So the world needs a MOM ?

 A maudlin way to make the point : " Carefully fingering a

    string of rosary beads ... "  Professor Mark Miravalle whispered,

    " The world today is in desperate need of a mother . "

        He  and 6 million other Catholics  want to promote the Virgin

    Mary to  FIRST MOTHER of the whole world. ( see PROJO , Dec. 26,

    page A6 ) .

             In the interim  may I recommend Barbara Bush as a worthy

    candidate  of the FIRST MOTHER role ?  She might secretly believe

    that HER son , W , is indeed  DIVINE , but my heart went out to

    her when she insisted in public that HE was not stupid . Motherly

    pride is powerful stuff !

            A biography says of Barbara : "  She started volunteering

    in hospitals long before she became famous. She did the kind of

    work - even emptying bed pans - that gave her up-close experience

    with many patients .

            Barbara Bush is well known for her long campaign for

    literacy. She learned that a prisoner " got caught because he

    couldn't read the exit sign on the door of the supermarket

    he was robbing. "

           " She urged him to develop his reading skills - "

           Yes, indeed nothing  like a good mother !

        By the way, there is a correlation between sightings of

    the Virgin Mary and  a high level of illiteracy in the

    witnesses and the spectators:  " It's a Miravalle ! "

               But I have great respect for the real Madonna !

Crank atheist on " spirit of Constitution "

The town atheist in  Somerset, Gil Amancio , prates about

    public creches as a  violation of the " spirit of the Constitution ".

    All it takes , of course, is one cranky complaint and the babe is

    evicted from the manager - not in the spirit of the Constitution,

    which even an honest agnostic must admit is permeated with a RELIGIOUS

    spirit - no in the spirit of Scrooge before his encounter with even

    the first SPIRIT . ( see story in PROJO  , Dec. 22 , page B 2 )

               Atheists have their rights, to be sure. Let the LAW decide

    this matter of religious displays one way or another.

               It is a fact that professed atheists ( not humanists )-

    people who over -emphasize their ATHEISM - are among the most

    mean spirited people on  earth.

           When did a group of  ATHEISTS  ever get together to do

    some obvious GOOD anywhere ? What cramped souls !

               Are atheists so much smarter than the ignorant masses ?

    I suspect that most of them simply have defective imagination and

    bad digestion .  Too much of the same old gruel for supper. It

    gives them souls as dead as a doorknob.

               A pitiful sight in their coffins : All dressed up and

    nowhere to go !

Powell right, Jacoby wrong

           The choice of that remarkable man - Colin Powell - for

    Secretary of State - proves that George W. Bush is  not himself

    - whatever his agenda - a drooling right wing fanatic. He is

    in fact a chip off the old block.

              Boston Globe crank columnist Jeff Jacoby is very nervous

    about the Powell appointment: " When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait

    in August 1990, Powell was prepared to let him have it" , writes

    Jacoby .

               The vast majority of the country would not have been

    willing to sacrifice much for the arrogant, oil rich elite of

    Kuwait - who were openly contemptuous of working class American

    soldiers putting their lives in danger to protect their " sovereign "

    plutocracy.

                Imagine a poor black soldier returning from the Gulf

    War to find his elderly mother shivering in a cold slum house....

    couldn't pay the bill that month !

                Knowing all about " The Other America " , do the

    oil billionaires of the world ever declare : " This won't

    stand ! "  ?

               Nor can I imagine poor black soldiers sacrificing

    their lives to keep poor Palestinians HOMELESS.

               I hope Colin Powell does not lose his humanity

    in acquiring great power.

DRAFTED in middle age - a nightmare

                They found me hiding under the bed in my apartment

    - pathetic coward that I am . It had been five years, but they

    caught me. The scene at  THE TRIAL was right out of KAFKA. But

    still I had my own lawyer, a personal friend. He advised me :

          " You got to grow up sometime ,  Ron. The best way to

    deal with this nightmare is with a spirit of resignation."

           " Yea , but  I still dread  the DRAFT. It's not fair now! "

           " Soon you will have to face that great umpire in the sky.

    And what will you have to say for yourself then ? "

                 In cold cowardly panic I signed on the dotted line.

          Just hours later I found myself in  left field at Dodger

    Stadium. A crack of the bat... a fly ball was coming in my direction.

    I  fell down  in front of the wall - but I caught the ball !

                Then I woke up , still in the Twilight Zone.

