" Hey, do you know what time it is ? "

You tube song

Last Saturday night people were warned about the seasonal

    time change: " Set your clock ahead one hour ". I do enjoy waking up

    with sunlight in my face ! But I forgot about the most important clock,

    the digital alarm clock in my bedroom.

           Awakening twice in the darkness this past week, I turned on

    my bedside radio to WLKW . " Hey do you know what time it is ? " I

    hummed, recalling the song ( It reminded me of an  LSD time warp ! )

           The radio guy DID know what time it was. But he just had to

    be cute about it : Four times ! " It is now quarter to the hour" ...

    " It is five past THE HOUR...."  ... " It is now half past THE HOUR ".

     " It is now just THE TOP OF THE HOUR ! "

       I was rather annoyed : " WHAT hour damn it ? "

        Could not the radio personality just say : " It is five past FIVE "

    or " It is SIX o'clock ".. ( And you better get your ass out of bed ! )

          Am I not worth THE TIME OF THE DAY ?

Title -terrifying or just terrible ?

I applaud the kid who won the " terrifying-story-title " contest,

    sponsored by General Mills ( Providence Journal Lifebeat, Oct. 30 ,

    " Stuff " )  .

           Braden Gardner 's winning entry: " Dead Dogs Still Fetch " .

      If the story is as chilling as the title, we'll have a rival

    for horror master Stephen King's " Pet Sematary " .

        Recall the dead cat " Church " came back to " life " after

    a night  at the old Indian burial ground. But he was awfully

    smelly and a little nasty .

              Being a kid at heart, I still have my own horror

    fantasies. In one of them I come across the lifeless body

    of a kid in a poison ivy patch in Strawberry Field. He is just

    Braden's age - ten years old.

          I won't give my story away but I'll tell you all the title :

        " Dead Kids Still Itch ! "

Quebec -the madness of "independence "

I did indeed wish Ray Fontaine more space in your newspaper

        but I cannot say that I wish his beloved Quebec more  " independent "

        space in  Canada ( " Butt out of Quebec's affairs,, Journal ! " )

               Thinking of the fate of the former Soviet Union ,I am reminded

        of one big truth of CIVILIZATION : Strength is in UNITY , in ORDER, in

        the parts forming a harmonious whole.

               If I were alive 2000 years ago, I would have been an unabashed

        supporter of the Roman Empire. Rome had far more to offer the world

        than an " independent "  Carthage or an " independent " Gaul ". Today

        the glory of the Empire is still all around us - eloquent and inspiring

        even in its melancholy ruins.

               Who cares today about post- Soviet Georgia ? Has it not achieved

        " independent " oblivion ?

                Today a Pax Americana would be preferable to world -wide CHAOS !

            There can be no FREEDOM or JUSTICE where there is no great CIVILIZATION.

Re Warwick Public Library: Your expertise needed -Dave

Thank you Dave for your reply. It is not quite an aesthetic 

    judgment - my loathing for the " renovated " Providence Public Library.

    I miss the " old " building - just the way it was. The facade on Washington

    has that delightful classic appeal. But the building's interior was

    redesigned and rearranged by somebody with no feeling or love for

    libraries.

           It use to be a pleasant place to browse in . Now it is wretchedly

    cramped . The pleasantness of the old order is a just a memory.

          Even the location of the rest rooms is a horror. The faces of the

    " help " - there are no more LIBRARIANS - reflect the wretchedness of

    the " improvements " .

            Walking into a library should be like walking into an old

    cathedral . I like all that " useless space " at the new Warwick Public

    Library. And plenty of  tables , desks, and  comfortable chairs there.

            I cannot judge the Warwick Public Library as  architect .. but

    as PATRON , I say THANK GOD !

             Is there any possibility of getting anything like it in

    Providence ?  

