Some random thoughts in 1997

1. Brown professors, it seems, have a habit of making public asses of themselves. As a scholar he may subscribe to some school of higher criticism which always ignores the text itself.
2. There are just too many professional unmaskers of racism and sexism out there.
3. Sorry Joe, the check is not in the mail.
4. These unkind and insensitive comments of adults are like little sprinkles of acid on growing flowers. They leave their mark!
5. Political Correctness is just a polite euphemism for Left Wing McCarthyism.
6. I spotted the scholarly priest in the lobby of Fatima Hospital a few weeks ago. I was reminded of his TV program which was always lively and interesting- and on a higher moral plane than myself,of course.
7. It is possible for a plain fact to be politically incorrect: Africa,for example. never contributed anything to Civilization. And today it is still THE HEART OF DARKNESS.
8. Is it possible, I asked, for an author to have a political agenda and still be telling the truth about a very important matter?
9. The human soul– whether it is mortal or immortal- is sacred to me. People have an absolute right to think and feel whatever they will about controversial issues.
10. The politically correct crowd is beginning to feel the counter-attack. And it will be furious!
11. Curiosity– divine curiosity- is one of the few emotions that cannot be faked. We can fake so many things- love for the masses, friendship, devotion to this or that fatuous cause; we can even fake sexual passion.
12. For a while in my adolescence proving geometric theorems was literally one of my hobbies.
13. Remember June 6,1944? Pop complained that there was not a single article recalling that momentous day in 1944. I believe now that World War II was the decisive event of the 20th century. A while back I would have said that it was the Russian Revolution that was the major event of the century.
14. A man who can be described as a strict constitutionalist threatens to torch Old Glory if the flag burning amendment is passed. A little melodramatic, is he not? I recommend a pleasant walk in the park instead. If the ludicrous amendment is approved,it will only put a few more bucks into the pockets of ACLU lawyers.
15. One way for the mass media to combat racism, sexism, or any form of prejudice is to introduce us to various people who really know something.
16. I am surprised to learn that LBJ was involved in a plot to kill Martin Luther King. Really? What brainless paranoia! The truth is that LBJ was the best friend the blacks ever had in this country.
17. What difference does it make -black, white, hispanic, male, female, gay, straight– the profit game is inherently ruthless.
18. I will continue to read your paper because life is inseparable from trash anyway. I refuse to be bored!
19. There should be a postage stamp honoring H.L Mencken. He treated everybody with equal contempt.
20. As I have no reputation to protect, I signed for the gay porn film myself.
21. Anybody who tells me he watches more than an hour of commercial TV per day is telling me that he resides on the left-wing of the Bell Curve. Some left wingers are quite stupid.
22. The planet's red glare gave proof through the night that our future was still out there.
23. In the absence of great challenges, human beings seldom rise above the level of chattering monkeys.
24. Michael Chippendale and his "real American" friends are prepared to meet in the street the Brown University Trotskyists and their rag-tag following of lazy, welfare recipients. If he is patient and waits just a few years, he will no doubt meet the whole subversive Ivy League gang on Wall Street.
25. How many math teachers have read Morris Kline's helpful book,"Why Johnny Can't Add"? Too many math teachers are scientifically illiterate. They cannot connect the dry, tedious textbook examples with the more exciting every day world.
26. We human beings have a divine right to be our inconsistent, rebellious, slightly daffy selves.
27. Tail-Gunner Al. As the guns were going off I recalled his frequent lament: "There There is no justice. There is no justice." We left a little note at the grave site: "AI, we hope you find JUSTICE in the next world".
28. Before we crucify Mr. Pine, let us consider another source of titillation: It is not for nothing that Rhode Island is considered the natural habitat of the drunk.
29. The argument about human nature undermining any conceivable utopia carries more weight with me nowadays.
30. I consider the Gus Hall crowd to be a bunch of Stalinist without Stalin. I don't care if the whole world knows that I read "commie" newspapers. I have a big plastic, orange pumpkin where Comrade Dave can deposit the subversive paper. I was in fact worried that the neighbors would think that I was in the pornography business.
31. The new immigrants arouse as much sympathy in me as green eyed snakes. They are as sensitive as vultures- always looking for the main chance.
32. I graduated from the Community College of Rhode Island at age 29 with the help of a few welfare checks.
33. This library computer that I am using to E-Mail you was a total mystery to me until a few months ago. (the FEBRUARY REVOLUTION)
34. One glaring evil of the present system is hereditary wealth. Nobody should be allowed to inherit more than $100,000. In a democratic society privilege without obligations has no right to even exist.
35. The nutritional needs of human beings are really quite modest. The mass media should use its power to synthesize bourgeois compassion. (Mr. Feinstein)
36. One telling detail: He was found naked in his bedroom in the fetal position.
37. I have read a whole book on the phenomenon of political correctness. Should the author be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Shallowness?
38. Gay Pride is utter rubbish! I have read "Death in Venice". The middle aged protagonist is hopelessly attracted to a young male beauty and also corrupted by that attraction.
39. Can a shameful man like Father Dunn- the rapist tormenter of a pitiful incest victim who came to him for help– can he be NOT GUILTY from a cosmic point of view?
40. Angry white males have not yet appeared on any politically correct victims list.
41. Would he have dared to suggest that the loathsome monster Craig Price be tortured ?
42. If she were not a victim of childhood polio, should Mr. Gray have referred to her as a beneficiary of it?
43. Deep down a lot of GAY behavior is just self-indulgent narcissism.
44. At what point in the evolution of our species from monkey to homo-sapiens did FREE WILL suddenly appear?
45. You can be sure the writer of this E-Mail will not be running for President in the future!
46. Our ideas and opinions should be a generous gift or affliction on the human race. Are we not already borderline charlatans when we attach a price tag to them?
47. Joe has a notion that the news we have been getting for years now is just WHITE NEWS. There is no such thing as professional journalism or even objective truth.
48. It would not surprise me if I read in tomorrow's newspaper that cosmologist Stephen Hawking wishes to become an ordained priest!
49. At first I thought it was all just right-wing blather. The book "Illiberal Education" opened my eyes.
50. Caesar's adventures in Gaul did not seem so irrelevant to me now. They reminded me of Vietnam.
51. The working class still does not want to be SAVED by Socialism. They want to be middle class.
52. Listening to JOE FROM COVENTRY on talk radio is truly wallowing in DEMOCRACY.
53. The white trash side of me compels more belligerent language.
54. It must be very trying to be a newspaper editor nowadays. All that sensitivity out there.
55. The last real philosopher king in this century was Lenin. In many ways he was a truly GREAT MAN but a disaster for the human race. It is about time they literally buried the poor devil.
56. The wise doctrine of separation of CHURCH and STATE continues to keep this society from blowing itself apart.
57. What I intend to promote- with or without anybody's permission is good, old fashioned FREE THINKING in the spirit of British philosopher Bertrand Russell.
58. Has not the 20th Century demolished all ideologies?
    
