Flores no Florence Nightingale

          A 41 year old failing nursing student, Robert Flores Jr. , goes

    berserk  and kills three of his professors -and then, of course, himself.

    ( AP story, October 29 ). I read : " there are many issues in Mr. Flores'

    life, all of which are a factor. "

              I suspect that sexism and age-ism were a factor in his crackpot.

    It is not easy to go back to school with all the energy, enthusiasm,

    and confidence of YOUTH. Perhaps Flores was as WELCOME at the University

    of Arizona 's nursing school as a 41 year old female would be in the

    Providence Police Academy or as a Fire Dept. trainee.

                 Why would cold, obnoxious person choose to be a nurse

    anyway ? Robert Flores was  already an experienced LPN. Was he getting

    the " treatment " familiar to a black person in a NICE white suburb ?

                No instinctive  FEMALE empathy to help a drowning student ?

    No help  for him in mastering challenging  subjects ?

                 Success is no FUN unless we can see FAILURE fumble !

           There is more to this story of Robert Flores, MALE nurse.

Imus slouching toward Gomorrah !

I'm against censorship even though I'm fully aware that

    decadent " entertainment " corrupts the soul. I can't avoid brief

    encounters with radio and TV degenerates. I turn on the radio early

    in the morning just to catch the latest news. When I get Imus and his

    friends, I get the impression of hung over amphetamine addicts in a

    sleazy NYC bar who are still babbling idiotically at 5:00 AM. Imus

    is the clearly the leader of the pack -who looks like he can claim

    Viking ancestry, with an inherited propensity to burn places like

    the public library that might inculcate a prejudice against Talk Radio.

               The topics arise as if inspired by the fumes of an underground

    sewer. This morning a staff member  momentarily disappears: " She must

    be picking her nose somewhere. "   And then there are tabloid stories

    to ponder: A man was arrested in a motel while copulating with a farm

    animal. Did you know that most men between the ages of 18 and 40 worry

    about the size of their penis ?

                 What is the secret of the Imus guy ?  Are we as Judge Bork

    puts it " slouching toward Gomorrah "  ? Do we loath the very idea of

    a natural elite ? We dread being reminded of our own intellectual and

    moral inferiority ?

               I miss Walter Cronkite. He was not ashamed of being literate.

    Why is our culture mass producing JUNK-HEADS ? Where is the former glory

    of Western Civilization, the glory that was  Greece and Rome ?

            Slouching toward Gomorrah, indeed !

Crazy crosswalks in Cranston

Nothing new here : the Greater Providence area is very pedestrian

    unfriendly. Perhaps if the state could just cancel the driving license

    of everybody over 60, the PROBLEM of too much traffic in the too small

    Ocean State will be solved. But people think they have a right to their

    mechanical anti-people monster as much as actor Charlton Heston thinks

    he has a right to his gun. Imagine HIM five years from now - not quite

    in full possession of his faculties - driving around Rhode Island with

    a rifle at his side, looking for GREEN people who hate the NRA !

                 Recently I saw a young woman with a baby in her arms trying

    to cross busy Reservoir Ave. in Cranston. There are just not enough crosswalks

    on that  major traffic artery, I reflected.

             A ridiculous situation where there is a crosswalk on Reservoir.

    The cautious pedestrian waits for the flashing white WALK signal. In a

    second it changes to a flashing red DON'T WALK signal - which a driver

    at Legion Ave. , for instance, might  interpret as a GO signal for

    him or her. The pedestrian with the right of way is nearly run over

    by the turning automobile.

               That flashing red DON'T WALK signal should instead read : CAUTION

    PEDESTRIAN CROSSING !

                 Like the ancient god Moloch, the automobile god is being

    fed more and more human sacrifices. And we  still kiss its feet while

    it crushes our hearts !

