Jackass Rape Survey

Perhaps it is a sign of depraved callousness to laugh at

    something as somber as the Rhode Island Rape Crisis Center's   latest


    HORRIFYING   survey of kids- in grades six to nine-  most of whom are

    are at least a few years away from their first date or even their first

    wet dream .  With such  morally decadent young males  out there , the

    Center will  be a busy institution for years to come.


          I am not surprised that militant feminist ideology  is guiding

    a  JACKASS  survey.

           I  expect  that the vast majority of those naughty boys will


    never even " rape " their future wives.  No, not even after  a $50 dinner!

        Were  BOTH sexes surveyed by Peg Langhammer's  staff  investigators ?

      In this matter of kissing , " consent " is - with most NORMAL females-

    signaled by subtle body language. I recommend that Peg  view the last

    ten minutes  of the Academy Award winning foreign  movie  " Cinema  Paradiso ".


         I  loath rapists but long live PASSION !  Militant feminism is now

    as silly as it is sexless.

How to sweeten sour criticism

I wrote recently to your newspaper responding to reader displeasure


    with  Channing Gray's often  " sour " criticism. It occurred to me that


    if the honest  critic has nothing very positive to say about the entertainment,


    he  could look around the audience for delighted faces.  Ask them for their


    opinion of the show. Even if that person is the star's mother,  her opinion


    will sweeten the sourness of the review.


           I saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show just once and I was " dragged "


    there to see it. I would have given it a sour review. But people who have


    never seen the cult sexual farce should hear from people who have seen it


    a thousand times.


          " Gone with the Wind " legend Clark Gable has given me an an enduring


    reminder of the weight of my own opinions :  " Frankly my dear I don't


    give a damn !  "

Globe typo - " bald in pursuit " ?

           I am proud of our president's speeches in China. But I read on

    the front page of today's Boston Globe  that Clinton's recent speech

    was " BALD in its  pursuit of closer ties with Beijing...."

         His speech is, I suspect, no more BALD than he himself- who , like

    his idol JFK , has an enviable head of thick if graying hair.

        A more alarming typo might read: "  was BOLD in its pursuit of CLOSET

    ties with Beijing..."

          I have plenty of red ties in my closet !

Carl's Young's bureaucratese

I am wise enough not to write about things I hardly understand.

    But I just read " Blue Cross's mental health policy " by Carl Young.

    At first I thought I was reading a column by Carol Young . I believe

    this woman is on the editorial staff. "  Something very wrong here", I

    reflected. " No Projo columnist writes like THAT - the stuffy, atrocious

    deceptive BUREAUCRATIC style! " Then I looked more carefully at the name

    - " Carl ". I don't know the man. I know people often must play their

    assigned roles- even if it is obtuse bureaucrat. But I wonder if such a

    man could ever be FUN to talk to.

       The " responsible " bureaucrat in our society -almost without exception

    - loses the ability and even the will to utter  SIMPLE, TRUTHFUL

    sentences about their institution. Ultimately   he or she must lose

    the ability to to talk humanly about ANYTHING !


        Orwell was right about the obfuscation of the English language : it

    often hides petty, nasty motives !

Patrick Buchanan scores a point

I just read Patrick  J. Buchanan 's disturbing column " No labor

    of love in Mexico " in the New York Post ( June 27 ). He points out

    that the legendary General Motors Co. - " What's good for General Motors

    is good for America  "  - is now indirectly the largest private employer

    in  Mexico, where the minimum wage is a healthy $1 to $2 an hour. American

    workers ,it seems, are just not patriotic enough to work for those humble

    wages.

        Buchanan ends his column - who dare call it " demagogic- ? - with this

    provocative question: " When did we vote to ship the Arsenal of Democracy

    abroad and to replace our domestic labor force with a foreign one. ? "

           Here is an issue - really quite complex and discouraging - that

    nevertheless can decide the next presidential election. The " all- American "

    blue collar worker has, I am sure , felt like the forgotten man for a generation

    now.

       I invariably vote for liberal Democrats but I got a big chuckle out of

    Pat Buchanan 's surprise showing in that last New Hampshire primary. I

    called a friend  later that night who lives in North Conway:

      "  You know who Pat is ? "  I asked . " He is the Eddy Mc Guire of the

    Republican Party. We both laughed  hysterically. Eddy was a departed dear

    friend of Irish American background. He was a bully and often quite obnoxious

    but you could laugh with him about many things.  He despised phonies and

    could be blistering blunt in talking to them. He  was afraid of nobody  :

        " I'll crush you like a fly !  "  he warned a local bum.

      Some people , like Ed and Pat, are not  very nice guys   But they can

    be fun - if they are on your side.

         I'll probably vote for Al Gore in the next election. If I  don't

    move to  Mexico .

How to ruin the tobacco guys

I  do not smoke and rarely drink and can even be described as

    almost abstemious with regard to life's other intoxications. And

    with no criminal record - and no desire for other people's worldly

    goods, I might even  make the perfect bank president - if only I had

    more  faith in the wonders of free enterprise!

            Lately I've reflected on how to ruin both the tobacco and the

    liquor industry. Those omnipresent billboards advertising cigarettes

    suggest  a kind of euphoria for the smoker that in reality certain

    relatively harmless but still ILLEGAL drugs can truly deliver.

          What if kids were suddenly to see billboards everywhere suggesting

    the euphoria  really delivered by the best marijuana and the purest LSD ?

          Only hypocrites will express concern for the mental and physical

    risks of these " anti - Establishment " drugs.

        A certain percentage of kids will find perdition with these drugs

    just as they now do with tobacco and alcohol. The rest will simply

    have a better way to " enjoy " themselves.

