A classic, from alt.meditation.transcendental, 5 Nov 2003. To set the scene, Shemp had been being nothing more than his usual self, the Shemp we know and love from Fairfield Life, going on a tear about "Why are so many poor people so fat?"
Judy took umbrage at this, and reacted by stalking off the newsgroup in a snit, aiming a stinging "parting shot" at Shemp and someone named Delia, whom she would later come to embrace and laud as soon as she jumped on me. The good part's at the end. Judy "returned" 58 hours later, and made a total of 2,560 posts over the next three months. Subject: Good bye Delia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message <news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>... > Shemp McGurk wrote: > > John Manning wrote: > >> Judy Stein wrote: <snip> > >> The free food is handed out at nine, but > >> the queue starts forming hours earlier. By > >> dawn, there is a line of cars stretching > >> half a mile back. > > This is just precious. > > Only in America would a soup kitchen > > have a queue consisting of automobiles. > What I found quite revealing was in the > article that Judy quoted, where it noted > that these people who are going 'hungry' > often have a problem with *obesity*: > > Barbara Laraia, an associate professor > > of nutrition at the University of North > > Carolina-Chapel Hill, said hunger and > > obesity can coexist because many hungry > > families struggle with their weight. > [Notice that "because" does not really > offer a reason at all; it just begs the > question: how can 'hungry' people be obese?] Right. I wonder if Delia is having problems with her short-term memory, since the "because" is given in the next paragraph. She quotes it, but she doesn't seem to remember what she just wrote and leaves it as it stands. > > She said they tend to buy high-calorie > > foods that are low in nutrients. > [And whose fault is that, do you suppose?] > > "They're dependent on foods that are going > > to make their bellies feel full, rather than > > on nutrients," Laraia said. "The diet is > > compromised." > Well, if "going hungry" is all about > eating stuff that makes you feel good, > rather than food that's good for you, > then there are lots of rich people > "going hungry" in America, too. > Perhaps we should subsidize them, too. Reading this comment of Delia's, you'd almost think it weren't obvious that dollar for dollar, you can buy a lot more food that keeps you from feeling hungry than food that's nutrient rich. At my local Foodtown, you can get a 20-pound bag of white rice for $5. For the same amount of money, you can get a package of celery, a pound of zucchini, 3 pounds of cabbage, and five oranges; or you can get a five-pound chicken. Which of these three choices is going to keep you from feeling hungry longer? <snip> > When we read how we need to provide > more money to combat "hunger" in obese > people, or to support the eight children > of a poor family who is busy making > eight more -- then it's no wonder that > some of us feel that we are being asked > to pay for other people's stupidity. *Some* of us. Others of us aren't so blinded by our own self-interest and projected rage that we aren't capable of a little empathy and a bit of commonsense extrapolation. There is very little I've read on this newsgroup in the eight or nine years I've participated here that has given me any reason for doubt about whether TM is what MMY says it is. The odious comments of people like Delia and Shemp, long-time TMers, on social issues have seriously shaken my faith in TM's effectiveness. After many years of practicing TM--and capable of delivering detailed discourses on TM that demonstrate they know what it is--they're still happily paddling around in the fetid muck at the very bottom of the barrel of human values. Considering where they are now, consumed by hatred, incapable of empathy, oblivious to logic, what can they possibly have progressed *from*? I'm leaving the newsgroup. The rotten stench of Delia's and Shemp's presence here is simply too much for me to deal with. It's turning me into a hater, and that is not a good feeling. I have to pray they're in the minority, that they're some kind of awful throwback on the evolutionary scale, and that their kind will ultimately be weeded out. The continued existence of the human race on this planet depends on it.