Foster Candidate Ruggieri No Peacenik

I note with proud amusement that my brother, Richard D. Ruggieri,

    of 171 Howard Hill Rd. in Foster, is once again running for the City

    Council slot there. He did win way back in 1990 and, so I hear, served

    honorably . Today I read in your Northwest edition ( October 28 ) that

    he wants to preserve the rural character of Foster. I guess that means

    keeping people like me out of town. Rick never was a PEOPLE GUY anyway.

    When he was a 12 year old kid he argued for a pre-emptive nuclear attack

    on Red China. And if his international outlook is relevant to high office

    in Foster today, I will sum it up for the locals: GIVE WAR A CHANCE !

           Rick describes himself for the PROJO as an advertising professional

    -which means he has specialized in baloney most of his adult life. His

    TV commercials for the Harborside restaurant are quite good. Now and then

    I have a lobster sandwich on his provincial celebrity.

                If Rick were a  real people person -like Bill Clinton - he

    would shake a few more neighborly hands and bus in Greater Providence

    types to distribute his campaign propaganda.

            Yes, indeed : KEEP FOSTER RURAL !

              Please don't publish this letter unless you too want Rick

    to win. Things could be worse in Foster. Imagine ME on the Town Council !

                  Election are decided by a few votes in Foster. So I

    think Rick has a 50/50 chance of getting elected again. Just SHAKE

    MORE HANDS, Rick !

                  If he loses, he is STILL in the baloney business.

Psychoanalysis of Pro-Life crowd

I know psychoanalysis is not as popular as talk show

    pop psychology and pill popping in treating mental disorders.

    For me - a fan of old Freud - I see this obsession with human

    life in the womb- that grows into a nasty and arrogant POLITICAL

    movement - as rooted in abnormal psychology of neurotic individuals.

            A psychological profile of the typical " pro-life " - anti-

    choice- anti-abortion militant is not that of an appealing personality.

    The typical pro-lifer often is not even somebody you would trust as

    a baby-sitter. He or she is a cold fish - often showing no passion

    for other moral issues like the death penalty, homelessness, poverty,

    war. But these anti-abortion fanatics are madly devoted to the unborn.

             I think religious and economic institutions have a vested

    interest in FRESH BLOOD - like Count Dracula, their future depends

    on it. What does the Catholic Church and the Burger King have in

    common ?  Yes, tell the destitute of the earth : KEEP THE BAMBINOS

    COMING !

              Respect for human life just does not explain the fanaticism

    of the pro-life movement. CHEAP LABOR in a crowded world is the LIFE

    of the church - and the LIFE of global capitalism.

               What do they care about human dignity ?

T-Mobile's ilk protect crime

I learned earlier in the year that a cell-phone company

    will protect the privacy of its users -even if they are involved

    in a crime or a possible crime. West Bay published my letter on this

    incident on March 5: An unrestrained -and out of control - Rottweiler

    ambushed me at the corner of Reservoir Ave. and Speck Ave. in Cranston

    around noontime on Tuesday Jan. 29. I fell on busy Reservoir trying to

    get away from the beast - and dislocated my right shoulder and also

    had a serious fracture that required surgery. The owner of the dog

    called 911 on a cell phone - and then disappeared from the scene. A

    hit and run ?

               A paralegal for my lawyer( John Revins of Warwick ) says

    it will be almost impossible to get a court order to trace the 911

    call.

             I'm not a vindictive person and don't want to ruin anybody.

    But I am stuck with $25,000 medical bill. You can understand , Bob,

    why I believe in a national health care plan.

              Rhode Island Hospital reminds every other day that they want

    their money. Any credit card will do !

                   Certainly after Sept 11, 911 calls  should not be a

    private matter.

                Soon I will have to soap box in a Rhode Island court room,

    I'm sure. I'll keep you informed. Do they still have DEBTOR PRISONS as

    in Charles Dickens'  day ?

                " Something will turn up ! "

Radical rhetoric in Rhode Island

No, Don Carcieri is not the fiendish enemy of the Brazilian

    rain forest- putting " profits before people ". THAT TV attack on him

    is absurdly personal. It will HURT Myrth York and most of those UNDECIDED

    will vote for the CHILD KILLER whose last name ends suspiciously.

