There seems to be, a delicate – balance, between, someone, trying to do, the right thing, and behave properly, and, appearing to go, overboard! Many refer to society’s requirements, as, being, politically – correct, or PC. Some of these specifications are over – due, because of the many improprieties, which appear, in society, especially, as they relate, to treatment to members of the opposite – sex (sexual harassment, and/ or, worse), and how we treat, minorities, too – often, in America, in what appears to be, various forms of systemic racism. However, sometimes, it seems, we risk, over – doing, this, and, items, or behaviors, done, without any malice, etc, or, even, perhaps, as an ill – conceived, joke, become treated, the same, as far – worse, behaviors! With, that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, 5 examples of these types of situations.

1. Sexual harassment: When, one uses words, which offend others, knowingly, and purposely, there should be little doubt, he is guilty of harassment. On the other hand, there is often, a fine – line, between harassment, and stupidity, etc. Shouldn’t the degree, of these actions, also, consider, the degree, etc? For example, when former – Senator Al Franken, a former comedian, was accused of sexual harassment, based on some pictures, taken, during his former career, and, felt, he needed to resign, it seems, the United States Senate, lost, one of the people’s better representatives! On the other hand, when the former President, was accused, of far – more, serious offenses, by over a dozen women, there seemed to be no ramifications! I strongly feel, women must be heard, and taken seriously, and encouraged to report true misbehavior, but, the accused, must be permitted, to defend himself, fairly, and thoroughly, just, as we permit, any other accused individual!

2. Names of products: Times change, and is it fair, to use today’s standards, to evaluate, former behaviors, etc? When, products, such as. Aunt Jemima, and Uncle Ben’s, are pressured to change their names, it seems, this may be, somewhat, of, an over – reach!

3. Street names: Generally, when streets are named, after some individual, it is usually, done, to honor the work, of that person, etc! If, after many years, our interpretation of the person’s actions/ behaviors, is based on today’s expectations, instead of, those of his time, is that fair? Can we hold people, who had slaves, when that awful behavior, was legal, responsible for doing so, because we now recognize, it is wrong?

4. Monuments, etc: Are we supposed to change, or eliminate monuments, because, we now, disagree with an individual’s philosophy, when he was alive? Based on this standard, very few of us, would hold up, to the evolving times!

5. Books: If, we begin, to ban books, for any reason, aren’t we going beyond, the supposed – dangers of the topic/ subject, etc?

While doing the right thing, is essential and important, isn’t striving for being PC, potentially, dangerous, and/ or, ridiculous and unfair? If we hope to defend, true issues, we must differentiate between certain behaviors/ actions, and others!

Offering a read that simultaneously compels, repels, and excites, author Bill Pinnell’s The Offspring, peers into the dark side of human nature via family relationships, secrets, and racism, shown through a multi-layered, multigenerational, multi-perspective lens bringing together a set of characters whose lives intersect in interesting and at times intense ways.

First, the curiosity is piqued by an intriguing prologue which fundamentally sets the tone of this complex character-driven story, as a vivid memory quickly turns from pleasure to horror, within the mind of a character seemingly beguiled by scenes from the past. Next focus moves to the backstory of the romance between Lemuel Decker and Irene Baxter. Both are students at Logan High School during the 1940s in rural Nebraska. Set apart by an age gap and personality the two almost seem to be polar opposites while Lemuel is a shy athletic farm boy, Irene is pretty, popular, and outgoing. Because of the difference in age in school their paths rarely directly cross. However, once they do each makes an impression on the other not soon to be forgotten. Shy farm boy Lemuel holds a soft spot for the pretty and friendly Irene, but his timid demeanor continues to keep him seemingly hopelessly infatuated and at a distance.

However, after Lemuel graduates, fate comes into play creating a set of circumstances combining love and chivalry that would bring the two together to build a life as a family but with Irene pregnant, leaving a cloud that hangs over the relationship, an unspoken secret within the family dynamic. Moreover, as time goes on, the happiness fades as life for the Decker family dissolves into dysfunction with life becoming increasingly difficult for the couple as the financial stressors of managing a farm and a family lead to arguments and tension which clouds the atmosphere of the once happy couple. Also, at play is the way the sons are raised with son Tommy (the oldest) always at odds with the preferential treatment that brother Hughie always seems to get especially from their father Lemuel. Consequently, life takes a turn for the worse as things deteriorate when Irene, longing for a different life away from the farm, leaves the family. The Decker boys wind up growing into very different people without their mother and stuck with an irascible father.

