6 —- Wednesday, December 31, 1997 — North Shore News Press del HE worst thing about tech- nology is it never goes away. New ways of communication keep being discovered, but no one junks the old ones. The result — everything is repeat- ed, ad nauseam. Take, for example, an e-mail’s arrival. At the bottom, a reminder that a copy of the e-mail will be sent over the fax, so the receiver can have a hard copy of the (usually) useless information that has be turfed to trash on the computer. , Soon, the phone will ring, reveal- “ing a real live person asking if the vitally important e-mail and fax have been received and requesting that the original now in the mail be perused. _E-mail has not replaced the fax or the phone; it has just become a ee eb THE North Shore News Free Speech Defence Fund is closing in on $150,000. To press time, donations from: over 2,050 News readers and free speech supporters to the fund stood at $145,397. led thus far by the News have already Legal fees expen exceeded $200,000. All funds received will help defray the legal costs faced by the News in its battle with the Human Rights Tribunal over a complaint laid against the newspa- per and its columnist Doug Collins by the Canadian Jewish Congress. The hearing into the matter, witich began on May - 12, concluded on June 27. The decision from tribunal chairman Nitya Iyer was handed down on Nov. 12. Full coverage of the decision appeared in the Nov. 14 News. Iyer found that Collins’ column was not hateful, but also ruled that, while the legislation under which the News was prosecuted infringes upon the Charter’s guarantee of free expression, it was con- stitutionally valid. Extra copies of the News’ Free Speech Supplement, which was originally published in the Aug. 20 News, are available ac the News offices. Another excerpt from the thousands of respon- _ dents to the cause: "Keep fighting. We must throw out the Socialist (red) NDP that I didn’t vote for. Tell Doug Collins my late husband Scotty would love to vead bis articles. He was a feisty man and a ver of World War Tivo also. Good luck! Keep up the fight!” — Lillian Ammann, Port Alberni Q00 Donations to the fund can be sent to: 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4. Cheques should be made out to the North Shore News Free Speech Defence Fund. — trenshaw@direct.ca north shore aa bree Me north shore news VIEWPOINT complement to the high-tech com- munication devices. , And the Internet? For those who aren’t satisfied by the 65-channel TV universe, aimlessly surfing the world’s websites can probably kili a few hours before bedtime. Sure, the Internet, used with pur- pose and a speedy modem, can pro- vide useful information. But it’s fair to say that the num- ber of people who use the Internet for education and personal improve- inent as opposed to mindless fun can be compared with the number of viewers flipping to Masterpiece Theatre rather than Baywatch. So, a couple of resolutions. The time for the paperless home and office truly has arrived. And toss out the clutter, whatever its — your humble scribe offers two quaint 1998 pre- dictions. First, naked capital- ism will have to buy some human clothes. Second, the Internet will become a commu- nicable disease, with cures urgently needed. ~ Ruthless free market exploiters collected one Vancouver. Bad enough were the atrocious human rights records of such visiting dictators as China’s Jiang Zemin and Indonesia’s Suharto, which anti-APEC protesters successfully highlighted. Minor irritants like that, however, can always be swept under the carpet in return for a Jucrative export contract. But not so the awful economic truth thar suddenly emerged during APEC. Asia Pacitic’s greed-crazed and financial- ly naive “little tigers” — convinced that sweatshop labor and wild, undisciplined borrowing could go on making them richer forever — had wound up dead broke. Repercussions, including a 69 cent loonie, are still reverberating around the globe, and even the North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an SAL UECAUEBEES AES a § 1 ak] Ema Distribution Manager 986-1337 (124) 63,582 (average cvrculaton, Wednesday, Frectty & Sunday) sndependent suburban newspaper and quaktied under Schedise 111. Paragraph 141 ot the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday. " > Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press ‘ UG. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Conadan Publicahons Mast ‘Sales Product Agreement No. 0087238. - ~ . We Oe PETER SPECK Ose Dealiwat Publisher 985-2131 (101) 985-2131 (177) ¢ Jonathan Belt ‘teative Services Manager 985-2131 (127) Terry Photography Manager 985-2131 ($60) IN the spirit of the Luddites — those negative-thinking 19th Century vandals scorned by all purple-blooded free marketers huge black eye last November at what was billed co be one of their glittering showcases — the APEC summit in International Monetary Fund may not Human Resoutoes Manager Classified Manager 986-6222 (202) Entire contents © 1997 North Shore Free Press Ltd. Ali rights reserved. CONCERN OVER THE RECENT STATE OF CANADIAN AIR TRAVEL CAUSES ED To SELECT A SAFER ALTERNATIVE 4 Capitalists, surfers beware ’98! have enough billions to bail out Korea, Thailand and their fellow delinquents. The lesson for free marketers is sim- ple. Borrowing far more than you’re worth to finance over-production for markets unable or unwilling to buy all your goods is the road to ruin. In short, the free mar- ket today involves a human factor, to be ignored at your peril. Call the solution “cap- italism with’a con- science” — with a duty to serve society, not just sel! to it, that’s becoming as vital for survival as the obligation to shareholders. From 1998 onward you'll hear more and more of that thinking. Meanwhile, the millions flocking to the Internet — simply because, like Mr. Everest for climbers, “it’s there” — have spawned a new medical term: “Dataholics.” The electronic acquisition of information for no specific purpose is fast becoming the addictive drug of the late 1990s. Glued to che Screen: An investiga- tion into information addiction world- wide is the title of a recent Reuters sur- vey of 1,000 international business peo- ple in the US, Britain, Ireland, Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong. Ir found 53% admitted co a drug-like craving ror information and 54% said they got a “high” when they found it on the Net. At the same time, they often felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available, and worried about their kids becoming info-junkies too. We're not talking here about pur- poseful searching for specific informa- tion the searcher actually needs. For that, as any business or professional type in particular will tell you, the Internet is invaluable. No, we’re talking here about tying up the phone lines with mindless “surf- ing” for hours on end simply to explore what’s there — electronic shopping, sports records, virtual dating, satanism, bomb-making instructions, kiddy porn, you-namc-it. It’s a disease beginning.to affect both workplace productivity and home life, just as surely as alcoholism or hero- in. With ever more peaple coming on- line, the problem can only get worse. So look for “dataholism” treatment clinics, even maybe the search for a vaccine, to start next year, : Meanwhile, of course, if you’re not yet cither a naked capitalist or a hope-' lessly addicted cyber-junkie, enjoy a very happy, human, disease-free 1998! ees HAPPY 66TH birthday wishes today, Dec. 31, to CKNW’s Rafe Mair... Double the same Friday, Jan. 2, to Progressive Democratic Alliance leader Gordon Wilson and his TV show spouse Judi Tyabji ... And many happy returns of Saturday, Jan. 3, to retired columnist Himie Koshevoy. . eee WRIGHT OR WRONG: Again to all * our readers, my favorite Dec. 31 toast: May the very best ¢! your old year be the very worst of your New Year. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters must include your name, tull address & telephone number. VIA e-mail; trenshaw @ direct.ca Goug Fost Timethy Renshaw Comptrotier Managing Editor 9uS-2131 (133) 985-2131 (116) grins Oisplay Manages Promotions Manager 985-2131 (218) 980-0511 (166) Michael Becker - News Editor 985-2139 (114) 985-2131 (105) Andrew McCredie - Sports/Community Editor internet- http/www.nsnews.com 985-2134 (147)