Rich Man May Run, and Republicans are Scared!

I really like talking about election politics. It's fun, and although President Bush has definitely proved that it's not harmless, it's almost painless to talk about while it's happening. It's like smoking pot. Or alcoholism. Politically, everyone's doing it! And it's a lot of fun to watch candidates struggle and fight to outmanuver and outtalk each other. It's like reality television. With alcoholism. And pot. Without on-strike screenwriters. And with the screenwriters on-strike, I don't really have much to watch anymore other than the election.

Masi Oka for President '08!! If he fucks up, he'll just save the cheerleader all over again!

So anyways, the very latest in electoral politics. The New York Times ups the hype about Michael Bloomberg possibly running as a Independent candidate in 2008. This is really good. Politically, Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York. Financially, he's the 38th richest man in America. He's like...a billionaire. multiplied by 11. Plus another half a billion. He's so rich, he doesn't even wanna get paid for being mayor. He's on the NYC payroll as the only person who works for a dollar a year. He's so rich, he doesn't even live in the Mayor's Palace (aka Gracie Mansion). He lives in his EVEN MORE BALLIN' home, on E. 79th St. To his credit, he takes the subway to work. AFTER HE PAVES THE RAILS WITH GOLD.

More importantly, Bloomberg is a lifetime Democrat. Who switched to the Republican Party when he wanted to run for Mayor. Who then left the Republican Party after after he had won Mayor twice. Currently making him an Independent. Which leads the way to his possibly running as an Independent in 2008 and fucking up all political estimates with the Republicans and Democrats.

Did I mention he DROPPED 160 million dollars on his mayoral races? Obama and Clinton put together barely have raised 160 million. And he might just DROP another BILLION (BILLION with a B, just to emphasize) for his presidential race. Which still leaves him with 10.5 BILLION DOLLARS. He's so ballin', I really do just wanna kiss his ass and see what kind of money bags erupt from my lips.

In other news that you probably already knew...

The Wall Street Journal that yes, yes, the Democratic Craziness Really Does Have Republicans Worried...And They Should Be. It's about time ya'll went to war on this one. Polls (and results) have shown that 1) Democrats are giving more to their candidates than Republicans and 2) Democrats seem more supportive about their overall candidate field than Republicans. Both of these things are very characteristic of winners. They're not very characteristic of Democrats. EXCITING! Could we be learning from our past mistakes?? Probably not. 8 years of Bush (and a very noticeable Kerry defeat) just angers the shit out of us.

Although I don't know. I mean, for all the juice that Democrats seem to be getting, these Ron Paul supporters seem the most...uh...amped. Two of them actually commented on my blog. And uh...I have a nowhere, no-worth blog. I barely get hits, other than myself, and my mother. And suddenly I get slapped around for quoting the Daily Kos. Scary. But exciting! So I'm going to do it again!

RON PAUL CAN...GO...UH...FUCK...HIMSELF? THAT BAD BAD BAD MAN!! YEE!

Fig 1.1 Republican Candidate Ron Paul
The Only Reason People Read My Blog

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The Biggest Story of Today

Of course, the biggest story this day...Bush does it again...

President Creates Cabinet-Level Position To Coordinate Scandals, the Onion, reporting a month from now, Feb 1, 2008.

That's all, folks!

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Two Quotes, Two Candidates, Two Primaries

Two quick quotes on the color of the 2008 elections...I'd just like to join the rest of the blogosphere on quoting this...

First Quote (Hat Tip: Educational Justice) about Sen. Barack Obama:

"[Obama] is being consumed as the embodiment of color blindness," says Angela Davis, professor of history of consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "It's the notion that we have moved beyond racism by not taking race into account. That's what makes him conceivable as a presidential candidate. He's become the model of diversity in this period...a model of diversity as the difference that makes no difference. The change that brings no change."
-Angela Davis, as quoted by Gary Younge, 12/31, The Nation

Man. That's some killer commentary about how a candidate of color is viewed in the eyes of America. Altho saying the words "Candidate of Color" sound so empowering!

Second Quote (Hat Tip: Reappropriate) from U.S. Congressperson Ron Paul (straight from the horse's mouth, ya'll):

"Indeed, it is shocking to consider the uniformity of opinion among blacks in this country. Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty, and the end of welfare and affirmative action…. Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the “criminal justice system,” I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.