    
    

Mozart on Prozac

My not so little circle of friends, relatives, and acquaintances must constitute a "random sample" of the population. More than a few in this circle are taking some kind of anti-depressants.

A must read for people interested in the more extreme form of clinical depression is William Styron's book, "Darkness Visible". He was saved from the BLACK ABYSS by the RIGHT anti-depressant drug in just the right doses. You might ask if the drug affected his artistic sensitivity. But in any case he was pitifully non-functional in the extreme depressed state.

What may be alarming is the number of people taking anti-depressants just to cope with everyday life. Thinking about the individuals I know who admit needing them, I sense a certain loss of edge. I hear about things in their life that would simply break my heart if they were my burden.

Isn't it just better to FEEL? I reflect. To feel SAD is sometimes better for you than simply feeling in control. If a person is in some CREATIVE line of work, he or she has simply got to FEEL to produce anything. Feel HAPPY. Feel Sad. Feel Angry. Feel Miserable. Feel Hurt. Feel Jealous.

Is there a (my paranoia) CONSPIRACY to make the FEELING person obsolete? All this medication helps people to ADJUST and COPE when maybe if they LISTENED to their FEELINGS, they would REBEL instead.

Great ART may soon be a thing of the PAST because it is inspired by GREAT FEELING and indeed inspires GREAT FEELING. What modem music speaks to the soul?

Often when I begin to read a book or view a movie, I say to myself: "There is nobody here I can give a damn about because they arouse no FEELINGS, although they may "entertain". Can anybody imagine Mozart on PROZAC?