A4 - Wednesday, December 14, 1983 - North Shore News

Strictly personal

took advantage of him.

In case you missed the
news item, a couple of
American scientists have
come up with the theory that
Goliath, the giant of Biblical
fame, in fact may have suf-
fered from a rare and cruel
disease called multiple en-
docrine neoplasia which
made him huge but also in-
credibly feeble.

To add to his disadvan-
tages, he probably had poor
eyesight and low blood sugar
which mean that a single
stone from a slingshot could
easily have smashed through
his skull because the bone
was basically as porous as
cheese.

Now I’ve got nothing
against truth prevailing over
fiction, but there’s a problem
here.

The idea of a little guy,
David, winning out over the
mighty giant, is a basic ingre-

by Bob Hunter

Pity poor Goliath

I’M DEEPLY DISTURBED by the discovery that
Gohath was handicapped and that David merely

dient of Western culture, of
our value system itself. I
mean, we're always on
David’s side, aren’t we? Slay-
ing giants was one of the few
acts of violence that up until
now was still considered
Okay.

If it turns out that giantism
is really a handicap, then
David should have been help-
ing Goliath across the valley
rather than.tossing rocks at
him.

Taking this one step fur-
ther, it’s clear now, with
historical hindsight, that
David ought to have been ar-
rested for cruelty while
Goliath should have been get-
ting a rehabilitation
allowance.

_ | guess we’re going to have
to change our prejudices. Pll
have to tell my sons to be sure
to only pick on someone
smaller than themselves. And

the world

outside...

VICTORIA — The pro-
vincial government is ex-
pected to come out swing-
ing against a new federal
Health Act that could see
grants to the province cut
by $35 million.

That would be the
penalty for B.C.’s deci-
sion to charge user fees
for medical services,
something the act is out to

OFTAWA — The
Auditor Gencral’s report
for 1983 says poor govern
ment book-keeping prac
tices are hiding the actual
size Of the federal govern
ment's deficit

According to) Kenneth
Dye’s report, the govern
ment’s spending shorttali
is at Icast $30 3 bithon and

BEIRUT Both Israch
and United States war
ships shelled positions in
tbebanon Tucsday bath
apparently ino retahation
fos cashes attacks

Two United States ships
laid down a barrage of
Syrtan) posiuons in the
mountains acar Beirut.

$35 million
cost to B.C.

A.G. Dye hits
fed spending

Warships fire
on Lebanon

stop.

The penalty would
work out to $1 penalty for
each dollar charges. The
provincial government in-
creased charges hospital
users face to $8 a visit for
day care surgical services,
$10 a visit for emergency
services and $8.50 a day

for an acute care hospital
bed.

not the $25 billion claimed
by government. The coun.
tries accumulated deficit,
he added, is about $183
billion and not the $160
bilhon the government
contends

Dye also attacked the
spending of Crown Cor
porations, which do not
come under the scrutiny
of Parliament

with the firing beginning
jess than 10 minutes after
a French paratrooper was
killed in a Bearul ambush

Israch gunboats, mcan
while directed fire at PLO
positions south of the city
of Trpot, where PLO
chicf Yassar Arafat is
fightung rebel factions of
his movement

whenever I see a twerp bully-
ing some poor titan, I'l be
careful not to make any pre-
judgements.

Think of the political im-
plications, especially here in
Canada. Obviously, Cana-
dians should be able to relate
to feeble old Goliath. We live
in a truly gigantic country.
One might even call it Brob-
dingnagian. Yet we are so
feeble that Joe Clarke’s chin
became a metaphor for the
Canadian psyche.

If we were to somehow
challenge a ‘‘little’’ nation to
a duel — and, after all, barr-
ing Russia, all other nations
on the planet are ‘‘little’’
relative to the Canadian
Goliath — we’d be down on
the ground with a hole in our
porous forehead in seconds
flat, wouldn’t we?

1 wonder if some kind of
universal truth isn’t being
revealed here for all to see.
After all, when the Spanish

Armada went down in
flames, it was due to an at-
tack by little boats. From the
romantic standpoint, it is an
article of faith that small is
beautiful. Yet it is also an ar-
ticle of military doctrine that
might is right.

In view of the new ideas
about Goliath’s sad plight,
should generals and readers
of Harlequin novels alike
change their opinions?
Should they perhaps begin to
feel sorry for Americans and
Russians because, after all,
both species are afflicted with
the Goliath Syndrome and
are liable to be struck down
any day by a passing banana
republic?

Life, you may have notic-
ed, is largely what you think
you see. Little David, with
his early Exocet missile, serv-
ed for millenia as a symbol of
the triumph of the non-entity
over the high-profile super-
hero.

Now that we realize David
was probably just a punk
who trashed a_ helpless
medical basket case, we are
going to have to review our
attitudes toward the behavior
of little people.

It is not going to be easy. |
mean, if you can’t even pick
on giants, who can you pick
on? Is nothing unsacred?

W. Van closer
to utility fees

UTILITY FEES in West
Vancouver moved one step
closer to becoming a reality
Monday as bylaws dealing
with sanitary sewer fees and
waste disposal fees were each
given three readings by
Council.

According to reports
prepared by West Vancouver
municipal staff, the costs of
operating and maintaining
the sewer system in 1984 are
projected at $700,900.
Estimates for garbage pickup
in 1984 have been established
at $59 per household, with
10,136 households being ser-
viced. The Director of Opera-
tions Don Walker told
Council Monday that under
the sanitary sewer scheme, all
property owners would pay
for the construction of the
facilities (trunk mains, Ueat-
ment plant, ctc.) while the
operating and maintenance
costs of the system would be
handled by the system’s indi-

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vidual users.

With regard to the waste
disposal scheme, it was sug-
gested Monday that a utility
fee would, instead of handing
the taxpayer an_ increase,
result in a benefit that would
enable the taxpayers to pay a
portion of their taxes in in-
stallments, while the
municipality would be
prevented from having to
borrow funds ‘‘prior to
receipt of tax revenue.’’ In
addition, strata apartments
would no longer be ‘‘sub-
sidized,’’ but would be charg-
ed the same fees as those per-
sons living in single family
dwellings.

**The burden will be taken
off the taxes,’’ said Alder-
man Diane Hutchinson.

CHAIR REPAIRS

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