This Bond of Men – By J. Persico and R. Casey

10 Apr 2023 3 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Johnston HS Baseball Team 19631963 Johnston High School State Baseball Champions

Some stories shout to the world to be told.  Other stories whisper.  This story is of the latter kind.  It took place back in 1963 in a small obscure part of the world called Johnston, R.I.  Far overshadowed by events like the Kennedy assassination and the Vietnam war, I hardly noticed it occurred.  I would not even be telling you this story now were it not for some recent events involving the men whom it happened to.

Partly it is a David versus Goliath story.  We all like these stories and they grab our attention because we love to see the little guy kick the big guy’s butt.  Perhaps the two most famous stories I can recall in this vein are the defeat of the Russian Hockey team by the US team in the Olympics.  On Feb. 22, 1980, the United States beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in an ice hockey game at the Lake Placid Olympics.  It was one of the biggest upsets in sports history.  They called this the” Miracle on Ice.”  The USA team went on to win the gold medal.  Herb Brooks, the coach. was from Minnesota and was well known in our town of St Paul.  He died in a car accident in 2003 and was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

The second story which most of us know is the story of Muhammed Ali versus Sonny Liston.  Sonny Liston or the “Bear” as he was known was a terrifying hulk of a man whom it was said had killed men in the ring with one punch.  Muhammed Ali (Cassius Clay at the time) was a young promising upstart of a boxer with quick hands and an even quicker mouth.  He disturbed boxings notion of what a fighter should be and do and most boxing fans wanted to see him get his head handed to him and fully expected that he would.

The fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the world was held on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida.  Muhammed Ali (an 8–1 underdog) won in a major upset.  This fight turned the boxing world upside down.  It became one of the most controversial fights in the sport’s history.  “Sports Illustrated labeled it as the fourth greatest sports event of the twentieth century.” — Wikipedia.

The first fight between Ali and Liston barely registered on my antenna at the time.  I was finishing high school and wondering what I was going to be when I grew up.  I had little or no chance of going to college and was considered one of the biggest disappointments at my high school.  I was attending Johnston High School where the event that I am about to describe took place.  It happened nearly sixty years ago in 1963.  I am telling you this story now not because it is simply another David beats Goliath tale but because the story happening after this event is even more significant than the event itself.

Johnston High School opened in 1960.  My family had just moved from Woonsocket, R.I. to Johnston R.I. for reasons that I will never know.  In the years that followed, I went from being an A student to a student barely passing my classes.  Teachers and other students regarded me as intelligent but lacking discipline.  In my four years of high school, I achieved only one noticeable success.  I did not join any clubs.  I played no sports.  I participated in no school activities.  I went to no school sporting events.  I took no doe eyed damsels to a single prom.  I was twice arrested.  Once for breaking and entering and once for drag racing on a public highway.  My single success in high school was derided by the head of the English department as “A dark day for Johnston High School.”  I won first place in a school-wide writing contest that I had loudly insulted and laughed at.

Johnston was actually “West Providence” by another name.  It lay between the borders of Massachusetts and Connecticut.  It would take you less than an hour to drive across the middle of R.I.  We had North Providence, South Providence, and East Providence but no “West” Providence.  Instead, we had Johnston.  I often assumed Johnston was simply an afterthought or a poor stepchild for R.I.  Comprised mostly of working-class blue-collar Italians, it was just a suburb of Providence.  In 1952 when this story really begins, Johnston was a rural area with dirt roads, streams, and many farms.  Today the population is over 30,000.

My friend Bob thought the town was a great place for kids to grow up.  It had a volunteer fire department, a “keystone” cops police department, and an average school system although no high school until 1960.  The town had approximately 5000 residents.  Today the town has almost 30,000 residents.  The most important (For this story anyway) part of the town was its recreation department.  It offered barebones opportunities in respect to sports but it had managed to establish a little league baseball association and a teener league baseball association.   You probably do not remember now but back in the fifties “Baseball” and not football was the “All American Sport.”

1958 Little League

1958 Little League in Johnston R.I.

Every kid wanted to be like Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951) or Mickey Mantle (1951-1968) or Whitey Ford (1961-1965).  Trading cards of baseball players were like finding gold and young boys spent hours collecting and trading their cards to get their favorites.  The American historian Jacques Barzun said, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” 

Before Johnston High School opened, most of the kids in Johnston went to other high schools around the state.  In 1963, Johnston H.S. was barely three years old.  It had maybe 400 students enrolled.  It had no history of “Esprit de Corp” or reputation for anything.  Nevertheless in 1963, Johnston H.S. won the R.I. State High School Baseball championship.  At the time, there was no divisions by size for the finals in baseball, so Johnston won against much bigger and well-established high school teams.  It was pitted against a Goliath (La Salle Academy) in the semi-finals for the State Championship.

La Salle Academy is a private Roman Catholic college preparatory school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Providence, Rhode Island.  It was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1871.  Today it has an enrollment of 1,478 students in the sixth through twelfth grades, and hosts sixty-four teams in 18 sports.  In May 2005, Sports Illustrated magazine cited La Salle for having the best athletic program in Rhode Island.  The schools list of alumnae would stagger you and take up the rest of this story.  The same is true for its list of State Championships in football, baseball, soccer, and other sports.  Back in 1963, any notion or idea that Johnston High School could beat La Salle in anything would have drawn hysterical laughter.  The odds would have been fifty to one against it.

Johnston High School beat La Salle Academy 2-1, in a best-of-three state final series.  The Johnston Panthers then proved that the win over La Salle was no fluke and beat Barrington High School 5-0 for the Final Championship.   A miracle perhaps but the real miracle took place in the years following this event.

Athletics and the sports world in general love to regale the public with stories of how sports have made a difference in the lives of others.  I am sure that you have heard how sports builds character and helps to mold the lives of young people.  As often as we may have heard these claims, we have seen repeated stories of spoiled young athletes.  Athletes who think the world owes them something and who squander any character building that their coaches might proclaim.  I am critical of the ability of sports to instill character, but I also stand ready to acknowledge that there are instances where it does happen.  That is the moral of this story.  A time when character was developed.

In 1963, fourteen ragtag baseball players, two team managers and two young coaches banded (nay bonded) together to put together a championship team.  That this event has been little heralded and perhaps less remembered by most of the world is not important.  For the players on this team, it was a galvanizing influence on their lives.

Several years ago, a popular novel was the “Band of Brothers.”  This story told of the bonds that were forged in the military during combat among the men of a platoon.  There have been many tales of battlefield bonds that were forged between men of great diversity in ethnicity and ideology.  The battlefield is a catalyst for such bonds.  To some extent, a team represents the possibility for such bonds.  A popular trope is that “There is no I in team.”  Unfortunately, there are too many I’s in too many teams.

I knew many of the men that played on the Johnston baseball team of 1963.  It may seem callous of me to say this, but I doubt that any of them were MLB material.  One outstanding player on the team was kicked off by Coach Edward Di Simone for swearing.  Di Simone said that the athlete, Robert Casey, was the most gifted man he had ever coached.  Unfortunately for Bob, there was too much “I” in his demeanor at the time and he left the team for good.  Later in life, Bob proved the words of Di Simone many times over by repeatedly winning the R.I. Handball Championship.  Handball is not a team sport.

Bob and coach Di Simone later became good friends and maintain a friendship to this day.  Bob Casey also remained friends with several of the men on the baseball team whom he had once played with.  Why did this team of average players go on to win against teams with players who did go to the major leagues?  I think it attests to the fact that Di Simone created a true team with men who bonded together with a common passion to play and minus the common passion to stand out and be a “superstar.”  They were men who looked up and listened to coach Di Simone.  The lack of ego among the players contributed to a desire to work together.  As D’Artagnan said in the “Three Musketeers”, “All for one and one for all.”  Senator Hubert Humphrey said that “Democracy is a system that achieves extraordinary results with ordinary people.”  Great teams like the ones that Di Simone and Brooks coached were remarkable because they created bonds that laid a foundation for extraordinary results with ordinary men.

1961 Pony League

1961 Teener or Pony League 

The bonds that developed between the men on the Johnston High School Baseball team were forged over many years of playing together.  Years before any of them would step foot in Johnston High School, these boys had played together in the Johnston Little League and then the Johnston Teener League.  They had learned to work together.  They had learned what strengths and what weaknesses each player had.  There were no super stars in the group.  Just a bunch of kids who loved to play the game of baseball and wanted to excel at everything they did.

Coach Eddie Di Simone was recently out of college and only about ten years older than most of his players in 1963.  He inherited a group of boys who had been playing baseball together for nearly five years.  Bonds had already started to develop but these were honed and polished by Coach Di Simone.  He believed that it was not enough to be a good ball player.  He strove to instill in his team his belief in four main values.  These were Simplicity, Honesty, Integrity, and Fair Play.

