Back Breaking Textbooks Obsolete

Question on the frontpage of my newspaper today: " Would you ask your child to walk to school carrying a box of rocks on his back ? "

It seems that the kids' backpacks are getting so heavy that there is a serious risk of back injury. And so if they emerge from high school with rocks in their heads for brains, they will not even qualify for those " backbreaking jobs " waiting for the drop out, the semi-literate, the unskilled.

But the computer revolution and the Internet should make those dull,heavy, often unreadable and panic inspiring 5-10 pound school textbooks things of the
past. They are - let's face it -nothing but money making rackets. Textbook authors and publishers often have hardly a clue about arousing interest in subjects that many people find fascinating.

Most of those formidable Calculus textbooks are the heartless, wretched product of greedy hacks without a creative bone their heads. But they might cost the school kid $75.00 . What a rip off!

The same is true for history, biology, physics, chemistry, and even English Literature texts. As if the very purpose of the texts was to break the spirit -as well as the backs - of students

Substitute for these ridiculous monuments to boredom a half a dozen magazine-like texts and attractive workbooks - used in sequence during
the semester.

Finally, since most teachers -robot like-say the same yawn provoking stuff year after year, REPLACE THEM with more interesting audio and video tapes.

Now and then the slow witted pupil might benefit from the presence of a real live teacher, working as a NON-UNIONIZED ,part time course advisor.

We can -with the help of the Bill Gates inspiration (read his thoughts on education revolution ) - make education in the United States CHEAPER & BETTER.

And get an oppressive load off the kids' backs.

Patricia Walsh remembered

Patricia Walsh and her fine family lived down the street from us (315 California Ave. in Providence ) at the corner of Virginia and California Avenue. Of course the whole neighborhood was shocked when they read about the pretty young girl - murdered by the drug crazed Antone Costa in Provincetown, on Cape Cod.

I use to play touch football in the street with her brother, Dennis whom I remembered as a lively, joking athletic type. Danny Barclay - now a Providence Police detective - was one of his chums.

Patricia Walsh now and then gave the California Ave. gang a ride in her light blue Volkswagen -which a while back I recognized in a magazine article. She seemed the vivacious type , still with a mild case of adolescent acne.

I think I heard it from Dan that Patrician's parents had turned her bedroom into a shrine - left unchanged for years. And from Dan that Dennis responded to the fiendish murder of his sister with lyrics from the Beatles : " Let it be... let it be.. ! "

I may have bumped into Dennis a few years ago, but I simply was not prepared to discuss the events of 30 years ago.

The Walsh family were members of the St. Paul's Church parish.

A number of letter writers have praised the Projo Web Site. And it really does have a lot to offer. I found the " archive " especially useful; it has even cleared up family mysteries for me. A old fashioned microfilm search would have been quite tedious.

The quickness of the computer lowers the motivational threshold for doing anything connected with research and personal communication. For example, it is much easier now to write letters to the editor, even though hard copy space is as limited as ever - like downtown real estate !

Now and then there is an editor's note explaining to some frustrated letter writer that the majority of letters - good, bad, smart or silly -cannot be published.

May I suggest that the editor refer them to your Projo Web site feature: "Your Two Cents "? It will only take a few minutes for a cyber visitor to see how "Your Two Cents "works. A lot like a town meeting that can break up into separate discussion groups: Should gays be allowed in the Boy Scouts? Will a drug use confession hurt Lincoln Chafee ? Are we fed up with affirmative action or is it still a tool to fight racial oppression ?

If somebody thinks they have something interesting to say about a topic in the news, why not consider " Your Two Cents " ? I do wish the feature had a spell-checker and editing abilities.

Free Speech in the United States has entered its Golden Age. Let us not pretend that there is a conspiracy to silence anybody.

My brother Steve has likened the Internet to vivacious Italy where government is a joke. But what vitality and energy and creativity and imagination. Who dare give this highly democratic circus oppressive, bureaucratic regulations?

Yes, governments come and go. The brothels -and irrepressible humanity - and remain.

A Nation of Gluttons

The projo.com bulletin board notification of new message. See:
http://www.projo.com/twocents/get/news/777.html

I just read the Dirk Johnson article, " People are snacking everywhere..." ( July 30 )

Fat Americans are getting fatter by the day, by the hour, by the minute! What do I see on the bus while I peruse this article? A plump young lady -who, if slimmer, would be a lot prettier- sucking on a big green tootsie pop( NO EATING ON BUS - says the sign over her head ) .

