Just Latinos -or " Invasion of Body Snatchers " ?

I have been a critic of the more mindless forms of political correctness

    but at least political correctness -outside the universities ! - seems

    to be rather good natured and just wants us to be nicer to one another,

    whatever our racial or cultural differences.

                But how nasty the opposite of political correctness can be

    I witnessed listening to Talk Radio. The hot topic : bilingual ballots,

    in Spanish and English. Most of the callers to our low brow cheer leader

    -known as THE INDEPENDENT MAN - were furious over this blatant subversion

    of the American Way.

               The Spanish speaking CITIZENS were spoken of with such

    paranoid hostility, such contempt that I was reminded of the 1950s

    science fiction film : " The Invasion of the Body Snatchers ".

               Way back in my high school days I was advised to study

    at least one foreign language - and told that Spanish was the easiest

    language for us " native Americans " to learn.

            What  I learned from my two years of Spanish language study

    at the Community College of Rhode Island was this : There is nothing

    ALIEN about the people of Mexico, Central and South America. Their

    culture was predominantly Western Civilization, their religion- Roman

    Catholicism.

             In many ways the Spanish speaking immigrants are a lot like

    the older generation of Italian immigrants.

                 Both Spanish and Italian are derived from ancient Latin

    -from which come about 70% of our English vocabulary.

                For the intellectually curious : the everyday words of

    Spanish are often connected etymologically to our more sophisticated

    vocabulary.

                   One language learning experience : the feeling that

    PEOPLE are alike everywhere !

               A bilingual ballot is just cultural courtesy - not the end

    of life as we know it.

                 Find a more serious problem to lose sleep over !

Karl Marx laughs at Zionism !

If Karl Marx were alive today, he might take a keen interest

    in the CLASS STRUCTURE of modern Israel. It  would indeed seem to the

    diehard communist internationalist - " workers of the world unite! " -

    that in Israel - forget about the Palestinians for a minute - some Jews

    are more equal than other Jews.

                 I read on the front page today : " secular residents protest

    ... military service exemptions for Orthodox Jews who devote themselves

    full time to study Jewish law . "

                I suspect that there are not a few  Jewish atheists even in

    Israel who would rather study physics full time than theological rubbish.

     Even quite " patriotic "  Jews !

                    Karl Marx would laugh at this irony : working class liberal

    minded Jews dying to make Israel safe for the most fanatical Orthodox

    Jews - too  PIOUS and scholarly to fight and die for their country.

                Imagine an atheistic Jewish soldier fighting for something

    he does not even believe in: " The Promised Land " !

                  Working class Jews not having a direct connection to the

    Almighty might find oppressed Palestinians to be their true brothers !

                     Thank God for old fashioned Jewish Communists - like

    Karl Marx.

France insults its Revolution !

Every  political leader in the world might be a target for

    assassination. The conservative phony Jacques Chirac is over-reacting

    to the recent attempt on his life that may not even have been a conspiracy.

              Headline : " France to outlaw radical right ". It is one thing

    to arrest and punish criminal  terrorists. It is quite another thing - a

    mockery of the great French Revolution- to outlaw minor, unpopular political

    parties - perhaps reflecting the views of a significant number of French

    citizens that unchecked immigration is ruining their country.

                  When I  watch " old " French films - from the 50s and 60s-

    the Bridget Bardot era - I can empathize with nostalgia for a cleaner,

    brighter, saner, safer, happier, more sensuously enjoyable world.

                   You can't outlaw IDEAS - even nasty, reactionary ones.

             Imagine the likes of Chirac  deciding even for the eternally

    rebellious French Left the boundaries of political correctness.

            When Lee Harvey Oswald was assassinated here nobody thought

    about outlawing the Fair Play For Cuba  Committee.

                  Let the ghosts of the Convention return to haunt modern

    France.  " Do not betray us ! " they shout from the grave.

Child prostitutes in downtown Providence ?

My friend " Emo " - being homeless - is very familiar with

    the night scene in downtown Providence. He is very suspicious that he

    witnessed a  young " blond blue-eyed " boys prostitute ring operating

    boldly out of the Holiday Inn in downtown Providence, R.I. The time

    of this was around midnight, July 26.

              The group of " come hither " cuties were on the side of the

    hotel facing the Civic Center.

              " These kids should be home in bed or under visible adult

    supervision ", Emo commented.

              A little cynical I thought : " A police sting operation " ?

           Trying to catch some vulnerable candidates for high office in

    the Ocean State ?

                " Emo " wanted to call the police. Next time he will.

        I told Emo I will e-mail the Projo about this local  scandal.

           Mark Patinkin had a write up on poor homeless and brilliant

    Emo the Cat Man  - who lost his house to City Hall a while back.

            Keep his name out of it until I talk to him again.