Sexy North Korean Traffic Girls Go Viral on Net
February 28, 2010
The following bit of feet-on-the-ground intelligence from the evil empire of North Korea comes to us from stealthy retired CIA operative Larry J. Kolb via Roger Ebert’s Journal in the Chicago Sun-Times. What has us puzzled is that top-of-the-line BMW John Cooper Works Mini that appears in the last video. Who knew the Norks were into the “outstanding acceleration, go-kart handling and superb fuel economy” of the Mini.
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Japanese Soldiers Executed for Waterboarding WWII American POWs
February 22, 2010
By Jonathan Stein, Mother Jones, April 27, 2009
It stuns me that we are still having a debate, as a country, over whether or not what the Bush Administration did to detainees in the war on terror was actually torture. I would hope that this helps settle things. The fact-checking outfit called PolitiFact confirms that a McCain statement from 2007, dredged up recently by Paul Begala, is accurate:
“I forgot to mention last night that following World War II war crime trials were convened. The Japanese were tried and convicted and hung for war crimes committed against American POWs. Among those charges for which they were convicted was waterboarding,” [McCain] told reporters at a campaign event.
“If the United States is in another conflict … and we have allowed that kind of torture to be inflicted upon people we hold captive, then there is nothing to prevent that enemy from also torturing American prisoners.”
Olympic Memories
February 20, 2010
Pay money To my Pain
February 20, 2010
Pay money To my Pain, a transpacific hardcore metal band, consists of K (vocals), Zax (d), T$uyo$hi (b), Pablo (g). They hang out in L.A. and Venice sometimes.
Takahiro Omori: Bassing’s in His Blood
February 19, 2010
Takahiro Omori, 39, will be one of 51 competitors in the $500,000 first-prize Bassmasters Classic, which starts Feb. 19. ESPN is televising the three-day event. Omori, who won the Classic in 2004, was the first foreign champion, and his goal is to win this year’s Classic and begin a march toward the angler of the year title. Read The New York Times’ take on the Japanese sports fisherman here.
Be Sure to Ring Twice
February 19, 2010
Couple Declares iDo @ Apple Store in Manhattan
February 19, 2010
Joshua Li and Ya Ting recite EULA at unauthorized VDay nuptials and run gauntlet of snide “iDivorce” references.
- Couple Marries in Apple Store; Quotes Jobs in Vows, EW.com
- Apple Store Wedding: iDo, Cult of Mac
Speed Skater Apolo Ohno Public Enemy No. 1 in South Korea
February 19, 2010
SEOUL—South Koreans love to hate Japanese-American speed skater Apolo Ohno. Again in the crosshairs here for being “too physical” in his medal-winning 1500m race, Korean media animus against the love-patched Ohno is peaking during the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
And the Korean public wholeheartedly agrees.
A South Korean company once sold toilet paper emblazoned with Japanese American speed skater Anton Apolo Ohno’s face: Ohno joyfully winning the gold, Ohno kissing his medal, Ohno laughing. One video game features an Ohno character you can shoot in the head.
Hatred of Ohno has spanned three Olympics and has even resulted in death threats against the 28-year-old Federal Way, Washington native.
“Koreans see someone so cunning and conniving that he would try to pit Korean against Korean and benefit,” writes Sporting News
Vancouver Winter Olympics: Holy Kaw!
February 19, 2010
Internet entrepreneur, OG Apple evangelist and ice hockey fanatic Guy Kawasaki is in Vancouver experiencing the Winter Olympics. He’s shown here with British Columbia Minister of State for Intergovernmental Affairs Naomi Yamamoto, the first Japanese Canadian ever elected to British Columbia’s provincial legislature. Via Holy Kaw!
I Can Haz Cheezburger?
February 18, 2010
For sure, 2010: the year of the Metal Tiger, will be a tumultuous one, better for knocking down walls than building them. Those seeking calm may be disappointed. Of course, this is all bullshit, but we’ll see.
Mia Doi Todd: ‘Open Your Heart’
February 10, 2010
Japanese American folksinger Mia Doi Todd’s new video is directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker/screenwriter Michel Gondry.
