Justice

Former Enron Corp. chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted today of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud in one of the biggest business scandals in U.S. history.

In light of current affairs, this was a scary trial. I feared that these crooks would get exculpated. Hooray that they're going DOWN!

Also, Alabama's Taylor Hicks was crowned the fifth "American Idol"

I haven't followed American Idol, but I knew Hicks was the underdog, especially when people repeated how old he was (with disgust, I might add). I correctly suspected that he's much younger than he looks... he's 29 years old! Ageism is a bitch.

More than 63 million votes were cast, "more than any president in the history of our country has received," Ryan Seacrest said.

That's really pathetic... but hooray to Hicks!

The near future

No love for Condi

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received an honorary degree and addressed graduates at Boston College today. Faculty and students stood with their backs toward the stage as Rice was introduced to give her commencement speech.

A letter written by two theology professors, and signed by more than 10 percent of the faculty, kicked off the opposition to Rice. "On the levels of both moral principle and practical moral judgment, Secretary Rice's approach to international affairs is in fundamental conflict with Boston College's commitment to the values of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and is inconsistent with the humanistic values that inspire the university's work," the letter said.

"We are very concerned as Catholics that Boston College has invited Condoleezza Rice, who is an architect of this foreign policy and war. ... That is hardly something to honor," said Brayton Shanley, a BC alumnus and co-founder of Agape, a lay Catholic organization that has been working with students to organize the protests.

Lies of the Year

By Dave Shulman of the LA WEEKLY
1. Thanks
2. Good to see you
3. Appreciate it
4. Funny — really funny
5. No problem
6. You’re welcome
7. Likewise
8. Sounds good
9. Bless you!
10. Rumsfeld (and the entire Bush Administration -- I added that)

Jodie Foster quotes Eminem

There’s just something awfullly painful about a grown white woman rapping Eminem songs at a graduation ceremony, even if that woman is as awesome as Jodie Foster. Check it out. Warning: You will cringe and this may result in temporary neck pains...

English-only bullshit

English would be declared the "national language" of the United States under a measure the Senate approved Thursday, a move that supporters said would promote unity and encourage assimilation by immigrants. The measure would establish that people have no right or entitlement to ask government officials to provide services or materials in other languages, unless authorized by law.

I don't understand why so many White Americans are threatened by other cultures and languages. It's not like limited-English speaking individuals have tons of power. They are not a threat. Immigrants are not de-unifying America.

My father, Yip Yee, can hardly speak, read or understand English, but he is a good citizen. He pays his taxes. He votes. He raised his children to be law-abiding (well, some of them...) and morally responsible. His kids speak perfect English, even better than Chinese. He taught us to value our education and opportunities, because there would be no chance in hell we would have received the same opportunities if my family didn't immigrate to America.

Yip Yee was able to do all this by leaving his beloved home country, away from all his friends and family and his culture, to come a foreign and intimidating country with little money and resources. He worked nearly everyday for the past 40 years, from morning to night, as a chef with no benefits and on wages that "real" Americans would never work for. He never received any public benefits, and never asked for hand-outs. At 70 years old, he continues to work even though he should clearly be retired.

Now you tell me when would my dad have had a chance to learn English? Do you think he should have gone to English language school after he worked 14 hours a day? Do you think he should have sacrificed the limited time he had to spend with his children so that he could study his English language books? Do you think he should have spent his hard earned dollars on English classes than spend it on diapers for his babies, or tuition for his kids?

These English-only proponents need a wake-up call. This measure would clearly divide America. It's unrealistic and places an extra burden on already struggling immigrants. But I know the truth... these English-only fucks really don't give a shit. I wish they would stop posturing it's about unity. I hate how the right has appropriated good concepts and has used it as a pretext for evil. They make me wanna throw up.

Fuck you and your hummer!

(Check out this cool website for more F-U pictures.)

The good news out of Detroit is that the largest version of the Hummer – the 10,000 pound, less than 10 mpg, $150,000 Hummer H1 – is being scrapped by General Motors due to lagging sales.

