Jayson T. Blairs and newspaper letter writers

        I won't say that Jayson T. Blair of New York Times was stretching

    DIVERSITY  enthusiasm, but it does look like that whatever the editors

    of ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT  say about the scandal.

            One way to avoid these newspaper fraud scandals is - I suspect -

    to pay more attention to  your rather obscure and undistinguished letter

    writers , the literary hoi polloi who love to sniff out baloney just

    for the sport of it.  Were there such letter writers that at least

    TRIED to bring Blair's fictions to the attention of honest but

    supercilious editors - not to be distracted by humble letter writers?

            " We welcome mail " . Yes, like you welcome in laws on holidays !


             If the New York Times wants to publish a shocking best seller :

    Publish a book of just 1000 letters NOT FIT TO PRINT !  Unlike other

    major newspapers , the VOICE OF AMERICA is hard to hear on prestigious

    Commentary Page of the New York Times - where we find all the opinions

    of the respectable Country Club - where even an honest Jayson T. Blair

    would be liberally snubbed .

Empathy for over the edge cop

Story: a woman with empathy for doomed pit bulls infuriates

    an East Providence Police captain . He is caught seemingly threatening

    the woman with the crudest talk. Over and over again, we hear on TV :

    " I'm going to put it up her *** ! "   Horror mixed with vulgar

    entertainment for the TV audience - always on the side of virtue.

               A little irony here: many cops do indeed have pitbull

    personalities themselves. Can this woman empathize with THEM ?

               I guess at times it is nice to have a pit bull on

    YOUR side. Don't put this cop away. He needs a little more

    UNDERSTANDING. The stress of the job got to him. And you can

    hear ordinary drunken macho men talk like this to their wives

    or girl-friends all the time. For them some broads just need a

    smack , others more penetrating punishment. Soon they sober up

    and offer groveling apologies to THEIR woman.

                  This East Providence cop - I think - just needs a

    long  paid vacation.  And that pit bull lover woman a written

    apology - from this pit-bull like cop.

                   We must give our cops a rather long leash - in

    the interest of law and order. Tough job - being a cop !

" Cradle of Civilization " and THE EXORCIST

      For a baby boomer letter writer in the Boston Globe today the magic

    phrase " cradle of civilization " takes him back to an old school building

    in 1959. Yes, they did teach Ancient History back then and what pupil

    -even half awake in the dingy old school room - can forget the significance

    of " the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers -now modern  Iraq " ?

    I can almost SMELL the old textbook : " History of Western Civilization ".

    A copy of it is probably still around  gathering dust in some obscure

    section of the public library.

              There was nothing smug about that discredited course. In the

    spirit of the Greek Historian Herodotus it was lively, interesting,

    sympathetic and cosmopolitan -giving credit where it is due, finding

    VIRTUE even in the barbarian. A contagious thought : " Isn't the world

    an interesting place ? "

              But " modern Iraq " I also associate with the Peter Blatty

    horror story " The Exorcist " .The movie begins at an archaeological dig

    in Iraq. Father Merrin has just found a small , gargoyle-like statuette.

     " Suddenly an eerie wind begins to blow, and dogs begin fighting among

    themselves... a demonic force has been loosed upon the world "

            Once again " ancient evil manifests itself ". ( Magill's

    Survey of Cinema  )

              I'll bet that hideous gargoyle was recently stolen from

    the Museum of Iraq. Its new possessor - the next Saddam ?

                  What was the name of the ancient god of Darkness ? I'll

    check the old textbook on " Ancient History ".

Cicilline's own dirty tricks dept. ?

In some ways the " reform " mayor of Providence, David Cicilline,

    despite his many good qualities - is already beginning to show ethical

    narrow mindedness and even CLASS prejudice on certain issues. Being openly

    gay does not make you immune to the prevailing snobbery of your social

    background. When asked on Talk Radio ( WHJJ ) about the nearly impossible

    rental rates in Providence ( the caller was a struggling young artist) ,

    Cicilline did not even suggest the possibility of RENT CONTROL . Now THAT

    is a taboo idea for New Democrats everywhere - enough to make any two bit

    slum lord apoplectic !

              Also the new REFORM mayor wants to raise money for Providence

    by old fashioned dirty tricks -worthy of any creepy bureaucrat in the

    Rhode Island Registry of Motor Vehicles. Beware the not so hidden cameras

    at confusing intersections ! The cops will catch poor foolish violators of

    the law -not for the sake of public safety so much as for the purpose of

    balancing the city budget.

         And are we to believe that a traffic fine of one hundred dollars is

    EQUAL PUNISHMENT for all offenders, whatever their economic class ? Too

    often the logic of the law affronts common sense and common decency.

            The new REFORM mayor, David Cicilline, lacks the common touch.

    No surprise here. " Buddy " Cianci  could at least fake it - with the help

    of booze, cigarettes, and cuss words.

              Can't " Buddy "  host a talk show from jail ? Fill the void

    left by " Providence " ?