Daily Dose: 10/24/08

NATION

 

NY Asian Crime Gang Busted

 

NEW YORK — A task force of FBI, NYPD and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators arrested eleven members of the Banya Organization, a powerful Asian organized crime gang, overnight on federal racketeering charges, prosecutors said.

 

The 10-count indictment charges 13 members of the gang with extortion, kidnapping, running an illegal gambling business and narcotics distribution, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.

 

The arrests of the leadership and several members of the gang occurred in

Queens nightclubs and a series of car stops, investigators said. One other gang member was arrested in Florida.

 

— WNBC

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For $2 Per Hour Restaurant Deliverymen, a $4.6 Million Judgment

 

A federal judge has awarded $4.6 million in back pay and damages to 36 delivery workers at two Saigon Grill restaurants in Manhattan, finding blatant and systematic violations of minimum-wage and overtime laws.

 

In a decision dated Monday and released on Tuesday, Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger of United States District Court in Manhattan found violations of federal and state wage laws in awarding up to $328,000 to some of the deliverymen. On issue after issue, Judge Dolinger ruled against Saigon Grill and its owners, Simon and Michelle Nget, saying they paid $520 a month to many deliverymen who worked more than 260 hours each month. This meant their pay came to less than $2 an hour, far less than the federal and state minimum wage.

 

— NY Times

 

 

 

BAY/CALIFORNIA

 

Asian Pacific American Legal Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary

 

On October 21, the APALC celebrated its 25th Anniversary with the largest dinner in its history, with an attendance of over 1200 guests at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif.  

 

The dinner honored 50 individuals, corporations, law firms and foundations whose support over the years have made it possible for APALC to serve more than 200,000 individuals, litigate groundbreaking cases, pass important laws and ordinances and train thousands of new leaders. 

 

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Global Health Leaders Convene in SF to Combat Hepatitis B Pandemic

 

More than 350 million people (one in twenty) worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis B, the major cause of liver cancer.  Most of those infected have no access to affordable treatment.  Many live in fear of discrimination because of public misconceptions.  Still others remain unaware they are even infected.  And hundreds of millions of young people may still be vulnerable because they have not been vaccinated.

 

Over three quarters of these cases are concentrated in the Western Pacific and East Asia Regions designated by the World Health Organization (WHO).  On Sunday, November 2, key representatives from these regions will gather in San Francisco to launch the Asia and Pacific Alliance to Eliminate Viral Hepatitis (APAVH), an unprecedented alliance to eradicate hepatitis B.

 

There will be a APAVH Press Conference to be held after the meeting at 1:45pm in Olympic Room, Westin San Francisco on 50 Third St.

 

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Vietnamese Voters Share Special Tie With McCain

 

John McCain’s heroism during the Vietnam War and his efforts in Congress on behalf of Vietnamese refugees are being repaid in a small office wedged between a taekwondo studio and stock trading firm in the back of a strip mall.

 

The modest setting in the heart of the country’s largest Vietnamese immigrant community is ground zero for efforts by Vietnamese Americans to elect the Republican presidential candidate and, at the same time, increase their political influence.

 

It’s reflective of the reverence many in the Vietnamese community feel toward McCain.

 

A telephone survey in August and September showed 51 percent of Vietnamese Americans nationwide planned to vote for McCain and 24 percent for Obama, marking a contrast from other Asian American communities, which all preferred the Democratic candidate. The margin of error for the survey of Vietnamese voters—part of a broader survey conducted by professors at the University of California, University of Southern California and Rutgers University in New Jersey—was 3.7 percentage points.

 

— AP

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Asian American Leaders & Organizations United to Oppose Prop 8


 

Today at press conferences in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Asian American leaders and organizations came together to oppose Proposition 8, a November 4 ballot measure that would eliminate the fundamental right for same-sex couples to marry.

 

The Los Angeles press conference was organized by API Equality-LA and Asian Pacific American Legal Center and took place at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo; actor George Takei from the TV show Heroes hosted the event.

 

The San Francisco press conference was organized by Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and was held at CAA in Chinatown; award-winning scholar and journalist Helen Zia opened it.




Community leaders at the San Francisco and Los Angeles press conferences encouraged attendees to visit the No on Prop 8 website at noonprop8.com to receive further information and updates on the campaign and its work to keep discrimination out of California’s state constitution.

 

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Southeast Asian Youths Host 5th Annual Anti-Violence Regional Summit and Peace March

On October 25 at Loyonya DeJean Middle School in Richmond, Calif., the Southeast Asian Youths and the Filipinos for Affirmative Action will host the 5th Annual Anti-Violence Regional Summit and Peace March.  About 400 young people of all cultures and backgrounds from West Contra Costa County, Alameda County and San Francisco County are expected to attend the “5th Annual Youth Stopping Violence Summit” in Richmond.

 

The Summit will end with peace march from Lovonya DeJean Middle to the new RYSE (Richmond Youth Student Empowerment) Youth Center some four blocks away. The event will close with a memorial to those who have died to street violence.

 

The 1st Southeast Asian Youth Stopping Violence began after the death of Chan Boonkeut, a 15-year-old college-bound Khmu girl who was shot through the door of her house by Southeast Asian gang members looking for her brother. Her death galvanized the community to end the violence.

 

The summit begins at 11 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m.