         It is time to wage war on the tobacco and alcohol MONOPOLIES !

      Let's legalize the least harmful ILLEGAL DRUGS - or let's at least

    think about it.

            Perhaps one day Bill Clinton will appear on a seductive

    billboard puffing away on a marijuana cigarette, blowing the smoke

    into Newt Gingrich's face: " Inhale to the chief Newt !  "
How to ruin the tobacco guys

" Emo " in Patinkin column

  When I encountered him last night in the Providence Public Library,

my old friend " Emo "  Hovannesian told me that he would be the subject

of a Mark Patinkin column in today's paper. I just read Mark's column.

I can assure Providence Journal readers that he did not " fabricate "

the one and only neighborhood philosopher, rescuer of cats, lost soul

eccentric, heir to an imagined Czarist Russia fortune- " Emo " Hovannesian !

    I hope the column will help people to see in " Emo " what I have

always seen - the " saint without God ".

    Have a nice day - ron

" Emo "- Patinkin column ( June 23, 1998 )

I have known the subject of Mark Patinkin's excellent column

    today (  "  Mo  quotes Robert Frost and rescues cats " -June 23 )

    - " Emo " Hovannesian - neighborhood philosopher, rescuer of stray

    cats, down and out lost soul eccentric, heir to an imagined Czarist

    Russia oil fortune, now pathetic victim of  Mayor Cianci's " neighborhood

    improvement " --since 1970. He is a chartered member of Our Gang.

       I can assure Providence Journal readers that he is no " fabrication ".

    He is our answer to New York's Ratso Rizzo of " Midnight Cowboy "

    fame. In fact playing " Emo " would be a perfect role for brilliant

    actor Dustin Hoffman, a sure Academy Award Winner !

        When THEY are demolishing his humble house at 327 Dexter St., I

    want all Rhode Island to hear his plaintive cry : " I'm here! I'm here ! "

       I first met Emo at the former " wild-hippie " Armando's Bar in

    downtown Providence.He was the friend of another " our gang " friend-

    now a math teacher at URI - who now and then -too drunken to go home-

    crashed in my bathtub in a squalid rooming house on North Main Street.

    Those " welfare blues days " !

       " Emo" was the gang's technical advisor on race track gambling. Once

    I made a " grandma bet " and won enough money to treat myself to an ice

    cream sunday at Lincoln Downs.

        He is still one of the few people in Providence with whom I can

    discuss IDEAS- and the OLD DAYS.

       I hope Mark Patinkin's column will help people to see him as I've

    always seen him - a saint without God.

         I thank  Mark again for finding a great - if rather pathetic story.

22 kids- welfare pays ?

An irate Ann Lander's  letter writer complains about a Florida

    man -" extraordinarily virile " , with 22 kids " by three sisters ",

    never employed, and wanting at public expense, " a large house near

    the beach ".

         Ann Lander's replies: " the family does qualify for some government

    aid...Too bad ". She realizes that if the system did not help him, " his

    children would suffer ".

       We celebrate human procreation with " Father's  Day "  and " Mother's

    Day " but seldom reflect on how criminal it is to recklessly bring

    children into the world as a mere feat of " virility ".

        I believe myself a humanist at heart. But the rationalist in me

    understands that the world is already over-populated. How " sacred "

    can human life be when  we reproduce like cockroaches ?

        There should never have been more than a billion " souls " on this

    planet. But we have the most powerful spiritual leader in the world

    telling people in the most populous area of the world : not only reject

    abortion but even birth control ! And " rational " people tremble

    before his divine wisdom !

       I must laugh cynically when I hear people say that the most SPIRITUAL

    experience of their life was the birth of a child .

        I learned in high school biology that all living things reproduce.

    Even a virus molecule is fiendishly cunning about perpetuating its

    kind. We humans are so proud of a power we share with the lowly

    earthworm !

         BIG BROTHER must come to the rescue.  China has the right idea.

Smith more gullible than readers

Disgraced Boston Globe columnist Patricia Smith says her

    daily horoscope had already warned her : " Be careful in dealing

    with your boss today. Misunderstandings could lead to the loss of

    a job . "  Her boss described this  comment as " an eerie moment " in

    their momentous lunch meeting.

        If Patricia was serious about her  daily horoscope , she is more

    gullible than her readers.

           She might have benefitted from a lunch or two with the late

    astronomer  Carl Sagan , author of the " Demon Haunted World  ".

        Incidentally Sagan wrote that REALITY was really more fascinating

    FANTASY .

Derelict friend in Patinkin column

An old friend of mine - whom anybody might judge on first impression

    as  an eccentric  derelict - " Emo "  Hovannesian of 327 Dexter St., South

    Providence  -  tells me that  his plight will be the subject of a Mark

    Patinkin column  tomorrow.

        I have before me the letter  Mayor Cianci sent him informing him

    that his very humble abode will soon be demolished in the interest of

    " neighborhood improvement  ". He and his 25 or 30 cats may soon be

    homeless. He spends a big chunk of his paltry social security income

    just to keep his " family " fed.

        Emo's Armenian family once owned oil wells in czarist Russia. He

    has or thinks he has a compensation claim on the present " democratic "

    government.

         I met Emo  way back in 1970 in the former Armando's Bar in downtown

    Providence. He was the friend of another friend who now and  then -hung over

    - slept in  my bathtub in that squalid  rooming house on North Main St.

    The " Welfare Blues Days  " !

           Emo - gifted in math - has a reputation for being a smart gambler.

    But tonight I loaned him a dollar for coffee.

