Black and Whitewashed Up at the Oscars
March 10, 2010
Seattle - Diversity ruled the the 2010 Academy Awards. It was all about the who would be the first woman director (“I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar”) or the first black director, or whether Mo’nique won a good award for an awful black part. Even Sandra Bullock won one for the Sara Palin Christian crowd, as there were cracks about Nazis surrounded by Jews. I was almost happy to see that the one movie with an Asian American lead was nominated for five categories, including best picture, original screenplay, and sound editing. “Up” the story about an old man and a pesky scout won Pixar’s fifth Oscar for best animated feature film as well as musical score. But I really got my buns steamed when I realized something was terribly wrong. If Asians are finally pulling head of the West in the Olympics, nobody seems to recognize that in show biz, it is the “model minority” that is the most pitifully represented. That might partly be due to a lack of even a minimal amount of “affirmative” casting and consciousness. But it might also be because we’ve spent so much of our cultural capital taking over Harvard, Stanford and the Boston Symphony at the expense of other cultural territory previously exploited by Asian greats such as Nancy Kwan and Yul Brynner (yes, Buryat on his mom’s side),
The first thing everybody says about the Princess and the Frog is that she was Disney’s first African American princess, even if she’s drawn as a frog for most of the movie. Pixar had cast just about every stereotypical ethnic part EXCEPT Asians, and painted a bleak Asian-free future in WALL-E. But when they finally cast an adorable Asian kid in a long tradition of Asian sidekicks, they not only failed to promote the unique diversity milestone, but they deliberately swept it under the rug. Daveonfilm.com noticed that the screener package sent to the judges traded the picture of Russell’s Asian American boy scout in favor of Carl’s wife Elle. As an adult, she didn’t even have a speaking part in the silent tear-jerker backstory. The awards audience saw only the solo picture of Ed Asner’s Carl. If the entire studio team including co-founder Steve Jobs was there, I couldn’t track down any trace of Jordan Nagai in press pictures, videos or stories. While the Asian American Movement ™ continues to crusade for alternative marriage and Affirmative Action Against Chinese, why is it me, the Asian American Glenn Beck-alike that spills his cold noodles when Hollywood diversity doesn’t even throw Asians a fortune cookie? My other Oscar mugging nomination goes to the score of Princess which was full Disney musical just like the Lion King. While disfunctional blacks have no problem attracting awards, when a movie features a rare feast of authentic African American soul, zydeco and blues, it loses to Up, which didn’t have enough catchy songs to even release as a soundtrack album.
Last year, Clint Eastwood’s Grand Torino was spurned by the Oscars despite or perhaps because of an under-appreciated Asian American cast. I would have nominated Star Trek’s John Cho (of Harold and Kumar Prove Asians Can Be Complete Asses Too) for the other Best Asian American Actor. The only Asian American actresses I noticed was Liza Lapria’s geek FBI agent in the disposable Fast in Furious (which at least outsold Hurt Locker by a bazillion dollars) No East or South Asian film made even a nomination for foreign films which were dominated by 3 Latin American films. Avatar featured two Latinas, both of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, Zoe Saldana as Pocahontas (also Star Trek’s young Uhuru) and Michelle Rodriguez as the chopper jockey. The only Asians I saw that night were the dolphin-clubbing Japanese in “The Cove”, who look like the inspiration for the “premeditated” lone-whale Orca jihad attack against its unfortunate trainer at Sea World.
As a Vietnam war buff, Avatar was hardly about “peace and harmony”. It was a high tech update on the old Cowboys and Indians / Viet Cong / Jihadist theme. If you took Star Wars, National Geographic, Miss Saigon, Dances With Wolves, Blackhawk Down and the Matrix and mixed it all together, you’d get Avatar.
America is oddly unfazed that the FBI still stands by their determination that Major Nidal Hassan’s Fort Hood rampage had no terrorist connection AFTER reviewing e-mails with Al Queda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki asking for “spiritual guidance”. What kind of spiritual guidance do you think he got from Imam Awlaki who celebrated Hasan as hero for defending Islam? How innocent can Awlaki (who wasn’t even named as a person of interest) be when his other student arrived in America in exploding underpants the day after America announced he was thought he had been killed in an airstrike?
Which brings me back to director Cameron’s script which boldly spoke of “fighting terrorism with terrorism” and contemplating “martyrdom”. It was the eyes of an enraged Nidal Hassan that I saw in Jake and pilot Trudy Chacon in Navi warpaint as they sent dozens of hapless “sky people” to their deaths in flames as we cheered them on. As much as any audience can feel the same passion in Avatar’s final “struggle for justice”, that’s exactly what drove people like Hasan or even disgruntled contract software engineers to shoot their comrades or fly airplanes big or small into buildings. Asians have been on both sides since the “The Sand Pebbles” showed how the Chinese pushed the Americans back across the sea before the Viet Cong did. I know what side I’m firmly on, but those who count Yassir Arafat, Che, Ho Chih Minh, Mao or Marx among your heroes might check where your true loyalties lie if you ever have to choose between America, Insert-Your-Race-Nationality-Or-Religion, or Mother Earth.
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Hail Queen Yun Na! (Or the Olympic Yellow Peril?)
March 4, 2010
Hail Queen Yun Na
Arthur Hu 3/4/2010 Seattle WA
It was only back in 1992 when America’s Kristi Yamaguchi and Japan’s Midori Ito were the first persons of Asian descent to win Olympic figure skating medals. Japan’s Shizuka got the first gold medal for figure skating for any Asian nation only in the last Turin Olympics. The Wall Street Journal noticed when it proclaims “a South Korean Teenager Leads an Emerging Group of Stars from the East” as Asian women from various nations dominating 3 of the top 4 top-billed women’s figure skating stars of the Winter Olympics. They were “redrawing the map of where skating stars come from “ signaling the “end of Europeans and North Americans own[ing] this sport”, Americans were disappointed that 2010 ended their medals streak. Korea’s Kim Yun-Na won gold, while arch-rival Mao Asada of Japan who had traded top titles with Yun-Na since 2004 got silver. Little-known Japanese America’s Nagasu Mirai at age 16 exceeded expectations by just missing the podium at fourth place, while the Boston Herald noted highly promoted Rachael Flatt ”struggles, finishes seventh” (with fourth place Mirai as a footnote, thanks for noticing) .