                I believe that capitalism in general puts profits before

    people. But then I voted for Ralph Nader for president of the U.S.

             But I love Patrick Kennedy's truly RADICAL message on TV :

    HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT- NOT A PRIVILEGE ! Now that is a real winner.

    Is Patrick a closet commie ? God bless him anyway ! There is a national

    health care plan in our future with Patrick as President of the United

    States.

            Only in Rhode Island. WE are unique !

Robert H. Bork on the Catholic Church

With very critical reservations I can recommend Judge
    Robert H. Bork's book as a good read even for an open minded commie
    like myself." Slouching towards Gomorrah " is not without its conservative
    cretinism -the equal of the PC variety -but on the whole it is the work
    of brilliant  CIVILIZED mind.  Those in the news media with a gut hatred
    for the Catholic Church should ponder his observation: " Because it is
    America's largest denomination, and the only one with a strong central
    authority, the Catholic Church can be a major opponent of the nihilism
    of modern liberal culture. "
             ( page 337 )   . I say without conservative bias: the news media
    has been indulging itself in Catholic Church bashing for a long time now.

               Many priests are sinners. What else is new ? And the Christ
    of the Gospels has a zero-tolerance  policy for sinners? To me he just
    seems a little hard on the rich guy who wants to bribe his way into
    Heaven.
              I feel very sorry for thousands of priests who just try to
    be worthy of being under HIS roof.

Divine Comedy and mental illness

Just read the PROJO Lifebeat article on  Dave Kane - " who has

    earned plenty of laughs... portraying a Roman Catholic priest. "

    ( October 21 ). A caption says of his FATHER MISGIVINGS : " This

    whole show says one thing: God loves you, no matter who you are ".

                   I enjoy comedy and spoof as much as anybody but in

    real life the DIVINE COMEDY is not enjoyed by many millions of lost

    souls whose daily life is tormenting misery, especially if they are

    deeply religious and believe in a PERSONAL GOD.

                 Here is a taboo subject: How many psychiatrists can deal

    with mental patients who are deep down  ANGRY at an anthropomorphic

    God -who they were taught is all-good  and all-powerful ?

                No rational human being can get angry at a THING. But

    God is another matter. I suspect that there are cognitive factors

    in many forms of mental illness. I  witness a mentally ill man

    cursing the Creator and can only conclude that he would be saner

    if he could only change his idea of a personal God.

                But that OLD TIME RELIGION  - its pernicious MESSAGE

    of a lOVING GOD - is ubiquitous in our mass media culture.

               We must settle for HUMAN LOVE - and as Erich Fromm

    pointed out in his " Art of Love " , THAT is rare in a competitive

    capitalist society that worships SUCCESS more than the plastic Jesus

    of TV evangelism.

                Anything humorous about the Holocaust , Father Misgivings ?

           If there is a God, better to give HIM the silent treatment and

    as Voltaire recommends : " cultivate our garden ".

                Sometimes PROZAC is not enough !

That Saddam is a monster !

I am proud of Rhode Island's truly " independent man ", Senator

    Lincoln Chaffee, in not giving any simple minded YES,YES ! to the

    GOP gods of war in Washington D.C. But a  public television documentary

    on the life of Saddam Hussein of Iraq - I watched last night on channel

    24 here - must convince most viewers that the guy is one of the great

    moral monsters of history. Even Hitler and Stalin had ideological

    brakes, a general philosophy of history. Saddam believes in Saddam

    far more than he believes in the Allah of the Arab world.

              True there is no crime  against humanity, against his

    own people, against the state of Israel, he will not commit in

    order to keep himself top Hell-Hound in his own country.

               Since he kills anybody who hints of revolt,there is

    a process of un-natural selection going on leaving Iraq a nation

    of terrorized zombies or cowards - or worse - Saddam worshipers !

                BUT I still say : CONTAIN THE MONSTER ! War is too

    risky. And Allah himself might strike him down soon.

