Brainwashing 101 Coming to a High School near You

I was sitting at the spa yesterday flipping through magazines and came across the December issue of ema href=”http://www.usmagazine.com/”Us Magazine/a./em I know, I know, I should quit reading these magazines, but I am interested as a psychologist, in how pop culture affects the political thinking in our schools and society–so give me a break.br /br /Anyway, the little tidbit I came across was buried on page 30 under a page entitled, “Hot Pics!” in the December 25th issue that showed a smiling Sheryl Crow posing with a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_David”Larry David /aand his wife, Laurie. The caption reads, “‘In the spring, we’re showing a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ICL3KG?ie=UTF8tag=wwwviolentkicomlink_code=as3camp=211189creative=373489creativeASIN=B000ICL3KG”emAn Inconvenient Truth/em/a in high schools and it’ll be fun,’ Sheryl Crow tells emUs /emof working with Larry David’s activist wife, Laurie, who was honored at a emSelf/em magazine benefit in West Hollywood Dec. 7.”br /br /emAn Inconvenient Truth /emis the Al Gore documentary produced by Laurie David among others. It appears Ms. David was upset when they tried to distribute 50,000 free documentaries to the National Science Teachers Association. According to a recent Washington Post editorial, producers of Al Gore’s documentary on global warming “An Inconvenient Truth” wanted to give 50,000 free DVDs to the National Science Teachers Association for distribution to schools as an educational tool, a href=”http://www.edweek.org/tb/2006/11/30/1110.html”but their offer was turned down/a. The NSTA says they cannot endorse any particular product.br /br /blockquotea href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112400789.html”In an editorial/a, Laurie David, one of the film’s producers, says this decision was based largely on the NSTA’s connection with the ExxonMobil Corp., which has given funds to the association. Ms. David writes that “through textbooks, classroom posters and teacher seminars, the oil industry, the coal industry and other corporate interests are exploiting shortfalls in education funding by using a small slice of their record profits to buy themselves a classroom soapbox.”/blockquotebr /br /Uhh, the oil industry is trying to buy themselves a classroom soapbox? And what would you be trying to do? Isn’t using Hollywood stars like Sheryl Crow and the others involved in em An Inconvenient Truth/em to pimp your product for you exactly what you are accusing the oil industry of doing? I am sure you are not getting a dime from them or any support. Yeah, right.br /br /It seems that Laurie David is a contributor to the emHuffington Post blog/em which tells you all you need to know about her politics. I think that the NSTA’s refusal to let special interest groups hijack the schools is noble. Because really, if emAn Inconvenient Truth /emis distributed to high schools, shouldn’t the rest of us get to choose other special interest documentaries that students view? I have some suggestions. br /br /How about Dave Hardy’s a href=”http://www.secondamendmentdocumentary.com/”emIn Search of the Second Amendment/em documentary/a, a great film that can teach our kids about their right to bear arms, or a href=”http://www.onthefencefilms.com/movies.html”emDead Meat/em/a by Stuart Browning about the horrors of Universal Healthcare or a href=”http://www.onthefencefilms.com/movies.html”emIndoctrinate U/em/a by Evan Coyne Maloney, a film that explains how politically correct liberals like Laurie David and her ilk are trying to hijack the schools. At least then the kids would be getting exposed to opinions they won’t find in iUs/i magazine.