But it wasn’t just an Asian victory if we consider that Yun Na spent most of her time training in Canada. Count that with heartbreaker Joannie Rochette’s bronze finish, an equally dominant but different 3 out of 4 had trained in North America , and even Asada had trained with North Americans at some point. Yun-Na’s Canadian coach, Brian Orser had won silver medals as skater in 1984 and 1988, so many saw it as partially his first gold as well. Besides numerous other skaters from China, Japan and Korea, there was Cheltzie Lee of Australia who placed 20th. Her unusual background includes a father who is Chinese from Bangladesh, and her mother is African American from Louisiana in a year that didn’t have any other strong African descent skaters such as Debi Thomas (who is now a surgeon since I ran into her at Stanford Shopping Center).
The Olympics marks Yun-Na’s debut to American audiences, who are still probably more familiar with the name of Tonya Harding (Come to think of it, with a well placed tire wrench, all of the top 3 could have been Asian OWWWWW sorry about that). Sports Illustrated called Kim “queen of her court” and “will be ranked among the greatest Olympic Champions”, while calling Nagasu the “force at future games”.
After the initial fuss over whether Nancy Kerrigan got more endorsements than Yamaguchi , the LA Times in the 90s concluded that Yamaguchi ‘s deals were “as good as gold”. Certainly, Yamaguchi has emerged as the one featured dancing on television and still doing commercials aired during THESE Olympics. But in Korea, Kim Yun-Na is pretty much a publicity goddess. She made about $9 million in 1998 before winning any Olympic medals, compared to the $2 million Michelle Kwan or Tara Lipinski earned annually from endorsements in 2000. Traffic and stock trading in Korea stopped still to watch her skate as if it were the moon landing. She hawks products from Samsung to Hyundai. Her own branded cellphone sold a million copies, which would be gold or platinum if it were an American music single let alone an expensive consumer device in a 2nd tier industrialized consumer market. One clever banner proclaimed I “heart” YN (NY get it?)
Catholics also noticed her making the sign of the cross before her routines, thank goodness those “Freedom From Religion = Protest Mother Theresa” folks didn’t notice. She and her mother were baptized in May 2008. She’s a darling of Korean Americans, though I haven’t yet seen any schoolyard girls brawling over whether Japanese-Am Yamaguchi, Chinese-Am Kwan or Korean Kim are the greatest skaters of all time. Over in Asia , 10,000 indignant Korean hackers shut down Japan’s www.2ch.net over postings slighting their leading lady, evidently the final last straw after enduring the usual right-wing nationalist insults directed against Koreans and China. Canada’s Olympic strong showing clearly makes them stand out as more than just a more culturally refined appendage of America. But if Canada were truly serious, they should offer her dual citizenship, and to conquer America like the Beatles or Celine Dione, she should start by doing McDonalds commercials for the Great White North with her coach.
On the men’s side, Canada’s 19 yr old Patrick Chan of Toronto with parents from Hong Kong was played up as Canada’s Great Yellow Hope for a men’s gold medal. He finished fifth, which is nevertheless quite a strong showing for a first Olympics. With Japan’s Takahashi Daisuke winning bronze, Asians still placed 4 of the top 10 men’s figure skating places. Evan Lysacek, now headed for dancing with the Stars performed neater than Russia’s Yevgeny Plushenko who seemed to be a villain plucked out of a bad Yugi-Oh episode. He gave himself a “platinum” medal on his own website. LBGT bloggers lamented that Johnny Weir who always seemed dressed like a Tim Burton movie protagonist was “robbed”. (Of course there was less comment about the ladies outfits that made you wonder if you’d walked by these outfits at a Victoria Secret display window, or if you really saw what you thought you saw or just some fabric) While Wikipedia still wouldn’t divulge “is he or isn’t he” , the adoring Asian girls who handed him a giant black heart and oversized Hello Kitty seemed to like him just fine.
Ice dancing Asian-Americans Chris and Cathy Reed of New Jersey actually skated on the Japanese team. Their mother is from Japan and the family has dual-citizenship. But if that wasn’t interesting enough, their little sister Allison was skating for Georgia which gave her citizenship just for the games. She met the other fellow at her rink who also needed a partner. Cathy placed 17th, ahead of China’s Huang Xintong and Zheng Xun, while Allison and Otar Japaridize placed 22nd, so Asians have quite a ways to go in this event.
Allison ended up wearing an armband for the unfortunate luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who was flung onto a support pole with a clang. Of course that clip didn’t see seem to hurt as much as the slo-mo shots of women crashing down the hills like a spinning NASCAR with breaking skis, and charts comparing how much damage skier Lindsey Vonn had suffered compared to Evil Knievel. And it was different to see guys from China flying off a ramp like an upside-down helicopter successfully doing what used to be exclusively crazy California white kid stunts, if not yet winning medals.
Apolo Ohno became the most decorated American Olympic athlete with 8 medals (2 gold), though it was somewhat Ameri-centric for the announcers to loudly crow about YET ANOTHER MEDAL when the Koreans were cleaning up on 1st and 2nd place finishes ahead of him when they didn’t crack up. Given his appearances on TV and commercials, it appears that at least happa guys like Ohno and Celski don’t have the “male image” problem that seems to afflict the rest of us Asian guys. Crashes, bumps and barbs traded back and forth between Ohno and the Koreans have elevated Ohno hating beyond Korea’s usual Japan hating, as death threats in 2003 caused the American short track team to skip Korea, and he needed police guard to visit the country in 2005. On the women’s side, NBC headlined that Germany’s Jenny Wolf lead a “pack of Asians” (Could you write “pack of Caucasians???”) including Korea’s Lee Sang-Hwa and China’s Wang Beixing. Nevertheless, Korea may be getting over their inferiority complex knowing that they nearly matched Russia and beat China with 14 medals, 6 gold compared to Japan’s 5 medals, zero for gold, on top of Toyota’s killer floor mat problems.