DRAFTED in middle age - a nightmare

                They found me hiding under the bed in my apartment

    - pathetic coward that I am . It had been five years, but they

    caught me. The scene at  THE TRIAL was right out of KAFKA. But

    still I had my own lawyer, a personal friend. He advised me :

          " You got to grow up sometime ,  Ron. The best way to

    deal with this nightmare is with a spirit of resignation."

           " Yea , but  I still dread  the DRAFT. It's not fair now! "

           " Soon you will have to face that great umpire in the sky.

    And what will you have to say for yourself then ? "

                 In cold cowardly panic I signed on the dotted line.

          Just hours later I found myself in  left field at Dodger

    Stadium. A crack of the bat... a fly ball was coming in my direction.

    I  fell down  in front of the wall - but I caught the ball !

                Then I woke up , still in the Twilight Zone.

When Americans DO co-operate - WOW !

Captured German scientist : " That shows  at any rate that the

    Americans are capable of real co-operation on a tremendous scale. That

    would have been impossible in Germany. Each one said that the other

    was unimportant...  "

           Weizsaker : "  If we had all wanted Germany to win the war

    we could have succeeded ... "

             These Nazi fiends of Science were DEPRESSED that they

    could not give Hitler the ATOMIC BOMB before the Americans

    possessed it .

             But a typical Nazi mentality suggestion : " If the

    Americans and the British were good imperialists they would

    attack Stalin with the thing tomorrow ... but they won't do

    that ."

            The above is reported in General Groves book " Now

    It Can Be Told ".

             Perhaps in 2001 the Americans can co-operate in

    the moral equivalent of the  Manhattan Project - " real

    co-operation on a tremendous scale "  making life happier

    for EVERYBODY in America.

Cooling off the day after

Having voted for Ralph Nader - with no regrets - I was still

    hoping that Al Core might win the presidency by a Hail Mary Pass

    from a CONSERVATIVE Supreme Court.

              But  " Mary " , I  suspect,  refuses  pro- abortion liberals

    miraculous intervention . Also the man himself hardly arouses strong

    political passions. So we could not expect to see MILLIONS of his

    supporters marching in the streets , in a rabid fury over stolen

    VICTORY.

               I could read no villainy in the faces of the Supreme

    Court justices on the front page of the Providence Journal. They

    looked like typical middle class Americans having a rather lively

    debate at a Church picnic -  disputing some point in DIVINITY.

               Can we expect Supreme Court justices to be less human

    than we are, rising above all political preferences ?

                   The problem was that the election was so damm

    close. Florida   has a Republican governor, a Republican legislature.

     Was it not safe to bet on a Bush victory election night - without

    a hint of scandal , fraud , cheating ?

               In any recount the slightest dishonesty on either side

    could have settled the matter. Are Democrats more virtuous than

    Republicans ?

              Both George W. Bush and Al Gore swear by the U.S.

    Constitution . They must - for the present - accept the bizarre

    Electoral College - which political writers have described as an

    accident waiting to happen.

             The REAL villain in this election is the Electoral

    College system -not FOR SALE  state and federal judges.

            Again it is better to work with cool reason to correct

    the legal abomination of having a  truly UNPOPULAR president.

          I suspect that EVERY DAY in office, George W. Bush will

    be reminded by somebody in the media of his illegitimacy.

                Could the TRUTH finally force him to resign ?

         We are only beginning the Bush Error !

Support for school voucher program

          Only  the corrupt power of entrenched teacher unions makes

    Cleveland's school voucher program - struck down yesterday by a

    federal appeals court - a " vitriolic " issue. ( PROJO ,page A3 ,

    Dec. 12 ) .

         According to Robert H. Chanin, the message is " stop playing

    around with vouchers as a panacea ". But the real message is

    " Don't tread on US ! "  ( the NEA ).

             Many latino families, for example , would like to give

    their children the benefits of a morals oriented Catholic education

    - which in the past never neglected to teach kids the ABCs , the

    Three R's , and never failed to turn out outstanding citizens.

               What harm is done by giving these " religious "

    schools a helping hand ?  Surely one can find more shameful - and

    more politically correct - ways to " mis-spend " our tax dollars.

               Look what shining examples of good citizenship the

    public schools are turning out !  Give parents with a conscience

    a break. 
                   Consider the Internet as a gift; it could make

    a religious school a lot less parochial. And that means less

    zealous efforts to convert heathens like me.

" Look and Say " Teachers ?

 I wonder if teachers can READ any better than their

    more backward pupils nowadays. They apply " look and say " training

    to newspaper reading !

            The MAIN TOPIC in the PROJO editorial was the homework

    burden on very young kids. I said - among other things - that

    I have seen 7 year olds crushed by homework. Your editorial

    made a polite suggestion that this was unhealthy.