If similar in-depth studies were conducted in other major cities, who doubts that similar results would be produced? We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, but it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings, and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers."
-Ron Paul, as quoted by..uh..Ron Paul, in a 1992 article in the Ron Paul Political Report

Um. MAN. That's some killer...shit, that shit is just killer. Like racist, killer. Like really really pretty racist, ya'll. And because I'm all for fair and contextual reporting, this was his article written in response to the 1992 LA Riots (which really, just means he's still pretty damn racist, just a very 1-dimensional racism). The article is posted here, and the background to the article is reported here by our friends in the Daily Kos.

DAMN. I mean, this is not to be attackin' all that student group running around UCI chalkin' up shit to promote Ron Paul '08. But, I mean. Ok, so this is me kind of attackin' supporters of Ron Paul '08. I'm sorry, I don't mean to. Just I'm really starting to go against his stance. Because he's against the War in Iraq does not mean he's forgiven for saying that kinda SHIT back in 1992. Cuz, really, I gotta be lookin' out for my communities of color. So none of that shit. I'm sorry.

To be fair, Ron Paul was reported saying in 1996 that it wasn't him, it was a ghostwriter who wrote those comments, and that he's very sorry for them and takes on "moral responsibility". Wikipedia's got the report on that apology here. And yeah, Ron Paul definitely has sounded like that since his 4 congressional elections and this one presidential run. But I'm sorry, I really can't shake the feeling (and the anger, yeah) that the quote above was a really, really bad omen.

I mean, really, gotta be reppin' my communities of color.

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My Respects

This is going to be one of those media checks.

If the media ya'll checking today isn't talking about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto somewhere near the headlines, then you better check what media you're checking.

This is to mean no disrespect. I just wanna emphasize how important this woman was, and still is, to the regional politics of Pakistan, and the international community as a whole. She was the first female prime minister of Pakistan, democratically elected for real, and ended up leading Pakistan twice, once from 1988-1990 and again from 1993-1996. At the time of her death, she was an opposition leader in Pakistan, was regarded by her supporters as the one of hopes of democracy to their nation. Course, this view wasn't held by all, especially with those who agreed with the number of corruption charges that drove her out of her office the second time.

I really don't have the intelligence, background, or literacy to give the biography of her life. Hopefully, John F. Burns from the New York Times does, cuz he wrote her obituary. Check it.

I guess this is just to pay respects to a strong and powerful woman who had a hard and controversial life. I mean, I'm just checking out the effect her death had on people. There are people crying in the streets where she was shot, there are people crying in the hospital which pronounced her dead, you know? There's reports of violence on the streets. President Pervaz Musharraf went on television to respond (capitalize?) on her death. So at the very least, Respects.

Fig 1.1 Aftermath at Rawalpindi, Scene of the Assassination

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UNICEF Makes BOMB Games

I'd like to comment really quickly about my inability to keep a Haitian family of 5 alive. I'm really incredibly bad at survival, even when (especially when) survival is simulated into an internet flash game made by UNICEF. Ayiti: The Cost of Life (hat tip: Peter Lu's note) is this little internet flash game made by UNICEF and Co., and has been acclaimed as one of the best political web games of the year. Peter quoted Slate.com to explain the game, and shamelessly, so will I,

"Ayiti: The Cost Of Life makes the Oregon Trail look like Candy Land.
The game puts you in control of the lives of a Haitian family of five.
You have four years to guide the family through a catalog of privations
and calamities: hurricanes, robbers, depression, illiteracy, and
on-the-job injuries. Ideally, you'll find education, prosperity, and
health, but you'll probably just come down with malaria and die."

It's a hard game. It's a really hard game. Then again, being a Haitian family of 5 is a really hard life. And moving away from the "I'm a privileged know-it-all piece of shit who thinks he can recreate the struggles of a family in a 30 minute webgame" thing, it really does kinda make you more aware about the struggles of other peoples around the globe.

For Devil's Advocate, there are some things in this game I kinda find troubling. For example, there's a very specific strategy to winning this game for the Haitian family of 5. Clue: it involves supporting UNICEF. Suggesting that for every Haitian family of 5 out there, there is a very specific strategy for their lives. Clue: It involves supporting UNICEF. Or something I definitely find troubling, (and this is kinda a strategy spoiler) one of the game's main political messages is that all you really need is determination, and a library full of books, to win (at life). I'm going to take a leap of faith and say that 1) A series of mouse-clicks does not even closely represent how hard it is to find the determination and materials to study on your own while working in Haiti and 2) Determination and a Library kinda seems like an oversimplification to succeeding at life.