         People  seeing him  in downtown Providence may think  he is  our

    answer to Ratso Rizzo  ( the  Dustin Hoffman character in " Midnight

    Cowboy " ) .

       When they are demolishing his home, he wants us to hear his defiant

    shout :  " I'm here !  I'm here !  "

       Emo is one of the few people in Providence with home I can discuss

    philosophy and higher mathematics. I hope people don't think that Mark

    Patinkin fabricated him. He is as REAL as I am !

Bad weather blues- a remedy ?

 I know that long stretches of gloomy weather -especially in a season

        normally noted for fair weather- can depress people.

             Perhaps local theaters can help. Last night I imagined how pleasant

        it would be to see a sunny, HAPPY  movie  like the musical " South Pacific "

        or " The  Sound of Music "  at the Meadowbrook here in Warwick.

            I needed to see the SUN and the BLUE SKY and the SEA and lush green

        vegetation on the BIG SCREEN !

              Instead I saw- for the second time - that cynical but hilarious

        movie- even for a fan of Bill Clinton - " Primary Colors ". ( John Travolta

        was brilliant !  )

             After several days of awful weather local cinemas might consider

        some re-programming in the interest of community mental health .

              Rodgers & Hammerstein to the rescue !


- - - - - - - - -
  From: david_brussat@ProJo.COM ("DBRUSSAT.PJB.PROJO.COM")
    To: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov
    Subject: Re: [ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov: Bad weather blues- a remedy ?]
    Date: Fri, 19 Jun



    --Boundary-1277144-0-0

          Ron - I happened to see that movie, Primary Colors, on Monday at the
    Avon. Good movie, sad role model for Bill. (Well, I suppose it's reverse of
    that, really. Oh well.) And lots of bad hotel architecture. Hope we can keep
    it away from here. Like your idea about movie houses coming to the rescue of
    the community psyche. Don't hold your breath.
         - Dave

Patricia Smith scandal

         I commend the Boston Globe for doing the right thing in the

    Patricia Smith scandal. Her talent for fabricating characters and

    quotations could have been honorably employed in writing FICTION.

       Perhaps she will redeem herself in the future. There was a good

    heart behind her deception. But it is unforgivable as journalism !

       Out of curiosity I just read her May 11,1998 column in the Boston

    Globe. Very strange " interview " with a cancer patient whose middle

    name she gave as " Claire ".

         The horror of the piece reminded me of a short story by Guy de

    Maupassant - " The Horla " - written not long before his mental

    breakdown : " I've gone casket shopping. I've had dreams of lying in

    one with a hole in my head which you can see right through. I'm

    driving my mother crazy ",  Claire says.

       In her  Apology column, Patricia Smith writes : " To those colleagues

    and readers who salivated daily at the thought of my head on a platter,

    congrats."

       Perhaps there is an " ogre " lurking in her. Perhaps she needs

    professional attention. I do not say this meanly. I wish her a

    happy life .




       I can appreciate an editor's job more after reading this sad story!

Nervy journalism !

I read in the news this morning ( June 18 ) that retired military

    man, Perry Smith, thinks that nerve gas was never used in the  scandalous

    enough  Vietnam War  to get  a few detested  defectors. He calls the

    story " sleazy journalism  " and even quit his job  as a military

    analyst at CNN - in protest.

           In general scandalous stories - not backed up by very diligent

    investigating - should never get past a responsible editor. Other

     mass   media sources just " pick up " the fishy story.


            The war in Vietnam was a bottomless pit of real scandals. The

    Oliver Stone  movie " Born on the 4th of July " seemed highly credible

    to me. Pathetic Ron Kovic in his wheel chair was the perfect poster boy

    for that  national calamity.

           But it is brainless to readily believe every  " shocking " rumor

    connected with that war. The honor and courage and character  of thousands

    of military people like Ma.Gen. Perry Smith were not " casualties of war ".

          If there is ever another  " Good War "  in the future , we will

    want such people around.

Judges glaring down - Mancini

 Francis Mancini's column today made me reflect on the image of

    the JUDGE GLARING DOWN FROM THE BENCH : You are a man of no great social

    prominence charged with rape. You  deny the crime and show no remorse

    for the logical reason that you think yourself innocent. The sanctimonious

    judge finds you insolent and despicable and is determined to make you

    pay for it. The judge -drunk with power - imagines that he has a divine

    mission to smite the wicked.

         We know now a little more about those traffic court judges . How

    much damage can be done by arrogance combined with incompetence ! I

    have had just very limited experience with them. But what classless

    sloppy BUMS !

         My observation is that everywhere entrenched power is corrupt. Nine

    out of ten unions in this country are run by Johnny Friendly types .

    The movie " On the Waterfront " is  rated up there with the best. Sometimes

    Hollywood tells the truth !

         The mighty fall when simple people begin to question their legitimacy :

     " You're no good, dirt rotten, dime store THUG ! And I'm proud what I

    did to you "  ( Marlon Brando line )

        Lately I see the Johnny Friendly mug everywhere !

Mount Rushmore Reagan ?

          Good morning Dave. I share your admiration for the new Reagan

    Building .I did not admire the affable Reagan as our president but

    feel very sad for him today.

           He recognizes only Nancy - true love I guess.


         Ronald  Reagan did have a wonderful - all- American face - that

    would indeed look PERFECT on Mount Rushmore .

         But please let the ardent Republicans pay the bill!

       A letter of mine on the Reagan Building was published in USA TODAY

    a while back along with an illustration of the  magnificent structure.