Coach Di Simone believed in these values, and he wanted his players to believe in them.  He demonstrated them on the playing field both with his own behavior and with his expectations for the team.  He was someone who practiced the values that he taught his players.  Imagine any Coach today kicking one of his best players off the team for swearing?  Coach Di Simone knew that after life with baseball, each of these men would go out to face a very different playing field.  On the “field of life” his values of simplicity, honesty, integrity, and fair play would be much more valuable than skills at hitting, throwing, catching, and running bases.

Sixty years later many of the surviving members of the Johnston High School Panthers baseball team are still meeting regularly with their former Coach Di Simone to remember the day that they won the championship.  However, they celebrate the specific day and its memories of winning less than they do the events that followed.  They have not been “stuck” in the past of 1963 when they put on their cleats, took their bats and gloves, and walked out on the ball field.  They have not spent the past sixty years trying to relive their “glory” days as it seems so many former high school athletes do.  What they celebrate when they meet with their former coach and now friend is the bond that was forged between the team and its Coach Di Simone.  It is a bond of men forged over a fire of values.  The values learned on the playing field helped to make the members of the 1963 Johnston High School championship team into the successful men that they have become in life.  That is the real story here.

Coach Di Simone is now 89 years old.  Amazingly, 12 of the original 14 team members remain alive and in their late seventies.   A few weeks ago, at one of their meetings they bestowed a plaque on Coach Di Simone commemorating the 1963 championship and what Coach Di Simone has meant to them.  As I write this, there are plans for a December meeting at Coach Di Simone’s house and dinner afterwards.  The affection for their former coach is very evident in his former players.  (NOTE:  This meeting took place in December of 2022)

The end to this story will be written in the future.  To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, “The world will little note, nor long remember what I say here, but it should never forget the real reasons why these men became who they are today.”  In a world awash with narcissism and egotism, it is comforting to find that upstanding values can still be the basis for an unshakeable bond between people as well as a basis for successful lives.

By the way, if you want to have some fun, see how many of the players you can recognize on the above pictures who are in each picture.  It is interesting to see the changes from “Kids” to “Young Men.”

Appendix: Date:  April 10, 2023

I have listed the names of the 14 men that were on the original 1963 Championship team along with their two coachs.

  • Kenneth J. Ainley, first base
  • Thomas J. Donnelly, third base
  • Richard A. Esposito, utility
  • William G. Geremia, utility
  • Alex M. Giarrusso, catcher
  • Frank E. Jasparro, left field
  • Scott Moore, pitcher
  • James J. Petteruti, center field
  • Daniel Pisaturo, third and second base
  • Ronald P. Ricci, utility
  • Edward A. Skovron, second base and shortstop
  • Melvin D. Steppo, third base
  • David P. Taraborelli, right field
  • Michael R. Ursini, utility
  • Coach Ed Di Simone
  • Coach Bob Smith

Free Speech in the Public Arena

07 Apr 2023 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

free speech

This is part 4 of my series on Free Speech.  In my third part, I talked about the issue of free speech in academia.  Here I would like to discuss how I see the First Amendment playing out in the public sector.  By public sector, I am referring to the street, store, bank, airplane, bus, park, library or any public building or public office space, where you might find yourself standing or sitting.  The First Amendment provides that:

“Congress make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise.  It protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

downloadAs with any of the constitutional amendments there is a certain, indeed I would say “high” degree of ambiguity as to the limits of what the Founding Fathers meant by their words.  We know for instance that they did not mean that you could slander or libel anyone with your words.  We know that they did not mean that you could yell “fire” in a crowded theater.  We also know that there are many instances of what the Founding Fathers did not have a clue would become an interpretation for “Free Speech.”  For instance, the Citizens United decision by the US Supreme Court says that the right to make political contributions is a form of free speech.  This will probably go down in history as one of the most egregious interpretations of what the Founding Fathers meant.  The only interpretations that seem more egregious concern several earlier court decisions regarding slavery and the buying and selling of human beings.

Another famous saying is a parody of the “Golden Rule.”  This parody says that “He/She who has the gold makes the rules.”  In terms of free speech, this parody is quite apt.  Corporations have a lot of money, so they decide what free speech is and is not.  The more money or power you have, the more free speech you can ostensibly command.  If you are a US Senator, you will have a greater audience willing to listen to you than you or I would have.

Bernadette Dohrn, the now retired law professor and once upon a time leftist radical, said that “In America, you can say anything you want, until someone starts listening to you.”  This truism seems to have become aggravated by the sheer numbers of lawyers and courts that are willing to hear any type of case regardless of what it is about.  Don’t think for a second that they are doing this to further truth, justice, and the American way of life.  If you have enough money, you can get your day in court.  If you do not, you better have a case that the media finds “sensational.”  Have you ever wondered why some cases get tried much sooner than others?  High profile politicians have the right to a speedy access in appeal courts and even the US Supreme Court considerably faster than you or I ever would.

The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution says that Americans have the right to “fair and speedy” trial.

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,”

imagesRecently, I read of the case of an eleven-year-old convicted of killing his stepmother.  His appeal took three and a half years to come to court and then found him not guilty.  On the other hand, Kari Lake, the big lie advocate and loser in the Arizona Governor’s race this past year had appeal after appeal and each one seemed to take less than two or three weeks.  It takes three and a half years to get justice for an eleven-year-old wrongly convicted of murder, but Lake got trial after trial for her baseless and politically motivated claims that they “stole” the election from her.  This same scenario has played out repeatedly in the past few years.  Poor people with no money wait years to get a “fair hearing” while rich bottom feeders like Lake walk in and out of court on an almost daily basis.

This is an excerpt from a talk that Chris Hedges gave on April 4th at the Independent National Convention in Austin, Texas.  He called it “Reclaiming our Country.”

“It is one of the great ironies that the corporate state needs the abilities of the educated, intellectuals and artists to maintain power, yet the moment any begin to think independently they are silenced.  The relentless assault on culture, journalism, education, the arts and critical thinking, has left those who speak in the language of class warfare marginalized, frantic Cassandras who are viewed as slightly unhinged and depressingly apocalyptic.  Those with the courage to shine a light into the inner workings of the machinery, such as Noam Chomsky, are turned into pariahs, or, like Julian Assange, relentlessly persecuted.”

It does not really take much to run afoul of those who want to stifle free speech and free expressions in America.  Here are some examples from my own life.  I give these modestly because they are nowhere near as egregious as some.

  • Told while working for the Metropolitan Council in Minnesota that I had better back the Democratic candidate for Governor or my career would be short-lived. I backed Jesse Ventura instead.
  • Told by the VA Director while working for the VA as a Claims Examiner 7 that I would need to shave my beard off, or that I would never get a promotion.
  • Apparently, a complaint (from someone unknown) about my teaching a unit on current social issues necessitated a security person from the school to burst into my classroom, demanding to see my lesson plans, and wanting to know “who approved these plans?” I informed him that they were part of the regular curriculum, to which he ordered me to not pursue these lesson plans any further.  This happened in a local high school about 4 years ago when I was filling in for the regular teacher who was out for the week.

FH_FOTP2017_WhoTHreatensThePress_infographic_titles_subs_FINAL_1000px-1024x777

In recent years, we have seen more and more examples of speech being stifled by both right and left-wing extremists.  Each side does not want the other side to have a right to speak their piece.  A key cornerstone of our democracy has become so politicized today that agitators feel they have the right to speak but you and I do not.  Lawyers twist the words and definitions to fit the needs of corporations and rich clients but not to find truth and justice.  As Humpty Dumpty said to Alice:

humpty-dumpty-on-wall-with-alice-martin-davey

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

Gold makes the rules, and the Master defines the words.  He who has both the gold and the power decides what is the truth and what lies may be told.

“I can walk into a bookshop and point out a number of books that I find very unattractive in what they say.  But it doesn’t occur to me to burn the bookshop down. If you don’t like a book, read another book.  If you start reading a book and you decide you don’t like it, nobody is telling you to finish it.”   — Salman Rushdie

Libraries, once a bastion of intellectual thought and free speech, have come under attack all over the USA.  State legislatures governed by Republican majorities have drawn up lists of hundreds of books to be removed from public libraries, school libraries and college libraries.  In one state a high school principal was recently fired for allowing a teacher to use a textbook for art appreciation which depicted the famous statue of David.  Book bans have occurred in 138 school districts in 32 states. These districts represent 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students.  — Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students’ First Amendment Rights (April 2022),

School-Book-Bans-by-State-e1663182860955

Truth is now routinely perverted by both the media and the so-called justice system in America.  The narratives that you are bombarded with every day and that deign to pass as Free Speech are seldom anything but gross distortions of reality.  Think of the documents you sign for an insurance policy or a mortgage or buying a new car.  Dozens of pages of legal sounding words that have no meaning to the average person.  Even a lawyer would be hard put to explain what you are about to sign.  There is a good chance that you will later find that they covered every loophole needed to protect themselves at your expense.  I give you one example from many in my life.

