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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