                  Well I guess I went too far in making THIS

    suggestion :

              HARD ASS TEACHERS BREED BOLSHEVIKS !

            And yes,  some of my best friends are teachers. Ask
    Dr. Bill ( URI , math professor ).

Chaperones for our mentally ill

A clearly disturbed woman up front on the bus was frantically

    - and rather loudly - summing up her wretched life for the bus

    driver...." don't  go to those psychiatrists... don't take their

    drugs... I'm so confused today... "

              While I was standing in line at Citizen's Bank the poor

    woman came through the door and immediately made a pathetic scene.

    Oh my, the line was too long. She would be late for her 2 o'clock

    appointment downtown. A kind lady let her get ahead :

            " Thank you... God will bless you .... Where is

    everybody nowadays. I feel so lonely ... I feel so lonely . "

               Mental health care in Rhode Island ! I reflected.

         Does not the state perceive the necessity to at least

    provide chaperons  for " functional " mentally ill. Such

    confused people as this woman - " I wanted a nice house and kids

    and a family too ... didn't happen ... " - cry out for

    everyday assistance , even when they are living alone.

         Does anybody care ? Any compassionate DEMOCRATS in

    Rhode Island ?

" No Way to Pick A President " - Witcover, Jules

           Rhode Island's own late great Senator John O. Pastore is

    the wise man in Jules Witcover's book "  No Way to Pick a President ".

    Read the next to the last chapter on the electoral system , aptly

    titled : " An Accident Waiting To Happen ".

             Pastore : " I would do away with the whole electoral

    college. I would do away with it completely. I would have the

    people elect the President of the United States on election

    day....  I  say when the people go to the polls the man who

    receives the greatest number of votes should be elected President

    of the people. He is the President of the people of the United

    States, and not the President of the states. It makes no

    difference to me how many electoral votes the people of

    Rhode Island have. "

               Concludes  Witcover : the present electoral college

     makes possible the " installation of person whom the majority

    of Americans don't want. This particular college should

    close its doors . "

               Senator Pastore - of the silver tongue - was

    debating this issue in 1956 with none other than  John

    F. Kennedy.

The law is an ass !

Unlike the venerable institution of SCIENCE , the dreary

    profession of LAW , indulges in know-nothingism . Science

    is endlessly patient in examining the data , rising above

    mere prejudice and partisan squabbling.

               Florida judge  N. Sanders Sauls  played a

    know- nothing role in his recent decision - of enormous

    consequence : the presidency of the United States.

            Re-counting ballots - whatever the outcome - ADDS

    information to a controversy, even if it  SUBTRACTS votes

    from the favorite of The Plutocracy.

           What is LAW but the formal ideological tool of

    a power elite ? 

             The common people have nothing to lose from this

    farce of an election but their illusions - chief of

    them being the illusion of LEGITIMACY .

The everyday ripoff

Your paper had an article recently about rather

    mysterious variations in the price of Dunkin Donuts coffee.

    A cup of Dunkin's coffee is a cup of Dunkin's coffee wherever

    you buy it. Where I buy it I noticed the higher price AND

    the poorer QUALITY. After sipping the morning brew, I wanted

    to complain : " There's no coffee in my coffee! " And that

    is just as bad as Burger King  hamburgers - when there is

    no hamburger in your burger and no FRENCH in the fries !

            A good cup of coffee - the way Dunkin's use to be-

    has a strong aroma and very definite coffee taste - not

    like brown dishwater.

            But the coffee was even worse at the legendary

    " Haven Brothers " across from Providence City Hall.

    Yuck ! Try that on Uncle Raymond in his prime.

             That same afternoon there was no  HOT WATER in

    the HOT WATER WASH at the local laundry. And the

    meatballs in my  meatball sandwich at " Subway "  were

    as big as golf balls - and about as hard.

          My brother complained that the Sunday Projo was

    all advertising. And nothing but junk on radio. And

    a junkie may soon claim the White House.

            They also want $2.00 for a fried egg sandwich

    at Haven Brothers - when you can still buy a dozen eggs

    for a dollar in some places.

            Ripp -offs everywhere ! All -American business !

" senile old farts " - not ad hominem ?

It would be presumptuous of me to give etiquette advice

    to PROJO letter writers. But anyway , Mr. Edwin Ellinwood, your

    name calling - " senile old farts " - is the quintessential

    " ad hominem " argument against elderly Florida voters.

            To be sure genuine " senility " can become a real issue

    in many areas of life - like driving. But on the whole , I

    hope  that I am as sharp as my own mother - and recently-

    departed father - when I " get there " : the dark half of

    old age.

