receive at the price they. cur-
rently pay is a hollow victory for consumers.

The cable debacle has revealed three key
lessons. The first revelation is that Canadian
consumers are not the passive robots most
marketers take them for. Make no mistake
about it, we get taken. The phenomenon of
negative option marketing, a favored practice
of large service sector corporations, is stark
evidence.

The second lesson: this cramming down
the TV tube of channels that have nothing to
do with mass appeal and quality and every-
thing to do with an artificial prop-up of prod-
uct simply because it emanates from Canada,
in a word, sucks.

_ Thank the Canadian-Radio-television and

S
Telecommunications Commission for that
one. The CRTC has apparently received from _
irate Canadian TV robots 2,500 ri
since mid-December. Keep ‘em coming folks.
Third, and most important, is this: too often”
we consumers forget the ultimate power we
hold to effect change in the marketplace. '
With every purchase we make, we literally
vete with our dollars.

The recent consumers’ tizzy over TV: will si:

cost Rogers about $10 million to block
unwanted channels. The company’s ‘annual
operating profits could drop by an estimated ..
$20 million.. Rogers shares have: fallen.
Rogers’ estimates of how. many clients will
take the channels have been drastically
revised —- downward.

It’s just too bad that it took an issue as friv-
olous as television service to get us all: so 0 pas
sionate about something.

who upset you in the slightest way
by word or deed can be hauled
before a Human Rights tribunal
consisting of government- named
PC hacks and fined up to $100,000.
If miscreants appeal the penalty to
a regular court of law, it costs them
a further bundle. Naturally, this
threat now stops the vast majority
of people from venturing any
thoughts at all about officially des-
ignated “victims.”

Meanwhile, ‘‘victim” groups are
also dependable voter blocs. So
they enjoy constant grants and
goodies from governments eager to

. buy their support at the ballot box.

And by now having so many differ-
ent “victim” groups to spend tax
money on, governments regularly
wind up with nothing to offer non-
victim voters but deficits and more
taxes. Today, however, signs of a
backlash are at last emerging. Open
talk in the U.S. about orphanages
for the offspring of teenage welfare
moms could admittedly be going a
bit far. But at least it suggests the

days of the PC bullies may be start-

ing to be numbered.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS of
Thursday, Jan. 12, to painter
Daniel izzard on the ninth
anniversary of his very successful

- heart transplant ... The same again

Friday, Jan. 13, to West Van birth-
day boy Jack Wilks.

WRIGHT OR WRONG: The
world is no worse than it ever was.
It’s just that the news coverage is
so much better.

mailbox

Teen dress code alert

Dear Editor:

Why are teenagers so appalling:
ly dressed these days?

Children have dressed in a
slovenly. fashion for years with the
girls wanting to look like boys and
the: boys, even more strangely,
wanting to look like girls.

T guess the advent of blue jeans |

saw the end of pride j in individuality
of dress. :

Now the kids all want to dress in
the same uniform.”

Which wouldn’t be so bad if they

looked neat and tidy. But where on
earth is the’ logic’ and motivation
behind teenage dress codes these
days? . :

The ° latest absurd “fashion”
three-piece; consists of a baseball
cap,. worn for reasons quite
unknown, backwards,

The second piece is a ridiculous-
ly oversized sweater obscuring the
hands and knees! - os

The third is the oversized, very,

short legged jeans.

The’ legs are two feet wide, the
pants crotch is below knee level and
they are at their best when large bits
of jeans trail along behind — fre-
quently .. accompanied — by rents
across the knees. :

| Now, why, oh why, would any-
one want to be dressed in that hilar-
ious Charlie Chaplin fashion?,

There is obviously peer group

pressure working here which makes _

me wonder how .feebly led and
influenced our children are today

whether in school, home or “hang- _

ing- out. with other look « alike!
dropouts. : :

From both rich ‘and poor back:
grounds alike do these strikingly
absurdly dressed teenagers emerge.

Why can't their parents tell them
how stupid they look?

Maybe the parents should look’
in the mirror too, I did see a nicely
dressed teenager not long ago — in’
1989.

_ Stan ‘Lee,

West Vancouver

Jalance |
abortion
cartoon |

‘Dear Editor:

' Noted cartoon: in a recent :
North Shore News whereby a”
pro-lifer is portrayed asa vio- ;
lence-prone thug: © |: .

_ [trust you will balance this

- with a.pro-choicer. decrying’:
violence and at’ the same time.
condoning the ultimate violent |
act; murdering a: defenceless.
child’ still in: its mother’s ©
womb, because it is socially
inconvenient. ; ;
Tim Evans’ aed

~ North Vancouver

: te Douy Foot
“Publisher Comptroller

985-2131 (101)

bao 6 9 THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER

“s wa 8: —
1139 Lonsdale Avenue’
North Vancouver B.C.
“oo MIM 2H4.0
North Shore Managed a

985-2131 (193)

Tiraothy Renshaw
Managing Editor
‘805-21 31 (71 6)

Operations Manager
985-2131 (141)

North Shore Newa, founded in 1969 as an
independent suburban newspaper and qualified
under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the
Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday,
Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press
Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North
Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail
Sales Product Agreement No, 0087238. Mailing
fates available’ on request. Submissions are
welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for

‘ unsolicited material inctuding manuscripts and
Pictures, which should be accompanied by a ,-
; Stamped, self-addressed envelope, .

“‘Tixt Agrios
Promotions Manager.
985-2131 (1 37)

Peter Kvarnstrom
Display Manager
980-0511 (103)

Linda Stowart
Sales & Marketing Director

980-0511 (319) |

Vaicris Stephenson
Classified Manager
$86-6222 (202)
Adminietrstion M E M B E R-
Dispiay Advertising
Real Extate Advertising
Classified Advertising
Newsroom /

Newsroom Voice Mail
Distribution 3
SDA DIVISION |
61,582 (average circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday)

Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved,