Big Bird at 40
November 9, 2009
The Morning After: Cao Targeted by GOP Lunatic Fringe After Voting for Health Care Bill
November 9, 2009
WASHINGTON—Congress’ first Vietnamese American member Rep. Ahn “Joseph” Cao was interviewed on CNN Sunday morning, just hours after casting the lone Republican vote in favor of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
“I felt last night’s decision was the proper decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for my party,” Cao, a first-term representative from Louisiana’s traditionally Democratic 2nd District, told CNN.
“A lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot of them are poor,” Cao said. “It was the right decision for the people of my district.”
Watch Rep. Cao field questions from CNN weekend anchor Betty Nguyen, also Vietnamese American, who tries to pin the congressman down with a list of GOP talking points. Cao hangs tough. Perhaps this was Ms. Nguyen’s audition tape for Fox News.
done
Initial reports had Cao, 42, who won his seat in December, under severe pressure from his Republican colleagues Saturday after he made it know that he intended to support the Democratic plan once abortion funding was removed from the measure. An article filed by a reporter for the Alaska Dispatch shortly after Saturday’s vote told of Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) both figuratively and physically “leaning” on the Asian American freshman congressman as he waited to cast his vote. However, Dispatch reporter Amanda Coyne later revised her story saying that Rep. Young had actually been protecting Cao from party leaders.
According to the Dispatch account: Cao didn’t want to be the deciding vote, but once it was sure to pass, with Young on one side, and another protectorate Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), on the other, Cao was free to be the lone Republican to vote ‘aye.’ As soon as he did, Reps. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Mike Honda (D-Calif.) waded into the Republican side of the aisle to get to Cao, rub his shoulders and slap him on the back.
- Louisiana’s Rep. Joseph Cao Lone Republican to Support Health Care Plan, Epicanthus
- The Scene in the House When It Happened, Huffington Post
- Right-wing Unleashes Racism on Rep. Cao, Think Progress
- Bio: CNN Weekend Anchor Betty Nguyen
House Passes Healthcare Bill, Louisiana’s Joseph Cao Lone Republican to Support Sweeping Reform Plan
November 8, 2009
WASHINGTON—The House passed a sweeping reform of health care practices 220-215, a vote that followed party lines except for Louisiana Rep. Ahn Joseph Cao (R-Louisiana) who voted with the Democrats. Cao, a 42-year-old first-term congressman from New Orleans won his 2nd District seat by upsetting Democratic incumbent William Jefferson last December.
Born in Vietnam, Cao attended high school and college in Texas. A graduate of Fordham University, he taught at a parochial school in Virginia before attending law school at Loyola Univ. in New Orleans. He worked as an immigration attorney before entering politics.
Rep. Cao is married to pharmacist Hieu Kate Hong. They have two daughters, Sophia and Betsy.
Cao is the first Vietnamese-American elected to Congress. Politico.com declared Cao’s victory one of America’s “Top 10 Political Upsets” of 2008.
- House Passes Sweeping Healthcare Reform, Reuters
- Rep. Ahn Joseph Cao Wikipedia profile
- Congressman Ahn Joseph Cao’s Official Web Site
Only the Best
November 6, 2009
via: TheRealMalingering.com
Glamour Names Euna Lee, Laura Ling 2009 ‘Women of the Year’
November 3, 2009
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, two American journalists jailed in North Korea for 140 days earlier this year, have been named 2009 Women of the Year by Glamour magazine. Lee, 37, and Ling, 32, were on assignment for Current TV’s Vanguard Journalism unit based in Hollywood when they were captured by guards along the border of China and North Korea on March 17.
In June, they were sentenced to 12 years hard labor by a North Korean court after a closed trial in Pyongyang.
The Current reporters were freed Aug. 4 after former President Bill Clinton brokered their release and flew to the North Korean capital to fetch the pair in a private jet. Lee and Ling have made few comments on their capture and imprisonment since returning home three months ago.
“They are extraordinary women who were brave and resourceful, reporting a story that no one else was. They showed remarkable courage and initiative during their ordeal,” said former vice president and Current TV chairman Al Gore in reaction to the Glamour selection today.
