4 - Sunday, October 13, 1991~- North Shore News Watch as history comes pouring down upon us IN A one-week period that saw Canada’s constitutional debate overshadowed by George Bush’s offer to chop American nuclear forces, standing down the B-52s from their round-the-clock state of airborne aleri, followed by Mikhail Gorbachev’s announcement of the elimination of Soviet battlefield nuclear arms and the de-fanging of Soviet surface ships and nuclear submarines, with a unilateral one-year moratorium on testing thrown in to boot, history came pouring down on us. It was probably the most “‘his- toric’® week since the end of the Second World War, which was, after all, the beginning of the most dangerous phase ever, in planetary affairs. 1 am amazed how calmly people have reacted to the nuclear stand-down, how quickly we are back to fuming about the GST. In fact, an enormous black cloud hovering over our future has lifted just enough to let in several rays of realistic hope. Not since my first memories, which begin shortly after the end of the war, has there been a time when the world was less likely to be destroyed by atomic weapons. During my teenage period — the "50s — it was almost a given that everything was going to go up in a mushroom cloud sooner or later. The first story I ever had published was in a high school year book. It described a kid who was the last survivor after an A- bomb had flattened Winnipeg. Winnipeg! Yes, even in Win- nipeg we figured we were going to get it. We had drills at school, where we'd march out into the yard and stand in rows, listening to the eerie wailing of actual air- raid sirens. In the historic coniext, ] can’t think of a previous point in time when great contending imperial powers backed down from an ultimate confrontation. Whether motivated by some sort of territorial imperative or a lust for dominance, or simple banditry, sooner or later the dig guys had to siug it out, until only one tiger remained on the hill. The slugging-it-out always i in- volved the biggest armies and highest-tech weapons. Whether it was at Waterloo or the Plains of Bob Hunter STRICTLY PERSONAL Abraham or Gettysburg, one side had to thrash the other before the other side would give up. For “‘thrash,”’ read: slaughter the other guys. Use whatever you can get your hands on to do it. The more hideows and brutal the weapon, the better. The Cold War was many things: a war fought by proxies, an ecc- nomic war, a missile arm-wrestle, a global Mexican nuclear stand- off, an apprehended Armageddon, an eyeball-to-radar staring contest with neither side blinking. Until Cuba, I guess. In October of 1962, 1 happened to be on a Yugoslavian freighter bound from Montreal to Genoa with a planned stop at Havana along the way. We never reached Havana, tur- ning aside in the face of the American blockade. But £ didn’t find out about it until a month later, in Rome, reading an old Time magazine. One could argue that the Cuban missile crisis was the critical turn- ing-point, and that the cutbacks in nuclear weapons that we see being pledged today were the more-or- less inevitable result. Somewhere in the Kremlin, sanity prevailed back then. The Americans, it was clear, were even crazier than the Communists. Jack Kennedy was ready to play Sam- son with the whole temple of ear- thly life. Having been out of touch with the world during that particu‘arly excruciating moment in time, even though I was physically closer to the action than possibly any other Canadian, it wasn’t untii 2 couple of years jater that 1 got my first chance to see the reality of nuclear brinkmanship for myself. As a reporter, I got to go ona tour of NORAD missile bases in North and South Dakota. These were the famous silos, with the red buttons each guarded by two soldiers standing 30 or 40 feet apart, eyes fixed on each other, rifles ready to fire should the other man make an unauthorized move toward the button. All it would take was that button veing touched, and a Nike ICBM would be rocketing nor- thward. That’s also when I saw with my own eyes the B-52s Jumbering darkly, like mighty pregnant geese, bellics swollen with tons of hydrogen bonibs, into the sky, an endless stream of them coming in and lifting off. Dr. Strangelove was alive, and all the worst paranoia one could imagine about how thin the hair- trigger was that separated human- ity from a colossal wipe-out, was just the way things really were. If you weren’t paranoid, you were nuts. That was then. Today, the B- 52s have settled down on the tar- macs across America, no longer flapping their dark deadly wings. Let out a long sigh of reiief. It'll take some getting used to — the idea of a future for life on Earth. And congratulations all around, just for having survived the Cold War. Somebody should do a T-shirt, at least. SHOPPING HOURS ... SHOP ON MONDAY October 14th THANKSGIVING DAY NOON to 5:00 pm PARK ROYAL SHOP PANG cenrTrtTRe Somuch.Soclose. Across from St. Paul's Hospital (Burrard at Davie St.) Dr. Ziva Sumbealova-Kikuchi Dentist is pleased to announce the opening of her new Dental Clinic in the Professional Building across from St. Paul’s Hospital New Patients are welcome, evening and Saturday appointments available. : Tel: 687- 708 _ | #602-1200 Burrard St. DANIEL JARVIS NORTH VANCOUVER. SEYMOUR. IiBERAL The Best Alternative in 4994 — has lived and worked in North Vancouver for over 30 years — will help return honesty ond integrity to government in BC! — believes in quality health care! — believes education should be a priority! — will be accountable to you! ELECT DANIEL JARVIS 4 Individual initiative and a fundamental disposition for reform are among the bases of Liberalism. “Throughout its history, the Liberal Party has always been the party of reform. And in the 1990s I believe we have the opportunity to rebuild on that reform tradition. “British Columbians specifically want reform of not only our democratic institutions to make them more accountable, but also reater attention must e given to fiscal reform, reduction of taxes and control cf the growing . $6 billion provincial debt. “I will work to achieve these goals. And as a Liberal, voters can expect me to approach these issues with a hard head and a soft heart. “The Liberal Party offers an alternative to hard-hearted Socred and soft-headed NDP policies. 99 LIBERAL West Vancouver - Garibaldi __ Suppert a Candidate Who Cares — 922-7430