 

 

 

 

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

 

‘Fil-I-Am’: Filipino Americans in the Hip-Hop Scene & the B-Box Project

 

In light of the recent emergence of Asian Americans in the media industry via popular shows such as MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew and So You Think You can Dance and in honor of Pilipino American History Month, CAPAS will host a panel of Filipino American founders and/or directors to speak about their experiences as leaders in the hip-hop scene.

 

The event will take place on Wednesday, October 29, at 7:30 p.m. at the Brant Clock Tower at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. In addition, there will be a live performance featuring world-renowned dance crews. Audience members will have a chance to meet and greet their favorite dancers.

 

B boxes, short for balikbayan boxes, will be distributed throughout the campus and will be available during the event as collection stations for clothing, toiletries and educational materials to be sent to families in the Philippines for the holidays.

 

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Asian-Owned New York Video Store Ready to Close

 

The owner of the East Village’s famed Kim’s Video store is putting his vast collection up for sale.

 

Facing declining revenues, Yongman Kim is making all his 55,000 films available but has imposed strict conditions.

 

The buyer must purchase the collection in its entirety, house it in 3,000 square feet of space and allow access to those who used to rent films at the store—“charging a minimum membership fee.”

 

The collection is on sale because the Mondo Kim’s complex, which symbolizes everything hip and funky about the Big Apple, has fallen prey to mondo Internet.

 

With revenues plunging, the mainstay at 6 St. Marks Place will close its doors in January, much to the dismay of the actors, directors and film students who love it.

 

Kim received one inquiry from NYU, which was interested in buying sections for its private student library. He declined.

 

Kim began amassing the collection in 1987 in his Avenue A dry-cleaning shop and eventually opened four stores.

 

— New York Post

 

 

SPORTS

 

Golf Star Lee in Trouble After Comment at Airport

 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — U.S. Amateur winner Danny Lee was detained by airport authorities for making an “inappropriate comment” while checking in for an international flight at Auckland.

 

Lee, the No. 1-ranked amateur golfer, could be charged for his actions 10 days ago, New Zealand Golf said Thursday. He was with the New Zealand team that was boarding a flight to Adelaide, Australia, to play in the Eisenhower Trophy world team championship.

 

New Zealand Golf Chief Executive Bill MacGowan confirmed Lee made “an inappropriate comment” to check-in staff. Lee was allowed to board the flight.

 

MacGowan said he did not know what Lee said. Passengers regularly are charged under New Zealand aviation security laws for joking about bombs or firearms.

 

Lee won the U.S. Amateur title at Pinehurst, N.C., in August, beating American Drew Kittleson 5 and 4 in the 36-hole final on the No. 2 course.

 

— AP

 

 

 

 

COMMERCE

 

Women’s Initiative Hosts 4th Snnual Business Conference for Women Entrepreneurs

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Women’s Initiative, a Bay Area non-profit offering training and support to low-income women wanting to start and grow their own businesses, is hosting its fourth annual bilingual English/Spanish business conference for women entrepreneurs on Monday, November 3, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.

 

This year’s conference, titled Live Your Dreams, is expected to attract more than 800 guests for a day of educational seminars, inspirational speakers, networking with peers and business leaders and shopping at the Women’s Initiative Graduate Marketplace.  American Express and Kaiser Permanente are generously sponsoring the conference.

 

A highlight of the day is the Leadership Luncheon during in which Women’s Initiative will honor women-owned businesses who embody the Women’s Initiative philosophy of leadership, entrepreneurship and giving back with the prestigious Pacesetter Award. One business from each of the Bay Area Counties that Women’s Initiative serves will be honored.  In addition, one graduate of the Women’s Initiative program will be presented with the Giving Graduate Award, recognizing her tireless support and volunteer work on behalf of the organization.

 

 

 

GLOBAL

 

Artifacts Discovery Might Lead to Lost Philippine Tribe

 

MANILA, Philippines — When Philippine police confiscated 22 bags of broken pottery from antiquity smugglers near an area where Muslim rebels operated, little did they know that they may have uncovered the remnants of a long-lost tribe.

 

Now, experts at the National Museum in the capital Manila are studying the burial urns from a tribe that lived in the Philippines over 2,000 years ago, in what could be a major archaeological discovery.

 

Dizon said that pictures of people on the shards might mean the tribe that used the vessels had different origins from the known indigenous tribes in the Philippines.

 

“The Manobos, Tirurays and B’laans tribes that have survived over time do not bury their dead in painted anthropomorphic (human form) jars. So, we have no idea what kind of people are behind these unique burial jars,” Dizon said.

 

— Reuters

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Pinoys in UK Demand, Get Apology for ‘Racist’ Comedy Skit

 

LONDON — Simultaneous protests spearheaded by Filipino organizations in London were held on Friday in front of offices of television companies that were behind a segment depicting a Filipina maid on a British comedy show as a sex object.

 

The protests were held outside the offices of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) on White City, home of the BBC Television Center, and Tiger Aspect productions (TAP) on Soho St., London.

 

The show was aired on a BBC channel while Tiger Aspect Productions is behind the TV comedy series.

 

Some 30 to 50 protesters in the separate venues demanded a public apology for depicting a Filipina maid on the Harry and Paul show as a sex object.

 

— ABS-CBN News