Next, the story focuses on Harold Simpson, the sheriff in Milrose county. He is one wicked racist son of a gun. His backstory, although somewhat sad, leaves no room for excuse for his wicked, self-satisfying antics and interactions with the people he is supposed to protect. As the story progresses, his presence stimulates a deep desire to see him get his just desserts as he terrorizes the people within his jurisdiction essentially, he is the town bully with a badge and a gun.

Moving on the narrative brings into view the Lake family, Joseph and Audrey, and sons Kenny and Sammy. Originally from Chicago, the family gets the opportunity to move from city life to a farm in Nebraska; however, they are the only black family within a hundred-mile radius and are neighbors to the Deckers. The Deckers are friendly to them with an amicable relationship ensuing between the two families, especially for sons Hughie Decker and Kenny Lake, who become quite close and what follows after is a journey through self-discovery, for the boys which culminates into a longtime friendship and holding onto a secret that remains submerged in the murky waters of the past.

Altogether, I enjoyed The Offspring. It was a read that held my interest until the intense finale. I enjoyed going through the layers of this intriguing tale, replete with well-developed characters, and an interesting storyline written with a crisp, eloquent style that keeps you engaged. This would make a great summer read and I look forward to more works by this author.

Let us talk about American Literature today. It is one of my favourite subjects. American literature has a several aspects. It forms complicated yet valid viewpoints. Various races are described but you cannot study just one of them. There are whites, Irish, British, and Jews. All of them are born and bought up in different mannerisms. They are rarely connected. Among them, the African-Americans stand a little apart. Those black Americans are not the only slaves. They all migrated from Jamaica, Caribbean, be it northern Africa or America. They all came from same compound. It was named as the ‘DARK CONTINENT’. Some migrants were Senegalese and Ethiopians. Talking about race is not that simple, if you know what I mean. There is always a big question mark of skin color. You cannot hide or you cannot change it. Violence is everywhere. It is predatory. It comes in the form of racism, sexual abuse across and among the race with gender inequality. A multiple combination of horror is what I can call it. This is why the reading of American literature became so fascinating and mysterious to read.

The re-construction of the south left the black Americans leave the southern plantations. It was a painful moment as states as Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama etc faced the worst. The largest affected areas were in Kentucky and Virginia. These places suffered a bad history of slavery. Inhuman treatments and trafficking were the prime forces made on human beings. In the 1920’s 10 million African-Americans were living in the city. About 2 million lived in the Harlem city of New York. In those times, the South side of Chicago was extremely poor and unhealthy with slums. Horrible areas were the witnesses of men’s poverty and his miserable situation. These things are vividly depicted in the books like “A RAISIN IN THE SUN”. A man like Walter-lee is desperate to earn money in the easy way and so he tries to imagine his lifestyle by throwing on an imaginary domination quilt over his family. He mocks and insults his wife in the first act by saying that things are not done without paying a little amount of bucks to the person. He means the bribery thing. He thinks everything works on bribe in spite that his wife refuses to believe and so does his family. The system itself is dark. He throws all his frustration at his wife Ruth younger by saying that she does not support him for asking his mother about the liquor investment by the money his mother had inherited.

The situation portrayed is very insidious as he is clearly trying to upfront her. He literally starts coaching her with graphical demonstrations making her understand that things do not work out unless you pay some bribe. The towering figure in the play is Lena Younger his mother who makes all the decisions but in the end hands the house to Walter only to witness the destruction. You can also figure out the gender inequality as her husband through his frustration easily blames Ruth. It was quite easy for him as he thought women have no hand in helping a man to succeed. It was all like an explosion in the beginning as he was scapegoating his wife to make things easier for him.

At this point, what we see is, coloured women had no significance in their own house. Ruth is the perfect portrayal. Coloured women were not seen as the up lifters of dreams however hard they tried. Ruth was completely right about the money but she was crushed under Walter’s masculine pressure. She was tired, helpless and did not know what to do. She was running out of diplomacy for her husband but she had a reason for that.