A few years ago, I purchased a new RV.  The dealer talked me into signing an extended warranty policy for about 2000 dollars.  In less than ten thousand miles, a wheel broke off.  It did not come off because of loose nuts.  The hub and brake assembly all broke off with part of the axel.  It tore through the underbody of the RV causing almost 7000 thousand dollars of damage.  When I called the warranty company, they told me I had no claim.  Their policy covered “defect” not “damage” and that I should read page 32 for an explanation.  Every auto person I talked to said it was a defective hub and wheel.  “NO” said the warranty company.  If I did not agree, I could hire a lawyer, but they added they had fought this battle many times and they “would win.”

I am sure that everyone reading this can find a similar example of signing some long legal sounding document and later finding that the words were crafted to “give you the shaft.”  These legal distortions further the ends of an elite that does not believe in Democracy.  They are like wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Their façade keeps the public passive until they are ready to pounce.  There are many in America today for which Democracy is nothing but a convenient façade.  It is brought out when needed to further their ends.  Ends which as my good friend Dick always said you will find when you “follow the money.”

“Goebbels was in favor of free speech for views he liked.  So was Stalin.  If you’re really in favor of free speech, then you’re in favor of freedom of speech for precisely the views you despise.  Otherwise, you’re not in favor of free speech.”  — Noam Chomsky

kaliedscope

Free speech is like anything else that someone tells you is free.  It is never free.  There are no free lunches.  If you understand that “Freedom” is never free but is always purchased with the blood of heroes and martyrs, what makes you think that Free Speech is “FREE.”  Free Speech is purchased with the courage to pursue convictions, speaking up when in the minority, and most of all an acceptance of hearing things you don’t want to hear and understanding that truth is like a kaleidoscope.  Each twist of a kaleidoscope brings a different reality into view.

free-speech-week-logo-main

Consider participating in “Free Speech Week” this October 16-22, 2023

FREE SPEECH WEEK

Created in 2005 and originally called National Freedom of Speech Week, Free Speech Week (FSW) takes place the third week of October annually.  Its purpose is to raise public awareness of the importance of freedom of speech and of a free press in our democracy – and to celebrate that freedom.  This non-partisan, non-ideological event is intended to be a unifying celebration.

PS:  Check out the latest Jim Hightower Thoughts on Book Banning.

https://open.substack.com/pub/jimhightower/p/how-perverse-is-the-gops-book-banning?r=zfnvi&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

The Landlord of the Bed

02 Apr 2023 11 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

john and karen

I realized with a sudden insight the other night that my wife Karen was the “Landlord of the Bed.”  She is the lord, ruler and keeper of the bed.  To be specific, the bed referred to is “Our” bed.  The one that most nights of the year we sleep in.  The area over which Karen claims dominion is approximately 81 inches long, 62 inches wide and 25 inches high.  The generic name of her land is commonly known as a Queen-Sized Pillow Top Bed.   It leans on the firm side and gives a wonderful nights sleep.

It incorporates three virtual States.  One is the “State of Un-Made.”  A second is the State of Half-Made” and then there is the state of “Fully-Made.”  The Landlord has some liberal rules concerning what State the bed is allowed to remain in.  I will describe these rules later.

In addition to the three “States” of the bed, there are also two “Regions” of the bed.  There is the “On the Bed” region.  The Landlord of the Bed allows certain things to take place there.  These include folding clothes, laying out patterns, loading suitcases.  The second region is the “In the Bed” region.  There are also certain things that the Lord allows to take place there.  I will keep this description brief since I would like to keep this blog PG or Family rated.  However, the obvious things should not offend anyone.  These include sleeping, sometimes eating in bed, reading in bed, watching TV in bed, and holding some family discussions in bed.  The area I left out (For PG reasons) was once a more active activity in this region but time has diminished both our energy and vigor, enough said about this.

As Landlord of the Bed, Karen has many decisions to make each day.  What sheets to put on and take off.  When to wash the sheets and pillowcases.  When to replace the old ones with new ones.  What State to allow the bed to remain in.  How long she will remain in bed.  There are other issues not worth discussing.  As a very liberal Landlord, Karen always takes my feelings into consideration when she makes any of these decisions.  For instance, whenever I come back home (usually after an early morning run or hike) Karen will jump out of bed to come and greet meet at the door.  This makes me feel very special.  In the old days, I would have taken off my running gear and jumped back in bed with her.  However, the only jumping I do these days is when I run into a Jumping Cholla.  So called because their thorns jump out to stick you.

Getting back to Karen’s rules for the three States.  I would say they are somewhat ephemeral.  They are certainly not cut in stone.

unmade bed

Rules for Un-Made State are as follows:

  • Ok, if sick
  • Ok, if in a hurry to leave and we will be back soon
  • Ok, if going to take a nap

half made

Rules for the Half-Made State are as follows:

  • Going to strip the bed soon to wash sheets
  • Going to take a nap and bed has not yet been made
  • Just feel too darn lazy to bother

fully made

Rules for the Fully-Made State are as follows:

  • Whenever we have company coming over
  • Whenever we are leaving for a longer period of time
  • Whenever Karen wants the house to seem neat and tidy
  • After clean sheets and pillow cases have been put on

I have to confess, it was Karen who first brought up the idea of a Landlord of the Bed.  It really has a long history in coming.  Karen has almost always accused me of hogging the covers.  For some reason (unknown to me or modern physics) the covers always seem to end up on my side of the bed.  Karen claims it is because I pull them over me in the middle of the night and then she has to yank them back to her side.  These baseless accusations have gone on since we were married.  They only seem to happen on cold nights or nights when it starts off warm and then gets colder.  You should know that we sleep with the windows open and both of us like a very cool bedroom.

download 333

The other night, quite to my surprise, I found the covers mostly on Karen’s side of the bed.  Although we live in Arizona, the nights have been down in the thirties and forties for several months.  This leads to a tendency for Karen to start off with few covers when it is warmer and then as the room temperature goes down, she will pull them over more and more when she gets cold.  I had just gone to the bathroom and when I came to go back to bed, I noticed that Karen had all the covers.

Somehow, the blanket was not only mostly on her side, but it was also all jumbled up with the top sheet.  I tried to rearrange them to get some covers on my side but did not have much luck.  I finally asked Karen, who was awake by then, if she would kindly fix the covers so that I could have some.  She wanted to know why it was her responsibility.  I told her because it was her bed and she was responsible for it.  She laughed and said, “What am I, the Landlord of the Bed?”

download (1)It was so obvious; I do not know why I did not realize it before.  She is the Landlord of the Bed!  She is the Lord and High Ruler of all the States and both Regions of our bed.  I want no responsibility for it.  I only want my rights.  Like most Americans today, I want my rights, but I don’t want any responsibilities.  If the covers and blankets all end up on my side of the bed, it is not my fault.  It is all Karen’s fault.  She should be the only one to blame.  A good landlord is responsible for making sure that their tenants are comfortable and that the facilities are in good working order.

Well, that is all I am going to write on this subject for now.  I have decided to hire a lawyer and to have him or her draft a “Rights for Bed Users Bill” that I will submit to Karen.  If she wants to continue sharing a bed with me, I want my RIGHTS!

Torn apart

“In bed we laugh, in bed we cry, and born in bed, in bed we die; the near approach a bed may show of human bliss to human woe.”  — Samuel Johnson

A Grave Disease Called Seriosity

01 Apr 2023 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

seriosityDo you suffer from Seriosity?  Websters On-Line Dictionary defines Seriosity as “The quality or state of being serious.”  It further states that the first identified use of the word was in 1505 CE.  Symptoms identifying a person suffering from Seriosity include:  earnestness, graveness, sedateness, soberness, solemness, and staidness.  “For instance, John was no fun to be around.  He was always so serious about everything.”  Psychologists identified his condition as Seriosity.  ICD 10 Lists the Code for this condition as 777-398-1234.  The DSM-5 (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) notes in its discussion of Seriosity the following:

“A very common malady these days that is usually accompanied or brought on by reading the daily news or watching too much Cable TV news.”

Symptoms may include but are not limited to:

Extreme intolerance of other views, periodic uncontrollable rants, gloominess, unhappiness, distain for Republicans and sometimes even Democrats, excessive categorization, and frequent “Doomsday” forecasts.