HOWEVER, I still think this game is a really great idea, and is really too addictive for me not to beat now so it won't haunt me for the rest of Winter Quarter and destroy my grades and my life. And after I beat the game, yes, yes I do think I will make a charitable, tax-deductible donation to UNICEF to bring libraries, and farming resources to countries like Haiti and families much like those I played in the game.

Because if seeing my family die 4 or 5 times won't haunt my dreams, well, then maybe dreams aren't for me.

Fig 1.1 Jean, Marie, Patrick, Jacquline, and Yves Just Try To Survive in Ayiti: The Cost of Life
I've killed them, what? 4, 5, 6 times now? Shit.

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The Youth Lean Left...But It's Ok, They Don't Vote

In one of those weird and awkward times where APIs are actually reported in the slightly (actually, pretty heavily) right-wing media, Politico.com reported recently (4 days ago, I'm kinda late on the game) that Asian Pacific Islander youth trend Democratic. Well, uh...I don't know. No shit? But really, a couple things:

1) This article actually was written by a white male. And, if you check his bio profile, you can actually see he is a very white male. There's nothing really to it, but I'm always interested when an article is written about us, when it's not actually from one of us. I'm thinking about the implications. Especially the ones he makes. But he actually cites real Asian Americans in there. That's definite brownie points.

2) However. It seems like no matter how many times Asian Pacific Islanders use the term Asian Pacific Islander, the headline always comes out reading just "Asian American". It's even quoted in the article, the executive director of the Young Democrats of America says "With the Asian and Pacific Islander vote". And yet! And yet! The title still firmly reads simply "Asian-American". Really now? That's seriously cutting off a huge chunk of our population. Like. Almost every "Asian American" with ancestry from the islands of the Pacific Ocean. It's kinda big.

3) You notice it too. Mr. Ben Adler really only cites people from the "traditional" Asian-American populations, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. However, the statistics he uses from The Institute of Politics at Harvard University surveyed the current populations of APIs, including Thai, Cambodian, Pilipino, Laotian, native Hawaiian, etc. even though even the study categorizes them under "Other Asian". So when there's a disparity between what the quotes imply and what the statistics say, well, remember who writing it and maybe why. API's can get in the media, but we can never get a break.

3) One big thing really stuck out though. The article mentions that this is a pretty recent trend for this generation of APIs to start trending Democratic. And it is. I trend Democratic, but my mother almost definitely trends a strong Republican stance. Years of Communist propaganda and "Cultural Revolution" has convinced her of how incredibly evil the left can be. And honestly, I don't blame her. Any kid wearing one of those hip Red Stars or Communist jackets or Che t-shirts maybe doesn't know or doesn't remember the families that were broken and killed in the name of that Red Star. And other kids do. A whole branch of my family tree was crossed off during that time. On my mother's side. So I don't blame her for being Republican. I almost encourage it. But then Bush went into Iraq claiming "weapons of mass destruction" and then he didn't find any and then my mother hates liars and now my mother hates the Republican Party. Cuz in her mind, they lied. A lot like Communists do. She's going to vote for Hillary in the primaries. I'm going to vote Obama. But I can live with her vote too.

4) The last comment included just a little backhand slap at us. It mentioned although API's are starting to trend Democratic...we don't actually vote enough for it to really matter. Well then fuck it. GO VOTE.

5) IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE REALLY ANGRY AT THE INTERNET. DON'T READ MOST OF THE COMMENTS. JUST DON'T. THEY'RE KIND OF...RACIST.
(ex. Right-Minded Frank says: Well there goes the best work ethic in America. Once you go Democrat no one wants to work and thinks everyone owes them something. the best work ethnic in America?? I'm sorry we won't be there doing your laundry anymore, Mr. Right-Minded Frank.)

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The Government Fucks Up Again

Fox News (No, I don't read FOX News, but I do read AngryAsianMan and he apparently reads Fox) reported on Tuesday that a Minneapolis SWAT Team raided a Hmong household of a husband, wife, and two sons. When the SWAT team broke into the house through 6 windows without warning, the husband ran upstairs grabbed a shotgun and fired three shots at the team, not knowing they were police. The SWAT team fired 22 rounds back, and then realized they broke into the wrong house. A couple things here:

1) The man fired a shotgun. Ok, so I'm usually totally against any form of violence or whatever, all that peace shit, but I just wanna comment on how much of a FATHER this guy is. I mean, some people break into your house, all armed and dangerous, and you got children and a wife downstairs, and instead of cowering in a corner with them, you run upstairs and start shooting. Man, that is some serious shit man. That's some serious "I protect my family" shit man. I respect that. Cuz I mean, you don't know who these people are, they got guns, they could kill you and your family, so yeah I'm going to say that's some serious shit to just pull out a gun and fire, you know? I don't know if I got the nerves for that.