We still have Beneatha Younger the carefree young person who has revolutionary ideas unlike her family. Travis, their 11-year-old boy who was curious about everything and Lena younger the affectionate dominating mother who witnesses the fall-apart of her family, yet saves them in the end. We will see them in the next part. Until then, browse through more American literary history and you will explore the shadows of dark past.

A new report talks to us about the criminalization of African-American and Latino youth, telling us that 26 percent of young people who are arrested are African-American. But then it takes you through the process from arrest to being remanded to adult prisons. Forty-four percent of African-American youth who are arrested are detained; substantially fewer white youth are. Forty-six percent of African-American juveniles go on to criminal court, while a majority of white juveniles get deferred to either juvenile court or alternatives. And 58 percent of the youth in state adult prisons are African-American, more than doubling the proportion of those who are arrested. That’s the system that’s waiting for our young people if we don’t get our acts together in public education. As schools need to be viewed in the context of the criminal justice system, so too the urban economy needs to viewed in the context of the suburban economy. There’s a very important document just released analyzing economic growth in central cities compared to suburban development. For example: In Baltimore, between 2015 and 2018, employment opportunities diminished by three-and-a-half percent, while the surrounding suburbs increased by 10.1 percent; Philadelphia’s employment opportunities in that same time period went down 1.1 percent, the suburban areas went up 5.1 percent; Denver’s central city went up about 1.7 percent, your suburbs went up 16.6 percent. In 2018, African-Americans who had dropped out of school were twice as likely to be unemployed as whites who had dropped out. Our country has fled from affirmative action. Just look at suspension and expulsion rates: 25 percent of African-Americans will be suspended over the course of their time in high school. Wealthier African-American students are twice as likely to be suspended as the poorest white students. Race and class matter. And the poorest Asian-Americans are seven times more likely to be suspended than the wealthiest Asian-Americans.

We must deal with issues of tracking – which, I have to say I consider the structural embodiment of racism and class discrimination; that’s how racism and classism get played out at a school. Across sites, we have finance and other inequities; and terrible discrepancies in teacher qualification, certification within sites. The atrocities of tracking cannot be ignored any longer. How many students are here from high school? Do you remember in elementary school daffodils, blueberries, daisies or some other versions, where they really thought they fooled you about which ones were the good readers and which ones weren’t? Tracks speak louder than yelling at teachers to have high expectations. Teachers and kids read those structures. Let me also say that a group of us just completed an amazing study recently: we surveyed over 1,000 young people in New York — white, black, Latino and Asian — about their experiences with police, and teachers, and storekeepers, and restaurants. Needless to say, white girls and black boys are growing up in very different cities. And, sorry to say, kids in trouble report feeling as unlikely to turn to the their teachers as they are to the cops. I worry that we’re losing teachers. Teachers in Massachusetts are leaving their districts because their students arrived 10 minutes ago from the Dominican Republic and they’re being told that they must teach them in English only. There are communities in New Jersey that can’t find fourth grade teachers because it’s the first year of testing. And in Baltimore, political leaders boast about raising the test scores of first graders. That’s what I call the politics of urgency.

Despite or because of our best effort, systemic reform is taking place. It’s just not the systemic reform that we had hoped for. We witness today a systematic realignment of public dollars and public interests with the needs of corporations and elites — a gentrification of the public sphere. I think we know what to do in urban America. I feel like I’ve been saying this for 100 years: Small schools are really better than large schools for most students, for the poorest students, in particular. No matter what the indicator, students in small schools outperform students in large schools. You can find some exceptions, if you’ve already preselected by class, by the cultural capital of the kids, by the qualifications of the teachers, and by the per capita that the schools get. But there’s a new study where we looked at small schools’ performance in Chicago. We looked at thousands and thousands of kids in the Chicago public schools. And no matter what indicator you look at, with the slight exception sometimes of those stubborn standardized test scores, students in small schools have higher attendance, lower violence, higher grade-point averages; they are much, much less likely to drop out, are much more likely to go to college, and have a sense of a soul. What I mean by that is when kids in big schools see a fight, they say, “I cheer it on or I walk away.” When kids in small schools see a fight, they say, “I break it up or I get a teacher.” Teachers in small schools are more satisfied, more engaged, less likely to be absent, and feel more accountable. Teachers in small schools also express a much more fundamental sense of disappointment when they can’t satisfy the needs of young people because they know them so well. If it took just one adult, most kids would be just fine. Most kids have somebody who adores them, somebody who takes good care of them — poor kids, and rich kids and middle-class kids. Sometimes it’s a nanny, sometimes it’s a mother, and sometimes it’s a grandmother, or father or uncle. Most kids have somebody who adores them. They need schools that know them and teach them. Let me just say one more thing about small schools. Rich people figured out the power of “small” a long time ago? The average prep school high school. Any guess on its size? 298. How many of you have a school in your city that’s bigger than 1,500 kids? 2,000? Keep your hands up. 3,000? Has it got fancy rich kids in it?

