Erica Lee has made me a believer that America is a racist nation. I see her point from two different view points: 1. Americans still tend to dislike people they don’t identify with, and 2. There are a whole lot of different people in our country than we know about. We are a catch basin for all races.
When people associate racism in a hateful way I believe it is because the people we pick on don’t fit into our metric of people we admire and relate to. Another reason might be that we can’t relate to people who look radically different from us, namely blacks and Asians. They are so easy to pick out of a crowd and so easy to pick on that we tend to do it, i.e. pick on them. Ms Lee presented some interesting facts in her book “The Making of Asian America” that we should all become aware of. For instance the segregation of Japanese during WW II. I, for one, feel that the government made a wise decision to separate people who look so different from the general population during time of war with their country. I believe we saved these Japanese from a severe backlash of hatred by our white population. Ms Lee points out that the Japanese kept in the camps felt very different about their treatment. They felt that we should have treated them as loyal citizens which most of them were. What we didn’t learn from our history lessons was that the government deliberately treated them harshly. Never the less that period of history is over now and we must move forward. She wrote that after 9/11 a similar backlash against Pakistanis occurred against Sikh followers who could be easily picked out of a crowd. What surprised me about her timeline is how the United States created racial problems with our wars and then willingly took in refugees from those countries. I have not seen huge numbers of these ethnic groups in and around Chicago, but the numbers she gives are very large. Her description of the fall of Saigon at the end of the war cites hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese coming into the country, most of them undocumented. It didn’t end with Vietnamese because thousands of people from surrounding countries helped. Cambodians, Laotians, and Hmongs came as well. Recently, we experienced the need to do the same with Afghanis. With all of these people coming in from so many different places the cultural mix of the country is changing. The assimilation of so many different cultures, and languages will be difficult at best, perhaps impossible. Now, we also see an influx from South and Central America with additional cultures, customs, and languages. We also need a way to give these people work so they can feed and house themselves. There are just so many cleaners, dish washers, and grass cutters that we can occupy. One problem Ms Lee points out is that many of the people coming in are educated, but because of language differences they cannot find work that they are trained for. The result is that Phd level teachers, doctors, and nurses are finding work as truck drivers to provide for their families. It is sad, and the result is we have taken in too many people without any plan for providing meaningful work.
The assimilation of the millions of immigrants we’ve taken in since the seventies will take several generations to happen. As these new people change so will we. Together we will learn to love and help and integrate our new neighbors into a melting pot society. Perhaps by 2121 we will no longer be writing books about systemic racism. Or maybe the opposite, we will be writing more books about how bad it has become since the great influx of the twenty-first century.
My heart isn’t in this post today, but I’ll give it a try. For some dumb reason I feel punk today (do I have COVID?). I haven’t taken my walk, I haven’t cooked anything, and now I’m not writing anything. I dreamed all night about Homeland and got myself into some pretty confusing scenarios. I wish the studio would put me on their payroll. Actually, I don’t think I could come up with all the stuff the writers of that program think of. I have to admit, they have hooked me good. I watch several episodes everyday and the plot just gets more and more complicated. I have to keep telling myself this is not true, it is only a story, or is it? The story in season four takes place in Pakistan and I love the countryside scenes, and the crowded village (city) shots. Those pictures are real and very eye opening about how people live there. It reminds me of the days that I travelled to Singapore for work and took side trips to places in Malasia and Indonesia. People really do live like they do in the Homeland scenes. I even travelled to the now evil China, but saw only one day of their rural areas and one government picked village. Most of my time was spent in Hong Kong where it is crowded but the people speak english, are friendly, and try to live like westerners. Now I see videos of the Chinese cities like Wuhan and am amazed at the modernity of the buildings. The city is an architects dream.
When I see those modern buildings I wonder if their construction was as good as their appearance. I remember walking through shopping center buildings where the floors between sections had a two inch mismatch between them or the stairs were uneven. Construction was shoddy at best, and the building scaffolds were made from bamboo lashed together with rope. Construction coolies lived in makeshift apartments on the job sites. They were bamboo structures with screened walls sectioned into four by four foot by no more than six feet long cubby-holes. Each worker lived in one of those compartments. They used bamboo ladders to get from floor to floor. Those were interesting times.
COVID-19 is turning me off, and I feel I must turn my attention to activities that are a thousand miles in space rather than at home with corona. The only corona I would love to spend time with comes in a clear glass bottle of rich yellow golden beer.
The tone of the emails I am receiving definitely suggest that the country(and world) is preoccupied with COVID-19. Just for fun I will include some of the content I got today. Some of it is cute, some is hilarious and some is downright awful.
