Coia and " The Enemy Within " ( RFK )

            The stories circulating about big labor boss Arthur Coia

    can only refresh our memories of one James R. Hoffa , a corrupt

    Teamsters Union official. Would  corruption investigator Robert

    F. Kennedy , author of " The Enemy  Within " , ever  have given

    the likes of Coia - a big fund raiser for " pro-labor " Democrats -

    a redeeming character reference : " an impressive level of

    integrity " ?

           Our Congressman Patrick has disgraced his uncle's memory.

        It is a big myth that gangster types built our great unions

    and that Democrats are their best friends in Washington.

             Jimmy Hoffa  took over a Teamsters Union  that had been

    built by political radicals. According to the Encyclopedia

    Americana, " Trotskyists " centered in Minneapolis in the

    Depression era " realized the strategic importance of long

    distance truck drivers in a society that moves on wheels.

         ... " This group began centralizing control over motor

    freight by organizing drives throughout the Midwest. "

             Today everybody has heard of the legendary Jimmy

    Hoffa but who has  read a paragraph about Farrell Dobs ?

              This MYTH that  Corrupt Unions + Friendly Democrats

    = prosperity for the blue collar worker is more and more

    ridiculous !

                Unlike Bill Clinton , Robert Kennedy became

    more and more " radical " in later life. He most certainly

    believed that poor whites and poor blacks had a lot in

    common. And they  needed unions -but not corrupt ones headed

    By Johnny Friendlys ( see movie " On the Waterfront "

Yes indeed, success a choice

              I  am no basketball fan but I could not resist browsing

    Rick Pitino's arrogant little bestseller " Success is a Choice "

    at the Providence Public Library .

                  There is HUBRIS in the very title ! I can imagine

    George W writing a similar book with that trademark smirk on

    his face.

             Consider the vast majority of us , consider all of

    life's LOSERS.   They simply did not choose SUCCESS; FAILURE was

    so much more tempting !

              So don't feel sorry for those crummy looking people

    downtown who  might even ask you for a quarter. Don't feel

    sorry for the working poor or the unemployed. They could

    have chosen the  GOOD LIFE and SUCCESS . But instead they

    chose seedy failure.

                  Should Pitino write another book in the future,

    he should title it : " Count Your Blessings " - which suggests

    a more modest explanation for worldly success.

                 No more smirky SUCCESS books, please !

End anonymous voting ?

Just a thought in the midst of Election 2000 chaos : Must

    our vote for President and Vice-President be anonymous ? Must it

     be an unofficial SECRET when  most of us are all too eager to

    announce our choice for the nation's highest office ?

               Think about how much easier  it would be to judge

    very close elections if we could consult Chad himself, a real

    guy with the dimple - instead of staring moronically at dimpled

    chad : Did he or didn't he vote for W ?

                 Why not vote using our social security number as
    ID ?

                 Example : Ron Ruggieri - 037-32-6384 -  vote - President,

                            Ralph Nader .

          ( note : Check that SOB's tax returns for 2000 )



               This way the government can know with CERTAINTY who

    we voted for , just as it knows our yearly income !

Election chaos - MATH to the rescue

It seems to me that the very close presidential election

    - the tranquility of the UNION -  demands the  skills of professional

    mathematicians - especially those who specialize in statistics and

    error control. HIGH TECH has take a vacation in sunny Miami !

                Second Year Algebra students are introduced to the

    wonders of CHANCE & PROBABILITY , and soon learn the divine

    principle that there is ORDER in DISORDER !

              A random sample of "pregnant or dimpled chads " - viewed

    from a random error perspective might have convinced every fair

    minded and semi-bright voter in the country that we could give

    the benefit of the doubt to Bush OR Gore .

                Now we are in a real mess. One joker said via an

    e-mail to MSNBC . Let Gore  hold out for 9 months. Then the pregnant

    chads will give birth and he will take Jeb Bush's Florida by

    a landslide ! 

GOP has no monopoly on phoniness

 I'll admit the thought of the less polished Left,

    Al Sharpton & Co. , starting a circus in Miami to assure the

    People's Victory in the now hopelessly confused presidential

    race   makes me a little nervous.

