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 !