The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

‘Ian Oliver Publisher Robert Glubcy Advertising Director Norman Alexander Editor - Geoff mu Cinculaflon Doector .1 Tel-l Cuu Oflice Manager Tim Coleo Production Manager Norma and Dave King know all about the impact drunk drivers have on families. Their son and daughter-in-law were killed four years ago by an impaired driver Dave heads up the Halton chapter of MADD and that group has taken the lead in promoting the rights of those who drive responsibly. And mad is an apt description of those who back a group of the same name, MADD or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. They are a group of people who have, in some way or another, been affected by drunk drivers. Most have lost wives, children or other loved ones in traffic accidents involving drunk drivers. To further their efiorts to fight drunk driving, they have raised $2,500 to pay for an expanded RIDE or Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere program enforced by Halton Regional Police officers. The program is unique in Canada. Like most police services, Halton's police cannot mount the number of road- side spot checks they would like to see conducted. But this money will see sev- eral other checks made throughout the year in the hope of reducing impaired driving and just as importantly, spreading the word that drinking and driving can kill. Police will be passing out special keychains with that message this weekend when they launch their first special RIDE campaign funded by Halton's MADD chapter. ling they have little or no control over 'the system' whether it be legal, political or social, groups of people are banding together to try and accomplish what government and its agencies won't dare tackle. Countless such groups have sprung up over the country in the past few years in an attempt to tell those who control the lives of average tax paying, law-abiding citizens, that they're mad as hell and they're not going to take it any more. The group deserves the community's support in this most worthwhile of Bad timing Now, as prime minister, Campbell has cut seven machines from the order, saving the taxpayer upwards of $l-billion over the contract period. Critics of the initial purchase point out that the helicopters are not needed...pen'od. Their function was mainly to hunt Soviet submarines from ships that are unable to house the helicopters. It's another classic example of throwing money at the military for equipment they don't need. What the Armed Forces do need is equipment for their roles as peace keepers, rescue specialists and teams to aid Canada and other nations in natu- ral disasters. defence minister and now as prime minister. In the ministerial capacity, it was Campbell who authorized the purchase of 50 helicopters for $2.8-billion over the next 13 years. The Canadian Armed Forces deserve better than Kim Campbell, first as In perpetuating the use of the Armed Forces as a political football, Campbell has shown her new politics tobe more of the same old stuff. Nice try Kim. Both Canada and our military deserve better. Do you think euthanasia should be legal in some circumstances? Yes, I believe in some circumstances it should be legal and available from a medical practitioner in situations or circumstances where people who are terminally ill or who have made living wills and have deteriorated beyond the ability to make a choice themselves. J Kinnunen NEE NN O I think euthanasia should be legal in some circumstances such as terminal cancer or Lou Gherig's disease. I don't think people should have to go to court to get their rights. John Pittman .‘OPHVI ON a W ' They're MADD EDITORIAL CALL845-5585 467Spe ers Road, Oakville, Ont. L6K SS4 845-3824 Fax: 845-3085 Classified Advertising: 845-2809 Circulation: 845-9742 or 845-9743 AKVILLE BEAVER I chum-um mm mmmmamn'd: -Pum‘ News Mvmheranm Mum. Barman mam. Bugabn Comm Comodbn. m m. Impound! Aux: Fm: Press. W This W911. Liam“. Wad. Markham WwSun Sbuflvlloluxbrldgo Trbuno. Can-film . News. W~Nm WHEMMMW. Mlmwhflmmhwmn' nu mummwuemhpmunumwugmbma luuasnon‘or' THEWEEKI Which political leaders should be included in any deb ate during the coming federal election campaign? Give us your opinion on this topic by calling 845-5585, box 5012. All callers are allowed 45 seconds to respond and must provide their name, address and phone number for verifica- tion. A sampling of the best answers will be published in the next Weekend edi- tion of the Oakville Beaver. Take, for instance, the case of Eugene “Butch” Flenough, Jr. of Austin, Texas. Eugene, down to his last five bucks, decided to knock over a pizza joint late one evening. Cleverly enough; Eugene reasoned that The best laid plans of crooks fail due to their own stupidity Still, break the law we do. Some of us at any rate. And it is the inept and ham-handed ways in which we break the law that offer if nothing more, some comic relief for the rest of the Great Unwashed that continue to plod the Straight and Narrow. , A chap _by the name of Ted Allen wrote the above. I think Mister Allen had his thumb squarely on one of the elusive characteristics of crime: it’s chameleon-like ability to pass itself off as something else. When you think about it, it’s really rather remarkable that so many people take up a life of crime, considering there are so many legal ways to be dishon- est. We live in a time when political hacks who have weasled their way into a Senate appointment, cynically vote themselves a massive pay raise smack in the face of a reces- sion-ravaged populace. We live in a time when a roundly reviled departing Prime Minister cynically attempts to sell his used furniture back to the very people who paid for it in the first place. If you can get away with scams like that legally â€" who needs to break the law? s it a bigger crime to rob a bank or to open one? Imagine Eugene’s surprise when the Texas Rangers were practically at his door to greet him when he got home. The Rangers told him he had been positively identified by several staff members. Impossible, thought Eugene. How could anyone identify me when I was wearing my motorcycle helmet with the tinted visor? He was wearing a mast â€" which, cleverly enough, did not have his name stencilled on it. Wakefield threw the bag at a teller, and told her to fill it with folding money. She did. Wakefield fled. So far, so good - for Wakefield at any rate. since there were several mem- bers of the staff still on the premises, it might be a good idea to conceal his identity. Accordingly, he donned his motorcycle helmet, complete with tinted visor, burst through the door, ordered everybody up against the wall, cleaned out the till, and fled. And so he was â€" the one with “Eugene ‘Butch’ Flenough, Jr.” neatly stencilled across the front. Eugene was plain dub. Daniel Wakefield was Dumb Squared. Wakefield walked into a bank in Pretoria, South Africa last year with a gun in one hand and a canvas bag in the other. Fortunately, 13 of the hostages managed to escape on their own. How? They asked Saunders â€" one at a time â€" for permission to go and get a drink of water. They never returned. Saunders eventually surrendered to police. But 50 minutes later, a bare- faced Dan shows up in the same bank. “He was still wear- ing the same clothes and carry- ing the same bag,” testified one of the tellers. “We all recog- nized him the minute he walked in, and we called the police.” By the time Wakefield arrived at the teller’s wicket, detectives were sidling up to him from every quarter of the compass. Blithely, Wakefield emptied the $4,212 he’d stolen on the counter and chirped, “I’d like to open an account." How come I never get to play poker with guys like Saunders? Dumb â€" but not dumb enough to hold a dunce cap to William Saunders of New York. In February, Saunders stormed into an office of AT T in Manhattan, armed to the teeth, and threatening mayhem. He took 14 hostages. Police cordoned off the building. SWAT units slipped into posi- tion on rooftops and in adja- cent offices. Say goodnight, Mister Wakefield. People lament about the rise in crime. I say Thank the Gods for Dumb Crooks. Imagine the shape we’d be in if they were as wily as our politicians.