Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 5, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winn pfc fikh Dick brr 2000 editorials Freedom of Trade Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights Chile plays with fire Chiles decision to strip former dictator Augusto Pinochet of the immunity granted him when he stepped Down a decade ago threatens the stability of the democracy that the Promise of immunity made last a chilean judge used technicalities in the immunity Law to Rule that Pinochet could be charged with murders and kidnappings that occurred while he was this is hailed by some As a Victory for human but it seems More Likely to make the Progress of human rights in the rest of the worlds lingering dictator More the peaceful Transi Tion from dictatorship to democracy in Chile was enabled by the under standing that Pinochet would face no the rever Sal of that immunity from the Spanish where a Spanish prosecutor brought charges against Pinochet under International Law while the general was visiting British courts accepted the Princi but ultimately ruled the general was unfit to stand trial and he was sent International sup port for the unprecedented appears to have encouraged his enemies at Home to pursue the it is difficult to see How this will Advance the cause of human rights in Chile it creates a dangerous in Chiles Mili tary agreed to reveal the Fate and the whereabouts of the thousands of people who disappeared under the Pinochet in return for anonymity that would protect them from that Promise seems empty and this week the generals reacted in anger to what they regarded As the betrayal of the Promise originally made to this has sadly compromised the mood which it has taken so much Effort to said Ricardo As he reluctantly agreed that the army would take no action until further talks could take place this i the Spanish in has accomplished Little of Pinochet himself is unlikely to live to see the end of the whatever sort of Justice May result from aging anti Pinochet leftists in the West can feel some but opposed to that accomplishment is the new threat to chilean democracy that this Issue has and the advice it gives to dictators elsewhere to hang on at whatever Cost to human or to human Benefit to whom the Federal government in 1995 changed the rules governing employment insurance benefits paid to parents of the parental benefits now kick in immediately upon the birth of the child and end after 52 these benefits kicked in once the child arrived the change was made to give parents More time with their child at the Hospital parents of some babies born disabled and requiring Long Hospital stays have found that the new rules reduce the amount of time they can spend with their babies once they come this Sid effect has been chalked up to Over if the mistake should be easily Winni Eggers Kevin Rollason and Gail Macaulay Are challenging the fairness of the their daughter Mary was in Hospital for 10 months from birth and her health required that she have full time care once at Rollason had intended to use the full 15 weeks of parental benefits to help care for his daughter once she arrived the derailed his plans and made him Eli Gible Only for four weeks of what Rol Lason and is Macaulay Are asking for is flexibility that they and other parents be allowed to use insured benefits As they Best suit their the intent of maternity and parental benefits is that babies get the nurturing and bonding from parents when it counts the for most this starts at new changes will extend the period for which benefits Are paid to 52 weeks instead of the current All in the name of keeping mom and dad at baby Side for More time in their critical developmental but not All children fit into the the needs of Mary Rollason Macaulay illustrate the flaws of a benefits package designed with Start and Stop deadlines that make life easier for bureaucrats but do Little to serve the special needs of Fame while deadlines Are sometimes so is Parks for what the Fraser Institute has released a report with the self explanatory title off limits How Radical environmentalists Are shutting Down Canadas National in the righting thin tank says Parks Canada has been bowing to environmental lobbyists since especially in Banff National among other closing the placing limits on downhill restricting Moun Tain Bike closing Banning humans from some environmentally sensitive areas and launch ing such studies As one to eliminate nonnative fish species from some Parks officials Are reported to have responded by calling the assertions ridiculous nonstop politics loom what now one might have thought that last weeks relatively decisive election result would have established the shape of Federal politics in Canada for some time to it appears to have stirred up a new political not Only within the parties that lost the election but also among the victorious Well not All the there was no sign of Fer ment in the mind of Jean he was Happy to declare that he had won within Days he was putting his foot in it wherever he went and hinting that he just might hang on for yet another term when he has completed this that suggestion is not Likely to be received with unrestrained Joy among All some of them May have even hoped that the result had been a Little giving them a Little More leverage As they attempt to nudge him gently to the those nudges will have to be discreet because Chretien has made Clear his conviction that the election result has delivered him unlimited Power within his party and within the it will be a bold Liberal who tries to Bell this if no one and if Chretien does not decide of his own volition to step the prospects Are not Good for the Liberal party for that for the there is Only one plausible successor to Chretien As Leader of the Liberal that is Paul Martin and time is against by the time the prime minister decides to the minister of finance May do so whatever the time Martin May be the victim of unrealistic As the prime minister we Haven he tends to be the hero of every liberals fantasy the Man who can preserve and enhance our Prosperity the Man who can beat Back the separatist hordes in que Bec the Man who can attract Wel Todo albertan and alienated British columbian to the Martin May be Able to live up to those expect he manages to make other potential candidates look Allan Rock has an interesting and original mind but he lacks the popular Brian Tobin has a populist Streak but not much the rest Are there is As much if not More ferment bubbling away at the other end of the political Stockwell Day went into the election Campaign like Willie not Only to be liked but to be he found himself instead the object of Rumour and accused of having a secret of gutting social programs and imposing extreme moral precepts on the in the eyes of some Ontario politicians recently recruited to the Alliance he didst know their the hidden Agenda problem can be solved