                                   Thank you   -ron

Your expertise needed -Dave

    Date: Thu, 29 Oct

    --Boundary-1588567-0-0

         Ron - I haven't seen the new Warwick library, or even a picture of it, 

    even though its architect said he would send me a fax of it. So I cannot 

    judge. But I think that if there were any chance it would be good enough to be 

    within shouting distance of the PPL (on Washington Street, not the "new" 

    addition on Empire), then I'd have been out there in a flash, covering it more 

    closely than the hip-squeezing jeans of a brainless enticing bunny. As to 

    whether it works better or worse, as a library, than the PPL, I would have no 

    idea. How did you arrive at your judgment? 

         - Dave 

    --Boundary-1588567-0-0

    Content-Type: message/rfc822

    Date: 28 Oct 98 11:01:29

    From:"Ronald Ruggieri" <ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov>

    To: david_brussat@ProJo.COM

    Subject: Your expertise needed -Dave

    Reply-to: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov

    X-Orcl-Application: Return-Path: <ar803@osfn.org>

           Good morning Dave . Briefly -if you can check it out - I would

    appreciate your respected opinion on new Warwick Public Library.

       You may be interested  in the opinion of Louis J. Pugliese who

    described it as an " artistic failure " in the Oct. 27 Warwick Beacon

    ( Letters page 7 ).

           Let me just say this for now : Compared to the Providence Public

    Library on Empire St., the new library in Warwick is Heaven !

                           Have a nice day     Ron Ruggieri  ( 732-0215 )

Fine Warwick Beacon editorial.. but ?

There was an excellent editorial in the Warwick Beacon today

    ( Oct. 27 ) : " Apathy strikes at the heart of a democracy " It made

    this point ..." not voting simply allows the country to be run by a

    small minority of people representing the extremes of each party ".

           But then the editorial became unintentionally hilarious . A

    sentence began: " True a substantial effort is required to be a

    knowledgeable voter ..."

             In the next paragraph we read : " Nixon in turn would  win

    over McGovern in 1968 by a similarly slim  margin "

            Sorry to make an embarrassing correction of a fine editorial

    BUT... Nixon defeated Hubert Horatio Humphrey in 1968 ! How can anybody

    of Bill Clinton's generation ever forget the big stories of that most

    momentous of all years - 1968 ?

            In 1972 Nixon demolished McGovern in the presidential election .

    The 60s ended on that depressing  night.

              I recall voting not for " radical "  George but for a REAL

    RADICAL, the candidate of the Socialist Workers Party.

           Like  writer George Orwell, I have always been a " fugitive from

    the camp of victory ".

           But I have always -as The Warwick Beacon editorial suggests -

    made a substantial effort to be knowledgeable .

Netanyahu reasonable on HIS spy

Convicted spy Jonathan Jay Pollard is contemptible as a

    U.S citizen. But he was spying for an ally, not an enemy of the

    United States. True enough, were not the Rosenbergs also spying

    for an ally- Soviet Russia - before the outbreak of the Cold War ?

    In my opinion even the Rosenbergs -were they really guilty ? - did

    not deserve to be executed. The trial was all mad hysteria.

          The United States can be reasonably certain that it will

    NEVER face Israel as an enemy . It is perfectly understandable that

    the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Natanyahu, should seek

    clemency at the recent summit meeting for HIS spy, Jonathan Jay

    Pollard -disgraced American citizen.

          Recall the U-2 incident in May of 1960 . Was it not reasonable

    for President Eisenhower to plea for the release of our spy pilot,

    Francis Gary Powers , at the shaken summit conference with Russian

    leader Khrushchev ?

            Perhaps Netanyahu can arrange for Pollard to become a

    citizen of Israel. And he can live there for the rest of his

    life.

         U.S  zionists should understand that they cannot be citizens

    of two countries, the United States AND Israel.

          But let us realize that spying for an ally is not quite as

    heinous as spying for an enemy with whom we are at war.

