Stop SOPA and PIPA

Posted on January 18, 2012 by bigWOWO

To learn more, go here. With the SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act) bill, the U.S. Attorney General could target an entire web site and shut it down based on allegations of copyright infringement.  It could take place with our without a trial. This bill has been mostly supported by the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (PIPA targets the domain name service providers.)

Today, Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, and other internet companies have protested. Wikipedia, for example, has blacked out the site (causing some pretty funny conversations between American grade school students who can’t do their schoolwork without Wiki and think that Wikipedia is protesting against the use of soap.).

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Posted in Citizenship | 7 Comments

Aung Sung Suu Kyi Movie with Michelle Yeoh

Posted on January 17, 2012 by bigWOWO

For those of you who like historical movies, or for those of you who are hungry for yet another AF/WM movie, check out The Lady with Michelle Yeoh. I read about it on 8A. Check out the blogger’s thoughts, and also check out the opinion of the commenters.

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Posted in history, media, Politics | Tagged | 45 Comments

American Jobs and India

Posted on January 12, 2012 by bigWOWO

Thanks, Notty, for sending the video above. This makes me mad. Everyone needs to watch it.

I’ve spoken with some people in tech, and at the high end, these H1B visas do benefit the U.S. as American companies can hire people from the India Institute of Technology and get the cream of the crop. We do get some top workers who help with our innovation.

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Posted in Citizenship, Politics | Tagged | 14 Comments

How to Finish Life With No Regrets

Posted on January 11, 2012 by bigWOWO

This article has been on my mind for the past two months: Advice on Life’s Graying Edge on Finishing With No Regrets. And it was only written two days ago! I was thinking about it even before it was written. Basically, it’s an article that talks about the Cornell University Legacy Project, which has interviews with elderly people on their advice for living well. Bookmark this site:

http://legacyproject.human.cornell.edu/

From the NY Times article:

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Posted in Citizenship, Strategy | Tagged | 9 Comments

Go East, Young Man

Posted on January 10, 2012 by bigWOWO

Saw this Op-Ed in the NY Times: Go East, Young Man, in which an American guy in his twenties recommends that people move from the U.S. In Jonathan Levine’s case, he moved to China. I like what he had to say:

China wants you. Job prospects are abundant. The effects of the Great Recession of 2008 may be felt in the United States for years, but they barely scratched China. Demand for native English speakers is white-hot. ChinaJob.com, TheBeijnger.com and Dave’s ESL Cafe are just a few of the places where you can search for work.

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Posted in Strategy | Tagged | 9 Comments

Mitt Romney and the Problem of Wealth

Posted on January 9, 2012 by bigWOWO


Watch Romney Suggests Politics is Best Left to the Wealthy in People & Blogs | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

The Republican primaries are under way, and as is normal with any American election cycle, the craziness has once again begun. The latest craziness surrounds Mitt Romney, the Republican frontrunner. In the video above, Romney says of his father: “He had good advice to me. He said, ‘Mitt, never get involved in politics if you have to win an election to pay a mortgage. If you find yourself in a position when you can serve, why you ought to have a responsibility to do so if you think you can make a difference, you oughta have a responsibility to do so.’” See a ThinkProgress blog post here.

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Posted in Politics | Tagged | 6 Comments

Two podcasts that address racism in the military, and Danny Chen the person

Posted on January 8, 2012 by bigWOWO

1. Check out this old podcast (before I had my awesome mic!) in July of 2009 that I did with my good friend Hoang Nguyen for the Thymos Book Project: http://thymos.org/book-project/ It’s the first interview. (For those waiting for the book project, it’s coming out in the next few months!) Hoang is a former Marine who served in Iraq during the first Bush’s administration, and he talks about racism in the Marines. He talks about one issue he had with a Vietnam vet where he had to leave his platoon for a little while in order to prevent violence.

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Posted in Asian American, Citizenship, racism | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

When Your Fan Base is Full of Crazy People

Posted on January 7, 2012 by bigWOWO

Thanks, American Girl, for sending the video above. It’s a pro-Ron Paul video that attacks Jon Huntsman’s supposed pro-China tendencies, and it takes a swipe at Huntsman in part by taking aim at his adopted Chinese daughter. But it’s not made by Ron Paul. Instead, it’s (probably) made by a Ron Paul supporter. Ron Paul’s campaign says that it is “disgusted” by whoever created the video. I love this quote:

“Whoever did it should take it down immediately,” the campaign’s spokesman Gary Howard says. “Unfortunately, every candidate has supporters who do stupid things.”

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Posted in Asian American, Politics | Tagged | 24 Comments

The Trial of Danny Chen’s Abusers: In the U.S. or Afghanistan? / Killing a Man with his own tongue

Posted on January 5, 2012 by bigWOWO

Su Zhen Chen (right), mother of Pvt. Danny Chen

Thanks, American Girl, for sending this MSNBC article: Slain Chinese-American GI’s family wants soldiers tried in U.S. As you know, we’ve been following this case, in which Chinese American soldier Danny Chen was hazed by his army comrades. He eventually either killed himself or was killed by his colleagues. Eight soldiers have been charged in his death, with the most serious charges being manslaughter and negligent homicide against five of these soldiers. It appears that this is the first time manslaughter and negligent homicide charges have arisen from hazing in the U.S. military.

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Posted in Asian American, Citizenship, racism | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Gordon Hirabayashi, Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 93

Posted on January 4, 2012 by bigWOWO
Gordon Hirabayashi

Gordon Hirayabayashi, one of three resisters to the Japanese American internment, has died at 93. It was announced by Jay Hirabayashi, his son, who also said that his mother Esther, from whom Gordon was divorced, died the same day, about ten hours later. See the NY Times obituary here. Check this out:

When the West Coast curfew was imposed, ordering people of Japanese background to be home by 8 p.m., Mr. Hirabayashi ignored it. When the internment directive was put in place, he refused to register at a processing center and was jailed.

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Posted in Asian American, Citizenship | Tagged , | 1 Comment