The Brophy's medical bills (re: Bob Kerr article)

Thanks for the column on the Brophys in their lead poisoned

    " dream house ". The poignant -and expected - line :  " Their daughter

    has developed learning disablities . "  Clearly Ron's nerve problems

    go beyond the lead contamination.

           And how much help are the Brophys getting with their medical

    bills ?

            How can any kid be expected to escape a non-privileged

    environment if he or she is left nearly witless with a " learning

    disability "  ?

              The unfairness of it !

Why welfare program fails

Headline on page 2 today ( Projo, Sept.30 )   : "  Program to

    help welfare fathers doesn't work, study finds ". 

            We live in a very complex society. Many people who could have

    supported themselves as humble peasants in medieval times - just can't

    find a place in the capitalist economic order.

           The most ambitious programs for making  members of nearly

    hereditary " underclass "  EMPLOYABLE fail again and again.

          Our society should acknowledge the reality described

    mathematically by the Bell Curve of " normal distribution ".

       The extreme left of the curve - a solid 5-10 percent of the

    population ( always growing in ABSOLUTE numbers ! ) will not

    fade from reality by the most ambitious programs.

          We must simply ACCEPT these people as life time welfare

    recipients.  " Success " for them should simply be staying out

    of jail , out of trouble, and not being homeless.

          For them I recommend quite literally Bread & Circuses .

       Perhaps a future generation can conduct HUMANE eugenic

    experiments. The Nazis - unfortunately - have given eugenics a

    bad name.

         The scariest thought that I have when I see all the cretins

    in the Providence area is this : " They can and WILL reproduce

    their kind ".

            Perhaps the eugenics of the future will find the way to

    create a healthier and happier race .

          But for now it must be :  Bread & Circuses !

Is Karen Nygaard all there ?

I read in the Journal on page A9 today ( Sept.29 )  that

    Senator Karen Nygaard, D- Bristol, deeply appreciates the " kind of

    gentleman " we have in our Senate majority leader, Paul S. Kelly .

         Only hours after he battered his wife, he called her to wish

    HER good luck in the primary . Commented Nygaard : " Here he was

    going through this terrible pain and anguish, and he was thinking

    of someone else. "

         The amazing hypocrisy of human nature. I understand at the

    time HE was beating his wife, he was definitely not thinking

    about HER needs: " You'll get nothing ! "  ( near quote in Projo )

           I have already wrote to your paper suggesting that Sen. Kelly

    may need a mental and physical exam . But  must I remind FEMINISTS

    not to forget a female victim - Mrs. Kelly ?

         ( edit : already written " )

Free speech in malls - a solution ?

 Does a Quaker - pacifist group - known as the " Foot Locker Eight "

    have a right to distribute  leaflets to shoppers in New Hampshire

    malls ?  ( Providence Sunday Journal , front page ,Sept. 27 )

           The passionate advocate of a righteous cause - if I really

    know this type - is  mentally prepared for hostile encounters with

    the " mall zombies ".   "  Yes, I will disturb your tranquility you

    cheerful idiot consumer . THIS issue demands your attention ! "

          And the average Joe shopper feels a little hassled . He thinks :

    " True enough, but right now ?  "

         The management -obviously - would prefer that nobody break the

    blissful " shopping " mood .


            Perhaps less narrow mindedness on all sides might help. The

    mall management should acknowledge the semi-public nature of the place.

    The activist with leaflets should respect the right of the shopper to

    be a cheerful idiot at least while he or she is shopping.

         The SOLUTION is an enclosed PUBLIC MESSAGE area where leaflets or

    tapes can be left for the INTERESTED  shopper. The  area can include

     computers and VCRs .  And there would be no censorship of messages !

The tragedy of lead poisoning

 It seems that the states - which often must pay the bill for

    the lead poisoning of children - now have some hope that the manufactures

    of lead paint , like the tobacco magnates , can be fined for their

    criminal irresponsibility .  We did not just find out about the dangers

    of lead paint.  But these malefactors of great wealth " led a successful

    campaign of misinformation "  ( Providence  Journal , page A6 , Sept. 26-

    " States mull suit against makers of lead paint "  )

          Medical journals in the 1890s reported the danger !  In the 1920s

    some European countries BANNED lead paint . ( Projo article )

          How vile and stupid are those who worship the unregulated market

    place. Is Big Crime preferable to Big Government ?

          To simply oppose the profit system seems a little simple minded. It

    would be a lot like taking the steam out of the steam engine. But an

    uncorruptible government must always be looking over the shoulders of

    Big Business . And that government must always offer a Helping Hand to

    the big losers in the profit game.

              Lead poisoning is especially unfair to growing poor children.

    It affects their mental abilities. Is there anything they need more than

    their wits to escape poverty ?

            Good luck to all attorneys general in trying to make the lead

    manufactures account for a crime against humanity .

Your bias is showing ( Newsweek )

 ( To anonymous Newsweek staffer )

             What seems at first glance to be an annoying " press release " is

        just an ordinary citizen's forwarded letter. The point of this is to

        help our FREE PRESS monitor general public opinion. I have never nagged

        for publication. That is YOUR business.

              But I never expected to receive an ignorant REJECTION of any

        letter from a  colossal publication like Newsweek.

             You spit in the face of innocent generosity. I believe your

        BIAS is showing. Please forward this letter to your real BOSS.

               And  reply with a name - idiot !

          Perhaps YOU are a Republican  " old maid "  ?





 (  I have yet to hear from your rude, arrogant, and unprofessional

    ANONYMOUS who spit back a routine letter to the editor - pro- Clinton -

    I sent your respected publication yesterday : " stop sending your PRESS

    RELEASES here ".  Rude and ignorant and I suspect BIASED .

