Sounds like you've got everything right, it's just the way Hubpages affiliate settings seem to operate. I get the same message with Amazon and Analytics as well. Adsense says active, amazon and analytics say set.
If you don't get a lot of traffic yet with Amazon ads you can test it out by clicking on a few of your amazon ads and then seeing if they show tomorrow. Don't do that with the google ads though as that will get you into trouble.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.