Recommended Treatment Protocols:

Patients require a great deal of empathy, and many will be prone to reject advances or ideas on how to get a life.   Clinicians have found that six months on a desert island without a cell phone or internet is the best treatment for this condition although this is not going to be feasible for all patients.  In lieu of a desert island, a week at Disneyland or a week paddling in the Boundary Waters will help some patients.  For those patients who are less mobile, shock therapy or a night of wild sex can sometimes be helpful.  — Pg 5024, Part 3, Section 8 – DSM-5 

We all know people who suffer from Seriosity.  If we are honest, we might find that at times we also suffer with minor bouts of this condition.  For instance, how often have you said any of the following:

  • The world is going to hell in a handbasket
  • Are people getting dumber or is it just my imagination?
  • When I was young, (Here you add your own finish); we walked ten miles to school every day even during a snowstorm.
  • It’s hopeless, we are powerless to change anything.
  • They just don’t make them like they used to.
  • Have you heard the news about D. Trump getting indicted? Don’t worry, he won’t be found guilty.  

Serious people can seem very boring to others.  A friend who reads my blog said that I liked to categorize everything.  He is right.  I am a serious person.  I have been diagnosed as “Borderline Seriosity” although Karen insists that I have passed the border long ago.

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[On being criticized for her serious expression:] “I simply ache from smiling.  Why are women expected to beam all the time?  It’s unfair.  If a man looks solemn, it’s automatically assumed he’s a serious person, not a miserable one.  — Queen Elizabeth II

There are serious people and un-serious people.  Seriosity is an extreme form of seriousness.  Taking oneself too seriously can lead to a great deal of misery and suffering.  It is much more fun to be unserious.  Unserious people take life as one big joke.  Everything that happens to unserious people is simply something that can be turned into one of life’s foibles.  A chance to scorn life and see the hilarity of existence.  Serious people do not see the funny sides of life much less what they should be happy about.   Here are some comments that unserious people might make about life:

  • So what if Goldie Locks ate all the cereal, the bears could still make more
  • So what if the Republicans gerrymandered all the districts in the USA, the baseball game will still be on Saturday or Sunday.
  • So what if climate change may destroy human life on earth, I only have ten years or so to go anyway.    

you-cant-be-serious-9781982171391_hrA serious person will look at death and wonder why life is so serious.  An unserious person will look at death and wonder why life is so funny.  A serious person will look at the inequalities of human existence and wonder how God could have been so flawed in his design capabilities.  An unserious person will look at Bruegel’s the “Triumph of Death” and wonder whether it is time for supper.

“I’m not a very serious person.  You know how they say that clowns are very funny in public and are really sad at home?  I’m really kind of stupid at home and more serious in public.”  — Roland Joffe

Several years ago, a friend of mine told me that humor was a big part of remaining sane in today’s world.  He said that I should work on my humor more and not take things so seriously.  I wanted to take his advice, so I asked him if he knew any good books that could help me be less serious.  A good research study or two about overcoming Seriosity was what I felt would be useful in my quest for a more jocular existence.  He shook his head in some dismay and walked away muttering.

“Basically, I’m a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy.  I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations.”   — Peter Ustinov

58c5d110-fbfe-4034-9e20-e6883907139c.6290d3e39f006d7cd4fda448718142d2It is now many years later.  I would not exactly describe myself as the “life of the party.”  I am much more interested in why people waste time at parties anyway.  Drinking and talking with people you probably will never see again does not seem like a good use of time.  In all seriousness, being too serious can seriously hurt your social life and even your sex life.  Who wants to be around someone who is doom and gloom all day long.  Day after day, never seeing the bright sunshine that lurks just behind those damn rain clouds.  Not appreciating that one day, everything that you think is really and truly wrong with the world, may just be proven right in the future.   Serious people need to look to the future more with a serious amount of faith and hope.

“Art is the only serious thing in the world.  And the artist is the only person who is never serious.”  — Oscar Wilde

My mother was often a very happy person.  She achieved this inner equanimity by a large dose of denial.  One of her favorite quotes was “ignorance is bliss.”  This phrase became anathema to everything that I believed.  She would argue that cows are happy and give good milk because they do not take the world too seriously.  The less you know, the happier you are.  Put your head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and you can be happy all day long.  These thoughts were like the devil trying to get me to sell my soul.  My motto could have been “Serious Now, Serious Tomorrow, Serious Forever!”  What is life if you do not take it seriously?

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BUT, BUT, BUT, than again, is happiness simply sheer ignorance?  Can serious people ever be happy?  Can you be happy and serious at the same time?   Many people seem to think that you can be both serious and happy.  Just don’t catch the disease of Seriosity.

Free Speech or NOT?  Free speech in Academia- Not So Much Anymore

26 Mar 2023 13 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Academic Freedom & Free Speech

Introduction:

After I wrote the following blog, I asked myself if this was not too much of a rant against the Republican Party.  I had to face the fact that it has been the Republican Party which has been waging the war against public education in this country.  However, I did not want this to be a rant against Republicans. I truly believe that Democrats and Republicans can offer a useful counterbalance to each other’s traditional positions IF they are so inclined to discuss and try to reach a compromise on positions and policies.  I am afraid that what I would like and what is possible today given the demonization of each party by the other side is no longer an option.

Some friends suggested that I simply avoid using the word Republican.  I thought about this, but the idea crossed my mind that if it waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims and flies like a duck and looks like a duck, then it is most likely a duck.  Republicans are at the forefront of an anti-intellectual agenda taking place across America today.  There can be no hiding or denying this fact.  If you identify as a Republican and are for free speech in schools, then you should speak out against these anti-public education policies or else vote as an independent.  If you continue to be silent or vote for Republican candidates simply based on party affiliation, then you are as guilty as those who would banish free speech in schools.

speech under attack

Freedom to Speak

Once upon a time, the freedom to speak the unspeakable was protected in Academia by a system unique to the hallowed Ivory Halls known as “Academic Tenure.”  Academic Tenure was thought of as an almost ironclad guarantee that would allow the professorial class the ability to speak their minds on any subject without fear of reprisals.  Wikipedia defines the system, and its purpose as follows:

“Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries.  A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program discontinuation.  Tenure is a means of defending the principle of academic freedom, which holds that it is beneficial for society in the long run if scholars are free to hold and examine a variety of views.” — Wikipedia

Now the purpose of education is mainly to create people who think for themselves.  Over the years, schools have had only minor success at accomplishing this goal.  There once was at least some correlation between the amount of education people had and their ability to think independently of political or economic ties.  As education for jobs, what I call Technocratic Education, has gradually replaced the idea of Liberal Education, this correlation has diminished.  Under the goals of the old Liberal Education, the correlation between education and independent thinking was stronger albeit, it still left a lot to be desired.

Today, we live in an age of Technocratic Education.  Students are now more interested in IT, Computer Science, Law, Medicine, and Engineering than English, History, Philosophy, and the Liberal Arts.  People go to school to get training in job skills and less in creative thinking skills.  We have doctors, lawyers, engineers, computer programmers, and many other graduates who while they may be experts in a certain field often have no idea of what happens beyond their chosen discipline.  This fact of specialization could make a strong case for the old Liberal Education.  Sadly, we cannot bring back the past.  Students pay ridiculous amounts of tuition in hopes of finding a job.  It is not easy to pay bills today.  The cost of living keeps skyrocketing.  That will not change.

Years ago, the Republican Party recognized that American Universities were saturated with professors who tended towards a liberal political perspective.  A large majority of professors were Democrats and some even very left wing.  A small minority were Conservatives.  The Republican Party schemed how they could change this.  Liberal Education and Democrats went together.  This would not do for the Republicans.  They came up with three ideas.

  1. Destroy and or neuter public education.
  2. Destroy tenure in institutions of public education
  3. Create conservative think tanks which would skew information and research to the right.

They were aided in their efforts to destroy public education by the prevailing zeitgeist which saw a decrease in the number of students interested in a Liberal Arts Education.  Technocratic Education had become the new standard.  Teacher Education was also declining as a preferred career field under an assault by school boards and Republicans to control curriculums and what teachers could say and teach.  In Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Free State of Florida,” a charter school principal was forced to resign after sixth-grade students were shown images of Michelangelo’s notably nude sculpture, “David.”  Apparently, DeSantis never visited downtown Louisville where a 30-foot-high gold painted statue of David is in the middle of a major street.  David is complete with his genitalia.

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The lack of funding for teachers, lack of prestige in the profession and war on ideas and free speech may kill public schools simply because of a shortage of teachers willing to deal with this denigration.  The Republican assault on tenure has been very successful.  It has led to a decrease in the number of schools with Academic Tenure.

Tenure Under Attack Nationwide:  Continued political pressures threaten to erode tenure on public campuses and compromise academic freedom. — Mark J. Drozdowski, Ed.D., Dec 8, 2021

“In January, legislators in South Carolina will consider a bill to eliminate tenure at the state’s public colleges and universities. While this may seem like an extraordinary move, it actually aligns with current and recent plans in several other states nationwide.”

