Even after a strong cup of coffee, this " Morning Briefing "
story on page A2, Jan. 26, made no sense : " Police say couple
had bomb in McDonald's ". The two were " arrested for
allegedly planting a bomb in a McDonald's restroom ".
But according to the prosecutor, " the pair were attempting
apparently to get rid of the bomb ... and were not targeting
the McDonald's on Southern Artery ".
Allowing for congenital idiocy here , how do you
just get rid of a bomb by leaving it in a McDonald's
restroom ? Would not the middle of a woods be a better
place for an " infernal device " ?
I note that the five children of the accused , Lorraine
Trombetta, were removed by the state last year " after being
found living in a filthy house . ". Has the editor of
" Good Housekeeping " been appointed chief of a state
welfare department ?
Perhaps the whole family - including boyfriend, Martin
Niven- would be less dysfunctional in Castro's Cuba ?
Thursday, January 27, 2000
Saturday, January 22, 2000
One cheer for " diversity "
The deplorable regression to tribalism now seems to be a
world-wide phenomenon - no doubt connected to the collapse of
Cold War ideology which did divide the world into TWO camps -but
not 1000 !
The spring semester program at URI Extension here in Providence
screams " DIVERSITY " on the front page . As if DIVERSITY was a
self-evident blessing. And in fact the DIVERSITY worshiped in
the unreal academic world is often downright nasty in its
exclusiveness. Every branch on the great tree of DIVERSITY must
be branded PC .
Sorry, but I still have a quaint -if pernicious - belief
in the merits of Western Civilization . A champion of multi-
culturalism has just E-mailed me that there is no such thing
as Western Civilization. He must have discovered that at a university
where once there was actually a course in it.
People who hang around dusty old libraries might independently
discover " The Western Tradition " - a video series. Or books
like Bertrand Russell's " The Wisdom of the West " .
How can people begin to get along without common reference
points, a common culture, common CIVILIZED values ?
Today the gospel of DIVERSITY is being preached with
all the fervor of Red China's crazed " Cultural Revolution ".
Indeed it is really the opposite of UNI-VERSITY !
world-wide phenomenon - no doubt connected to the collapse of
Cold War ideology which did divide the world into TWO camps -but
not 1000 !
The spring semester program at URI Extension here in Providence
screams " DIVERSITY " on the front page . As if DIVERSITY was a
self-evident blessing. And in fact the DIVERSITY worshiped in
the unreal academic world is often downright nasty in its
exclusiveness. Every branch on the great tree of DIVERSITY must
be branded PC .
Sorry, but I still have a quaint -if pernicious - belief
in the merits of Western Civilization . A champion of multi-
culturalism has just E-mailed me that there is no such thing
as Western Civilization. He must have discovered that at a university
where once there was actually a course in it.
People who hang around dusty old libraries might independently
discover " The Western Tradition " - a video series. Or books
like Bertrand Russell's " The Wisdom of the West " .
How can people begin to get along without common reference
points, a common culture, common CIVILIZED values ?
Today the gospel of DIVERSITY is being preached with
all the fervor of Red China's crazed " Cultural Revolution ".
Indeed it is really the opposite of UNI-VERSITY !
Thursday, January 20, 2000
Mercy for Pinochet
I agree with the conclusion of your Jan.19 editorial :
" When they're arrested abroad " . General Pinochet of Chile
is - and there is much evidence for it - a political monster.
But let Chile deal with him - now a fading, sick old man.
Castro is indeed a dictator as your editorial points,
but it is preposterous to compare him to the fiendish Pinochet.
Perhaps even old Nazis should not be hounded forever. Is it
not a very Marxist idea that the ROOT of evil is not in warped
individuals but in the social structure ?
What science already knows about the human mind - the soul-
would undermine the whole superstructure of bourgeois criminal
law. But what science knows is ignored by almost every criminal
judge in the country -and the vast majority of citizens who
support or clamor for the death penalty.
Were not observers of the Nuremberg Trials amazed by
the sheer banality of the Nazi villains on trial ? So in
their hearts - not in a malignant social order - we see the
roots of the Holocaust ?
No doubt General Pinochet's last thought on his death
bed will be that cold draft from the window .
We must change society fundamentally in order to begin
to change the human soul.
Dictator Castro at least has that right.
" When they're arrested abroad " . General Pinochet of Chile
is - and there is much evidence for it - a political monster.
But let Chile deal with him - now a fading, sick old man.
Castro is indeed a dictator as your editorial points,
but it is preposterous to compare him to the fiendish Pinochet.
Perhaps even old Nazis should not be hounded forever. Is it
not a very Marxist idea that the ROOT of evil is not in warped
individuals but in the social structure ?
What science already knows about the human mind - the soul-
would undermine the whole superstructure of bourgeois criminal
law. But what science knows is ignored by almost every criminal
judge in the country -and the vast majority of citizens who
support or clamor for the death penalty.
Were not observers of the Nuremberg Trials amazed by
the sheer banality of the Nazi villains on trial ? So in
their hearts - not in a malignant social order - we see the
roots of the Holocaust ?
No doubt General Pinochet's last thought on his death
bed will be that cold draft from the window .
We must change society fundamentally in order to begin
to change the human soul.
Dictator Castro at least has that right.
Saturday, January 15, 2000
Pseudo-Liberal Hillary ?
I like Hillary Clinton and I can still respect her husband,
President Clinton, for all his good qualities -like grace under
pressure.
But Senate candidate Hillary has made some flippant and
pseudo-liberal remarks on the human tragedy of homelessness:
So unlike the present Mayor of the Big Apple, Hillary would
not arrest homeless people. Gracias, Senora !
So it is now boldly liberal to suggest that THEY should not
be arrested? Then let me make a RADICAL suggestion : THEY should
not be homeless !
And the solution to the homeless problem is a little thing
called RENT CONTROL ! Decent rooms should be available in every
big city : Two days pay at minimum wage should suffice for one
week's rent. And very affordable apartments for families trying
to live on poverty wages.
We must point the finger of condemnation at greedy landlords!
Give them hell, Hillary - if you are not just another phony.
President Clinton, for all his good qualities -like grace under
pressure.
But Senate candidate Hillary has made some flippant and
pseudo-liberal remarks on the human tragedy of homelessness:
So unlike the present Mayor of the Big Apple, Hillary would
not arrest homeless people. Gracias, Senora !
So it is now boldly liberal to suggest that THEY should not
be arrested? Then let me make a RADICAL suggestion : THEY should
not be homeless !
And the solution to the homeless problem is a little thing
called RENT CONTROL ! Decent rooms should be available in every
big city : Two days pay at minimum wage should suffice for one
week's rent. And very affordable apartments for families trying
to live on poverty wages.
We must point the finger of condemnation at greedy landlords!
Give them hell, Hillary - if you are not just another phony.
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