Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 27, 1997, Winnipeg, Manitoba Sunday Magazine forum by sunday free press _ Winnipeg. July 27, 1997 Hihi a a we editor Brian Cole / 697-7044 editorial mysteries of the human mind people used to linger longer before they died on the Hospital dramas that television serves up. In the 1960s, on programs such As or. Kildare and Ben Casey patients came Down with rare and fatal viruses or unusual and deadly afflictions of the spleen. We followed every symptom of their decline and Many of us suffered along with them contracting the disease ourselves. Is this sniffle the first symptom of Dengue fever does that twinge signal the imminent collapse of the kidneys medical shows on to today Are quite different. The action today commonly takes place in the frantic atmosphere of emergency wards and rather than watching the leisurely progression of an illness Over the course of an hour we see patients dying Only minutes after they come through the doors. We still twinge along with them but we Are swinging with different anxieties worrying about being smashed up in a car Accident shot by a dope fiend or poisoned by bad sushi. This kind of morose empathy is a common enough thing. Once we Are aware of the symptoms or the circumstances we can easily acquire the problem or failing that diagnose it in our friends. In British Columbia this year during the summer of endless rain there was an epidemic of seasonal affective disorder a newly recognized and still controversial condition believed to be caused by the weather. Some doctors dispute the Validity of the diagnosis but it is becoming increasingly popular. Most of the people who thought they had come Down with it did no to have it at All. They were simply gloomy and Grumpy because the weather had been Lousy for so Long and before sad appeared on the scene they might have recognized their condition As being just that. But because they knew about sad and its symptoms they were convinced they had it. Nor is sad the Only disease transmitted this Way. The 1990s have seen an astonishing increase in the number of cases of attention deficit disorder a condition once called hyperactivity most commonly found in Young boys. School teachers and parents often diagnose it in kids but Many critics now believe that a lot of those kids Are just exhibiting the energetic exuberance of Normal children. But because we All know the symptoms of attention deficit disorder the old idea that the merry hearted boys make the Best of old men now gives Way to the belief that the Gladsome child needs to be sedated. This is not unique to our time of course. In the 18th Century Mesmer set off an epidemic of melancholy a what we would Call depression a in Europe when he announced that he could cure the condition through hypnosis but the 1990s do seem to be particularly vulnerable. Gulf War syndrome became prevalent after its symptoms began to receive widespread publicity and Many lives were ruined by a a retrieved memories before it became apparent that More a a forgotten memories of abuse were implanted in patients by therapists than were Ever retrieved. There Are fads in diseases and conditions just As there Are in everything else. Everyone likes to be on the bandwagon in any area of life. This is not to say that people who claim to suffer from these Are Only imagining it. Clinical depression is a serious condition that we know can be treated with medication and truly hyperactive children can be helped with drugs. New diseases and conditions do appear and rare ones become More common. Aids is certainly no figment of anyone a imagination and the flesh eating disease although still not common is now familiar enough that we can All fear it. But it is useful to remember that in life everything is not always what it seems that things Are often not what we honestly think they Are. Children do fidget in school but that May mean Only that they would quite properly prefer to be playing baseball too much rain can be really depressing but that a Tough and people actually do get Dengue fever but not every sniffle is a sign of it. The human mind is a House with Many mansions and we have Only begun to explore it. We know hardly anything about it and perhaps because we know so Little we fear too much. Human beings have had minds for As Long As most of us can remember but we still done to seem to know much about them and we certainly done to use them very Well. We would rather look for a Panacea a bandwagon to join than face reality. People still flock to psychotherapists although Freud is largely discredited. People still turn to socialism although Marx is dead both literally and metaphorically. Companies still turn to Market researchers although How that profession survived the new Coke disaster is a mystery to everyone. Jumping on a bandwagon is pretty natural a its the easy thing to do. The hard part comes when we realize we should get off. Dying peace talks threaten Lebanon is the a peace process Between Israel and the palestinians dead no said . Secretary of state Madeleine Albright leaving for a trip to Asia on 23 july