Several other state legislatures have moved to abolish tenure in public schools.  News sources like Fox News continually portray educators as flaming Liberals and Radicals who want to brainwash our young people into believing in Socialism or Communism.  Here is a recent story on Fox News:

“Former teacher warns new Minnesota educator licensing standards includes every ‘buzzword’ from the far-left.”  — America Reports, January 30, 2023

The usual formula by Fox is to find some story with a “real teacher” who supports their conservative perspective and who is “blowing the whistle” on yet another dastardly plot by Liberals to brainwash students.  Conservatives hate “WOKE” ideas and liberal ideas that might be promoted to help protect the rights of minorities such as Blacks, LGBTQ, and Immigrants.  They also hate unions because they try to protect the rights of teachers.  This former elementary school teacher has made a second career out of railing against such liberal policies and support for unions.   The following video by another teacher is more emblematic of what teachers are thinking and doing today.  Please take a minute to listen to this teacher.

Gross Pointe Teacher Roasts School Board and Resigns 

A tribute to Republican propaganda is that the term Conservative has not become a dirty word in politics.  However, few Liberal politicians will define themselves as Liberals.  Hardly a day goes by when I do not read of some Republican Legislature bringing out new laws to muzzle teachers and ensure that they do not say anything which would lead to a questioning of authority.  We now have a “Parents Rights bill” sponsored by “you know who.”  This is a party that is all in for “Rights” but seem to forgot that as my Principal Sister Giovanni always liked to say “For every right, there is a responsibility.”  I would love to see a “Parent’s Responsibility Bill.”

socrates

I find it ironic, that 2600 years ago, Socrates, the smartest man in the world was tried, found guilty and executed for daring to teach young people to think for themselves.  He was executed in another place famous for its claim to democratic principles. Socrates believed that the foundation of education was based on questioning everything.  Republicans believe that the foundation is based on discipline, following instructions, and doing what you are told to do by your leaders.  One philosophy leads to pluralism, while the other leads to fascism.  The results of the Republican strategy can be clearly seen by the attack on the US Congress by a mob of Trump supporters and the resulting silence by the majority of the Republican leadership.  As tenure and unions decline, more and more educators find themselves threatened with jail and/or fines for teaching ideas and theories that are anathema to Conservatives, Evangelicals, and Republicans.

“In Indiana under a proposed bill (Senate Bill 12), if a prosecutor charged a teacher or school librarian with disseminating material that is harmful to minors, the school teacher or librarian would not be able to argue that the material had educational value as a defense.” — Feb, 28, 2023, Indiana Senate passes bill to ban ‘bad’ books, ease prosecution of teachers, librarians.

The final plank in the Republican platform to destroy education was to establish several think tanks and political action groups that would sponsor bills and laws to support their agenda.  If this seems somewhat absurd, allow me to explain further.  The current Republican Party is the most anti-intellectual and anti-science party that has ever existed in the USA.  There has always been a strong strain of anti-intellectualism in America   (Read Hofstadter’s book “Anti-Intellectualism in American Life).  The Republican Party has carried this strain to new heights.  Two examples as evidence of my statement:

  1. Their denial of climate change.
  2. Their anti-mask and anti-covid vaccine stance during the epidemic.

climate-environment-opinions-partisan-divide-promo-1582162903159-videoSixteenByNineJumbo1600-v3

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It can be argued that not all Republicans supported these positions but enough have done so to stymie efforts at reducing oil and gas emissions that directly contribute to climate change.  In terms of the Covid Epidemic, their opposition to masks and vaccines probably led to thousands of needless deaths.

The idea of “think tanks” and political action groups was sheer genius.  The Republicans realized that truth was ephemeral and that those who controlled the press or so-called research could write their own narratives.  Groups like AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH and the CATO INSTITUTE are nothing but shills for the Republican Party.  They exist to put a pseudo intellectual veneer on Republican efforts to destroy honest science and scandalize public policies that they are opposed to.

“The Trump team may not have been prepared to staff the government, but the Heritage Foundation was.  In the summer of 2014, a year before Trump even declared his candidacy, the right-wing think tank had started assembling a 3,000-name searchable database of trusted movement conservatives from around the country who were eager to serve in a post-Obama government.  The initiative was called the Project to Restore America, a dog-whistle appeal to the so-called silent majority that foreshadowed Trump’s own campaign slogan.”  — How One Conservative Think Tank is Stocking Trump’s Government, — By Jonathan Mahler, NY Times Magazine, June 20, 2018

There is nothing wrong with vigorously supporting your ideas and policies.  However, when fake science is done with people paid off by bribes or when research is perverted to support a political agenda rather than the public good, there is a great deal wrong.  The Republican Party has shown repeatedly that they will stoop to any low to win votes and to control American policies.  Their agenda ignores the art of compromise or finding the middle ground.  One early study into the purpose or goals of conservative think tanks noted the following in its summary:

The study revealed that these conservative think tanks are substantially different from more traditional policy institutions in their open advocacy of a particular viewpoint, and in the relative weakness of the scholarly credentials and policy experience of their personnel, compared to more established policy organizations.  

Their positions on higher education issues focused on a perceived decline in the teaching of Western culture, opposition to affirmative action and multicultural studies, and calls for decreases in funding for higher education.   — Conservative Think Tanks and Higher Education Policy: by Susan Marie Wilis, Bowling Green University, A Dissertation, 1991

Think-Tank-Spectrum

Conclusions:

I have little doubt that much of my information in this blog is not news to many of my readers.  I fear that I am preaching to the choir.  My hope is that some of you who support my positions and ideas will either repost my blog or send it to someone else who you think might benefit from reading it.  Many people have already argued my case and most of those arguing have been more erudite and scholarly than I have been.  I have added my voice to the chorus of people who can see what is happening to education in America for a simple reason.  I hope that my simplistic depiction of  those who want to destroy public education and open discourse in our schools will find a place alongside the more extensive treatises that have been written.

PS:  Here is one example in today’s news:  Talk about stifling discussions!

The “Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act,” SB 83, “Affirm(s) and guarantee(s) that faculty and staff shall allow and encourage students to reach their own conclusions about all controversial matters and shall not seek to inculcate any social, political, or religious point of view.”  

Further, “Controversial belief or policy means any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy, including issues such as climate change, electoral politics.”

Officials have tried repeatedly to control how issues they find controversial are taught — or not — in Ohio.  Two decades ago, after the state Board of Education eliminated creationism from its model curriculum, creationism board supporters proposed a policy of neutrality on topics it deemed “controversial”. Those included evolution, climate change, and human reproductive technologies.

“Higher ed bill might as well be called ‘Make College Courses Boring Act.’”, Steve Rissing, Special to The Columbus Dispatch, March 26, 2023

Want to guess who sponsored this act?

Jerry Cirino is a Republican member of the Ohio Senate representing the 18th district.  He was elected in 2020, defeating Democrat Betsy Rader with 60% of the vote. 

 

 

 

My Brother Billy: RIP

23 Mar 2023 22 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

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This is a short story with few characters.  It began ten or so years ago, but it did not end until February of this year, Anno Domini 2023.  It is but a brief waypoint in the relationship I had with my brother before he died on July 6 of 2022.  Before we begin my story, let me introduce the “cast” of characters.

William Paul Persico:  Younger brother to John Persico Jr.  Born on March 31, 1958.  Billy as everyone called him was almost twelve years younger than John.  Billy and John grew up in the same house, but their paths hardly crossed.  They shared little in common.  Billy dropped out of school in the 9th grade after staying back two years.  Billy’s main values: Drinking, smoking, drugs, and partying with his friends.  Later in life, Billy started to pay more attention to his son Jacob.  They shared some very special times together before Billy passed.

John Persico Jr.  Brother to Billy.  Born on September 17, 1946.  Joined the military in September of 1964 at the age of 18.  Hardly had any contact with Billy for many years.  Not much in common.  John’s main values: Education, hard work, and honesty.  Others might disagree with this rather positive outlook but hell, I am the one telling this story.

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ABOVE PICTURE – JEANINE ON THE LEFT AND KAREN ON THE RIGHT.  HIKING IN FEBUARY 

Jeanine Persico:  Billy’s older sister and John’s younger sister.  Born on August 30, 1951.  Spent thirty-five years working for Social Security.  Received early retirement.  After her mom and older sister Sheri died, she seemed to adopt Billy as a basket case that she needed to take care of.  Continually enabling him (In my mind at least) by giving him money and never expecting him to pay it back.  Jeanine’s main values:  Family, friendship, loyalty, compassion, and avoidance of conflict.  Jeanine is much like our mother.  A loving kind person who takes care of people.