2) YOU BROKE INTO THE WRONG HOUSE?! NO SERIOUSLY, YOU BROKE INTO THE WRONG HOUSE?!? WITH GUNS?! AND THEN FIRED 22 ROUNDS?! Blah, blah, blah, police are people too, they make mistakes, NO, NO, FUCK THAT SHIT, you do not make mistakes when you have guns. That's just not acceptable. Especially if you are totally willing to fire those guns. Which if you're SWAT, you totally are. It's not human, it's fucked up. One of the sons was 3. The other was 15. You could have killed them.

3) If someone finds out this all happened cuz the family was Asian, OHHH some shit should totally go down.

4) If you read the article by FOX News, you notice that they reported Federal Agencies don't keep track of the number of wrong houses they break into. Like, as if to say, they don't care.

No, no, this is not one of those "They're humans, we all make mistakes". This is one of those "They're the government, and they fucked up. AGAIN."

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Disney's A Racist. We All Knew It.

There's this amazing article I found on Cracked.com titled: The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters. I won't lie. Some of the shit in there is just so damn racist it's just funny. I mean, it's bad to laugh at racism, but the shit is so damn racist! It's like crying laughter. You laugh at the stereotypes wishing you could forget the times when you cried as a child when they were applied to you. Some of the other stereotypes are just interesting, almost historical notes, stories and films that are definitely never seen nowadays, but it's interesting to see how they've been reflected and mirrored up until today. But man. So. damn. racist.

Some photos from the article:

Fig 1.1 The "Blackfish" from Disney's Little Mermaid
Really?!? The blackfish?! How did I not see how this was CRAZY racist??

Fig 1.2 The Siamese Twin Gang from Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers
According to Disney, the cat on the left is what I will look like in 5 years.
And the cat on the left is my father.
Does anyone remember the AristoCats?? The Siamese Cats?? And their Engrish?? Is that shit really not racist??

P.S. If you have time, check out the comments section too. There's a really interesting discussion going on about whether minorities can or cannot be racist. While a lot of people are saying that anybody can be racist, it only takes the thoughts and the prejudice; there is a really interesting, provocative, and intelligent post put on by "The Duck that was Blue". It's worth considering, yadadamean??

OK. People need to realize that minorities can't be racist. They can be discriminatory or prejudiced. But these are not racism. Racism is when the race that is in the position of privilege acts to hold down and demoralize minorities. Here in America, only Whites are even capable of being racist. It is so much more than just not liking someone because of their skin. You can make fun of white people, but they will still have privilege. Presenting Blacks as ignorant and savage actually helps to influence other White people to be more suspicious of them. I'm so sick of people acting like Blacks are even capable of being racist against Whites. They make up 12% of the population for chrissakes.
Posted on 12/11/2007 9:02:29pm
-The Duck that was Blue

That is for all my "the world should be colorblind" folks out there. Really listen to the Duck. It'll kind of change your life. I'm usually one of those "minorities can be racist too, we often are" (read posts below), there's something in that post about how sometimes racism only matters when there's privilege to back it. Otherwise it's just people bickering about the power none of them have. That's some deep shit right there, to be real.

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Hillary Clinton Wants To Stop Making Little Children Cry

Straight Up, from Reuters, Monday Dec. 17th, reporting on how Hillary Clinton is trying to soften her image for the upcoming Iowa caucus, direct quote:

"After Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney got teary-eyed
while talking about when his Mormon church opened its doors to black
Americans, an MSNBC interviewer asked Clinton if she ever teared up.

"Well, you know, when I had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning in Des Moines I teared up," she said."

Damn, she's such a killer, she almost makes me wanna ditch Obama and vote for her. I'm tellin' you. If you vote her into office with an attitude like that, we'd never have to worry about a Republican Congress. She'd straight-up rip them apart. She's about results, man. Fuck that feel-good shit. She's a no-shit-given-no-shit-givin' tru G! Ya'll motherfuckers stop talking about how she's a women and shit and just respect.

Still vote for Obama in 08 tho, personally. Love the Hope Message. It tugs at my heartstrings and gives me hope for my little sister.

Just for kicks tho...TheHillaryIKnow.com Her website dedicated to herself and how soft of a person she is. Fuck that shit. The Hillary I respect is still a straightup G. BUAH!