Also named among the magazine’s 2009 Women of the Year were pop singer Rhianna; fashion designer Stella McCartney; California First Lady Maria Shriver; comedienne Amy Poehler; Google executive Marissa Mayer; athlete Serena Williams; pediatrician June Aronson; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice; The Women of Iran’s One Million Signatures Campaign; and poet Maya Angelou.
Read the Glamour’s entire Lee-Ling tribute here.
‘My dog ate my laptop’
November 3, 2009
boingboing’s Lisa Katayama is always a wonderful fount of mind blowing shit. Recently, she posted on designer Park Je Sung’s concept cardboard laptop. Throwaway computing may be just around the corner. LK also turned me on to Yanko Design, an Asian American-staffed Web site that ranks 52 out of the 75,000,000+ blogs currently floating around on the Internet.
Pimpin’ Phuket: We <3 Thailand!
November 2, 2009
Jackson Choy and Lori Fujikawa met and fell in love while attending Cal State Long Beach. Later they traveled to Thailand and fell in love all over again… with the country and its culture. Find out what they’re doing to promote Thai tourism by clicking this link to Gil Asakawa’s Nikkei View. One thing is clear: Jackson and Lisa are both persistent and talented Internet marketers who really know how to mount a ‘Net based promotion campaign.
- U.S. State Dept. Travel Safety and Security Advisory: Thailand
Niggaz4Lyfe: UCLA’s Norm Chow and Randall Carroll
October 27, 2009
My first reaction to the story broken Saturday by Chris Foster, L.A. Times‘ UCLA beat reporter, about freshman wide receiver Randall Carroll using a racial epithet in reference to offensive coordinator Norm Chow was “Gee, I hope he got his slurs right.” You know, I thought that maybe Carroll, the highly recruited L.A. Cathedral High star, called Chow a Jap or Gook. Chow, of course, is a Chinese American (or Chink). But the Times didn’t print what the alleged epithet was leaving Southern California sports fans (and racists) hanging.
My curiosity demanded that I pin down fo’ sho’ what the dis be, and after some due diligence came up with a screen grab of a cached version of @OCiAM’s (Carroll’s Twitter ID) “racial epithet” as posted on Twitter Oct. 22 (below) to high school running back Dietrich Riley. Either school officials or Carroll had tried to erase the tweet by closing his Twitter account, but we have our ways. Check it out.
Sounds more like a frustrated 18-year-old who wants the muthafuckin’ ball more to me. But I ain’t mad at cha. Everyone’s forgiven… even Chris Foster for filing such a thin, poorly sourced story in his lame effort to expose dissension in the ranks of Coach Rick Neuheisel’s squad.
But hold up, cuz. Yeah, I checked reporter Foster’s @cfosterlattimes Twitter account too. Foster tweets about the Chow-Carroll piece four times. The first two hype the Web-sourced piece. But in the final two Foster be frontin’ to cover his messy ass, linking to a sorry revised version of the story that includes somewhat exculpatory comments from Randall not used in the original article.
Then before beddy-bye, Foster, with an eye toward damage control, tweets: “Everyone seems fixated on the ‘racial’ term Carroll used to describe Chow (check most hip hop songs to hear it).”
Well, @cfosterlatimes, when the headline reads: “Tweet from UCLA player’s account uses racial epithet for Norm Chow.” readers will tend to “fixate” on the “racial term.”
OC’s ‘Kylie’: Windows 7 Secret Weapon
October 27, 2009
 |
 |
Back in April when her first “I’m a PC, and I’m 4½” for Windows Live Gallery first hit the airwaves, she was called everything from adorable to annoying. Epicanthus tried to go a little further in depth on the little tyke, but was frustrated by the wall of secrecy erected by Microsoft’s ad agency and PR firm. Now we know why; Microsoft had bigger plans for the Orange County, Calif. preschooler.
Last week (Oct. 22) Redmond went all-in with Windows 7, its sleek and fast apology for Windows’ legacy of trash OS rollouts, and along for the ride was little Kylie—more annoying adorable than ever.
Now, the newest 30-second ad — designed by Microsoft’s agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky — taps into the innocence of a four-and-a-half year old child to highlight Windows 7’s vaunted user friendliness.