I used to spin that toilet paper like I was on Wheel of Fortune. Now I turn it like I’m cracking a safe
* I need to practice social-distancing from the refrigerator.
* Still haven’t decided where to go for Easter —– The Living Room or The Bedroom
* PSA: every few days try your jeans on just to make sure they fit. Pajamas will have you believe all is well in the kingdom.
* Homeschooling is going well. 2 students suspended for fighting and 1 teacher fired for drinking on the job.
* I don’t think anyone expected that when we changed the clocks we’d go from Standard Time to the Twilight Zone
* This morning I saw a neighbor talking to her cat. It was obvious she thought her cat understood her. I came into my house, told my dog….. we laughed a lot.
* So, after this quarantine…..will the producers of My 600 Pound Life just find me or do I find them?
* Quarantine Day 5: Went to this restaurant called THE KITCHEN. You have to gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have no clue how this place is still in business.
* My body has absorbed so much soap and disinfectant lately that when I pee it cleans the toilet.
* Day 5 of Homeschooling: One of these little monsters called in a bomb threat.
* I’m so excited — it’s time to take out the garbage. What should I wear?
* I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to Puerto Backyarda. I’m getting tired of Los Livingroom.
* Classified Ad: Single man with toilet paper seeks woman with hand sanitizer for good clean fun.
* Day 6 of Homeschooling: My child just said “I hope I don’t have the same teacher next year”…. I’m offended
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Poem to share
The earth whispered but you did not hear. The earth spoke but you did not listen The earth screamed but you turned her off. And so I was born… I was not born to punish you.. I was born to awaken you.. The earth cried out for help… Massive flooding. But you didn’t listen. Burning fires. But you didn’t listen. Strong hurricanes. But you didn’t listen. Terrifying Tornadoes. But you didn’t listen. You still don’t listen to the earth when. Ocean animals are dying due to pollutants in the waters. Glaciers melting at an alarming rate. Severe drought. You didn’t listen to how much negativity the earth is receiving. Non-stop wars. Non-stop greed. You just kept going on with your life.. No matter how much hate there was.. No matter how many killings daily.. It was more important to get that latest iPhone then worry about what the earth was trying to tell you.. But now I am here. And I’ve made the world stop on its tracks. I’ve made YOU finally listen. I’ve made you take refuge. I’ve made you stop thinking about materialistic things.. Now you are like the earth… You are only worried about YOUR survival. How does that feel? I give you fever.. as the fires burn on earth. I give you respiratory issues.. has pollution fill the earth air. I give you weakness as the earth weakens every day. I took away your comforts.. Your outings. The things you would use to forget about the planet and its pain. And I made the world stop… And now… China has better air quality.. Skys are clear blue because factories are not spewing pollution unto the earth’s air. The water in Venice is clean and dolphins are being seen. Because the gondola boats that pollute the water are not being used. YOU are having to take time to reflect on what is important in your life. Again I am not here to punish you.. I am here to Awaken you… When all this is over and I am gone… Please remember these moments.. Listen to the earth. Listen to your soul. Stop Polluting the earth. Stop Fighting among each other. Stop caring about materialistic things. And start loving your neighbors. Start caring about the earth and all its creatures. Start believing in a Creator. Because next time I may come back even stronger….
Published March 24, 2020 | By Giacomino Nicolazzo, Montecalvo, Lombardy, Italy.
As I sit here in my involuntary isolation, it was just reported that overnight 743 more people died and 5.249 new cases have been reported. This brings the total cases of infection to 69,176 and the body count to 6,820. We take relief in knowing that 8,326 people have recovered so far. (Numbers as of 3/24, 8:30pm in Italy.)
Most towns here in Italy, from the upper reaches of the Alps to the ancient shores of Sicilia and Sardenia, while not deserted, are closer to being ghost towns than the bustling centers of tourism, business and daily life they were just a few weeks ago. Stores and shops have been shuttered. Restaurants and coffee shops no longer serve customers. Schools, universities, sporting arenas…even our museums and theaters…all closed. Even the Vatican City has closed its gates and armed patrols monitor the 20 foot tall walls that protect it! Streets and roads are now empty for as far as the eye can see. Normally they would be filled with crazed Italian drivers in tiny cars and scooters (the ones that sound like demonic insects) darting here and there, reaching the limits of centrifugal force on our roundabouts. In the piazze of our towns and cities, there are now officially more pigeons than people.
Many of us know someone who has been infected and recovered. Some of us know someone who did not recover…now they are dead. But everyone knows someone who has been affected by this microscopic monster in one way or another.