               There is indeed immense and untapped WISDOM in

    old age. Old China was right to RESPECT the elderly. AGE-ism

    is as ugly and unfair as racism and sexism.

             In their WISDOM , most of Florida's senior citizens

    probably voted against George W - a world class ASSHOLE !

No civil war -just frustration in USA

Two weeks ago I told a friend that America 's

    " power elite " is working behind the scenes to resolve the

    election crisis - paying some attention to THE MOB , that

    is THE PEOPLE who think that " majoritarianism " is  just

    a snotty word for popular rule, for DEMOCRACY.

                  The nerve of unwashed masses with ATTITUDE !

    American Democracy has not taught them the proper respect

    for their better - people like Florida's Secretary of

    State , Catherine Harris - a certified member of the what

    the late C. Wright Mills called " The Power Elite ".

             I have been re-reading chapters of  his classic

    sociological study of American society , finding it hardly

    dated. Mills preferred the expression " power elite " to

    the Marxian " ruling class " - it was  a less dogmatic

    conception.

                 Mills wrote perceptively about the " higher

    immorality "  and the " crackpot realism " of a system

    of " organized irresponsibility ".

               And a whole chapter is devoted to  the celebrity.

    The  professional clowns on TV and other media are part

    the system : they serve to distract and bamboozle.

             The REAL elite are rather jealous of our clowns.

    Why should Jay Leno get more attention than  a Dupont

    or a Rockefeller  - or  now even a Bill Gates ?

                 Let us patiently await the decision of

    the " power elite " - which of course denies its own

    existence. The RICH are different from you and me ! To

    be sure !

Mr. Gillis - a waste of URI money

 May I suggest that  Mr. Robert E. Gillis, URI's

    new " permanent affirmative action chief " is nothing

    more than a $78,000 a year hoax ?

            Any inner city school principle can suggest hundreds

    of worthy candidates for help in getting higher education.

            For me the issue is POVERTY - not RACE. Is it OK

    for 20% of white kids to be both poor and hopeless ? Why

    no outreach program for them ?

              What Michael Harrington called " The Other America "

    is indeed a rainbow coalition- black, latino, asian, Indian

    white.  Is it unjust for ANYBODY to be hopeless or is

    there an acceptable POVERTY QUOTA in this country, approved

    by the official friends of the have-nots, The Democrats ?

           After 8 years of Clinton-Gore , things are worse

    than ever in the other America.

            Don't lose sleep over the election outcome !

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 !

A correct horoscope at last !

I have campaigned against your daily horoscope but I will

    desist after reading my horoscope today - for Leo ( Oct. 30 )

       " ... You exude sex appeal: Don't break too many hearts. "

           Out of concern for my own heart a pretty teen age girl

    held a Providence Mall door open for me !

               And I am just as young as Bill Clinton .

Shockingly undemocratic Times Editorial

            The New York Times editorial showing complete contempt

    for presidential candidate Ralph Nader (   How EGOTISTICAL of

    anybody but an endorsed Democrat or Republican to seek the

    highest office in the land - even if inspired by PRINCIPLE ,

    and against impossible odds ! ) was the  most foolish New

    York Times editorial since you ridiculed Robert Goddard's

     experimental rocket . " Nothing to push against " , you

    see. Ignoring Isaac Newton , ACTION & REACTION .

           But despite the Times editorial Goddard's rocket did

    soar. And Ralph Nader's third party might also take off and

    become a truly  REVOLUTIONARY phenomenon . It does have

    something to PUSH AGAINST - a lot of REACTION !

            Don't quit now , Ralph ! To Hell with Gore !

Health benefits for the healthy

Eights weeks after his wife was diagnosed with cancer,

    she lost her health insurance. Richard Addison - age 60 - himself

    living on $700 from  social security - is pictured wiping a tear

    from his eye ( page A6 , Pawtucket Times - Oct. 27 ) .

               Now there is already a $40,000 medical bill from

    Memorial Hospital.

               Al Gore does not have much to say anymore about

    " grandiose " national health care plans. Woopie for 8 years

    of Clinton-Gore prosperity ! Woopie for GOOD TIMES !

               Poverty activist , Henry Shelton, faces the truth :

    the have nots of the world -so much more numerous than the haves -

    must unite .  Yes, forget about the phony liberals. Maybe

    Patrick Kennedy will send Addison and his sick wife a sympathy

    card.

                 Isn't this system just wonderful : Health Insurance

    for the Healthy !

