Well, then. Your deep education is certainly obvious. Doctoral program,
you say...

Would it be in International Relations, maybe?

Is that what I think? And you *know* what I think? You *know* what my
family looks like? You know the colors of my relatives? The languages
they speak? Where they come from? Where they live on earth?  Looks like
you have that same "gift of discernment" that Chung thinks he has. It
certainly works precisely as well.

You didn't take logic or statistics courses for your doctorate then? You
missed that part about extrapolating from the particular to the
universal? Or dealing with a universe of two for forecasting?

You worked for an a.shole. His ethnicity wasn't the reason for it, his
character was. Howard Stern is a pig. His Jewishness isn't why he's a
pig, his character is. Bill O'Reilly is a pig. Pat Robertson is a pig.
Al Sharpton is a pig. Al Zarkawi is a pig. Al Capone was a pig. All pigs
and all different cultures. The only similarity is that they're all
intellectual pigs. I'm sure you could name a few from wherever you came
from who fit into that same category. There's no shortage of bigots and
prejudiced pigs on this earth.

<LOL> I revise my assessment of your doctorate. I bet it's in sociology
or group dynamics. You have such a wonderful grasp of the American
psyche. Doctoral program, you say...

cardiology boards.

<LOL> I'm afraid I have to dismiss your opinions. You are certainly
entitled to them, but I'm under no obligation to honor them,
particularly since I see things rather differently.

The lot of the immigrant is difficult no matter where it happens. All
four of my grandparents were foreign-born and spoke virtually no English
when they came here. I had to learn their languages to speak with them.
They held nasty, hard jobs and my parents were able to do a bit better.
My grandfather was a blacksmith who worked hard all his life and was a
practical realist. He said no one forced him to come here and no one was
obliged to give him gifts. In the Depression, he lost house, farmland
and virtually everything he'd worked and saved for.  So he started over
and built it up again. That's real life. Sure he complained now and
again, but more to the point, he didn't let obstacles stop him.

I sympathize with what your life has been - as much as you've hinted at
- and understand that prejudices are difficult to abide for their
unfairness. But humans are like that - everywhere. Every group has other
groups they sneer about. Human condition.

But it's poor science and silly math to try to deal in groups as though
they were homogeneous. As though they shared all the same
characteristics. Doing so merely reflects a mirror image of the opinions
of your a.shole boss who lumped you with busboys, cabbies and other
people he saw as beneath him. Much the same tone, I suspect, as you
honor American women with. It might be instructive to know what his
immigrant forebears did and see how many had doctorates.

Non illigitimi carborundum. Congratulations on your citizenship.

Pastorio