Robin,
We have been going through an idiot phase ever since November, 2000 .
A lot of people don't have TV by choice. We only watch/listen to public TV and
radio. We enjoy such shows as Frontline, NOW, Nature, Charlie Rose. I used to
love "Black Adder." Radio shows like "Fresh Air," Alternative Radio and some
of the forums from Cinncinati and San Francisco that are aired at noon on PBS
are good. After that, we read, listen to music, do yoga, go outside and look
at the stars.
I do not trust the regular news programs--even Jim Lehrer on public TV. I go
to the net for real information. The list/serve, WTO Watch, satisfies my need
to know what's happening in the world. I am afraid of getting spammed if I
subscribe to Global News or NYTimes on the Net.
I wish you wouldn't judge us all by the lowest common denominator. I don't get
to see new movies very often unless one is outstanding and then we still make
mistakes. "Lord of the Rings" was so violent, I shut out most of it. Evil
character was portrayed so palpably that it overcame the Good. I like Jim
Carrey, but Dumb and Dumber goes too far. Many American movies and TV programs
are in bad taste or off the deep end. This email I got today may be speaking
to what is wrong...could the problem be our nutrition? This is my favorite
shtick.
A MIRACLE IN WISCONSIN - Attributed to Good Food!
OCTOBER 14. In Appleton, Wisconsin, a revolution has occurred. It's
taken place in the Central Alternative High School. The kids now behave.
The hallways aren't frantic. Even the teachers are happy.
The school used to be out of control. Kids packed weapons. Discipline
problems swamped the principal's office. But not since 1997.
What happened? Did they line every inch of space with cops? Did they
spray valium gas in the classrooms? Did they install metal detectors in
the bathrooms? Did they build holding cells in the gym?
Afraid not. In 1997, a private group called Natural Ovens began
installing a healthy lunch program. Huh?
Fast-food burgers, fries, and burritos gave way to fresh salads, meats
"prepared with old-fashioned recipes," and whole grain bread. Fresh
fruits were added to the menu. Good drinking water arrived.
Vending machines were removed.
As reported in a newsletter called Pure Facts, "Grades are up, truancy
is no longer a problem, arguments are rare, and teachers are able to
spend their time teaching."
Principal Lu Ann Coenen, who files annual reports with the state of
Wisconsin, has turned in some staggering figures since 1997. Drop-outs?
Students expelled? Students discovered to be using drugs? Carrying
weapons? Committing suicide? Every category has come up ZERO. Every
year.
Mary Bruyette, a teacher, states, "I don't have to deal with daily
discipline issues. I don't have disruptions in class or the difficulties
with student behavior I experienced before we started the food program."
One student asserted, "Now that I can concentrate I think it's easier to
get along with people." What a concept---eating healthier food increases
concentration.
Principal Coenen sums it up: "I can't buy the argument that it's too
costly for schools to provide good nutrition for their students. I found
that one cost will reduce another. I don't have the vandalism. I don't
have the litter. I don't have the need for high security."
At a nearby middle school, the new food program is catching on. A
teacher there, Dennis Abram, reports, "I've taught here almost 30 years.
I see the kids this year as calmer, easier to talk to. They just seem
more rational. I had thought about retiring this year and basically I've
decided to teach another year---I'm having too much fun!"
Pure Facts, the newsletter that ran this story, is published by a
non-profit organization called The Feingold Association, which has
existed since 1976. Part of its mission is to "generate public awareness
of the potential role of foods and synthetic additives in behavior,
learning and health problems. The [Feingold] program is based on a diet
eliminating synthetic colors, synthetic flavors, and the preservatives
BHA, BHT, and TBHQ."
Thirty years ago there was a Dr. Feingold. His breakthrough work proved
the connection between these negative factors in food and the lives of
children. Hailed as a revolutionary advance, Feingold's findings were
soon trashed by the medical cartel, since those findings threatened the
drugs-for-everything, disease-model concept of modern health care.
But Feingold's followers have kept his work alive. If what happened in
Appleton, Wisconsin, takes hold in many other communities across
America, perhaps the ravenous corporations who invade school space with
their vending machines and junk food will be tossed out on their
behinds. It could happen.
And perhaps ADHD will become a dinosaur. A non-disease that was once
attributed to errant brain chemistry. And perhaps Ritalin will be seen
as just another toxic chemical that was added to the bodies of kids in a
crazed attempt to put a lid on behavior that, in part, was the result of
a subversion of the food supply.
For those readers who ask me about solutions to the problems we
face---here is a real solution. Help these groups. Get involved. Step
into the fray. Stand up and be counted.
The drug companies aren't going to do it. They're busy estimating the
size of their potential markets. They're building their chemical
pipelines into the minds and bodies of the young.
Every great revolution starts with a foothold. Sounds like Natural
Ovensand The Feingold Association have made strong cuts into the big
rock of ignorance and greed.
Robin Duchesneau wrote:
> Hugh,
>
> Wow! That's quite the US military history lesson. If all U.S. citizens
> were better informed of their world doings things would certainly be
> different. But, this is not the case... and the U.S. media industry should
> be pointed out as wrong doing too. Not only politicians.
>
> Recently, I came to the conclusion that U.S.A is going through an idiot
> phase. (...I hope I don't offend any one here as I'm referring more about
> the social collective, rather then individuals / more or less ...although
> that can also be insulting). I'm not saying that other countries are
> perfect either.
>
> Let me explain. Seems to me that TV or Cinema shows have gone from
> wholesome entertainment (good family values with a moral lesson in the end)
> to promoting idiocy as being COOL and IN. Think of what's become
> fashionable in the States. Movies like Dumb and Dumber, Freddy got
> Fingered, and Jackass are popping up everywhere. Gosh, US TV entertainment
> is even worst. Watching TV is almost enough to make me sick. Ally
> Mc.Beal? Have you seen this show? Adult children running around a law
> firm acting like pure imbeciles. This show is typical of today's
> Hollywood. Or, if not idiot shows, then propaganda and conspiracy. Things
> like West Wing (showing the US president as a hero), or The X-Files (showing
> government conspiracy everywhere).
>
> Enough of that. I should also mention that USA has it's share of good
> doers. Not everyone is an idiot. It just seems like IDIOCY is COOL in the
> USA.
>
> That's all. I hope I haven't offended my southern neighbors too much. If
> so, then go ahead and have a whack at us Canadians, or me. he he he
>
> Robin
>
>
> >