           I think the Democratic National Committee should investigate

    this incident . Certainly the publisher of Newsweek !

         I will report the scandalous incident to the other major news

    organizations.      

A " sick " R.I publication

Candidates running for attorney general might consider

    shutting down the sleazy " Providence Phoenix ". ( at least a

    good scare ) . Lately it is both sleazy and humorless .

        Imagine an article titled " Sick Willie ...the case for our

    president as Sex Addict Number One "  ( Caroline Knapp , Oct. 1 )

    in a publication that openly -in its ADULT section - advertises for

    escorts, swingers, every type of " kinky " sex , a publication

    that most certainly PROFITS from SEX ADDICTION  !

         You can have this paper for FREE - but it is worthless .

     An editorial last week on Clinton's  embarrassment was titled

    " Shame ".

          Shame on you " Providence Phoenix " !

Headline unfair to Germans

The headline on page A2 in the Providence Journal today ( Sept. 24 )

    - Germany's dislike of foreigners emerges as issue in election " - is, I

    think, rather unfair to Germany and Germans. If a Turkish punk in Israel

    a Mehmet type -was deported , would we expect stories about Israel's

    " dislike of foreigners " ? If I am not mistaken, the " foreign " punk

    is loathed everywhere  for the same reason a boorish " guest " is

    loathed in our own home .

          It is too easy to associate your headline with Germany's Nazi

    past. I am absolutely convinced that what happened in Germany in the 1930s

    could happen even HERE . It scares me today how easily " normal " people

    can be misled by psychopaths with an agenda and a lot of money .

        Most Germans today have no more connection to the Nazi movement than

    white people in America have to the slave trade of centuries past.

           " GUILT " is not hereditary.

Sardonic Sardella

           With apologies to Al Fontaine, I agree with your editorial

    today ( Sept. 23 )  " No dunking stool ".   Cruel and unusual

    punishment is not the way to deal with uncivilized-tourists in our beautiful

    town of Newport.

        I suspect that Councilman Sardella 's vicious idea of a

    newspaper " pillory " has its source in the political atmosphere

    of the Starr Chamber investigation.

        ( edit above :  " uncivilized tourists " )

       In his " Diary in Exile " the Russian Revolutionary Leon

    Trotsky commented on the " great reserves of darkness " even

    in so called civilized people. ( If he could see Russia today ! )

           Your editorial suggested that public urinators  " pay

    heavily for their crimes ".  Of course one should question the

    " justice " of equal " heavy fines " for extremely disparate

    income groups.

            Also more public urinals might diminish the number

    of extremely offensive public urinators.

       " Civilization " can be measured by consideration for basic

    human needs .

        Above all a town so dependent on tourists as Newport

    should have more than adequate public rest rooms.

Lying under Oaf ( sic )

           A close friend of mine - who says he is a born again Jeffersonian

    Democrat - E-mails me from North Conway, N.H. : " Clinton lied under

    oath .I believe he must resign ". Then this rather stale line : " We

    are a government of laws. not men ".

           I suspect that he is the captive audience of too many Republican

    old maids . One of them said, " He ( Clinton ) lied on TV !  "

         Is LYING ON TV as serious an offense -in general - as LYING UNDER

    OATH ? To tell the truth is rarely even a program on TV !

       If lies in themselves were explosive, every TV set in the country

    would blow up every day .

           The lie itself is an offense to right minded people ? If a man

    told his wife just how HORRIBLE she looked most of the time - after

    the first year of marital bliss - I'll bet she would find this TRUTH

    TELLING even more offensive than LYING ON TV or UNDER OATH.

          Even UNDER OATH it is always wiser to tell the wife that she is

    JUST GORGEOUS !

           Lying under oath is a serious matter if it involves the national

    interests of the United States.

           It can be maintained that we are government of laws - not men -

    only if our laws were written in stone by God Himself on Mount Sinai.

         We are indeed GOVERNED by laws that interpreted differently by

    different men. If this were not so , judges on every level could be

    replaced by computers. ( edit : laws that are interpreted )

           Not for nothing the rebels of every generation conclude : THE

    LAW IS AN ASS !

           Our just judges did not abolish slavery. It took a civil war !

Letter addict responds !

Ray Fontaine - who writes very interesting letters to the editor

    - thinks I have nearly one letter a week published in the venerable

    Providence Journal. The explanation : I am compelled to praise

    your editorial brilliance - so in sync with my own profound point

    of view !

          Come on Ray ! If the intellectual elite of Rhode Island-

    and that includes YOU - really thought that the newspaper

    reflects MY opinions, there would be an emergency meeting in

    Dallas .

            Only  Marxists -like Hillary Clinton - will be influenced

    by the rabid letter writing of a low-life commie !

         Ray I wish you good luck and MORE SPACE  !

Patriotic newspapers damn Bill !

I'm beginning to feel it is a little unpatriotic to support

    the President in his dark night of the soul. What difference does

    it make if foreign enemies will take advantage of the present

    crisis - which in its absurdity can be likened to the Scopes

    Trial on a national stage. That moral scoundrel of a biology

    teacher - after all- was found GUILTY. I guess the best way

    for pious souls to prove that they are unrelated to monkies is

    to ACT like monkies!

          Even the newly crowned Miss America feels compelled

    to throw stones at President Bill. THAT MAN is a disgrace

    to FAMILY VALUES ! But what do these " U.S. PRIME " meat

    contests have to do with FAMILY VALUES. Her SEXY smile

    will soon be used to sell commercial mouth wash - a must

    for foxy ladies visiting the Oval Office.