If Asians were conspicuous by their absence in the opening ceremony, the bunch of young snowboarders that stormed out seemed to be dominated by Asians (both the east and the south Asian Indian kind) that you’d see around Richmond. Likewise, the orchestra which seemed to be dominated by young people had plenty of Asian faces. It’s too bad NBC didn’t spend more time highlighting the sights of Vancouver and Victoria, but it was pretty good exposure. Oh yeah, don’t forget that here in Washingon State we’ve got pretty much the same scenery and Native American culture without having to cross the border, and it’s just a 2 hour drive from here to get to Canada.
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Asian Slant on the Vancouver Olympics
February 16, 2010
Well here I am just a 2 hour drive from the Vancouver 2010 winter olympics with no plans and not heard of anybody who’s going up there to see it, but it comes in fine on NBC HD on my cable, even if they’re not carrying the Canadian channel we had in 2008. There were no news reports of people wandering the streets of the OTHER Vancouver Washington at the other side of Washington state. The Beijing 2008 opening was hard to top, but I was pretty impressed with the use of cameras to transform the entire floor, and fabric going to the ceiling into a display canvas, even creating the illusion of orcas swimming across the floor. While they didn’t have the entire People’s Liberation Army as performers, they also made pretty good use of performers hanging from wires without any practice accidents. For Canada’s relatively small population, China doesn’t have even one perfomer on the level of any of the Canadians who performed, even without Celine Dion. Who is the Chinese KD Lang anyways?
Canada obviously tried to show politically correct diversity (for a nation even more PC than the Americans) with correct “first nation” peoples (contrasted to the “fake” minorities of Beijing), prairies, skiiers, celitc dancing and fiddlers. But the one group that nearly owns Vancouver was conspicuously absent, the Chinese, not to mention the other odd groups such as Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus so much more prevalent in Canada than in the states.
Seattle local hero Apolo Ohno (whose Japanese-born father is named Yuki) became USA’s most decorated male Winter Olympian with six career medals. South Korea, led by Lee Jung-Su was about to snag all 3 medals when two of them crashed, leaving Ohno and teammate J.R. Celski to get the silver and bronze medals. Celski had recovered from slashing his leg with a skating blade. His mother Sue is of Filipino descent, and he grew up with Ohno in Federal Way (which boasts a strong Korean and Asian community), between Tacoma and Seattle.
There was also a fairy tale ending for the Chinese husband and wife team of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, who had been skating if I remember since something like the ages of 13 and 18, finally marrying only a few years ago. Considered by many to be the best skating couple in the world, they were the oldest competitors but came back to get the gold medal that had eluded them in three previous Olympics. The finally got their gold, becoming the first figure skaters from China to win gold, with teammates Pang Qing and Tong Jian taking silver. They broke a winning streak of Russians or Soviets since 1964, and have added to the increased visibility of Asians and Asian Americans in the sport of skating since the 1980s, and China emerging more fully as a world class power in more ways than just military and manufacturing muscle.
The Fort Hood Shootings Have Al Qeda Written All Over It
November 20, 2009
When the first reports came out of a terrible shooting at Fort Hood, there was no hints of who might have committed such an act. Then a television station reported that a woman called her parents saying “we’ve been attacked by terrorists” and she heard the shooter cry “Allah Akbar”, which has become known in America as the signature war cry of the 9/11 hijackers. When they finally announced the name of Nidal Malik Hasan, a lot of people instantly knew that it could explain a lot of things. If you’d believe his family who lives “near Jersalem,” he’s a nice all-American boy who wouldn’t harm anybody and never said anything radical or bad about America that was picked on for being a Muslim who was a psychiatrist deeply affected by horror stories of returning veterans.
Clearly the government was concerned about Muslim connections when Obama to asked America not to ”jump to conclusions.” Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano vowed to stamp out the imminent threat of Islamaphobia, while General George Casey bravely stated “as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” It’s bad enough FBI officials still state the “motivation has not been determined” but the booby prize has to go to Max Fisher who wrote on the Atlantic “Why Home-Grown Islamic Terrorism Isn’t A Threat.”
There’s no need to immediately expel or investigate all Muslims in the military, but what’s with all the op ed pieces that point the blame on Post Traumatic Stress disorder while either leaving out or condemning any mention of Islamic terrorism? We don’t need to get rid of all Muslims, just the ones that think they are on a mission to kill people. The whole problem with the Japanese internment of WWII is that it didn’t stop any real bad guys like the embassy officer who flew around Pearl Harbor taking pictures. Surely Virginia Tech’s Seung-Hui Cho, Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder acted didn’t need a Quran, but that hardly proves this wasn’t terrorism, or wasn’t motivated by radical religiouis beliefs.
If we had proof or reasonable evidence that Hasan was directed or influenced by an affiliate of Al-Qeda to kill soldiers justified by radical Islamic beliefs, then we call it an act of Islamic Terrorism. We don’t need a smoking gun CC of the actual order when “Blind” Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman issued a fatwah, but it was his followers who first bombed the World Trade Towers based on his Rahman’s instructions and religious justifications. The fact that he had advocated an act which had influenced his followers was good enough to justify a life term and making him the one responsible for the attacks. Now if we know that Hasan had been convinced by his spiritual leader to put god first, and that god wanted all good Muslims to kill soldiers, how is that any different?
Though Hasan is a native born American, both of Hasan’s parents are from the same Palestine (as in PLO which revolutionized modern terrorism) which has served as poster child to those with grievances against Israel. His mother was traumatized by her experience in the 1967 Six-Day war as Israel captured the “occupied territories” when she was 15. Hasan’s family still owns land “near Jerusalem” in Ramallah, which is in the occupied West Bank, and the capital of the Palestinian National Authority. While his family states that his parents opposed Hasan’s joining the Army, one wonders if Mom and Dad might have set up little Nidal as a Manchurian Candidate planted in the Army.