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Survey Says...Minorities Hate Minorities

The Washington Post reported last Thursday that a Survey Finds Friction Among Minority Groups. The basic premise of the survey was that each of the major minority groups polled (African Americans, Asian Americans, and the questionable label "Hispanic") kind of really are racist to one another. Or view one another very unkindly. While this is probably really not surprising to most of us peoples of color (colorblind people in the back say "Wha?? You folks don't like each other?") I thought I'd take a minute and take some highlights out of this article

1) The survey found that an overwhelming majority of each group views racial tension as a "very important problem". So...we don't want to hate each other...but we kind of do. Read below.

2) 40% of Hispanics and Asians (Not saying you, in particular, but 40% of your community) say they are "generally afraid of African Americans and associated them with crime". Yeah, ok, this is kind of saying you. Maybe you when you make a really bad black joke that has something to do with crime and being a thug. Or maybe your friends. Or maybe your family. Or maybe it's not you. But recognize it's prevalent in your community.

3) 1/3rd of Hispanics and African Americans said most Asian business owners "do not treat us with respect". Think...LA riots. Or if you don't think about it, wiki LA Riots. Focus on the Underlying Causes paragraph, it's short, but it doesn't mention Asian-Black violence. And consider, for us APIpeoples out there in the crowd, that maybe this isn't so straightup racist of Blacks and Latinos when apparently 40% of us associate African Americans with crime in a kind of really racist way. Which means that maybe some Asian business owners don't treat other minorities with respect. Which means maybe some minorities will rob Asian business owners because they don't respect them either. Which means it's kind of everyone's fault (everyone who is racist). I think, anyways.

4) 1/3rd of Asians and 1/2 of African Americans said Latin Americans are taking away jobs and benefits from other Americans. WOW. Ok, I didn't actually see that statistic coming. But consider, for a moment, how fucked up that is for Asian Americans to say, when the same exact thing was being said to us around the time of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Immigration Acts before 1965. Fucked up.

5) African Americans are noticeably less optimistic than other minority groups about the American Dream. While not being African American myself, I'm going to venture out for a minute and say, yeah, a couple hundred years of outright slavery in America, and many more years (and continuing) of straightup oppression can do that to your community. And sometimes I think Asian Americans and Latinos are beginning to catch on to that too.

6) There's one quote I really wanna stress (this has been a kind of long blog anyways):

Sergio Bendixen, who presented the poll results at the National Press Club,
said that the fact that all three groups live in relative isolation has
contributed to the tensions and stereotypes and that more interaction
would do much to reduce the problem."If you share an afternoon of baseball and a barbecue, you are less
likely to be afraid of people or think they came to steal your job,"
Bendixen said.

I just wanna mention that an "afternoon of baseball and a barbecue" are seriously one of the most traditionally "American" things I have ever heard of. Just from the standpoint of a former AZN, maturing API, and a kid whose lived for a while in a dominant Asian American community, an afternoon of baseball and a barbecue is definitely not something I always see in my community. But I mean, I'd be willing to try it. I'd still probably bring fried rice. And my dormmate's kimchee. I love stealing my dormmate's kimchee.

Of course, propz to AngryAsianMan for putting this on his blog so that I could jack it for my blog to talk about.




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UCI Beats Harvard Once Again!

An article last Monday from Harvard University's campus newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, reported on the repeated failure of the University Administration to give Asian American Studies a place in the educational curriculum.

1)This, of course, is only yet another example of how UC Irvine has proved it's unending dominance over Harvard University, having had an Asian American Studies field here since 1991.

2) It's also a nice reminder of how hard API students have had to fight to get Asian American Studies to UCI. I remember reading that most of the ethnic faculty at UCI came out of a couple of obnoxiously loud Jodaiko drums and a really large student protest in the lobby of the Chancellor's office.

3) And finally, it's also a nice reminder about how far API students everywhere still have to go to get representation in our faculty.
Ex: Out of 1600+ Filipino students in UCI, there are only 2 Filipino professors, and 0 Filipino Studies minor/major.

It's kind of time for us to get made.

Fig. 1.1 The Ethnic Consciousness Scoreboard.
Harvard University is down one.

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California to Declare an Emergency Over Budget

The New York Times will report tomorrow that Gov. Schwarzenegger will have to declare an Emergency Over Budget for California, as the state's budget deficit has grown over 4 BILLION DOLLARS from $10 billion to $14 billion.

