Daily Dose: 11/18/08
November 18, 2008
» AsianWeek Market Report
» Korean American Community Foundation New Executive Director
» City Officers Claim Hiring Bias
» Woman Helps Locate Alleged Scammers After Seeing TV Ad
» Ed Jew Pleads Guilty to Perjury
» Stallone, Statham and Li to Team Up for The Expendables
» Can Korea Break Saudi Jinx?
» Chinese Hurdler Liu Xiang Opts For Foot Surgery
» Yang Begins Yahoo Exit
» South Koreans Name New York City and L.A. as Holiday Destinations
» Ma: Direct Taiwan-China Flights Likely in Six Months
Compiled by Andrew Lee
AsianWeek Market Report
| AsianWeek Market Report | ||||
| Asian Stock Indexes | ||||
| NIKKEI 225 | Tokyo | 8,328.41 | -194.17 | -2.28% |
| HANG SENG | Hong Kong | 12,915.89 | -613.64 | -4.54% |
| KRX | Busan | 2,191.82 | -93.20 | -4.08% |
| SSE IX | Shanghai | 6,293.30 | -489.73 | -7.22% |
| BSE | Bombay | 8,937.20 | -358.81 | -3.81% |
| HOSE | Ho Chi Minh | 340.69 | -4.36 | -1.26% |
| SET | Bangkok | 291.93 | -11.82 | -3.89% |
| Asian American Market Report | ||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | 11.55 | 0.92 | (8.65%) |
| Citigroup | C | 8.36 | -0.53 | (-5.96%) |
| Amkor Technology, Inc | AMKR | 2.55 | -0.23 | (-8.27%) |
| Sybase | SY | 25.12 | 0.23 | (0.92%) |
| East West Bank corp,Inc | EWBC | 14.76 | -0.24 | (-1.60%) |
NATION
Korean American Community Foundation New Executive Director
The Board of Directors of the Korean American Community Foundation announced Ms. Kyung B. Yoon as the new executive director today.
Kyung succeeds Ms. Bomsinae Kim, who served as executive director from 2005 to 2008.
Kyung is already a familiar face to many of those involved with KACF over the years.
Six years ago, she was one of a small group of visionary Korean Americans who helped to conceive and launch KACF as the first philanthropic organization of its kind in the United States.
As the key spokesperson for KACF, Kyung brings rare communications skills honed from her professional background in the field of journalism.
Formerly a correspondent for WNYW Fox Channel 5 News, Kyung was the first Korean American broadcast reporter in New York history.
She is a former vice president of the New York chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association and previously served as the executive producer of television at the World Bank.
BAY/CALIFORNIA
City Officers Claim Hiring Bias
The San Francisco Police Department is being sued by its own, with officers saying they were passed up for promotion because they were too old.
The 34 veteran officers, who filed a class-action lawsuit Monday, say their concerns are in line with the recommendations of a police effectiveness review released last month, which called for rebuilding increased specialization and experience to help solve more problems.
The city of San Francisco and police Chief Heather Fong are named in the complaint, which seeks a preliminary injunction barring police brass from continuing to promote less-qualified officers to the inspector level.
Officer Robert Leung, 49, said he and his colleagues filed the class-action lawsuit as a final resort.
“The City is basically reneging on their promise,” he said. “I believe this is standing up for what I believe in.”
— San Francisco Examiner
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Woman Helps Locate Alleged Scammers After Seeing TV Ad
A quick-thinking senior citizen in the Richmond district foiled a trio of scam artists who have been preying on elderly Asian residents, San Francisco police said Monday.
Pliuce said the three suspects — Los Angeles residents Ricky Guy, 37, Frank John, 35, and Michael Ulrich, 35, — are suspected in 15 imposter scams during the last two months, San Francisco police Sgt. Wilfred Williams said.
The men would pose as water-company personnel in order to gain access to residences, primarily targeting Asian seniors; once inside, one man would distract the homeowner, while others rifled through the house for valuables, according to police.
The scam came to a halt Monday, thanks to a woman living on 17th Avenue, Williams said.
The woman had just watched a broadcast on Chinese-language television warning senior citizens about the scam when her doorbell rang.
The three men at her door identified themselves as employees for the water department. The woman shut the door and called police, describing the men and their vehicle. Police located and arrested the trio at Geary Boulevard and 23rd Avenue a short time later.
— San Francisco Examiner
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Ed Jew Pleads Guilty to Perjury
SAN FRANCISCO — District Attorney Kamala D. Harris announced today
that Edmund Jew, age 48, pled guilty to a felony charge of perjury for lying about his address on nomination papers for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
As part of the plea agreement, defendant Jew will serve no less than one year in the county jail, and no more than three years in the state prison. The specific term, within this minimum and maximum, will be determined by the court at sentencing. The defendant is also permanently disqualified from being an elected office holder in the state of California.
“This prosecution is about protecting the integrity of our political process, which is part of the core of our democracy,” said District Attorney Kamala D. Harris.
In pleading guilty on November 18, before Judge Kay Tsenin in Department 22 of San Francisco Superior Court, defendant Jew admitted to lying under oath by falsifying a document regarding his residency in order to obtain a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 4.
Immediately after the FBI executed search warrants on May 18, 2007, District Attorney’s Office Investigators began a probe of potential violations of state law relating to defendant Jew’s claims of residency at 2450 28th Avenue.
During the course of the District Attorney’s investigation, it was discovered that defendant Jew filed the papers necessary to run for Supervisor, stating that he lived at 2450 28th Avenue when in fact he did not reside at that address or any other residence in District 4. The San Francisco City Charter requires that each member of the Board of Supervisors must reside in the District that he or she seeks to represent.
