A two-year-old was served sake at a Japanese restaurant in Ohio and “served” may be an overstatement. The cook, Mingyang Zhu, after giving rice wine to all the adults at the table, apparently squirted some sake into the youngster’s mouth causing the tot to cry. The cook and the restaurant claim it was an accident. But the boy’s parents are pretty upset and Zhu is being charged with serving alcohol to minors, a charge that could result in as many as six months in jail. The video mentions a number of other cases where toddlers have accidentally been served alcohol – one at Olive Garden and another involving spiked smoothies. There’s also a case at Applebee’s. Sounds like a weird thing to be happening with any kind of frequency. What do you think? Are the parents over-reacting? Should Zhu go to jail? [h/t Koji]
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After counting the provisional ballots from election day last week, Philadelphia has spoken. In a nail-biter, Republican David Oh edged out his opponent:
Oh today finally bested Al Taubenberger in last week’s election, after absentee, military and provisional ballots were counted. In the final tally, Oh led by 166 votes from election day ballots and absentee ballots. A count today of 755 provisional ballots, used on election day when there are questions about a voter’s registration, did not put Taubenberger ahead.
This makes Oh the first Asian American ever elected to Philadelphia’s city council – which is the city’s 17-member legislative body.Oh had ran several times before, the second time winning by seven votes on election day, but ultimately lost by 122 votes after the absentee votes were counted.
Oh was born-and-raised in Philadelphia. His parents were originally from Korea and left for the U.S. after the Korean War, where his father founded the first Korean American church in Philadelphia. An attorney by training and practice, Oh has also been active in public service, serving in 1992 on then Mayor Ed Rendell’s transition team and, in 1999, helped organized Governor Tom Ridge’s trade mission to South Korea. Congratulations to David Oh!
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In light of Shakira’s recent addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, CNN’s recent article on minorities in Hollywood calculates some fairly depressing statistics on diversity in the biz – only 0.4% of the 2,354 stars are Asians. That’s TEN STARS. I can count that on my fingers, I don’t even need my toes! The numbers aren’t that much better for Latino/as who come in with a whopping 3.4% and African Americans who have 5.1%. Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said: ”There have been relatively few nominations for Asian entertainers. Someone has to be nominated by a sponsor in order to be considered with a star. The issue must be pursued by a nominator. The committee can only consider from the pool of candidates that have been nominated.” While that may be part of the problem, the lack of stars is fairly reflective of a larger problem. The dearth of Asians and Asian Americans in Hollywood is not news. Hollywood has vast shortcomings when it comes to including more minorities and for non-stereotypical roles (remember this and this), but the stat is still shocking.
If you’ve been trying to have children without success, and you’ve investigated IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), then it’s probably not a surprise to you that there are fees associated with acquiring eggs from an egg donor. It’s probably also not a surprise if to you if you’ve been looking for an Asian egg donor, that Asian egg donors can command fees much higher than the norm.
In a recent news report, that figure was as high as $100,000 for an egg donation from an Asian donor. By contrast, a typical fee received for egg donation is between $5,000 to $10,000 in the U.S. Typically fees vary due to the experience of the egg donor. A successful retrieval and pregnancy means an egg donor will receive higher fees for a second donation.
The match between Wanderlei Silva and Cung Le at UFC 139 ended with a TKO in the second round. Cung Le knocked down Silva with a kick in the first round, but Silva came on strong in the second to finish him. This is Le’s second MMA loss, and Silva’s win keeps him fighting in the UFC. Le’s nose was shattered, and the Mercury News concludes that he will probably need facial repairs before he does any more movies. Three of the main card fighters, including Le, couldn’t attend the post fight press conference because they were sent to the hospital.
Here at GASP!, we often post shirts that are cute, funny, or just plain cool. This Kung Fu Tee ($15) Tee by Asian Crew Clothing, however, sends a message: as Asian Americans, we are not our stereotypes. Asian Crew is a fairly new company, but their three shirts each aim to debunk a different stereotype. Each shirt has a pithy statement on front and back, and is printed on an American Apparel cotton tee.
Having enjoyed a #1 spot on the iTunes Dance chart, former KAT-TUN member, Jin Akanishi’s single ‘Test Drive” feat. Jason Derulo is quite the impressive US debut. I say US, because if you’re elsewhere in the world, you’re S.O.L. in being able to buy this single and its club hopping remixes. (Of course a little thing like borders doesn’t stop international fangirls from supporting their idol.)
Critical thoughts after the jump.
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This past Thursday, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu testified in front of Congress at the House Oversight Committee hearing regarding Solyndra, the high profile San Francisco Bay Area invest in solar energy company which took a Department of Energy (DOE) guarantee which went into bankruptcy a little more than a year later.
What girl doesn’t want beauty and a good sense of fashion? Anya Ayoung-Chee apparently has both. She is the winner of Miss Trinidad and Tobago Universe 2008 and the newest winner of Project Runway. This makes her the second winner of Asian descent for fashion design competition, first being Chloe Dao back in Season 2. Ayoung-Chee said that these past two years have been a bumpy ride, with her brother’s death and her sex tape scandal. But now she is on the rise again!
While surfing the web the other night, I came across a recent opinion/editorial piece by a senior columnist named Judah Bellin in my alma mater’s school newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, discussing Asian American admissions quotas and perceptions:
We can’t really gauge Cornell’s role in penalizing Asian applicants, mostly because the admissions office is always hesitant to reveal information about minority students. However, we must pay careful attention to our treatment of Asian students. I do know of one former admissions officer who likes to boast about rejecting scores of Asians because he didn’t want them in his classes. Given the faculty condescension towards Asian students that I and many others have observed, it wouldn’t surprise me if more admissions officers acted on similar impulses.
What I find interesting is that this op-ed is written by a Jewish student, who describes the past discriminatory practices in the early 20th century to limit the number of Jews into Ivy League universities to provide some historical context. If the above comments made by Bellin are true regarding the former admissions officer as well a some Cornell professors, that is a whole lot more concerning than a UCLA student ranting against Asian Americans on YouTube. Continue Reading »
Walt Disney Studios UK created a trailer voiced by South Asian American actor Sunil Malhotra, where Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the rest of The Muppet gang seem to be singing and dancing to a big Bollywood musical number. Too bad, it’s a just a spoof trailer for The Muppets film. Oh well, maybe this trailer can plant the seeds so that the next Muppet movie can actually take the Muppets to Bollywood. I would SO watch that.
The film will actually feature six new musical numbers (none of them are Bollywood themed) and three classic Muppet songs: “The Muppet Show Theme”, “The Rainbow Connection” and “Mah Nà Mah Nà.”
The Muppets will be released in the United States on November 23, 2011 and the United Kingdom on February 17, 2012.
“Celebrity” chef David Chang, owner of Momofuku, makes piña coladas and a new ramen dish from his Lucky Peach magazine.
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