Someone has to think of an idea in order for it to become a reality. Many special occasions and special designations have come from a simple idea which was presented to Congress.

In 1977, a former Congressional staffer, Jeanie Jew, approached Representative Frank Horton of New York with the idea to designate a period of time each year to Asian Americans. She and another Congressional staffer, Ruby Moy, discussed the matter with Representative Horton and with Representative Norman Y. Mineta of California. Representatives Horton and Mineta introduced a resolution in the United States House of Representatives to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Week. The Senate had a similar bill introduced a month later by Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga, both from Hawaii.

The resolutions proposed sought to designate the month of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month for two main reasons. The first Japanese immigrant arrived in the United States on May 7, 1843. On May 10, 1869, the Golden Spike was driven into the First Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Point in Utah, which was completed using many Chinese laborers. President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978.

With unanimous support from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Public Law 103-450 was signed by President George H. W. Bush in October 1992 to permanently designate the whole month of May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The month of May is now called the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

May is officially AAPI Heritage Month to pay homage to Asian American and Pacific Islander accomplishments and to celebrate diversity in this country. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a rich heritage which is thousands of years old. They have helped to shape the history of the United States. They have made significant contributions to the American society in all areas from business and politics to arts and literature. It is fitting to have a month to celebrate the rich culture and heritage of the AAPI communities.

Over the years in the history of the United States, there have been many examples of racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. They have had to face many difficult situations where they were discriminated against and treated unfairly. Yet they have persevered and come out ahead even though the racism has not completely subsided. There are still case of prejudice, hatred, and outright racism against many diverse groups including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. One of the most egregious acts of injustice was the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II when 120,000 were forcibly removed from their homes on the west coast of the continental United States and imprisoned in the American concentration camps for years. It is necessary to be ever vigilant and to continue to work toward civil rights for all so that such injustices are not perpetrated against other people.

Although the month of May 2020 saw many AAPI Heritage Month events cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were virtual celebrations held throughout the nation. AAPI groups are looking forward to holding the annual events again next year in 2021. Plans will be made and events will be held to celebrate the diversity and the accomplishments of the AAPI community.

The French have a very special relationship with cows, a kind of entente cordiale where it is agreed that in return for milk to make excellent cheeses, cows get a special place in French culture, notably in popular expressions, slang and humour.

French television commercials for cheese show pampered cows getting massages from the farmer, while children’s books show cheeky cows laughing when someone accidentally steps in one of their cowpats.

Even if you’re only beginning in French, it’s still a good idea to learn a few expressions that are commonly used in the French language, so let’s have a look at some ones involving the animal that has a special place in French people’s heart, the cow.

The French word for ‘cow’ is la vache, from Latin vacca. I haven’t found any English word related to it, the Germanic word ‘cow’ seems to be sufficient for us.

Being such a large animal, it has an impressive bladder, so in French you can say il pleut comme vache qui pisse, meaning, ‘it’s raining like a pissing cow’. It’s the French equivalent of ‘raining cats and dogs’.

Not being noted for their linguistic abilities, however, cows are also mentioned in an expression about someone who speaks a foreign language badly. Il parle français comme une vache espagnole – ‘he speaks French like a Spanish cow’. If Spanish humans were the victims of this kind of racist stereotyping I dread to think what the consequences would be. Unfortunately, Spanish cows, not being able to string a coherent sentence together in French, have never been able to defend themselves.