Hasan wasn’t just any muslim, he was considered a devout radical even by friends in his own mosque and fellow muslim soldiers. His favorite flavor of Islam was that of his personal spirtual mentor Anwar al-Awlaki, who is widely considered to be the leading English language clearance house for iihadist publications from al Queda, and author/translator of the virtual “lone wolf jihadist bible.” Unlike most of Awlaki’s internet fans, Hasan was an in-person follower at one of Awlawki’s mosques, where the FBI also notes that 3 of the 9/11 hijackers had “developed close relations” and may have had “closed door meetings” with the imam. By continuing to seek out Awlawki in Yemen, Hasan stumbled over a national security trip wire because Awlakwki was on FBI terrorism radar even before 9/11, and he was still deemed worth gathering signals on by US intelligence agencies. The FBI first conducted a counterterrorism inquiry after he was visited by Ziyad Khaleel who helped buy bin Laden’s satellite phone. The FBI also belives Awlawki has contacts with the Holy Land Foundation and others raising money for Hamas, but there was not enough evidence for criminal charges.
Hasan’s 10-20 e-mails worth of “spiritual guidance” starting in December 2008 were handed over to a joint FBI / Defence Department terrorism task force. But investigators promptly hit the snooze button when they didn’t see anything that wouldn’t be at home in a research paper about “Islamic Jihad in the US Army”. [”Imam From Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda” By Susan Schmidt Washington Post February 27, 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022603267_pf.html ] One source told the London Telegraph that they decided to keep in in place and monitor him. It was hoped that his contact with Awlawki would lead them to a “big fish”, though they could have known Awlawki was already a pretty big fish. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6532904/Fort-Hood-massacre-Gunman-linked-to-al-Qaeda-as-he-awakes-from-coma.html
London Telegraph Fort Hood massacre: Gunman linked to al-Qaeda as he awakes from coma Nick Allen Nov 9, 2009]
The National Security Agency couldn’t find anything over Bin Laden’s satellite phone either until they figured out the code phrases for terrorist acts.[PBS: Nova The Spy Factory] But there are no hidden messages when Awlawki has called for the faithful in clear text to serve Allah by killing US soldiers. In case there can be any question if he was just kidding, Awlawki’s website announced that Hasan was “a hero” and declared “The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason”. It isn’t hard to guess what kind of spiritual guidance went into the powerpoint slide that warned of “adverse events” if Muslim soldiers were called upon to fight in Afghanistan. Duane Reasoner who had accepted Hasan as his spiritual mentor eerily echoes Awlawki’s statements. Whether it was from Hasan or reading, the notion “They were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims” could only have come directly from the radical Imam.
And where is Awlawki now? His website has gone dark, and authorities have been searching for Awlawki who has disappeared for eight months after having been released from prison. The government’s counterterrorism sweeps have killed many al Qaeda fugitives, and detained hundreds of suspects, possibly provoking the Yemen US Embassy bombing in 2008. Awlawki only popped up in Shabwa province which is part of the ”triangle of evil” so named because it has become a known refuge for extremists, and recruiting al Queda members fleeing other nations. The Washington post learned that Awlawki confirmed that he blessed the killing of soldiers who were about to be shipped off to combat anyways. But since he “neither ordered nor pressured Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to harm Americans”, and insists that it was actually Hasan’s idea that Islam demanded shooting soldiers, we still can’t tie anything to al Queda.
The FBI probably didn’t notice that Hasan’s favorite imam was also a visiting professor at Yemen’s Iman University. Sure, they’ve claimed to have cured 20 cases of AIDS completely, this Institute of Terrorist Technology is runs the ROTC version of the training camps that were shut down in Afgahnistan. Among its notable alumni are people thought to be responsible for killing three American missionaries, the second in charge of the Yemeni Socialist Party, and John “Jihad” Walker Lindh who is prison for being picked up as part of the Taliban army.
The man who founded and leads this fine institution of higher armed resistance in 1995 is none other than Awlawki’s former boss, the red-bearded Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. This fellow has managed to get himself on the al Queda / terrorist / banned lists of no less than the US Treasury Department, United Nations and the United Kindom. Zindani is still wanted for questioning by the FBI over the attack on USS Cole in Yemen which killed 17 and injured 39. In the good old days when the United States backed the Mujahdeen against the Soviets, Zindani was a recruiter for fighters who was reputed to have fought alongside and was one of Bin Laden’s most trusted “spiritual advisors”. He later helped raise funds and recruit volunteers for the Bin Laden organization.
While Kevin Bacon might be only six degrees away from everybody, Hasan was only two connections away from Bin Laden through Awlawki and Zindani. Zindani is now a prominent businessman and leader of the most radical wing of the Islamic reform party. Back in the early 2000s Zindani ran a Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW) which the FBI called “front organization to funnel money to terrorists” where Awlawki served under him as Vice President. That outfit also had ties to the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, Italy which is a center for al-Qaeda in Europe.[ [Burr and Collins, 2006, pp. 243; Washington Post, 2/27/2008] Zindani’s office is now the contact for the Ansar al-Sunna group that took credit for the explosion at an American base in Mosul, Iraq that killed 22. Military commander Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar is Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s half-brother who recruited mujaheddin fighters for Bin Laden who established establish training camps in Yemen. The US Justice Department believes Zindani suggested using charities in Pakistan to bin Laden as a front for terrorists.
In the Yemen Post, Zindani largely denies all of the accusations made against him, adding “America has proved to the world that it is the most oppressive nation in history. It is the country which killed two million and displaced five million in Iraq by a lie it spread to the world. In all its accusations to its enemies it fabricates lies and depends on its arrogance of power”.
Given Zindani’s position as the leading radical Islamist in Yemen and his recent ties to Alwaki, it can only be assumed that any investigation of Awlawki must also look into Zindani whether or not they lead to Bin Laden himself.
Only a terminal case of Political Correctness can explain why nobody (that can’t immediately be dismissed as a right wing kook) from President Obama down can utter the obvious. Fox news contributor Walid Phares was quick to call it a “terrorist act”, and possibly the “largest terror attack on America since 9/11. Phares believes that the Obama admininstration can’t use the t-word because of its rebranding of the “global war on terror” to the “Overseas Contingency Operation”.
