INDePeNDeNCE DaY 2026...
1955, Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan
I was born in a US Army base hospital in Hakata, Fukuoka Japan at the tail end of the Korean War. My Dad was stationed with the Fifth Air Force. My Mom was Japanese and the personal assistant of the Base Commander. I was always taught to respect the flag and what it stood for.
I was also taught to respect/embrace cultural "diversity" (a term I dislike due to the "woke" connotations). I had trouble to overcome when I was a kid because I was different. I became a Class Clown early in life. To handle the street. However, I am no "victim." Instead of sinking I learned to swim...
One thing is certain, I was never taught to be a Marxist. I was a child of the Cold War. I had no idea what it was really all about until later in life. And yes, after living in Chicago Illinois, the remnants of the Soviet Union from 1991, and then moving to live in China and Hong Hong, I know a something about the differences between Soviet style /Stalinism/Communism, American style/Jacobanite Cultural Marxism and, finally, "socialism with Chinese characteristics."
Isn't it interesting that American leftists are fixated with Cuba, which is an artifact of the Soviet Union. None of them seem interested in the so called China miracle. You will never hear them speaking of the China model. They don't wonder how it can be that 45% of the population in Hong Kong resides in safe and clean low rent public/government housing. They don't wonder how Hong Kong can have a first class universal healthcare system. Why Milton Friedman applauded this place as a market utopia, even though he knew very well there were critical socialist elements that helped make it hum, elements designed and executed by British capitalists.
Shenzen, also China, is a glittering futuristic metropolis that was nothing more than rice fields and fisher folk 50 years ago. The American left don't even know it exists. You can get there in 15 minutes by high speed rail. A high speed rail, imagine that! They are spreading like wild fire all over South East Asia now. LOL! California is an appalling embarrassment in the high speed rail department!
Why don't they care? Why aren't they curious? Its difficult to say, but I will point out that China ain't woke! And they, the woke American leftists, certainly don't like that. Better to be quiet, curious and smarter rather than noisy and stupid.
China? China is the real enemy so they say. The lurking bogey monster in the East. You know every major Wall Street bank and fund manager is parked in Central Hong Kong. They all want to manage Chinese wealth: Black Rock, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, yadda yadda yadda. The professional expat population of American families in Hong Kong is said to be between 30-40,000.
One thing I don't like at all, people who freely opine and cast aspersions on other peoples and places without ever having visited them or doing the necessary homework.
I remain an American patriot. Being a patriot does not mean one knows better than everyone else. Being a patriot means one knows what one believes in. What one will sacrifice for. Better to mind one's own business and behave as a grateful guest should when away from home.
There are many other well developed and modernized cities scattered all around East Asia. Some are socialist others are not. No one seems to care about ideology when it comes to making everything run smoothly. You won't hear claptrap about free buses and government grocers. Nor will you hear it advocated to eat the rich. Its all one big silly Jacobin fantasy spun by academics and paid political parasites. In Asia, they are more concerned with building modern metropoles rather than ideological hive nests.
The vast majority of MSM and various paid talking heads who claim to know about China and Asia are talking straight out of their master's asses.
IMHO...
In the Battle of Hakata Bay the Japanese defeated Kublai Khan's second attempt to invade Japan. They were aided by the so called "Divine Wind" known in Japan as Kamikazee. During WWII someone twisted it into suicide bombing.
Both my parents were civically engaged. As many of you know they are both gone now for over a decade. My Mom was active on ZH. She never commented in the threads. But she did communicate with various fight club oldtimers indirectly.
Circa 1969 (Outdooring in the Catskills) My Dad taught me all the ropes one needs to know.
July 2025 (The original one and only Naked Cowboy). He's a good man and been around for many years! He loves New York. And he ain't woke. At least I don't think so.
July 2025 (NYC Harbour, My home turf). I grew up in a Brooklyn neighborhood facing the harbour. I learned to survive on the streets there. Later I learned to survive on the water in a sail boat.
July 2025 (Grand Canyon, gotta see it at least once!) You reach a point in life when you realize its now or never...Now comes sooner than you think!
July 2025 (somewhere on Route 66). Americana is American!
July 2025 (The Jefferson Memorial) I wanted my wife to see it and understand the meaning of it.
July 2025 (Jefferson Memorial). A quiet yet profound place...
August 2025 (the other side of Rushmore) (Never saw it before)
August 2025 (Rushmore)
Crazy Horse Mountain 2025 (I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee a few times when I was a kid. I have always been sympathetic to the plight of native Americans. Whenever possible I seek out their culture. Yet I do not say everyone in the US is living on stolen land.)
Saratoga National Cemetery, July 2025-- (You never forget what was important. My parents taught me what it means to be an American. My Grandparents were immigrants and my Mom was an Immigrant, lawful immigrants. Both of them gladly served our country in the armed forces and in community activities). I visited them at their grave located in a memorial cemetery near Saratoga New York last July. It is no accident that both my parents are literally buried on the site of the Battle of Saratoga, many say it was the turning point in the American revolutionary war.
We all miss our parents. I miss mine dearly. Most of all, I miss them on the Fourth of July.
Happy Independence Day Weekend to everyone!
And warm regards from Asia!
WB7
July 2025
NYC 2025 (I am a patriot who believes in minding his own business. I have traveled and worked all over the globe. Naturally I have well informed opinions about what our country has been doing for decades. It ain't pretty)
Bangkok 2026 (In my opinion, ones loyalty to the flag and the founding principles of the republic, transcends the appalling behavior of the sociopaths who wind up in power.)
At times such as now it is difficult to be an American overseas. But one can manage it by being humble, appreciative and respectful wherever one goes. "Wherever you go, there you are!" There are pockets of Americans everywhere.
In a small way, you can represent the best of your country in order to win the hearts and minds of others. You don't need to engage in political subversion and war. There is much to be said for minding one's own business. Be good to others and it will come back to you in return...
Parents: Remember who they were, what they believed in and what the stood for...try your best to follow their lead...
Speaking of lead, my first real rock concert I went to was with my Dad, CCR in Madison Square Garden, May 1970. He loved it! I worked that summer and took the money to buy my first big boy guitar, a Gibson SG Standard.
New York 2025
NYC 2025
Buffalo Wyoming 2025
Devils Tower/Bears House 2025
Troy New York 2025
Deadwood, South Dakota 2025
Fender Will Ray Signature MIJ Jazzocaster, 2025
NYC 2025
Thanks for turning me onto this band Lloyd!