French financial journalists sometimes refer to economic downturns as ‘periods of skinny cows’ (vaches maigres). This is a reference to the biblical account of Joseph (of Technicolor dreamcoat fame) who interpreted Pharaoh’s dream about seven fat cows and seven skinny cows as periods of prosperity and famine respectively.

There is, paradoxically, a negative use of the word vache. As an adjective, it means a nasty, disagreable person: il est vache – ‘he’s nasty’. It only took one nasty cow to spoil it for all the others…

Finally, you can simply say ‘la vache!‘ as a kind of exclamation. Say it when you are surprised, shocked or angry. In addition, you can turn it into an adverb – c’est vachement bien means, ‘it’s cowingly good’.

So next time you’re in France, you’ll be able to apologize for your level of French, talk about the rain ‘persisting’ down, chat about the American economy and curse your bad luck – all by referring to our bovine friends!

The stars have spoken when it comes to TV star, Charlotte Laws, who was voted one of the 30 fiercest women in the world and has authored the memoir, Rebel in High Heels. In other words, Laws’ astrological chart explains why she was able to transform into a real life James Bond and aid victims of online harassment and cyber crime. A Google search will bring up hundreds of articles about Laws, who is known throughout the world as the “Erin Brockovich of revenge porn.”

Rebel in High Heels tells an intriguing story about overcoming life’s obstacles (i.e. Laws’ mother’s suicide, her brother’s death, widespread racism within her community) and bringing down the most notorious revenge porn website operator. I found this book to be exciting, funny, edgy, suspenseful, romantic and entertaining. But this is not a book review so much as an analysis of Laws’ chart since I have been a professional astrologer for the past 15 years.

Laws does more than fight to help victims of cyber harassment. She has assisted various oppressed groups: African Americans, members of the LGBTQ community and animals (a Google search will bring up articles about Laws on these topics). Laws was born on May 11, 1960. With her Mars square Jupiter, she has a natural propensity to fight (Mars) on behalf of justice (Jupiter), rooting for underdogs and those in less fortunate positions. She springs into action (Mars), especially when it comes to Jupiterian issues of ethics, morality and justice. She fights for the ethical treatment of animals, as well as for the justice of the people who have been victims of racism and revenge porn.

Laws is a natural agent of change due to her Sun square Uranus. Her vital self-expression and identity (Sun) hinges on creating change, breaking through, getting away from the old order, bringing in the new, being ahead of her time (Uranus). One of Laws’ main missions in life is to wake up humanity.

Laws is motivated to care for and protect women who have been traumatized or wounded in some way. This comes from her Moon (women, to care for, to protect) square to Pluto (violations, wounding, trauma). This speaks to assisting revenge porn victims. She has no qualms about going into the danger zone. Others might shrug their shoulders, be scared, and even walk away from that situation, but not Laws. She dives in with a vengeance to protect violated females.

Rebel in High Heels also details Laws’ amazing, three-year relationship with singer and sex symbol, Tom Jones, whom she wanted to date for a full ten years before she made it happen. With her Venus (intimacy, social relatedness, companionship) in opposition to Neptune (fantasy, dreams, idealization) Laws literally manifested her ideal romantic situation.

Laws also has Uranus quincunx Saturn. This means she may be motivated to develop a skill set in rebelling (Uranus) against the existing order (Saturn). Conformity, status quo and existing structures point to a problem that she needs to solve (quincunx). She brings in her radical ideas and enlightened viewpoint. She wants to free people from outmoded ways, liberate, progress, shock, shatter, rebel and agitate. She worries extensively about these things. However, this worry leads to her develop skills in order to be a reformer in these areas. With Uranus on her mid-heaven, the public may see her as radical and eccentric. She is focused on Uranian ideals of altruism and humanitarianism.

Laws also has Mercury square Uranus, which means she likes to shock (Uranus) people with her words (Mercury). This is something a reader of Rebel in High Heels may experience. She can shock people into thinking in a new way. She can destabilize people’s mental processes and free them from outmoded beliefs. Her objectives and revolutionary insights help open minds, bring about a broader viewpoint. Laws imparts the idea that everyone is part of the same global family, and that it is important to work together for the good of whole, including animals.