Once I heard the name of the Virginia Tech shooter, I instantly knew he was a Korean whose parents worked too many hours in a dry cleaning store who were dissapointed he didn’t get into Princeton. NASA could have recognized and announced in a minute that the “foam strike” people were right about the Space Shuttle. Nobody wants to even speculate about who might have sexually assaulted and stabbed Robert Eric Wone in DC in a house full of the people and devices that could have done the job. Yes, our initial hunches can be wrong, but it doesn’t mean they are wrong, and we can’t get to the truth spending all our resources on everything but the obvious. We have a complete picture linking Hasan to known al Qeda terrorists who all show us their party membership cards and send telegraph a declaration of war to Obama. Few have seen the cartoon “Invader Zim” where a thinly disguised alien invader is liked by everybody except when he continually rants about wanting to destroy the planet. But he is cruelly harassed by a troublesome boy who is the only person crazy enough to realize Zim’s true identity. That explains everything about how the US authorities dropped the ball with the Fort Hood shootings. If McCain or GW Bush were in charge, the US would have sought and charged Awlaki and Zindani within hours. But at this rate our Commander in Chief is clearly in charge of an outfit determined NOT to connect any dots.
The Fort Hood Shootings Have Al Qeda Written All Over It
November 16, 2009
When the first reports came out of a terrible shooting at Fort Hood, there was no hints of who might have committed such an act. Then a television station reported that a woman called her parents saying “we’ve been attacked by terrorists” and she heard the shooter cry “Allah Akbar”, which has become known in America as the signature war cry of the 9/11 hijackers. When they finally announced the name of Nidal Malik Hasan, a lot of people instantly knew that it could explain a lot of things. If you’d believe his family who lives “near Jersalem,” he’s a nice all-American boy who wouldn’t harm anybody and never said anything radical or bad about America that was picked on for being a Muslim who was a psychiatrist deeply affected by horror stories of returning veterans. Clearly the government was concerned about Muslim connections when Obama to asked America not to ”jump to conclusions.” Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano vowed to stamp out the imminent threat of Islamaphobia, while General George Casey bravely stated “as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” It’s bad enough FBI officials still state the “motivation has not been determined” but the booby prize has to go to Max Fisher who wrote on the Atlantic “Why Home-Grown Islamic Terrorism Isn’t A Threat.” There’s no need to immediately expel or investigate all Muslims in the military, but what’s with all the op ed pieces that point the blame on Post Traumatic Stress disorder while either leaving out or condemning any mention of Islamic terrorism? We don’t need to get rid of all Muslims, just the ones that think they are on a mission to kill people. The whole problem with the Japanese internment of WWII is that it didn’t stop any real bad guys like the embassy officer who flew around Pearl Harbor taking pictures. Surely Virginia Tech’s Seung-Hui Cho, Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder acted didn’t need a Quran, but that hardly proves this wasn’t terrorism, or wasn’t motivated by radical religiouis beliefs. If we had proof or reasonable evidence that Hasan was directed or influenced by an affiliate of Al-Qeda to kill soldiers justified by radical Islamic beliefs, then we call it an act of Islamic Terrorism. We don’t need a smoking gun CC of the actual order when “Blind” Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman issued a fatwah, but it was his followers who first bombed the World Trade Towers based on his Rahman’s instructions and religious justifications. The fact that he had advocated an act which had influenced his followers was good enough to justify a life term and making him the one responsible for the attacks. Now if we know that Hasan had been convinced by his spiritual leader to put god first, and that god wanted all good Muslims to kill soldiers, how is that any different? Though Hasan is a native born American, both of Hasan’s parents are from the same Palestine (as in PLO which revolutionized modern terrorism) which has served as poster child to those with grievances against Israel. His mother was traumatized by her experience in the 1967 Six-Day war as Israel captured the “occupied territories” when she was 15. Hasan’s family still owns land “near Jerusalem” in Ramallah, which is in the occupied West Bank, and the capital of the Palestinian National Authority. While his family states that his parents opposed Hasan’s joining the Army, one wonders if Mom and Dad might have set up little Nidal as a Manchurian Candidate planted in the Army. Hasan wasn’t just any muslim, he was considered a devout radical even by friends in his own mosque and fellow muslim soldiers. His favorite flavor of Islam was that of his personal spirtual mentor Anwar al-Awlaki, who is widely considered to be the leading English language clearance house for iihadist publications from al Queda, and author/translator of the virtual “lone wolf jihadist bible.” Unlike most of Awlaki’s internet fans, Hasan was an in-person follower at one of Awlawki’s mosques, where the FBI also notes that 3 of the 9/11 hijackers had “developed close relations” and may have had “closed door meetings” with the imam. By continuing to seek out Awlawki in Yemen, Hasan stumbled over a national security trip wire because Awlakwki was on FBI terrorism radar even before 9/11, and he was still deemed worth gathering signals on by US intelligence agencies. The FBI first conducted a counterterrorism inquiry after he was visited by Ziyad Khaleel who helped buy bin Laden’s satellite phone. The FBI also belives Awlawki has contacts with the Holy Land Foundation and others raising money for Hamas, but there was not enough evidence for criminal charges. Hasan’s 10-20 e-mails worth of “spiritual guidance” starting in December 2008 were handed over to a joint FBI / Defence Department terrorism task force. But investigators promptly hit the snooze button when they didn’t see anything that wouldn’t be at home in a research paper about “Islamic Jihad in the US Army”. [”Imam From Va. Mosque Now Thought to Have Aided Al-Qaeda” By Susan Schmidt Washington Post February 27, 2008 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022603267_pf.html ] One source told the London Telegraph that they decided to keep in in place and monitor him. It was hoped that his contact with Awlawki would lead them to a “big fish”, though they could have known Awlawki was already a pretty big fish. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6532904/Fort-Hood-massacre-Gunman-linked-to-al-Qaeda-as-he-awakes-from-coma.html London Telegraph Fort Hood massacre: Gunman linked to al-Qaeda as he awakes from coma Nick Allen Nov 9, 2009] The National Security Agency couldn’t find anything over Bin Laden’s satellite phone either until they figured out the code phrases for terrorist acts.