        Have a nice day ! ( I have -finally- another radio again and I

    will listen to CLASSICAL   music and  some Frank Sinatra. )

            ron


- - - - - - - - -

         Ron - Thnks for your note. Glad you liked the column. And keep those
    cards and letters to the editor coming (though sometimes we have to fight off the urge to refer to ourselves as the Providence Journal-Ruggerio!!!
         - Dave Brussat

Israel and Richard Wagner

           This story alone confirms my perception of Israel as a functional

    if not an exemplary democracy: Jewish conductors told their parliament-

    no doubt in the interest of general culture- that the German composer

    and inspirer of Adolf Hitler, Richard Wagner, should no longer be taboo

    in Israel.

          Can one imagine anything comparable in the Islamic Republics ? Even

    the rabid " Mein Kampf " is just another dusty old book at Hebrew University.

        Recall the death sentence handed out to an " irreverent " Arab

    writer .

         A functional democracy has this virtue : it can -in the long run -

    correct its own excesses and errors.

          I don't know enough about Richard Wagner's  anti- Semitism to

    pass damning judgment. People often claim to hate particular groups on

    the basis of very limited  encounters.

            His music is  BEAUTIFUL. It is truly ROMANTIC!

        We might reflect that the stirring hymn " Onward Christian Soldiers "

    may inspire  even the KKK !

Lott on Homosexuality

As an " unrepentant bi-sexual ", I will defend Trent Lott's right

    to   have what is really just the traditional view of homosexuality: that

    it is a wicked sin condemned by the Bible. People everywhere have a

    divine right to express their beliefs .I understand he does not think

    they should be persecuted or abused - like alcoholics, he thinks, they

    need help.

        Gay people must also " tolerate " traditionally religious people who

    are indeed the majority in this country. I respect any man's intellectual

    and ethical integrity . I do not want anybody to change their deepest

    convictions because of social pressures.

          For example I believe in Darwin's theory of evolution. Science is

    on my side as it is on my side in this matter of sexual orientation. But

    most Americans have the traditional view of Creation. Do we " progressive "

    minded people want them to  renounce their simple faith unwillingly ?

    No, we must only insist that  Darwin's theory prevail in the SCIENCE

    class - for the good of the country.

        Many gay people also have something to learn about TOLERANCE !

       I will say this about Trent Lott : unlike Lot's wife in the Bible,

    HE is always looking backward. Perhaps his brain will turn to stone !

Channing Gray in a better light

I have read quite a few letters scolding Channing Gray for

    the " sour notes " in his reviews. I agree that on the whole the critic

    should love the art form he presumes to judge with expert  taste and

    discrimination. But their negative reviews - if honest - often do us

    a favor. Providence Journal movie critics have often saved me the price

    of a ticket; I learned that one  critic in particular, Jim Seavor, was

    often right on the money in  his artistic judgments.

        I can't recall his name right now - was it Michael ? - introduced

    me to a cult horror classic, " Carnival of Souls ". He explained that

    real horror -appealing to primal, subliminal fears - has no need of sick

    violence and the gross out. I was motivated to see the Stephen King

    movie  " Carrie " when a critic described it as a " real nightmare ".

           Many movies I regretfully learned deserved the " turkey " status

    assigned them by a Projo critic. I guess LOVE means never having to say

    your sorry!

       I was not let down by a Channing Gray review of the LaChance family

    singers a while back. They are indeed an entertaining " dynasty ".

      But I don't I understand the newspaper's four star rating of a goofy

    movie, " The  Wedding Singer ". I saw it recently at the Meadowbrook

    Cinema in Warwick. A sharper critic may have saved me all of $2.50.

        Thank you Projo critics for being right most of the time !

Joyce Purnick " controversy "

Good morning Froma. I had the same reaction to Joyce Purnick"s

    remarks on certain sad conflict between  motherhood and profession.

       What struck me was this: here is a truly empowered woman -in no

    need of male " rescue " - feeling forced to recant.

        And it was just common sense!

      I was very influenced by feminist writers when they were just obscure

    names in the library. Way back I loved Betty Friedan's now classic : " The

    Feminine Mystique ". I could SEE what she was talking about. I felt very

    sad about a woman's brain going to waste in her mother's role.

       When feminism began to get to have a rather obnoxious tone - dizzy

    from success- I felt more sympathy for the unpretentious mother and

    housewife snubbed by the world shaking MOVEMENT.

         There is inherent tragedy in a woman's situation. I just re-read

    Kate Chopin's 1899 classic " The Awakening ". The heroine , Edna Pontellier,

    could not be a " mother woman " but she could not be  quite " free "

    either with her patriachial husband and two young children. She ends up

    drowning herself in the sea. The book was a shocking scandal at  turn

    of the  century.

        Edna is still around !

Hate crime - a muddled concept

Headline in todays paper:" Handling of hate crimes becoming a

    major police concern ".

         Hate crimes - defined as " criminal acts motivated by prejudice

    based on gender ,sexual orientation, national origin or religion ".

        I am,of course, appalled by the most recent example of " hate crime ":

    a black man sadistically murdered KKK style by four white men.

         Not surprisingly at protest rallies black hate groups had a

    field : " Hating the white man is as American as apple pie " ( or something

    with the very same meaning )     edit ; field day.

        The definition of " hate crimes " ironically implies that most

    murders and assaults in this country are  not " hate crimes "- just

    somebody  having a bad day !

       What about the shootings in the schools ? What about " road rage "

    assaults ( a Warwick incident on the front page of the Providence

    Journal, June 16 ) ?  What about domestic violence -often the purest

    form of " hate crime "  )

        Remember Craig Price of Warwick ? Craig murdered a  whole family-

    a lovely family. Craig - perhaps himself the victim of racism - just

    had one of his moody days! And minors,of course, simply lack the

    maturity of mind demanded for most " hate crimes ".