Despite the Uranian shocks that come from Laws’ communication, she is also Sun, Venus and Mercury all conjunct in Taurus. This makes her memoir a sensual pleasure (Taurus) to read (Mercury). She writes in a delicious and luxurious manner. It is soothing and satisfying to devour her words. It is inviting, earthy and comforting. Reading her book is like eating a bowl of ice cream.

Laws has Moon in Sagittarius. The Moon is how we care for others. Laws cares (Moon) by sharing her truth and wisdom (Sagittarius). She nurtures others by teaching them and advising them. She also has Scorpio rising, which manifests in her “smart talent,” which is essentially defined in her book as “out-of-the-box thinking.” “Smart talent” allows Laws to see around restrictive rules and make strides that others can only dream about.

Laws also has Neptune on her ascendant, which explains why she is a shape-shifter and able to meld into a crowd unnoticed. She has been able to crash hundreds of VIP events to meet with Presidents, movie stars and business moguls (as discussed in her book). Plus, Laws is listed as one of the 15 most notorious party crashers in the world, a fitting title for her, astrologically speaking. The rising sign is a person’s survival mechanism. Laws likes to watch, observe, penetrate into, and delve into situations (Scorpio), and this is especially evident in her initial actions and the image she projects (ascendant).

As for the future, I predict Laws will continue to fight for justice and protect those who have been wounded, violated and victimized. She will demonstrate competence when it comes to helping others break free of existing structures and orders. She will introduce society to more enlightened ways of being and continue to be an agent of change.

One has to ask why it is that those in positions of PC power or privilege. (Religious or otherwise.) Who has been allowed to: commit revolting crimes against, naïve underage children.

In Manchester because of PC reasons 97 members of a “Predominantly Pakistani Muslim foul paedophile child abuse gang” continue to roam free to abuse and rape underage white children.

High up members of the Police Force, plus Government members and or their representatives should be prosecuted to the highest degree for allowing this to go on.

Muslim bigotry is rife against white Christian people because the Islam religion teaches that they are vile, dirty and worth less than an animal.

A public enquiry is needed to get to the root of the problem, and new laws be created to protect the general indigenous population from their obnoxious attitude and behaviour.

This is what I call real racist abuse, that has been ignored as racism is generally presumed by authorities only to exist against coloured people, which is blatantly bias against anyone who is white

Grooming cases have been coming to light all across the UK. What is it going to take before something is really done about it!

The MP’s need to stop this PC stupidity, It was the Policy introduced by Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith that made the Police ignore what was/is going on they should all be prosecuted. https://www.politicalite.com/corbyn/labour/labours-cover-up-gordon-browns-government-urged-police-not-to-investigate-muslim-grooming-gangs/

It horrifies me that the powers that be do nothing about child abuse and the Police do not investigate anything even when it is put right under their noses, I expect this upsets me more than some because I am a person who does try to do the right thing, but you do not get thanked for this by those in high places. Read the below links and you will understand.

Aug 7 2015

‘My fears for children on Edward Heath’s yacht’ http://mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/eleven-boys-went-edward-heaths-6209310#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Aug 8,2015

Edward Heath’s secret Jersey hideaway at centre of child sex abuse probe http://mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/edward-heaths-secret-jersey-hideaway-6220926#ICID=sharebar_twitter

One sided Lawlessness will at some point in time end up causing some to take the Law into their own hands. Who could blame them?

I do not like cover-ups of any type, and I have always backed those who have been abused. One should never be fearful of coming forward to do the right thing, but way too many people will not do so for fear of repercussions.

I have stood by many against those who would abuse them, stood up against bullies even to the point of facing down a neighbour with a hand gun who was threatening another neighbour, literally standing between them with the gun in my face.

The Police as usual did nothing, would not even search his house for the gun, but he was known member of the National Front who bred Pit-bulls so I expect they feared him?

What is it going to take for the authorities to actually care, let alone do something about the lopsided manner in which the supposed Law is carried out: or rather in some cases not carried out.