Atwood's wooden head - on Kerr

From: bob_kerr@ProJo.COM ("BKERR.PJB.PROJO.COM")

    To: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov

    Subject: Re:  Atwood's wooden head - on Kerr

    Date: Mon, 26 Oct

    --Boundary-1581972-0-0

    i do not approve of stoned drivers or stoning drivers.  and i think your 

    contributions on behalf of our president are vastly underrated. 

    bob kerr

    --Boundary-1581972-0-0

    Content-Type: message/rfc822

    Date: 26 Oct 98 07:10:09

    From:"Ronald Ruggieri" <ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov>

    To: bkerr@ProJo.COM

    Subject:  Atwood's wooden head - on Kerr

    Reply-to: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov

    X-Orcl-Application: Return-Path: <ar803@osfn.org>

           I just read Mr. Atwood's letter on your hippie commie attitude

    on unreasonable blood testing for drugs. Did you ever suggest that it

    was okay to DRIVE stoned ? As matter of record you despise DRUNK drivers.

    So I'm sure you have no sympathy for STONED drivers.

           But what if the driver puffed on a marijuana cigarette a week

    ago at a party - then loses his job because of a drug test result ?

          Mr. Atwood may not be a pothead - HIS head is just a little wooden !

            Ron  ( Bill Clinton's unpaid legal advisor )

            Have a nice day ANYWAY  Bob !

Newspapers can help teens

    I just read that the nation's " food police " have warned

    that excessive soda-pop drinking may be quite harmful to teens . The

    article specifically mentioned that it may be a factor in calcium

    deprivation. Also all that " liquid candy " contributes to obesity , now

    an epidemic in the United States.

             Evangelists of Self-Esteem should ask themselves : How does

    being FAT & UNHEALTHY contribute to that pseudo-euphoric state of mind ?

         Perhaps more teenagers  would benefit greatly from a Health & Beauty

    column in daily newspapers. Get an expert who knows how to communicate

    with teens. The column should be aimed at them . In youth " vanity " is

    more understandable and natural.

            For example a lot of kids still suffer from acne . Have there been

    any advances ?  How about better dental care for teens ?

             A  health & beauty column for teens will ALSO sell more

    newspapers !

Going nowhere with " racism "

Does a year pass in our society without some indignant

    person of color challenging the presence of Mark Twain's classic

    " Huckleberry Finn " in the high school curricula ? 

            Only illiterates will find it to be propaganda for white

    racism. It seems to be true enough that our schools nowadays are not

    places where the MIND can find itself, where FREE THOUGHT  and HONEST

    INQUIRY are encouraged.

            Neither the political Left or the political Right show any

    real passion for old fashioned DEMOCRACY. The AGENDA is everything.

           How can even the brightest kids have everything all figured

    out even before their college sophomore year ?

         Are we hatched as LIBERALS, CONSERVATIVES, RADICALS ? Should

    not life experience and diligent study ultimately determine our

    points of view ?

          There is a very practical reason for tolerating controversial

    points of view : We could be wrong !

           Today many creatures of academia believe that a dull and

    obtuse Multi-Culturalism is the last word in social philosophy.

          I observe no passion for EQUALITY anywhere today. What they

    ALL want is the upper hand, the edge, a privileged position .

        More ominous I observe no passion for TRUTH, just the partisan

    slant on it .

         What is happening to Democracy in America ?

Let Chile judge Pinochet

I am no expert on Latin American politics, but in !973 I

    remember the name Pinochet sent chills down my spine. I recall reading

    about mass executions in sports stadiums. Just the other day the evil

    of Pinochet's regime was recalled to my mind while listening to

    actor Christopher Reeve's audio book " I'm still me ". Reeve mentioned

    trying to save  Chilean artists -like his father " politically progressive "-

    from the wrath of the bloody dictator Pinochet.

            Salvadore Allende, the Marxist, was a hero compared to Pinochet.

      I understand Spain thinks that he has the blood of Spanish citizens

    on his hands. Of course he could well have been a disciple of Spain's

    own notorious fascist, Francisco Franco . Did not that old bastard

    die peacefully in his sleep, a  revered old man ?