              Then we can all shout : " Allah is great ! "

          Just a footnote : US and British and French imperialism did

    help make this monster of the ages, Saddam Hussein.

                 Washington D.C. did not give him too many lessons in

    integrity.

              And if war is inevitable, the cannon fodder for the

    invasion should be supplied by Kuwait and Israel. Our Air Force

    can help out a little.

Whitcomb on " freedom "

Having just read about his own little " freedom " dilemma

    in the Providence Phoenix, perhaps it is no accident that PROJO

    editorial page editor, Robert Whitcomb , has an interesting commentary

    today on what FREEDOM really means for most Americans : the freedom

    to  BUY - and with a pig's appetite for THINGS.

              Last night I was reading an interview with a Mafia hit man-

    a scary, cold blooded killer. He said he knew  RIGHT from Wrong. But

    he also knew the difference between  a nice pair of shoes and a cheap

    pair.

             Science, I understand, always seeks the simplest explanation

    for a phenomenon. When a toddler in  a store sees something he wants -but

    can't have - he just lets out a hair-raising scream. THAT is the state

    of the human soul in a capitalist society.

                 " Escape from Freedom ", by the socialist psychiatrist,

    Erich Fromm - inspired by  Marx and Freud - is still worth reading.

                 Democracy is a lot weaker than we think !

Hi Old Silber !

Apart from being rather attached to this thing called Western

    Civilization, I have little affinity for the conservative mind. But

    often enough when  educators like Silber ( read Projo editorial today )

    write or lecture with honesty, passion, and no little  AUTHORITY

    on public education today, I LISTEN. Why ? Because they -often

    enough - they make sense.

               Here is the gist of it : you just can't transfer political

    egalitarian ideals to the education process- which even in the

    sciences is AUTHORITARIAN: the teacher KNOWS, the student LEARNS.

               If you never learn to respect RATIONAL authority -which

    has earned its power- you will never " get an education ". And

    you will never be  able to improve on the existing social order,

    with all its flaws and preventable miseries.

               And you hug trees all you want. But MOTHER NATURE is

    a cold mother and demands conformity to her laws. Even without

    an explanation. She leaves all that to " dull " pedants.

               The more we  really LEARN, the less secure is our

    precious SELF-ESTEEM. Education can be very humiliating.

            A lot of kids have not even mastered Copernicus: No,

    THEY are  not the center of the universe !

               And reading all those books demands a sort of " love "

    -being able to get outside of yourself. Einstein observed that we

    are all prisoners of our own egos.

              When somebody honestly asks you : " and how are YOU

    today ? "   - you can be sure he is at least SANE !

Falsettos reject " Sopranos " in parade

I just finished reading about all the trouble so called

    Italo-Americans gave our first major party candidate for vice -

    president of the United States. Way back in 1984 reactionary

    Republicans and a  Catholic cardinal were throwing stones at her

    for honoring Jack Kennedy's view of Catholicism vs. Americanism.

    No, she was not welcome in New York City's Columbus Day parade.

           Remember Geraldine Who ? Her liberal views on abortion

    disgraced the Columbus Day parade ? Disgraced the Italo- American

    community who should have been throwing her kisses in New York

    City.

              Being Italian does not stop you from being a reactionary

    hypocrite.  Now the organizers of the NYC Columbus Day parade are

    offended by talented ACTORS who play mob figures. In rejecting

    " Sopranos " they have struck a false note. You can call them

    FALSE-ettos, I guess.

                 I just want JUSTICE ! Tony will understand.

Another kid mauled by pit bull

9 year old Corey Kue needed surgery at Hasbro Hospital after

    " Tyson " - a pit bull - attacked him. ( Metro story, October 10 ).

          In previous letters on the pit bull menace in the greater

    Providence area I suggested that the personality of these beasts

    often honor the master. Was " Tyson " named after the celebrity

    boxer, Mike Tyson  ?  The pit bull did not get a chance to bit

    Corey's ear off. And the story says the owner has liability

    insurance.