The Japanese American Story As Told Through a Collection of Speeches and Articles is a book which covers much of the history of American citizens and immigrants of Japanese heritage. Many of the untold stories of this group of people are told in the speeches and articles contained in this book. These people faced much hardship and darkness in their lives. They had to be determined to find light at the end of the tunnel.

Most of the earliest immigrants from Japan arrived in the United States in the very late 1800’s and the early part of the 1900’s. They were young men coming as laborers to partake of the riches of American life. They had hopes of finding success in this “land of opportunity” where it was believed that anyone could make lots of money.

They faced discrimination and racism. After years of living in the United States where they were not allowed to become citizens and they could not own land in many areas because of their race, the men had married and had families. Their children were growing up, and some had graduated from college. Education was stressed by the immigrant parents. However, many of these college graduates could not find jobs in their chosen fields even after having degrees because no one would hire them.

Still, these young Americans had great hope. That came to a halt when the Imperial Navy of Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Darkness came into the world and most certainly to the lives of the Japanese Americans.

When darkness comes, it is necessary to search for the light. Looking for the good and keeping hope alive is necessary to overcome the darkness of life. Adapting well to whatever changes come to us is essential in finding success. Making the adjustments necessary may make the difference in accomplishing something worthwhile and wasting the time with no progress.

It is not an easy thing to overcome darkness when it is permeating so heavily in daily life. It is a much simpler route to give in and perhaps give up. Keeping a positive attitude during extreme dark times is difficult. It is a simple concept which can be quite promising.

There was a lot of darkness for Japanese Americans when they were unjustly incarcerated in camps during World War II. They needed to find the light within to be able to endure the treatment they received from their own government. They had to try to have a pleasant and bright outlook during dismal times. That is something that everyone may need to do to survive and thrive.

Using extra time in the evenings when daylight is no longer available may be a good way to find some light from the darkness by spending time at something which could be lucrative and beneficial. Finding light at the end of the tunnel was difficult, but the Japanese Americans worked hard and persevered until they found the light.

Sometimes, I write on a topic which to many may appear outlandish. Yet, I mean no offense and I would vehemently deny the charge of racism though I have affairs and loved only fair-skinned girls and women. I am now going to touch a half-century of life and yet feel fit as I was when I was 25. I play golf, ride horses and drive around in my BMW and Ford Mustang. I alternate between Mumbai, UAE, and Singapore as I head one of the top multinationals in this part of the world. I also write and have I think nearly 10000 posts on the net on at least 50 sites, some closed, some dormant and some active.

I have served in the Air Force earlier and that has been my gateway to the world of women. Girls and women have been fascinated with meeting a man who flies planes at Mach 2.5 + and that adds to the aura of mystery in life for them.

The Fair Girls and Life

Outside India, Russian and American girls with many from Eastern Europe have been part of my life. I recollect on my first visit to the USA I preferred corporal a pure white blonde girl to a black girl NCO. Nothing racist about it, but my choice was the fair blonde and that led to a rollicking affair, for which I got a reprimand for sleeping with a non commissioned ranker. You can’t break the officer- men divide in the military. But I have no explanation for it. But my benefactor the old Foggier stood behind me.

Twenty-seven visits to Russia and Eastern Europe were some of the most exciting periods of my life. I had some lovely golden Russian girls as dates and mates. It was common among the Indian officers and I know of at least two colleagues who resigned their commission to marry and live in Russia. Russia is great, but their women are simply the fairest of all.

The Fair Factor

American white women have also been part of my life and the last affair with a young American blonde doctor was the most serious of them though she was 20 years younger. There have been fleeting affairs all over. Earlier at least two Brahmin extremely fair Tamil girls from Chennai were my source of inspiration simply unforgettable, but I have no regrets.

I remember at a dance as a young subaltern, I waited to dance with the fairest girl till I got my chance and swept her off to the land of love. Yes, so may dark girls who eyed my Air Force emblem, wanted to dance. I danced, yes but my preference was for the fair-skinned Brahmin girl. I won.

Last word

.These are just a few stray thoughts from my journal. I remember Nirad Choudhary wrote Autobiography of an Unknown Indian and rocketed to fame. Maybe it’s about time I wrote something similar and put my thoughts on fair women, guns, and planes on paper. I have a confession, beautiful fair women remind me of them with a snake, I don’t know if there is a connection