He added: “If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving.” And “if you are white or Asian and have kids, you owe it to them to give them some version of the talk. It will save them a lot of time and trouble spent figuring things out for themselves. It may save their lives.” Derbyshire was fired by the National Review for these words.

When I read these words, my first impression is how can people think this way and have the guts to write and publish it. Some people do not care about the impact of their writing on the public, as if black were all illiterate and couldn’t read. It would be terribly awful if you were a black and read about this? I still can’t believe someone could think and write like this.

P.S. my second column comes out today. I have posted it here around the end of April. But I forgot having done so. Can’t believe I am getting so forgetful now.

“A United States Marine Corps Administrative Separation Board recommended that Sgt. Gary Stein face a less than honorable discharge for criticizing President Obama on Facebook.”

Sgt. Gary Stein learned it the hard way that “When you join the military or other government service, you give up certain rights, including freedom of speech and expression. You are not allowed to advocate for certain issues or criticize policies or personnel in a public forum.”

In fact, there is no absolute freedom of speech no matter where you are. I heard of some people posting negative comments on her work place and got fired because of this. You got to be very careful when you voice your opinion on the internet. The consequence could be very costly.

One of my white colleagues complained of massive protest against Sanford Police handling of the killing. “We don’t know what happened. Why did media describe Zimmerman as the killer? Why do all these people jump the gun? There will never be a fair trial for Zimmerman.”

I can hear in my head the voices of the black demonstrators — Yes, this much we know — an unarmed black boy was killed by a white man, that the police set the killer free without further investigation. It is the police who first jumped the gun by deciding Zimmerman was not guilty of the murder. Without this massive protest, we would never be able to bring the criminal to justice. The police would not set the killer free if the killer were a black and the victim were a white…

I don’t think people will ever agree with each other because of their vast differences in race and experience.

From our conversation, I could tell that she was not happy with her children’s school efforts so far. I shared with her my understanding of school and one’s success in life.

To be sure, school is important. It is the place where a person is first judged and evaluated. A good college opens door to many opportunities and important connections. In a way, nothing can compare to the friendships formed in college. These college connections can be hugely helpful.

Yet, keep in mind school is not everything. No matter how best a school is claimed to be, no school can guarantee your future success. To a large extent, it will depend on the students whether or not she can make full use of her college years to develop herself.

When my daughter came back from her classmate’s house, I shared this view with her again.

The real danger of punishing teachers for students’ failure on tests come when teachers, for fear of losing their jobs, focus their time and energy on testing preparation instead of on learning. This reminds me so much of the practice in China. The end result is generating a bunch of students who are experts in taking tests but are weak in various ability.

Schools are important, but ultimately they are important only in the sense that they are to prepare students for the time when students no longer need school.

His opponents hate him so much that it seems they would totally eviscerate him if they got a chance. While the ferocity and the relentless nature of the attack on the president are extremely unfair and unjustified, they make me wonder why things have reached to this point.

There exist many explanations, but for some reason, I got the impression that the president has been too weak in facing his opponents, which has sent a wrong message.

American political arena is one of the ugliest, the most gruesome and hideous battleground, on which the strong bullies the weak. There is absolutely no room for civility. To survive this battleground, the weak must be strong and stare down any attack. No compromise whatsoever. Otherwise, your opponents think you are weak and strike you until you are dead politically.

This seems to be what is happening now in America. From very beginning, President Obama has been too polite and too conciliatory to his opponents, yielding too much, and overreaching too much to the other side of the aisle.

I am not optimistic about the outcome of the coming election. One thing I am sure, this first black president will leave tons of materials for historians and political scientists to talk about and for us to learn from.

That day I gave a ride to my daughter’s classmate. On the way back home, I shared my feelings of the day with my daughter. I told her for some reason hot days always brought back the memory of summer activities, having nothing to do with work though. And I always felt summer was supposed to be the time for break, not supposed to work. If I were teaching at college, I would have at least three months off in a year, one month winter break, two months of summer break. I would have plenty of time to do whatever I please.

It seems my best memory always centers around summer when I was most free, either during my childhood or during my children’s childhood.

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.