However, sales for the entire Hummer fleet – including the H2 and H3 models which boast whopping 13 mpg and 16 mpg fuel efficiencies, respectively – TRIPLED nationally between March 2005 and March 2006. According to The Wall Street Journal "people are buying Hummers precisely because of high gas prices – buyers want the world to know they can afford the gas." (If you were wondering who the 29 percent of Americans are who still support George Bush, look no further!).

Panda People in da House... a retrospective

Another dumb presidential move

The White House announced today that they plan to deploy 6000 National Guard troops along the US/Mexico border to deter illegal immigration, even though Bush still claims to support a guest work program and a path of legalization for undocumented immigrants currently residing in the US.

Members of both parties have expressed concern about a National Guard deployment to the border, saying that it might strain military resources already depleted by the Iraq war and that it appears to be politically motivated.

Well, of course.

This reminds me of how WRONG some Bush proponents have been about how Bush may not be bright, but he is a man who stands by his word. Well, explain why Bush purports to support immigrants, yet he makes this move to pander to anti-immigrant Republicans... seems like some flip-flopping to me...

Here is a SNL video of what could have been if Bush was not elected in 2000... (thanks KimCheeFarmer!)

"Twin Nipples"

Last Friday night, Tonkhero and I ventured into an off-beat journey with the Midnight Riders, a group of about 300-400 bicyclers who reclaim the streets every second Friday of the month. The theme of the month was "TWINS". And yes, we were a pair of breasts, even though everyone called us Twin Nipples.

Some people didn't understand our costume because they're stupid idiots. But the smart people thought it was very funny and creative. People gave us strange looks when we were a single boob though. That's when I replied that I had breast cancer.

The strangest remark a cyclist said to me was, "That looks like my daughter's nipple on your head." I gave him an unusual look and said, "That's a really weird comment." He immediately became embarrased and said that he has a 9-month old and he was actually referring to his kid's baby bottle... yeah right.
The experience was very liberating. Since there are hundreds of us, there was no way that we could all pass the intersections of the streets in a timely manner. So when the light turned red, either organizers or volunteers would plant themselves and their bikes in front of cars and buses who had the right of way, so that the rest of us could pass and stay together as a large mass. It was really frightening at first, because drivers would get pissed and honk or even come out of their cars and bitch at the bicyclists in their faces. I honestly thought a fight was going to break out, or that some psycho LA driver would become ballistic and run us all down. Still, the human roadblocks wouldn't budge. It's quite a public service, I think.

The crowd were all carrying beers, drinking as they rode. Some of them were visibly drunk but, surprisingly, I only saw one crash, and I think that resulted more from lack of coordination than inebriation.
The SKEET brothers made me take their picture. It's funny and all, but they thought they were so clever... homeboy on the right kept bragging that he came up with the idea and made the shirts at 9:00pm. I pointed at the nipple on my head and said 10:15.
We started in Echo Park at 10:30 pm. Then to Downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Skid Row (which I thought was tasteless actually), and ended up here at Mariachi Square in East L.A. We reversed the route and returned to Echo Park by 1:30 am. We ended the night with more beer, pork rhines and tacos from this awesome taco truck next to the ghetto Vons in Echo Park. Very yummy...

Lady Simzie's First Mother's Day

Lil' Nikhil chillin' at the Meditation Center in San Diego.
One of the flowers at the Center. Although I hate hippie scum, I must say they have great taste in horticulture.

The Center also has a beautiful fish pond filled with giant koi. Those hippies are lucky bastards.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Underbite

Babies and dogs can sense evil...

Panda Man Premiere

It's tomorrow... I'm so fucken nervous!
If you're a panda advocate or lover, check this out.
Power to the Pandas!

Synopsis:

PANDA MAN

(United States, 2006) Dir.: Rebecca Yee

A parody of documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog's GRIZZLY MAN, PANDA MAN explores the life and death of professional panda bear enthusiast Rick Yitt, who sought to liberate pandas and end panda exploitation. Rick lived with pandas for 13 years, until he and his girlfriend, Gloria Yip, were attacked and killed by the infamous giant panda, Ling-Ling.

