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Josie Smith-Malave, a former contestant on second season of Top Chef and an out lesbian, was attacked by a group of young adults yelling anti-gay slurs, according to the AP and other reports.
“They were together for an end-of-summer visit, minding their own business, when these people went after them,” said Kurland, “and we can’t stand for this.”
Kurland said the trouble started when the women went to Partners bar in Sea Cliff over the Labor Day weekend for a drink and began dancing together. Smith-Malave’s sister is straight.
Bar employees escorted the women out a side door after other patrons began making nasty remarks and the mood started getting ugly, Kurland said.
Kurland said as many as 10 “young adults” followed the women out, circled them, screamed anti-gay slurs, spit on them and then punched and kicked them. A camera belonging to one of them was stolen, she said. Nassau police said they were investigating, but had made no arrests.
Besides any sorts of bashing being stupid and lame, I’m in agreement of the reviewers of the bar on citysearch: if I were the owner and proprietor of said bar, I’d be doing anything possible to ensure the safety of my patrons, not “ushering them out a side door” to get attacked later. And the anonymous nature of mob mentality probably means that no one will be accountable.
Here’s to Josie getting better and a general “you suck” to the human race.
Update: More details about the attack are found here.
6 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Discrimination, LGBT
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Where did Democratic donor Norman Hsu get his money? Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal’s article, “‘60s Figure Says He Financed Donor [Norman] Hsu” answers this question:
“A company controlled by Mr. Hsu recently received $40 million from a Madison Avenue investment fund run by Joel Rosenman, who was one of the
creators of the Woodstock rock festival in 1969. That money, Mr. Rosenman told investors this week, is missing. Mr. Hsu told Mr. Rosenman the money would be used to manufacture apparel in China for Gucci, Prada and other private labels, yielding a 40% profit on each deal, according to a business plan obtained by the Journal. Now the investment fund, Source Financing Investors, says Mr. Hsu’s company owes it the $40 million, which represents 37 separate deals with Mr. Hsu’s company. When Source Financing recently attempted to cash checks from the company, Components Ltd., the investors say they were told the account held insufficient funds.”
I have been following Norman Hsu’s story since it broke and he sounds like one incredible con man, a Ponzi scheme master. It’s amazing in today’s information age (with Google, background checks, etc…), that con artists can still get away. Fortunately, from what I have seen so far, the Norman Hsu story hasn’t spilled over into the vilification of Asian/American donor red scare…. yet. Let’s hope it stays that way!
1 Comment | Posted in: Current Events, Politics
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Let’s be honest - as much as I love starting intellectual discussions about the mascot’s of German web companies or the merits and/or drawbacks of interracial dating, well, a brutha’s gotta get paid. And while this website isn’t making any money for any of us, it hasn’t stopped me from trying. (Seriously, some of those personalized Google AdSense ads KILL me inside.)
Behold, the 8Asians.com store. Now you can get all your stylish 8Asians.com swag, including bags, buttons, bumper stickers and, of course, girl’s baby tees. Now you can wear something with the “8″ logo, and you too can tell your friends about the blog you read regularly. And if that discussion escalates into a shouting match, you’ll have us to thank for it!
All sarcasm aside, if you do like the website and you think some of the product is cool, feel free to buy it and send me (via the contact form) a photo of you wearing it! I’ll post it up on the site somewhere, with a link to your blog, if you have one.
create & buy custom products at Zazzle
5 Comments | Posted in: Meta
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Or, as Glenda, the reader who submitted this item, so wonderfully put it, “yo… wtf.”
Maybe I’m just woefully out of touch, since it looks like extreme lashes are totally in. (See this fashion156.com shoot)
Japanese Schoolgirls Go for Over-Engineered Lashes
Standard schoolgirl uniform it’s not. Hip teens are hitting the Tokyo Lash Bar in the city’s Omotesando district for eye-poppingly over-engineered fake lashes. Using a unique applicator and a special latex adhesive, makeup pros install a set of these architectonic master pieces, like the high-end Velvet Feather for about $43 and Yellow Flash or Dazzling Diamante for less than $20. A bit steep, but the lashes can be reused as many as 10 times. Plus, the falsies often have unexpected features. Take Lucent Sky and Lucent Sun: When light hits these translucent lashes, they cast colored patterns on a gal’s face. If only they made a pair that blinked when her keitai rang …
We can blame Shu Uemura for this one.
But unfortunately, the Tokyo Lash Bar has already made it stateside. There is one at the Neiman Marcus in Newport Beach. Check out Hoyen Tsang’s coverage in the OC.