1) That's right. The NYT will report TOMORROW. This is what happens when you Rice=Rocket Fuel. You become so fast you report on the news before the news reports on itself.

2) That's also right. 4 BILLION DOLLARS. That means California now owes 40% more money than it did last year. Goddamn.

3) That's definitely right. This totally means that student tuition fees for UCs, CSUs, and Community Colleges are going to skyrocket.

Oh wow. We're so fucked.

Fig. 1.1 The Governator Aims At College Students' Wallets

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International "Hug-An-Asian" Day

So a friend forwarded this event to me...which has since been deleted by Facebook Administration, but here is the group:

http://uci.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18862289328

And a branch-off event:

http://uci.facebook.com/event.php?eid=7582259534

The event is called "International 'Hug-An-Asian' Day", it's going to be held on March 5th, 2008. It calls for people, any people not just Asian, to..."Hug An Asian". It's a pretty simple concept.

But before the event was deleted, it had already reached 200,000 people on facebook, 84,000 people which had confirmed fo'sho. The information for the event said that it was started by this 14 year old girl who had developed it's reputation by posting it on Asian Facebook group sites. And then it grew. There have been accusations that the group is racist, even though the girl claims firmly that it is a joke and is meant to be light hearted with "AZN Pride".

But damn. 84,000 people? That's like...three times the size of UCI. A 14 year old girl hit UCI three times over?? Shit!

To be real, I think it's kind of problematic. There are a couple reasons. Like the fact that many of it's members were actually on the continent of Asia. Imagine if the continent of Asia had "International 'Hug An Asian' Day". Think about the chaos that would invoke. Whole economies would be stopped. Cities would implode. Countries would be overrun. All while the 4 billion Asian people on the continent of Asia rushed to try and hug each other. It would be like a nuclear bomb, in the form of a hug orgy.

Another issue is why Asians, in particular, need hugs in the first place. Is there a particular reason we're being singled out? I mean, the event is meant for all people, not just Asian people, to hug Asian people. I have slight issues with a mob of white people trying to hug me because I'm Asian, and a facebook event told them so. No. I have pretty major issues with it.

Imagine a "Hug A Black Person" Day. Or "Hug A Latino" Day. Or "Hug An American Indian" Day.

Ok, the last one would probably be the most problematic. So many of them have been so systematically wiped out by the American government (and Americans), that it would probably be pretty difficult to find a population that only covers .1% of the national population. In UCI alone, out of the 25,000 people that attend this school, only 104 people are Native American/American Indian. Something to think about when talking about genocide and the United States.

But think about "Hug A Black Person" Day, or "Hug A Latino" Day. How many people you think would consider that offensive? To be real, how many white people would you really think participate? But because we're Asian, we're the model minority, and because we're as cute and fuzzy as the icon on the "Hug An Asian" day group suggests we are, it's ok?

There's an argument (a pretty valid argument) that this is a celebration of our heritage. Ok, I might buy that. This is AZN pride, a way to reclaim our identity as Asians. But if I still see a group of white people coming up to hug me for "AZN Pride", that is not OK. I will attempt to make shit go down.

The most valid argument I can think for this group is that is has attracted 84,000 people, and was growing. That suggests that theres something about the idea of "Hug An Asian" Day that resonates with the AsianAm community. Is a concept really that wrong when so much of a community agrees with it? But consider other examples of self-identity among other people of color communities, such as the "N-word" among the black community. The label may be fine within the community, but what will happen when non-Asians take up the banner of "Hug An Asian" day? What will you say to a group of non-Asians who will single you out because of your race? What does our acceptance of that self-identity say for our community?

Then there's the fact that the creator of the group is only a 14 year old girl, who probably just didn't think about the implications of the group or how wildly popular it would become. While that is true, this isn't about her. It's about the idea itself, why it's so popular, and it's implications when it resonates with such a large population of our community. The group makes me kinda nostalgic because it reminds me of the days of reppin' AZN4LYF back in the days of my middle school. There's a certain ethnic pride I gained through those days, that I really value, you know, cuz it felt good to rep Asian American. But I also remember that pride in high school lead to a lot of turf battles, a lot of tagging (not only of "AZN" pride but of "KraKer" hate), and a lot of actions that looking back, I'm not really proud of. Not to say that "International 'Hug An Asian' Day" should be seen to that extreme, but to understand that the concept, at the very least, is problematic.

......