          The Cold War made the likes of Pinochet inevitable in Latin

    America. Would be dictators today do not have the bogeyman of international

    communism to help them hold on to power. Pinochet is a living dinosaur.

            It seems only just that the people of Chile themselves -who

    suffered under his regime - be the ones to judge Pinochet 's crimes     

Reno and " hate crime "

My perspective on this " hate crime " controversy is truly

    LEFT WING LIBERAL even if THEY don't believe. Your columnist Terzian

    made sense on the issue. Bakst's comment on the utility of hate crime

    legislation was heartfelt but foolish. Will will Patinkin comment on

    the issue -or is just not fluffy enough ?

         I expect common sense from Bob Kerr and Froma Harrop. They rarely

    disappoint.

           Headline on page A6 : " Reno presses hate crime legislation ".

     I do respect this woman but she does have the cloud of Waco hanging

    over her head. Hate crime is intolerable in our society but it is OKAY

    to risk burning little children alive if they happen to be pawns of

    right wing crackpot fugitives from the law ?

        I suggest Reno read the piece in your oped page today : " Make torture

    illegal in the U.S. "  I did not know that it was legal ! I guess it is

    OKAY to torture a criminal exactly the way that Wyoming gay man was tortured

    - but it would not be a " hate crime " - just part of a judicial investigation.

    Perhaps the criminal was connected to the Aryan Nation conspiracy !

           One of the Kennedy kin MAY have been involved in the torture sex

    crime death of a young girl . But the man will get the best legal defense

    that money can buy. And after all - be he guilty or not guilty - it was

    at least not a hate crime !

         The mendacity of our laws !

Horoscope revision

 A letter writer complained that your horoscope is more for

    middle aged adults . I checked it out today ( Oct. 17 ) to verify

    his complaint. Hmmn ! Just imagine President Clinton reading this

    horoscope advice :  "  Member of the opposite sex impressed, wants to

    be close " ... or   " Have fun, flirt, perhaps make love, but realize

    there is a tomorrow "   ... " discretion is better part of valor ".

            This is all too middle aged even for ME !

Enough of Jane Elliot !

The Greek philosopher Socrates is famous for advising people

    to " know thyself ". I know myself to know that I am a RATIONAL liberal-

    the old fashioned type that still believes in the Virtue of Reason.

         " Racism "- which is a form of irrational rejection of people -

    is no part of my makeup.

         So I do not hesitate to say that I myself might be tempted to

    escort Jane Elliot - arch enemy of bigoted CAB DRIVERS - out of town

    myself. But I won't because of my GENUINE liberalism .

           This woman IS indeed a trouble maker. Her " brown eyed, blue

    eyed " experiment on the nature of prejudice was a crackpot and vicious

    one on innocent people .

            Having put  an " ignorant " cab driver in his place, she gives

    us this tip about the Republicans : They hate President Clinton because

    he champions the causes of black people. I guess most Republicans

    are bigots and sexists and gay bashers !  Talk about bigotry !

            I have not had a strong enough cup of coffee to continue this

    letter ( It was too " integrated " ) . As a LIBERAL, I am not impressed

    with Jane Idiot !

The Virgin Mary speaks

           A mob of credulous simpletons descended on this charlatan

    Nancy Fowler's farm in Conyers Ga. recently to hear a public message

    -limited to one per year -and always oracular twaddle- from the Queen

    of Heaven herself - the Virgin Mary .

              The Virgin  -for some reason - had a fondness for a special

    date, October 13 - a good day for the Stock Market to crash and a

    convenient two weeks away from Halloween . Has anybody ever wore a

    Virgin Mary costume on that jocular day ?

        But why has she canceled the show ? No more scenes of Nancy Fowler

    reading  her handwritten messages dictated by the apparition of all

    apparitions ?

           Her last message could hardly compete with your daily horoscope :

      " The future holds no concern to those who truly seek God ..."

        Remember THAT on tax day - April 15 !

        I suspect the Virgin Mary  is  FINALLY going high tech . Next  October

    13 she will appear on her  very own web site !