Related:
- Justice Kathryn Doi Todd, 2nd Dist. Court of Appeal, L.A. apabala.org
The Saints’ Japanese-American X-Factor in Super Bowl XLIV
February 7, 2010
- [Update] Whodat? Saints 31, Colts 17. Read Scott Fujita’s Super Bowl diary on NOLA.com
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MIAMI—The New Orleans Saints will be packing a Japanese-American double whammy for the Indianapolis Colts Sunday when they face off in Super Bowl XLIV. The unlikely duopoly consists of the speedy, 6-5, 255 lb. strong-side linebacker Scott Fujita and front office marvel James Nagaoka, a guy who doesn’t even have to don a jock and pads to make his team a winner.
A UC Berkeley political science grad with a master’s in education, the inspirational Fujita has done much to rehabilitate the image of the professional athlete by taking some courageous stands on hotly debated social issues, such as abortion rights and gay marriage. While most ballers’ quotes are monosyllabic, Fujita’s are nuanced and articulate.
Given up for adoption by his 16-year-old birth mother when he was six weeks old, Fujita was adopted by third-generation Japanese American schoolteacher Rodney Fujita and his wife Helen, a Caucasian.
Though not Japanese American by blood, Fujita received a typical Japanese American upbringing (with all the trappings) in Oxnard, Calif., considers himself Japanese culturally and says the strongest person he knows is his tiny grandmother Lillie Fujita, who was imprisoned in a concentration camp by the U.S. government during World War II.
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But the Saints’ real secret weapon just may be the team’s incredibly resourceful director of operations James Kuniki Nagaoka, 60, who orchestrates where his players eat, sleep, travel, work out and practice with the exacting logistical skill of a four-star general. He runs the show that is Saints’ football.
An NFL veteran of 31 seasons, Nagaoka excels at giving the Saints the winning edge of preparation, especially on the road, where the season can be won or lost, through hurricanes Katrina and Gustav and the media conflagration that is the Super Bowl.
A graduate of the University of Washington with degrees in communications and Japanese literature, Nagaoka was lured away in 2000 from the Seattle Seahawks franchise for whom he handled a myriad of logistical duties for 22 seasons. The unflappable operations chief may prove to be the difference on Super Bowl Sunday.
- NFL Stats: Scott Fujita, NFL.com
- The Saints Linebacker Who Speaks His Mind, NYT
- A Linebacker With a Conscience, ESPN
- Scott Fujita: Family Valued, The Times-Picayune
- Fast Facts: Jaclyn Fujita (Scott’s Wife), playerswives.com
- Curriculum Vitae: James K. Nagaoka, Spoke
Japanese Singer Matsuda Seiko Lands Role on Fox TV’s Bones
February 5, 2010
TOKYO—Veteran Japanese singer/actress Matsuda Seiko, 48, has landed a role on the popular U.S. drama series Bones, entertainment media are reporting here. She plays the part of a Japanese journalist in the new season of the Fox show, set to air beginning in April.
Gallup: Asian-Americans More Liberal, Less Religious Than Any Other US Racial/Ethnic Group
February 3, 2010
PRINCETON, NJ—Asian-Americans tend to be more liberal and Democratic in their political orientation than the national average, and are the only major racial or ethnic group in the United States with more liberals than conservatives, according to Gallup Daily tracking data.
The findings were based on aggregated data from Gallup’s 2009 Daily tracking survey and included interviews with more than 4,000 Asian-Americans. For the purpose of analysis, respondents were categorized as Asian-Americans if they self-identify their race as Asian.
Gallup said 353,849 whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asians 18 and older were interviewed as part of the survey. Read Jeffrey M. Jones’ summary of Gallup’s Asian American data here.
Forty-one percent of Asians identify politically as Democrats, 41% as independents, and 16% as Republicans. As a result, Asians are above the national average in terms of the percentage of political independents (37% nationwide) and Democrats (34%), and below average in terms of the percentage of Republicans (27%).
According to the survey data: “Asian-Americans tend to be less religious than those in other racial or ethnic groups.”
The percentage of Asians who attend church on a weekly basis also is lower than for other U.S. racial or ethnic groups. A slim majority of Asian-Americans say they seldom or never attend religious services.
