For almost a decade I had been living in Tokyo, Japan. With my wife Haruki and our seven-year-old daughter, Kantra we were on a 13-hour flight from Tokyo to JFK airport in New York City. It was the day before 9/11 and it was our first touchdown in the States. NYC was one of the global epicenters of COVID. At JFK we had to go through immigration and transfer to a connecting flight to Charlotte. Throughout the weeks leading up …
Tag: u.s.
This morning was a quarantine dream. I talked to podcaster, writer, rapper, and Shanghai social commentator, Randy Flagg. I’ve previously written about him, here. I did not know we’d be talking live. It’s been years since I’ve talked to this brother face-to-face. I signed on through his streamyard link (which I’ve never used) then all of a sudden, live, I’m on the internet. “Oh shit.” Surprise, it was comfortable and good to reconnect with an old friend. He’s been grinding …
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz reads Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss on the Senate floor during his 22-hour filibuster against ObamaCare. In response, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is “appalled.” To a crowd of reporters he said, “Green Eggs and Ham has a moral: Don’t criticize something, don’t reject something, until you actually try it. Sam said he didn’t like green eggs and ham for a long time. And then when he finally tried it, he liked it.” …
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida 
Confederate Statue, Lake Eola, Orlando, Florida
Blacks built America’s infrastructure and economy. Nothing will change that fact. Leave them statues alone. They are evidence of how the “victors” intended history to be written. I don’t want to forget that, and I don’t want my child to either. Reproach their significance. The real battleground is our children’s schools. They need to know that the face of horror, which is generally associated with blackness, actually exists in our forefathers. The Amy’s and John’s of America need their perceptions …
“You shut the fuck up and wait,” Tom said, pointing his finger at the driver honking at him from behind. Tom was a big-bellied fat man. A pistol and a pocketknife hung from his waist. Framed by ditches on both sides, Tom and Pops talked from their trucks, blocking the narrow two-lane road. In the back of our van, my middle brother Peter and I were sitting on tomato boxes. “Geeze,” Pete whispered, putting his head between his legs. “The …
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