              And don't think that " compassionate conservatives " -like

    George W. Bush - lose sleep at night  trying to solve the health

    care problems of the poor .

                 Just a sigh and a " Let us pray ! "


            I know of one mentally ill man who also lost his health

    insurance not long after the crackpot.  Now he pays even more

    for his lithium - out of his own pocket, while working only

    3 days per week.


                 Woopie for our prosperity ! Greed and selfishness

    forever ! That's God's Way !

Texas education - please no bull !

 If Texas kids who are classified as black or hispanic

    do quite well on standardized tests , that can only reflect well

    on the school system there - whatever the vagaries of that just

    released Rand Institution - " think tank " - report.

             If a latino or black pupil scored 600 + on an SAT test , we

    can assume that he or she really did learn something academic in

    high school. And not just test foxiness !

              I could not in good conscience vote for George W. But

    Republicans should not lose an election on the basis of baloney

    from big education bureaucrats.

             In general CONSERVATIVES have many sound ideas on the

    education of the young.

             I'll will probably vote for Ralph Nader . But can only

    accept the democratic process - flawed as it is.

Pay Phone Rip-off

 I asked a stranger for a quarter in downtown Providence

    early Sunday morning - not usually a class act. But I needed a

    quarter to make a call. The gentleman made a PROFIT from this

    bum: I gave HIM 3 dimes.

               Then - this happens a little too often - the damm

    thing swallowed my quarter. This must happen to thousands of

    pay phone users !

              The telephone company monopolies can't make enough

    money by legal robbery.  Tell me Mr. Bigshot Executive , does

    ANYBODY ever get their lost quarters back ? And how ?

                 And too many pay phones are broken down for

    months without  YOU paying the slightest attention.

               I hope some day YOU will really need a quarter

    in downtown Providence.

               I wanted to send that quarter to the Committee to

    Elect Ralph Nader .

Calling Harold Hill - The Music Man

We do need LATIN teachers in our high schools. So

    congratulations to young Andrews Josephs  for his efforts

    in East Providence.

                The fictitious name of Professor Harold Hill in

    your Oct. 20 editorial reminded me that music programs are

    also disappearing from our high schools. No funds for CULTURE,

    no funds for the very things that make life bearable -like

    classical music. (  Thank God for National Public Radio , for

    89.7 FM in Boston ).

            The  poignant  movie " Mr. Holland's Opus " tells the

    sad story. Kids with awesome musical talents are being betrayed

    by the bean counters !

            President Clinton is  sympathetic , an accomplished

    musician himself. Perhaps he can dress up as Professor Harold

    Hill and campaign around the country for the restoration of

    high school music programs .

          They will pay attention to a REAL charlatan !

School Days Cruel Days !

Just read and pondered your Oct. 18 editorial : " Singing

    the homework blues ". I have seen kids as young as 7 with happy,

    affectionate dispositions - and bright enough for future "success " -

    crushed by the drudgery of homework - mostly just busywork assigned

    by teachers with the souls of bureaucrats  with a PROGRAM , an

    AGENDA , a collective GOAL .

             In his biography the Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky

    observed that there are not a few FREAKS in the teaching profession.

           How many kids  are the victims of  destructive teachers

    who deep down hate kids and hate their jobs , their only real

    goal in life a comfortable retirement ?

                 No one should be a teacher who does not feel in

    his or her heart that a child is precious !

               I am very pro-union, but I must admit that teacher

    unions are protecting too many ignorant and vile incompetents.

                Einstein was right when he perceived that school is

    often just a prison which kills the natural curiosity of kids

    and prepares them to be " narrow , neurotic , and obsessive "

    adults. A lot of everyday MEANNESS  can be traced to our

    school days.

                 I recommend Bertrand Russell's essay : " In

    Praise of Idleness ".

Old Gus passes away

Well he lived till age 90 still believing in

    the Socialist-Communist future. It takes CHARACTER to

    be a REBEL in a " free " society that still punishes

    non-conformity in many ways.

                I suppose it is not improper to wish this

     working class champion : REST IN PEACE !

              Is Russia a happier country today - dominated

    not by the Communist Party -with all its faults - but by

    ruthless , heartless GANGSTER CAPITALISM ?

            Just a few weeks ago I re-read Erich Fromm's " The

    Sane Society " . The gifted psychoanalyst was not talking

    about CAPITALISM .

            Gus Hall was a SANE man !

The "science " of screwing workers

 Here is under-reported  scandal in blue collar America :

    it is not enough for greedy capitalists to LEGALLY exploit

    labor with abysmal wages. They have developed a perverse

    economic " science " for screwing wage workers out of

    EARNED wages and overtime.