2 Comments | Posted in: Lifestyles
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Kearny Street Workshop’s (KSW) APAture starts this September 18th and runs through the 29th. What is APAture you ask? APAture is:
“an annual multidisciplinary arts festival presenting the work of emerging Asian Pacific American (APA) artists
living and/or working in the San Francisco Bay Area. APAture’s mission is to provide emerging artists with an early experience presenting their work at a large event; to build audiences for emerging artists; to strengthen the sense of community among our emerging artists; and to raise awareness of the existence of and diversity within the APA arts community. APAture values community-building, ethnic and artistic diversity, and collaboration across ethnic and disciplinary lines. Now in its 9th year, APAture includes a visual arts show, film screenings, workshops, panel discussions, literary readings, performances in spoken word, music, dance, theater, and other performance genres, and an area for zinesters and comic artists to display and sell their work.”
See you there! You can buy tickets in advance at: http://tickets.manja.org/ksw/apature2007/
1 Comment | Posted in: Entertainment
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I was talking to a friend about Akrypti’s article “A Comment on Asian Christians earlier this evening.
“I’m surprised that all of the comments so far are supportive of the article. I expected a strong backlash.”
“Why?” asked my friend. “What she says is entirely true. It is an utter fact that Christianity has been a tool of Western imperialism. Just look at any history book.”
I nodded. “True enough. I guess I figured there’d be at least one Asian Christian reading that article and writing a counter-argument.”
“This is probably un-PC to say, but (Continued)
5 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Lifestyles, Observations
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As you may or may not know, President George W. Bush is currently in Sydney, Australia for the annual APEC conference. Well, the other day, Bush accepted an invitation from Chinese President Hu Jintao to attend the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, as report in The New York Times’ article: “Bush, After Talks With China’s Leader, Accepts Invitation to Beijing Olympics“:
“The decision was announced while most Americans were still asleep. But by the time Mr. Bush delivered his speech, human rights advocates were accusing him of giving his imprimatur to a country that is jailing dissidents, denying
religious freedom and, in their view, not exerting its influence as a major buyer of Sudanese oil to stop what Mr. Bush himself has termed genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region. Back in Washington, a Republican congressman, Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, said in a telephone interview that he and eight other Republicans would press a resolution calling for the United States to boycott the Games.”
Personally, despite China’s human rights issues (not even elaborating on their stance on Taiwan….), I think it is better that the United States actively engage China on all fronts. Having attended the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, I truly do believe that the “Olympic” spirit should transcend the differences nations hold against each other. The U.S.-China relationship *will be* one of the defining relationships in this century. I’m very interested in attending the 2008 Beijing as well, but worried about how expensive it might be to attend….
3 Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Politics, Sports
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Every so often, I surf through Facebook and I see a heartbreaking group such as this one:
R.I.P Ray Ng we miss you (Facebook account needed to see link)
Son gives his mom night off, is slain
From The Miami Herald (May 15, 2007)TAMARAC - For Mother’s Day this year, Wai Ng may have saved his mother’s life.
His gift to her was simple: The 28-year-old son, known to friends as Ray, offered to work his mother’s shift on Sunday at the family’s Chinese restaurant in Tamarac.
But late that night, authorities said, a gunman stormed into the almost-empty restaurant and demanded money. Before making his exit, cash in hand, the stranger fired a single shot, leaving Ng dead on the floor.
…Ten years ago, Ng’s older sister died of breast cancer. She left behind The Hong Kong City BBQ, the Chinese restaurant she had owned on North State Road 7.
Pui Ng (Ray’s Mom) took over as owner. Ray Ng dropped out of high school to help.
Even though this happened in back in May, I thought this was worth mentioning because I know so many Asian Americans work in family businesses and can relate to the hard working owners of a family business. This is one of the saddest stories I’ve heard, particularly because Ray’s mom was a single mom and had already lost one of her children 10 years earlier. Now to lose a second child on Mother’s Day is absolutely heartbreaking.
Some additional coverage at this Yelp Talk topic (Yelp account needed)
One of the good things to come out of this tragic event was that the local Chinese community joined forces with the local police departments to hold two Crime Prevention Community Forums to address the issues of protecting oneself when a crime occurs and how to minimize potential risks of a crime.
SAFETY TIPS
Source: North Miami Beach Police DepartmentWhat to do before, during and after a robbery.
Before
• Make sure your business is well lit on the inside and outside.
• Make sure your windows are clear so you can see in from the outside.
• At night leave your cash register open so people can see there is nothing in it.
• Keep ruler tape or some form of measurement gauge on the door to estimate the height of the intruder.During
• Never resist, don’t scream or do anything that will call attention.
• Only talk to answer the robber’s questions.
• Pay close attention to details of the intruder.
• Stay calm.After
• Call police immediately.
• Do not disturb the crime scene.
• Write down everything you remember about the intruder immediately.
• Try to separate the witnesses so that each has his own story of what happened.
Ray did everything right and still lost his life. What a shame.
Even though it’s months later, my deepest sympathies go out to Ray’s friends and loved ones.
1 Comment | Posted in: Current Events, Observations
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