         There will be a lot of preaching to the choir - after a particularly

    shocking  " hate crime ". " Let us root out all malice from our hearts ! "

        But the underclass of psycopaths- who will continue to commit " hate

    crimes " - is not listening.

        I have said this before : Perhaps we need a better mental health

Thank you, Library of Congress !

I was very pleased by the news on page A2 this morning of the Providence

    Journal : " Director wants Library of Congress to be an open book ".

        But how many people  even know this truly patriotic and brilliant

    man's name ?  He is doing the country a great service by making available

    on the Internet  things of great scholarly interest as the draft of

    the Declaration of Independence . To even view such a document was

    formerly the exclusive privilege of  very distinguished scholars.

          How different from the arid textbook experience: to view a

    splendid computer screen image of a surviving draft of  Lincoln's 1863

    Gettysburg Address.



          I recall viewing with awe on my brother's laptop  computer, the


    Vatican's Virgil  manuscript, the epic poem of the founding of  ancient

    Rome. It was the next best thing to having the precious  thing in my

    hands.

         The people who do the most good in the world rarely become

    celebrities. The name of our American benefactor is James H. Billington.

       He has been very successful at fundraising. Get out your checkbook

    Bill  Gates. Do the right thing !

        Thanks to Mr. Billington our national KNOWLEDGE -which is indeed

    POWER - is no longer a MONOPOLY!


         And thank you too  Bill  Gates for helping to make this possible.

      What beautiful irony !
( the S. Ruggieri is my brother. His picture was in the Providence

Journal a few weeks ago in the Executive Room: he was promoted to

art supervisor at Duncan & Donnelly in East Providence.

    He thinks that I am most likely to be assassinated !

   Have a nice day !  )

Leo - one last " HUG "

 I was saddened to read  " Dr. Hug " , Leo Buscaglia 's obituary

    in the morning paper. I have read a few of his " love " books and have

    seen a few of his videos.

       My  " uncle " , Mike Pocino of Pascoag, R.I , died this week at the

    same age, 74, as Buscaglia. He never took " Love 101 " but never needed

    the course. This warm hearted, hugging Italian, left behind not less

    than 36 god-children. That makes him around here- in the true sense of

    the title- the Godfather of all Godfathers.

        Buscaglia could get away with his Loving & Hugging sermons because

    he was an  Italian for whom it all came naturally. Most writers of this

    type come across as rather sappy and insincere or manipulate. ( " I love

    you so much that I just know you'll want to do things My Way ! " )

        Buscaglia was good anti-dote to certain kinds of sexual abuse

    hysteria. I could only laugh at those silly teachers subjecting kids

    to those ridiculous " good touch, bad touch " lectures.

       I have read competent psychologists who point that kids especially

    can wither away spiritually if they are never hugged and kissed and

    " good-touched ". ( edit: " manipulative "..." point out " )

        These kids who crack up in a headline making way- how often were

    they hugged and kissed by the adults in their lives ?

       One last " hug " for Leo !

Sarah Conklin and Compromise

Just the other day -after the wake of a dear family friend - I

    was  my older brother Rick's  guest at the Harborside Restaurant near

    Warwick. He does those radio commercials for the business,, so pleasantly

    located.


          The  family friend -a heavy smoker - died in agony of spreading

    lung cancer. Rick too is a heavy smoker. And just  last month an not

    old  buddy of his  - another heavy smoker - died of lung cancer at age

    53.

         A funeral is no occasion for health  lectures. Since Rick was paying

    the bill, I felt that it would be impudent to reproach him for poisoning

    the air in the restaurant.

         I have no doubt that if he could not smoke at the Harborside, he

    would take his  advertising business elsewhere. And no doubt many of

    the regulars there - who smoke - would find another place, even if less

    satisfying.


            This morning I read that the House committee voted to kill the

    legislation that  would have  banned smoking in all Rhode Island

    restaurants. A 13 year old anti- smoking crusader, Sarah Conklin,

    concludes that our representatives are more concerned about money

    than our  health.

         I believe that this is  all too  true most of the time. But

    in this case the  representatives - who have an obligation to all

    the citizens -were protecting the restaurant business from utter

    ruin.

         I recall the touching scene in the  movie " To Kill A Mocking Bird "

    when lawyer Atticus Finch tries to explain to his 7 year-old daughter,

    Scout, the meaning of the  word  COMPROMISE .

          Later in the courtroom the " white trash " villain of the story

    shouts: " You can't trust tricky lawyers like Atticus Finch !  "

         The villain -perhaps- had a point.

On Renting Funeral Garb

         The somewhat morbid inspiration came to me after the wake in

    Greenville. A dear friend of the family had died . I missed the wake

    but was determined to make it to the funeral.And I almost missed the

    funeral, not wanting to disgrace the family by looking as if I were on

    my way to a rodeo. Luckily I was able to borrow black pants almost the

    right size from my brother -in-law .

        When it rained -as it often seems to do at funerals- I wished I had

    a black umbrella.

        A light when on in my imagination. We routinely rent clothes for

    weddings ( I did when I was best man at a friend's wedding ). Why not

    be able to rent them -on a moment's notice - from a store dedicated to

    such " emergency " needs ?

        The population of Rhode Island is aging - which means steady business

    for the funeral industry.

        I will ask the sharp entrepreneurs out there : Does this idea -renting

    funeral garb and black umbrellas - have any merit. Perhaps the idea itself

    should be taxed ? To discourage frivolous thinking .

       If I were to open the  first store, I would name it : " Wake Around

    The Clock ".