Sixty million of us are in lockdown…it is like a war zone here. We are being held prisoner in our own homes by an unseen enemy that sneaked in unnoticed…by most of us. As you will read in just a few more minutes, there were those who knew something like this was coming…or at least they should have.
So who is to blame? With all this craziness swirling like a whirlpool at our feet, I just had to find the blame answer. And so I have spent my free time (of which I have a lot in these days) digging and researching. I was literally shocked to discover how this has come to be. I am not going to bore you with talk of Patient ‘0’ who spread it to Patient ‘1’ and how mathematics efficiently explains the rapid expansion of infection. No…I am going to tell you how (as I see it) the virus came to Italy.
It has everything to do with communists. Allow me to explain. Beginning in about 2014, Matteo Renzi, the imbecile ex-mayor of Firenze (Florence) acting as the leader of the Partito Democratico (synonymous with the Italian Communist party), somehow managed to get himself elected as Italy’s Prime Minister. To give you a proper frame of reference, Matteo Renzi was so far left, he would make Barack Obama look like Barry Goldwater!
At the same time that Renzi was leading Italy into oblivion, strange things were happening in Italy’s economy. Banks were failing…but not closing. Retirement ages were being extended…for some reason the pension funds were dwindling or disappearing. The national sales tax we call IVA (Value Added Tax) rose from 18% to 20%, then to 21% and again to 22%.And in the midst of all this financial chicanery, the Chinese began furiously buying up Italian real estate and businesses in the North.
Now the reason I mention Renzi and the Chinese together is that strange things were also going on between the governments of Italy and China. A blind eye was being turned to the way the Chinese were buying businesses in the financial, telecommunication, industrial and fashion sectors of Italy’s economy, all of which take place in Milano.
To be brief…China was getting away with purchases and acquisitions in violation of Italian law and EU Trade Agreements with the US and the UK…and no one in either of those countries (not Obama in the US or Cameron in the UK) said a thing in their country’s defense. As a matter of fact, much of it was hidden from the public in all three countries.
In 2014, China infused the Italian economy with €5 billion through purchases of companies costing less than €100 million each. By the time Renzi left office (in disgrace) in 2016, Chinese acquisitions had exceeded €52 billion. When the dust settled, China owned more than 300 companies…representing 27% of the major Italian corporations.
The Bank of China now owns five major banks in Italy…all of which had been secretly (and illegally) propped up by Renzi using pilfered pension funds! Soon after, the China Milano Equity Exchange was opened and much of Italy’s wealth was being funneled back to the Chinese mainland. Chinese state entities own Italy’s major telecommunication corporation (Telecom) as well as its major utilities (ENI and ENEL). Upon entry into the telecommunication market, Huawei established a facility in Serrate, a suburb of Milano. It launched is first research center there and worked on the study of microwaves which has resulted in the possibly-dangerous technology we call 5G.
China also now owns controlling interest in Fiat-Chrysler, Prysmian and Terna. You will be surprised to know that when you put a set of Pirelli tires on your car, the profits are going to China. Yep…the Chinese colossus of ChemChina, a chemical industry titan, bought that company too! Last but not least is Ferretti yachts…the most prestigious yacht builder in Europe. Incredibly, it is no longer owned by the Ferretti family. But the sector in which Chinese companies invested most was Italy’s Profitable fashion industry. The Pinco Pallino, Miss Sixty, Sergio Tacchini, Roberta di Camerino and Mariella Burani brands have been acquired by 100%. Designer Salvatore Ferragamo sold 16% and Caruso sold 35%. The most famous case is Krizia, purchased in 2014 by Shenzhen Marisfrolg Fashion Company, one of the leaders of high-priced, ready-to-wear fashions in Asia.
Throughout all of these purchases and acquisitions, Renzi’s government afforded the Chinese unrestricted and unfettered access to Italy and its financial markets, many coming through without customs inspections. Quite literally, tens of thousands of Chinese came in through Milano (illegally) and went back out carrying money, technology and corporate secrets. Thousands more were allowed to enter and disappeared into shadows of Milano and other manufacturing cities of Lombardy, only to surface in illegal sewing shops, producing knock-off designer clothes and slapping ‘Made In Italy’ labels on them All with the tacit approval of the Renzi government. It was not until there was a change in the governing party in Italy that the sweatshops and the illegal entry and departure of Chinese nationals was stopped. Matteo Salvini, representing the Lega Nord party, closed Italy’s ports to immigrants and systematically began disassembling the sweatshops and deporting those in Italy illegally.
But his rise to power was short-lived. Italy is a communist country…socialism is in the national DNA. Ways were found to remove Salvini, after which the communist party, under the direction of Giuseppe Conte, reopened the ports. Immediately, thousands of unvetted, undocumented Refugees from the Middle East and East Africa began pouring in again .Access was again provided to the Chinese, under the old terms, and as a consequence thousands of Chinese, the majority from Wuhan, began arriving in Milano.