             I note that the Providence Phoenix - what a laugh -

    agrees with  " BeloJo 's Bob Kerr " that  Bill Clinton is

    a just a laughingstock now  - who should resign but

    TOO BAD won't .

            Bob Kerr is no laughingstock when he thinks this, but

    his newspaper at least does not have a completely sleazy

    ADULT section advertising  : " Escorts - Adult Services " ...

    and " Swing Locally ".

            The Providence Phoenix editorial on Clinton's plight

    was titled " Shame ".

Applaud Clinton veto

I applaud President Clinton's veto of a ban on late term

    abortions. I am pleased with this morning's news: " The Senate falls

    three votes short of the number needed for an override.

          When they are not being silly or cranky, militant feminists are

    absolutely right about many things. Among them a woman's right to choose.

    From the point of view of a rational moral code - free from all theological

    rubbish -her right to choose overrules any ridiculous right to life of

    the fetus . No objective mind will deny that the fetus from the moment

    of conception is HUMAN . A DNA test here is infallible ! But in NATURE

    there is just no such thing as the RIGHT TO LIFE.

          We will not worry about the Creator's feelings here. He can console

    HIMSELF by breeding more hyenas !

           Hopefully in the near future moral hypocrites like Henry Hyde -

    pictured on the front page of today's Providence Journal, looking like

    a phony TV evangelist - will not win for God's Side

Cost of poor penmanship

A comical story in your " Stuff " section today " Remedial Threat

    Writing " made the point : " It pays to have good penmanship ".

          A thief at a convenience was nearly stymied by his own poor

    handwriting. His penmanship improved and subsequent robberies were

    more productive,

         Would not type written threat-notes be a better strategy ? Word

    processors are readily available in public libraries . And the cost of

    the printout seldom more than a dime.

         Seriously very few people have easy to read handwriting. Would

    the editor of a newspaper like to spend his morning reading handwritten

    letters arriving by snail-mail ?

           How many companies have decided that it is best to replace

    handwriting wherever possible with the printed word ?

          For example-in case you haven't noticed most sign in books in

    company lobbies are barely legible. Impatient visitors just scribble

    their names or even -contemptuously- sign in as " Mickey Mouse ".

            But everywhere people use cheap electronic organizers for their

    personal notes.

         An electronic log-in book should be cheap and simple enough to

    manufacture.

         Elsewhere in hospitals or nursing homes, for example, horrid

    doctor's notes or nurse's notes should become a bad memory.

          Handwriting should survive for the lost art of intimate personal

    messages.

           Can you read the writing on the wall ?

Yeltsin and Mir

Al Taylor's letter today made a number of excellent points.

    I can understand his frustration with the excess of drivel on the op-ed

    pages. But there may be an embarrassing excuse for all this intellectually

    inferior stuff:

            It was reported that barely 12 percent of the voters showed

    up for the Sept. 15 primary. Does this figure correlate with the

    percentage of politically literate in the state ? With the

    percentage of culturally literate ?

        Would it be financial suicide for the press to please the

    more alert part of the population ?

              Al Taylor again complains about his letter being

    butchered by Robert Whitcomb. I cannot judge that. But I can

    offer Al this consolation : His " butchered " letter ( " Shame,

    shame, shame ! " was very effective , one of the best that I've

    read on the  Clinton Whitehouse sex scandal.

          Often there is more punch in brevity . Editing is not

    ALWAYS butchering !

          The brief letter in today's Providence Journal " Resign

    Yeltsin ! "  by Roseta Desrosiers is very effective.

          Perhaps Boris Yeltsin should be forced to govern Russia

    from the Mir space station. He might have a broader perspective

    on his country from out there.

            The Mir might be also be a good location for the next

    summit conference !

That "qualified " quality -hmm

 I read on the front page of the Providence Journal this morning

    just how shameful voter participation was in the Sept. 15 primary : a

    record low, about 12.4 percent. ( not MY fault. As usual I voted for a

    loser. ) .

          But nevertheless the most EXCITING thing going on in Rhode Island

    is the race for attorney general.

          " Landslide " Sheldon think he can wallop Nancy Mayer by fatuously

    challenging her QUALIFICATIONS . Be wiser, Mr. Whitehouse! Or you may

    just end up as the doorkeeper in that famous building with your name.

           Assuming that the public rarely selects the UNQUALIFIED for

    office, we must ask : And what is the record of the QUALIFIED in

    public office ?

           Are QUALIFIED rogues more desirable than UNQUALIFIED ones ?

      I want the plumber and the airline pilot to be QUALIFIED. Common decency

    and common sense will go a long way in ANY elected office.

          Was not Robert F. Kennedy attacked in the first weeks of his

    brother's administration ? He was UNQUALIFIED to be the nation's attorney

    general !  But who would have been a better man for the job in those

    tumultuous days ? He brought PASSION and CONVICTION and ENERGY to the

    job.

          Mr. Whitehouse YOU"RE NO ROBERT KENNEDY ! ( even if I vote for you )

Kelly mitigating factor ?

The story about Sen. Paul Kelly charged with assaulting his

    wife was bound to make your front page. Who can sympathize with

    a wife beater ?  His wife claims : " he stated that he was going

    to take everything from me. "  This ,along with those suspicious

    cell telephone numbers, sounds like a routine marriage crisis.

          Mrs. Kelly said that it was the only time her husband had

    ever assaulted her .

           I do not want to see this man get fawning, favored

    treatment in a serious criminal matter.

          But before passing damning judgment on him, I would

    like to read the results of a complete physical and mental

    exam. For example sudden violent behavior can be a symptom

    of an incipient brain disorder. Or premature senility ( Kelly is

    only 58 ).