Bulletin!

 I must pass on a rumor of some urgency: Providence Mayor

Vincent Invincible Cianci is planning to detonate an underground

nuclear device ( under City Hall ). And he is hoping that the shock

waves reach all the way to the State House office of Gov. Lincoln

Almond.

     His science advisor is a cousin of the now dead Nigerian  president,

Sani Abacha . Gov. Almond wants to impose a special state tax on the

Mayor's Own Marinara Sauce.

    The " sauce " of this rumor is a puckish political activist with

an Irish last name.

  FICTION !

Workfare in New York

      The idea that everybody not brain-dead can be " employed " in a

    " free enterprise " society is an idea produced by the brain-dead.

        Not too long ago we heard utopian sermons on how modern technology

    would or could eliminate the old drudgery altogether. But SLAVERY is

    enshrined in the puritanical souls of our ruling elite . They themselves,

    of course, will continue to live the good life through " investments ",

    letting their accumulated wealth work hard for them.

        The rest of us will beware the cracking of the whip. Even if

    you're a mentally depressed paraplegic, you will not escape the

    joys of " productive " labor.

        In New York City the Mayor will soon require the certified

    unfit- those detestable welfare moms - to work for welfare.

       How quickly we forget our own history: the bloody civil

    decided that we would not have two categories of labor in a

    " democratic " society -  FREE and SLAVE.

        If someone on welfare must work for a living , then she is

    quite simply a FREE American worker- protected by ALL our labor

    laws, of course including the minimum wage.

        Are the w

         Are the workfare mothers employees of the state ? Will they

    eventually be employees of private enterprise ?

        Or will they continue to work for very suspicious " non-profit "

    organizations ?

        Will they be guaranteed work when the lurking BUSINESS CYCLE

    throws  millions of average workers into the street ?

        I predict A BIG MESS !

Where's the beef?

          The question I was really asking inside the supermarket ( Stop & Shop

    Warwick Ave. across from Meadowbrook Cinema ) was : Where's the beans ?

          I could have walked around the store for ten minutes . I do like

    to walk around and eye-shop in the midst of all this  packaged  cornucopia.

    But a  user friendly  computer screen - operated by gentle touches -

    invited me for once to shop  more  quickly.

        I spelled out B-E-A-N-S    and quickly  located the exact spot on a

    numbered aisle  where I would find canned beans. Then I  spelled out

    M-A-C-A-R-O-N-I    and studied the  map on the screen. " What a neat

    idea! How thoughtful ! " , I said to myself.

           I immediately thought of more general possibilities. If I can get

    lost in a supermarket, I can also get lost in  big hospital or a big

    department store. Recently trying to find the  train station, I got

    lost in Boston. How  convenient to have computer maps  of  a city scattered

    about in frequented places like fast food places, at the intersections

    of  busy  streets: " You are HERE. The train station is THERE . "

         This is one  way  for a city to be more tourist friendly. Just

    as the Warwick supermarket found a way to be more customer friendly.

The enduring emotion

           When I was about 20 years younger I worked for an instructive

    length of time in a  South Providence nursing home.  I quickly learned

    on a very intimate level that there is no significant anatomical or

    physiological differences between the races of mankind .

        We all fall apart in pretty much the same way. Those sentimental

    death bed scenes in movies are strictly Hollywood fantasy. Most

    people  neither age nor die with great dignity. I recall Leon Trotsky,

    the exiled Russian revolutionary writing in his diary : " Old age is

    hideous !  And at the time he was only in his  early  sixties.

           I remember joking with my sister in law - who now works in a

    nursing home herself - that now and then I craved to see a porn film

    not because I was in a lascivious mood but simply to undo the psychological

    damage  done by those unpleasant nursing home scenes.

            Today in the  Boston Globe I read about a 90-year-old man

    shooting his 84-year-old neighbor in a squabble ( page B 6 ). That

    rifle, I reflected, made him " virile " in his capacity for violence.

         Then I remembered my nursing home experience, my personal conclusion

    that up to the last minute of their life, human beings are capable of

    hate and of acting on the emotion. Every other emotion in them is

    dead - the dying ego is seldom altruistic. But  the little area of

    the brain which makes us hateful is the last to go.

         While there is life there is hostility.

      No wonder at funerals we hear and read : " Rest in peace ! "

      No wonder the " zombie " theme is so popular in horror films. We

    are frightened by the thought of our most enduring emotion - hate -

    enduring beyond the grave.

         It is not for nothing that walking past a cemetery at night

    we dread a frightful fiend stalking us!

Father knows best

 An  Associated Press story in today's  paper reports  one of

    those exceptionally heinous , domestic violence crimes : " Father

    beat twins to death " ( alleged ). The children were only five years

    old, a boy and a girl. The girl's name " Emily " reminded me right

    away of the American  drama classic " Our Town " : Would you like to

    relive your 5th birthday Emily ?  "

         " I just lost it ", her father, Vincent Spik, age 37 said. He

    was in charge of getting them ready but they were just too slow. He

    went down to the cellar and got a hammer, report the Pittsburgh police.

     ( " If I had a hammer... " famous song lyrics   )

           Sometimes the  solution to a problem may seem as  monstrous as

    the problem. For years I 've felt that one of the great crimes against

    humanity was the reckless reproduction of the race by individuals who

    have - to say the least - no gift for parenthood. That is one reason

    why I still support abortion rights- better to never really exist than to

    be born unwanted.

         Is about time that society curb virtually unlimited reproduction

    rights. Should the government begin to regulate the human reproduction ?

          We give people a license  to marry. Perhaps what is really needed

    is a license to reproduce !

