When I was sharing office with three other female coworkers in 2007 and throughout 2008, I was rather dismayed to have observed some extremely unpleasant events around me. My past workplaces have been primarily male dominant. This was the first time that I was in an all female office. Call it American culture 101. In fact, when I look back, I feel throughout my life, I have never been surrounded by so many females.

Here’s what must happen among these female coworkers. Whenever one of them was out of the room, the other two lost no time in gossiping about the absent one. The worst part was they all worn a super friendly mask when facing each other, fully exemplifying the concept of hypocrisy. Of course, they missed no chance backstabbing me whenever they got a chance. And I was always zen enough not to be disturbed by the goings-on around me.

Yesterday, I learned that two of them were going to hang out with our ex-manager, whom they were never tired of unfavorably gossiping about.

I try to find it amusing, but more often than not, I wish I could run away from this work environment.

=> less than 50% of them are enrolled in pre-school;
=> just 50% earn their high school diploma on time;
=> half of those high school graduates are prepared for college;
=> 13% of them have a degree beyond high school

Consider these demographical facts:
=> Hispanics are the youngest and fastest growing group in US.
=> They make up 16% of the population now
=> The number will increase to 29% of the population by 2050.

Imagine the large army of future citizens trapped in low class because of their inadequate education!

People painfully offer many explanations and solutions to this problem, such as, language barrier, unfavorable immigration status, etc. However, none of them touch the essence of the issue. I might sound politically incorrect, but be it. The Latino education problem is inherent in their culture. No big change is possible without an overhaul of that culture.

The population comes with the burden of their culture. Asian population with similar language and immigration obstacles register much higher level of education because Asian cultures, be it India or China or Japan or Korea, all place education as their top priority in their families.

Here’s a sneak preview of coming attraction. With nearly one third of the US population being Hispanics by 2050 with their dominant culture and their lack of education, what is in stock for America to compete with cultures that emphasize education and churn out large pools of highly intelligent heads?

When these politicians pick up China for their frustration and inability over American dire economic crisis, I was more than flabbergasted. Why can’t people see some of the simple facts that have led the nation to what it is now? It is simply preposterous that politicians choose to ignore these facts. Perhaps it is the cowardice in them that has disabled American politicians to claim their responsibilities. Or probably it is easy to find a scapegoat or create a common enemy to focus their energy on or even worse to shift people’s attention to the root of the problems, which are the following.

(1) The cost of the two wars runs up to more than a trillion dollars. A huge addition to the country’s debt burden.

(2) The revenue shortfall caused by the two massive income tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Bush tax cuts extension for two years alone will add $3.3 trillion to the national debt.

(3) The shortfall of revenue gets worse because of the 14 million jobless Americans. No job means no revenue for government and no consumer spending.

(4) Americans have been spoiled by the sense of entitlements and are so immune to any hardships that these entitlements start to accumulate and aggregate to the point of crisis

The passing of the currency bill reminds me of a Chinese saying on boomerang effect.

The demonstration started in New York City and spread to other parts of the country. I have a lot of sympathy for those folks. I am not sure what it can accomplish, though I am certain of what it is not.

(1) It is not and will not be an earthquake event like Arab Spring movement in Middle East, which is very close to Mao’s definition of revolution.

(2) It will not be as influential as Tea Party noise because Tea Party has been backed by the powerful moneyed class, whereas those demonstrators consist of the penniless, hopeless, helpless and even desperate ones. Let’s face it: how far can you go without a penny?

(3) They will not get what they ask, assuming they ask for jobs. A large quantity of jobs have been shipped overseas, gone forever.

The voices of these demonstrators are too weak and too late. They are not even as forceful as anti-abortionists who have succeeded in killing an abortion doctor or as powerful as gay marriage opponents who have claimed equal success. That’s American priority!

People talked about that part of history. Yet, in their usual lack of reflection, most people never stop a second and reflect its far-reaching disastrous impact on us and other peoples now. Why we are in worse shape now than 2001?

Let me count the horrors happened because of 9-11:
(1) The bombing is horrible, yet even more horrible is American politicians used this as an excuse to start Iraqi war, the country having nothing to do with 9-11.

(2) The Iraqi war resulted in the death and wounded of both American soldiers and Iraqi civilians, millions of them.

