Dan’s Papers January 28, 2011 danspapers.com Page 36
LETTERS OBAMA HELPS KIDS Dear Dan, Last week, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act – first major bipartisan bill enacted since the election by a deeply polarized congress. The act will replace junk food in school lunches and vending machines with more healthful options. Several jurisdictions have taken similar action. The Hawaii, California, New York, and Florida legislatures passed resolutions recommending vegan school options. Last year, the Baltimore City public school system became the first in the nation to offer its 80,000 students a weekly meat-free lunch. According to the School Nutrition Association, 65% of U.S. schools now offer vegetarian lunch options. In the past, USDA has used the National School Lunch Program as a dumping ground for surplus meat and dairy commodities. Not surprisingly, 90% of American children consume excessive amounts of fat, and only 15% eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. These early dietary flaws become lifelong addictions, raising the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Those who care about our children’s health should demand healthful plant-based school meals, snacks, and vending machine items. Additional information is available at healthyschoollunches.org, choiceusa.net, and schoolnutrition.org. Sincerely, Brody Warden Calverton But the kids love junk food. –DR NEW YEAR RESOLUTION, GO VEGAN Dear Dan, This has not been a good year for the meat, dairy, and egg industries. In January, ABC News provided extensive coverage of cow abuse by the dairy industry. The BP oil spill in April called attention to an even larger Gulf “dead
zone” caused by the massive amounts of animal waste dumped every day by the Mississippi river. A month later, a U.N. report urged a global shift towards a vegan diet to reduce world hunger and climate change. In June, FDA asked factory farms to stop routine use of antibiotics that lead to drug-resistant bacterial infections in humans. August witnessed the largest ever recall of more than a half billion eggs harboring Salmonella. Finally, this month, President Obama signed into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to replace fatty animal products and other junk foods in school lunches and vending machines. According to the School Nutrition Association, 65% of U.S. schools now offer vegetarian lunch options. For a New Year’s resolution, we should all consider following suit. I found a great website at LiveVegan.org with recipes and tons of other useful info. Sincerely, Brian Williams Stonington, CT It’s all about fossil fuels. –DR VIDIOTS Dear Dan, The social passivity that reality has created does not know how to look for other ways to spend its leisure time. This represents an empirical example of something that is not functioning well in our society. In principle, it seems as if reading, discussions, family time, friend reunions and studies are things of another world. This issue becomes even more critical when the ones to be affected are children, that is, those who spend way too much time in front of the T.V. By spending one third of their awake-time watching T.V. (outside of their respective T.V. infant hours) children’s health is endangered. The Auto-regulation Code of content during infant hours (from 5 p.m. till 8 p.m.) programmed by television networks and the government has been
POLICE BLOTTER Backpack A man reported that his Dakine backpack containing a wallet with $250 inside was stolen while he was asleep aboard a train bound from Queens to Montauk. Probably not going to solve this one. Bad Message A man in East Hampton sent several text messages to his ex-girlfriend while an active order of protection against him was in place requiring him to have no contact with his ex-girlfriend. He threatened her by stating, “If I see you with your new boyfriend, you better watch out!”…for me getting arrested by the police! Shelter Island Old Man Mcgumbus contacted the police after he shot a hippie. The hippie was arrested. Not A Good Driver An East Hampton man was arrested after police pulled him over for driving his pick-up truck with a windshield that was 75 percent covered in ice. After he was pulled over, police checked his license and discovered that his driving privileges had been suspended – twice. Once for failure to answer a summons and once for failure to pay a fine. He was released on $100 bail.
Caught A man in East Hampton was caught after a successful investigation by the East Hampton Town Police Detective Division. The alleged criminal is accused of stealing $12,000 worth of building materials by hiring people to go into storage containers and take materials under false pretenses. After the investigation was complete, the man turned himself in. Oh Boy A woman in East Hampton thought she had won a sweepstakes after she received a $3,000 check in the mail from Publishers International Sweepstakes. She deposited the check and later received a call from a representative of Publishers International Sweepstakes asking her to wire money to a London bank. The woman was then unable to withdraw money out of her bank account because the check never cleared. DUH!!! Drinking And Smoking A Hampton Bays man was caught after being seen drinking and smoking in his vehicle while driving. He was not chewing gum. –David Lion Rattiner
Send your letters to askdan@danspapers.com (e-mails only, please) infringed by most television networks various times. According to an investigation conducted by the University of Columbia and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, the youth population that watches television three hours a day has a higher risk of turning the practice into a habit as an adult. The Association of Housewives and Consumers warns that T.V. programs for kids, provided by a wide range of networks, are full of violence and sexual behavior. Therefore, children’s T.V. ads should be treated as a sensible way of communication. It should be taken care of to the last detail. Children represent a wide T.V. audience group, a very vulnerable one. Due to this vulnerability when it comes to T.V. ads, it is crucial to promote safe child publicity. Child publicity should not be false nor manipulate. Instead, it should be clear in its messages, since children may come to exchange and perceive fantasy for reality. T.V. irresponsibility has generated unwanted damage. Inhibitions should be promoted into regulating actions, for without regulation negative consequences may affect the innocent. For example, through the mass media. For this reason, parents have the most arduous task of educating their children. “Infancy misadventures have an impact upon their lives, leaving an inexhaustible fountain of melancholy in their hearts,” affirms P. Brulat. (Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez-Moretti). Clemente Ferrer I agree with this. –DR CONSPIRACY LEERY Dear Dan, If you know of anyone who can help me, I’ve been battling Suffolk County for more than 10 years now ever since two cops barged through my door scaring the hell out of my son and I, unwarranted, back on 5/11/99. They terrorized my son who was 16 at the time, and I. Making fun of his boxer shorts and calling me filthy names. I initiated a civil suit, which I lost because of course they lied. The city attorney painted me as not being a lady, eluding that I knew the cops, etc.... I put it publicly online and while there seemed to be sympathetic people whom I’ve never met, things took a turn for the worse. One responder is a prison captain who is making my life hell. He and his cohorts seem to have their ugly fists in everything I do from jobs to vacations. Currently the DMV is trying to take my license away from me! I was there the other day and it nearly broke me down when I began screaming – there are people driving with bald tires and no licenses and the fact that I haven’t had an accident in 30 years or more. The bullish woman ordered her guards to follow me where they were all ready to arrest me but I walked past as though they weren’t there, keeping quiet. The entire ride home from Hauppauge there were cops everywhere. I am a single 58-year-old woman who has owned and maintained my home for the past 35 years. There must be someone who can help me. Thank you, Patricia McArdle-Cantore Islip Can anyone out there help? –DR