                A half a dozen male and female  " service industry "

    workers tell me that  they are routinely - and I suspect

    systematically cheated out of their EARNED weekly incomes.

              If they complain about errors, they are given the

    "treatment ".  " Let's not be pests now , my surly peasant

    subjects ".  Yes , we ALL make mistakes - even if in our case

    NEVER to our disadvantage and ALWAYS to yours !

          So you worked 50 hours last week and only got paid for

    40 ?  You worked 30 hours one weekend and only got paid

    for 24 ?

            It cannot be a coincidence that so many wage workers

    are routinely cheated  even out of their pauper wages. I

    am sure this is now an evil SCIENCE .


                 Any Noble Prize in economics for THIS : Always

    owing 20% of your workers last month's wages ?

              Alas even  Communists have given up impolite talk

    of EXPLOITATION in the New World Order.

Dying for Dust of Ages !

            What can a rational person say about today's

    headlines, the crazy violence between Arabs and Jews ?

            This is not an Olympian sports spectacular. Ra

    Ra for the Jews ! Ra Ra for the Arabs !

            It seems that people are  just choking on the dust

    of the DEAD PAST . It does not matter whether or not Joseph's

    tomb is authentic. It remains a sacred symbol - like many

    insanely contested HOLY SITES .

             And soon their hearts become graves too !

         Perhaps  young Jews and Arabs might consider abandoning

    religious obsessions for the intellectual of  Dialectic

    Materialism .
         ( intellectual tranquility )


              Or just convert to Catholicism - the one TRUE FAITH !

Devastating economic blow to Warwick, R.I.

For several years, I - a non-believer in THE CAR- have

    complained about the appalling bad bus service for Warwick Ave.

    I am sure that hundreds of Warwick resident would take advantage

    of -or absolutely NEED - a more rational RIPTA bus schedule for

    that very busy , main street.


            Everybody in tiny Rhode Island should not be enslaved by

    the tyranny of the automobile - now a threat to the very

    civilization of which it is the quintessential product.


         WAKE UP RIPTA ! WAKE UP city mayors ! Like  Moloch ,

    this mechanical god  destroys its own worshippers by the

    millions. How much misery in modern life is motor vehicle

    related ?

               But now I have punished Warwick, Rhode Island by

    moving myself - and my considerable resources - to East

    Providence, R.I. . Much better bus service here. I am not

    -like a child - obliged to be home by 7 o'clock at night.

           I can drink in the Safari Lounge nearly to 11 -

    and the Bus 33 takes me right to the door of 2432

    Pawtucket Ave. - known for its more illustrious tenants !



            There will be financial PANIC in Warwick when the

    news of my departure gets out. But good riddance !

More is better for PROJO box

My day begins with coffee and the PROJO. My dollar was

    as good as anybody's at Dunkin Donuts at the corner of Warren

    and Pawtucket Ave. in East Providence last Saturday.

         But the PROJO " honor box " rejected my 2 quarters and

    humiliated me. "  Perhaps it senses my  radical-liberal politics ",

    I reflected.

         Then another guy came by. Did not look like a Republican. It

    reject HIS two quarters too. " Did the same yesterday ", he

    complained.

           Then I had an idea -  wretchedly non-CLASS STRUGGLE : I

    deposited 2 quarters + one dime. I got my paper !

              Same here as with those pest union : MORE IS BETTER !

U.S. not going to pot - but Macera ?

  I don't believe in trial by newspaper . A man is

    innocent until PROVEN guilty. But Bill Macera comes out

    of your October 5 story literally smelling bad -reeking

    of marijuana. It would be far more serious a matter if

    the mayor had been driving under the influence of

    the still popular but still illegal drug.

           I agree with Froma Harrop : " Some day the sale

    and possession of marijuana will be legal from sea to

    shining sea "

            Bill Macera was my philosophy of religion

    instructor at CCRI. I got a B in his course.

            My impression of the ex-priest is that he

    is a good and decent man. But it is very challenging

    to REFORM Johnston, R.I.

            I am not writing this letter under the

    influence of pot.

Upsetting picture worth a MILLION words !

That picture on the front page Sunday - a most disturbing

    one of an Arab boy killed in the embrace of his terrified

    father - was comparable to front page photos of the Vietnam

    War era ( remember that pathetic photo of the naked girl

    on the road fleeing a merciless attack ? ) . It too

    will change hearts more quickly than editorial brilliance .

              Enough is enough  - enough horror in the land

    of Christ's birth - sacred to Christians, Jews, Moslems, to

    the historical memory of mankind .