(3) The war led the U.S. to the red ocean of debts, trillion of them, which rapidly drags the country down to the bottom.

America today reminds me of a nursery rhyme that I heard of when my children were little,

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

When I was working at our central office back in 2005, a colleague of mine, a rather over-weight one, was on very good term with me. Once I observed that she gobbled down a huge piece of high-calorie cheese cake. I felt a strong urge of telling her, “Hey, stop it. This is not helpful for you to lose weight.” But I politely held myself back. It would sound rude and not nice, even if it was purely for her benefit.

When I saw a nice lady with a smoking habit having this nagging cough, I was concerned and would very much like to advice her to quit smoking. Much as I cared for her and was worried, I said nothing. Because it is considered an intrusion into other people’s privacy even if I have all the good intentions. Culturally, it is difficult or even impossible to shorten this interpersonal distance. It is always safe to be polite and keep a safe space.

With another young colleague, I was on good terms and felt being trusted, but still I would not say what I thought I should as her senior, simply because it was considered none of my business or an intrusion on her privacy. Under situations like this, I know I would be more direct if I were among Chinese.

It might be because it would break his comfort zone to talk to someone he has never talked before, someone different from him. I used to consider him to be rather open-minded, as if he came from west coast. I thought he was at ease dealing with people at all levels. Obviously not.

The experience made me rethink of the concept of identity and acceptance. Some Chinese consider themselves thoroughly Americanized, so much so that they refuse to think themselves anything but Americans. Well, identity involves both objective and subjective sides. Chances are what you see yourself is vastly different from what the majority of Americans see you. I keep telling my children this hard fact — even if both of you were born and grew up in America, don’t cheat yourself into thinking you are always accepted as Americans here.

Even worse is the fact that they have voted for the republican Governor, Scott Walker, who not only cut whichever he sees fit but also threatens to deprive the legal rights of the powerless to collectively bargain with the powerful, so that the powerless mass will be totally at the mercy of whoever in power, just or unjust.

Now these same people have to live with the consequence of their election. While it might seem a bit far-fetched, it does remind me of a farmer who warmed back to life the frozen snake inside his shirt only to be bitten to death by the awaken hungry one.

Understandably, there is a need for the existence of an union who would speak on behalf of the powerless workers and function as a check against the greedy capitalists, especially when capitalists are boosted up by political power, as in the case of Wisconsin today. Sadly to say, their right to bargain could be outlawed just as easy as their rice bowls were shipped overseas.

Still, I wish Wisconsin demonstrators could win their battle over Scott Walker and could set a precedent for demonstrators in other states. Otherwise, the domino effect of their defeat throughout this nation is just unimaginable.

Consider this — if obesity concentrate among low social class folks, they need government assistance to take care of their obesity-related health problems — heart disease, diabetes, certain type of cancer, and even higher risk of senior dementia. Hence their weight issue becomes a societal problem, making deficit-stricken government as nervous as other societal issues.

Then again as with any issues that arise from some deep-rooted cultural values and in the realm of personal behavior, if there is no change to the culture of insufficient self-control and self-discipline among the dominant obese population, no policy and government funding can bring a change in people’s eating behavior, lifestyle and do away with obesity.

It might not be politically correct to direct attention to the individual level, but be it if it is a hurting truth. This reminds me of my posting on 7/22/2010, “We Like to Cheat Ourselves with Streetlight” — we know that’s not where the truth is, still we search there because the light is good.

*More than 72 million U.S. adults, or 26.7 percent, are obese.
**Recent estimates of the annual medical costs of obesity are $147 billion
***Blacks were the most likely to be obese, with 36.8 percent of U.S. black adults having a BMI of 30
****More than 41 percent of black women are obese
*****More than 30 percent of Hispanic adults were obese.
******Mississippi had the most obese people.
*******Obesity is a societal problem, according to Dr. Frieden, CDC director.

“The federal government and some states have been moving toward using legislation to help people to exercise and eat healthier foods.”

To be continued…

“China is building faster trains and newer airports. Meanwhile, when our own engineers graded our nation’s infrastructure, they gave us a ‘D.’”

He asks the nation to look ahead for a bright future.
“The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation. None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will be, or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t know that something called the internet would lead to an economic revolution. What we can do – what America does better than anyone – is spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We are the nation that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It’s how we make a living.”

