Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 27, 1995, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press May editorials editor John 6977044 tardy action the United nations decided to do something about serbian aggression in this it or dered air strikes by nato warplanes against serb positions in Pale in retaliation for a relentless barrage of Sarajevo by the it was too Little and too a familiar Story in the whatever else they May the various leaders of the serbs in the former Yugoslavia Are not the the United Western of these players in the Balkans conflict have proved themselves time and again to be ineffectual and at the very when Yugoslavia collapsed and the fighting there was an Opportunity to Stop eur whose natural responsibility it refused to the United nations took too Long to mobilize and the United states was not the re sult is the recurring tragedy that we have seen unfold Over the last three the renewed attack on Sarajevo was Only part of a resurgent aggression by the serbs in the it was allowed to go on too in Mil itary commanders asked for a nato response More than a week but were overruled by in civil Ian i there were air a response in which the United nations took an in ordinate amount of the serbs recognized it for what it a and once again thumbed their noses at the world and increased their attacks not Only on their enemies in the Balkans but also on the in Force it two things Are Clear from one is that the serbs have correctly read the International they can go about their bloody business As they with Only a minimal inconvenience from International the second is that the International the United Western Europe and the United the Only players who can Hope to influence the course of events in the a major Deci Sion to there is no peace to keep in the there is no party to the Balkans conflict that even wants any peace unless it comes with the United nations can continue to maintain its ineffectual presence in with its among killed for no purpose or it can withdraw or it can intervene in strength to impose a there is no Point to the first there is shame attached to the second and no one in the West has the stomach for the unless the West can find the and Brace itself to pay the then we should simply Bear the shame and leave the bal kans to its own it would not be the first time we have averted our eyes from talking nonsense How Many Doc sey Reinsons can dance on the head of a pin or should it be How Many Doc Severinson can play trumpet on the head of a pin and if no one hears did it really happen in most quarters such questions Are quickly recognized and dismissed As philosophical but it would at City the deep thinkers on a sub committee led by councillor Al Golden Are confounding pragmatic policy by talking philosophical City policy exempts Norfo profit cultural groups from amusement giving them a 10percent Edge on out of town it worked Fine until local promoters decided to pass off out of town shows As at that Golden decided to Call into question the definition of Norfo profit in doing so he managed to Muddy the policy to the Point where Winnipeg Harvest fundraisers Are no longer and the Winnipeg sym phony orchestra must charge tax when american band Leader Doc Severinson joins 67 local musicians in a performance this faced with such councillors Are not doing the the process of deciding exemptions that worked Well for a they Are considering the elimination of local they argue that rather than have and hoc decisions about what constitutes a tax exempt local they should All be of this will affect the Bottom lines of local to soften the councillors Are advocating that the Winnipeg arts advisory Council be Given on a Case by Case to make tax re Bates to local productions from taxes collected at their this is it fails to address the Issue of and and at the same time introduces a new level of Bureau Cracy to which arts groups will have to go Cap in councillors should not be creating such re storing the old policy removes the if wily promoters Are creating Deal with them in Isola failing give All entertainment seekers the same break bestowed on jets the tax and find the million Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1672 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Rudy Duncan Mcmonagle executive editor John Dafoe editorial Page editor directors Verne Kalichuk human resources Stephan Majorki operations Perry Glenn q1995 Winnipeg free a division of newspapers division of Thomson newspapers company limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm 6977000 a member of the Manitoba press Council in its business As human ri6hts Strong men moved to tears the emotional Strain of the past few weeks has taken a heavy toll and the by All is not Over the rollercoaster ride that left sports fans gasping and sobbing appears to have the cruel bar gaining process that brought hard headed businessmen to the Point of mental collapse has become so com plex and convoluted that Relief has been expressed that windows on the upper floors of Lombard place do not open and that there Are no ledges for rattled tycoons to leap tiny tots who handed Over the con tents of their Piggy Banks now feverishly wonder if they might have to Pawn their Barbie dolls to help make up those missing millions or even heaven forbid forego that trip to Mommy and daddy not that please sports writers who feared that they might never see new York again Are feeling slightly but nagging doubts what if the Deal Falls apart what if Barry and Izzy have a falling out what if after hint ing that negotiations Are going secretly Sells the team to a billionaire Brewer in Paducah who announces that the teams name will be changed to the Dukes of what if the mayor and their crying jag Over at suddenly real Christopher Dafoe ize that they still Haven seen a Busi Ness plan that Council meeting with the cheering fans in the stands is Only a fuzzy memory now and Many participants who voted in a Pink glow of enthusiasm or terror Are trying to re member How Many millions they really agreed to was there something about supplying free Beer until the year 2020 or did the mayor Volunteer to put on skates and take Over As goalie for the 199596 season there is Tor ment and confusion in the corridors of City Hall As civic politicians try to re member what they agreed what about the Premier with the election Over and won it was easy enough to offer the the