Ten Commandments not enough ?

Even God was not conscientious enough for do-good liberals . He

    gave His chosen people only 10 commandments to live by. But He wrote

    them in stone.  God the Father was a bit of a hard ass. But His divine

    son also talked about the Power of Love, emphasizing THAT along with

    Kindness and Forgiveness.

          Not being as sensitive as some liberals, both the Father and the

    Son never mentioned the particular evil of Hate Crime. Was that not

    implied in the murderous deed itself ? In not loving thy neighbor as

    thyself ?

           The Lord's very own, M. Charles Bakst and Representative Patrick

    Kennedy think that " hate crime " is just too hateful to be left to

    existing criminal laws.  They want even stronger laws which, according to

    M. Charles " , " can be useful statements of what society will or will not

    tolerate ."

             True, true !  For example we actually have strong laws against

    vagrancy -which show that our society will not tolerate homelessness !

            We have  the death penalty - which proves that society will not

     tolerate a peculiarly unloving attitude in some of its poorer citizens,

    not resourceful enough to earn the attention of do-good liberal lawyers.

              No I'm not down on liberals. I routinely vote for them !

" Hate in Wyoming "

 I note that your commendable editorial this morning " Hate

    in Wyoming " wisely refrained from suggesting more gay rights legislation.

    ( I also note your front page headline:" Supreme Court allows ban on

    gay rights laws "  )

            With violence against gay people seemingly on the increase, you

    suggest : " strong , courageous moral direction by society's leaders

    both POLITICAL and ACADEMIC ".

            What these leaders say and think every day has more influence

    on creating a compassionate climate in society than rather brainless

    kneejerk legislation.

            You leave out RELIGIOUS leaders !  Little hope for the majority

    of them ? Have they heard the VOICE OF GOD on homosexual " abomination "

    and that settles the matter in their stale minds for all eternity ?

           I hate to say something so cynical, but the key to understanding

    most human behavior is: study the monkeys !   They are great imitators

    driven by GROUP THINK .

Free thought -a universal fear ?

Right after commending your editorial " Hate in Wyoming " for

    not recommending more gay-rights legislation, I read and reflected

    on Geoffrey Wheatcroft's article on the same op-ed page : " Let

    a demogague ( France's Jean Marie Le Pen ) stew in his own juice ".

          The other day , I recall, you had an editorial commenting

    on the plight of the Iranian author of " The Satanic Verses "-

    still with a price on his head !

         And I also read recently about the Pope being upset about

    a Communist Portuguese writer winning this year's Nobel Prize

    for literature .

           I was warned years ago in book written by the late Erich

    From, " Escape from Freedom ", that the world is not as attached

    to democratic principles as many naive liberals would like to

    think. My own personal experience is that very many quite

    well educated and civilized individuals are nearly terrified by

    FREE THOUGHT.

            I am astonished, nevertheless, that  in Germany today

    there are laws against " Holocaust denial " or " minimizing

    the crimes of the Third Reich ". This Le Penn character is now

    in trouble for hissing at what has become " sacred truth ".

              Do you think such a ridiculous crime is impossible

    in the United States because of our beloved First Amendment ?

    Think twice !

            Everywhere I sense a desire simply to silence one's

    political or intellectual opponents . Have we lost our

    faith in REASON - one of the gods of the now maligned French

    Revolution ?

         The last year of the twentieth century might be title

    " The Growing Darkness " in future history books - if any

    progressive minds are left to write history books !

Hate Crime Laws just emotional

 I never thought that there has to be a conflict between intelligence

    and sensitivity, but there seems to be in this matter of " hate crime "

    legislation . Gay rights groups want more legislation as response to

    abominations as the torture death of the openly gay young man, Matthew

    Shepard.  President Clinton -with noble intentions I'm sure - is urging

    Congress to pass the federal Hate Crimes Protection Act.