               Raw democracy is not inseparable from buffoonery and

    blatant dishonesty: A left -wing newspaper - always sympathetic

    to the likes of race demagogue asks shamelessly : Could our

    Jewish brothers and sisters have possibly voted for the " notorious

    anti-Semite " Patrick Buchanan ?

            I recall Mr. Francis Mancini of the Providence Journal

    defending   Notorious Pat against the smear of anti-Semitism.

               Buchanan strikes me - a Nader fan - as an old fashioned

    Catholic conservative who - like Nader - did not get a fair hearing

    in the  election contest.

            To be sure , if you don't kiss the ass of the Zionist lobby

    you may be branded an anti- Semite.

              Look for genuine anti-Semitism in a certain well known

    Afro-American political leaders .

              The Left can achieve unification without LIES and BALONEY !

          Please no circus in  Miami . Just the facts , please !

Florida Supreme Court - wise decision

             Lately Vice-President Al Gore seems more presidential

    than George W -who seems nearly a case of arrested development.

       And the whole world is watching ! A wise ruling last night

    by the Florida Supreme Court - RESPECT the voter !

         Would Feb Bush and his gang in the Florida legislature prefer

    to shop around for new YOUR HONORS until THEY get it right ?

           By the way , don't blame me for this mess: I voted

    for Ralph Fader .

Vote for Nader= vote for W ?

Was it in a bullying tone the young voter in  Bob Kerr's

    column ( Nov. 17 ) was told by a Gore supporter : " A vote for

    Nader is a vote for Bush " ?

          Smartly she commented: " A vote for Nader is a vote for

    Nader ! "

               Now with the mess in Florida both  the ruling parties

    must be reminded of the ABCs of Democracy.

              Also the INDEPENDENT  LEFT in  our United  States is

    a joke. The  CPUSA denounced Nader - far more to the left than

    Al Gore - as a spoiler,  yes , a despicable spoiler who savored

    his sordid role !

               Let me remind the Party of its not so ancient

    history. Before Uncle Joe Stalin got around to assassinating

    Leon Trotsky in Mexico , there were the famous  Moscow Trials.

    The revolutionary Trotsky was denounced as a vile traitor

    plotting with Hitler to overthrow the Workers Paradise, the

    Soviet Union.

               The Stalinist bureaucracy - becoming quite comfortable

    and corrupt in power - could not stomach Trotsky's wild idea

    of " permanent revolution " .

             Alas it was Uncle Joe who made a pack with the German

    madman dictator, Adolph Hitler.

            What would  Eugene Debs have said about the pernicious

    habit of voting for the lesser evil, voting for the Democrat,

    no matter how remote he was from even LIBERAL ideals ?

               Is Ralph Nader the new Trotsky - the perennial

    enemy of ALL establishments ?

         God  bless - and protect- him.

Sympathy for ex-drunk Bush

Don't blame me for the street squabling. I voted for Ralph Nader.
The

 good citizens of the USA must not riot over  the difference between a
Pepsi

 and a Coke, the  REAL difference between Al Gore and   George W.

       Let's accept the Constitution for now. And that means the Electoral

 College. Both Bush and Gore come from very respectable and honorable

 American families.  Neither will lead us to the promised land, which

 for me I   guess ( according to PROJO editorial ) is the Welfare State.

         And neither will deliver us to Satan and Ruin . The show will

 go on.

          Martin Sheen - who lately reminds me of his Greg Stillson role

 in the Dead Zone, the power hungry maniac - wearing a hard hat - who

 just wants to be elected President so he can start World War 111 - has

 just smeared George W as " white knuckled drunk ".

          Please Mr. Sheen . If W has not touched the bottle in the last

 two crazy weeks, we can assume that he is definitely an EX- DRUNK.

         And W was seen KISSING a baby - not  shielding himself from

 non-fan with a baby.

            We must be more sympathetic with drunks. One said : " I

 don't wish this disease on my worst enemy  ! "


         Will  " Coke " finally get to command Air Force  One ?

Peaceful solution to election crisis

 Neither  Gore nor Bush has won the hearts and minds
    of the American voters. I refuse to get cross with the impassioned
    supporters of one or the other.

