My New year 2000: asleep by midnight !

The year 2000 has great psychological significance for me - a lot to think about. Since I share Mr. Whitcomb's aversion to the relentless NOISE around us - and since I am sick of 2000 hype- I plan to seek Peace & Quiet on New Years Eve . A very meditative hour or two and then -hopefully - I shall be contemptuously sound asleep by midnight. And blissfully refreshed in the morning assessing the first day of New Times.

The BIG NEWS of the morning : " Boris Yeltsin is back in the hospital ... " ? People will conclude that the coming of 2000 was the biggest dud since the Edsel. And a dud will be elected President of the United States in November 2000. Gore ? Bush ? What difference does it make ? And the Red Sox will blow it again late in October. And Buddy Cianci is still being investigated ....

And I'll still be writing letters : " It's damm capitalism , you see ... "

Gay Marriage- A True Abomination !

Providence Journal columnist M. Charles Bakst has truly gone off the deep end on gay rights issues. He is now disappointed that the Vermont Supreme Court " failed to legalize same sex marriages . "

At the core of modern bourgeois marriage is property and procreation. Gay thinkers - and " non-breeders " - like witty author Gore Vidal - have mocked the sacred institution again and again. And indeed they have satirized it brilliantly.

From a RADICAL perspective, gay marriage would simply be a farce of a farce , a mockery of a mockery ! A capitalist society should not recognize gay marriage unless it is prepared to profoundly transform the institution of marriage for everybody - forever.

What every divorced man discovers -TOO LATE ! - in court is that PROPERTY - not love & affection - is at the heart of marital bliss. Too late does he learn that his "immortal beloved " has the soul of a shopping mall. How dearly he pays for love's illusions !

What could be more ludicrous than an unhappy gay couple arguing bitterly in court over who should get the dog ?

( Words I actually overheard : " Why should I stay with an old fag like you when Mario has a beach house and a Porsche! ")

Here is an issue on which both radicals and reactionaries can unite : BAN GAY MARRIAGE !

It it is sheer lunacy . And M Charles , please invite me to the wedding.

Send Cuban Boy Back To Cuba !

Providence Journal columnist Froma Harrop is right to believe that Elian Gonzlez- the 6 year old Cuban boy, an involuntary exile rescued off the Florida coast- belongs with his father in Cuba. And you don't need the wisdom of Solomon here!

Spurious indeed is the argument about the GOOD LIFE here for Elian. Since when is the GOOD LIFE compulsory in our society ? Speak that crap to the millions of working poor - many of whom are from Latin America . The " dark , Satanic mills " of the Industrial Revolution are still there for the new immigrants - most of them .

I am opposed to a recklessly " liberal " immigration policy. But I am also passionately opposed to the abuse and exploitation of these latino immigrants.

And most certainly a 6 year old political innocent should not be used as a pawn in international politics.

I happen to agree with Fidel about the main type of Cuban exile in Miami - a despicable GUSANO , an implacable enemy of the Cuban Revolution

They will never forgive Fidel for " stealing " their vast wealth - the fruit of their own corruption and the misery of the Cuban people.

Viva Fidel ! ( But retire soon please and hold elections .)

Keep doctors out of Congress !

" Keep government from health care " , thinks a smug conservative, A. John Elliot ( letter Dec. 20 ) . "

The entire edifice that we now call health insurance has been erected because we do not trust people to make their own health decisions, " he writes.

I know hard working people who have lost this " bureaucratic red tape " health insurance.Oddly enough they have all decided to NOT visit doctors or hospitals unless delivered while unconscious in an ambulance .

And what is their excuse for not having $100,000 in cash available for health care ? Such a careless life style gets the contempt it deserves in hospital finance department or in the good doctors office .

Don't trust the government to get anything right, to be what " that man " FDR called " a helping hand " . Instead count on the natural benevolence of the Free Market -worshiped by all true conservatives.

These same people whine for Big Government to come to the rescue whenever a natural catastrophe strikes - floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes . Surely the Free Market could deliver help here much more efficiently !

Keep doctors out of Congress - especially conservative doctors ! They are an unhealthy influence indeed .

Whitcomb's Cocktail Crowd -familiar

Robert Whitcomb's column today reads as if it were written the morning after one of those horrid cocktail parties - where you get to meet conspicuously " successful " people whose conversation tells any half-sensitive , cultured listener that being rude crude -often drunken -jackass - is no obstacle to " higher achievement " in a madly materialistic society.


This type stopped reading serious books decades ago. Mr. Whitcomb mentioned encountering this type while on jury duty . All Babbits ! And the allusion to the Sinclair Lewis classic would go right over their bloated heads .

Mr. Whitcomb just cannot admit that the capitalist way of life - minus liberal humanist values - mass produces the same sorry types generation after generation.

How to save your soul from this mess ? Stop thinking that millions of lemmings cannot be wrong about the good things in life.

Find your true self in SOLITUDE -not in the company of corrupt greedy - and mentally lazy - philistines.

Dr. Timothy Leary's message is as valid as ever : " We are living in a highly organized insane asylum ... " Tune in , turn on , drop out ! ".

No, I don't recommend LSD . But if you " tune in " to your real self -not your corporate false self - your cocktail party self - you might find a creative way to " drop out " without starting fires in abandoned warehouses .

The philistines don't read because serious reading is more and more impossible for the egotist. It demand that he or she get out of the self. For someone like Einstein the discovery that the universe was independent and scornful of human egotism was a liberating experience. The egotist, however , is often terrified of solitude -a condition in which inner emptiness is revealed.

The Real Person will have no need for empty cocktail chatter - and less and less need for the cocktail.

" Enough with holiday newsletters ! "

The projo.com bulletin board notification of new message. See:
http://www.projo.com/twocents/get/news/1056.html

I am a fan of Ann Landers. Her advice has often kept this middle aged bachelor out of trouble. But this morning (Dec.15) her column was a little too harsh on those "insufferable " holiday newsletters. Many people it seems are furious with successful, happy -and God forbid!-affluent people. Especially if they are relatives or friends!

They " proceed to send this drivel to everyone whose last name they can spell " : " Jim was named vice-president of the bank,so we celebrated by buying a Mercedes. "

French writer Albert Camus wrote about that certain "look of success " which would "infuriate a jackass ".

It seems too me that it is quite NORMAL to be interested in the charming details of lives of people we know at least superficially. PEOPLE are
infinitely fascinating to other people. That is why TV soap operas are so popular, indeed why Ann Landers is so popular.

Is it not the jealous " jackass " in us that is infuriated with the good luck -deserved or undeserved - of other people ?

Their good luck is just a brief moment in time. One Christmas season will arrive when that gossipy newsletter will be quite melancholy : Life happened ! Yes, Jim served as chairman of the United Fund drive. And now we could use some help ourselves -alas ! The cute kid who played the lead in the Little Theater was killed by drunk driver !

Recall the Thornton Wilder play " Our Town ". The happy present isn't always
what it seems to be . Just ask Emily who just wanted to relive her 12th birthday.

Forget Thornton Wilder. Horror writer Stephen King can imagine
other possibilities in life - since his accident !

Let us empathize with happiness as well as misery - remembering that the latter has more staying power.

Just put that interminable newsletter aside for a long rainy day. And merry Christmas -even to Uncle Scrooge !

Help is available ?

Certain individuals whom I see every day would answer YES to the following questions found in an ad on page B 11 -Dec. 12 :

Loss of interest in activities

fatigue or loss of energy

Change in sleep or appetite

inability to enjoy things

difficulty concentrating

recurrent thoughts of death

And finally : Do you feel hopeless. worthless or helpless ? You may guessed that this ad is directed at MENTALLY DEPRESSED individuals . The individuals whom I see every day are HOMELESS !

Does anybody even THINK about treating the homeless for mental depression ? " Reimbursement for expenses available " .

Really ? How many depressed homeless people have excellent health coverage ? But " Help is available " says the ad . Really ?


- - -- - - - - -
comment:
From: kali55@loa.com (kali)
    To: ar803@osfn.rhilinet.gov
    Subject: My Two cents
    Date: Mon, 13 Dec


    Hi,
    Every time I see your posts i wonder if you are the Doctor i saw for PTSD some years ago.
    I think you are.
    Besides the point. You are so right pertaining to your post about mental health.
    I am fortunate that i am not in the situation that others are pertaining to mental health. YET! My
    health is very bad and I am a harvard member as you must have seen from my own posts. I cannot find
    insurance that is affordable. So that is why I am saying not yet :)

    I feel my place is to speak out for those who just can't do it. I am committed to that. But nothing
    seems to work.

    What is it going to take and how many deaths will it take or hospitalizations will it take for the
    Government to wake up?
    I have tried to speak out. I have gone to the state house and attended the meetings by ocean State
    Funding only to feel totally abandoned by them.
    I have posted and used the radio talk shows. But people do not want to get involved.

    Someone posted on the board wondering where all the hoopla was pertaining to this health issue.
    "Where are the people he asked." I ask the same thing.
    Will i become depressed throughout all of this? Well I don't know. According to my Dr. I am already.
    I went to him because of a domestic problem and he said i was depressed. You really have to know me
    to visualize this. I am full of laughter and take each day as it is and live it to it's fullest. as
    best i can. i am a cancer survivor and my sense of humor faith kept me alive.

    When I left his office with pills in hand ( samples) I said hey wait a minute. I am not the one who
    created this problem and I refuse to take meds for depression for someone else's actions. I did
    nothing wrong other than to go and seek a solution and to report a situation to my Dr. Pills went in
    the basket and my smile came back. So I really don't think I will. I will be scared more than
    anything because of everything that is going on.
    Three brain tumors, seizure disorder, bone tumor, six herniated discs, cancer, hyperbaric chamber
    decisions two pulled ligaments in my knees and two cysts on my kidney.