fairly if there Are no grounds for concern about Days True beliefs and he can surely establish that fact by his performance Over a few years As Leader of the the second problem is More difficult to Deal if the movers and shakers in the Ontario Wing of the Alliance party Are convinced that he cannot speak to the people of their province and cannot Hope to win them lots of seats in the next general then they will turn on him and find someone else to do the already some Alliance supporters Are suggest ing that Day should be in Bob a minister in Mike Harriss conservative government and co chair of the Alliance party Ontario has called for yet another new party to unite the that is it does serve notice that accustomed to voting in Federal elections every four years or so and dozing off in May be in for a dose of nonstop love hate malls Edmonton i loathe Christmas shopping with a Zeal that makes the Grinch seem like a right merry old love the hate malls packed with frantic shoppers elbowing their Way through masses of meandering All searching for the perfect gift under my Christmas shopping starts in january and ends in allowing me to escape the mobs and main Tain my reputation As a sanctimonious no one on my list Ever receives a desperation Fruitcake or a putting Green for their As i am so fond of reminding certain family members when they Wear the Greasy Sheen of Yule so Why am i at the West Edmonton mall the first weekend in december Call it Call it Call it my the teenager and i planned our second annual Retreat with had to be a hotel with room ser had to be near a Good chocolate had to be close en6ugh for a weekend but far enough that we could forget Homework and had to involve something vaguely cultural and something vaguely i chose Edmonton because i wanted to see Anno the inspiring religious Art exhibit at the provincial museum of the teenager went along with the having sussed out the fact that Edmonton is Home to the largest indoor mall in the a wonder of wonders and a shoppers the teenager dislikes shopping As much As i do but Shes got a love for the bizarre that is also Anno Domini was wonderful and a representation of Jesus through the it was As close to Grace As the weekend the worlds most extravagant tribute to consumerism is a bizarre theres an nil size filled with Little figure skating Maidens swirling and theres the worlds largest indoor amusement which we skipped on the grounds that this whole place is pretty darned we watched people frolic in the fake Waves on the Concrete Beach at the worlds largest indoor we admired the four seaworthy submarines in the worlds largest indoor manmade we did All this in the company of thousands of Christmas shoppers who seemed convinced Wem held the key to their Holiday and it must for there Are More than 800 stores in this if it can be it can be bought but we didst come to we snacked sever Al times at some of the 110 restaurants and a claim supported Only if you believe Orange Julius is a we bought armbands to visit the worlds most underground where penguins frolic and Sharks coast by Admir ing the doughnut fattened we watched people Golf at the worlds strangest min Golf course and visited Bourbon a replica that resembles the new Orleans original like Pep per resembles Jack we wandered and we children teenagers loudly their preening and cawing the sounds of the earliest mating store clerks wore glazed literally parents aimed their strollers As weapons to Cut a Hole in the the True spirit of Christmas was nowhere to be not in the clanging Cash not in the sore feet of the shoppers and not in front of the shark i remain convinced that Christmas shopping in december is a fools game was reminded once again that this orgy of spending has nothing to do with the blessed Are the for they shall inherit the blessed Are the for they pre vented this mall from being built in novel idea fails to Click by Sebastian Mallaby one by the great myths of the internet keep a string of e trailers has gone puncturing the myth that traditional shopping was the tech heavy Nash a has lost half its signifying the collapse of countless other commercial the upstart Napster service has slipped into bed with a big music clouding the idea that free online music would destroy the recording a French court has asserted that sover eign nations can regulate virtual companies such As and now Stephen horror writer has announced hell be putting his novel on until that King had been the focus of much internet excite in March he published a Novella on the internet before releasing it in old fashioned print within a some fans had downloaded then he followed up with a Story serialized exclusively on his web the King was to prove that a books could work without traditional this rhetoric made King a Darling of net who relish ant corporate the they would empower Humble musicians to distribute their creations online without beg Ging for help from the recording it would free budding movie makers to bypass and thanks to novelists toiling at their Kitchen tables would be liberated from condescension and rejection slips meted out by but King went further than Mere he proposed a novel Way to earn Money from his Book and so excelled at the nets Favourite game of spotting paradigms in need of the quaint old Practised by Dinosaur publishing was to sell books for the dumb new Para Practised by Dinosaur publishers trying to get hip to online was to put Content on the web and get nothing in so King put up his stuff on the net and made payment of there was a perfectly Good reason nobody had attempted this previously if you make payment payment will be but net mythology maintains that life online works Dif and King gambled on that he promised to keep writing his Story so Long As three quarters of his readers sent in when they downloaded one of the Early then for the later if you the Story if you the Story King under those Circum stances it the striking thing is that Kings Experiment failed both the tests that faced his latest chapter was paid for by fewer than half the fans who downloaded Down from the initial three quarters who paid while human selfishness was briefly muted by the excitement of a new the latest chapter was downloaded by just readers in the first week after it was a paltry number for a Star perhaps the Era of the rebook is not yet upon King himself probably wont mind too Hes already one of the worlds bestselling and he likes to his setback should serve As a reminder that the net int great at everything not Sebastian Mallaby is a member of the Washington posts editorial Page staff Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free presses 1872 Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 vol 128 no 4 2000 Winnipeg free a division of newspapers division of Thomson Canada limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm 6977000 a member 4 the Manitoba Prew Council Rudy email Nicholas Flynn Deputy editor ;