In December of last year, the first inklings of a coronavirus were noticed in Lombardy…in the Chinese neighborhoods. There is no doubt amongst senior medical officials that the virus was brought here from China. By the end of January 2020 cases were being reported left and right. By mid-February the virus was beginning to seriously overload the Lombardy hospitals and medical clinics. They are now in a state of collapse.
The Far-Left politicians sold out and betrayed the Italian people with open border policies and social justice programs. One of the reasons the health care system collapsed so quickly is because the Renzi government (and now continued under the Conte government) redirected funds meant to sustain the medical system, to pay for the tens of thousands of immigrants brought in to Italy against the will of the Italian people.
If you remember the horrible earthquake that decimated the villages around Amatricia, in the mountains east of Rome in 2015, you would also remember how the world responded by sending millions of dollars to help those affected. But there is a law in Italy that prevents private donations to charitable Italian organizations. All money and donations received must be turned over to a government agency, who in turn is to appropriate the funds as needed. But that agency is corrupt just as are all the others.
Most of the money never reached a single victim in the mountains. The Renzi government redirected the vast majority of those funds to pay for the growing immigrant and refugee costs. As the economy worsened under the burden of illegal immigration, compounded by gross government spending and incompetence, unemployment rose quickly…especially among young people. The unemployment rate for men and women under age 35 is close to 40%. So more money was diverted from the health care system and used to pay what is known here as guaranteed income. Whether you work or not you are paid here, especially if you belong to the PD! The government simply raises taxes on those who do work.
Let me give you a quick example of the height of insanity to which Italian taxation has risen. If you live in a building that has a balcony or balconies…and any of those balconies cast a shadow on the ground, you must pay a public shadow tax! I will say no more!
The point I am trying to make here is that not only did the Chinese bring the virus to Italy (and the rest of the world) it was far-Left politics and policies that facilitated it. This should hopefully be a warning to Americans that while they work to rid themselves of the China Virus, they should just as vehemently endeavor to rid their government of any politician that circumvents the Constitution and ignores the laws of the land…plain and simple.
Nothing was ever done by the EU who knew about it at the start.
Giacomino Nicolazzo is one of Italy’s most beloved writers. Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, he lives in a small village in Lombardy where he writes his books.
English: Aerial photograph of a gas attack launched by the Germans against the Russians circa 1916 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The debate about what to do with Syria is fascinating. There are so many scenarios to play out and to plan for, but the one that will happen is most likely the one never planned. In my mind this is simple. The President drew a red line and boldly declared that Syria must not cross it or face the consequences. Today, I heard Obama back track and say it was not him who drew the red line, but the world. He referenced the Geneva Convention after WWII when world leaders outlawed gas warfare. Obama is correct, the Geneva Convention prohibits gas warfare, but he is also wrong. He spoke the words, and drew a fresh red line for Syria. Now he is afraid to act.
I said it was simple, and it is. The “shot across the bow” is a hand slap. Our strike must make believers out of Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, and Pakistan that we mean business when you violate the no gas warfare rule. We must send a signal significant enough to scare the living bejesus out of the entire world. Rather than a slap on the hand, a ferocious kick in the ass is in order. A kick that is fierce enough to make the world think hard and long before they try any more gas attacks.
The problem I see with this approach is that it relies on sound intelligence that the Syrian Government is really the perpetrator of the gas attack. Our Secretary of State is proclaiming that our intelligence is showing us that the attack is directly attributable the Syrian government. I for one, don’t really put much faith in our intelligence since they have blown so many things, like Benghazi for one. There are also several factions rebelling against Syria, that anyone of them could have pulled the attack off. There are rumors that the CIA, Israel, and Al Qaeda all did it. So, who did do it? I cannot believe a leader of a country will perpetrate such an atrocity on his own people. It would be like believing that Obama gasses New York because it is to his advantage. I’m not buying into it. As much as I dislike Obama, I can’t believe he can commit such an atrocity.
English: Representation of a Polio victim, Egypt 18th Dynasty Deutsch: Darstellung eines Poliokranken, Ägypten 18. Dynastie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I am a polio survivor. I do not wish the scourge on anyone anywhere, not even radical Islamists. All I can say, is that if Muslims hate the USA so much as to deny their people a way to beat a terrible disease, then they are pitifully sick.
They may be winning the battle to take over the world, but they will lose the battle to polio. The disease does not care if you are peace loving nor a radical seventh century Muslim, it will take you down.