    To live with what I have to isn't easy but i do it and I do it with as much happiness in my life as
    I can create.

    If I do become depressed I will head right on down to the campus and see Dr. Fitzhugh. He is the one
    who told me never to stop using my mouth and that if it was one of his relatives in the ER needing
    an advocate he would hope that it was me. Dam if i will ever learn to keep it shut. I get in such
    trouble for speaking my mind.


    Looking forward to your posts each day. Thanks for your input.
    You have a great day
    kali
    Maureen Tanguay

Homeless and RIPTA schedules

I just read about the homeless (nameless, luckless, friendless, hopeless, jobless, witless .. penniless ,etc. ) killed by TWO cars on the corner of Pontiac and Howard Avenues in Cranston.

The last time I checked the Pontiac-Reservoir, I was shocked to see that no buses were scheduled after 7:00 am. How does homeless man get to Eleanor Slater shelter on a freezing cold night ? Not even the homeless go to bed at 7:00 !

In general the RIPTA bus schedules are contemptuous of the needs of working people and the poor. Buses should be running up main streets of Rhode Island major cities until just past midnight.

There is no way for a bus rider to get back to Warwick after 7:30 pm .

I have a theory why nothing much is really done about homelessness: They serve as scarecrows for the ruling class - see where slacking off will get you ! A stern warning to a nation of drudges .

Non-plagiarism = thought-crime

How stultifying our speeches would sound if tyrannized by the half-cracked idea of " intellectual property ". Every phrase and sentence - indeed every THOUGHT - has its lawful owner.

After reading John Schulz pathetic self-condemnation yes, even UNINTENTIONAL plagiarism must be punished - I'm inclined to conclude that " property is theft " even when it consists of a clutter of words .

Schulz reminds me of a pathetic character named Parsons in George Orwell's " 1984 ". Fanatically devoted to " Big Brother " he nevertheless said something disloyal " in my sleep " - and his little daughter reported this to the authorities. " Thoughtcrime is a dreadful thing ,old man ", he warns Winston Smith.

" You don't think the Party would arrest an innocent man, do you ? "

Stealing intellectual property with the purpose of " selling " it yourself is clearly unethical. When challenged or questioned, a writer should reveal his sources.

Most of the " opinions " for sale nowadays are hardly worth a nickel ! One gets cheap and good opinions in bar rooms and on the Internet - the equivalent of an intellectual flea-market.

But most academic writers are still anal-retentives .My own opinions on things are absolutely FREE. I represent the FUTURE of " intellectual property " !

Splish Splash I was taking a bath ...!

A school science experiment -" Dipping into science " (Projo Dec.6 , C1 West Bay) .The picture shows Nicole Boucher immersed in a tub of water. A little too C-O-L-D Nicole ?

The story does not mention that the Rocky Hill school demonstration was a repeat of the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes famous experiment: Was the King of Syracuse cheated by a goldsmith ? Was the royal crown a fraud ? While in the tub ( Splish, Splash, I was taking a bath ! ) he had a " eureka " idea - the volume of the water he displaced in the tub was equal to the volume of his body - an irregular shape like the king's crown . It was then a simple matter to compare the volume of the crown with its weight - volume divided by weight equals DENSITY.

Yes, the crown was a fraud and the goldsmith's head - we assume - was lost to science !

Just this criticism : Why the extravaganza to demonstrate a rather simple concept ? The main problem was to determine the volume of an irregular body - a rock would have sufficed !

The students could learn a lesson in CONCENTRATION from old Archimedes : He was killed while studying a geometric figure. Bertrand Russell suspects that the Roman soldier who murdered him -against orders! - had suffered through Euclid's geometry .

- - - - - - - - -
comment:
  Ron, I love it! This is the most creative and interesting post I've seen
    for months.
    Keep up the great work. You're the second Democrat on this forum that's
    got a real brain. One question, was it a good looking girl?
    Ciao
    Guy 
- - - - - - - -
comment from Ron Marshall:
Hi Ron,
         You tickled my funny bone by using  "Splish Splash.." in your post
    on Archimedes! It proves that the happy, liberated  kid in you is
    irrepressible! I noticed that you did manage to touch some cord in Guy
    Fawkes. That alone is something close to a miracle! Even with all his
    emotional Fail Safe defenses up and that hard crust to fortify them, I
    think something genuinely free & ALIVE flew in under his radar. A song
    like Splash Splish could  easily strike a vibrant cord in him., since he
    could very well associate it with a more carefree younger "happy days."
    I think something of the truth you spoke about in our chat, about
    finding a world outside ourselves and feeling liberated, is so
    compelling that not even a staid and crusty conservative like GF can
    escape it. He may still be responding in a self-referential way, but he
    was able to get outside himself also and acknowledge that you'd done
    something "fantastic." And yes, he learned even a poor dumb Democrat can
    have a brain!
 

Liberate Providence Place Mall !

This headline caught my attention yesterday : " Mall employees want to put brakes on new parking fees ".

Most of those new employees at Providence Place mall - capitalism's latest gift to Rhode Island - are wretched wage slaves. And they must pay $1000 a year just to park there ! Of course many of the mall workers would be eager to sign a petition against this outrage. But property rights, it seems ,have precedence over HUMAN RIGHTS : "No solicitation on mall property ".

This reminds me of my 60s high school days. " None of my students can protest the war. Go to the vice-principal's office and here is a PINK SLIP for you ! "

I say UNIONIZE every employee at Providence Place. I recommend the new and nasty Teamsters Union . Organized workers can shut down the whole damm place for Christmas !

On a more moderate note : RIPTA is failing to meet the needs of blue collar Rhode Islanders. Better bus service would ameliorate the parking problem at the Providence Place mall.

- - - - - - -
comment from Dave Brusat:

 Ron - Your last point tends to destroy your first point. That is,
    nobody is forced to drive to PP to work. Everybody can take the bus,
    even if they must drive to the bus stop (RIPTA has strategically placed
    park & ride centers where parking is, I believe, free). Granted, RIPTA
    isn't what it ought to be (we editorialize frequently for its upgrade).
    But it is enough to do that job, anyway. If PP were in the burbs, it
    would probably not be, since burb-to-burb connections are too rough to
    inflict on a worker as a necessity. But then if PP were in the burbs, it
    would have free parking and wouldn't need to charge because it would be
    in a former corn field or something. Oh well. - Dave 

- - - - - - -
Ron's response to comment from Dave:

Dave, a huge traffic jam might shut down the Providence Place Mall - before the Son of Jimmy. But as for buses, How could I get back to Warwick  after 7:30 ?  Bus service for 2nd shift workers is nothing less than contemptuous. BUT I still appreciate the service I do get from RIPTA .
Thanks -Ron

 NOTE : In architecture I myself am nothing less than an incorrigible reactionary - and you seem a cut above your critics here.

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

Ron - You have a strong point, possibly, about the night shift. Are
    there indeed buses they can take, or not? Very possibly there are not,
    in which case I would argue that Commonwealth Development should dip
    into the sum they said they'd give and offer them parking at the rate
    they'd have to pay to ride RIPTA - $2.50 a day, $12.50 a week x 50 weeks
    is, omigod!, $725 a year, or not all that much less than the mall's
    already charging ($80 per month, or $960 per year). Living downtown
    seems to look better and better, yes? Years ago, in a 1992 column
    headlined "Postcard from Providence, 1997," I suggested that the mall
    offer employees some sort of monetary incentive to live downtown so as
    to reduce the amount of employee parking it would need to provide - so
    as to increase the amount of customer parking available. I still think
    they should do that. Maybe I'll mention it again. Only one problem -
    partly because of the mayor's apparent disinterest, there's almost no
    place downtown for them to live!!
        - Dave

Homeless factor in Worcester fire

It was shocking to read on the front page of my paper this morning: "6 firefighters feared dead in Worcester warehouse blaze ".

How sad for the families - no " Pop " for Christmas ! No more Pop - never more !

One evil is connected to another here : homeless people " built fires there to keep warm ". Was THAT abandoned -God forsaken ! - warehouse their choice for a merrier Christmas ?

Perhaps it should be a CRIME to be homeless ? But the " criminal "here is an indifferent society. It could decree an end to homelessness in two weeks . ORDER local landlords to charge rents commensurate with the minimum wage or weekly welfare checks ( and don't pretend that the homeless are employable while still homeless ! )

Who would hire ANYBODY who even LOOKS homeless - as if he or she sleeps in abandoned warehouses ? If it proves impossible to establish rent control, then guarantee an adequate income to EVERYBODY in the country - adequate at least for the purpose of survival with simple human dignity.

Stop singing the praises of CAPITALISM in the midst of this abomination - human beings with no place to live - and scorned by the comfortable - God's chosen people ?

Sleepless in Seattle ? Blame THEM !

The popular American novelist, Taylor Caldwell, wrote a fascinating novel in 1974 that was made into a TV series: " The Captains and the Kings ".

The theme was that our world is ruled and controlled by a ruthless, very self-aware elite. Were THEY behind the Kennedy assasination in November 1963 ? Old Joe had warned his son Jack about " those bastards " .

The " moronic " and " anarchist " demonstrators in Seattle were in fact protesting against " The Captains and the Kings "

From the Taylor Caldwell book : " To be effective we must direct our attacks on the real criminals, the wealthy, and powerful and SECRET elite of all the world ... the conspirators laboring day and night to enslave us " .

Just today President Clinton got the ominous cold shoulder from this sinister bunch when he meekly - still breathing tear gas - protested their SECRECY !

