Free Republic

SEOUL, South Korea — An American Christian missionary slipped into isolated North Korea on Christmas Day, shouting that he brought God's love and carrying a letter urging leader Kim Jong Il to step down and free all political prisoners, an activist said Saturday. Robert Park, 28, crossed a poorly guarded stretch of the frozen Tumen River that separates North Korea from China, according to a member of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana, which promotes human rights in the North. Two other activists apparently watched and filmed the entry. "I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you...

On a chilly Saturday morning this month, the future soldiers of the U.S. Army huffed and puffed through push-ups, sit-ups and stretches in Whittier Narrows Regional Park in South El Monte. There was the gangly white kid with the blond buzz cut and the buffed-out Latino dude, head draped in a black bandanna. And then there was Jennifer Ren, small, slight and bespectacled, an immigrant from China who gamely kept up with the guys and sees the Army as a ticket to U.S. citizenship and a job in accounting and finance. Down the training line was Christopher Ly, the son...

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund said yesterday that it would file a federal civil rights complaint accusing the Philadelphia School District of failing to address violence against Asian immigrant students at South Philadelphia High School. The complaint will claim that the district violated the students' right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment, said Cecilia Chen, a staff attorney with the organization. Chen said the complaint would be filed with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The news came on a day when the city schools chief and South Philadelphia High principal spoke out publicly...

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. - Arrangements have been made for a traditional, three-day Hmong funeral for Pfc. Kham Xiong of St. Paul who was among 13 people killed in the Fort Hood Army Base shootings. The funeral service for Xiong will start at Legacy Funeral Home's Maplewood chapel starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28. The service will run through the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 30. Xiong will then be buried with military honors at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. "Pfc. Kham Xiong came to America from Thailand as a small child," President Barack Obama said during a memorial service at Fort...

Zhihua Tian traveled thousands of miles from his native China earlier this year to profit from the treasures of the American education system. Unfortunately, he landed at South Philadelphia High School, where the number of violent incidents often overshadow student achievements. Tian, 19, of South Philly, and five other students who are recent immigrants are staying home today because they were among 26 Asian students who were attacked by a gang of other students throughout the day yesterday, said Xu Lin, of the Chinatown Development Corporation, who works with victimized students.

This CBS3.Com story describing how Asian kids are the subject of race-based attacks at South Philadelphia High School -- the alma mater of Mario Lanza, Al Martino and Larry Fine -- is going around the word via a link to the Drudge Report and what is glaringly unclear in it? No where does is it spelled out who exactly are the racist anti-Asian attackers. The story quotes one unidentified student as saying "It was blacks and whites and they saw the Asians at the school, it all started with an argument." Well, that certainly explains it.

Asian voters switching to Republicans? ... All this evidence strongly suggests that Republicans made gains and Democrats suffered significant losses among Asian, and specifically among Indian-American voters, in Middlesex County. This upscale group, ready enough to vote for John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008, seems to have been repelled by New Jersey’s high taxes and big government under Jon Corzine. There should be some lessons here for Republicans generally—and for Democrats as well.

Asian voters switching to Republicans? Prowling through the election returns in the governor races two weeks ago, I was surprised to find that Middlesex County, New Jersey, voted for Republican Chris Christie over Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine by a 48%-44% margin, almost exactly the same as Christie’s 49%-45% statewide margin. Middlesex County has been a Democratic county for as long as I have been studying election returns (going back to the 1960 election). In close elections it voted 58%-42% for John Kennedy in 1960, 46%-43% for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 (when he failed to carry New Jersey), 51%-47% for Jimmy...

Prowling through the election returns in the governor races two weeks ago, I was surprised to find that Middlesex County, New Jersey, voted for Republican Christie over Democratic incumbent Corzine by a 48%-44% margin, almost exactly the same as Christie’s 49%-45% statewide margin. Middlesex County has been a Democratic county for as long as I have been studying election returns (going back to the 1960 election). In close elections it voted 58%-42% for John Kennedy in 1960, 46%-43% for Humphrey in 1968 (when he failed to carry New Jersey), 51%-47% for Carter in 1976, 46%-38% and 56%-32% for Bill Clinton...