             At the time young Shepard was found horribly beaten and tortured,

    it was pointed out that the Wyoming legislature opposed special hate

    crime laws. Perhaps they are a bunch of hard ass Republicans. I don't

    know. But it is very unfair to associate their resistance to " hate

    crime " with the fiendish deed.

              It is against the law to beat, torture, and murder ANYBODY,

    for whatever " reason " . When we read about more " ordinary " people

    being tortured and murdered, do we hear clamors for stronger homicide

    laws?  Most criminal types are -any psychiatrist will tell you -pathological

    haters.  Must we conclude that it is bad enough to be a murderer, but

    downright intolerable to be a HATEFUL murderer ?

            It is unwise for the LAW -which at least strives for EQUAL JUSTICE -

    to single out groups for SPECIAL PROTECTION . Existing law makes hate

    crime legislation superfluous just about everywhere in the United States.

           Edgar Allen Poe wrote a chilling story, " The Tell Tale Heart " about

    a " perfectly sane " person who murders an old man because he can't stand

    the glance of his VULTURE EYE .

             Perhaps people out there with a  VULTURE EYE need the special

    protection of the law!

             But was murder in " The Tell Tale Heart " really a hate crime ?

       " I was never kinder to the old man than the week before I killed

    him ". ( Poe character )

Bill Reynolds on school sports

 I just read Bill Reynolds' column: " Local college sports

        now in 'don't count' category."  Just last week I learned that my

        niece, Beth Covil, was the winning pitcher in a game -her first ? -

        played out at Rhode Island College. She's there -and playing on the

        girls' softball team - with the help of an athletic scholarship.

               I was proud to hear this, of course. But aware of the " don't

        count " status of most college sports, I wondered if even the school

        paper reported their own victory !

              When Beth was a star athlete at Coventry High -now and then getting

        a headline in local paper - I asked her to e-mail me her playing

        schedule. But she never got around to it and I never saw her play even

        one game.

                Often I have longed to see these " don't count " games on high

        school or college  playing fields. On an early spring or New England

        fall day they can be a sensuous delight. I recall the French writer

        Albert Camus writing in his " Notebook " that he could still feel

        "innocent " watching young people play with so much heart on the

        athletic field. Perhaps Youth and Hope and Energy IS everything !

               One reason school games are poorly attended is that would be fans

        such as myself often do not have a clue about the WHERE and WHEN of

        them. Also many school playing fields cannot accommodate more than a

        few dozen spectators. They should also pay more attention to little

        things like available rest rooms and more appealing SACKS .

               And  adequate parking !

            Even the most homely school athletic field is still a " Field of Dreams ".

" Hate crime " - a muddled concept

 I just heard on the radio that Mathew Shepard -a possible

    victim of " hate crime " - has died. And I just read Rick Sundin's letter

    to USA TODAY : " Beating shows need for hate-crime laws ".

             Shepard was an out of the closet gay person . Sundin wrote:

    " What happened to him was a blatant hate crime . Period . "

          Here Sundin is both grammatically and politically correct. But is

    he right ?  What if the girl involved was telling the truth... she

    insisted it was not a hate crime !

            Ridiculous !  It must be the routine experience of police

    everywhere to find crime victims tortured and beaten to a pulp - with

    the only motivation being robbery - often petty robbery .

            Is it any consolation to these routine victims that they were

    NOT the objects of a hate crime ?

           It is against the law to beat, rob, and torture people. Period!

       The concept of hate crime - with the exception of organized genocide -

    can get very muddled.

             Is not the death penalty in this country a form of collective

    hate crime ? Too many of us just hate to think !

Missing - the Fall splendor

Here it is Columbus Day and the Rhode Island  Fall foliage

    scenery - usually a joyous splendor, a nearly psychedelic explosion

    of red, orange, purple, and yellow    -is a complete dud !

         What happened ? Is Mother Nature showing its boredom with the Clinton

    White House sex scandals ?

            Are we destroying the only paradise we'll ever know ?

Gay Marriage - a farce ?