though she admitted to being a very concerned about the deteriorating situation in the Middle no said Yasser Arafat president of the palestinian authority after the latest meeting Between israeli foreign minister David Levy and his palestinian counterpart in Brussels on 23 july. But the palestinian Leader poured cold water on initial talk of breakthroughs insisting that nothing was achieved during the meeting. We have to remember however that All the major players in the Middle East peace process Are bound to insist that it is still alive regardless of the truth. To admit it is dead would be to unleash the whirlwind. But does David Levy really think it is alive moments later israelis foreign minister was criticizing his own prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for backing a Law aimed at sabotaging any Deal a later israeli government might make to hand Back the occupied Golan Heights in return for peace with Syria. If the Law passes any future Deal would need the approval of a two thirds majority in the Knesset parliament a virtually impossible Given the fragmented nature of israeli politics. This a unwise proposal said or. Levy was a liable to be exploited by elements abroad who try by any and All Means to sow doubts As to israelis intentions for Well yes a but or. Netanyahu voted for it which sows doubt As to his own intentions. There have been no serious negotiations on the next Steps envisaged by the 1991 israeli pales Tinian Oslo Accord since Netanyahu approved the construction of a new jewish suburb in East formerly Arab Jerusalem in february. Har homa is the biggest new jewish settlement around Jerusalem since 1980. Even those measures mandated by Oslo that Are already Long overdue like the opening of a palestinian con trolled Airport in the Caza strip and secure Access for palestinians Between the Gaza strip and the West Bank Are now on indefinite hold. And Many suspect that is what or. Netanyahu wants. It hardly matters. Whether or. Netanyahu is a Man with a plan or merely the prisoner of the contradictory currents within his own coalition of right Wing and religious parties the outcome is the same. He has to buil Gwynne Dyer More settlements and there is no Hope that he can get his Cabinet to accept the further withdrawals from occupied territory on the West Bank already Long delayed that Are supposed to happen later this year. The peace process is dead and since the United states is unwilling to exert any external pressure on or. Netanyahu it is unlikely to be revived. So the question is what next can the present precarious stability be maintained with a few Hundred palestinians injured by israeli bullets each month but no major upheaval until the next israeli election in the year 2000? would there be an israeli government willing to negotiate on the original terms of the Oslo Deal even after that will All the Arab governments around Israel which have either made peace already or shown interest in doing so remain in place until 2000? it seems highly improbable. The current wave of palestinian protest unleashed by the Jebel Abu Ghneim settlement has not been violent enough to threaten either israeli Security or Arafat a authority but the situation is not going to get better. Palestinian living standards Are in Steep decline. And in most palestinians eyes the peace that is theoretically still on offer in which Israel keeps All of Jerusalem and half of the rest of the occupied territories is not Worth having. So is there going to be a War probably not this year and probably Only in Lebanon the preferred Arena when Israel and its Neighbours want to avoid a direct fight. And could the Long term peace process survive another israeli invasion of Lebanon provided that israelis losses there finally persuaded israeli voters to replace or. Netanyahu with a More peace Friendly government in 2000? impossible to say but it would be a very Brave or very foolish investor who made any Lon term investments in the Region in the next two or three years. Gwynne Dyer is a London based journalist and historian. His column appears sundays. What was said the following editorial appeared in the los Angeles times on july 24. Violent crime May be declining in America a the Justice department says rates Are lower than at any time since 1973 a but it has become All but impossible to avoid on to. Witness the coverage of the violent life and death of Andrew Cunanan. The evidence that to May be Over exposing us was brought Home by live coverage of the discovery of Cunanan a body on a Miami Houseboat. The to networks and local stations turned on the cameras As police surrounded the Houseboat wednesday afternoon and remained glued to the scene for the next 3-1/2 hours. Commentators filled the air time with wild speculation about How a Gay party animal turned into a suspected serial murderer. Even later when police finally raided the Houseboat and found Cunanan dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound one Miami station continued its coverage some of it rebroadcasts for eight hours. Why the massive coverage the answer is obvious. Violence is news. Many