Someone pummeled and smothered 18-year-old Rayoung Kim in a bedroom of her home in a new suburban subdivision in Fairfax County. She fell unconscious and later died. Fairfax police think the fatal injuries occurred in July 2008 during a Korean exorcism, in which a spiritual shaman and family members try to force evil spirits to leave a possessed person. That account is in a police affidavit filed recently in Fairfax Circuit Court, which quotes Kim's brother as saying his sister was involved in a religious ritual in the moments before she passed out. The court filing also quotes the medical...

A recent study of the applicants to seven elite colleges in 1997 found that Asian students were much more likely to be rejected than seemingly similar students of other races. Also, athletes and students from top high schools had admissions edges, as did low-income African-Americans and Hispanics. Translating the advantages into SAT scores, study author Thomas Espenshade, a Princeton sociologist, calculated that African-Americans who achieved 1150 scores on the two original SAT tests had the same chances of getting accepted to top private colleges in 1997 as whites who scored 1460s and Asians who scored perfect 1600s...

<p>High-school students' performance last year on the SAT college-entrance exam fell slightly, and the score gap generally widened between lower-performing minority groups and white and Asian-American students, raising questions about the effectiveness of national education reform efforts.</p> <p>Average scores for the class of 2009 in critical reading dropped to 501 from 502, in writing to 493 from 494 and held steady in math, at 515. The combined scores are the lowest this decade and reflect stalled performance over the past three years. The reading scores are the worst since 1994.</p>

Festivities in a new temple dedicated to the Indian monkey god Hanuman  in Frisco, Texas, earlier this month remind us that a minority of religions exists within the shores of the United States that is relatively silent. The faith that is the subject here, of course, is Hinduism, which in that North Texas town, at least, is enjoying an "expanding population," according to the Dallas Morning News. Despite the fact that Indians have been quietly enriching the American melting pot for decades to centuries, few non-Indians know much about the colorful religion of Hinduism. In actuality, the term "Hinduism" represents...

About five years ago, shortly before my term ended as a Regent of the University of California (UC), I was having a casual conversation with a very high-ranking UC administrator about a proposal that he was developing to increase "diversity" at UC in a manner that would comply with the dictates of California's Constitution and the prohibition against race, gender and ethnic preferences. As I listened to his proposal, I asked him why he considered it important to tinker with admissions instead of just letting the chips fall where they may. In an unguarded moment, he told me that unless...

No wonder Hmong cookbooks are rare, considering the challenges Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter faced collecting recipes: • Written forms of the language were not used until the 1950s -- and even now, spelling varies. • Recipes have been passed down through generations without the use of measuring cups and spoons. • Cooks varied each dish according to what was in season or available when an animal was slaughtered. • A people without a country and a population forced to flee their lands, the Hmong incorporated methods and ingredients of other cultures, so what is considered Hmong food has evolved....

Asian-Americans blast UC admissions policy They say new standards are unfair, will reduce their numbers on campus April 24, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO - A new admissions policy set to take effect at the University of California system in three years is raising fears among Asian-Americans that it will reduce their numbers on campus, where they account for a remarkable 40 percent of all undergraduates. University officials say the new standards — the biggest change in UC admissions since 1960 — are intended to widen the pool of high school applicants and make the process more fair. But Asian-American advocates, parents...

A portrait of an angry, isolated man is beginning to emerge of Jiverly Wong, the shooter who is believed to have killed 13 victims before turning the gun on himself at a civic center for new immigrants in Binghamton, New York on Friday. Voong was the "kind of guy who would come in mad one day and shoot people," said Kevin Greene, who described himself as a former co-worker of the alleged shooter at a Shop Vac assembly plant that had since closed, the New York Daily News reported. A string of attacks in the U.S. in the last month...