A phony liberal will give a negative opinion of gay marriage

    first telling us :  " Some of my best friends are gay...but ".

           A phony liberal like myself will first tell you : " My BEST FRIEND

    is gay...but ".

            If I have not misunderstood ArthurRex@webtv.net , he also thinks

    gay marriage is a farce. Why ? Because straight marriage is a farce, as

    radical sociologists perceive, a gay imitation of it can itself be only

    a greater farce.

         At the core of the traditional institution of marriage is not

    Love & Romance but dreary economics -especially property rights.

        This has improved just a little. Just visit any courtroom where a

    divorce case is being argued: It is nothing but property, property, money,

    money; this HIS, that is HERS .

             For centuries wives and children were regarded as the living

    property of the patriarch  -along with his slaves!

             Of course a gay marriage will not produce children. Nevertheless,

    I would not oppose  gay marriage in general. But I advise gay people :

    Don't do it !

           Keep the romance in your relationship. Love means never having to

    say you're sorry !

Questionable cop justice

Not knowing more about the case than that she struck a handcuffed

    suspect on the head with a metal flashlight, I would conclude that

    Westerly police sergeant, Lauren Matarese, was lucky to keep her job.

          Perhaps she was instinctively trying to help subdue a very

    disorderly drunk. Judge Dimitri did call her action " stupid ".

           But I wonder if - like  one  New York City policeman - she had

    been seen  wearing  a " black face " in a tasteless and racist parade

    skit , would she get away with just being a little " stupid "  ?

            Or is political incorrectness - a non-crime - a far more serious

    offense for an officer of the law ?

            That New York City police officer was indeed stupid. But he has

    as much right to be a racist as anybody else in New York - as long as

    he acts like a professional on the job . To be sure, he is no candidate

    for a promotion in a racially sensitive city .

            Honest liberals must learn to leave a person's soul alone !

More Providence Phoenix hypocrisy

Again I recommend that the next attorney general investigate

    the  sleazy " Providence Phoenix " give away-throw away rag. He or SHE

    should investigate it as vigorously as Kenn Starr investigated the Clinton -

    Lewinsky affair.They may discover that the publication is a cover for more

    than everyday business prostitution.

          I have just read  another hypocritical editorial titled " Defending

    the Indefensible " . It seems that Rep. Patrick Kennedy 's strong support

    of President Clinton - his stand against the impeachment farce - is

    ethically indefensible.

        The editor of the Phoenix is indignant - what a joke - about the

    President converting the Oval Office into a " massage parlor " !

             Massage parlors, along with hot escorts and wild swingers

    are routinely advertised in the magazine's ADULT section . In fact

     "phone sex " and blatant prostitution is shamelessly advertised in the

    pages of the Providence Phoenix "


              According to a story in today's Providence Journal, the

    overwhelming majority of Rhode Island voters would side with their

    Rep. Patrick Kennedy on this issue of Clinton's possible impeachment.

            So Patrick here is no profile in courage to be sure. But he is

    at least politically astute AND honorable.

             Future professors of abnormal social psychology might be very

    interested  in such as editorials as " Defending the Indefensible " and

    " Shame " appearing in the shameless " Providence Phoenix ".

            Tis the season of the hypocrite !

Caught writing racial slurs

             This story is very sad for everyone wanting harmonious racial

    relations. It is reported in this mornings Providence Journal (B1 ,Oct.8 )

    that a 16 year old Afro- American was caught " black-handed " writing

    racial slurs on  her own locker at North Attleboro High. She is a member

    of the Student Coalition Against Racism there . The school is at least

    90 percent white.

         I congratulate the clever teacher who discovered the shocking TRUTH.

        This relatively petty scandal tells us more about " normal " adolescent

    psychology than about RACE RELATIONS TODAY .

           Kids crave attention. And they will often find mischievous ways

    to get it.

         I learned - a long time ago - that there were no lack of frauds on

    the political Left. But it is never too late for kids to " grow up ".

        There is indeed a lot of injustice in the world. The great weapon

    against it is the TRUTH.