" Old Joe Kennedy was right", he must be thinking ." They ARE bastards ! "

AIDS cure - a definite priority

Because foolish people associate the horrible disease AIDS with sexual promiscuity -especially homosexual promiscuity - there may be a perverse unconscious resistance to treating it and finding a cure.

Other diseases are just as horrible. My father just died of of cancer after " living " with it for a dozen years. But a decade after the Sexual Revolution - in which millions of people at least began to feel sexually liberated, free from Dark Age superstitions, open to sensual joy- we were afflicted with this plague - and LIFE itself began to be associated with DEATH !

What a blessing to the reactionary mentality ! In George Orwell's nightmare novel " 1984 " he shows how an absolute tyranny relies on sexual repression to keep the population docile. When a vitalizing activity is prohibited,it is a lot easier for Big Brother to maintain war hysteria.

When your wife or girl friend or boy friend is sexually frigid, the " Two Minutes Hate " rallies have more appeal !

If an AIDS cure is not found within a decade , mankind will enter a joyless, ignorant, and brutal - New Dark Age.

HIV positive attitude

A story on page A3 -Nov 29 : "HIV -free man sues after test says he's ill " - shows how litigious and petty people can be. For two months James Gaunt had been " agonizing over his fate ". Then he found out that the SmithKline Beecham lab had made a mistake.

Yes, it was like getting off death row. Now Gaunt wants to sue the lab for causing him " permanent emotional injuries ".

It is true that he is going to die some day . Our lives are like drops of water going over Niagara Falls. The voyage is only as meaningful as we make it.

The experience should have made James Gaunt more thoughtful, more grateful for LIFE . Any lab can make a mistake. I believe his " permanent emotional injuries " call for nothing less than a sincere apology from SmithKline Beecham .

Our pity should be reserved for those suffering the living hell of full blown AIDS. A rational national health care plan will also accomplish this : it would end frivolous malpractice suits.

Medical professionals will not need to have very expensive insurance coverage .

How many lawyers will support " socialized medicine " ?

Unequal care for kidney patients

A little dense perhaps - The New York Times article:" Report discovers unequal care for kidney patients " ( By Denise Grady , Nov.25). " Blacks and those cared for by for profit centers less likely to receive the best treatment: a transplant operation ". (Projo, front page ) .

Let the alert reader ask this question: Is being BLACK hazardous to your health - or is it being POOR ? Almost any quack in business will think a black man's money is as good as a white man's money . Capitalism is not prejudiced against affluent GREEN !

Would a poor white on Medicare be equally endangered if he or she had a serious kidney disease ? If so , the New York Times article makes a false RACE issue here. The real issue is poverty and there are millions of poor whites too .

ALL human beings are entitled to quality medical care. We just cannot escape the necessity for a national health care plan - even if the mean-spirited Republicans call it Socialized Medicine.

CLASS - not RACE - is the fundamental issue .

Nice to see a new guy here !

The projo.com bulletin board notification of new message. See:
http://www.projo.com/twocents/get/news/991/1.html

Well, you made your point, even with a minimum of verbiage. I support the Vatican here. And I think that right now the Catholic Church is the most progressive institution on earth in its social and economic philosophy. Unlike world capitalism, it never did forget the poor, or its ancient roots as a religion of the poor and the oppressed.

If the area in dispute between the Arabs and the Jews were not "Holy Land " to both sides, these peoples could get along just fine .

The fact is that the Palestinians could find a new home ANYWHERE in those vast Arab lands. The Jews are confined to very little space. If God gave them that wretched land, He was not being over-generous to His Chosen People.

If I were a Jew, I would make New York City my "Holy Land ". A whole lot safer there !

Peace will come to Israel when their prime minister is half-Jew and half-Arab , preferably with an Arab father and a Jewish mother.

Nazis accused the Jews of being greedy lovers of gold. But then why were so many of them rebels,radicals, and communists - my Chosen People ? And it does not even matter if THEY own everything. Three Jews in a room will hardly
agree on ANYTHING - not even WHO is a Jew!

Shalom !

No hate here !

The projo.com bulletin board notification of new message. See:
http://www.projo.com/twocents/get/news/989/3.html

I believe that I can comprehend simple English. I fail to find any HATRED in this man's heart. He has a moral right to believe as he does about homosexuality. I have a more "liberal " position on gay Boy Scouts: Don't ask, don't tell! And find other matters to occupy your young minds besides sex. It really is a very interesting Universe that God has made!

Your sexual orientation is only important if you see the Boy Scouts as a happy hunting ground for homosexual seduction. Note the story about the pervert right across from the Bakst column today.

Charles Bakst is a complete phony -and an insufferable little snob. Forward him your post -and see his wretched "character " come through in any response. I've been there !

Charles Bakst - a rude little man! The only gays he likes are most likely from the privileged upper middle class -hardly OPPRESSED HOMOSEXUALS!

And he is quite the sycophant ! Always sucking up to the high and mighty in Rhode Island.

Scarlett O'Hara Inspires the Homeless

If I were hungry and homeless,I would hope that pure GUMPTION might solve my problem. Headline in today's Projo: " Beds scarce for homeless ". How long have we been reading about the HUNGRY and the HOMELESS ? And what has really
been done about this appalling misery in the midst of plenty ?

The capitalist press has turned it into a depressing BUSINESS. At least there is money to be made writing about it. The middle class readers can then thank God for their own comfort. THEY must be His Chosen People!

Recall that famous scene in " Gone with the Wind " where the heroine, Scarlett O'Hara, swears to God that she will never be hungry again :

" As God is my witness...I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over,I'll never be hungry again -no , nor any of my folks!

" If I have to LIE , CHEAT , or KILL ! As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again ". "

Great words, Scarlett ! Replace hungry with HOMELESS and we have a practical program for dealing with these enduring evils ?

For a more philosophical treatment of this topic - oppression and the class basis of morality - read Leon Trotsky's " Their Morals and Ours ".

I can almost agree with this exiled Russian revolutionary -assassinated by Stalin in Mexico in 1940 .

Congratulate China in space

Only a lunatic would want us to have an antagonistic relationship with China. Two billion people and now : China in Space ! " The spacecraft Shenzhou was launched yesterday " . Perhaps touching outer space will make " communist " China a more " spiritual "nation. China's civilization is so old that one day its 20th century history might seem just a nightmare aberration. The Old China must still be there -and the old Chinese Wisdom .

I enjoyed reading Lin Yutang's book " The Importance of Living " - definitely pre-revolutionary Chinese thinking. No tolerance for life loving " scamps " in China today. Lin's book is just gathering dust in American public libraries today. Are any contemporary Chinese scholars familiar with this

Chino-American scholar? I recall an old illustrated children's book : " The Five Chinese Brothers " . One of them "swallowed the sea" ! A metaphor for China's future appetite ?

Kid smoker: " I'll die anyway "

Tom Fisher is " famous" this morning ( front page, Nov. 20) for a sad reason - a memorable quote: " I'll die anyway ", the 17 year old said in defense of his cigarette addiction. " I might as well die doing what I love doing " . I'm amazed - the pleasure is that great !

With that kind of courage , he might be worthy of a more meaningful death - perhaps dying for his country in the next " good war " .

Here we see hedonism rising above the instinct to live . Not only to live but to live a life that mattered .

A kid with no sense of REALITY does not really KNOW that he is going to die the way a middle aged guy KNOWS for sure that he'll die - and soon enough : just be PATIENT you inveterate readers of obituaries !

I blame Hollywood movies for inspiring kids to smoke. Just last night I observed that every kid in the popular movie " Stand by me " based on a Stephen King story smoked . A multi-million dollar advertisement for the tobacco industry.

I thank the old " Reader's Digest " for warning me about the evils of smoking . When I was Tom Fisher's age I read " I am Joe's Lungs ". How many kids are addicted to READING ?

School Reform Hoax

Headline in Projo: " A sweeping plan for school reform " (Nov. 18) . What it all amounts to is this: " standards-based education ". Our school system must be nothing less than world class.

Kids in Denmark " in the vocational track " are still expected to know so much more than our fast track losers : algebra , foreign language, biology, chemistry ,physics , geometry , statistics and probability .

Of course we can get those " underprivileged " kids - or just challenge challenged - the kids at Central High in Providence - to meet the tough new standards - even though they can hardly meet the present standards in ANY subject.

All we needed all along was a no -nonsense bureaucrat cracking the whip: There will be pain , School Supt. Diana Lam promises. The pain will be felt by those poor kids already born with three strikes against them. Working class kids will learn that their own stupidity -not the SYSTEM - keeps them in their place.

An economic system with a bottom line demands a BOTTOM class. Twenty years from now the " sweeping plan " headline will be read with a sardonic smile - so much the rubbish of the day.

What the educational system needs -indeed what our farcical political system needs - is the RADICAL criticism of the 60s, full of passion for REAL change, REAL justice, REAL equality.

You cannot BEGIN to reform the educational system while pretending that CAPITALISM and the blind forces of the world market have given us the best of all possible worlds.

It is heartless, ruthless CAPITALISM that will make most kids multi-cultural losers - no matter how fine their education. And don't pretend that the educational system really encourages kids to THINK . Thinking is way too dangerous to be left to the non-elite , the future victims of capitalism .

Radical criticism has nothing in common with obnoxious and phony political correctness - an elite invention which serves the elite.

Men and women of all races , atheists and believers, gays and straights, the able and the handicapped , the young and the old are welcome to join the New Rebellion .

And the most subversive force in America today is still the TRUTH !

Let us NOT pray ?