to news directors Structure their programs based on the ghoulish formula a Elf it bleeds it and the print press too even without Wall to Wall coverage capability often makes a big splash out of major crime. Russians television stations beam even More hours of crime coverage than americans. An intriguing explanation was put Forward by russian psychoanalyst Sergei Grachev who in speaking of his Homeland could have been speaking of the United states As Well a your society is to a Large degree in a state of anxiety. This anxiety must be explained in some Way. Before people were frightened of atomic War and that was actually justified to some degree. Now our people have come to be afraid of crime. These terrible scenes on to allow people to say a my fear is to put the Best possible face on american to crime coverage one can Only Hope it is serving some social purpose reassuring us that we live in a society of Laws in which the criminal a usually if not always a is punished. Gang demolition starts with family she a not Only afraid for her son a she a afraid of him. At 14, he a a fledgling gang member with an established criminal record and a flourishing reputation in the wrong circles. Right now he a doing time at the Manitoba youth Centre. From what his mom says it might As Well be renamed the Manitoba gang recruitment Centre. Being locked up with the baddest of the bad was a perfect introduction to gang membership. With his release from the youth jail pending his Mother is scrambling to put together a plan that will bring her son Back from the Edge. The fad these Days among politicians is to Chat up gang leaders to find out How to put the rogues out of business. Winnipeg has become the first Canadian City to appoint a gang prevention coordinator. Last week Glenn Cochrane was charged with the formidable task of slashing gang membership by 25 per cent Over the next three years. But behind every kid who joins a gang is a family a whether broken or whole a that also harbours part of the answer. A i want him to make it a i done to want to Lese him a the Winnipeg Mother says. A i see it As a life and death this Isnit a mom with her head in the Sand. She a just As worried about the possibility that her troubled son will snuff out someone else a life As she is that hell lose his own. His manner has grown intimidating recently his talk rougher his dreams smaller. But he a also not a lost cause. He desperately wants out of the gang upon his release and has asked her to help. He has opened up to a therapist sharing the Trail of abuse loneliness and neglect that has crippled his Young spirit. Often he pours out his anguish in a journal. And he has a Mother who cares a a Mother who a Learned from her own mistakes and wants to be there for her son in ways she before. Yet the single Parent with several other children at Home is the first to admit she can to handle it alone. Keeping her son or any other kid out of a gang Means helping them build a life that a better than what the outlaws can offer. When or. Cochrane takes Over his new Job sue plans to visit him and share her perspective on what a needed. Counselling is crucial. She lobbied Long and hard to get her son hooked up with a skilled therapist whom he Teichroeb that was a big step Forward. Finding a a big brother for her son. As Well As for his siblings is another goal. Her kids Are starved for healthy male role models after years of exposure to violent men. Part of the solution will be getting off welfare so she does no to have to waste Energy worrying a whether there a Money to put milk in the she a two courses Short of getting her University degree and has enrolled in a Job training program for moms on welfare. Like any mom shed like to be Able to afford to sign her son up for recreation programs. While most parents complain about being a taxi service she dreams of the Day when she can afford a car and shuttle her kids around. When her son comes Home the stress level in the family will skyrocket. She needs someone she can Call before things fall apart a a professional who can offer a listening ear and help defuse the crisis. A family reunification project with Winnipeg child and family services is one option she a exploring although there a a waiting list. Waiting Isnit something her son is Good at. Moving out of the housing Complex where they live is essential. Word has spread that her son is a gang member. When he moves Back hell be under pressure to live up to his image including recruiting other kids. No matter How Good his intentions Are it would be like turning a Fox Loose in a Hen House. Getting him Back into school wont be easy. His reputation precedes him and principals and teachers Are understandably nervous about a kid with gang ties. Lastly she Longs for a support group for parents with kids in gangs. A i feel All alone right now a she said. A sometimes i just need someone who i can talk to who its one mothers vision for rebuilding her family and reclaiming her son a if you want to prevent gang recruitment Start with Ruth Teichroeb covers social affairs for the free press. Her column appears sundays ;