            The more we really know about human behavior the less

    room there is for moralizing gibberish .

              But my point of view may just be a symptom of liberal

    psychosis. Better just call an exorcist !

Emergency Room Manners

            I catch the part of radio ad : " A man with chest pains goes

    to the nearest emergency room...only to find out that his HMO does

    not cover it ".

           " Yep, something wrong here ! " I think

        Did it ever occur to the average MORON hospital administrator: " It

    is indecent to ask ANY patient in a hospital ER any questions about

    his medical coverage -or lack of it - until AFTER the emergency care " ?

          Is it downright SUBVERSIVE to recommend basic decency to the

    bean counting buffoons running our hospitals ?

          I repeat my suggestion for ERs everywhere :  CARE FIRST - QUESTIONS

    LATER !

             Let ethical idiots question the rightness of it .

Boomer grief- what's the fuss?

            " Now ages 34 to 52, baby boomers are meeting grief head-on

    as they experience deaths....in increasing numbers , " the newspaper

    article said . ( Kay Harvey, Knight Ridder Newspapers )

            I told a close friend of mine whose mother just passed

    away ( DIED! ) that hardly a week passes by lately without having

    to say adios to some person -friend, relative, or " enemy "- who

    was a big part of our life. Indeed we had just read the obituary

    of our Washington Park friend, " Tommy " ( an incurable drunk and

    drug addict - but still a likable guy ) .

           Neither Bill, my friend, nor I have any use for the grief

    counseling industry. The newspaper article on baby boomer grief

    says: " They need somebody who knows what's going on ".

         What a laugh ! Don't wait too long for somebody who

    knows what's going on !

            Bill and I concluded that the vast majority go through

    life unthinking - robotlike and without a clue. They gravitate

    to organized religion because it gives their stupid lives the

    illusion of purpose and significance. And an imbecilic spark of

    hope for an afterlife!

            I cannot say that I am without fear and anxiety -with

    all these people -a part of my life - now dying like flies

    around me. I recall a  ancient Latin tomb inscription: " As I

    am, so YOU will be ! "

           Not for nothing I have always been a horror story fan.

    " Sometimes They Come Back ?  " 

          Anxiety shows up in an occasional nightmare. Just the

    other night I had a horrible nightmare : My 76 year old father

    -who has leukemia- was being BURIED ALIVE with the connivance

    of an innovative funeral director.

         Just last week my mother received the last rights of the

    Catholic Church at Roger Williams hospital. I walked out of

    her room when the " vulture " chaplain returned to " comfort "

    her. Nothing personal;I just preferred the bright September

    sunshine and the fresh air.

            I recall the last part of James T. Farrell story

    where a man who lost his faith long before -and was now

    dying himself - concludes that death was just " a messy end

    to a mess ".

          Perhaps he needed a grief counselor !

Honest column Froma!

 Again I got a kick out of your column today, Froma . I

    did not have the " dirt " on Senator Lieberman, but it did not

    surprise me!

           Intelligent people can disagree about a million things. But

    it is the experience of my baby boomer life not to trust ANYBODY

    who begins to solemnly moralize about the CHARACTER ( invariably sexual

    morality ) of a fellow mortal.

         They are usually " people of the lie ". Ask Scott Peck !

         I just heard on the radio that our own Senator Paul Kelly may

    have assaulted his wife. Was she his first wife ?  I wonder .

           I have always respected women too much to holy matrimonize

    them !

           I recall a line from a Camus novel :  " Not being a married man

    there was little chance that I would kill anybody ! "

         I have observed this " first wife " situation quite often.

        Do YOU wear a helmet on the 4th floor of 75 Fountain St. ?


         Ron

The Democratic primary in R.I.

I voted early this morning in the Democratic primary. No

    problem with the new high -tech system . Definite progress in the

    democratic machinery of Rhode Island. The less patient voters now

    have little excuse to shun the polls on Election Day.

          But for me there was still a rotten fish smell about the place.

    What a farce! It seemed that most of the Democrats were unopposed .

    None of them distinguished themselves with  passion or intellect or

    honest dedication to any idea .

            I voted for Eva Mancuso for attorney general because she said

    a few words -not idiotic -on the unwisdom of capital punishment in

    our state.

            I wonder if the turnout was anything but pathetic as usual. In

    Rhode Island ten votes can decide a primary.

           Mark Patinkin added his vapid humor to the day with a " just

    thinking " type of column : " What R.I. politicians should know ".

         He might have rallied the sluggish Rhode Island voters: Get your

    fat asses to the polls !

          We were hoping that Mark might return from his long vacation

    a deeper thinker than even Salty Brian .

             No doubt he will join the Old Salt one day in the Rhode Island

    Hall of Fame !

UNCIVILIZED computer geeks!

 I am absolutely disgusted with the big time computer delinquency

    reported in today's news : " N.Y Times closes its Web page after

    attack by hackers. "

          The motive ? To free some " hack " terrorists. An attack like

    this on a major newspaper is not just an attack on its owners or its

    editorial board . It is an attack on hundreds of thousands of readers

    who absolutely depend on - and appreciate - their newspapers. It is

    an attack on CIVILIZATION.

          Not surprising that the N.Y Times Web page was replaced by

    obscenity !

            The fatal flaw in these criminal hackers is their belief that

    they are smarter than a whole society. WRONG !

              They learned all about computers when they were very young.

    But they never learned common decency .

           I'm betting against them .

Record madness -septuplets !

Not long ago a woman giving birth to septuplets in the

    United States was the toast of the imbecile half of our nation. What

    a miracle! The proud father was even guaranteed a job in management.

    After all, he was bound to become expert in that skill.