Why do liberal Jewish lawyers -who vow loyalty to the Jewish State of Israel - have convulsions over school pray in the United States ?

They think that individuals here - if only a few - must " not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because of their religious views " ?

Since when must the Constitution protect our FEELINGS ? Your economic status in this capitalist society can make you FEEL like a pariah more quickly and effectively than your religious views. How many affluent, anti-school prayer lawyers are socialist at heart - feeling guilty ,not proud, about living in exclusive neighborhoods ? What about the feelings of the homeless downtown ?

It was only a few decades ago that school prayer was outlawed. I guess guys like George Washington, who established Thanksgiving, did not have a clue about the implied wisdom of their Constitution on this matter of the separation of Church and State.

I personally FEEL that those prayers before a high school football game -invoking the favor of the Almighty (who was absent during the Holocaust ) - are sub-idiotic. But I can live with this religious fervor -just as I live with fatuous capitalist advertising.

Allowing school prayer is a long way from establishing a theocracy or from persecuting citizens for religious non-conformity.

Minority rights must be protected-not their FEELINGS. Does a contemptuous anti-religious minority have a constitutional right to muzzle the religious majority ?

Bad Dunkin Donuts coffee - Cream Spoiled!

For breakfast I have a coffee to go with the Projo on the side.But the newspaper is a better deal for the money-always FRESH !

Not so the coffee. I order coffee with cream at the Dunkin Donuts -and get TOO OFTEN stale coffee with vomit ( spoiled cream ).

Does this happen to YOU ? A cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee is almost as expensive as a gallon of gasoline. The company should show more respect for us coffee
addicts.

How can the worthy help not notice bad cream ? How listless and inconsiderate can you be ?

Should this be an election year issue ? Kids should be taught that not paying attention to your job- no matter how humble or poorly paid- is frequently
unethical.

We whine and whine about our precious rights. But more and more people think that they really owe nothing to the " stranger " - not even ,and now uncommon,
common courtesy, a moment of attention.

Perhaps we are just getting the world that we deserve !


- - - - - - -  -
comments:

Ron - I was married once, and I had better coffee in the morning to be
        sure. But marriage didn't save much moneh! - Dave

       
Ronald Ruggieri wrote:

       Dave, I loathe the standardized Dunkin Donuts building. Late

at night that awful fluorescent lighting actually repels me from

the place. Always a nightmare out of the surrealistic movie " Midnight

Cowboy ".

        WGBH in Boston has just reminded me - with " Fidelio " in the

background - that today is the great Beethoven 's birthday. How

greatful I am for the little culture that is out there.  I can't

picture myself listening to "  " in a Dunkin Donuts joint.

        And by the way they are often careless about little

things like FRESH CREAM . If you're paying attention, bad cream looks

like an infant vomited in your coffee !

          Save that $ 3600 . Make your own coffee. Or get married -

that will save big bucks - I'm sure !

                         Have a perking nice  day  - Ron

Democrats pandering to gays

The projo.com bulletin board notification of new message. See:
http://www.projo.com/twocents/get/news/954.html

Read the story in the Boston Globe this morning:" Bradley,Gore step up pursuit of gay voters. " By pure hypocrisy-not commitment- Bill Bradley has surpassed Al Gore in this unprincipled business of pandering to gay agenda fanatics.

I'm convinced that most gay activists have a passion for self-indulgence and special treatment -not EQUALITY-which is just a human right. They want to make non-approval of homosexuality-which is not the same thing as mean-spirited contempt for decent,civil gays-a THOUGHT CRIME punished by the State.

It is INSANE to revise the 1964 Civil Rights Act to accommodate daffy gay activists. And read the headlines in newspapers. What a horrible place the world is becoming ! Catastrophe, tyranny, insanity, and preventable misery
everywhere !

Middle class gay activists see their cause as the center of their warped universe. What are they really after? Unrestrained sexual freedom ? Okay, that is THEIR
business. Have fun, guys ! But don't pretend that your hedonistic cause is as important as CLASS issues -like poverty, and the obscene mal-distribution of wealth in this country.

The Left has been completely corrupted by its fawning attention to arrogant-and very MIDDLE-CLASS- pampered minorities.Let political nitwits obsess forever on the issues of RACE and SEX.

Most of us will continue to worry about the rent and those nasty medical bills.

Do you hear US , Pat Buchanan ?

Math panic in girls

I just read J. Steiny's interesting column on the innovative math program at Burrillville High ( Lois Short, department chairwoman, Kristi Craig,instructor) .

I wish there were a similar program at Scituate High where my "good in English " niece ,Tara, is floundering and near panic in her traditional, mind numbing Algebra course.

I'll bet that a sensitive -female- instructor -even more than an Interactive Mathematics Program -would do more for her confidence in her own brain . A teacher who would "turn the light on " . I reminded Tara of a scene in the movie " Peggy Sue Got Married ": 42 year old Peggy Sue ( Kathy Turner ) finds herself traveling back in time. She is back in her high school Algebra class -and unprepared for a test." And what is the meaning of this, Peggy Sue ? " asks her grouchy male teacher, a guy that crushes the confidence of the math phobic.

"Believe me ", she says impudently, " I will not be needing this crap in the future. And I speak from experience ! "

Still girls like Tara should not give up on "higher " math -like elementary Algebra. They might want to know how to maximize a candy store's profits someday. So best wishes to Burrillville High's IMP .

There is a helpful book written by a woman, S. Tobias : " Math Anxiety ". A little dated but still relevant : " Why Johnny Can't Add " by Morris Kline.

Yes, female math students deserve more attention and respect. Those traditional methods of math instruction are deadly dull to them.

Health care -issue that UNITES

I applaud your editorial calling for - horror of Right Wing horrors - a national health care plan : " Time to cover everyone " ( Oct.31 ) .

Here is an issue that should UNITE the nation . We must see health care - REASONABLE health care - as a basic human right.

Nobody - not black citizens or white citizens , latino or Asian citizens - American Indians - gays that are HIV positive - should panic or suffer humiliation because of the costs of health care .

Right now half the nation has pariah status from the health industry's point of view . And let me also point out that that even those dreadful illegal aliens have a HUMAN right to medical care -at least to emergency services and to benefit from the innate kindness of the American people.

Yes, the money must come from somewhere , from somebody , perhaps from EVERYBODY . Let intelligent leaders figure all this out : A national health care plan that does not RUIN any social group.

True enough individuals can take a little more responsibity for their own health. Stop smoking, drinking to excess, over-eating junk food , exercise routinely.

Stop thinking that your car is more important than your health. Everybody knows the guy who can always come up with an extra hundred bucks every other month for his damm car. But $50 for a dental cleaning twice a year ? But I'm not covered for this !

We can do better in this matter of health care.

Buchanan on the two party system

Your editorial this morning ( Oct.27) " Buchanan leaves the fold" at least refrained from that silly Nazi smear. Buchanan's opinion that the two party system is a " snare and a delusion and a fraud on the nation " is nothing new: This was the sacred dogma of the Old Left - and even the New Left in the rebellious 60s.

Where is it written in the Constitution that we must have a two party system ? And it is quite true from a LEFT perspective that both the Democrat and Republican parties support capitalist " free enterprise " .

The horrible failure of EVERY society that boldly proclaimed itself to be Communist -and the horrific collapse of the Soviet Union - now make us take world capitalism for granted. Would the American people even think about voting for Capitalism ?

Third parties - pro or anti- capitalist - have a right to exist. And the cards should not be stacked against them. They must be allowed to succeed or fail on the basis of the political reality check - a fair election.

Who says that money must win every important election ? Often enough the right ideas will win !

My grandfather, a Providence cop in the Depression years, thought that FDR and the New Deal made all the difference in the world to the working class. He had a family of five to support in those dreadful years.

Of course there is still a difference between the Republican and the Democratic party. But neither party has a monopoly on political wisdom. And there is room for a viable third party.

To make a third party possible is Pat Buchanan's real crime - not any flirtation with Nazism .

HAIL PAT ! WE NEED YOU !

That super-rich phony Donald Trump wants to be president of the U.S. so he can better protect the interests -now supra-national- of the super rich who -like good old fashioned communists - dismiss all varities of PATRIOTISM as hopelessly parochial.

No wonder Pat - whom I cannot quite support but do admire- now recognizes the need for a third part which will at least give a voice to blue collar America- which has as much right to be angry and rebellious as our politically correct victims.

Trump lies about Populist Pat: " He's a Hitler lover, I guess he's an anti-Semite. He doesn't like the blacks, he doesn't like the gays."( Projo, page A7- Oct. 26 )

Trump has no more right to GUESS that Buchanan is a Nazi than I have to GUESS that Trump is a wife beater or a child molester. Just the facts please !

It is a FACT that Hitler gained power by understanding the soul of Germany in the hellish 1920s. Does Pat Buchanan have a profound insight into the American soul at the millennium ?

Only moralizing charlatans profess to like everybody. Do we like people just because they are Jews or blacks or latinos or gay ? No, we like INDIVIDUALS for our own idiosyncratic reasons. It helps, of course,if THEY like US !

A greedy international capitalist never saw a race or human type that he did not like to exploit or bamboozle.

HAIL PAT ! WE NEED YOU !

$200 -a big deal for a bureaucracy!

Bob, I just read your column. Of course,it makes great sense to help poor people help themselves. Who will hire you for a job if you just look like you need one ?

A paltry $200 would help the job seeker to at least look presentable. The desperate look is decidedly unattractive in the job market.

It would be wiser to spend that $200 -if granted - in the numerous second hand clothes shops - than buy 4 items at Ann & Hope or the K-Mart - CHEAP places !