But you should totally feel free to hug me any day you'd like =D

The Celebration of Finals Week

I'd like to just take some time out of our day to recognize a momentous occasion in API college history, Finals Week. Let us celebrate this amazing time, where the large majority of API college students are suddenly incredibly preoccupied with their academic standings even we just spent the majority of our quarter getting crunk, drank, and hyphy. And for those of you API students who did not actually spend the majority of your quarter getting crunk, drank, or hyphy, I applaud and envy you.

Let's also take this time to remember, during Finals Week, that while we curse the very existence of our respective institutions of higher education, many members of our community still don't have the opportunity to attend college, because of fucked up K-12 schools, inadequate financial aid, hoods that care for you but don't raise you, or because their families need them.

In Summary:
FUCK YOU, YOUR FINALS, AND YOUR ADMISSIONS POLICIES YOU INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION!!

......

Keep in mind, this doesn't mean that I'm still not unbelievably happy that I made it to UC system. It's still a blessing. I'm just unbelievably mad when some of my friends and family members didn't.

The Day America Really Fucked Us

Dec. 7th, 1941 is the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan, and started armed involvement of the United States in World War II.

It's also the day when the United States decided to take every Japanese American on the mainland, strip them of their rights, and throw them into concentration campus.

It is the day that America really, really fucked us, as Asian-Americans.

Now, please, don't take no bullshit on this subject. Japanese Americans at the time did not represent a national security threat. The U.S. military intelligence had documented evidence that the Japanese embassy had advised the Japanese imperialist government that the Japanese Americans were not to be considered loyal to Japan. Japanese American newspapers regularly had columns discussing how to prove their loyalty. And the very acceptance of the Japanese American community to move into concentration camps without bashing the shit out of every American they saw, was a sign of their patriotism and loyalty to the United States.

Not saying that this country deserved that much loyalty. But it got it.

Recognize, really, that like slavery, the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans represents actual, practical, and a very real form of racism. Not your controversial "hate crime" racism, or "they said a racial slur on TV" racism, this is real racism, that hurt real people, that oppressed large communities, that threw whole families in disarray. This was not controversial. This was just wrong.

So please remember, when you hear on the TV or newspaper, or from friends, family, professors, and peers, about Dec. 7th, 1941, the day America got brutally attacked by the Japanese imperialist army. Please remember that this date is also the date that America really, truly, fucked your people.

Fig. 1.1 Dorothea Lange "Pledge of Allegiance"
Picture of a young Japanese-American girl giving the Pledge of Allegiance before being shipped off to the Japanese concentration camps

Evidence of Culture

Despite the Freshman Fears (and maybe even Sophmore, Junior, Senior, Super-Senior, and Sixth-Year Senior Fears), there is evidence of culture at UCI! My expedition today to Fortuna, UCI's School of the Arts Senior Art Exhibition, led to this discovery of this very sure example of culture on our campus:

Fig 1.1 A Sure Sign of Cultural Existence at UCI.

For even more suggestive and floral examples of culture at our school, be sure to check out Fortuna, which will remain on display from now to Dec. 16th (end of finals)! Fortuna is at the Arts Plaza, in the University Art Gallery and Room Gallery (One of the rooms are attached to the Beall Center of Art and Technology, the big red building near the Humanities-Mesa Court bridge). Culture is amazing! And kind of really sexual sometimes.

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Culture will never die as long as you read Rice=RocketFuel.

This Is Kind Of Problematic

Here at UCI, almost unlike anywhere else I've lived at, the politics of mass media and public opinion seem to be incredibly well demonstrated.

The New University happens to be the campus newspaper. And because of that status, a large proportion of UCI students read the the NewU to get a feel about campus life. Which, you know, is totally legit. The NewU is the campus newspaper, campus life is kind of it's job to report. A lot of people read it. I do too. If you don't, well maybe you should. Apathetic motherfucker. =D

But this also gives the NewU an unprecedented amount of influence on-campus. Because, after all, what they print is what most students on campus assume to be true, or correct, or UCI. So when they write an article such as this (frontpage of NewU 12/3/07):

And attach with it a photo that looks like this (pg 8, NewU, 12/3/07):

Things get kind of problematic. It's not just ironic that the NewU wrote about an action the UC system was taking to recognize the diversity of Asian-Americans (the article talks about how the UC Admissions are going to separate "Other Southeast Asians" into more categories, including Thai, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Fijian, and others), and then attached maybe one of the most stereotypical pictures of an Asian American EVER, it's actually kind of fucked up.

