Dear People of the World (formerly Dear Americans)

Today was a big news day for showbiz.

The king of Pop Star, Micheal Jackson died of heart attack and one of the hottest angel of "Charlie's Angels", Farrah Fewcett died of cancer.

Two big icons of American entertainment died. Both of them were very familiar to me.

I remember when Micheal Jackson visited Japan in 1980's. He stayed in Japan for more than 40 days.

He really liked Japan and gave big compliments to our country. He said something like "In Japan shy people like me can be welcomed unlike the U.S."

Did it mean he was not welcome in the U.S.?

The other big star, Farrah Fewcett was one of the casts of my favourite show "Charlie's Angels."

Actually I liked Cheryl Ladd who acted as her sister better.

The three beautiful women acted as detective. The story was made into film.

I like the episode that Cheryl Ladd and Farrah Fewcett were together as sisters.

But Micheal and Farrah are gone.

Not only that, my image of America of those days were gone, too. America is not dream country any more.

Actually I hate that country although I had lived there for more than 5 years.

Maybe since I learned the U.S. Navy decided to deploy nuclear aircraft carrier in Yokosuka.

But America has drastically changed recently since 911, war in Iraq and financial crisis.

The End of Era.

Even Obama, the first Black man to be the president of the U.S. work too well, the things would not be much better.

This article describes why.

Good bye, Micheal, Angel and the era of America!

A woman named Hester lived in a small Puritan Village in 17th century had been accused of adultfully. She had to wear scarlet letter "A" all the time because of the sin she committed. She and her daughter, Pearl were always harrassed by the villagers.

Local villagers and its headman wanted to know who was the father of Pearl. At last the villagers found who he was and got shocked.

It seemed that the film revealed the true nature of America. The origin of America was Puritans. Puritans were exiles from England.

They lived under the faith of God because of fear they experienced in England. They created a very closed society with very strict rules. As a result they became hypocrits.

In last scene of the film, Hester and Pearl ran away from the land of hypocrisy, not freedom.

That represents feeling I have right now. I am losing interest in America and growing contempt for it.

American is not a dream country to me any more since 911, war in Iraq, deployment of USS George Washington in Yokosuka, and financial crisis.  

Good-bye, America! A country of Hypocrisy!

Now I wonder where I am heading. The film gave me a hint.

The film was produced by Germans. It was all German version although the story took place in America.

It is just like holocaust films in English version made by Hollywood.

I am now studying German and getting more interested in Germany than ever.

I went to see Tom Cruise's movie "Valkyrie." The film of actual event which took place in Germany during World War II.

German military officer, Colonel Stauffenberg tried to assassin German dictator, Adolf Hitler to remove Nazi Party from power and bring peace in Europe. The consequence was he failed and was executed.

I've seen German film of the story before. Then I went to Berlin and saw the memorial of his execution.

The film was more like documentary than drama. The story is fiction but it should be based on the facts.

A hamburger store chain manager goes to the meat processing factories to know why the poisonous bacteria were detected on beef for hamburger. The search reveals the harsh reality of fast food chain business and severe conditions of the workers in the factories.

This is something I, myself could more un-USA. But the film was of course produced by Americans. One of the characters was played by a famous actor, Bruce Willis.

The people involved in the story represent the problems of America and the world. Illegal immigrants from Mexico who seek much higher income than their homeland and end up working in meat processing factory where working condition is very, very dangerous.

Farmers who are fighting against corrupt food industry, liberal students who learn stupid system of their country but don't know how to change it.

Well, it just didn't happen in the U.S. Food industry is in fact scary sector. Very profitable but at the same time very competitive and people involved are very greedy.

But the bottom line is this phenomenon was caused by consumers' greed. We are always seeking cheaper products and more convenient way of life.

Then what we see in the end is McDonalds everywhere, people eating cheap but very poisonous beef.

What if we are more knowledgeable and considerate, things might be better.

I've heard that in Europe, there is a movement called "Slow Food. Slow Life."