An enormous bureaucratic expense is the assumption that most poor people are dishonest. Hence the mountains of paper work and the humiliating interrogation -the long delay - before the so called welfare state will give the poor guy or gal a nickel !

It would be saner to just loan ANY job seeker a paltry sum of money - which can be paid back in the near future. A valid ID - even an expired drivers license - should suffice for the necessary paper work.

Perhaps we need less supercilious bureaucrats and more COMMON SENSE in government.

POVERTY -more than RACE or SEX or SEXUAL ORIENTATION - will make you a second class citizen.

POVERTY is equal opportunity humiliation ! It says that black, white , yellow , gay or straight - you are mierda !

Babies aren't "miracles " anymore !

Happy as a pig in manure, Larry King of TV fame is a father again at age 65. His wife,Shawn, is 38- a little " tired " for the baby making years. We read in the paper that Larry is " reinventing manhood ". Here we can be sure that money and ego is a bigger factor than MACHO in procreating the race.

I'm convinced that fatherhood changes a man as profoundly as motherhood changes a woman - but alas - too often for the worse: It makes him more possessive. more greedy, more aggressive, more full of himself egotistical - and more boorish. Happy fatherhood ! In a world that has just passed the 6 billion mark !

The reckless reproduction of the human race is itself a crime against humanity. How can human dignity be preserved in an over-crowded, ecologically devastated world ?

Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby was just plain NUTS to welcome baby 6 billion into the world . " Be fruitful and multiply ! " saith the Lord.

But when will He command us to stop ?

Animal rights - FREE THE BEARS !

" Depressed bears to get herbal remedy" ( in the news) Naturally, if the " depressed" bears in the Beardsley Zoo, Connecticut, could talk, they would sound like our beloved ex-president, Ronald Reagan :

" Freedom is better!... yes, freedom is better than the abject security of a prison society. " ( ? )

Of course, Dutch himself never sounded like an animal rights fanatic. But I'll risk that here !

Abolish the zoos! We no longer need them to educate city folk about the wonders of LIFE ON EARTH. Television and film - like the National Geographic series- do a far better job.

The bears , Nikki and No Oreja, need the freedom of the wild more than St. John's wort. Good advice for humans too: Better to be free than let drugs like Prozac reconcile you to a miserable life of slavery and drudgery.

Last night I dreamed about " Skipper " - our beloved family dog,now ten years dead. He was licking me on the face- a wild " bum " of a dog till the end .

The dream was his way of sending me a message:

Free the bears ! Abolish zoos !

Thus saith the Lord !

According to Stephen Allen of Lincoln ( letter, Oct.20 ) , Leviticus is the last word on the " abomination " of homosexuality : " You shall not lie with a male as with a a woman. "

Of course, it is physically impossible to lie with a male as with a female. The gay partners must make adjustments! Does Allen also consult the Bible for prescribed sexual positions ? Is anal and oral sex as much an abomination for heterosexuals as homosexuals ?

Shall all sexual non-conformists be put to death ? Even the loathsome masturbators ? According to Marx Twain , more than a few passages in the Bible excited the masturbator. It was therefore a favorite bathroom book !

Homosexuals are obnoxious when they push their agenda, when they imagine that they can mainstream themselves, when they lobby for special privileges - like " hate crime " laws.

But their private sex life is their own business. And in fact they should spare the rest of us the sleazy details.

In many ways the Holy Bible has done more harm than

Hitler's " Mein Kampf " . Perhaps it should be banned in Israel!

Carothers - one picture = 1000 words

Why should URI President Robert Carothers have his face on a $3 bill ? Look at that picture of him and Governor Lincoln Almond and the Great Lamar Odom - Rams basketball star. ( Oct.17, page A 23 ) .

It reminds you of faithful Irish Catholics visiting the Pope! Almond is clearly awed and Carothers is about to kneel!

Can you imagine these Rhode Island big shots looking like this - worshipful - as they were introduced to the university's top woman scholar ?

And did the URI faculty have less influence than the almighty " Brothers " in running the institution ?

What about that " Five-cent Cigar " editor who was put in his place for offending the Brothers ?

Good riddance Robert Carothers !

Rev. Ahlburn will be missed

His last " sermon" on your religion page ( Oct.16) was his most brilliant : " Shouldn't religion's goal be to ditch itself? ".

Did not Lenin also say this of the State ? But human nature defeats us on all fronts. And I guess humanity is as grand its failures as in its success.

Did not Voltaire himself think : " If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him " ?

God bless you, Reverend Thomas E. Ahlburn. You must finally understand that everything is for the best in the best of all possible world. You were a pilot of a " Challenger " adventure and discovered -too late - that God was not your co-pilot.

As you plunge into the Abyss reflect on your own wisdom :" Any religion lacking an escape clause is a bad religion ".

In the End the only consolation may be a Schubert sonata.

" A 12 year old's choice " -reasonable

Only a born fanatic would want to add any more heat to the abortion issue. I found your editorial this morning " A 12 -year-old's choice " ( Oct 16 ) - reasonable. Nothing wrong about the " pro-life " religious institution HELPING a 12 year old girl HAVE her baby. The "pro-choice" crowd - let's face it ! - would help her to KILL it.

In opposing abortion the Catholic Church is only being faithful to a 2000 year old faith. But a CITIZEN of a free democratic country must have a broader perspective on abortion - simply as a CITIZEN.

This is NOT a Catholic country. Nor is it a Protestant or a Jewish country. And it most certainly is NOT an atheist country.

How to permit abortion without outraging religious sentiments ? Would it not have been better if -instead of this Roe vs,Wade mess - we had simply decriminalized abortion ? Not every SIN can become a CRIME in a secular society ?

When I was a kid in Catholic school , the Church did not seem to obsess on the evil abortion. Catholic women did not have abortions. And Catholic doctors did not perform them.

The Church was always more effective as religious force than as an arrogant political force.

And SIN would not be SIN unless we could freely choose it. " A man has a choice ", James Dean says in " East of Eden ". A woman should also have a choice - even an immoral one.

Is there no moral compromise on this abortion issue ? Or must one group be completely crushed politically ?

The trouble with " Before and After "

The eyes are the window of the soul, they say. The eyes of the woman in the ad were forty-ish -aging to be sure- but perfectly normal ( see Projo, page E 12 , Oct.15 ) .

But it was " time for a millennium makeover ! " said the ad. Above the ad an Ann Landers column screamed: " Weary wife says she's no cheerleader for husband's Viagra ".

Those " Before " eyes in the ad might have told the weary wife's tale . What tale would the " After " eyes - thank you Dr.Curtis Perry! - tell you ? Thank God for Viagra ?

The kids of the rebellious 60s denounced the Death Culture. In reality it is a denial of Death culture.

My brother just told me that our sick and dying father was visited by a priest yesterday. He received the communion host.

He wanted to TALK, I suspect. To talk about things Eternal, eschatological . Whatever is REALLY on a dying man's mind. The good priest knew better. He changed the subject to football, the New England Patriots.

Does Death make cowards of us all ?

Age Discrimination -YES !

" No one was seriously injured when an 84 year old man crashed his car into Arby's restaurant during lunchtime...( news from Maine -AP ) .

From the same page: " Traffic fatalities rising dramatically " ( New Hampshire ) .

In general there are too many automobiles on our roads. It is about time that we consider automatically invalidating a driver's license after age 65. At that age he or she will be compensated with a free lifetime bus pass.

Age discrimination is not always unjust. We draft 18 years olds - when necessary- into the military. We do not draft perfectly fit 40 year olds. And the 18 year old we draft may be no more fit to fight than a 12 year old.

In rapidly aging Rhode Island we can not risk having 100,000 senior citizens behind the wheel. The young drunks might be the lesser threat!

If you are over 65, it is time to turn in your license! But also just ONE drunk driving conviction should qualify you for the bus pass - which YOU pay for.

Let us end AUTO-cracy in America.

Dr.Francis question -guns

Sometimes I suspect that a letter's significance is inversely proportional to its length. Dr. Warren W. Francis asks this morning ( Nov. 13) : "Why should anyone other than the military or the police be allowed to own or carry a pistol ? "

I myself advocate strong gun control. But I think many people own guns not for a hobby or with criminal intent: They don't trust the established institutions of our democracy to protect them. Do they foresee some future breakdown in " law and order " - and want to be prepared ? Or do they fear Big Government crushing their "freedom " ?

Man has been described as a tool making animal. Our tool are extensions of ourselves - of our WILL. We think that it is dangerous for an aggressive, hostile man to own a gun. But psychology might suggest that the very possession of a gun alters our personality -making us more aggressive and hostile: " HAVE GUN -WILL TRAVEL " .

After a scary night, I kept a baseball bat under my bed. After a while I got rid of the bat. I did not like being " a guy with a ready baseball bat ".

For now I will repeat : " Support your local police ! "And a patriotic salute to the Pentagon. Pacifists by nature can sleep peacefully .

Gay marriage controversy

It seems true enough -even to a natural cynic - that marriage is a fundamental institution of society . If it is often a farce, it is a sacred farce - too much is at stake: children, property, the stability of the community. How wretched are the divorced! They correctly perceive that the foundation of their life has been shattered.


Look at those happy faces of newly weds in the paper on Sunday. Clearly we are dealing with a human instinct - the urge to create new life, to start another family. It takes no little faith - if not in God- then in LIFE itself to do this.


Homosexuality is NOT an abomination. Some very excellent people just happen that way. They should be accepted and even appreciated. But GAY MARRIAGE would indeed be an abomination - an abominable and detestable crime against HUMAN SOCIETY.