RANT:
No, really, think about this. A lot of us Asian Americans (in the real world, you will notice this to be true) are trying to work against the stereotype in life that we're anti-social, or we're foreign (notice the V signs?), or that we're all Chinese, or that WE'RE NOT ALL RICH ENOUGH TO OWN X-BOXES, YOU RICH MOTHERFUCKER. And you know what? The NewU should know this. Especially when writing an article about AsianAmericans who have had trouble being recognized by society as NOT CHINESE, OR RICH, OR ANTI-SOCIAL, or just incredibly FOREIGN, why the FUCK would they go and post a photo of an Asian American who is holding an X-Box controller (really, think about this. why is he holding an x-box controller? what does an x-box have anything to do with this?? has the UC system suddenly recognized in their admissions program that Thai people play X-Box as well? No? THEN WHY THE FUCK IS HE HOLDING AN X-BOX CONTROLLER?), doing the V sign with this hands (Not that we don't do the V sign, some of us do, that's fine. But not all of us do. And the photo kind of implies that all of us do. Esp. because the article happens to be talking about ALL ASIAN AMERICANS) , and WHY DOES HE KIND OF LOOK LIKE A PANSY?!?

(Ok, I'm going to admit it. I kind of look like this guy. I wish I had an X-Box (I don't), I throw up Peace signs with my hands, and yes, I look like a pansy. But my roommate also happens to be Asian-American, he does not game, he balls up the court, he is viciously against peace signs (he's threatened me about them) and HE IS DEFINITELY SOME KIND OF DIFFERENT KIND OF HARDASS PIECE OF SHIT. But we're both supposed to be represented by this one dude in the photo.)

RANT OVER

I want you to know, I understand. I understand that the photographer, and probably the editor, and probably the writer, who took this probably thinks that this photo is incredibly funny. I understand that at some level, the photo is somewhat relevant to the article. I understand that somewhere, out there, a UCI student is laughing at that photo and comparing it to the rest of the Asian race.

I also understand that looking at the writer/photographer's name, neither of them are probably Asian-American. Which makes them laughing at the photo ESPECIALLY fucked up. And I understand that people who would defend the photo as related to the article, probably actually need to read the article, understand it's significance, and then take their foot out of their mouth. And finally, I understand that the UCI student laughing at this photo and comparing it to the Asian race, really needs to be slapped across the face, and recognize.

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Man, having Rice=Rocket Fuel makes you as sensitive as fuck. But it's also kind of empowering and righteous. But sensitive as fuck.

Fuck Campus Apathy, Read My Damn Blog

Dive, for a second, into the thoughtstream of making a blog:

"UCI kinda is (really is) an apathetic campus-i really want to make this blog popular-i should have a first post that kills-i don't want to be preachy-especially about the whole apathetic campus-what if people are offended?-maybe if i made like a set of rules (facts about rice) that would prevent people from being offended-wow uci is really apathetic-no, can't say that, that's preachy-damn thoughtstreams are cliche as fuck-if i bold somewhat important words, i can make that my trademark and be a popular blog"

Result: a super preachy first blog, a defensive and patronizing and bourgeois-ass "Facts About Rice" constitution, a pretty shit blog (shitblog? shit-blog! swearing sounds so stupid when you write it out).

So, in my attempt for redemption, this is my first true post:

Fuck Campus Apathy, Read My Damn Blog.

Shock Jock? Yeah, definitely. But I mean, it's kind of elegant in a really minimalist way. It's like saying, there's no point in me trying to describe why to read my blog, but this is what i'm trying to solve (campus apathy), and this is what I'm trying to get you to do to solve it (read my damn blog). (Note: This explanation itself is already beginning to be preachy, defensive, and patronizing. Also note: I'm discovering italics!)

Things can only get better from here.

Protest for UCI Workers

AFSCME 3299 needs some rice!

AFSCME is the labor union that represents a large portion of the lower-income workers that are hired by the UC system. They are the cooks, custodians, nurses, medical assistants, and techs of UC Irvine. They are the people who clean up after my college experience. And probably yours too.

They are also the people who are underpaid by 26% by the UC system. They are short-staffed, over-worked, under-appreciated. They are protesting! And they need student support!

Join the UCI workers as they protest for higher wages and better living conditions on this Wednesday of Week 10 (12/5) at the Flagpoles, from 11am-1pm, and again from 3pm-4pm.

Please come and support the workers so that they can continue to work for UCI with decent conditions and decent wages!

...

"AFSCME 3299 needs some rice!"?? I needs some better catchphrases. What do you peoples think about "Rocket Fuel for the Revolution!"???