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p 6 skimm w i m 998 vs st saturday may 16 1998 vol 14 no20 the tribune is a member of the ontario press council the tribune comment op imons 905 640t2100 fax- 905 6405477 email thetribistarca- ihi ae editorial self defence an art for oil companies it would be nice to believe that thursdays announcement that the province has appointed a gang of gas busters to keep an eye on fluctuating gas prices will have the oil com panies quaking in their boots somehow though we doubt thats the case oil companies and banks are the easiest targets going for politicians or journalists looking to cull public sympathy arid support v the oil companies are also pretty good at defending themselves just the mere hint pf criticism or heaven forbid the men tion of the word collusion when it comes to gas prices in canada and one will be buried under a mountain of press releases and studies from the oil industry the petroleum communication foundation is one of the major lobby groups for the oil companies and it has stacks of data which prove beyond a doubt that price fixing is not happening in canada all of the data makes sense when we adjust for inflation and provincial taxes gas prices are the same or lower than 40 years ago we are told however its hard to shake the feeling that something strange happens at canadian gas pumps during the sum mer sure its not a conspiracy but its one heck of a coinci dence- v airwaves reach point of celtic overload may the god of the tundra forgive me may the frigid furies who guard the spirit of the 3reat white north have mercy on my soul i am about to utter the i starkest of canadian heresies here it is ive heard enough of stan rogers there i said it not that i dont admire the man he was a fine writer of songs with a won- derful ringing voice and a mesmerizing presence in concert not to mention on cassette lp and cd its just that iveheard enough of him for a while and that goes for the barra macleans the rankins the irish rovers most of sarah mcglaughlin -r- for any musical group within ten feet of a fiddle a bodhran or a penny whistle its celtic overload that im suffering from every time i turn on the radio i hear celtic music id like just for a while to hear some thing anything else and before you accuse me of petty nationalism or outright racism allow me to present my own impeccably plaid celtic credentials the name is black i hail from the heatherclad hills and misty lochs of clan gregor as my uncle iaiari so inele gantly put it years ago fear not my boy you come from a long lowland line of porridgeeaters deer poachers and sheepmolesters- celtic its certainly a venerable word the first references appeared in ancient greek and roman times when the word was used to describe the bar barian hordes of what would one day become western europe basic black arthur black juliuscaesar refined the term usingit to refer specifically to the barbarian hordes of middle gaul in other words much of what became modern- day france arid germany somehow in the intervening two mil lennia the term came to describe the bar barian hordes who spoke a guttural fam ily of languages including welsh gaelic and breton and theres at least one expert who thinks the whole notion of celtishness bagpipes shillelaghs tartans and lep rechauns is a crock as flat as a pint tribune headline shameful dear editor arent you ashamed to put killer dog of a child as head lines evon enckevort leash law needed dear editor re letter to the editor intelligent owners keep dogs on leash written by mrs r dioz i could not agree with her more i heard of the recent move by the town to restrict number of dog licenses given per householdit does not strikes me as an effective measure to control irresponsible owners and their dogs it only takes one dog to injure and kill heaven forbid people and damage property it is not three dogs on leash but one loose dog which can give an entire dog owners community a bad name v i have one neighbour who always walks her dog without a leash unfortunately it now becomes the dogs routine to run into my backyard and eliminate itself right at my doorstep the letters owner never cleans up after the dog nor does she care what the dog is doing in other peoples property one day the dog attacked my cat which was peacefully sit ting in my backyard i finally told her to keep her dog on a leash but she pretended as if she heard nothing yes i still have to keep on picking up after her dog in my observation people who keep their dog on a leash seem alrfiost always stoop and scoop it is very hard to deny own ership of dropping when it comes out from the other end of leash on the other hand those that let their dogs run around have a tendency of leaving a biohazard on the street comer and your doorstep when i lived in a town which has a leash law i never exper riericed a dog problem nor heard of a dog attack what stbuf- fville actually heed is not a restriction of dog licenses but a plain old leash law mrsehaii stoufiville of dayold guinness simon james an archeologist at durham university in england main tains that use of the label celtic is his torically unfounded he says it was part of a very simple and attractive picture that bur ancestors invented for them selves pleasant but essentially bogus james claims weve put the cart before the horse that weve created a mythical celtic culture and romantically superim posed it onto what he maintains were essentially mere fringe communities of ancient britons 7 and im sure i dont need to tell you that professor james has to be very care ful which pub he chooses to have a pint in i dont know whether james is on to something or not but i do know that anyone archeologist or barfly wants to think very carefully before telling celts that theyre a crock anyone archeologist or barfly attacks any cultures identity at their peril this is a lesson that ralph benmergui knows far better than i do you know ralph the guy who host ed the hapless friday night cbc tv show afew years back the critics roast ed poor ralph unmercifully finally he bailed from the friday night slot in a hail of bad reviews and slim ratings but hes still with the cbc nowadays ralph fronts a daytime talk show on the tube recently the topic for discussion was celtic music enough already apparently not the phone lines lit up the studio audience hissed and ralph was forced to retreat once again last week on the show ralph was apologiz ing all over the place and rightly so the celts have a long history of honourable behaviour benmurguithats a highland scots clan isnt it stouffville tribune weekender ian proudfoot publisher alvin brouwer general manager andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra weller i director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us v v 18007433353 h wgmss wmmr 9056405477 -titeftlhriarci- 6244 main st 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