         Cynics thought : Wait to the cheering stops. That " celebrity "

    couple will be left with a nightmare: seven kids in one batch !

          Having septuplets is in fact sickeningly abnormal for a human

    mother.How can she possibly BOND with all of them ? If nature meant

    for a woman to have a litter of seven kids, nature would have given

    her seven breasts !

          Crackpot right to lifers see a heartwarming MIRACLE here.

    More rational minds will see it as almost obscene.

           Cynics also asked : How much applause would there be for

    a Mexican woman with seven new bambinos ?  Would we have comforted

    her with assurance of unlimited welfare checks ? ( She will CERTAINLY

    need it, just as the white woman champion birther will need it - even

    with her jackass husband in MANAGEMENT.  )

             Today I read just a little notice in the paper : " Saudi

    septuplets come home "... " their parents' fears that they couldn't

    care for the babies were eased.. "

            But no applause here in the United States ! " More recruits for

    bin Laden! "   I can hear it now .

             Also today I read about an ominous decline in our state's

    population . But officials are " optimistic " that it is only

    temporary. As if the tiny state of Rhode Island could maintain

    in relative "prosperity " even half a million !

            Yes, keep the bambinos coming everywhere. Be fruitful and

    multiply , the Bible tells us.  The poor will always be with us

    anyway . Let them eat fruitcake !

             The Right to Life is really just a right to a HELL OF A LIFE !

          Blessed be the condom makers, for there is no longer even much

    room in heaven !

A factor in home-work -the HOME

          The vice principal of a middle school lectures parents on

    the importance of their kids' home-work in an article in a local

    newspaper. He says that not doing home-work is the basis for the

    kid 's BAD ATTITUDE . This BAD ATTITUDE is downright contagious in

    the classroom .

            Indeed so ominous is this BAD ATTITUDE that we can predict

    the epitaph of the future good for nothing adult : HE HAD A BAD ATTITUDE !

         So in the absence of martinet vice principals, the kid's parents

    must act a surrogate: Nip that BAD ATTITUDE in the bud !

          Some practical advice for doing homework is offered by the

    scholar-warden : The kid needs a well lighted place free from distractions.

          Any social worker familiar with the homes of the " underprivileged "

    will understand the futility of this recommendation.

            Perhaps kids in South Providence can rent rooms - CHEAPLY -

    from Cranston residents ?

            Can Mr. Scienzo of the Hugh B. Bain Middle School have clean,

    well lighted places available for his future victims of a BAD ATTITUDE !

            Wanted : A room with a view .

That awful intersection !

Again last Friday I witnessed yet another accident ( three or four

    cars were towed from the scene) at the awful intersection right near

    the Warwick Beacon office - Church and Warwick .

            It is not asking too much of the local paper to pay at least

    as much attention to these things as the publisher's favorite hack

    politicians.

           The red light system at Church and Warwick was a designed for

    the traffic condition of 4 decades ago. A RIPTA bus, about to turn

    left at the intersection  into Church Ave. must wait for some driver

    coming in the opposite direction to yield . Fat chance !

            Clearly there is a demand here for a green arrow -giving

    the bus the clear right of way.

            It foolish in busy traffic to leave always dangerous turning

    to a driver's judgment. ( It is foolish ) .

          A simple adjustment like this can prevent numerous accidents.

     The Beacon should shine its rather dim lights on this situation.

            This letter will be forwarded to the Providence Journal .

Grammar Teachers!

I'm not interested in reading " The Starr " report. Perhaps

    retired Warwick school teacher, Raymond Turbit, will scrutinize it

    for unforgivable errors in grammar.For old fashioned type of school

    teacher, FORM was always more important than content. ( Perhaps President

    Bill selects his girl friends on this basis ? )   .

         Mr. Turbit detected a two-bit error in John Silber's spoken

    English ( I assume ). He is just a Silber tongued orator, I guess.

         " One must never use the plural " they " in referring to the

    singular ' person '   ", explains the math teacher.

          I will not judge Ray as a teacher, i suppose we should be grateful

    for teachers who never stop teaching. ( " Capital I - idiot ! " )

           But I recall a type of teacher that paralyzed a potentially

    gifted student - a future ACHIEVER - by terrifying him about VIOLATIONS

    of the RULES. Better leave the paper blank ! Better say nothing about

    the feelings in your soul !

            Did Ray ever tell a potential Einstein : " Hey dumbkoff, you

    can't even add right !  "

          The chairman of the Mass. Board of Education, John Silber, no

    doubt, survived such teachers. But only to become one himself ?

More jackass management !

          Everywhere today MANAGEMENT insists on its precious prerogatives

    but almost nowhere can it demonstrate even ordinary COMMON SENSE .

         I often have breakfast in a Friendly's restaurant right across

    from my Church Ave. apartment in Warwick. ( here you can pay $4.00

    for a breakfast special that cost you $2.00 downtown at Ted's New

    York system )

           Yesterday I noticed a teenage waitress wearing a humiliating

    round paper patch with a special message for the exceptionally

    creepy customer : " If I forget to ask you for our juice, you

    can get one glass for free ! " ( near quote )

          I told the girl gently, I recall, that the manager should

    not subject the help to that humiliating nonsense. I said it

    reminded me of the junk food joints that try to force their

    horrid french fries on every customer. Who doesn't know that

    they serve this junk ?

          And who doesn't know that Friendly's has fruit juice ?

    We'll ask if we crave it !

         Today when I ordered my breakfast at Friendly's, there

    was a different teenage girl. This one a bit of a rebel . She

    wore her message patch upside down !

         I was proud of her and left a bigger tip than usual.

       She will learn that there is really no end to the Arrogance

    of Power !

