An open letter to Miley Cyrus

Dear Miley,

I'm an Asian American, and you probably know what I'm writing to you about. I have a slightly different take. You probably were having fun with a bunch of friends and thought it'd be funny to take a picture and play a joke on the one Asian guy.

In the past, Americans have been ignorant and discriminated against people for the way they look. They would judge people, look down upon people, and hurt people only because their skin color was different or their eyes looked different. People would do this slanty eye pose to put an Asian person down. That's why people are so upset.

I'm assuming you're not racist, and you only did took that picture for fun not knowing the history behind it. My advice to you? Apologize and tell people that. My dream is someday racism is completely wiped out, so a picture like this really is just fun and games like you meant it to be.

CNN's Sanjay Gupta approached for Surgeon General

From CNN.com: CNN's Gupta approached for surgeon general

The Obama transition team approached Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, about becoming U.S. surgeon general, according to sources inside the transition and at CNN.
...
The transition team is impressed with the combination of Gupta's past government experience, as a White House fellow in 1997 and a special adviser to then-first lady Hillary Clinton, along with his medical career as a neurosurgeon and his communication skills, the transition source said.

Gupta is a member of the staff and faculty of the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He regularly performs surgery at Emory University Hospital and at Grady Memorial Hospital, where he serves as associate chief of neurosurgery.

I think this is an interesting choice for Surgeon General. The role of Surgeon General doesn't seem all that important in terms of policy, but is a very public position for shaping American's attitude towards health. As Surgeon General, Dr. Sanjay Gupta would be one of the most recognizable Asians in government.

According to Wikipedia, the Surgeon General reports to the Assistant Secretary for Health who is the principal adviser to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. In the Obama Administration, that will be Tom Daschle.

I find it refreshing to have a candidate with a background that I can relate to as a second generation Asian American.

Chinese Characters- not just pretty pictures

From Independent.co.uk: Chinese 'classical poem' was brothel ad

A respected research institute wanted Chinese classical texts to adorn its journal, something beautiful and elegant, to illustrate a special report on China. Instead, it got a racy flyer extolling the lusty details of stripping housewives in a brothel.

There's a lesson here. Chinese Characters-not just pretty pictures.