Responses from commenters on both the Windows 7 team blog as well as on Twitter varied, ranging from “it’s sickeningly sweet,” to “her innocent ignorance of Windows is very cute indeed.”
done
|
done
|
- Ballmer & Kylie Officially Reveal Windows 7, AdAge
- Microsoft Kylie Takes to Airwaves for Windows 7, internetnews.com
- What is an ad? joewilcox.com
- Precocious 5-year-old Gives Windows 7 Pitch, Sharon Pian Chan, The Seattle Times
- Lifehacker’s Compleat Guide to Windows 7, Lifehacker
- Inside the Ad Factory, Crispin Porter + Bogusky
- Can Alex Bogusky Help Microsoft Beat Apple? Fast Company
- Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Microsoft PR
Lyoto `The Urinator’ Machida Beats `Shogun’ Rua @ UFC104
October 27, 2009
Second-generation Japanese-Brazilian Lyoto “The Urinator” Machida, 31, scored a controversial victory over fellow Brazilian Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, 27, to retain his UFC light-heavyweight title Saturday, Oct. 24 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Machida won his title in May by knocking out Rashad Evans in Las Vegas.
Machida is the son of Shotokan karate master Yoshizo Machida and is a protégé of Japanese wrestler-turned-politician Antonio Inoki. Since revealing that he uses urine therapy as part of his training regimen, Machida has been nicknamed “The Urinator” by MMA fans.
The L.A. crowd booed Machida’s victory. Read MMA authority Michael David Smith’s wrap up of the UFC battle here.
- UFC 104: Zombies, Blind Men and the False Triumph of the Piss-Drinker, Deadspin
Dodger Internment Camp
October 21, 2009
Thanks Malingering
Filipino American Shane Victorino used his power and speed to crush the hopes of the L.A. Dodgers and propel the Philadelphia Phillies into their second consecutive MLB World Series Wednesday. The 28-year-old Maui, Hawaii native and son of Maui County Councilman Michael P. Victorino, always seems to play his best against the Dodgers, the team that originally drafted him out of high school in 1999.
With a World Series appearance last year, an All Star selection and a Gold Glove, Victorino was a track star at Maui’s St. Anthony High School and once held the state record in the 100-meter dash.
Victorino is the 27th native Hawaiian and second Maui-born player to take the field in a regular season MLB game. He is today arguably the finest Asian Pacific American player to ever play in the major leagues. He is half Portugese and half Filipino.
Balloon Boy Falcon Heene, Family Starred in ABC Reality Show
October 15, 2009
Mia Lee’s Gone
September 18, 2009
- News Anchor Mia Lee Leaves KCAL-TV, instantriverside.com
- More on Porn Star Anchor Mia Lee, awfulplasticsurgery.com
- Mia Lee & Jackie Johnson: The Curviest News on TV? YouTube
Is Your Baby Racist?
September 18, 2009
Singer and now photog Priscilla Ahn captured this shot of this Newsweek cover dated Sept. 5 somewhere from the road on her Blackberry 8900.
Date An Asian
September 15, 2009
done
Jen Kwok is a California-born finance manager-turned-comedian now living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Some say this Chinese American funny girl is ready for her close-up.
- A Certain Jen Ne Sais Kwok, jenkwok.com
- Jen Kwok Interview, asiancemagazine.com
- Those Four Irresistible Strings, New York Times
Serena Williams vs. Lineswoman @ US Open
September 15, 2009
done
Kim Jong-il Follows Beckham on Facebook?
September 14, 2009
PYONGYANG, DPRK.—North Korea’s Dear Leader Kim Jong-il reportedly was enraged when he saw a photo of L.A. Galaxy soccer star David Beckham posing with journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee after Kim had pardoned them just three weeks earlier, according to Asian News International.
Sources deep within the Hermit Kingdom say the 68-year-old Kim is now intent on defeating Beckham and the English team if his North Korean national squad should meet them in next year’s World Cup and has promised his players cash bonuses and a party to end all parties if they beat the Brits.
- Becks Incurs Wrath of NKorea’s Kim Jong-il, Gaea Times
- David Beckham: He’s No Bill Clinton, but… Eonline
- NKorea Prepping 3rd Nuke Test, AFP
U.S. Open (Food) Winners
September 10, 2009
done