Gay marriage has no inherent necessity - no real tie that binds. A Gay divorce would make a mockery of real divorce. Traditional marriage is already threatened by selfishness. Gay marriage would be even more unstable. The gay prima donna is no fiction : " Why should I stay with an old fag like you , when Clarence has a beach house ! "

Forget about gay marriage! Nuts!

Minimum wage dogma

It is an article of faith among relatively prosperous blue collar workers that the minimum wage protects - even when their own skills get them an hourly wage far above the minimum.

The people we should really worry about are the absolute dregs of the economic order - the unemployable, often homeless. I believe the State does owe something to these people. How much is debatable.

But it seems obvious to me that abolishing the minimum wage can release their potential energies - for the benefit of all.

Those beggars who ask you for quarters every day can be quite useful to you . But being " employed " is invariably a bureaucratic mess. Imagine if our regular class of beggars improve their life in just a few weeks by doing " menial " chores for ANYBODY that needs help. If the nature of the work is undemanding, and the beggar finds it agreeable - where is the exploitation here ?


Is it not more dignified to have $25 in your pockets at the end of the day - EARNED INCOME - than a lot less money obtained by abject begging ?

We can abolish the " underclass " overnight - if we just allow them to be useful. There are numerous petty tasks that wast the average worker's and the small business man's time. Our despised " bums " can come to the rescue here.

If I were homeless and broke, I would still rather " work " than beg. Is it moral to let human beings just rot uselessly - when we can give them a measure of dignity ?


It is a myth that the big unions care about the poorest of the poor. They just feel threatened by the " lumpen "- to use Marxist terminology.

It would be nice to see more " bums " downtown who are really coming up in the world. Perhaps one might loan me a quarter - for a phone call, of course !

Boris Yeltsin and over-population

Russian leader Boris Yeltsin is a sick and dying man who still controls nuclear weapons. The horror !

Today's " Issues and Ideas " ( Oct. 10 ) warns us that " 12 billion miserable human beings will suffer a difficult life on Earth ".

Of course over-population can be quickly checked by nuclear holocaust. Imagine India and Pakistan - both with nuclear weapons - with double their present population.

Modern medicine is truly both a blessing and a curse. You are still young for just a few decades but you can be old and sick and slightly crazy for 40 or 50 years - and it seems that most tyrants live to a ripe old age - with a WILL to live forever!

Will Boris Yeltsin kindly exit from the world ? Or as a question : Will he exit KINDLY from the world ? It seems to be true of Great Leaders that they are great just for a few years - a very limited period. Then they become a nuisance or a calamity.

The only practical way to deal with over-population is to make the world less young - for decades . perhaps a century. But imagine a world where most of the people look more like Boris Yeltsin than JFK - the image of eternal youth ?

There are big problems facing us in the next millennium that have no happy solutions.

I'm inclined to opt for over-population - the more the merrier - of course ! God help us !

Racetrack in Burrillville ?

Not even newspapers are above the law. But for now I can only follow the case of Fontaine vs. Projo. A conflict of interest here involving Joel P. Rawson ? To be sure, it is very convenient at times to be " connected " with 75 Fountain St. Providence ( 4th floor).

A race track in beautiful Burrillville ? How could ANYBODY there want the squalor of a race track ? Rawson did not NEED to play unfair here ! If he did, he reminds me of Nixon ? Why win big honestly when you can also win with "dirty tricks ".

But anyway " letters to editors " can get you into big trouble. But the fun is worth it!

May the smartest guy win in the trial!

Charlatans of " hate crime "

" The Rev. Robert E. Farrow,pastor of Holy Cross Church of God and Christ, described how he was subjected to racism from the moment he entered kindergarten " ( Providence Journal , Oct. 8 -B4 )

" Yes , I got into fights as a child ", he says . Is the Rev. Farrow suggesting that white kids in kindergarten are already hardened racists, eager to experience their first lynching ?

As a matter of fact, when white teachers talk candidly about their black pupils, they often mention the belligerence of these kids- which they attribute to dysfunctional families.

The Projo article focused on the evils of " hate crime ". But little kids do not need to be taught ANYTHING about racism , sexism, or homophobia. Just teach them the Ten Commandments ( even budding atheists should go along with the program ! ) . And they'll turn out to be nice and decent in their relationships with other kids. And they'll not fill our prisons !

Teach them the ancient wisdom - not political correctness. And they'll not grow up to be fools - or worse fools with an agenda.

A chance for higher education

The young black woman at the bus stop had a pleasant smile, I thought. She pointed to a rather drab looking caterpillar on the pathway of the bus. "A sure loser ! " I thought.

I tore off a piece of the Providence Journal. The caterpillar crawled over it. I left the creature on the grass, a safe distance from the road.

" Now it has a chance to become a butterfly, " I said.

" Yea", said the black girl, " then it can fly over the road! ".

This scene was at the Lincoln campus of the Community College of Rhode Island.

Out of Africa !

Check out the front page of Projo's " Lifebeat " today ( Oct.7 ). If you have been contaminated by the esthetic values of Western Civilization - if you have strong opinions on Beauty and Ugliness- you will be appalled by the young white male with a ring in his nose exhibiting in a homo-narcissistic manner the latest hot fad - the body brand:

" Tribal designs...are among the branded items."

"Jesse Jackson and Michael Jordan have brands, as did Martin Luther King Jr. "

Branding , the article says, is connected with the "Modern Primitive Movement ". An enthusiastic ( and politically correct) college professor, Daniel Wojcik, sees this as a New Age way of "celebrating other cultures ".

The good professor sees this as a definite " culture change "- not a passing fad.

I -an " angry white male " - find it frightening. The searing flesh fills the shop with the stench of HELL, the stench of the DAMNED .

Truly Africa is still the " Heart of Darkness " !

A young white male with a ring in his nose -and BRANDED LIKE A SLAVE - is making a political statement: To hell with Western Civilization !

I expect this kid to call me a " mother f****r ".

U.S.A Communist Party Racism

A student of American politics should know that THEY are back ! The American ( read un-American) Communist Party is still around, still an enemy of freedom, of free speech, free thought, still a major force for disruption in our society.
To be sure Communism without Moscow is like Catholicism without Rome. But the faithful true believers persist -and are determined to prevail.

Their newspaper here - often not sold, just left around in public places - is the " People's Weekly World ". The backbone of the communist organization
seems to be bitter "Third World " individuals and a motley bunch of psychopaths and paranoid losers.

Phony liberals will not even admit that such degenerate leftist organizations -at one time true parties of " the masses " -are now " political
correctness " pressure groups. Despite their silly revolutionary rhetoric they invariably find some liberal Democrats to support.

Here is a wiff of the " People's Weekly World " ( October 2, under " People's Culture " ) :

"The capitalist class does not know that smart genes are now found, almost exclusively, inside the bodies of communists and leftists... The proof of this can be seen in the fact that they joined the Communist Party in the first place. "

Karl Marx explained, says commie writer Mike Quinn, that the capitalist class is that "unfortunate class born with dumb genes... They're so dumb they'll probably think we've abandoned the class struggle. "


Perhaps old Joe McCarthy was not so wrong about " witch hunting" for these jerks. They cannot even get Marx right. He never thought the "ruling class " was dumb or that pathological class hatred ( a phenomenon of Stalinism ) would make the world a better place to live.

Be warned that the far Left is still a potent force for totalitarianism in the troubled world. And yes, it can happen here !

Note: Last week's " People's Weekly World " identified presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan as a "neo- Nazi ". But just months ago the commie rag suggested that the Yugoslavian tyrant, Slobodan Milosovic, was just a poor misunderstood socialist. I guess his policy in Kosovo was to rid the area of " dumb genes ". And NATO - the tool of U.S. imperialism - wanted to pick on him !

Retire Charles Bakst !

Your political hack columnist M. Charles Bakst is now an insufferable phony. His brain is too intoxicated from daily contact with the high and mighty to think objectively.

He is the classic example of the LIBERAL SNOB. I'll bet he would not even say " hello" to the blacks, hispanics, gays that he sees every day in downtown Providence - unless they were certified big shots.

If you are a big shot in Little Rhody, he will kiss your ass - on the left cheek or the right cheek - whichever you find more titillating .

This morning he congratulates Congressman Patrick Kennedy for publishing his so-called " hate mail ". What a phony Profile in Courage !

Do people who disagree with Bakst and Kennedy have no convictions , no " strong views on human dignity " ? Are Kennedy's own white constituents mostly vile bigots ?

In a column written the day after the grand opening of the Providence Place mall, M. Charles tells Projo about some fat-cat labor leader who " grabbed him " - affectionately of course. No columnist with real integrity would let any corrupt big shot - labor leader or capitalist - grab him. It looks like you're UP FOR GRABS !

I have heard from very reliable sources that M. Charles Bakst was something less than a " friend of labor " in an ugly strike at the Providence Journal a few years ago. M. Charles was found cringing in the back of a Providence Journal delivery truck - a company scab ! He betrayed his striking colleagues.

Perfectly decent people find themselves opposed in a strike. But it is hard to associate old fashioned liberalism with a slovenly and obnoxious scab !

M. Charles Bakst should retire !

Unhateful " Hate Mail " - Kennedy

I have just read excerpts from Patrick Kennedy's " Hate Mail " and fail to find the HATE in it ! I like Patrick. I vote Democrat - usually. And rarely is RACE a hot issue with me.

I'm inclined to agree with Nicholas Graham , the spokesman for U.S. Senator John H. Chafee. Pat is the protector of the Third World people here from HIS maniacal white constituents.

RACISM is now a buzz word. If a white person has nothing very flattering to say about the new immigrants - or just sees a PROBLEM here - he is one step away from the Nazi Party or the KKK.