[PBS: Nova The Spy Factory] But there are no hidden messages when Awlawki has called for the faithful in clear text to serve Allah by killing US soldiers. In case there can be any question if he was just kidding, Awlawki’s website announced that Hasan was “a hero” and declared “The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason”. It isn’t hard to guess what kind of spiritual guidance went into the powerpoint slide that warned of “adverse events” if Muslim soldiers were called upon to fight in Afghanistan. Duane Reasoner who had accepted Hasan as his spiritual mentor eerily echoes Awlawki’s statements. Whether it was from Hasan or reading, the notion “They were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims” could only have come directly from the radical Imam. And where is Awlawki now? His website has gone dark, and authorities have been searching for Awlawki who has disappeared for eight months after having been released from prison. The government’s counterterrorism sweeps have killed many al Qaeda fugitives, and detained hundreds of suspects, possibly provoking the Yemen US Embassy bombing in 2008. Awlawki only popped up in Shabwa province which is part of the ”triangle of evil” so named because it has become a known refuge for extremists, and recruiting al Queda members fleeing other nations. The Washington post learned that Awlawki confirmed that he blessed the killing of soldiers who were about to be shipped off to combat anyways. But since he “neither ordered nor pressured Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to harm Americans”, and insists that it was actually Hasan’s idea that Islam demanded shooting soldiers, we still can’t tie anything to al Queda. The FBI probably didn’t notice that Hasan’s favorite imam was also a visiting professor at Yemen’s Iman University. Sure, they’ve claimed to have cured 20 cases of AIDS completely, this Institute of Terrorist Technology is runs the ROTC version of the training camps that were shut down in Afgahnistan. Among its notable alumni are people thought to be responsible for killing three American missionaries, the second in charge of the Yemeni Socialist Party, and John “Jihad” Walker Lindh who is prison for being picked up as part of the Taliban army. The man who founded and leads this fine institution of higher armed resistance in 1995 is none other than Awlawki’s former boss, the red-bearded Sheikh Abdul Majeed al-Zindani. This fellow has managed to get himself on the al Queda / terrorist / banned lists of no less than the US Treasury Department, United Nations and the United Kindom. Zindani is still wanted for questioning by the FBI over the attack on USS Cole in Yemen which killed 17 and injured 39. In the good old days when the United States backed the Mujahdeen against the Soviets, Zindani was a recruiter for fighters who was reputed to have fought alongside and was one of Bin Laden’s most trusted “spiritual advisors”. He later helped raise funds and recruit volunteers for the Bin Laden organization. While Kevin Bacon might be only six degrees away from everybody, Hasan was only two connections away from Bin Laden through Awlawki and Zindani. Zindani is now a prominent businessman and leader of the most radical wing of the Islamic reform party. Back in the early 2000s Zindani ran a Charitable Society for Social Welfare (CSSW) which the FBI called “front organization to funnel money to terrorists” where Awlawki served under him as Vice President. That outfit also had ties to the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, Italy which is a center for al-Qaeda in Europe.[ [Burr and Collins, 2006, pp. 243; Washington Post, 2/27/2008] Zindani’s office is now the contact for the Ansar al-Sunna group that took credit for the explosion at an American base in Mosul, Iraq that killed 22. Military commander Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar is Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s half-brother who recruited mujaheddin fighters for Bin Laden who established establish training camps in Yemen. The US Justice Department believes Zindani suggested using charities in Pakistan to bin Laden as a front for terrorists. In the Yemen Post, Zindani largely denies all of the accusations made against him, adding “America has proved to the world that it is the most oppressive nation in history. It is the country which killed two million and displaced five million in Iraq by a lie it spread to the world. In all its accusations to its enemies it fabricates lies and depends on its arrogance of power”. Given Zindani’s position as the leading radical Islamist in Yemen and his recent ties to Alwaki, it can only be assumed that any investigation of Awlawki must also look into Zindani whether or not they lead to Bin Laden himself. Only a terminal case of Political Correctness can explain why nobody (that can’t immediately be dismissed as a right wing kook) from President Obama down can utter the obvious. Fox news contributor Walid Phares was quick to call it a “terrorist act”, and possibly the “largest terror attack on America since 9/11. Phares believes that the Obama admininstration can’t use the t-word because of its rebranding of the “global war on terror” to the “Overseas Contingency Operation”. Once I heard the name of the Virginia Tech shooter, I instantly knew he was a Korean whose parents worked too many hours in a dry cleaning store who were dissapointed he didn’t get into Princeton. NASA could have recognized and announced in a minute that the “foam strike” people were right about the Space Shuttle. Nobody wants to even speculate about who might have sexually assaulted and stabbed Robert Eric Wone in DC in a house full of the people and devices that could have done the job. Yes, our initial hunches can be wrong, but it doesn’t mean they are wrong, and we can’t get to the truth spending all our resources on everything but the obvious. We have a complete picture linking Hasan to known al Qeda terrorists who all show us their party membership cards and send telegraph a declaration of war to Obama. Few have seen the cartoon “Invader Zim” where a thinly disguised alien invader is liked by everybody except when he continually rants about wanting to destroy the planet. But he is cruelly harassed by a troublesome boy who is the only person crazy enough to realize Zim’s true identity. That explains everything about how the US authorities dropped the ball with the Fort Hood shootings. If McCain or GW Bush were in charge, the US would have sought and charged Awlaki and Zindani within hours. But at this rate our Commander in Chief is clearly in charge of an outfit determined NOT to connect any dots.
Bakka Balloon Mom Mayumi Heene
October 28, 2009
By Arthur Hu
The latest infamous Asian American on the news isn’t a disgrunted geek shooter or Yale murder victim, but the Japanese American mom of “balloon boy,” Mayumi Heene.