Karen Y. Persico.  Wife of John Persico.  Born July 5th, 1944.  Karen had to listen for many years to my complaints about my brother’s perceived lack of positive attributes.  She was always kind to Billy when he called and once visited but shared my disapproval for his profligate lifestyle.  She never questioned or complained of any money we loaned to Billy.  Karen’s values: Family, frugality, hard work, education, and music.  She shows her love for others through her cooking, crafts, and music.

Linda Therrien:  Billy’s common law wife and companion for twenty or so years.  Born October 13, 1946.  Billy lived with Linda in a mostly loving relationship.  Two lonely outcast souls that seemed to find each other and as Judge Judy once said, “There is a cover for every pot.”  Linda’s values:  Unknown.  It will not really matter since Linda plays a very small role in this story.  Linda is a walk-on and walk right off in this story.

The story that follows has some roots in what happened after my mother Dorothy died.  She passed away on Feb 2, 1994, at the age of 67.  After Billy’s divorce, he had continued to live with our mom.  My sister Sheri who died on December 22, 2002, along with my sister Jeanine and I agreed to let Billy have the house if he paid the mortgage, taxes and maintained it in a reasonably good state.  It did not take long before we had to pay all of the former out of our own pockets as Billy remained unemployed and more interested in partying with his friends.  Billy was turning the place into a crack house for his druggie friends.  Sheri, Jeanine, and I met to discuss the situation.  We agreed to sell the house and split the proceeds four ways.

The practically non-existent relationship that I had with my brother went even further south after we sold the house.  He once said that my sisters and I got all the brains, and it was not fair.  He felt that he should have kept the house and that we could keep paying his bills.  I was living in another state and wanted nothing to do with him.  About the only time for the next ten or so years that I heard from him was around Christmas time.  I guessed he was angry about the house but I did not care.  The less that I heard from him, the happier I was.

Jeanine would fill me in on Billy’s various shenanigans which were always good for a laugh.  It seemed that he had little desire to do anything with his life except drink, drugs, and smoke.  The only time that I did hear from him was to borrow some money.  Jeanine routinely gave him money.  I was a more difficult touch as I did not feel any guilt over his lifestyle.  I did occasionally break down and give him some funds when I could afford it and did not expect to be paid back.  I had nothing to worry about on that score.

More years went by and sometime around the beginning of 2008, Billy contacted me and asked for a loan of $300 dollars.  It surprised me that he was so adamant about it being a loan.  He did not expect it to be a gift.  He assured me that he would pay me back in full before Christmas of that year.  I gave him the loan and reassured him that I did expect it to be paid back.  You can guess the outcome.

Christmas of 2008 came and went, and I did not hear from Billy.  I was angry and fed up.  I called him after the holidays were over to find out where my money was.   I received the excuse that he just did not have it and he was sorry.  I lost my temper and cursed him up and down.  But I was not through with him.  I went to the computer and wrote the meanest, cruelest letter that I have ever written.  I told him that if he had been run over and was dying in the streets and all it took was one cent to save his life, I would not give it.  I read the letter to my sister Jeanine.  Sheri my younger sister by one year had died of cancer six years before.  Jeanine did not say much at the time.  I put the letter in an envelope and mailed it to Billy and Linda.  At the time, I had no regrets.  I thought of it as a form of tough love or shock therapy.  I thought it might make a difference.  Why did I not have a real brother instead of someone like him, I often wondered?

Well, communication between Billy and I grew less and less frequent.  Considering it had never been frequent, it was more like hardly ever.  I reasoned that Billy had received my letter and was now even more angry than before.  Five or more years went by.  Christmas cards and Christmas calls did not happen between us anymore.  Then gradually, a call every six months or so would happen.  Karen and I started to send and receive Christmas cards to and from Billy and Linda.  I guessed that he had put my mean letter behind him and was attempting to move on.  I wanted to forget the letter and often thought of apologizing for it but just could not bring myself to do it.

Billy died at the age of 64 on July 6, 2022.  He had suffered from many illnesses primarily but perhaps not entirely due to his lifestyle.  According to Linda, he went into their bedroom to lay down and take a nap.  She went in later to talk to him and found him dead.

The story really begins here.  The stuff above is simply prelude. 

Jeanine:  Calls me on phone from RI to Wisconsin.  “John, Billy died yesterday.”

John: “How did it happen?”

Jeanine: “Just passed away.  They are calling it a heart attack and will not do an autopsy.”

Jeanine is crying and very distraught.  I reasoned it best not to go into any details at this time in terms of funeral or whatever.  Knowing Billy and Linda had no money, it would fall on Jeanine and I to take care of any burial expenses.  Some days go by, and I call Jeanine.

John: “What do you want to do about the funeral?” 

Jeanine: “I would like to have a regular church funeral and burial for him.”

John: “I am sorry that he passed but I am not willing to go for a big elaborate funeral and burial.  I will split a cremation and simple burial with you but that is as far as I will go.  I am not going to pretend that I am all teary eyed about his passing.” 

Jeanine: “I will get back to you on this.”

A few days later, and Jeanine calls me back.  Without talking to me she has made funeral arrangements and set a date for the service.

John: “Jeanine, I told you that I am not willing to spend this kind of money on such an elaborate funeral.  This is your show and your expense.  I am not planning to come out for the funeral.  Billy was less a brother to me and more just someone I knew in passing.  I am not going to be a hypocrite now and pretend to be all mournful.” 

I had discussed my response to Jeanine with several friends and asked each what they would do.  Most agreed with me and said they would set a limit on how much they would spend.  They all implied that Jeanine felt guilty and was making reparations by this funeral.  I did not feel guilty except for one thing.  The mean nasty letter that I had sent to Billy thirteen years ago.

I could tell that Jeanine was somewhat miffed by my response.  A certain distance seemed to come between us.  For my part, I thought she went overboard.  As things worked out, she did not have enough money to cover the gravestone that she wanted to put on Billy’s plot.  I sent her a thousand dollars to cover a portion of the expense.  It seemed to mend our relationship and in February of this year, 2023, Jeanine came out to Arizona to visit for a week.  The story continues from there.

Jeanine and Karen went to the health club the second day of her visit to work out together.  Upon their return, we have the following discussion.

Karen: “Jeanine wants to tell you something, but is afraid that you will be very angry.”

John: “Ok, I promise no matter what, I will not be angry.”

Jeanine: “Do you remember that letter that you sent to Billy many years ago?”

John: “Of course, I remember it.  I still regret that I never called him up to apologize for it.”

Jeanine: “Well, Billy never got it.”

John: “What do you mean he never got it?”

Jeanine: “You told me about the letter and I went over to Billy’s apartment each day to intercept the letter.  One day when Billy was not home, I went over and asked Linda if she had received a letter from you.  She said that it had just come that morning.  Billy had not seen it.  I asked her for the letter and told her I needed it and not to tell Billy about it.  Linda simply gave me the letter and I destroyed it.”

John: “Are you kidding me?  You were tampering with US Mail.  This is a serious offense, Jeanine.  For thirteen years, I fretted over sending that letter and whether I was going to apologize for writing it.”

Karen: “You promised not to be angry.”

John: “I am not angry.  I don’t know what to feel: relief, disappointment, gratitude, regrets.  It is just hard to believe this.  You waited thirteen years to tell me.  Well, it is all just water over the dam now.  I will never know what would or would not have made a difference in my relationship with Billy.”   

The End – Almost

The last few years of Billy’s life, he seemed to change.  I was noticing postings of his on Facebook and he seemed happier and more thoughtful.  He was taking time with his son Jacob and was engaged in other activities besides drinking and smoking.  Jeanine told me that he had quit drugs, drinking, and smoking and was trying to clean up his life.  I was skeptical and did not believe what I was hearing.  Jeanine often had rose colored glasses when it came to Billy.  With the advantage of hindsight, I believe he really was making an effort to live a real life.  I wonder if I could have been a better brother to him or how I could have made a more significant contribution to his life.  I wonder whether or not Billy’s not receiving the letter was a good or bad thing.  Mostly, I am glad that he did not.

“None of you believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”  ― Prophet Muhammad  

  

Free Speech or NOT? Free speech on both the political right and the political left

19 Mar 2023 14 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

woman-taped-mouth-thoughts-freedom-of-speech-expressionThis past Thursday I attended a meeting for a new Veterans group that had recently formed in our town.  There were three people at a table in front of the group (two men and a woman) and about 20 or so people in chairs facing the table.  The two men whom I assumed were leaders mentioned that the key-note speakers, someone from the Arizona Posse and someone from the Pinal Country Sheriffs department may or may not make the meeting.  Apparently there had been a few recent killings in area and both groups were lending support to the Casa Grande Police department.  The woman in front was the spouse of one of the men leading the group.  She was also the club secretary.

One of the leaders outlined the various apparel that was for sale to raise funds for the group as well as sell some tickets for a fifty-fifty raffle.  Eventually, we all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and then an invocation from one of the two male leaders who was apparently a pastor at a local church.