              But Providence just does not get it on the pit bull

    menace. The city should now be liable for any and every pit bull

    attack on a resident or a visitor .

              Most cities  are very pedestrian unfriendly. Sooner

    or later if a reckless driver does not send you to the hospital,

    a vicious dog will.  Do we  WALK at our own risk in  Providence,

    Cranston, Pawtucket, Warwick  ?

               Calling all personal injury lawyers !

Is Heaven a democracy ?

Amused to read this headline today: " House reinforces support

    for God ". And by a 401-to-5 vote. Nothing like war drums- even more

    effective than Bach - to put the people and their leaders in a pious

    moods. Cynical free thinkers have observed that belief in God - in a

    meddling, anthropomorphic God - is inversely proportional to the evidence.

             Anyway in heaven nobody ever quarrels with God. No such thing

    as democratic debate up there. Until Lucifer came along. Was that guy

    the first original mind, the first FREE THINKER ? Then clearly Satan is

    the patron saint of the ACLU. We will not admit it, but Satan -not God-

    freed us all from boredom !

               And Satan does not demand we sing his praises while he is

    tormenting us. Who dare rebel against eternal crankiness ?

               Yesterday, I overheard a mental patient cursing the Almighty.

    Must have forgotten to take his  daily pill.

               Is war coming ? Praise Bush and pass the Prozac !

Postage stamp honors avowed Socialist Keller

I was pleased to read that the United States Postal Service has

    chosen to honor an avowed socialist and  remarkable human being -Helen

    Keller - with a stamp. I have just finished reading the autobiography

    of one Upton Sinclair - also a socialist who aimed for our hearts in

    his classic " The Jungle " - but instead hit us in the stomach instead

    -with his rotten meat industry story. Sinclair just missed winning a

    Nobel Prize. Perhaps he too - like Helen Keller - should be honored

    with a stamp. I believed he advocated a very tranquil transition to

    Socialism - which would not offend comfortable white Southern aristocrats

    and their friends. At the end of his autobiography this gentle soul

    wonders how the poor can even afford to die !

             The cynic in me also wants to honor H.L. Mencken with a

    postage stamp. He knew that this world was too much to take SOBER !

Skunkin Donuts !

I told you a few letters ago that it is hard to find

    a capitalist nowadays who is not a corrupt thief. Today we read about

    the Dunkin Donuts scandal: the owner of 28 Mass. stores treating his

    help - mostly underaged kids ! - in a way that recalls scathing chapters

    in the first volume of Karl Marx's " Capital "  : Vampire like , the

    capitalist class sucks the life blood out of the workers.

                I have noticed inferior service in many local Dunkin

    Donuts stores. Providence is dumb enough to greet visitors with a

    Dunkin Donuts Center ! Shame on the Renaissance City !

                How many people have noticed the PUKE in their morning

    Dunkin Donuts coffee ? Just unfresh  creme or milk. You never see

    a supervisor around these kids. Yesterday I was about to buy a coffee

    bun at Dunkin Donuts across from the Providence Journal Company. Then

    I noticed the dumb kid was serving them with his dirty bare hands !

           And when a small cup of coffee costs as much as a gallon of

    gasoline, it is time to make your own coffee.

                  DON'T BE A DUNKIN DONUTS ZOMBIE !

No error in NY Times article

I was just able to check the New York Times article  on the

    10 " most beautiful scientific experiments of all time " ( Sept. 24 ).

    There is no error  there on the Cavendish figure for the mass of the

    earth. The error I observed in the Providence Sunday Journal article

    - a figure for the mass of the earth not in exponential form  ( 6.0 x

    1024 kilograms ) - whatever the excuse - originated at 75 Fountain

    St. I hope there is no Channel 6 vindictiveness here. To err is

    human. To forgive ( Buddy ?  Clinton ? ) is divine.

              But when you literally have the weight of the world on your

    shoulders, you should know the TRUE burden !