Newspaper publisher apologizes ( but ? )

When did America lose its sense of humor ? Even newspaper publishers

    are reduced to pulp by a vociferous accusation that they failed to show

    sufficient respect for ethnic or gender sensitivities.

         The " victims " of the  INSULT do not want to enlighten you, they

    want to RUIN you !

         The publisher of the  Los Angeles Times, Mark H. Willes, suggested

    that more " emotional " stories may attract the  - who can deny it ? -

    more emotional  sex. Sexist !   Confess and repent !

        Don't think too much about the TRUTH of this observation, even if

    MILLIONS of dollars are  at stake.

         Every humble librarian - and they are mostly women - is well aware

    of  the simple fact of life : women in general are more emotional than

    men.  And their reading habits reflect it.

         It is possible often to be BOTH more emotional AND more intelligent.

        Psychologists  are aware that strong emotions can inspire brilliant

    thinking.

          Women on the newspaper staff of the Los Angeles Times no doubt

    reacted more emotionally to Mr. Willes remark. The males were more

    " analytical ". 

          Viva la difference !

Warwick Beacon editorial - the kids

Good question raised by your editorial : " Are we, as adults, listening ? "

        Do kids have problems ?  Should they talk about them ? 

       Perhaps your newspaper can help the kids to communicate their

    feelings ,not just to their parents but to the wider community . I

    always enjoy reading letters  kids ( under 18 ) write now and then to

    newspaper. They often write better than adults - and with touching

    freshness and honesty. ( the adults can't help sounding a little jaded )

        Perhaps it would be a constructive idea to encourage kids to write

    more frequently to the paper. You could create a section titled : " Is

    anybody really listening ?  "

        Obviously the more articulate kids will be expressing themselves at

    first - but what they write will reflect the feelings of their peer

    group.

         It will also sell more newspapers . Kids will want to read the

    interesting letters of other kids.

          Just a thought inspired by very sad news : kids killing other

    kids.

State Senate repeals sodomy law

Good morning. I am pleased to report that the campaign to

    repeal the sodomy law in Rhode Island has ended successfully. The

    front page of the Providence Journal  reports that the State Senate

    finally voted to repeal the 102 year old statute ( the abominable

    and detestable crime against nature ).

        Activists here are confident that Gov. Lincoln Almond will sign

    the bill. The Senate vote went 26-17 . A picture on page B 1 shows

    jubilant activists, among them Rep. Michael Pisaturo, the only openly

    gay representative.

Your Viagra column recalled

       Good morning Bob. The headline in today's Providence Journal on

    page A 2  recalls to my mind your humorous column on Viagra a while

    back. It now seems a little prophetic : " Man's former companion sues,

    claims he left after using Viagra ". The companion looks quite distraught.

    It would be vulgar for me to state my recommendation. But I could console

    her with these words : " There's a lot of old studs out there now

    sweetheart - with the new MIRACLE  breakthrough. "

         And the fool says in his heart that there is no Santa Claus !

        Have a nice day - ron
- - - - - - -
From: bob_kerr@ProJo.COM ("BKERR.PJB.PROJO.COM")
    To: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov
    Subject: Re:  Your Viagra column recalled
    Date: Wed, 03 Jun


    ron:  amazing what science can do, isn't it?   stud muffin in the the golden
    years.  we are truly blessed. 
    bob kerr

Religion not threatened in U.S

The sponsors of the  " Religious Freedom Amendment " seem to

    think that  Christianity is as vulnerable to persecution in U.S.A

    today as it was in ancient Rome in the time of Nero.

         Where is the evidence  of  contempt for the country's religious

    traditions?  Where has the venerable Bill of Rights failed miserably

    to protect freedom of worship ?

         Is the religious  Right in fact looking for an American Constantine

    to protect a national Christian religion ?

        The Christian point of view already insinuates itself everywhere -

    in the press, on radio and TV, in the schools, in the military, certainly

    in the Congress . This is not a " conspiracy " but  simply reflects

    the fact that most Americans are  believing Christians.

      The genius of the Bill of Rights is that it protects EVERYBODY.

      Do we want to throw old fashioned Americanism away in order to

    become the mirror image of one those repressive Islamic countries ?

        God is alive and well in the American tradition. He does not need

    to be  " revived " by the far right.

Roger Williams Park - neglected

The city of Providence is doing a rather poor job of keeping

        Roger Williams Park- a main tourist attraction along with our  Ocean

        State beaches -  attractive. It could be beautiful but apparently

        corrupt nitwits are responsible for its care.

             Anyone who drives through the beloved park frequently should be

        appalled by all those pot holes in the roads. No excuse for this !

            The litter patrol - if they have one - should be be singled out

        for SERVICES NOT RENDERED .

              The  sidewalk in front of the Boat House is literally paved

        with that sickening to look at bird excretion.

             Some of the slobs who visit  Roger Williams Park should be

        challenged by the park police ( hopefully bi-lingual ) .

            On  weekends there are just too many nerve racking BOOMING radios.

        Idiots never fail to advertise their presence !

              We deserve a more pleasant Roger Williams Park .

- - - - -
    Thanks particularly for your note about Roger Williams Park. I've been wanting to write about the subject of neglect myself, not to mention the boom box noise. If you have any other observations, I'd love to hear them to put in an
    editorial.

    Best wishes,

    Froma Harrop

" Going Postal " Harmlessly

So many stories in the news lately  are " anger " driven. Because

    someone wakes up angry , innocent people die an unexpected and violent

    death. Often they never even knew their killer.

