Penelope’s Loom

 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...

  Be Like the Cactus Let not harsh tongues, that wag in vain, Discourage you. In spite of pain, Be like the cactus, which through rain, And storm, and thunder, can remain. Kimii Nagata https://japaneseinternmentmemories.wordpress.com/category/japanese-internement-poetry/ Manzanar, yesterday and today. When I was a kid, back in the Neo-lithic era, one of the books we had to read was entitled Farewell to Manzanar.   I don't remember it really, now that I'm in my dotage, but I do remember being shocked that the internment of Japanese Americans occurred during the second world war.  Here's a link to the book online:   https://www.rgandara.com/uploads/1/2/3/7/123702754/james_d._houstonjames_a._houstonjeanne_wakatsuki_houston_-_farewell_to_manzanar__2013_houghton_mifflin_harcourt_trade_and_reference_houghton_mifflin_harcourt_hmh_books_for_young_readers___1_.pdf   We also used to drive past what remained of the camp on our way to Mammoth Mountain--a ski resort....

HERE'S ANOTHER WARNING, DEAR READER, I'M COMMENTING ON CURRENT POLITICAL EVENTS THIS WEEK.  PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU ARE BORED BY MY RANTS AGAINST A CERTAIN PERSON.   Every Person has their own opinion, and what follows is a collection of my thoughts and opinions. So, if you'll forgive me for vomiting my political views all over this page,    THANKS!! OK, if you've come this far, shall we begin? “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” ― William Shakespeare, Macbeth You've got to hand it to ole Will (or the Earl of Oxford), he sure knows how to weave a spell with words.  To tell you the truth, I w...