             The whole people should turn out for that kid's

    funeral. He is their Emmett Till.

            That shocking photo is THE picture of the YEAR  2000 !

        It was RIGHT to publish it !

Psychiatrists as clerks - unprofessional ?

Conversation overheard on the bus this morning :

               Recovering addict : " The shrink asked me about

    my  insurance plan ".

              addict : " Medicaid or medicare ".

              psychiatrist : " Then you're out of here tomorrow ! "

               addict : " Guess I'll buy another guitar. I a musician

                        you know. "

              I would like to hear him play for the  benefit of the

    shrink the Elvis Presley song: "  You ain't nothing but a hound dog ! "

                My own brother had a stress related nervous breakdown.

      He had an excellent health plan as long as he was healthy.

                His  kind shrink informed him after he lost his

    medical coverage : "  Next stop the IMH. You won't like it

    there at all. And you owe me $80 for the lithium test. "

                My brother is advised to avoid STRESS ! But

    the SYSTEM is clearly not helping him .

Asteroid to end world's misery ?

The astronomers are not  all spaced out when they

    warn us: " The asteroid is coming ! "

             The lucky ones will die with their stock market wealth

    still going up , up , UP ! To astronomical heights !

          A sensitive, objective historian must admit that the

    general misery index of the world has risen as fast as the

    bull market in the last decade.

               At least the asteroid will put billions out of their

    existential misery. If only God were a compassionate conservative,

    there might still be hope .

                 But there is a delirious -DIVINE - joy in

    destruction for the hell of it .

                On the brink of doom , my last wish is that

    Ralph Nader  get at least 5 per-cent of the vote ! 

Lieberman editorial OK , cartoon NO !

I have already observed that Joseph Lieberman is

    a very Jewish Jew. And to be sure, ANY pious soul can be corrupted

    by adulation ( " Lieberman's double run " ) .

          But the cartoon to the right is a bit of nasty silliness,

    surprising in the Projo.

              In no way is Senator Lieberman a threat to the separation

    of Church and State in America.

              I was 90% sure  that I would vote for Nader. Right

    now it is 50/50 . I might vote for Gore & The Rabbi .

               For the record , I find little evidence of a plutocratic

    conspiracy in Projo editorials.  Rich and Poor can both possess

    COMMON sense !

MIT settlement outrageous

I read in the Projo today this odd news item : An MIT

    student drinks himself to death and now MIT will pay

    Scott Krueger's parents $4.75 million.

         Who says kids are just a liability. The insanity of

    the courts! In the world of the common people a drunken son

    would only bring shame to his parents.

        Anyway , wouldn't it make more sense for the Kruegers -

    who should have settled for grief counseling - to use

    THEIR $4.75 million for a  scholarship fund  in Scott's

    memory ?

             How would a working class did be consoled for

    the drunken death of a foolish son ? ( dad )

              With a bottle of beer, no doubt ( Krueger light ? ) .

Going " Dutch " to the altar

I suppose the Dutch have a perfect right to legalize gay

    marriage in their country. My own criticism of gay marriage is

    decidedly Left-wing : If bourgeois marriage is  a farce designed

    to enslave BOTH male and female to the capitalist economic system,

    then what can  GAY marriage be but a farce of a farce ?

             It is remarkably CONSERVATIVE for gays to seek government

    intervention in their -more often than not - wildly promiscuous

    relationships !

            Like the straight couples, gay couples will weep over

    the end of romance - after they foolishly made TRUE PASSION

    legal.

            No I won't stand at the church door to stop this

    abomination. But  I prefer the Wild Ones - the unregistered gays.

    They still have the allure of REBELLION . God bless them !

On their minds - OFF their backs !

For hundreds of years now the average school textbook has

    quite literally weighed down on the spirits of the young. " Watch

    your backs ! " a news item warns them . A broken back should not

    be the price of a well nourished mind.

             Lighten their burden, cruel makers of textbooks !

      Why has no publisher of books yet thought of making them

    - not only waterproof - but with DETACHABLE  chapters.

            Does it take technical genius here ? Check out the

    average high school Biology textbook - or a college  Calculus

    text. Why must a kid carry around the intimidating weight of

    a whole year's course ?

             The secret even of intellectual success is DIVIDE AND

    CONQUER !

