The Ugly Face of Beauty
I read Mr. Nash’s article (“Not Just a Pretty Face,” Washington Journal, Oct. 19) with a more hopeful sense that the Asian community laboring in the beauty industry will finally wake up to the dangers that lurk behind each manicure they perform.
Since getting back from a free clinic that we sponsor on behalf of our disinfectant line of products, I am dismayed at the lack of knowledge licensed nail technicians have on the topic of sanitation.
One of our biggest messages at the clinic was what you do at work could dramatically affect the health of those closest to you. Imagine a nail technician has contracted a lethal strain of staph because her equipment has not been cleaned properly. Imagine her coming home and, not knowing that she has an infection, she cradles her child in her arms. A $1.60 worth of disinfectant could have prevented this.
I hope that we can understand the plight of those whose lives are intricately interweaved with our sometimes selfish need to pamper ourselves.
Alex Ninh
National Sales Manager, Ameri-Kleen Corporation
Rancho Cordova, Calif.
Our Real Hippie Heritage
Arthur Hu demonizes the hippies in his latest article (“Happy Halloween: Our Hippie Heritage,” Hu’s on First, Oct. 19), but he forgets what our real hippie heritage is.
In the ’60s, we, hippies, had a dream. A dream of a world in which hunger, war, torture, oppression and exploitation, no longer exist. A world in which nations resolve their differences peacefully, in which the environment is cared for, and in which all persons are respected and have equal rights.
My hippie brothers and sisters have fought for, and some have died for, this dream.
The world may be a long way from this ideal, but is this dream really what Hu wants to oppose?
Michael Wong
San Francisco
Hollywood’s Status Quo
I have serious doubts that things have really changed (“Is Hollywood Giving Asian Men More Love?,” Reel Stories, Oct. 19).
It isn’t that the male Asian actors who have managed to get past the casting couches are wanting or that the roles cited are less than valid.
The sad fact is that the mass audience will never be there so long as the “Great Unwashed” continue to be regimented into the narrow confines of the stereotypical Pavlovian response to anything.
Stick by your guns, do your damnedest. I hope you can make a living doing so.
Frank Eng
Via Web site
A Soldier’s Oath
I sympathize with Watada and agree the Bush administration cooked the information we went into Iraq on (“Lt. Ehren Watada: ‘Experience Makes You Stronger,’” Oct. 12).
However, a soldier is bound by his oath to obey the commander in chief — the president.
Rank and file soldiers cannot pick and choose what orders to obey any more than dictate what tactics or strategies should be used.
Rather, it is Congress’ job to hold the chief executive accountable for unjust military operations and decisions.
Regrettably, Congress has done an extremely poor job and abdicated its constitutional responsibilities of oversight and holding people accountable over the past 17 years.
Watada will be convicted and become another casualty in this illegal and criminal war.
James Wong
Political science master’s degree candidate
S.F. State University