Miller Ave. Speeding

 It was very sad news on the front page of the Providence Journal

    today : " Hit-run victim( Lisselot Osorio , age 6 ) dies from head

    injuries.. "

           Residents of Miller Ave. in Washington Park  had been complaining

    for some time about reckless speeders on their street. I observe the

    same thing on Church Ave. in  Warwick. A while back I observed a

    cop on my street with a radar gun. Somebody finally got caught - perhaps

    going 5 miles over the speed limit. But late at night Church Ave. still

    sounds like a speedway. One afternoon I witnessed some punk turn at

    that very dangerous intersection - Church and Warwick Ave - and drive

    out of control right into a telephone pole. I was on my way to the

    bakery across the street at the time. On the way back- though I am no

    busybody - I told a cop at the scene that I witnessed reckless driving.

    He was not too interested. I returned to my apartment.

           I do not want to bash the police department. Often what we have

    is just a " failure to communicate ".

        " Dropping a dime " on suspicious activity  should be replaced

    by something more high-tech.

         Police Departments in Rhode Island should consider setting up

    a public E-Mail message system. Someone in the department should

    specialize in monitoring and analyzing public complaints. Otherwise

    complaints like " speeding on Miller Ave. , will just be less than URGENT

    matters on the mind of some harried police lieutenant.

           Just a suggestion for our Officer Friendly types out there.

Where's the tuna fish ?

I can't always focus on momentous issues. It took me a while

    to notice this supermarket ripoff:

           One of my favorite " peasant" dishes is elbow macaroni mixed

    with tuna fish from a can -add "virgin " olive oil and fresh spinach

    and/or fresh broccoli. Well salted and a little peppery.

         Cheap but nourishing ! A product of Welfare Days Wisdom.

         But lately LESS nourishing ! There is suspicious excess of

    WATER in ALL brands of canned tuna fish .

       And no doubt those food company presidents are waxing indignant

    about that FRAUD in the White House, Bill Clinton.

       Their  canned tuna fish would quickly cut Big Bad Bill down to

    size! But it bloats their profits.

Lieberman and Bakst

Again and again I hear this : What President Clinton did was

    forgivable ( it better be or most of his acusers are out of business)...

    but he LIED about it - and under oath ! The scoundrel !

          You would think that the very soul of the nation agonizes over

    every unexposed, unpunished LIE .

          But how many Republican -or even Democrat- leaders are enthusiastic

    about TRUTH IN ADVERTISING bills ? How many newspaper editors refuse to

    publish daily horoscopes? How many high school principals would ban

    Creationism from the biology class ?

         How many top executives would lose their high paying jobs

    overnight if they were a little too candid about what goes on

    in their company ?

          In the military TRUTH telling can prove fatal to one's own

    side !

           If I am not mistaken, an oath is taken with respect to

    the Holy Bible ( seemingly an intrusion of Church into State ? ) .

           Forgive my blasphemy ( or is that sin also unforgivable ? )

    but this oath is taken with hand held on THE BOOK - and that book

    has at least historic UNTRUTHS and scientific UNTRUTHS on every

    page !

           Providence Journal columnist, M. Charles Bakst, is very

    impressed with Senator Joe Lieberman who recently condemned Bill

    Clinton's behavior ( " embarrassing,"  " immoral " , " harmful " )

    on the floor of the Senate .

          A senator should put patriotism above personal friendship

    or party affiliation . No quarrel here !

         But was Bakst honest to compare Lieberman's speech to Senator

    Margaret Chase Smith's " historic denunciation of Sen. Joseph

    McCarthy's smear tactics ."  ?

          For several years now it seemed to many Americans - if not

    a majority - that not Clinton but his persecutor prosecutor-

    Ken Starr- could be likened to the lunatic Red Hunter, Joe

    McCarthy.

           Since when is two bit extra marital affair - and LYING

    about it - a great threat to our Constitution ?

              Hypocrites of the world unite! You have nothing to

    lose but your own private life and FREEDOM !

The whole truth and nothing but ...?

Lately with the White House sex scandal becoming a national

        mania, I beginning to feel like I'm a " left-out " character in

        the 1950s science fiction thriller " The Invasion of the Body

        Snatchers ".

               Everywhere people I thought I knew are suddenly talking

        like chartered members of the Moral Majority. Zombie like,

        they babble all day about that LIAR & SCOUNDREL , Bill

        Clinton. He lied to us! He lied ! He LIED !

                Let me ask these born again TRUTH TELLERS  this

        impertinent question :  Have you told the TRUTH and NOTHING

        but ... to the Internal Revenue Service lately ?

              There is no truer measure of patriotism than paying

        UNCLE SAM every cent you owe him !

             Even if a lot of that money just goes to support

        welfare moms !

              Happy April 15 to all !

Can Clinton survive ?

Power , I once read, is a RELATIONSHIP between the people

    and a leader. No matter what I think about the Ken Starr inquisition,

    there are signs that Clinton  is beginning to lose the mystique of

    power.

      To be greeted by signs like : " Mr. President -Stay Away From Our

    Daughters " !  ( Providence Journal, Sept 9, page A 8  )

         The most ardent democrat -not lacking in common sense - would NOT

    suggest that we be governed by opinion polls.

           But who would say that we should tell the Clinton loathers to

    just go to hell ?

            Should not our democracy - at least in the future - consider

    a REFERENDUM on the incumbent President - if a crisis of confidence in

    his or HER character develops ?

           A presidential referendum may be easier on our political

    structure than nasty impeachment proceedings .

            I could live with results of an institutionalized referendum.

    I myself would still vote APPROVE for William Jefferson Clinton .

        But I am use to losing !