Talking is always easy and cheap.

Here’s the irony about defense expense. After 911 attack of 2001, the US increased military spending tremendously in the name of protecting “national security.” After a gigantic military spending in which the US invaded other countries, did plenty of killings and bombings, with the two invaded countries like it is now, is America safer and stronger now than before? Do people worldwide love America more than before? Or the opposite is true?

I wonder when people will come to this understanding that a country cannot be safe and strong if it faces colossal national debts and a fast shrinking middle-class and a swelling lower class. I am sure there are some politicians who will jump out against the defense cut, always in the name of “national security” and at the cost of anything else.

Regardless of its ability to meet the challenges, there is no doubt that USA will continue attracting millions of immigrants with its ideals, economic opportunities, vast stretch of land, and material abundance.

During the gathering with friends on the New Year’s Eve, I mentioned some areas where America is ahead of the four BRIC countries. Such as, in area of jing shen wen ming –spiritual civilization, China still has a long way to catch up, if she ever does or if the USA does not regress with the loss of middle class.

While the immigrants to America are transformed in the process of assimiliation into American culture, they will transform American society and will definitely bring in new hope to the country. In them probably lies the hope of the nation.

The shrinking of middle-class in American society shrinks the consuming power as well as tax revenue for the government. Where do we get money for foreign war and foreign debts and domestic programs? With the pinching national purse, one would expect the US will take back some of its outstretched arms. It will be interesting to see if it will happen or what will happen by the end of this decade.

During the last decade, the USA has effectively dragged its economy downhill by over-stretching itself in the way of foreign wars with its huge military expense. Throughout history, many great nations have gone the same self-defeating path, having their resources drained away by these wars of attrition. While the US was busy burning its wealth, other countries lost no time in accumulating it. Imagine its consequence in the coming decade.

Because of the huge war cost and Bush tax cut, the country has incurred a colossal debt, a heavy burden on the future generation. This burden behaves like a chronic disease that will slowly consume the nation. Sadly to say, Obama’s compromised tax bill serves to save his own skin at the cost of future generation. It does not help in raising productivity and reducing deficit.

American politics has become ineffective and stalemated, just look at Obama’s healthcare reform and then his even more stupid tax bill! The powerful politicians representing some interested groups are totally on top of everything. Where is the future for the aspiring middle-class folks and for the nation?

The final worrisome problem is America’s K-12 education. To be sure, if a good education has been the key to the rise of many nations from Japan to Israel, America’s lack of it can be attributed to its decline. To predict prison population in the coming decade, one simply needs to count the high school dropouts today. With the decrease of highly educated workforce, America will see the shrinking of middle class. Even worse, a good basic education come from a culture that value education like that of many Asian and Jewish culture. You cannot say the same of American culture!

To be continued…

Knowledge is power, so was it true when Dan Quayle failed to spell the word potato in 1992 and remains to this day number one America’s dumb politician; so it is true today when Sarah Palin twice called North Korea US ally on 11/25/2010.

In both cases, their lack of knowledge empowered their political opponents with much needed ammunitions to send them to where they belong and surely guarantee them a place for them in the history book as the dumbest politicians in the U.S.

How much educated can we expect American youngsters to become if the nation were governed by the folks like Dan-Palin alliance?

“I like Americans, but they are somewhat monocellular. When I talk with Americans, I often wonder why they are so simpleminded. ” So adorable, not!

The quote brought to my mind one of the phenomena in modern world, that is, the fast rise of Japan in the matter of two decades. I am sure there have been many books written on this topic; and nice to say I have not read any of them.

But as far as I can see, without even dipping into any research, there are two things that are essential for a country’s economical growth and that are characteristic of Japan — highly educated work force and conservative saving behavior, that is, savings for security in the future, rather than spending to the maximum for the present, or living on borrowed money. Sounds so familiar, right?

Look at Americans, its woeful state of education now and consider the distinctive winning features in Japanese culture and society, one would not be surprised over Ozawa’s unflattering comments on Americans.