            Don't blame me for the fiasco. I voted for Ralph !

           But I suggest that we improvise the Constitution a
    little and give President Bill Clinton FOUR MORE YEARS !

              He is still a most popular President.

The topic was homework ?

Cynthia should re-read that letter a little more

    carefully. I said I was very pro-union - that includes TEACHER

    unions. However, they are protecting TOO MANY incompetents.

              Some of my best friends are teachers. But the

    main topic - a hot one lately - was excessive homework for

    very young kids. Cynthia does not hint at her own opinion

    here. TROTSKY - observed that there are NOT A FEW freaks in

    the teaching profession. A book I just read by a teacher,

    " Shut up and Let the Teacher Teach " ( Emily Sachar )

    lends weight to the Old Man's view. Emily was  a wonderful

    teacher in a hopeless situation .

            But I  regret the misunderstanding here.

The Globe's editorial nadir

" Nader 's Nadir "  ( Boston Globe editorial , Nov. 9)

    offends thousands of honorable citizens who voted for the HONORABLE

    Ralph Nader. I voted for him and I was proud to learn that my 18

    year old niece, a  bright RIC student , also voted for him .

                True, I am now PRAYING for a Gore victory in

    Florida. But I accept the democratic process. Life goes

    on !

             Winning the popular vote should give Vice President

    Al Gore the moral authority of an ancient Roman tribune.

          A Republic cannot have a king. But why not TWO

    kings -  each representing the vital - and often

    antagonistic CLASSES of the nation ?

                Do you think  we PLEBIANS will be  scorned in

    our majority ?  I would rather send Al Sharpton into

    Miami to stir up the troops.  The MAJORITY of people

    in Florida simply cannot be smug conservatives !


                 Well as Scarlett O'Hara says : " Tomorrow

    is another day ! "

An omen of bizarre election

Does the OCCULT throw light on this incredible election ?

    In the village store, I had just muttered bitter words : " There

    is not a nickel's worth of difference between the candidates,

    Carrie ! "  While at the  counter a nickel fell out of my right

    hand and landed on its  edge - stable !

           " You  would never bet on THAT !  " exclaimed the elderly

    clerk .  Heads , tails, but not THAT ! "

         A scoffer of the OCCULT , I said, a little stunned myself:

              " Tis an omen " , I guess .

Election day hassle

 A veteran voter -voting in every presidential election

    since 1972 - often voting as a registered Democrat in primaries -

    I was told by  a poll troll that I was  an " inactive " voter.

    I learned - rather late in life, I guess - that there is no

    such thing as a CITIZEN VOTER . One is registered to vote,

    even for STATE and  NATIONAL candidates,  only at point A

    in Rhode Island - and not point B even if point B is within

    walking distance of point A .

              I had lived in Warwick for a couple of years but

    never registered to vote there - not caring to vote for

    golden boy , " Linc " anyway .

           My old neighbor in Providence, Senator Bob Kells, told

    me to explain  my problem at Providence City Hall.  " Could

    I cut my losses and just vote for President and Vice President

    at the Civic Center ? "  I asked .  Some female hack from hell

    in Cianci 's City Hall showed only bureaucratic contempt for

    a guy just trying to do his civic duty - but had the nerve

    to move from point A in tiny Rhode Island to point B in tiny

    Rhode Island just weeks before  election day .

              The hassle  reaffirmed my anti- establishment mood.

    There was some possibility right to end that I would vote

    for Al Gore .

              At East Providence City Hall , I had PROOF of my

    new address -2432 Pawtucket Ave. , East Providence.

          But No I could only vote for President and Vice -President

    after signing a statement that no  court judge had found me

    mentally incompetent !

             With a vengeance, I voted for Ralph Nader !

Coggeshall's " Children of the Corn " ?

 Imagine not being AMUSED . The picture on page B1

    today ( Nov. 6 ) - and the weird story itself ( " Classroom

    program strives to give children crucial tools " ) -   would

     seem  taken right out of a Stephen King horror story : How

    about " Children of the Corn - Part 2 " ?