During WWII, the government kept it a secret that the Japanese Navy was sending balloons over our forests, but this particular balloon was no secret - everybody has heard about it and most have even seen it. After the rescue drama subsided, the press began to wonder if Mayumi Heene was a co-star in crime or a battered victim, but considering her story to the sherriff, she might be both. Hillary put up with Bill Clinton to stay in the limelight, so Richard Heene might have been her less-than-shining knight.
I first heard the story on Dori Monson’s radio show in Seattle, and then saw the balloon land on internet video. Her looks, name and accent were all Japanese. That makes her boys Falcon, Bradford and Ryo, Asian, or at least “Hapa” American, and her husband an Asian-in-law.
We soon learned that the Heene’s were the same eccentric “we are children of aliens” family led by a manic DIY mad-scientist dad on the television show “Wife Swap.” Standing in front of what looks like a UFO balloon version 1.0., hubby Richard called the guest wife a “man’s nightmare,” and added that he was glad “my wife was born in Japan.” A boy from the guest family was equally impressed by how Mayumi “yelled a lot” and showed “strong emotions” in taking charge of her alternate household.
Mayumi’s name was Iizuka when she first met Richard at a Hollywood acting school. He evidently impressed her enough as a wacky gaijin to have her hand in marriage in 1997 in Las Vegas (perhaps she wanted to get away from her strong, overbearing father). The couple is not exactly what you’d expect a real life goof-off Homer and straight-woman Marge Simpson to look like. With a hard-charging American, slightly nutty professor-like dad, 3 young boys and a wife from Asia who stays in background, they don’t resemble any family that I personally know of.
Barbara Slusser of Fort Collins got close to the family while working with the dad on TV projects, but pulled out over concerns with his temper. She upset many who felt her subsequent comments promoted stereotypes, when she told the press that Mayumi’s Japanese heritage has kept her in a “subservient” relationship with her husband and her boys.
“She’s a highly intelligent woman, a lovely soul,” Slusser said, “[but] whatever he says goes. She’s basically his slave.” She said Mayumi is a rock for her husband, and should be put up for sainthood for putting up with him, but then added Mayumi would even “wear orange and go to jail with him.”
Disgrasian.com’s Diana Nguyen and Jen Wang noted that the report seemed to paint Mayumi as “essentially a sad, suffering-in-silence subservient — a word used three times to describe her — Asian woman cliche.” Despite this, both commentators did notice that the pair had separate his-and-her lawyers. That’s not something you’d expect from a wife loyal enough to go down with the ship and her captain.
Now there’s a big difference between “subservient” and “submission.” Explained in my Asian values (arthurhu.com/index/values.htm) paper, the Japanese word “Amae” encapsulates heirarchy and dependence. While the old are above the young, and husband over the wife, everybody submits to somebody else, not just the wives. If Slusser claimed the mother submitted to the kids, then that’s a far cry from the “Asian mother loses it when sees B+” stereotype. One Japanese woman commented that Mayumi wasn’t being stereotypical, but “Bakka,” or crazy, and from what I’ve seen of video clips, she doesn’t seem to be an average Japanese any more than Richard is a typical American. Why someone would stick with a guy like Richard might lie in “Gaman,” or inner strength, and “Sho ga nai“, which means “It Can’t Be Helped.” When you’re in a pickle, you make it work instead of quitting or being defeated.
Now the local sheriff, James Alderden, is telling us that family is in a good ‘ol American “heap of trouble.” One Colorodan reader commented that he was “embarrassed to call him our elected sheriff,” and called him a “media hog” who had “taxpayer employed family members.” Alderden doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you’d want to have mess with your family if he didn’t think your balloon hoax was funny. Things could get ugly as the Heene’s could be looking at felonies that could bring a dozen years in prison, a half million in fines, and a bill for the rescue that won’t be erased by bankruptcy.
Not all pranks are treated the same way, it seems.
In 2008, America’s televisions were taken over by another hoax committed by Rozita Swinton, who alleged abuse by polygamists at the Texas YFZ ranch. Authorities used her call as a flimsy search warrant to dig up whatever they could to justify putting every child into foster care on the basis of what a few men might have done.
But ranch residents were telling the truth when they warned that Swinton’s claims was a hoax, as many others quickly suspected. If any prankster deserves prison time, Swinton does for blowing over $14 million dollars and for interrupting and ruining the lives of hundreds of women and children who were unjustly interned for weeks.
Even Texas Rangers were breaking down into tears when they had to pry away kids from their mothers. Swinton’s hoax was uncovered, but it looks like the authorities are protecting instead of prosecuting her. She still has yet to be charged for the Texas calls, and has yet to stand trial for the calls she’s been charged with in Colorado.
On the other hand, it’s the Heene’s who have had their house raided at 1 a.m. by the cops and Child Protective Services. Photos, cameras, tapes, computers and computer files were all removed, but without the tank and SWAT team.
America, we have to able to tell the bad guys from the really bad guys.
The Heene’s are a family living on the edge — having lived in an office space, renting homes and driving with a broken hatch window. They love their boys, and didn’t mean to hurt anybody. Many Americans can only dream of capturing the imagination and attention of America if only for a few hours. As much as some might despise the misguided patriarch of the family, their misdeeds certainly don’t rise to the level of having the book thrown at them or to delivering the boys into the clutches of the foster care system.
In this day of zero tolerance, America has shown how the real bad guys come out when they get legal excuses to demonstrate just how much they dislike certain people. Judging by comments left on the richardheeneofficial youtube channel, there’s a mob out there just waiting to mete out justice, and I can’t imagine how having a wife from Japan is going to help their case.
Here are just a few of the said comments posted on Heene’s youtube channel:
* “Hey f-g-t, Your wife is a mail order piece of˛ˇ cr*p..”
* “When your *ss gets sent to jail …Have fun being r*ped.”
* “an egotistical, wife beating. brainwashing, waste of air, low life scum!
* “I hope u go to jail for ur crimes or at least die from those lovely tornatos”
* “you are the reason the rest of the world hates our country”
* “F-ing… D-bag….”.
* “Take his kids away from him.. many living safe families would would to have those children”..
* “I hope someone kills you and your slap head wife”.