What was HER problem ? I wondered. Nerves, oppressed by sexism and dead white males, real hunger ?

Indeed everywhere I turn in Kennedy Plaza I observe the frightfully fat. Do they even care ?

Just declare that FAT IS BEAUTIFUL and forget about all self-restraint. Big Brother is weight watching now ?

With all due respect to the good -and omnipresent - name of A Shawn Feinstein, I must say that most of our worthy poor are FAT.

And fat union leaders are forever demanding a greater share of the pie. But most working Americans have more than their share of the pie. Just look at them !

There is indeed an epidemic of obesity in the United States. If all those fat
Americans were forced to work harder for less pay ( less munching ) , then the country would shape up again.

I suspect that the grossly fat lost interest in sex about 50 pounds ago. OBESITY SHOULD BE GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE. Let's legalize no fat divorce !

Oddly enough the prosperous class is rarely even overweight. Here they wisely
avoid conspicuous consumption.

What a horrible life style it is that is centered on junk food and junk TV. We idolize the athletes with great bodies but treat are own bodies as disdainfully as we would treat broken down garbage trucks.

And not even death will put an end to our crazy self-indulgence: According to
the Gallop Polls, most Americans plan to enjoy Pie in the Sky.

I hope our next president is LEAN & MEAN -just to set a good example before the crunch comes.

Stalinism still alive in U.S.A.!

A while back there was a furor over Elia Kazan - a very big name in Hollywood - being given the Lifetime Achievement Award .

The list of his great films -that seem to celebrate the free spirit - the individual vs. the crowd as in " On the Waterfront " is just stunning. No matter what the vagaries of his McCarthy era fink role,

Elia Kazan deserved that award.

The driving force behind the excoriation of The Rat -in case nobody noticed - was the Old Left , what remains of the Communist Party U.S.A. - for years the faithful lackeys of the Kremlin , not exactly the champion of artistic freedom or of FREEDOM anywhere.

Today you can read in the People's Weekly World that the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was despicable HATE CRIME against the " socialist " Slobodan Milosovic. The real villain here ? You guessed it - U.S.

Imperialism ( in need of wage slaves in Kosovo ! ) In the United States right now a lot of public attention is focused -rightly so ! - on the Kooks of the Right eager to bomb federal buildings with hundreds of innocent civilians inside.

But the kooks of the Left are still around, still with grandiose and evil fantasies of Central Committees , People's Courts, and the glorious Day of Reckoning -when America will be delivered to its Stalinist saviors.

Then a Life Time Achievement Award will be presented to that enduring agent of a foreign power - Gus Hall.

Just how hot is Hell anyway?

In the popular novel " To Kill a Mockingbird " Scout Finch begins her story sometime in the beginning of the Great Depression. "Summers seemed hotter then ", she says.

Today in the Bible Belt Hell at least is as hot as ever. Headline : " Pope causes a stir by suggesting hell is a state of mind. " There was room for this belief even in my old Baltimore Catechism. But if you perused the more scholarly Catholic Encyclopedia you might have come across Pope John Paul 's concept of hell : " the state of those who freely and definitely separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy . "

But most Catholics actually lived in fear of a Gothic nightmare hell -vividly described in " Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man " by the Irish writer, James Joyce. And many people might recall the panic caused by the movie , " The Exorcist ".

But the Pope's view proves that faith can be reconciled with science -with the help of Jesuit logic.

The Old Time Religion of Elmer Gantry prefers the the old time hell of Dante's " Inferno ". It has better commercial and entertainment value. "Can you feel the pain ,wicked sinner ? Well if you could live long enough to lick Mount Sinai away, know then that fun has just begun. "

I read somewhere that the mind is its own place and it maketh a heaven or a hell .

No Common Sense on Gay Scouts !

I've read a dozen or more columns and letters to editor on this latest hot issue : Gays in the Boy Scouts.

Nobody suggests that it should not even BE an issue. How many parents expect or encourage their 13, 14, 15 year old CHILDREN to have ACTIVE sex lives ?