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
Stallone, Statham and Li to Team Up for The Expendables
Sylvester Stallone will direct a new action film titled The Expendables, which he also wrote. The film will star three action stars from three different countries: Stallone, Jason Statham and Jet Li.
This is reminiscent of when Quentin Tarantino was originally planning to fill Inglourious Basterds with a team of American action heroes. The story follows an “expendable” team, hired to do jobs that no one else can or will, who are sent to infiltrate a South American country to overthrow the ruthless dictator and liberate the country.
The film is part of a two-picture deal Stallone has with Nu Image/Millennium Films. Principal photography is set to begin in Costa Rica and Louisiana in February 2009.
— Slashfilm
SPORTS
Can Korea Break Saudi Jinx?
The Korean national soccer team has a jinx to break against Saudi Arabia, and what a time to do so.
The Taegeuk Warriors will face the Saudis in the final qualifying round of the 2010 South Africa World Cup tomorrow.
Korea must win to qualify for its seventh straight World Cup. Since beating the Saudis in a qualifier for the 1990 Italy World Cup, Korea has not beaten the Mideast country in their last six matches, losing three and drawing three.
In the 2000 Asian Cup, Korea, under Huh Jung-moo, lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.
Tomorrow, he will again face Nasser Al Johar, who coached the Saudis in the Asian Cup eight years ago.
Korea will have high-profile veterans for the Saudi game: goalie Lee Woon-jae (Suwon Samsung), defender Lee Young-pyo (Borussia Dortmund) and Park Ji-sung (Manchester United), all three of whom played in the 2000 Asian Cup, will start. Strikers Park Chu-young (AS Monaco) and Lee Keun-ho (Daegu FC), who are both 23, will join the team in Riyadh.
Park Chu-young has been dubbed a “soccer genius,” despite slowing down from his impressive start in 2004, while Lee Keun-ho is a former Most Valuable Player of Korea’s second-tier league.
— Dong-a Ilbo
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Chinese Hurdler Liu Xiang Opts For Foot Surgery
Star Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang has decided it’s time to correct a six-year problem.
Three months after withdrawing from the men’s 110m event at the Summer Olympics — leaving a hometown crowd of 91,000 stunned at Beijing’s National Stadium — he will have foot surgery in the United States.
At the Beijing Games, the coach said Liu had been hampered by a tendon problem for six or seven years. Liu, promoted as the face of the Games leading up to the Olympics, winced as he settled into the starting block at National Stadium, slapping the back of his right heel to dull the pain.
Liu hobbled to the first hurdle as he broke from the block on a false start, ripped off the competitor’s number pinned to his leg and limped out of the stadium.
No runner was disqualified, but Chinese fans stood in disbelief as their hero departed down the tunnel — his medal hopes and those of a nation of 1.3 billion dashed by injury.
Liu’s handlers were worried about him running four races in four days, but he felt obligated to compete, even though he felt a twinge of pain in the warm-up.
Liu won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics in a record time of 12.91 seconds, and later set the world mark of 12.88 in 2006.
— CBC Sports
COMMERCE
Yang Begins Yahoo Exit
Yahoo Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang is stepping down as chief executive, ending a rocky reign marked by his refusal to sell the Internet company to Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion — more than triple Yahoo’s current market value.
The change in command announced Monday won’t be completed until Yahoo finds his replacement. Yang, who started Yahoo with Stanford University classmate David Filo in 1994, will revert to “Chief Yahoo,” a titular role he filled before replacing former movie studio boss Terry Semel as CEO in June 2007.
Yang, 40, had been pursuing a strategy that he thought would prove Yahoo was worth more than Microsoft was willing to pay, but the rapidly deteriorating economy made a comeback seem increasingly unlikely.
As it is, Yahoo’s earnings have been eroding for three years, disillusioning investors amid a management exodus that indicated even Yang’s own troops were losing faith in him.
— AP
GLOBAL
South Koreans Name New York City and L.A. as Holiday Destinations
The Big Apple and the City of Angels were selected as two U.S. cities that will soon benefit from South Korean tourists and the Visa Waiver Program, reported the Korea Times.
In a survey of 1,506 South Koreans conducted by a research institution and a tour company, 44.9 percent of the respondents chose New York City as their destination of choice. Los Angeles was chosen by 27.3 percent as the top pick. Other cities they wish to visit are Las Vegas, Honolulu, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Starting Nov. 17, South Koreans can travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa. Korean news media has reported that about 1 million Koreans visit the United States every year, and this figure will increase two to threefold by the year 2016, resulting in more than $3 billion in annual spending by tourists.
— New America Media
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Ma: Direct Taiwan-China Flights Likely in Six Months
Taiwan will probably start regular direct flights to rival China in about six months, the island’s President Ma Ying-jeou said Tuesday.
Ma’s comments, which came in a speech to a business group in Taipei, echo an agreement reached between the sides during a Taipei visit earlier this month by senior Chinese envoy Chen Yinlin.
With charter flights between Taiwanese and Chinese cities already in operation, the regularly scheduled flights would mark a further improvement in relations between Taipei and Beijing, Ma’s fundamental goal as president.
Predecessor Chen Shui-bian kept China at arm’s length, in line with his pro-independence views. Chen left office in May.
China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing continues to regard the democratic island of 23 million people as part of its territory, to be united by persuasion if possible, by force if necessary.
— AP
Comments
One Response to “Daily Dose: 11/18/08”
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Ed Jew pleads guilty again! I’m both happy and still disgusted. I’m happy he plead, but disgusted because he has NEVER made formal apology for the crimes he recently committed and admitted to.