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This family is in some deep tofu folks. Look in your history books of the American West to see how easily people felt perfectly justified in discriminating against the Chinese, Mormons and Native Americans.
As far as I’m concerned, these folks did commit a hoax, but let’s not confuse justice with what a lot of people would like to do to them. The Heene’s don’t have a mean bone anywhere in their bodies, and they’re pretty much at the mercy of public opinion now. After they’ve paid a fair price for their mischief, they need help to get back on track to the American dream. While Asian parents are tough on discipline, it’s to teach a lesson, not to ground people for life.
They’re probably strangers to the Asian Asian community (TM), but look at how African American communities are willing stick up for their people, no matter what they’ve been accused of, until proven guilty. God help the next family who gets their photos and computers taken away because they made the government look foolish. MIT students break rules to pull famous “hacks” all the time.
If it were up to me, I’d give back their stuff, sentence them to a month in jail and a month of community service. I would then harness their obvious energy for the public good by handing them over the Great American Celebrity Machine. The dad would make a great host of a backyard inventor show, and Mayumi could appear on Oprah with her story. Whatever wealth they get should be plowed into scholarships for other kids of crackpot parents, not the helicopter gas bill. If nobody has yet stuck up for these adventurous folks, it’s time for the Asian community to take a stand, starting with this Asian American dad.
Asians in Movie ‘Up’ and Others
May 28, 2009
Pixar is Moving Up
I love Pixar, but they must have finally noticed my annual complaints in all its diversity, they have never before cast any Asian characters. In Cars, they cast Cheech, but passed over hippie Tommy Chong. Ratatouille’s Collette looked Asian, but wasn’t cast that way. While a couple of mainstream papers such as USA Today noticed, you’d think Pixar was trying to keep it a secret when most review didn’t notice that Wilderness Explorer Russell who keeps the grumpy old man company in his flying house is as Asian American kid. Though his accent is American, he’s got those almond eyes and straight black hair. Jordan Nagai is a Japanese American, which would make him a sansei plus a couple of generations. Hollywood has given us cute Asian child sidekicks before. Future Hawaii first lady Vicky Tiu was teamed with Elvis in It Happened At The World’s Fair in 1962, while Jonathan Ke Quan clung to Indian Jones as Short Round in the Temple of Doom. On the Pixar Blog, one commenter mentioned that person from Pixar told him they were looking for an Asian child, though 400 kids showed up for the auditions. At seven, Jordan got the part after he was spotted as that kid who would not stop talking. While it’s certainly not necessary to cast an overachieving scout as an Asian, it’s nice when it is so common to cast non-Asians to speak Asian parts.
Geek Chic
When Jordan grows up, will he play another cool geek? Grant Imahara of Mythbusters, and Masi Oka from Heros and Get Smart are both pretty popular now. Even in the new Fast & Furious, gopher Agent Sophie Trinh in a modest pantsuit by Liza Lapria got more screen time than any number of women shaking their booties and Asian guy heroes/villains.
Southland
I loved ADAM 12, so NBC’s Southland looks interesting. But how can they get away with zero Asian parts when there are more Asians than African Americans in Los Angeles? Asians could have been cast as the detective, the honor student shooting victim, the gang bangers, the pedophile murderer, the bus driver, or the scared witnesses. How about drawing from some real history with Korean grocers shooting at kids, committing home invasions against other Asians, or even angry geeks who shoot up immigration classes or colleges?
Gran Torino
Maybe it’s not surprising that a movie starring Clint Eastwood was snubbed at the Academy Awards when it was about Asian gangs and racist Walter Kowalski who will point an M-1 rifle in your face and tell how he stacked dead Koreans like sandbags. Sue Lor (played by Ahney Her) tells adopted uncle Walter “Hmong are a people, not a place”, and “we send our girls to college, our boys to jail” But as an Asian, I see a reverse Kung Fu Kid story. To his Hmong neighbors, Walter represents the exotic culture of white guys who can fix anything with a slip wrench, WD-40 and duct tape. He demonstrates how to properly use ethnic insults as an informal communications style. He “mans up” his young Jedi apprentice Thao played by Bee Vang to ask out the girl and stand up to gangs. The Hmong witch doctor can see right through him while his own young Catholic priest is a joke. In the end, Wally sacrifices himself in a Christ-like pose to save his newly adopted Hmong extended family who treat him as a savior, though he is spurned by his own spoiled children. The boy carries on Walter’s legacy by driving the prized 1972 Gran Torino and Walter’s dog as he drives off past lakeshore. If you can step past political correctness, it’s a tribute to the movie’s quality that it is still playing in some theaters, but watch out for the DVD this summer.
Odds and Ends
December 24, 2008
Alternative Energy Czar
Steven Chu may look like a fine, Nobel Prize-winning energy czar. He’s brilliant in developing alternative energy and an advocate of biofuels. But if “coal is my worst nightmare,” as he stated repeatedly in a speech Read more
Madness in Mumbai
December 10, 2008
What is truly evil? Barack Obama’s tortured answer at Saddleback was that the United States had sometimes committed evil. Contrast that to John McCain’s quick response of Islamic terrorism. Read more
White Kids: More Skilled than Asians?
November 26, 2008
According to a 1999 American Teacher article entitled “The homework gap,” Carol Huntsinger, a professor at the College of Lake County in Illinois, compared groups of middle class Chinese American and white students from two-parent families. Starting in 1993, Huntsinger followed them from kindergarten to third and fourth grades, looking at what their parents gave them as homework. Read more
God Help America
November 12, 2008
If Obama’s moment is all about being the first African American president, was it really about judging a man by his character instead of by his color? What does it say about prejudice when it was politically correct to dismiss Senator John McCain as too old or Governor Sarah Palin as a “trailer trash bimbo” for having too many children or going to too many colleges? What I have to say is, God help America. Read more
The Myth of Filipino Inferiority
October 30, 2008
I thank Rodel Rodis for bringing up the “sub-par” performance of Filipino students. It is unfortunate that it is politically correct to dramatize disadvantaged losers rather than celebrate positive achievement. Read more