            Now back to my  commie political propaganda : Comrades,

    future wage slaves ... "

Dr. Pyles letter in Boston Globe ( Sept. 7 )

Citizens concerned with our deplorable mental health

    care system will appreciate Dr. Robert L. Pyles letter in

    the Boston Globe yesterday ( Sept. 7 ) . Dr. Pyles, past

    president of the American Psychoanalytic Association,  writes :

          " Accumulating research data show that the use of psychiatric

    drugs alone, without therapy, is highly ineffective. "

            I have lived with psychiatric patient whose " therapy "

    consists of little more than lithium regulation. But it

    was obvious to me that the man - divorced and middle aged -

    was " soul sick ".  I concluded  a long time ago that

    that modern psychiatry no longer believes in the human

    soul. And that is very unscientific indeed !

              Can lithium restore a man's faith in life or a good

    God or just a rational universe ?

            Can lithium substitute for " love " - or is that too

    just a buzz word for a biochemical unbalance ?

             Thank you , Dr. Robert L Pyles  .

Hate Crime Demogogues

I STILL admire President Bill  Clinton - and would

    vote for him again for a third term, if that were possible. But

    Bill is wrongheaded  - if well intentioned - on this hate crime

    business. In his final months in office, he wants to make hate

    crime legislation a top priority.

            The mean spirited Republican ogres are  truly RIGHT on

    this inflammatory issue. Must we believe that they are titillated

    by heinous " hate crimes " ?

             Oddly enough - most liberals REJECT the death penalty and

    rightly so. So what is the ultimate legal punishment for a hate

    crime offender ? Just what is already  in the law books !

               It is indeed un -democratic to make CLASS laws . By

    the way why not protect the RICH against hate crime since they

    are the object of so much maniacal jealously ?  How

    many communists would be found guilty of HATE CRIME ?

              No, I don't feel sorry for the rich . Just alarmed

    at fatuous thinking .

All religions equal -honestly ?

Being an atheistic, communist, liberal, born again Catholic

    patriot, I read with amusement this morning that Holy Mother

    Church fancies herself the fairest of the fair in the eyes of

    the Lord.

            Cannot we indulge an old lady's vanity here ? Does

    an orthodox Jew believe that one religion is as good as another ?

    Clearly the Church is only being intellectually honest and

    very politically incorrect. But it endures.

           Dominus Vobiscum !

Suggestion on CNA shortage in R.I.

The story on the nursing home crisis , the shortage of

    CNAs , ( "  Nursing Homes struggle to find enough ", Sept. 3 )

    brought back memories of my experience at Bannister House

    Nursing Home in the early 80s .

            To be sure , the nursing staff was overworked, underpaid,

    and underappreciated. But FEAR - there was high unemployment

    at the time - literally kept them ( many were black ) in

    their place.

            I knew how GOOD many of them were at their jobs. I

    concluded that the job EXPLOITED your conscience.

           Anyway, how to solve the HELP problem in our

    nursing homes ?

          To begin with no CNAs should be working for less than

    $10 per/hour. There are many born saints working in Rhode

    Island nursing homes .  Their kindness and competence is

    assured under all conditions.

             But it is scandalous that society does not show its

    respect for nursing home workers with RESPECTABLE pay.

            Imagine having to flee socially significant work for

    the  gambling lunacy of Foxwoods ( Carol Martino's story ) !

             Perhaps  attracting more part time - always FRESH -

    help is part of the solution. Why  can't the state and

    the nursing homes get together to GUARANTEE health care

    benefits - IMMEDIATE benefits - to  part time nursing

    assistants working at least 20 hours per/week ?


            Happier workers are KINDER workers. And don't

    elderly people deserve to be surrounded by a little kindness

    before checking out of this world forever ?

           For ALL of us Judgment Day may be nearer than we

    think !

Inference: Bush is J.C.'s favorite politician ?

No, I am not fan of his ,  but George W. Bush has as

    much right to babble about his religious enthusiasms as our

    very Jewish Jew  candidate for Vice President , Joseph I.

    Lieberman.

           Despite the PC tyranny , even politicians -my favorite

    hypocrites -have a right to a Tell Tale Heart,  a right

    to show us their beautiful and pious souls.

            But just because George W  says that Jesus Christ is

    his favorite political philosopher , we must not infer that

    that HE , George W  , is Christ's favorite politician.

             I gasp to read that the Anti-Defamation League

    is furious with Lieberman. Naturally he was ENCOURAGED to

    talk about his faith by the perfidious news media : How

    marvelous that a JEW can selected as Vice President in

    a modern, progressive democracy !

             It seems to me that separation of Church and

    State does not demand cold silence on this important

    matter of God - but just respect for FREEDOM , for

    the idea of not establishing a state religion , for

    respecting the conscience of the individual.


           Why is God just an embarrassment - even to

    most believers ?