           My sympathy for the SCAR organization - a good cause - that was

    embarrassed by this  shameful incident.

When should a leader quit ?

An eighth grade student, Emily Bowen, thinks President Clinton

   should resign because he is a bad role model ( letter to editor,
    Providence

   Journal, Oct.8 ) . Painful words to read, but nobody can deny that
    Clinton

   is a little less than exemplary.

           He has his despicable apologists of course. And once again I

   shall play the role of his unpaid attorney:

         Here I wish to defend him against  detractors who recall

   that FIRST  " big lie ": He tried marijuana as a naive youth but

   never inhaled.

          People have laughed at this one for years now. But I

   insist that here he was indeed telling the truth .

         I know from my own experience at that he is telling the

   truth. Like Clinton I am a non-smoker. I believe Clinton was

   also a non-smoker when  he tried that first marijuana cigarette.

          There is more to this " inhaling " business than you

   think. Cigarette smokers get the knack of it. So they are

   more experienced at inhaling marijuana smoke. Getting it

   deep down into the lungs from which it can then embark on

   its stupefying mission to the brain.

        When I complained to experienced pot heads that the damn

   stuff did nothing for me they said : " it's because you don't

   KNOW HOW TO INHALE " .

          Cigarettes smokers DO know how to inhale. But I was not

   about to take up hazardous cigarette smoking in order to learn

   how to inhale.

           I still have no use for the stupid stuff - marijuana .

      I am telling you the truth just as Bill Clinton told you

   the truth. And he was not under oath when he talked about " not

   inhaling ".Just remember that.

          But I am telling you the truth about this " inhaling "

   business. Scout's honor !

               If Clinton came out for legalizing pot - which he

   must be tempted to do - and it is the right thing - his

   popularity will be even higher than it is now.

The " obstruction " of justice charge

 We cannot underestimate the significance of WRITING in

        general for the development of Civilization. And it was an advance

        for the idea of JUSTICE and the idea of DEMOCRACY when human beings

        perceived the importance of written laws. When fighting tyrants what

        better ideological weapon could the common people have than these words :

        " No man is above the law !  "  ?

                But like everything else on this sinful planet things have a

        perverse way of becoming the opposite of their original intent.

             Today in our democratic country a clever lawyer can use his understanding

        of the " letter of the law " to subvert democratic concepts of justice.

               We see this happening too often : the letter of law opposes

        the democratic feelings of the people.

              Should the letter of the law be used to veto a democratic decision

        such as the election of the president of the United States ?

               Many Republican leaders who babble frequently about " obstruction "

        of justice themselves obstruct JUSTICE every day in office - as the

        impoverished half of this nation perceives it.

                Do they take seriously  Amnesty International's recent condemnation

        of our criminal justice system ?

                 It seems that many of our prisoners have been treated as if they

        were beneath the law !

                And George Orwell warned us long ago that obscurantist language

        - the letter of the law - often masks undemocratic purposes .

                " We shall meet in a place where there is no darkness ".

More kids, more taxes ?

At first it might seem that Jim Bastow of Cranston has

    a reasonable complaint : Why should local public schools depend as

    much on the tax payers without children as taxpayers with hordes of

    them being educated by the community ?

           But what if the parents are rather poor and have five or six kids

    in the public schools ?  Remember education is compulsory - and rightly

    so ! - until a kid is 16 years old . Imagine the town harassing such

    a family for taxes it can hardly afford !

           Most " progressive " minded people believe that public education

    is a good thing , indeed a human right . What is UNFAIR is that the

    quality of education in a small state like Rhode Island should vary

    greatly from community to community, the average income in each being

    a decisive factor.

           Mr. Bastow ( letter to the editor , Oct 6 ) needs a stronger

    sense of community. Even cranky old bachelors -in their fading years -

    will be supported by a young and EDUCATED work force.

         I am pleased to see so many newspapers pay so much attention to

    the public education issue. Unlike Monagate, it really does matter !