I'm hardly homophobic, but I am FED UP WITH THE GAY AGENDA ! Tolerance, si - decadence, no !

Interview 95 year old Bob Kerr fan?

95 year old Muriel Krasnoff says she has written only two letters to the editor in her long life - one of them " a commendation of Bob Kerr's columns " ( letter, Aug 20 ).

A woman her age -and that ALERT - almost certainly deserves a whole column or at least a newspaper interview. Just the right stuff for the millennium, the Rhode Island Century!

Time is of the essence here. Give that lady a call ! The Chinese once had a wiser attitude toward the elderly.

Nothing wrong with " morally straight " !

Boys Scouts are mostly kids in their early teens. There is no reason why a gay -or just a potentially gay - gay kid cannot be an exemplary Boy Scout . But do most respectable parents expect or encourage their 13, 14, 15 year old sons to have ACTIVE sex lives - with all the risks involved ?

Does saying it is OK to be a gay scout imply that it is OK to be a promiscuous gay scout ? Cannot " morally straight " apply equally to BOTH gay and non -gay scouts ?

Would the Boy Scout organization be homophobic if it insisted that gay scouts refrain from holding hands and kissing and embarrassing the " straight " scouts ?

Perhaps the "closet " is the best place for young teens. How can they be so damm sure of their homosexuality anyway ? The "closet " will protect their developing personalities.

Recently the newspaper interviewed gay high school students. Perhaps they were mistaken in thinking that an atmosphere of homophobia was the reason for their social problems. The gay kids struck me as prima donna types - narcissistic, self- absorbed, and self-indulgent. Most of them would have no problem being accepted if BEING GAY were something less than a vocation for them.

Gay or straight -people have a way of sizing up your CHARACTER. A gay kid who imagines he is rejected should try acting "nice " instead of GAY. His popularity will go up overnight - even in the Boy Scouts.

And we must not forget that traditional Christians and Jews have a right to their own moral values - which for them often means rejecting the SIN -not the sinner.

By the way, my best friend is gay .

An apology to M Charles Bakst

M Charles Bakst is an expert on Rhode Island politics and well worth reading. But I have annoyed him with my mis-sent E-mail dealing with such irrelevant themes as the Absurdity of Life.

In the future I will forward M Charles only my horror stories ( which have a Rhode Island background )

This letter has been posted at the Projo Web site.

Rabbi's insight on hate groups

Rabbi William Kaufman , reflecting on the proliferation of hate groups, tries to get to the root of the problem. He concludes (page A9 ,Aug 14 ) that our vaunted prosperity is an illusion and that losers -" typically white males " - can embrace hate groups ( 250 hate organizations on the Internet )

I assume black males are not immune from the hate virus ? Just listen to that rap music blaring out of speeding cars : " I am going to F- - - - the Man and then his woman. "

This is pretty hateful stuff, to say the least. But what can be done about the frustrations levels of society's " losers ". Make them richer overnight ? Your editorial " Make time for nothing " ( Aug.14 ) has some good advice. People of all races in this country have adopted rat race values. Should it really matter
that much to a sane person that others HAVE more ?

Perhaps I was blessed by spirit of the Buddha in adolescence. I observed how your possessions "possess " you . The less you have and more important, the less you want,the better off you are .

Who has power over you if you want nothing from him ? I am one of the few liberal-socialist types who thinks that EVERYBODY - except the truly destitute - should HAVE a lot less.

Now who would vote for me, if I ran for president ?

Wizard of Oz in Kansas

 I thought the matter of teaching Evolution in our nation's schools was settled. No half-competent high school biology teacher would give equal time to Creationism in the classroom.

Reactionaries in the Kansas educational establishment want to do just that, perhaps encouraged by a benighted majority.

Just last night I was watching Carl Sagan's " Cosmos " on my VCR . " Evolution is a FACT, not a theory ", Carl tells us. Thank God for scientists like Sagan and popular science writers like Isaac Asimov who can explain Evolution and basic science to the public with the precious gift of lucidity.

I read in today's  newspaper : " Australian scientists say they have found evidence that complex forms of life existed on earth 2.7 billion years ago.. . "

To reject Evolution is to reject the scientific method , to be a scientific illiterate , to be a citizen of the Dark Age in the Information Age.

Did the Wizard of Oz know that brains were a rare commodity in Kansas? A fit place for his kingdom !