I don’t understand this. How could he fail to understand this simple fact — the war was absurdly waged on the assumption of the existence of the weapon of mass destruction. Since WMDs were not found, let’s just go home. If he understood it, why didn’t he say, “The war kills so many innocent lives who are as valuable as my dear daughters. It is morally wrong and unjustified!” Mistake made, time for correction. Why did he have to beautify the brutal acts of invasion, mass-killing and bombing with the lofty claim of building democracy and freedom for Iraqis.

Here are some basic facts about this war that should go down U.S. history –
Name of the war: “Operation Iraqi Freedom”
Start date: 19 March 2003.
Justification: existence of WMD
Place: oil rich land
Accomplishments:
(1) Loss of human lives, 4,421 US soldiers died, Iraqi civilian deaths, by month, according to IBC (Iraq Body Count), there have been between 97,568 and 106,466 civilian deaths up to July 2010. The Lancet journal in 2006 published an estimate of 654,965 excess Iraqi deaths related to the war of which 601,027 were caused by violence.

(2) Money squandered: according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, the US will have spent almost $802bn on funding the war by the end of fiscal year 2011, with $747.6bn already appropriated. Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard’s Linda Bilmes put the true cost at $3 trillion once additional impacts on the US budget and economy are taken into account.

(3) War always creates a large army of displaced people and refugees. According to International Organization of Migration (IOM), U.S.-led war against Iraq displaced over 1.6 million Iraqis, 5.5% of the population, some skilled workers and professionals leaving the war-torn land for anywhere they could find security.

(4) Leaving behind a land totally devastated, ripped through by civil wars, a true Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, far away from the end of the long tunnel of dark miseries, insecurity and instability of the region.

(5) This unlawful invasion into another sovereign state severely tarnished the image of the United States as a nation of Peace Corps established by JFK. Instead, it exposed to the world the true color of an invader.

(6) Bringing home tens of thousands of war-wounded and traumatized U.S. soldiers, whose young hearts and souls have been thoroughly ravished by the bloody killing experience at war.

The only almost sensible comment that Obama made was this — the strength and the position of a nation in the world are maintained not only through invasion of others but also through its economic soundness. The latter is what U.S. needs at this moment. It takes a historian with true courage and integrity to tell future generations what accurately happened during those most shameful years in American history.

(1) The new building will house the same old group of teachers who have created 50% dropout rate and one of the lowest performance schools in the U.S.
(2) Schools with worst performance are often rewarded with the highest funding – New York City has a $235 million campus; New Brunswick, NJ, a $185 million high school.
(3) This came in the time when nearly 3,000 teachers were laid off, with many needed programs slashed.

The assumption behind this colossal spending is people attribute the poor school performance to lack of good facilities, instead of honestly confronting the real issues of parental responsibilities, the student’s lack of interest and any much-needed work ethics, and on top of its all, the whole culture that breeds the main student body .

I don’t have ready data to back up this but I strongly believe on the average the U.S. public schools spend far more than the average schools in China, yet the performance and achievement are depressingly lower here in the U.S.

Let’s face this simple fact: education is not something you can buy. Emphasis on education is inherent in a culture. You find it in most of Asian and Jewish cultures. Without a thorough cleaning of the whole culture involving predominantly Hispanic and black student body, this bleak situation will remain stubbornly hopeless, regardless how many millions are poured into these schools. It will only get worse as this student body grows bigger.

Later I told my daughter that I anticipated an unprecedentedly high visibility of Asian Americans from her generation, first time in U.S. history. I know many of them have gone to the top-notch institutes of higher education and there is no doubt that some of them will play key roles in the positions they occupy, regardless which field they enter.

As their generation merge into American society, we will definitely see more and more eminent Asian-American scientists, politicians, CEO, businesspersons, and of course, more Asian-American philanthropists. This is a peek into coming attractions.

As the parents of this exciting new generation, we are both awed and humbled by this great history-making process. More than anything else, we are honored.

The giving to international aid see an increase of 6.2%. Domestically, donations to church, education, public society, and arts have declined greatly. It is heartening to see more money poured into environmental protection at home and international aid abroad.

It is an welcome sign to see the rich Americans becoming more catholic in heart and less parochial as the mainstream so soundly demonstrate.

The article reminds me of my son’s recent paycheck, one-third of which was given to Uncle Sam. I still believe donation to any charities is the best solution if any money has to be chipped off your paycheck.