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SWEET DANGER
The 11th most serious censored story [Cover story, Sept. 13:
], which has gone untold since 1981, is the harm done by the artificial sweetener aspartame. Although it is metabolized as methanol, formaldehyde and two unessential amino acids, one of those, phenylalanine, becomes diketopiperazine, proven to cause brain tumors. On March 22, 2006, I ordered FDA commissioner nominee Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, to rescind the approval for aspartame. I wrote a UN resolution to create a new undersecretary general for Nutrition and Consumer Protection-both of which can be Googled-in Santa Fe.
To further this plan, write to Kofi Annan and Governor Richardson. I asked the US Senate Health Committee, of which Jeff Bingaman is a member, to require that Dr. von Eschenbach rescind the approval for aspartame as a condition for his nomination being sent to the full Senate, in order to prevent further medical harm being done to the 70 percent of the American citizens who consume aspartame, precisely the opposite tactic used by Mr. Rumsfeld in 1981 to obtain the approval for aspartame by obtaining the appointment of Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes as FDA commissioner.
Go to:
www.wnho.net/report_on_aspartame_and_children.htm
for a complete report by pediatricians, neurosurgeons and internists.
Stephen Fox
Santa Fe
CENSOR CENSURE
Your annual censorship issue has little meaning unless we look at how censored all of our news is in America. We have the corporate propaganda news at the national level, and at the local level, 86.5 percent of local papers are owned by Republicans. Is yours? The sheer amount of censored stories boggles my mind. One example: Cell phones are now banned in New York and Connecticut because they cause 30 to 40 percent more accidents, not because people are distracted but because their perceptual system shuts down and they have less peripheral vision than a drunk driver. The New Mexican knows this but doesn't care, and so people get injured or die, but that paper refuses to educate people about the real reasons for not using a cell phone while driving. Now you know, so we'll see what you do with the story.
Robert Francis Johnson
Santa Fe
DUE FOR CHANGE
Gwyneth Doland's
[Cover story, Sept. 20] brought up a lot of painful memories for me. I was an obese schoolchild, and now at 55, I continue to struggle with compulsive eating. Fat and sugar taste delicious, and humans are hard-wired biologically to enjoy them. Through most of our evolutionary history, they have been unavailable to most people except in small quantities. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, they've become increasingly ubiquitous, and our biology simply hasn't had time to adjust.
But though school menu revision is a good place to start, childhood obesity and its co-factors-exercise aversion and unwise food choices-are often symptoms of deeper problems. Competition-focused school phys ed models, which tend to favor naturally athletic children, discourage fat kids with low self-esteem from exploring and enjoying their physical capabilities. Family addiction and abuse patterns, which are epidemic in northern New Mexico, predispose many kids to flee their feelings into food. Furthermore, it is still women who, as mothers and grandmothers, do most of a family's food shopping and preparation. And many women are strongly influenced by the multibillion-dollar diet and fashion industries, which hold up impossible ideals of thinness while filling women's magazines with both fad diet articles and graphic dessert recipes. If you don't believe me, check out Smith's supermarket on any given day.
Rand B Lee
Santa Fe
LOVING LOU
The show started at 7:45 [Zane's World, Sept. 20:
]. No opening act. What a cool place. Lou came out and his assistant helped him put on his hooded sweatshirt. He launched into a noisy guitar intro, squealing out his dissonant notes with glee. He seemed to be already having a good time. They went into "What's Good": "Life's like mayonnaise soda…that's what life's like without you." Playing real tight and with the unusual addition of a second bass player, Rob Wassermann, to accompany Fernando Saunders, they delivered with passion. Next they played "Egg Cream," which made me long for a stroll through Brooklyn.
Lou is my homeboy, and it felt great to see him getting so into it. His practice of tai chi is seemingly paying off-no simulated shooting up, no need to curse the audience or shout, "Where's the money, Clive?" He was at ease. Playing "Dirty Boulevard," he took a swipe at the president, proclaiming, "Come on people, this song was written in 1989-nothing's changed!" They did some of the recent spoken-word retelling of "The Raven" with guitarist Mike Rathke on a sampler keyboard. It was interesting, and just when it started to get tedious, they ended it. On "Set the Twilight Reeling," Lou said it best: "Take me for what I am, a star newly emerging / I accept the newfound man and set the twilight reeling." Beautiful! He broke out "Coney Island Baby": "And the glory of love…" Yeah, Lou! Drummer Tony "Thunder" Thompson was really amazing and played his ass off. "Waiting for My Man" was hot and made me want to go score! It was classic!
They played two encores. You know, the whole clapping-for-five-minutes bullshit, and then they came out and did the night's weakest performance on "Sweet Jane." But by then it was all right. I think he came, he saw, he conquered. (Though that hoodie did seem to give him a hard time throughout the show.) Ending with a nice "Perfect Day," they left the stage.
Well, we had great seats and I regretted not having brought my camera. I never thought photography would be allowed. Too bad, I would have liked a memento of the show. Well, anyway, I walked away with the memory of seeing that a 64-year-old music idol of mine can still rock out and hasn't overdosed or gone soft. He is still an inspiration!
David Portolano
Santa Fe
AWAITING THE MAN
I hope your critics aren't doing drugs to stay tired. Your concert review of Lou Reed was just that. I missed the concert but was there in mind and spirit. Lou is brand-name euphoria.
He is what gave your generation any type of recognition. In style, performance and content, he is one of the best musicians with original lyrics, and he has certainly proved himself.
Like Andy Warhol, Lou knows that "making money is art, work is art and good business is the best art."
He sold me, and I wasn't there. He took you, and you were.
Lou Reed can use my leg anytime he needs it.
Dennis S Perea
Santa Fe
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