Penelope’s Loom

 It's the time of corn on the cob, red white and blue flags, hot dogs, and beer.  And fireworks.  Of course fireworks. Overall, a time for Americans to celebrate the end of our eighteenth century revolt against the authority and overlord-ship of England. I hope that you will all enjoy your hamburgers and beer, as I know that you will all reflect for a second or two on the wonder of free speech and the right to assembly. Freedom (well, relative freedom) is a pretty nice thing. So, Dear Reader, enjoy your fourth.  If you're curious, check out any of these entertainments:  I watch them every single year and remember that without John Adams, we'd all be pretty screwed in this country: https://dai.ly/x2ngcau . 1776.  A campy but marvellous musical based on the broadway play. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00687PWQG/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r A wonderful doc-series on the life and times of John and Abigail Adams. Try them out Dear Reader, and enjoy your day t...

  NOTE:  please accept my apology Dear Reader, for any who may have ventured forth on this blog of late.  It has been a long time since I last posted...my mother died, and I decided to live briefly on Venus.  But, I have returned, and hopefully you will still come along on some new adventures, even if they are bitter--as th is entry most certainly is.... I have written, in this blog, many warnings about  absolute power.  I have also dealt with the problems that come into focus, when individuals are seduced by that power, to the detriment of plebs.  So, there probably isn't that much left to say, excepting the fact that this seems to be an inexhaustible subject, due to the endless samples that continually present themselves. What I'd like to do in this entry, is to look a little bit at beginnings, and endings.  Hopefully, you might see a few parallels, and forgive me pointing them out along the way.  This is only my POV, however, please r...

DANGER--CAUTION--BEWARE. What follows here is yet another commentary on this year's presidential election, Dear Reader.  Believe me, I am more than bored with this subject matter, but the candidates keep shocking me into a catatonic state.  Honestly, we must be the laughing stock of the world. I shudder to think how the global community regards our lack of any political process.  Honor is out the window, and the election of 2024 has devolved into a cult of personality.  On the one side you've got a mainstream politician, spouting platitudes (Harris), while on the other you've got a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. I am compelled to address comments made by the dictator wannabe, Mr. Asshole (i.e. Trump): "Immigrants are no longer welcome in Donald Trump’s America. Instead, the Republican presidential nominee posited that under his potential second administration, he would round up and mass-deport noncitizens based on their “serial numbers.”  https://newrepublic.com...

 I had a death in the family this week.  Will post again soon

American white people I meant in the title;  circa WW2.  Thus spake (title quote) Zarathustra, a.k.a. Mark Twain Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, Cemetery, Tule Lake, 2002, mixed media on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum  Autumn foliage California has now become  a far country ---Yajin Nakao So, what were the camp conditions?  Military style, if anything.  Windows without restrooms, and no running water.   From March 10 August, 1942, more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans were forcibly interned in concentration camps.  The living conditions were less than ideal, as the above pictures indicate.  The houses were communal-style living, with little or no insulation against extreme heat, or cold.  Camp illnesses, like dysentery and typhoid fever were unwanted denizens.  Predictably, children and the elderly suffered more than other internees, in contracting these diseases. Of course the camps were built in remote areas, and of course they w...