Politics
Twitter Controversy in South Korea About Posts from North Korea
From the New York Times: “Park Jung-geun, 23, a photographer who specialized in taking pictures of babies, was detained last month on charges of violating South Korea’s controversial National Security Law, which bans ‘acts that benefit the enemy’ —North Korea — but does not clearly define what constitutes such acts. The Twitter account Mr. Park was accused of reposting is run by the North Korean government Web site, Uriminzokkiri.com, which South Korean news media regularly cite for [...] Continue »
Pete Hoekstra’s Offensive Anti-Asian Super Bowl Ad
It seems like the new Super Bowl tradition of late is airing commercials which are racist, offensive, or at least racially insensitive toward Asians. In 2008, it was a set of offensive SalesGenie.com ads (written by an Asian, no less). 2010 gave us the Doritos Samurai Guy (who didn’t know the ways of the Samurai). Last year, Timothy Hutton using the plight of Tibet as a punchline for Groupon’s deals on fish curry, not even [...] Continue »
Jay Chen Announces Run for Congress
Hacienda-La Puente, California School Board Member Jay Chen this week announced his run for California’s 39th Congressional District. His announcement is posted on his campaign site and blog as well as his background: Jay Chen, a Democrat, was raised and educated in Hacienda Heights. A first-generation American, Jay’s parents came to the United States from Taiwan to seek a better future and taught him the value of hard work, the importance of a good education [...] Continue »
North Korea Turns Cell Phone Use Into War Crime
As if living in North Korea wasn’t hard enough. Now the regime is instituting a 100 day mourning period, which prohibits the use of mobile phones. And they’re serious about it: “[T]he ruling Workers’ Party has warned that anyone found using a mobile phone during the 100 day mourning period following Kim Jong-il’s death will be punished ‘like a war criminal.’” Now I wonder if this applies specifically to using your cell phone to make [...] Continue »
National Online March for Reproductive Justice, Rights and Health
Dr. Sophia Yen is a big supporter of trusting woman to make their own health care decisions, and is launching a national online effort for Trust Women Week to drawn attention and support for reproductive justice, rights and health during the anniversary week of Roe v. Wade which made abortion legal. There has been a long concerted effort to slowly chip away the rights of women’s reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade. Recently, Congress passed [...] Continue »
Australian Chinese and the Public Voice
When I was visiting a friend in Melbourne back in 2007, I visited The Chinese Museum – a museum dedicated to the history of Chinese in Australia. What I learned was the first major influx of Chinese immigrants to Australia were much like the Chinese immigrants in America – they came in search of gold, starting in the 1850s A fellow 8Asians blogger passed along this article from an Australian newspaper which fascinated me and [...] Continue »
APALC Proposes Los Angeles Redistricting Plan
Recently, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) submitted a citywide redistricting plan to LA’s City Council Redistricting Commission that would help keep Asian American neighborhoods intact and strengthen Asian American voices as the city looks to redraw its electoral lines. Because of how diverse the city is, I imagine that it’s not an easy task to try and accommodate as many communities as possible. APALC says that their proposal tries to balance the interests of the [...] Continue »
Governor Christie Makes History by Nominating Phillip Kwon for New Jersey Supreme Court
Current Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, made a historic nomination last week by nominating Phillip Kwon to the New Jersey Supreme Court: “One nominee, Phillip H. Kwon, a Korean immigrant who lives in Bergen County, worked under Mr. Christie when Mr. Christie was the United States attorney for New Jersey, and now works in his administration as first assistant attorney general.“ Kwon will be the first ever immigrant and first ever Asian American to [...] Continue »
Flushing Councilman Peter Koo Switches From Republican to Democrat
On Thursday, New York City Councilman Peter Koo of Flushing, Queens announced that he’s switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. There are several reasons why he may have switched. Reports have surfaced that Koo had problems with the Queens County Republican Party. But more interestingly, some have speculated that Koo did it to increase his influence. As a Democrat, he could bring more city funds to his district. Moreover, he could serve as [...] Continue »
Austrailian Radio Documentary On Deported Cambodian American Immigrant Children
From ABC (Australia) Radio: “Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and ended up in refugee camps on the Thai border. Some of those families were resettled in the United States and their children were raised as Americans, often with little connection to their homeland. A small number of young Cambodian-Americans find themselves in trouble with the law – drugs and gang violence mostly – and their convictions earn [...] Continue »
President Obama’s Lunar New Year Message for 2012, Year of the Dragon
President Obama wishes all Americans, including Asian American and Pacific Islanders, a Happy Lunar New Year, which is the Year of the Dragon, beginning today, January 23rd. I like the fact that Obama recalls his childhood growing up in Hawaii (which is predominately Asian), as he sincerely recalls his youthful memories of Lunar New Year celebrations past – with parades, fireworks, and small family gatherings. And how Obama reiterates that America is stronger because of [...] Continue »
Is Luc Besson’s The Lady More About Love Than Politics?
There’s a new trailer out for Luc Besson’s latest film, The Lady, where Michelle Yeoh stars as political rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi. Judging from the first trailer, I assumed the film would be about her struggles in establishing democracy in Burma and the resulting house arrest. And why wouldn’t I? The 50 second teaser reveals a montage of militants putting up barbed wire and Yeoh climbing a stage to face cheering crowds amidst [...] Continue »
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