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I used to be an avid reader; best sellers, novels, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, horror, murder mysteries, sci-fi. Stephen King, Toni Morrison, all of 'em. The last book I read was 3 years ago. After that, my vision began to fail. I can see far away, but I struggle with close up print. Reading glasses don't help that much. I used to work a crossword puzzle everyday but not any more, much to my dismay. The only reason I can participate on this site is because I put my phone on dark mode and when the background is black and the printing is white, I can see just fine. I need cataract surgery but keep putting it off like I do any medical procedure because, at my age, I feel like it's more trouble than it's worth. I really don't give a damn about much of anything any more. I'm losing interest in everything. Even the election. I do, however, have enough passion left to detest black right wing Republicans. Lately I've been frequenting You Tube. But not to watch videos. To listen to songs. All the oldies but goodies. Music is my drug of choice. It really does it for me. It's magic. I keep saying I'm going to get into audio books but - maybe tomorrow. If tomorrow comes... Oh, me. 🙄 zzzzzzzz

Another Haole perspective on the Negro Problem: Black Man's Burden (1961) & Border, Breed nor Birth (1963) by Mack Reynolds In 1972 I read Mack Reynold’s Black Man’s Burden/Border, Breed Nor Birth, a cool looking ACE Double. I discovered the stories were reprinted from ANALOG and written a decade earlier. Yes, there are some politically incorrect aspects to these stories of a group of African-Americans who decide to unite North African countries by creating a mythical leader, El Hassan, to bring progress to suffering people. In the Introduction to “Black Sheep Astray” Mack Reynolds writes that John Campbell, editor of ANALOG , suggested elements of the series. Later, I learned there was another book in the North Africa Series, The Best Ye Breed, where the Soviets, Japanese and Americans decide El Hassan must be assassinated because he and his group controls too many vital natural resources. Mack Reynolds may have come up with this idea because of the OPEC oil crisis at the time. Nation-building isn’t a common Science Fiction theme, but Mack Reynolds–a SF writer who wrote about politics and economics–delivers a thought-provoking series. GRADE: B+ https://sfgospel.typepad.com/sf_gospel/2008/08/mack-reynolds-on-africa-islam-utopia-and-progress.html

Many of the learning deficiencies and other labels they attached to children can be charged to an educational system that fails to maintain their interest and enlighten them. Then again, the system is designed to produce certain outcomes. Capitalism thrives on every type of person in the form of white and blue collar workers, unemployed folks and prisoners too.😎