M.Charles Bakst and the INSIDERS

You can't have a name and a face like that of M. Charles Bakst

    without being an inside INSIDER somewhere - if only on the 4th floor

    of the Providence Journal building at 75 Fountain Street.

        Actually he himself seems to be quite liberal -and a very savvy

    man. But he wallows in the world of Rhode Islanders and at times their

    stench rubs off on him. Perhaps just a hazard of his job .

         In his column today ( Sept. 7 ) he mentions that Governor " Linc "

    Almond ( Linc pal ! ) was " thrilled " to have  the Rhode Island AFL-CIO

    secretary treasurer George Nee 's weighty presence  near him  at a recent

    bill signing ceremony.

          According to M. Charles Bakst , " Linc " is " preening  about his

    ability to work with labor ... " ( Georgie boy !  )

        I first observed Mr. Labor in Rhode Island, George Nee, years ago

    when he was working with the United Farm Workers ( I recall ) as a

    professional idealist.

          Way back then I could picture the future fat and smug labor

    bureaucrat. And my vision was confirmed when I spotted him marching

    down Atwells Avenue  with kid on his shoulders one sunny Columbus

    Day.

       " A complete phony ! "  I told myself.

       The bourgeois press is always confusing the interests of these

    bought and sold labor bureaucrats with the real interests of labor.

       A revived labor movement should be in the pocket of no treacherous

    politician - Democrat or ( not likely ) Republican .

           The last thing a labor buffoon like George Nee will do is

    rock his own comfortable boat.

       If any working class Rhode Islander owes a debt of gratitude to

    Nee for anything, please tell it to M. Charles Bakst . None of

    his good deeds should go unpunished !

Ed Quinlan -corrupt bureaucrat !

            I just read Edward J. Quinlan's fatuous response to a Providence

    Journal editorial, " ER ennui " ( Aug.24 ). Quinlan - the president of

    the Hospital Association of Rhode Island -does not have a fresh idea in

    his head about improving ANYTHING in our hospitals.

            Quinlan is just a shameless, bureaucratic hack -only interested

    in maintaining the status quo. This type dreads " harsh words " - the

    simple truth about their defective institutions.

          If an emergency room seems understaffed -especially by the patient

    being treated -then we can assume that it is indeed understaffed.

        Some of the forces shaping Rhode Island health care are perhaps :

    poor management, inhumanity, and old fashioned GREED.

       Also, Mr. Quinlan - nurses and doctors " doing their absolute best "

    deserve more respect from hospital administrations.

        I may or may not agree with Providence Journal editorials. But

    they are rarely ridiculous - like most corrupt bureaucrats .

       ( Mr. Quinlan's letter was published in the Providence Journal on

        Sept.7  )

The Car has got to go !

Yesterday my companion pointed out to me the first sentence

    of a Boston Globe column  -unflattering to Rhode Island. The columnist

    pointed out that our tiny state is grandiose indeed in its  drunken

    driving road deaths .

          This morning I read the infuriating story of the Osorio sisters,

    Liselot and Sarai -ages 6 and 10 - left nearly dead in a street  near

    Roger Williams Park. A hit and run - and drunk ? - driver strikes

    again .

            The driver of that white car is a recklessly evil person , But

    our society seems to mass produce such types. I hope he gets the

    retribution he deserves.

             For years now I have had this heartfelt opinion : THE CAR ITSELF

    HAS GOT TO GO !

            Gradually - I hope- it might be possible to eliminate private

    cars from our crowded cities altogether. Just weeks ago I read how

    some European towns are beginning to do this . The concept of cars for

    RENT on the outskirts of these places is catching on .

          The idea that anybody not too old or feeble MUST own a car is

    being questioned. My grandfather - an Italian immigrant - use to say

    that the car was the " ruin of civilization " . How right he was !

           A saner future will literally put its stock in more public

    forms of transportation .

           I have already suggested in my E- mail letters to Cyberspace

    that cars should be banned from  place like Roger Williams Park -

    where people still look for a little serenity in the midst of urban

    noise, chaos, and ugliness .

             THE CAR MUST GO ! ( Today I'll be going to Foster. So I hope

    the car goes . )

Calling all IMPORTANT people !

Providence Journal " celebrity " columnist, Mark Patinkin,

    says he likes to get E- Mail from IMPORTANT people . I have sent

    the following E- Mail message to his humble colleagues, Froma Harrop

    Bob Kerr , and  David Brussat  :

               "  Please send  Mark an encouraging message now and then.  "

Dan Burton - scumbag !

 I learned a few days ago that Vanity Fair magazine had the

    dirt on Dan Burton. There was a rumor that a Clinton Whitehouse insider

    had an influential position on the magazine. But who fathered a child

    out of wedlock  - and " never officially acknowledged the child as his

    son"  ?  That Scarlett Letter SIN would not fit into the hypocritical

    Indiana Congressman's  phony " conservative, family , man " campaign

    literature baloney.

          The poor kid ! Imagine having a big shot like Dan Burton for

    a father -but only  being his SHAME, not his PRIDE ! Only being his

    bastard son ! 

            How much money was spent to keep this affair quiet ?

      If Bill Clinton did this, I would have immediately dismissed him

    as having no claim on my loyalty or respect .

          I cannot FORGIVE this man until I know ALL the facts of the

    matter. Did the woman originally seek an abortion ? There might be

    medical records !

            But spare us the  details, Congressman . Please just resign !

         Dan Burton - SCUMBAG !

On deporting drunk drivers

I cannot judge a particular case of deportation for drunk

    driving without knowing more details about the unworthy guest

    of our country. It seems like the state of Texas -  already

    suspiciously conservative with its death penalty records - is

    deporting numerous Mexican non-Americans caught driving drunk.