I do recommend that voters SIGN their mail communications -take responsibility for it. It is clear to me that quite innocuous white people are afraid to talk. The Liberal bullies will get them!

On many other issues Patrick is OKAY with me .

The white masses - just " bigots "?

The white people of Boston are probably typical of whites in other big cities - like Providence, R.I.

According to the Boston Globe ( Metro Region ,B1 -Oct. 2 ) : "Nearly half of white Bostonians surveyed said that Blacks and Hispanics are less intelligent than whites... "

Are these white just stupid bigots who just don't get it ... or is this view of minorities simply based on their everyday experience with them ? Should they deny this experience to placate Liberal Values ?

Riding the bus everyday in Rhode Island is a crash course in practical sociology . Not a few of the Blacks and Hispanics I encounter on the bus - and they are hardly minorities here anymore - are fit subjects for H.P. Lovecraft , the famous horror writer who himself stands accused of racism by honest biographers.

I am just trying to understand this , not make a bad situation worse. I read that Al Gore has declared the next 10 years the decade of the Latino. And Bill Gates's has a established a billion dollar scholarship fund - POOR WHITES NEED NOT APPLY - for all these born scholars !

Do all those whites in Boston ever get a chance to say what they really think about racial relations there - or even get a letter to the editor published ?

Has it become a divine mission for so called Liberals to muzzle the MAJORITY of white people.

If an angry white male told me that he wanted to just establish a dialogue with the American Nazi Party , I could at least understand the BIGOT .

Is the TRUTH subversive to public order ?

" Hate Crime" nonsense

This pseudo-liberal concept of " hate crime " will certainly create as many embarrassing problems as affirmative action. It is against the law to assault ANYBODY. A torture death is no less heinous a crime if it was done for perverse amusement ( " Sorry, nothing personal " )


Let criminals be tried for their deeds -not their thoughts. Recall the idea of " thought crime " in George Orwell's nightmare novel "1984 ".

I think the legal system should leave the human soul alone. It should be free to hate if that is its nature. Imagine finding yourself -if you are branded " homophobic " or " racist " - in a politically correct " Ministry of Love " where your sick brain will be re-conditioned to love all gay people or all minorities or just Bill and Hillary Clinton.


For any lover of FREEDOM -left wing or right wing - this violation of the human soul would be judged an abominable and detestable crime against nature.

And how many murders are NOT hate crimes ? It is invidious to give even vulnerable groups the special protection of the law.

I recall witnessing a cranky old man almost daring some young punk to strike him... because he was a " senior citizen ", you see.

Picture an obnoxious " in your face " gay person behaving the same way. Would that not make him even more loathsome to his would be attacker ?

When a hot blooded gay man molests a little boy - with whom he is always " affectionate " - is that a " love crime " ? Yet, he will still have to be protected against a " hate crime " - the dumb mob's revenge .


Let us just insist that the legal system ENFORCE THE LAW - and forget about this "hate crime" nonsense. A hateful crime cannot be made more hateful by calling it a "hate crime".

First Amendment does not banish decency !

What I fear about this sacrilegious art controversy in New York is that it will hurt public funding of the arts . I understand that art-even great art - is often irreverent and downright subversive. And freedom is the breath of life for it.

The Brooklyn Museum of Art should not be deprived of $7 million in funding for a PR gaff - insulting the " image " of the Queen of Heaven, the Virgin Mary .

We are living in decadent times, I agree. Why did Mary, the mother of Christ, inspire such great art for centuries ... and now THIS - a truly obscene work of art.

Is Satan more than an imaginary presence in this world? Even hardened skeptics must sometime wonder.

Can't common sense settle this matter - without a victory for censorship or a triumph for Satanic disrespect ?

We do not outlaw pornography - just assign it a sleazy corner in the big city. You cannot by pure accident find yourself watching " Deep Throat " upstairs at the Expo.

And don't forget your sunglasses !

I admire Patrick Buchanan's guts !

Judge a man by his enemies ? The American Communist Party thinks presidential candidate, Patrick Buchanan , is a neo- Nazi. But if anyone deserves the prize for anti-Americanism , it is their very own leader, Gus Hall - who long ago should have registered as an agent of a foreign power.

Today the American Communist Party clearly believes more in the politics of RACE than it does in the old fashioned CLASS politics.

It has nothing to say to the millions of white blue collar workers - who might not approve of affirmative action programs- except that they are hopeless reactionaries condemned to the junkyard of History.

For a whole generation now the stock in trade of the Left has been angry blacks, sullen hispanics, the rabid Third World Crowd.

Indeed the Left has a vested interest in the very social evils which obsess it: RACISM, SEXISM, HOMOPHOBIA.

The decadent Left does not see Bill Gates's billion dollar scholarship largesse - POOR WHITES NEED NOT APPLY - as a mockery of the American ideal of fairness, as downright un-American. I hope feisty Pat Buchanan sees an issue - and an opportunity- here. It could take him all the way to the White House !

And Buchanan is no more of a Nazi than good old Joe Kennedy, the grandfather of Congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.

Not the sorry plight of the Jews , but Pearl Harbor, finally made this country hysterically pro-war by late 1941.

I like politicians with an edge , even when the phony Lovers of Everybody denounce them as " hate mongers ".

Like greed, a little hate might be a good thing. It is a driving force in life - makes us all the more human.


Recall the movie " Wall Street " where the villain, Gordon Getko declares : " greed is good !" In the Reagan era those words -to many - sounded downright liberating.

Now I won't even suggest that " hate is good !". But often enough hate is liberating.

Love and hate are the salt and pepper of life. (then again Lenin said of Stalin: " From this cook we will only get peppery dishes !" )

Brooks Pharmacy in the cheating game?

"Behind every great fortune there is a crime!" they say.

Behind the wealth of the Brooks Pharmacies here there may be thousands of petty crimes. My experience convinces me that the Brooks are crooks.

Last night I caught them cheating me big time. When I showed the receipt to manager ( " This is the price on the bottle...and this the price on the receipt ... you going to cheat everybody else too ? " ) - she was pissed at ME. How is that for class ?

How many of their customers would catch these " errors " - which ALWAYS favor the company ? But I was alert last night. I brought a half a dozen items to the check out counter estimating the cost to be no more than $15.00 . But instead it was more than $20.00 !

I spotted the rip off item right away. It promised to give me "a more positive mood ". But all I wanted was my money back !

"A more positive mood " can wait. I prefer to nasty and pissed off at companies like Brooks Pharmacy. ( to be nasty )

Harold Nicholson - property vs. people

In our materialistic society, property values routinely undermine purely human values - and common decency. A sickly 59 year old Warwick man -living on $568
in SSI payments ( monthly ) - is SENT TO JAIL for not painting his house - there goes the neighborhood ! - after being warned by the inspector.

OK the law must not be mocked. But too often the judge if not the majestic LAW - is an ass !

Did any of those oh so friendly Warwick neighbors give a thought to HELPING Harold Nicholson of Abbott Avenue ? Or did they just follow the precept : " Drop a dime on thy neighbor! "

God forbid that property values in the neighborhood decline by .01 percent.

I note that this very sick man must pay car insurance every month. The city of Warwick should make it possible for more of its residents to dispense with their cars, especially people like Harold Nicholson, the sick and the elderly.

In Warwick you can not catch a bus to the capital city of Providence after the early evening hours. This is a ridiculous RIPTA bus schedule.

Would it not be better for Nicholson to be able to get around on a $35 monthly RIPTA bus pass ?

Would it not be better for THOUSANDS of Rhode Islanders? Then they can afford to paint their houses.

Of course it escaped the attention of our legal system - of Judge Joel Gerstenblatt! - that the poor and sickly Harold Nicholson might be DEPRESSED. A major symptom of mental depression is lack of volition, an inability to get things done.

Where would we all be - if we depended on the KINDNESS OF STRANGERS ?

Editorial right about the Rev. Sharp -tongue !

Racial unity with the Rev. Al Sharpton? How about class harmony with Karl Marx ?

This sentence in your Sunday Journal editorial ( Sept.26 ) should be in bold words : "NO ONE HAS DONE MORE TO ACCELERATE RACIAL TENSIONS ... or PROMOTE OUTRAGEOUS RACIAL UNTRUTHS IN NEW YORK THAN THE REV. AL SHARPTON "

As a matter of fact the so called Left in this country has abandoned the politics of generic CLASS for the less civilized and demagogic politics of RACE & GENDER & SEXUAL ORIENTATION .

Check out the leftist publications like "The Militant" and "The People's Weekly World ". See how completely they are oriented toward the rabid politics of race and sex. In my opinion this has ruined the Left as a respectable - and formidable - political influence in our still democratic society.


The politically correct crowd has nothing to teach this nation about the fine points of democracy.

One way to improve racial relations in this country is to stop babbling about it every minute of the day.

The fundamental realities of life -as Freud said - are WORK and LOVE - not race and sex . Nobody will ever love you for your race, sex, or sexual orientation . They might love you if you are a useful member of society and obey the law .

What is lovable about egocentric agendas ?

How Russia can be saved

Does it take a profound historian to see the similarities between the chaotic, desperate Russia today and the nightmarish Germany of the 1920s ?

The great Russian spirit will not sink into pitiful, abject nothingness. Great world powers do not just fade away. They will first unleash all the powers of hell, of the damned.

Clearly the vast majority of Russian people will not accept any more misery for the sake of a very undemocratic - and lawless-capitalism.

Horror of horrors, Russia - in order to save itself - will have to repete the 1917 experience. All the country's wealth and means of production must be ceased from the present robber barons by a ruthless, unapologetic " totalitarian " government.