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After this the group leader on the right started a spiel about how “THEY” were not allowing history to be taught anymore in the schools.  He had brought a bunch of old books that looked like they came from an antique store, and he went on about how these books had the “real” history in them.  But THEY had removed the true history from current textbooks so that THEY could hide the truth from us about what had really happened.  He ended with two pleas.

  1. Those of us who wanted the truth most not be afraid to stand up and speak out.
  2. We must heal the divide in the country and reduce partisanship.

I could not agree more with his first plea but the second one struck me as strongly hypocritical since all of his speech was a right-wing polemic against what he perceived as a liberal bias in schools and the media.

Now I have to tell you, it was all I could do not to walk out of this meeting.  Retired Arizona veterans are not known for their liberal orientation.  I looked around to see if anyone was as disgusted with the speech just given as I was but no one seemed overly concerned.  I kept my mouth shut and decided to see what the next speaker, the leader who was also a pastor had to say.

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He was even more right-wing than the first speaker.  He went on and on about Political Correctness ruining America and again the ambiguous “THEY” who are out to destroy freedom and democracy.  I was getting more and more annoyed.  I looked around to see if I would have any support in the group if things escalated and decided that I would not.  I thought about speaking out.  Fear governed my emotions.  I kept reminding myself that “The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority and the test of courage comes when we are in the minority.”  I was no doubt in the minority.  Would I be a craven coward?

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The pastor started to quote Nietzsche with “Those who forget the past will continue to make mistakes.”  I lost it right there.  Wrong person and butchered quote.  Courage did not play a role in what happened next.  I stood up and said “You are wrong.  Nietzsche did not say this.  George Santayana said it and it should go “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  Other people have of course said a similar thought, but I do not remember Nietzsche having said this.  Furthermore, my bias against Nietzsche raised my ire even higher than with the first speaker.

I then gave the following diatribe to the assembled group.  I said “First of all there are two things wrong with your speeches.  The first is your belief that some absolute truth to history exists and that all schools must do is teach this truth.”  The one guy waving the Bible earlier led me to think that he must believe that all truth came from the Bible.

Silence reigned in the room, and I plowed on.  “History is full of perspectives and some facts.  Think of the five blind men trying to describe an elephant.  Well history is a thousand times more complicated than an elephant and there are not just five perspectives on history but millions.  If you tried to put all these perspectives and a few facts in one large history book, it would probably weigh a million tons.”

“The second thing wrong is your idea about eliminating partisanship.  That idea itself would be a good thing, but you do not eliminate it by insisting that your view of reality is the only view or the right view.  You are causing partisanship when like one of the blind men insisting that he is right, you insist that your perspective is right and others who have a different perspective are stupid, wrong and unpatriotic.  You eliminate partisanship by respecting the perspectives of all people.”  Thus ended my rant.

I sat down to thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

I wished.

The room was dead silent.  I felt like a fish out of water and soon to be gutted and fried.  I sat down and the meeting went on.  We discussed other ideas for the group to support to have a more social group for veterans.  The meeting ended with the group secretary calling out the winners for the fifty-fifty tickets and a few winners for some free tickets that we had all been given. The meeting lasted for about 1 hour and fifteen minutes and then people dispersed.

right wing extremistsNow in America today, we have five political perspectives arranged along a continuum.  On the extreme right, we have the “extreme conservatives” as they may think of themselves.  However, they are fascists and anti-democratic in symbols, outlook and beliefs.  On the extreme left we have a smaller group who might think of themselves as progressives or socialists but in the minds of many on the right they are “card carrying communists.”  Indeed, some of the extreme left-wing do fit this perspective.  Slightly to the right of center we have the true conservatives and slightly to the left of center the true liberals.  In the middle we have people who support some social programs but are fiscally conservative.  We also have people in the middle who support some government but are against too much government.

left wing extremistsOne characteristic of both the extreme right and the extreme left is the inability to see perspectives different than their own.   To the extremists, the world is black and white.  Good and bad.  Each extreme entirely rejects the perspectives of the other extreme.  Each extreme feels that they are not allowed to speak but that the other extreme is.  Newspapers and zealots take sides with the extremists and promote narratives designed to appeal to the extreme views exposed by each side.  The ability to condone or support multiple perspectives becomes more and more difficult as a greater and greater polarization ensues.   People bemoan the death of compromise but each side ladens itself with oaths and pledges guaranteed to insure that they will not try to see the world from the other side.

liberals against free speech

imagesThe result is a form of warfare between each side.  The middle groups become more and more polarized as they find that they must take sides to survive.  Liberals talk about the importance of listening to understand what the other side says and thinks as though this will solve the problem.  It will not.  Unless someone listens with an OPEN MIND, no amount of listening will make a difference.  I was once approached by an employee who asked me to speak to his boss on his behalf.  I asked him why he did not do it himself.  I pointed out that his boss had “an open door policy.”  The employee looked at me and replied: “Open door but closed mind.”

liberal intoleranceOur schools have failed us because they teach right answers and not right questions.  They teach closed minds and not open minds.  We have a generation who are now increasingly anti-education.  We have a war against our schools by people who do not believe that schools exist to teach right thinking but only right answers.  Liberal schools are boycotting right-wing fanatics and not allowing them to speak.  Fox News prints daily rants against schools portraying the worst aspects of what once was a liberal education.  The right wing increasingly wants a technocratic education which will result in a job that pays well.  Any focus on mindfulness, morality, ethics, and integrity plays little or no role in the education system desired by the right.  Those on the left believe that public education should be for the masses but ignore the needs of many rural and poor people to get a job that pays a living wage.

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Meanwhile the rich liberals go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivy League colleges.  Colleges that people like me could never have afforded and that would never have let pass their shiny doors.  Many people have asked me why I did not go to college after high school.  This always brings a laugh to my throat.  Two months out of high school, I went to the only “college” that I could afford.  I joined the US Military from 1964 to 1968 as a E-1.  I left four years later as an E-4 and an Aircraft Control and Warning Radar technician.  I also earned a certificate for an Honorable Discharge.

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
― George Orwell

Free Speech or NOT?

12 Mar 2023 13 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

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From a theoretical perspective, I am opposed to Free Speech.  The very idea is absurd.  Nothing in the world is free.  Everything has a price that you pay.  Furthermore, the idea of upholding the right of anyone to say anything at anytime is absurd.  It is bizarre beyond fathoming.  Where does this ridiculous idea come from?  Some idealist version of Democracy or some unrealistic idea that everything works out in the long run if we only allow “truth” to finally poke its way though the deluge of lies and misinformation that permeates modern society.

From a pragmatic perspective, I am 100 percent in favor of Free Speech.  It is one of those rare examples where the alternatives are even worse than the present bias towards Free Speech.  If we started to arrest people for lying or because we did not like what they had to say, we would have to build more prisons than we have space for in the entire world.  We already have rates of incarceration which are abominable.  If we start locking up liberals who we disagree with or racists who we disagree with solely based on what they say, we might as well give up any discussion in the public space.

From an idealistic viewpoint, I am all in on Free Speech.  We cannot start muzzling people and expect to find the information or thoughts that we need to make progress in the world.  The best discussions come about from a wide range of viewpoints that are uncensored.  Better to know the enemy than for the enemy to remain hidden.  Only from a weltanschauung of perspectives can we tread our way to a reality that transcends mediocrity and complacency.

From a realistic perspective, I see many dangers in Free Speech.  From inciting riots to allowing people to die because of distorted information and intentional malignancy, there is a great danger in allowing people to say what they want and when they want to.  The “Big Lie” and many other marketing ploys from selling cigarettes to downplaying the health hazards of alcohol, have resulted in millions of deaths.  Is Free Speech more important than human life?

There are several pathways to Free Speech that are important when we debate the pros and cons of Free Speech in American society.  I would like to list each of these pathways and then make some comments about each.

  1. Free Speech in media, books, curriculums
  2. Free Speech on both the political right and the political left
  3. Free Speech in academia
  4. Free Speech in the public arena
  5. Free Speed on the Internet

Free Speech in media, books, curriculums

There could be no more blatant example of the hypocrisy concerning the 1st Amendment than regards books, media, and curriculums.  Let’s diverge for just a second to review the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

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This “right” to Free Speech has not stopped Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott from restricting books in public schools, canceling curriculums and limiting the right of teachers to speak out on racism or sexism in history.  Nor has it stopped the “rights” of others all over America from trying to censor the thoughts, facts and data that characterize much of US History.

  • From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.
  • The 1,648 titles are by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators, and 18 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,553 people altogether.
  • Bans occurred in 138 school districts in 32 states. These districts represent 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students. — Banned in the USA

But censorship did not start with DeSantis or Abbott.  It has a very long history in America.  This despite the First Amendment.  About as many people seem to pay attention to the First Amendment today as they do to the Ten Commandments.  Imagine for a second if everyone obeyed the Ten Commandments.   No murders.  No robberies.  No adulteries.  No rapes.