COMMENT: Gallup is a respected litmus of American opinion. But something doesn’t feel right about these results. Perhaps Gallup didn’t include a representative sampling of Korean Americans in their tracking data. Living in Asian America tells us that Korean Americans are among the most churchgoing-est folk in the entire country, from Fairfax, Virginia to Hacienda Heights, Calif. College and university campus Christian student organizations are dominated by Asians. How about the politically conservative Vietnamese American communities; were they included in the mix?
h/t Keith Kamisugi and Vida Benavides
Anthony Kim Shows Jessica Alba How to Putt
February 2, 2010
via Korean Beacon
RIP: Pauly Fuemana — ‘How Bizarre’
February 2, 2010
via Leor Galil/True Slant Network
Pauly Fuemana, the half-Niuean and half-Māori lead singer of New Zealand group OMC, died Sunday. He was 40.
All I can write, without a hint of irony, is “How Bizarre.” I can still remember the immense joy I got listening to that song in elementary school. Be it jammed on the bus on the way to school, hearing it blasting on some radio station somewhere… The song was practically everywhere. It’s one of those rare moments when a song seems to fill the air. It really was everywhere. I never thought twice about how I could connect to a song created worlds away.
That’s a testament of a good song: Even some kid somewhere in the world can’t get it out of his head and (even years later) wouldn’t want to anyway.
Didn’t know about OMC (Otara Millionaires Club, a tongue-in-cheek reference to Otara’s status as one of the poorest suburbs of Auckland.). Mellow and very reminiscent of Sugar Ray/Mark McGrath, but they apparently predated SR. Wow. Sold over a million copies in the U.S. (four million worldwide), and “How Bizarre” is the biggest selling record ever to be released by an act originating from and recorded in New Zealand. according to Wikipedia.
Right on, my Asian/Pacific brother! Thanks Leor.
Saying Good-bye to the Green Card: Good-bye
February 2, 2010
“It’s final. I am naturalized citizen of the United States of America. I am an American—a Korean-American to be specific.
“The ceremony was a mix of corny and genuine. The couple in front of me held hands and glanced several times at their 8-year-old-ish daughter who was presumably American-born and their photographer for the day. The couple and the woman to my right shed a few tears as 121 of us stood up as the names of the 44 countries we represented were called out. Lucky for them I always carry Kleenex.”
So begins Kathy Khang’s Saying Good-bye to the Green Card: Good-bye; her thoughts on the occasion of her recent naturalization ceremony. Khang describes herself as a mother of three who lives in the north suburbs of Chicago. She works for a parachurch organization as a multiethnic director.
Khang writes that before entering the hall where the swearing-in rites were to be held, each soon-to-be U.S. citizen had to surrender their Permanent Resident Alien or “green card” after having their ID’s checked and double-checked. Here’s the line that got me:
“There was something beautiful and poignant in that stack of green cards—so many stories to be told.”
Read Ms. Khang’s essay in full at her blog, More Than Serving Tea.
What’s So Funny About the iPad?
February 1, 2010
Is Steve Jobs’ Cupertino campus just one big boy’s club… or what?
The Internet tsunami that swept over the world last Wednesday started just after 10 a.m. PST. Luckily, the tidal wave was made up mostly of bad puns and schoolboy giggling. Susan Kim (inset), a New York-based Korean American playwright, graphic novelist, TV writer and co-author of FLOW: The Cultural History of Menstruation, comes clean on this mess of junior high school humor and watercooler snickering with a spot-on Huffington Post piece which rags on Steve iJob’s first marketing flub in a while which begs the question: Did the Apple marketing team even bother to vet the product’s name before it’s Jan. 25 27 unveiling?
“People apparently find any mention of menstruation, however fleeting and indirect, to be so uncomfortable-making as to be truly hilarious. Humor is, after all, partly rooted in anxiety,” writes Kim.
- Read Kim’s Jan. 28 HuffPo article here.
- About Susan Kim, IMDb / St. Martin’s Press
- Myths About Your Period, marie claire
- More by Susan Kim: Menstruation and Otherwise, HuffPo