stars and possibly the head of Carl Ridd on a Sil ver but How will it play in Swan River perhaps a single vat in the mens washroom at the new Arena would make them no what about a statue of Bobby Hull on the grounds of the legislature Louis Riel on skates what if the Earnest men and women of thin ice conclude argument having the time has come to Start shooting what if Peter Warren gets arrested for Jay walking at the Corner of por Tage and main will the fans come to his Rescue before he is run Over by a truck what if the jets when All the wailing and garment ending that season ticket sales still stall around the Mark and half the super boxes go even with the complimentary King size Beds and free cookies what if the local papers and to news departments have to return to covering real news in the present emotional anything is possible and Winnipeg sports fans Are fortunate that sports psychologists Are standing by to offer Aid and Comfort during this try ing there is general agreement among i am that the bewilderment that prevails at the present time among Winnipeg sports fans can be attributed to the fact that fans were forced to run the Gamut of emotion from anger and denial to jubilation and Giddy Joy and then Al most without to fear and this could be Seri without it is Large portions of the population Are Likely to go round the Bend and straight Down the Road to cuckoo sports Are not of one mind about How to Deal with the one school of thought holds that the feel Good Factor is of prime they Point feel that the decision to spend millions of dollars of Public Money on a hockey rink indicates that they feel Good about the future of the this is a wonderful thing and Citi Zens would exude even More Confidence and be even More upbeat if even More Money could be say two or three Hundred the More Money we the greater the feel ing of being world another group of sports psychologists feels that the feel Good Factor has been they plump for what they Call the father figure fac they Point feel con fused and worried about All the Money that is being spent on what when All is said and Mere frivolity and a Strong father figure possibly a solid businessman in a suit is needed to Tell worried citizens that everything is that the Deal is doable and that they have nothing to worry at one Point it seemed that Israel Asper would fill this but then he seemed to fade most members of the Mec group hardly fill the the mayor is doing her but she tends to be More the Earth Mother these Are the times that try mens no wonder Strong men Are moved to we Are More than a hockey team the Arena and the Winnipeg jets May have brought notice of the City to sports fans All Over the but in the Long run of his tory these May be fleeting it is in the Field of letters and the arts that Manitoba is making its name known in libraries throughout the the Winnipeg Story that caught the attention recently of the new York times was not on the it was a big spread in the living arts Section on Winnipeg author Carol there must be something in the air in our wide open our our wilderness and the unusual mix of peo ple nourishing a Rich tapestry of Cul the North end of where 1 was has achieved a reputation As an Artesian Well of Talent and artistry and the search for a system for the betterment of the preeminence May have been exaggerated in the folklore Over the but immigrants before the first world War and inspired by free Dom Here and the experience of oppression in countries of their sought new horizons in a ferment of ideas and idealism among social organizations that May not have been equated from that Era sprang two North end children who Are the subject of this one a poet and the other a both of whom have achieved excellence in their a Book of poems by Ruth Daigon Nee cookie Popeski has just been published with appealing cover Art by Wulliam both were close childhood friends in Chaiken went to new York after the second world War to continue his stud ies after a Fine grounding under the renowned local artist Fitzgerald at the Winnipeg school of his paintings have been widely exhibited and his work As a Painter of de Val Werier Cor has been sought for Broadway the and the metropolitan Daigon began her artistic career As a concert Soprano and in Canada she performed with major symphonies and the went to the where she was a Soprano with new York pro Musica and recorded for Columbia rec her reputation was such that she was chosen to sing at the funeral of the celebrated poet Dylan an amazing Story is that in midlife she herself became a poet and on a Stan Dard of her achievements As a she collaborated with the famous English to record re Naissance poetry and music for Colum Bia Daigon is founder and editor of poets a Magazine now in its 18th and she herself has been widely published and says Daigon there is an absolute connection Between singing and both she Are concerned with inflection and Tim says Daigon in no Pollyanna but i do try to look for the possibility in i revel in my roles of mate Ruth Daigon North end roots nourished great and Mother but i also understand the pain of growing growing the loss of family and other inevitable end her new Between one future and the published by Papierman Che is available in some local Book she draws on her Early life growing up in Winnipeg North which she Calls a mosaic of european she writes of her her father a of the Snow poppy seed a typical Manitoba Railroad Berry picking in of childhood Days swimming at the Beach when her parents had a cottage in but she writes on a much broader an Apt metaphor for her she writes As a scribbler of i appreciate her Economy of language but with a breadth of images and this is one poem titled what More in a pause one future and the we enter stepping and move through like a weather turning on its like a Bird in Sud Den we explore a Stream of a Day of passing consenting Light a with silence of its and if the wind is we lift our Chaiken and Daigon had not seen each other for 40 years until a Mutual Friend sent her an announcement of an exhibition he was having in new she wrote to the gallery from her Home in Mill California and got in touch with later Daigon asked if he would consider de signing a cover for her new his a wading is a dreamy scene enclosed by a vision of life and it turned out that my painting perfectly complemented her Chaiken wrote to me when i asked for some is this our Winni Peg heritage he ;