If you’ve been around the AA blogosphere for the past few weeks, you’ve seen the whole hoopla over Miley Cyrus and the slant-eyed pose. It was discussed on all the major Asian American sites, and you can see it on the 44s over here. Miley first offered a half-apology, and when the Organization of Chinese Americans called her out on it, she offered a 3/4 apology. In her second “apology,” she wrote on her own site:
I really wanted to stress how sorry I am if the photo of me with my friends offended anyone.
It’s a non-apology apology.
Anyway, Minority Militant learned that Miley Cyrus has been invited to the White House, and he has asked his readers to write to the White House and to express their disappointment. I support his effort, and I posted more of my own views on bigWOWO here.
Now I know the arguments.
1. Why bother? It won’t do anything.
2. This isn’t such a big deal.
3. It’s a defensive maneuver. We need to do proactive stuff and not get bogged down by negativity.
A goddamn brilliant article on evolution from The Economist. It talks about where Darwin’s ideas came from, the correlation of a belief in God with fundamental needs, and whether evolution has an intrinsic direction, i.e. toward greater complexity, as well as compassion and artistic appreciation. Fantastic summary of current knowledge.
Evolution
Unfinished business
Feb 5th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Charles Darwin’s ideas have spread widely, but his revolution is not yet complete
THE miracles of nature are everywhere: on landing, a beetle folds its wings like an origami master; a lotus leaf sheds muddy water as if it were quicksilver; a spider spins a web to entrap her prey, but somehow evades entrapment herself. Since the beginning of time, people who have thought about such things have seen these marvels as examples of the wisdom of God; even as evidence for his existence. But 200 years ago, on February 12th 1809, a man was born who would challenge all that. The book that issued the challenge, published half a century later, in 1859, offered a radical new view of the living world and, most radical of all, of humanity’s origins. The man was Charles Robert Darwin. The book was “On the Origin of Species”. And the challenge was the theory of evolution by natural selection.
Hua Hsu of The Atlantic writes a very interesting article on social and racial trends in America. I really don’t like the title, as it’s kitsch and melodramatic, but don’t let that dissuade you from reading the piece. I really like the observations he makes on the origin of the lower-middle-class white movement in the 70s.
State of the Union January/February 2009 Atlantic
The Election of Barack Obama is just the most startling manifestation of a larger trend: the gradual erosion of “whiteness” as the touchstone of what it means to be American. If the end of white America is a cultural and demographic inevitability, what will the new mainstream look like—and how will white Americans fit into it? What will it mean to be white when whiteness is no longer the norm? And will a post-white America be less racially divided—or more so?
by Hua Hsu
The End of White America?
“Civilization’s going to pieces,” he remarks. He is in polite company, gathered with friends around a bottle of wine in the late-afternoon sun, chatting and gossiping. “I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read The Rise of the Colored Empires by this man Goddard?” They hadn’t. “Well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. It’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.”
I normally don’t mention/review movies I really like, because I find that some critic somewhere has generally said what I would say. That may even be the case here, but I feel compelled to make a brief post, because I’m ashamed of some of the Asian American reaction out there to this movie.
It’s a beautiful movie. It’s not perfect, as the Hmong cast is weak (but I commend the effort, and Clint’s attempt at inclusion), but the movie does what it sets out to do, and hits a few important American and human themes: that redemption is possible, that you don’t have to look or sound good to be good, that we need to better ourselves, and that takes work, that racial identity is important, and that everyone, ultimately, can get along, because humanity as a whole has more in common than recent political and academic thought might suggest. (This is probably not a complete list.)
I was working out this afternoon and watching Oprah. Due to the current financial climate in the United States, Suze Orman was on the show to educate people on how to pay off credit card debt and save for the college, retirement, and emergencies.
Orman’s latest book, 2009 Action Plan, is available for free download this week:
I haven’t had a chance to read over the material, but the show raised good points for people who are in their 20s and 30s and wondering whether or not it’s smart to continue contributing to their 401ks. (The answer: it is–as long as you have time to ride out the market, it’s wise to continue making those contributions.)
Orman also had a challenge for the audience, who collectively had over two million dollars in credit card debt:
1. Try to go through a day without spending any money.
2. Don’t use your credit card for a week.
3. Don’t eat in restaurants for a month.
A lot of the advice seems to be common sense. Though, even with common sense, many of us are in debt and trying to get out of it. Any tools for coping with the economy seem worth sharing. Anyone have any tips of their own?
Ever wonder why your cooking just doesn’t taste like mom’s cooking? It may be that you’re missing an ingredient that triggers the necessary chemical reactions that yield the compound commonly known as delicious.
At the Stove, a Dash of Science, a Pinch of Folklore
By KENNETH CHANG
Published: January 5, 2009
My mother, when she still cooked, always added a dash of sugar to the vegetables she stir-fried. She said it preserved the bright green of the greens. I always thought that was hooey.
Shirley O. Corriher, a biochemist turned folksy food scientist who was sitting at my dining table, said she had not heard of this — but added that sugar does do more to fruits and vegetables than add sweetness.
It also helps preserve their shape. Heat shrinks the plant cells and transforms molecules in the cell walls into pectin, which dissolves. “The cells are falling apart and leaking,” said Ms. Corriher, who dissected the science of recipes in her books “Cookwise” and “Bakewise.”
“It’s mass death and destruction when you heat a fruit or vegetable,” she said.
THE CITY HAS always been an engine of intellectual life, from the 18th-century coffeehouses of London, where citizens gathered to discuss chemistry and radical politics, to the Left Bank bars of modern Paris, where Pablo Picasso held forth on modern art. Without the metropolis, we might not have had the great art of Shakespeare or James Joyce; even Einstein was inspired by commuter trains.
And yet, city life isn’t easy. The same London cafes that stimulated Ben Franklin also helped spread cholera; Picasso eventually bought an estate in quiet Provence. While the modern city might be a haven for playwrights, poets, and physicists, it’s also a deeply unnatural and overwhelming place.
Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control. While it’s long been recognized that city life is exhausting — that’s why Picasso left Paris — this new research suggests that cities actually dull our thinking, sometimes dramatically so.
Yes, I realize this is old news, but I didn’t read about it until today so I thought I’d share it. Miguel Syjuco, a Filipino writer now living in Montreal, won the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize.
On Thursday, Montreal’s Miguel Syjuco won the Man Asian Literary Prize for his debut novel Ilustrado. The $10,000 U.S. award recognizes the best unpublished English-language book by an Asian author. The 31-year-old Syjuco — who was born in Manilla, spent a decade of his childhood in Vancouver, and now lives in Montreal, where he works as a copy editor at the Gazette — spoke to Mark Medley on the phone from Hong Kong.
Congratulations, again. I’m sure you’ve heard that a hundred times by now.
I have, I have. The thing is, I still can’t get over it. I still can’t believe this is all happening.
I don’t know about you all, but there’s nothing like 9 chicks to get my new year going, and in about 6 days, So Nyeo Shi Dae [Girls' Generation] will be making their comeback debut on stage for the release of their new mini album Gee. Apparently this will mark the showing of a more mature stage presence and improved dancing skills. The album itself drops Jan. 7th.
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