"All you can eat, but not all you can waste"

In celebration of APA Heritage Month, I am very pleased to share with you a lovely news report of brethren Chinese restaurant owner, Kent Cao, who owns Dragon House Chinese Restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa. Cool-ass Cao kicked out Wendy Dershem, her boyfriend and her two kids out of his restaurant after accusing them of leaving too much buffet food on their plates!

Now this may sound unreasonable at first, especially after Dershem and her family paid $5.95 each, but apparently, employees have been watching her family on previous trips to the restaurant and were fed up with her habits.

"They just take one bite and throw it away," said cashier Lin Huyen. "They take four egg rolls and crab ragoon, take one bite of egg roll and throw the whole plate. That is wasting food."

I cannot agree more. That plate could have fed a village in China. Plus, those crab ragoons filled with cream cheese are yummy!

"She's done that too many times," Cao said. "We would welcome her back if she has respect and knows what she wants."

Very well said, Cao. That bitch needs to learn how to respect our food!

Happy Asian Pacific American Hertiage Month!

You know, I've known the month of May to be APA Heritage Month for, like, forever. But how did it come about? I found some great historical background about our month to share with you, thanks to the fabulous omniscient world wide web.

May is Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month—a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Much like Black History or Women's History celebrations, APA Heritage Month originated in a congressional bill.

In June 1977, Representatives Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a House resolution that called upon the president to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. The following month, senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both were passed.

On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution designating the annual celebration. In May 1990, the holiday was expanded further when President George H.W. Bush designated May to be Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

This year's theme is "Freedom for All—A Nation We Call Our Own."

Viva Mexico!

Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if they are in small amounts for personal use under new reforms that quickly drew U.S. criticism... but not by this American!

Economic Boycott

I would like to take this opportunity to applaud all the committed individuals who refused to purchase anything on May 1st. Whether or not the boycott truly made a detrimental impact on our economy (I have been hearing differing reports), it made people notice and, I bet, worry just a little bit...

I wholeheartedly disagree with all the critics who felt the boycott would alienate the public. That part of the public hated immigrants or never cared about immigrants to begin with.

Marc Cooper (a columnist from the LA Weekly who I followed and sympathized with when he was harassed for reporting about the UFW scandal) wrote an opinion piece in the LA Times that stated, "Boycotts are powerful and volatile weapons used as a last resort to bust open dams of dogged resistance. You don't use them when the political tide is even vaguely flowing in your direction." As you might have guessed, he doesn't agree with the boycott/walkout.

Yo Marc, wake the fuck up! Immigrants lack power. They don't own media, they don't have much money or resources, and most of them can't vote. The power immigrants have come from their labor, their numbers and their principles. That's why a boycott was necessary. And considering the height of anti-immigrant legislation and sentiment, the time is now to use the most "powerful and volatile weapons" we got!

Marc, perhaps you should apply for a correspondent position at Fox News or CNN? I heard they reported mostly negative portrayals of the rally and boycott. However, I think I get why you wrote what you wrote -- BF informed me that you created a nice little niche for yourself as a progressive who criticizes other progressives. Dude, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do... but you lost a fan. Hey, I'm sure you and Ann Coulter can be best buddies though.

I suspect my cat was a Chinese nationalist in another life

A Day without Immigrants

May Day March at corner of Wilshire and La Brea
Photos by DYY

More than one million immigrants and supporters skipped work today and marched from MacArther Park to Mid-Wilshire in support of immigrant rights, as part of a nationwide boycott that succeeded in slowing or shutting down businesses all across America.

From my own personal experience, it was amazing to see most of the businesses on Wilshire closed. It feels so rewarding to show the nation that immigrants truly contribute to the economic viability of our country.

I cannot even tell you the excitement I felt when I walked toward the enormous group, who were mostly wearing white in solidarity.
It was incredible and powerful.

Besides little man's poster pictured here, my favorite slogans of the afternoon were, "Legalize LA", and "March Today, Vote Tomorrow".

Here we are representin'. We're so fuckin cute, huh?
We received many compliments on our dual sided US/China flags (handmade by Blu-Tooth) and matching United Farmworkers
"Si Se Puede" shirts!