All this, not in the spirit of the now ludicrous " Communist Manifesto " - but simply for national salvation.

Gradually - year by year - the new system, a benign fascism, can transform itself into a meritocracy. The talented but honest managers will be permitted to become fettered capitalists; the skilled workers will get more pay than the unskilled; the industrious will be better off than the lazy ( as they are everywhere !) .

Almost every rich thug in present day Russia must have been connected to old corrupt Stalinist bureaucracy. In other words they were once - irony of ironies - GOOD COMMUNISTS !

Let the old gang tremble !

Ban smoking at Bus Stops !

I wish they would ban smoking at big city bus stops. Just as if I were in a public building , I am confined -for up to a half hour! - in the " toxic " area of the smokers.

And what PIGS they are, these smokers. What a mess they make of our city - the butt bums !

Headline : " Suit seeks billions from tobacco industry ". The butt bums also never gave a damm about anybody either. I have nothing but contempt for the sick and dying nicotine addicts who now want big bucks from the tobacco industry.


Like alcohol addiction, nicotine addiction is really just a character disorder. You can quit if you want to. You simply must value something else in life more - like good health, a sound mind in a sound body.

I never expected the tobacco industry to educate me about their product. In high school- in the dear 1950s - I read a " Reader's Digest "article : " I am Joe's Lungs ". And I have never smoked . Of course the snobby teachers frowned on the "Reader's Digest". It was a wonderful magazine to read in study hall .

From the mouth of babes! (Steve's daughter Tara's essay shared with "Uncle Ron" and Ronnie Marshall)

Hi Ron & Ronnie,

I'm feeling better today- back to the grind tomorrow. I thought you both would find my daughter Tara's high school essay on "Darwin vs.Creationists" interesting.

-----------------------------------------------
"Mommy, where do people come from?"

So you’ve just explained the whole sex thing to your four-year-old as
diplomatically as possible, resolving not to give them any of the birds
and bees crap you were force fed as an impressionable toddler. Now she
wants to know how the human race evolved (damn kids are so smart these
days.) Do you go with ‘Adam and Eve’ or ‘Darwin's Theory of Evolution’? Good question. I’m going to answer that for you.....

Chances are that both will sound like a fairy tale to a small child.
"One upon a time, there were two people, Adam and Eve, and Adam ate the
forbidden fruit. See honey, he’s selfish, just like your father." Or
the alternative.... "Honey I know I told you our ancient ancestors were
apes, but you can stop calling the gorilla at the zoo Great-Grandpa
Freddy, people are starting to stare." Its hard to explain the
Evolution Theory to a child when they have already heard of Adam and Eve
at church. However, like many people, they will probably be willing to
believe both. That’s a problem for me; when thinking about that stuff
too much I start to turn a little atheist, and I would rather not. The
concept of spirituality is appealing; in a world full of chaos its a
good crutch to have (in moderation.) Exploring both the scientific and
spiritual approaches to evolution can be beneficial in trying to make
sense of it all.

First off, Darwin wasn’t the first person to theorize evolution. As
early as 1744, Jean Baptiste Lamarck developed the theory of inherited
acquired traits. He adhered to his belief that a change in the
environment causes the physical needs of organisms living in the
environment to mutate. For example, an unneeded organ would shrink and
finally disappear over time. He also believed that they would develop
new organs when needed. This is the 1st law in his book Philosophy
Zoologique. Originally, Darwin tried to refute Lamarck’s 2nd law, in
which he states that changes are heritable, but later he admitted they
were significant in evolution.

Which brings us to Darwin. His ingenious theory means nothing without
evidence, and there is a significant amount of it. Is there any
evidence of the Biblical theory? No, not really. Is the Shroud of Turin
authentic, historical evidence? My father, who recently saw it when he
went to Italy said that it "left me feeling cold", while in the
self-portrait of Leonardo DaVinci he "saw the divine." No doubt the
shroud did belong to someone, but Jesus? I think not. The negative
image of the face etched in blood-- a miracle? No, science. There is,
in fact, a scientific explanation for essentially everything-- science
is the only true "miracle" I have seen thus far.

Darwin's theory which consists largely of the survival of the fittest is
fascinating to study. If an animal is not equipped to live in its
environment, it dies off and leaves behind various states of its
mutations. The dinosaurs are gone, but we have a smaller more efficient
model- the lizard, kimono dragons, etc.
Its like everything in life.

Think of your first computer. The big clunky black and white piece of
junk that could barely do spell check. Now think of the computer you
have now. Slim, sleek, Macintosh laptop- plays CD’s, goes online and
connects you to a vast pool of information. Between your old black and
white Mac and your new color portable laptop, there were several other
models. The clunky box didn’t become the laptop overnight. In between,
there was a primitive color model with a CD-ROM that hooked up
separately and new programs that are now taken for granted like Adobe
Photoshop.

When you look at the evolutionary tree, you see dinosaurs, lizards, and
the various states in between. Computers— same thing.
(Oh yeah, except computers are smarter, ha. ha.)


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

( Tara, I am very proud of you - your ability to think straight and then express in writing what you think. This idea of evolution is one of the great ideas you will encounter in life. I would like to send you some essays of the late popular science writer Isaac Asimov on the Evolution Vs. Creationism controversy.

I made a reference to the creationists in a letter to the Providence Journal which was published Monday. ( " A Strange Place for the Reverend Ahlburn " ) .

Note: Lamarck was mistaken in thinking that " acquired characteristics " can be inherited.

LEARN all you can with your young mind. Adults get stupid and stale with Marriage & Family responsibilities - not ALL of them of course. Your parents are the exception.

A good thing that " Don Rogers " is now just your aloof dear Grandpa. " What holds the world up ? What hold its up ? ", he asks in a drunken Sunday afternoon babble.

Why Atlas - of course !

Take care, honey.

Uncle Ron

Muzzled on the Projo Web Site ?

I have posted very many messages at " Your Two Cents " - a service of the Providence Journal Web Site. Not being an obsessive type, I comment freely on many issues - often from a liberal point of view. The newspaper is -within the usual limits - a friend of free speech, a friend of THE TRUTH .

Yesterday I wanted to put my two cents in on the Bill Gates Billion dollar scholarship fund - which I consider invidious as it excludes poor white kids, now a forgotten minority.


I said that future educational opportunities would be decided by DNA - not SAT . How would they decide who is black enough or red enough or latino enough to qualify for Bill Gates's mischievous largesse, I wondered .


I said that the silence of the press on the right-mindedness of this billion dollar scholarship was deafening.

Well, guess what ? My post did not last one hour on " Your Two Cents". It mysteriously disappeared before anybody had a chance to comment on it.


Although it was titled " The New Niggers " ( quotation marks included ), it was no more racist than Mark Twain's Huck Finn. Indeed it was an argument against racism - the preferential treatment of vociferous minorities.


I noted that Al Gore said that the next ten years would be the " decade of the Latino ".


My post was removed by a person at the Projo with an Hispanic name ( Panciera ? ) .


Personal arrogance here or orders from Bill Gates ? I will send a copy of my post to anybody interested in judging for himself its malevolence . I must ask if the N- word is to be banned in every context in which it appears .


"The new niggers" is what poor white kids are now calling themselves. Blacks are still free to say the most vile things about us white trash .


And they applauded - with the black power salute - when that murderous maniac, O.J. Simpson, was freed.

In my post I said : " Let's see who speaks for justice now " .

Please put me in my place, dear editors .

Gates of Hell scholarship

How quick the Free Press is to react to an obvious mockery of fairness - the Bill Gates Billion scholarship fund - no white kids need apply.

Suppose a group of extremely wealthy gentlemen announced the establishment of a billion dollar White People Only Scholarship Fund. And suppose the standard of "whiteness" would be that already established by the former Third Reich.

The reaction would be immediate and angry. This group would be perceived -and rightly so - as enemies of racial harmony.


My friend Bill - a college teacher - says that so far the silence on the Gates scholarship fund is deafening.


Perhaps only the American Nazi Party will be heard on this issue. Al Gore has already told us that the next ten years will be the decade of the Latino .


The Balkanizing of America !

Bill Gates's scholarship question

My friend Don 's granddaughter is a very bright 19 year old girl. She might indeed be interested in the Bill Gates Billion scholarship. Her mother is a blond blued eyed white girl. Her father looks like Sammy Davis Jr. Does she qualify for the money ?

Does her half- Hispanic and half -white classmate qualify ? Have Asian kids been left out of Gates's largesse ?

My grandmother's mother, they say, had some American Indian blood in her. Would someone with this background be eligible -at least for a textbook grant ?

Perhaps it might be necessary to let DNA - not BATS - decide who will go to college.

Not since O.J. Simpson was freed - with one juror giving the black power salute - has the RACE problem in America been so odious!

Let's see who speaks for justice now .

I can forgive anybody who makes me laugh. What is politics in the U.S.A  nowadays but high stakes entertainment ? And sickening pandering to endless list of VICTIMS ? Gore -alas- is boring me to death already. And one HONEST conservative is worth more than hundred "compassionate" ones. Pat for president? How about a simple minded but honest communist ?

In a letter to the editor today ( Sept 18 ) Alex Hofstetter likens Hillary to that " true face of evil" - Angela Lansbury in her villain role in "The Manchurian Candidate " - a movie with a Korean War" brainwashing " plot .

I just saw the outstanding movie, " Primary Colors ", starring John Travolta as Bill Clinton ( who else ? ) . The actress who plays his wife -more so than Lansbury - perhaps is the real Hillary .

After the revelations of " Primary Colors " , I would still vote for bad boy Bill Clinton. With the condition that Ken Starr be appointed Attorney General !