           Dressed in  Gothic black in the picture - paper pumpkins

    in the scene ,  Jessica Haskell ( of Salem ? ) and Susan Detwiler

    could be sent from Central Casting  - instead of the " Women's

    Resource Center," Newport .

        The two teach a class " on avoiding domestic abuse " to

    fifth grade students at Coggeshall School, Newport that is

    worthy of  Moonies  !  " After the meditation , while the

    movie soundtrack of ' The Mission " played , each child created

     a PERSONAL POWER puzzle ... "

           Why not draw a magic pentagon to protect themselves

    from abusive adults  ? What rubbish  !

          Pat Buchanan for Secretary of Education !

          ( Nader for President ! )

Losing marbles over hate crime

Just heard on National Public Radio : Young punks hurling

    marbles at peaceful Hassidic Jews may be charged with FELONY

    hate crime. RIDICULOUS ! This is where muddled "hate crime "

    legislation will take us : confusing juvenile delinquency with

    the really sinister stuff.

            Are the New Liberals losing their marbles ?  Make

    those hateful punks shine the Jews' shoes for a month.

My favorite GAY boy scout

          Opposite page 211 he appears among a dozen healthy-wholesome

    looking all-American youth . It is the year 1941 and soon most

    of those kids will personally experience World War II - will

    soon learn that  a buddy is a buddy - whatever  his idiosyncrasies.

             " Gore Vidal ( seated second from left ) with his

    Boy Scout Troop at Los Alamos Ranch School ". (  Gore Vidal , by

    Fred Kaplan  - a biography )

             Mr. Vidal , a gay man , is one of my favorite authors.

    He is hopelessly Left-wing and irreverent. He is also a relative

    of the Vice-President.

               Should gays be in the boy scouts , Gore ? " Well

    they have always been in the organization , haven't they ?

             A scout is Truthful !

           But knowing his politics , I doubt if gays in the boy

    scouts or gay marriage is hot issue with him. I can

    imagine him saying this in an interview : " I would

    prefer to talk about our scheming , undemocratic Ruling

    Class - and the horrible gap between the haves and the

    have nots ".

             Here is a gay man I would love to see in the

    White House - and not in the closet !

Ubiquitous cell phone rudeness

 While crossing the street this morning at a busy

    intersection in East Providence, I feared being hit by

    a woman driver yaking on the cell phone with the kids in

    the car. How self-important these rude people with cell

    phones seem to bumkin pedestrian bus riders like me !

            The cell phone makes you appear a general in your

    own  petty universe.

             Yesterday afternoon , I witnessed a brainless punk

     yelling at his girl friend  over a cell phone on a crowded

    bus. As I exited the bus , I exclaimed to the bus driver :

    " Cell phones should also be prohibited on the bus. "

             In the background the voice of middle class

    courtesy : " You're a LIAR ... you were suppose to meet

    me.... " .

            "  A lot of punks in Riverside ",  my neighbor

    said later.

                I remembered I had to return a call. I

    went to a pay phone near  a store. I deposited a

    quarter. No dial tone . THIS public pay phone was broken

    too. Somebody else would have to work  Joe's night

    shift. I was out of quarters for now.

              A guy who rides the bus , prefers to walk, and

    has no cell phone - and is always losing quarters in

    public pay phones - what a SMUCK !

School Lunch Menu -a killer !

You want to know why the kids are getting so fat ? Check out

    the school lunch menu in the Metro edition of today's Projo,

    Oct.31 , page C6 :

             Monday - macaroni and cheese, breakfast pastry, peanut

    butter and jelly

             Tuesday ... peanut butter and jelly , Halloween treat

             Wednesday .....peanut butter and jelly , pasta with meat

                     sauce

             Thursday ... peanut butter and fluff , ham egg and cheese

              muffin

             Friday  ... pepperoni pizza , peanut butter and jelly


         What a nightmare of junk food ! A McDonald 's - Burger King

    conspiracy ! Is there a connection between junk food and junk

       brains ?

                  I would replace  those peanut butter and jelly

    sandwiches with spinach and soybean with skim milk . The  red

    meat with sardines in water . The meat sauce with the Mayor's

    Own Marinara  Sauce .

                A happy diet will produce happy kids !