Let no wicked witch school teacher be caught teaching heretical doctrines in Kansas. Just follow the yellow brick road, You would think that the Islamic Taliban had established a foothold in the heartland of America.

Jane Fonda helped win Cold War !

"Jane Fonda's actions must not be forgiven ", thinks Jill "J.R" Labbe, a senior editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star Telegram. "

Even in the "liberal " New England, news stories routinely remind us of the Jane Fonda of 30 years ago - " one time friend of North Vietnam ". Shot down fighter pilots , imprisoned at the notorious Hanoi Hilton- like lawyers Ronald Bliss and Charles White-will hold Jane Fonda's name in infamy. Not for nothing, not for a scheduling conflict was she cancelled out of the Silver Gavel Awards luncheon of the American Bar Association.

As a protester of the Vietnam War myself ( limited to letters and demonstrations) , I can only agree that Jane Fonda naively allowed herself to be manipulated by cunning North Vietnamese communists. In despair many American soldiers in Vietnam actually supported the " Bring the Troops Home Now " rallies in Washington D.C., in which hundreds of thousands of citizens participated -most of them innocent of radical politics or pro-Stalinist -Maoist sympathies.

Perhaps Jane Fonda can't be forgiven unless she asks for forgiveness.  I just saw a touching movie " Wallace ". If George Wallace could be forgiven for his past racism by black victims of it, why can't those bitter Hanoi Hilton American prisoners ultimately forgive Jane Fonda - for foolishly idealizing a ruthless enemy ?

Ironically many political commentators thought that Russia was our real enemy in Vietnam.Strangely a Jane Fonda Workout Tape may have been a big factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Recall the scary day -August 19, 1991 - when hard line communists held Gorbachov incommunicado. The reform minded Soviet leader cleverly taped a message to the Free World over the Jane Fonda tape - and the tape was smuggled past security guards.

With the world alerted, the reactionary coup collapsed. And soon Boris Yeltsin was the new pro-Western leader of the doomed Soviet Union. History finds ironic purpose even for villains !
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 


response from J.R. Labbe:

Ron:   Thanks for your comments about my recent Jane Fonda column. I beg
to disagree with you, however, when you compare your protest activities with
hers. It is one thing to vocalize dissent over what was unquestionably a
horrible commitment on the part of this country. The U.S. involvement in that war was inexplicable. But while you were making your feelings known here, she was sitting in an NVA firebase, calling for the death of American pilots. She
attacked the most vulnerable of our American military men - prisoners of
war. She provided information to the Cong on which prisoners were members of
Special Forces (she obviously had confederates within the military who helped her) and they were summarily executed. Talk to Ron Bliss, who was tortured for
refusing to sit around the camp fire and sing camp songs with her.

``Foolishly idolizing a ruthless enemy''?  In my family (Air Force colonel
father who died in the line of duty, an Air Force veteran husband who did
his time in-country guarding the perimeter at Cam Ranh Bay with an M-16 and a
German shepherd), we called it aiding and abetting. A national treasure? I think
not. Glad you enjoyed the privilege of protesting  the war, then went home
and slept in a nice warm bed every night. My father, my husband and every man
and women who served in uniform made that possible for you.
    Regards,  J.R. Labbe


- - - - - - - more online repsonses:


Form Values Comments :  " Jane Fonda's actions must not be forgiven ", thinks
Jill "J.R." Labbe, senior editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star
Telegram." Even in my " liberal " Rhode Island, news stories routinely remind
us of the Jane Fonda of 30 years ago-"one time friend of North Vietnam.
Perhaps the lovely Jane Fonda -whom I found especially appealing in
"Coming Home " - can't be forgiven until she asks for forgiveness. Has
she?

Just last night I viewed a touching  video, " Wallace ". If George
Wallace could be forgiven for his past racism by black victims of it,
why can't those bitter Hanoi Hilton American prisoners ultimately forgive
sweet Jane Fonda -for foolishly idealizing a ruthless enemy ?

Inspired not by Jane Fonda, but by the anti-war movement and my
own conscience, I -like our President Bill Clinton - protested the Vietnam War in the late Sixties. In fact hundreds of thousands of all-American citizens marched in the streets of Washington D.C. shouting: " Bring the troops home now ! "
   
And many American soldiers in Vietnam applauded - not cursed-them.