         Most biologists understand that the human nervous system is really

    adapted to life as we lived it many thousands of years ago. Way back in

    the Stone Age there was probably no mindless violence . Life was short

    and brutal but not CRAZY as it is today.

         We read about irate employees " going postal " and want the mental

    health system to come to the rescue.

           But how unnatural life is for everybody today beginning in the

    school years.  What healthy animal would like to spend five or six

    hours in school five days a week - plus an additional 15 or 20 hours

    at some obnoxious job- for spending money.

        How many adults not utterly brainwashed by the " work ethic " see

    clearly the mindless drudgery of their lives. Is it really " normal "

    to want to work 8 hours a day in some corporate building that is

    contemptuous of every human need . Imagine having to explain the need

    for an open window ! 

         The " business " environment is downright hostile to everything

    poetic and sensuous in human being. No wonder a significant number

    of vulnerable individuals crack.

         We want people to cope with S-T-R-E-S-S , but we don't dare

    think to deeply about its  social roots.

         And to add insult to injury - to quote Dr. Charles Spielberger -

    " We build jails rather than mental hospitals ". ( June 2, page f3 )

          Half of our prisons  should be converted to mental hospitals !

       I myself often " go postal  " harmlessly . I write letters and now

    E-mail spares me the cost of a postage stamp .

Thoughts for " World No Tobacco Day "

How to sell the anti-tobacco view to teenagers  ? They are

    the ones about to make a decision as critical to their lives as

    marriage and career. There are bill boards everywhere -aimed at teens-

    associating an ugly and unhealthy habit with happy mental states - a

    a pleasant Dionysian life. Somehow Apollo must come to their rescue.

          I remember a friend of mine at age 17 - even way back then a heavy

    smoker- out of breath as he struggled up College Hill in Providence. At

    45 has not yet paid the full price of tobacco addiction.

          People think that if they can make it to " old age ", then they

    got away with it - overcame the danger of the addiction.

         I believe that it not just a matter of lung cancer or heart disease.

    The poisons in cigarette smoke must harm us at the level of basic,

    cellular biochemistry. We are mentally and physically -even young teen

    agers- less than what we can be when we smoke.

         My 17 year old friend struggled up College Hill. But I'm convinced

    that college itself is more of a " struggle " for kids who smoke.

         That brain needs a " user friendly " blood supply. I'll bet that

    tobacco smoke actually makes us dumber. The great THOUGHT eludes us

    because we smoke.

          Enjoy life ? Well, we only KNOW we are alive because of our five

    senses. If one morning we realize that we can't smell or taste very

    well, we are really almost half dead. A huge area of our brain is

    devoted to our sense of smell, the most evocative of the five senses.

    If we can't smell our food, forget the Epicurean life style.

        Despite those bill board, girls who don't smoke are on the whole

    prettier than girls who do. It has something to do with the circulation

    of the blood. Check them out in five years, see who looks YOUNGER!

         Just some thoughts for World No Tobacco Day.

Steve Dunleavy & Flag

All I know about Marykait Durkee - the " teen twerp ", " rebel

    without a cause " , " no respect for flag " , " brain - burdened "

    kid - is what your columnist Steve Dunleavy just told me.

         I am quite " liberal " but not the knee-jerk type and I do try

    to understand conservatives like Steve. I can understand the threat

    posed by an immature kid who scorns the Pledge of Allegiance, then

    becomes an overnight celebrity embraced by ACLU.

        Steve is at least guilty of over-kill in his column today. He

    sounds as if he personally wants to spank her.

       If I had a daughter like Marykait, I would try to convince her

    that refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance is an unwise way of

    expressing her belief that all is not well with the country.

        Little things like the Pledge of Allegiance are the social

    glue that holds a very diverse society  together. Millions of

    people living together in a country simply have to agree on

    something.

         It is a fact that the whole world believes that Free Speech

    is a reality in this country. Showing respect for patriotic rituals

    is way of showing respect for those ideals that the whole world

    yearns for.

         An examination of  American newspapers should convince any

    open minded person that there is no THOUGHT CONTROL in the United

    States.

        I am convinced that Mary could write an essay in which she says

    that she does not believe in God, that our government is corrupt,

    and that   American society is too violent - and that essay if

    polite and respectful in tone - could win an award from the American

    Heritage Foundation !

" Misleading Information "

            I thank Mr. Paul Gonsalves for his thoughtful response to

    my letter ( May 17 ) . I will personally assert my " ignorance " in

    many areas but I have a perfect right to discuss my personal experiences

    without being certified by the proper authorities.

           True any information can be misleading. Does that make it a

    menace to social tranquility ? Only " experts " should be heard on

    the long list of " sensitive issues " ?

         I cannot believe that " negro " originally -even in the mouth of

    slave traders - was anything but a descriptive word . Did the first

    " white devil " setting his evil eyes on African people see " black

    things " for sale ?

         My point was that I never heard the word " negro " spoken

    maliciously or contemptuously by whites.

          Mr. Gonsalve's logic would lead to blacks repudiating their last

    names. ( hence Malcolm  X ). It could even lead to them rejecting the

    English language altogether !

        Perhaps Mr. Gonsalves - ignoring main points of my letter - thought

    it was insensitive of me to report an unpleasant incident: blacks calling

    one another the nasty N- word ?

        My point was quite simple : If you want people to respect you, you

    begin by respecting yourself.

         I have no intention of calling black people any names now offensive

    to them. But most blacks never were offended by the word " negro". Their

    self-appointed leaders decided that the  innocuous word had to go.

       In conclusion  this business of " sensitivity " in matters of race

    and gender is getting quite ludicrous.  We need more common sense and

    common decency in our society and less politically correct " sensitivity".