            My gut reaction is unsympathetic. As a guest in a foreign

    country I would be on my very best behavior, trying to respect

    ALL the laws.  Drunk drivers in our country have caused so much

    anguish and misery - have cost our society so much money - that

    they are deserving objects of our wrath.

            Driving drunk , " Speedy Gonzalez " is absolutely intolerable.

     But before chasing him back across the Rio Grande, consider that

    his family here may be ruined.

        No, " Speedy Gonzalez " you better come home !  "

         Rather than punish  " Speedy " so harshly, I suggest we

    reward him with a life long BUS PASS !

          Just some advice from a WELFARE LIBERAL !

Extreme Unction indeed!

My mother was never very religious. But yesterday in

    the hospital this very sick -possibly dying - 76 year old woman

    received the last rites of the Catholic Church.

          Luckily she rallied and I was able to talk to her today. She

    still has a strong will to live. Today the chaplain who performed

    the service - once aptly named " extreme unction " - came into

    the room while I was chatting with my mother. All this I felt was

    her business. I went outside to get some fresh air, not wanting to

    experience anymore " unction " than I had to.

          In the September sunshine I had a flash of insight. I asked

    myself: Why does such a madly materialistic society care about an

    old woman 's " spiritual needs " when she is so near death ?

          What a farce ! I concluded that the social order cannot tolerate

    the idea of a mental rebellion -even at the point of death.

         Yes, they want to say that all dying " made peace " with God.

    The chaplain - vulture like - is there to smooth things over- in the

    service of the social order. Later , of course, the family will get

    the bill for his dubious " service ".

           Better not tolerate cursing, irreverent words from the dying,

    They might carry extraordinary weight!

          What if the dying person's last words were : FUCK GOD AND HIS

    WHOLE ROTTEN UNIVERSE !

         Now just for the record my sweet mother would utter no such

    blasphemies .

            But what a breath of fresh air - truly divine inspiration !

          But do not despair. Tomorrow is another day !

" Indifference Kills a child "

I just read your editorial " Indifference kills a child ".

     The David Cash sub-plot of the murder story ( Jeremy Strohmeyer 's

    hideous murder-molestation of a 7-year old girl in the woman's room

    of a Nevada casino. )   reminds me of the shocking 1987 movie " A

    River's Edge " Dennis Hopper has one of his " possessed" roles in

    the movie based a real case of abominable " indifference " :

           A high school kid brutally kills his girlfriend and abandons

    her body in the woods. Friends of the psychotic kid come around to

    look at the girl's pitiful decomposing body. Words spreads beyond

    the demented clique .But nobody reports the crime -for a long time.

         Movie reviewer, Roger Ebert, wrote that there were many op-ed

    articles on the case-which was seen as " symptomatic of a wider moral

    breakdown ".

         I agree with the USA TODAY editorial's point : " People like

    Cash... won't be cured of their inhumanity by the law ."

          One significant detail about the despicable characters in

    " The River's Edge "  : They were already incorrigible drug addicts

    and alcoholics ."

          The Marine Corp general who recently had a letter published

    in USA TODAY on the importance of " character " in life would

    agree that such kids never learned the meaning of the word .

How to up SAT scores

 I just read Elliot's Krieger's good news article reporting that

        SAT scores have in actually increased in Rhode Island - for the first

        time in three years and then only modestly ( 4-points ).

              I remember this advice for improving your SAT score in the mid-

        Sixties at Hope High School: You've got to read, read, READ !

                I still " read, read, READ " but with more adult motivations

        ( curiosity about the world, a desire to manipulate my enemies and

        con my friends , intellectual voyeurism , a certain unsaintly

        pleasure in the misery of OTHERS, strategies for REVENGE, learning

        how to live cheaper and CHEAPER ... a genuine interest in HORROR

        stories ... )

              One of my favorite Twilight Zone stories is " Time enough at

        last !  " ( The hero FINALLY got the time he needed to read, for him

        life's greatest pleasure . )

                 Now then since  my high school days I have peeked into

        those distinctly uninviting Scholastic Assessment Test ( SAT )

        practice books. It struck me way back that one CERTAIN way to

        improve SAT scores is to minimize their BOREDOM. I swear those

        tests are designed by very aberrant minds with a pathological

        need to bore themselves and everybody else to death.

             If the dead could talk, they would protest 99 out of 100

        tedious, pedantic paragraphs STILL found in this momentous

        test.

               It is a wonder that most high school students even stay

        awake for the four hours!

             Let them read paragraphs about SEX IN THE WHITEHOUSE

        ( up to the standards of TIME magazine ) or pop -analysis

        of Princess Diana ( up to NEW YORK TIMES standards ).

               We will discover that we have undreamed of academic

        talent not only in Rhode Island but everywhere else in this

        USA .

Cop needed earplugs!

Downtown the other day, I felt sorry for a police officer

        assigned a spot near road repair or reconstruction. He was futilely

        trying to protect his ears from the painful cacophony of the

        road crew's drills and equipment.

             " That poor cop can be there ALL DAY ", I reflected. If I

        had the time, I might have offered to buy him some ear plugs

        ( they sell for about $2.00 a box ) at the nearby CVS.

            The Police Department should consider these " hazardous to

        hearing " assignments. They should have ear plugs readily

        available for those NOISE FROM HELL spots .

                 Just a thought . My grandfather was Providence cop

        in the Depression era. He probably would have arrested any WISE GUY

        offering to buy him earplugs ! He said he had the South Providence

        beat. He was known as " Red ", not for his politics but for his

        red hair. " Red " Engley ... that side of the family probably

        arrived here in the U.S. with the Mayflower !