Stop over-vilifying a national treasure - Jane Fonda.

Shields of bigotry

Put it this way according to Gregg Shields, national
   spokesman for the 5.8 million member Boy Scouts of America:
       " When a scouts admits he is... GAY, atheist,different,
   etc. ..., he will receive a notification that he is no longer
   a Boy Scout. "
       Perhaps he need not even ADMIT the abomination. A virtuous
   scout can earn a Spying Merit Badge by exposing the queers in
   the troop .
         Actually I have a high opinion of the Boy Scouts and I
   know that the best form of Americanism - a live and let live
   non-chalance about the other fellow's idiosyncracies - is a
   a living reality for most boy scouts.
        For gay scouts or straight scouts, I highly recommend
   CHASTITY in these very young years. That will keep them
   ALL out of trouble!
       Add: " A scout is chaste" to the venerable code.
       And a polite gay scout would no more discuss his
  homosexuality with non-approving scouts than a polite atheist
  would discuss God's non-existence with nuns.
      There are ways to get along in this world. Let's find
  them!

The blind who can see !

 Response from Ron Marshall:

 Hi Ron--I was moved by your advocacy for the blind. I worked once with a
    blind lady, Phyllis, who was a delight to both work and be with. She
    enjoyed listening to music and would smile and sing along with a tune
    she especially liked. She also enjoyed listening to talking books. I was
    amazed by the wide variety of authors and subjects available on audio
    tape, and all for free! The Association For The Blind has a lending
    library programme.

    As for technology hindering literacy for the blind, nonsense! Go into
    any bank or look at any ATM machine and you'll find Braille on the keys.
    Computer keyboards with Braille keys are also available. There tends to
    be techno-phobia among the older members of our society which is
    non-existent in the very young. "If God wanted Man to fly he would have
    given him wings," was the prosaic reaction of many to the invention of
    the aeroplane. I suppose it's only natural for us to be somewhat phobic
    towards radical changes in our world. Carried to an extreme, it
    constitutes cultural neurosis, or produces a mad bomber! The current
    Chicken Little syndrome is now evinced by the current "Y2K" hysteria. It
    will pass, of course. And how many people are willing to admit today
    they ever liked the song Achey Breaky Heart?

    take care buddy.

Love that RIPTA web site !

            I'll bet  Mr. Downtown himself wrote the editorial today:

    " RIPTA's wonderful Web site "   ..." a joy to use. "

           I discovered this Web site a few months ago. With my

    $35 dollar bus pass that gets me all over BEAUTIFUL Rhode Island -

    without the headache of car ownership - that RIPTA Web site makes

    me think: the gods are getting kinder !

          How convenient it is to be out at the URI library and find out

    in a second when I can catch the next shuttle bus to charming -and

    wonderfully named - Galilee fishing village. Or the next bus to Newport-

    where a bus will take me right to gates of the famous Newport Mansions.

         I once tossed a penny on the lawn of the " summer home " of

    Cornelius Vanderbilt - for good luck !  Those Robber Barons at least

    had great taste - even if the whole world had to pay for it !

             If you avoid the expenses of a car - you might be able in 40

    or 50 years  -to rent The Breakers for a summer night.

            Avoid the fuss -take the bus !

- - - -- -  - - -- - -
response from Dave Brusat:

Ron - No car? Welcome to the club! Rather maybe you should welcome
    me to the club. As you may know (since you seem to read the paper pretty
    closely), I sold my car at the beginning of June. I fell immediately
    into a romance with someone from Johnston, and so there have been times
    when I regret not having a car - but so far I do not actually regret
    having sold the car, whatever the little inconveniences. Avoid the fuss,
    take the bus - that's a good motto. How about "No car, no care"? That's
    my motto, for reasons you already are aware. But did I write the edit
    about the RIPTA web site? No, Froma Harrop did. BTW, I can't recall
    whether that site trucks in this increasingly common flaw, but the web
    site described on the front page of the Journal one day last week does.
    The site is mass-exodus.com, and the flaw is putting all type on a dark
    background, which makes it difficult to read. What is the purpose of
    this? I can only imagine it's the programmer's version of the ladies fad
    for black clothing. Any ideas? Go figure! - Dave