I remember growing up and wondering why so many scenes from movies seemed to me rather unrealistic.  It took me a while to realize that many movies scenes were banned or censored in the USA.  As far back as 1897, a statute of the State of Maine prohibited the exhibition of prizefight films.  As the film industry developed, so did censorship as the government tried to control the content of what the public could see or hear.

“In the 1950s many books and genres were banned from the public.  Educational literature was targeted specifically because many people wanted to stop the teaching of evolutionary theories due to religious reasons.  Books, such as the Wizard of Oz and other fantasy books, were banned due to the fear that they would corrupt the minds of children and teens.  For this reason comic books were also banned.” — Censorship in the 1950s

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I still remember hiding my comic books under my textbooks when I was ten years old in the fifth grade at Mount St. Francis School.  I loved comic books and every time I was caught reading one, I would get my knuckles whacked with a ruler.  My assailant (teacher/Nun) would castigate me with the rejoinder that comic books would warp my brain and make me stupid.  Sixty years later and I am still waiting for my brain to decay.  It may already be happening, but I fear it is the result of old age rather than reading comic books.  I finally stopped buying comics when they became too expensive.  Easier to get them from the library today.

If we are talking about censorship of media, we should not leave out “pornographic” films and songs. 

“Chicago enacted the first censorship ordinance in the United States in 1907, authorizing its police chief to screen all films to determine whether they should be permitted on screens.  Detroit followed with its own ordinance the same year. When upheld in a court challenge in 1909, other cities followed and Pennsylvania became the first to enact statewide censorship of movies in 1911 (though it did not fund the effort until 1914).  It was soon followed by Ohio (1914), Kansas (1915), Maryland (1916), New York (1921) and, finally, Virginia (1922).  Eventually, at least one hundred cities across the nation empowered local censorship boards.” –— Wikipedia

61A5VaThL7LHere are two more recent examples of “titillating sex” that would never have passed the censors in the fifties.  The first is from a song called “Love to Love You Baby” by Donna Summers from the middle seventies.  Time magazine called it “a marathon of 22 orgasms.”  Many singers like Beyonce and Madonna have mimicked Donna Summers in more recent songs and videos.  Can you imagine if Donna Summers had a video made today to go along with this song?  You can see her perform it on stage in 1976 on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upIstttL9ew

My movie example is from a PG movie, that means Parental Guidance.  This is far from the R or X rating that movies could be given but the scenes or suggestions that can be slipped in demonstrate the imagination and creativity of movie producers.  The film Twilight opened in 2008 as PG-13.  It slipped in a suggested sex scene between the vampire Edward and his lover Bella.  The scene is not overtly sexual as some more recent scenes might be, but it leaves little to the imagination.

Growing up with the censorship that has been imposed on films, books, songs, and other media in the USA, I am continually astounded by the hypocrisy that surrounds the First Amendment.  It is one thing to label something to inform people that something might be offensive.  It is quite another to outright ban things.  Where does the First Amendment concerning these media begin and end?  For that we need to look at the politics of censorship.

Since this blog is getting “too” long, I am going to self-censor and divide it into four more sections.  In my next blog or section, I am going to cover the politics of censorship.

 

 

Sex, Politics and War

08 Mar 2023 11 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

I should have written something new in honor of International Women’s Day but I did not think far enough ahead. I wrote this piece about 1 1/2 years ago and I talk about the war on Women’s Reproductive Rights and Gender choices for all people. I think given the politics going on in the USA, that this blog is still appropriate. It is not upbeat and celebratory. Women have come a long way in the USA since the signing of the constitution but there is a long way for them to go to obtain the rights and respect that men get. As long as the rates of Domestic Violence and Rape are as high as they are in the USA, women cannot live the lives that they deserve. IMHO.

Dr. John Persico Jr.'s avatarAging Capriciously

sex-and-power978-0-8223-6367-5_prThere is a war on sex by politicians.  There has always been a war on sex by politicians.  It is the longest running war in the history of the world.  It is not a gender war but a political war.  The goal of political warfare is to alter an opponent’s opinions and actions in favor of the state’s interests without utilizing military power.  Such warfare has been waged by the state against sex since the dawn of humanity.

In the USA, we have had political wars on race, drugs, poverty, crime, and terror.  None of these wars were officially declared as military wars.  Each of these wars were unofficially declared by the US government.   Not one of these wars has ever officially ended.  The war on sex has never been acknowledged either officially or unofficially.  It has never ended either.

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This fourth and final part in my series of articles…

View original post 1,614 more words

Why am I reading this? 

07 Mar 2023 14 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

sandovalTom Sandoval addressed the jaw-dropping drama that he and longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix called it quits over infidelity.

The “Vanderpump Rules” star made a conscious effort to remain silent after news broke he and co-star Raquel Leviss were having a “full-on affair” — but decided to finally speak out Friday night.  —- ‘Hated’ Tom Sandoval addresses Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims by Nika Shakhnazarova, March 4, 2023 | 4:58am

Before I saw this headline on my Google consolidated news channel, I must confess that I had never heard of Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss or Ariana Madix.  Over the years, I have “jealously” noted that major movie stars (For example, Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley) with drop dead gorgeous girlfriends or wives always seem to cheat on them with equally beautiful drop dead gorgeous girlfriends who are no doubt dating other famous movie stars.

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Now for “common” guys like me, having a girlfriend like Ariana Madix would be like “let’s say” owning a Ferrari.  Not a chance in a lifetime that I ever will but it is still something to dream about.  By the way, to my female readers, I am sorry that I cannot write a blog that might sum up some of your fantasies, but it is beyond my writing skills to put myself in your shoes.  The only thing that I might say is that perhaps many women would like to write a blog about a guy that does not cheat on them.  If so, I would suggest that you do not look for inspiration in Hollywood.  The saying that a man’s penis and his brain cannot both operate at the same time seems largely true for much of “mankind.”

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So, I saw this headline this morning and immediately wondered if Tom was leaving a decrepit homely looking girlfriend for better waters or if my imagined “Law of Cheating” held true.  Was his new illicit girlfriend just as beautiful but no more beautiful than his old girlfriend?  I had to test my hypothesis, so I Googled pictures of both.  You can make your own mind up by scanning the pictures I have posted of each woman.  I think my “Hollywood Law of Cheating” is still valid.  But this is not really the issue.

The real issue is why a seemingly intelligent man like me (I hope somewhat intelligent anyway) would even care about Sandoval and his exploits.  I know we call some of these headlines click-bait and I keep telling myself to ignore them.  After all, I really don’t care about British Royalty, the Kardashians, Zombie TV shows or the trysts of Hollywood actors and actresses.  I have a hard enough time trying to avoid the latest news dealing with crooked politicians, greedy real estate developers and lying lawyers to last me the rest of my life.  Short though that might now be.

I have an idea that might help us to avoid these clickbait useless stories.  We need a schema for categories of news stories.  Such a schema would help us to prioritize what we could or should read and when.  Might I suggest the following as a start:

Category One:  Local news that might directly impact your safety or wellbeing or the safety or wellbeing of your loved ones.

Category Two:  Local news that might impact you or your family either socially or economically.

Category Three:  National news that impacts you or your family in any meaningful tangible way.

Category Four:  International news that you might be able to do something positive about in terms of aid or humanitarian assistance.

Category Five:  News about subjects you are interested in like science or history.

Category Six:  Social, Economic or Political news that you cannot change or do anything about.

Category Seven:  News about sports or entertainment

Category Eight:  News that includes gossip about other people whom you have never met and or likely to never meet.  This includes British Royalty, the Kardashians, and most movie stars.

The way you use these categories is as follows.  Just like you have a meal with a balanced diet of carbs, fats, proteins, and nutrients, you would select your daily diet of news based on a balanced news diet.  For example:

Monday:  Two helpings from Category 1.  One helping from Category 2.  One helping from Category 3.  One helping from Category Seven.

Tuesday:  Two helpings from Category 2.  Two helpings from Category 3.  Two helpings from Category 5.  One helping from Category Eight.

You get the idea?  A balanced diet of news with some allowance for “junk food.”  Junk food being anything in Categories Six, Seven or Eight.  Such a diet would help many Americans focus on what is important.  You can start by cutting out my list of categories and keeping this list close by your TV or favorite news source.

Now that I have helped you to think about the important things in your life, I am going to go back to reading about Tom Sandoval, whoever he is.

By the way, I would not trade my spouse Karen for all the glamorous movie stars in the world.  Happiness lies not in what we can buy or what is skin deep but in character and personality.  I can not imagine growing old with anyone else by my side than Karen.

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