Category Archives: Observations

When Will They Ban a Book by an APA Writer?

Here’s a list of frequently challenged books in 1990-2000 by authors of color. Names of the writers whose books have been banned in the past decade: Isabel Allende, Rudolfo Anaya, Maya Angelou, Mark Mathabane, Toni Morrison, Walter D. Myers, Luis … Continue reading

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On 8Asians.com, Addressing Accusations, and a Call to Other APA Blogs for a Cyber-Conference

We’ve been called the “model minority blog,” not to be confused with the Forum at ModelMinority.com, a different beast. As a result of our “news reel”-esque format and emphasis on current events and pop culture over critical race theory (though … Continue reading

Posted in Observations | 22 Comments

India exam pressure leads to wave of student suicides

In many nations in the world, it is the dreaded university entrance exam that is the sole determinant of whether or not you get into a university or not – not your high school grades, extracurricular activities or achievement scores … Continue reading

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New Chinese aphrodisiac: real estate

My friend Lisa Chow is a free lance reporter currently based out of Beijing, and just had her first broadcast piece, distributed by American Public Media, “New Chinese aphrodisiac: real estate: “You know what’s going to work with members of … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Observations | 1 Comment

Kristi Yamaguchi wins “Dancing With the Stars”

As I had mentioned before, I don’t really watch “Dancing with the Stars,” but did know the finals were last night. Well, as I had thought from the beginning, Kristi Yamaguchi wins the competition, as reported in The San Jose … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Entertainment, Observations | 10 Comments

2,000 celebrate ‘Little Saigon’ victory

As I noted in March, the San Jose City Council agreed to let a privately funded “Welcome to Little Saigon” to go up, replacing the previously named (and later recalled) “Saigon Business District.” On Sunday, the supporters of “Little Saigon” … Continue reading

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George Takei is getting married!

After the decision by California to allow same-sex marriages last Thursday, hundreds of queer couples are planning to get married, including George Takei and his partner, Brad Altman. In his announcement on his web site, George Takei notes parallels in … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Discrimination, Entertainment, LGBT, Lifestyles, Observations, WTF | 4 Comments

SNL’s Japanese Office: “It’s Funny, Because It’s Racist”

This past Saturday, Steve Carell was the guest host on Saturday Night Live. Ricky Gervais, the star of the original British sitcom presents the “actual” inspiration for The Office in SNL’s “digital short,” which takes place in Japan with some … Continue reading

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Asian-Americans and hepatitis B

Last week, I had read in The San Francisco Chronicle California State Assembly Member Fiona Ma’s article on “Killers Among Us – San Francisco – help us make it hep B free now” and learned quite a bit about the … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Observations | 4 Comments

‘Little San Jose’: Vietnamese take Silicon Valley tech culture to Vietnam

As I have written before about “Little Saigon” in San Jose, in today’s San Jose Mercury News, there is an interesting story on “‘Little San Jose’: Vietnamese take Silicon Valley tech culture to Vietnam” discussing about how many Vietnamese-Americans in … Continue reading

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Racist 1960s Comic?

I came across this 1960s comic, “Tod Holton Super Green Beret” pretty randomly; it’s about a boy during the sixties who uses a magic green beret hat to transform into a super solider with magic powers, that goes around to … Continue reading

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“And each time you buy Superbad from some dude in Chinatown…”

<a href=”http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3522ad043c” mce_href=”http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3522ad043c”>”Piracy PSA” with Christopher Mintz-Plasse</a> on <a href=”http://www.funnyordie.com/” mce_href=”http://www.funnyordie.com/”>FunnyOrDie.com</a> I saw this FunnyorDie.com video posted in my News Feed on Facebook from my friend – it’s a parody Public Service Announcement (PSA) titled, “Piracy PSA” with Christopher Mintz-Plasse. … Continue reading

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