Anh "Joseph" Cao - the hot new property in Congress, Mr. Upset, the first Vietnamese American elected to the U.S. House or Senate, the first Republican to win Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District since before Louis Armstrong was born - is driving across this Gothic American bayou. He's relating how, as a Jesuit seminarian in the slums of Mexico nearly 20 years ago, he experienced a crisis of faith. He was dispirited by how God could let such human misery exist, he says and then stops himself. "Do you ever read Kierkegaard?" he asks. Um, the 19th century Danish philosopher is...

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- If his recent whirlwind tour of Capitol Hill was any indication, Anh "Joseph" Cao knows he will be in for the ride of his life over the next two years. Little known in early December except to those in his close-knit Vietnamese community in New Orleans, the Republican attorney who once studied to become a Jesuit priest rocked the national political landscape Dec. 6. He upset nine-term U.S. Rep. William Jefferson in the state's heavily Democratic and African-American 2nd Congressional District to become the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress. Cao's victory certainly was aided by the...

In a stunning upset, Republican Ahn “Joseph” Cao, a Vietnamese immigrant with no political experience, has defeated Democratic incumbent William Jefferson for the U.S. House of Representative’s seat of the 2nd District of Lousiana. Ahn Joseph Cao Ahn “Joseph” Cao will represent the 2nd District of Lousiana in the new Congressional term after defeating William Jefferson. Cao, an immigration attorney, is a newcomer to politics and will be the first person of Vietnamese descent to become a representative in Congress. His opponent William Jefferson was plagued by allegations of corruption throughout his campaign and is currently facing federal indictments related...

LA-2 , Orleans, Jefferson Parish: In a huge upset win, little known Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao beat nine term and criminally indicted William Jefferson(D). Jefferson had been expected to easily win. Cao becomes the first Vietnamese member of U.S. Congress. LA-4, Shreveport-Bossier City, Sabine Parish, et. al., Western LA, TX/AR border: Republican Dr. John Fleming wins. Fleming was trailing by about 3% early in the election results but came on strong in the end to beat Carmouche(D) by 356 votes. Carmouche has not conceded election – recount probably pending. With these results, the 111th U.S. House of Representatives...

On paper, Anh "Joseph" Cao has an ideal life story for a political candidate. Born in war-ravaged Vietnam, Cao fled to the United States when he was 8, learned English, earned degrees in physics and philosophy, and joined the Catholic seminary. When his views on how best to serve the poor changed, Cao went to law school, began a practice specializing in immigration, settled in Venetian Isles and started a family. In his bid to unseat Rep. William Jefferson in the 2nd Congressional District, however, Cao must try to overcome three tall hurdles: He's not a Democrat, he's not black...

The Vietnamese Americans for McCain-Palin Coalition will hold an endorsement rally for McCain-Palin at Marriott Hotel-Fairview Park, Falls Church, Virginia on October 11, 2008. Civic, business and political leaders will join hundreds of community members to express their strong support for Senator McCain to be the next President of the United States. As one of the largest ethnic communities in Northern Virginia, Vietnamese Americans will play an important role in determining the outcome of battleground Virginia.

The question however is what does Obama offer to ethnic minorities from Asia and Far Eastern countries? Is he really the right choice for this group? Are we sure that the policies of Obama presidency and perhaps even today's Democratic Party and its leaders are right for the ethnic minority of Asian background?

   I came upon this comment on a blog entry about why one of the "stuff" that white people like is Japan.  Scroll 1/7the way down the thread to find it   Tom Sawyer on February 16, 2008 at 1:31 pm I am in total agreement with the posts above…the author of this blog is ASIAN.This blog reeks of“Asian American (I am almost 99% it is Korean-American) Guy who realizes that the Fixed Action Patters of Upper Middle Class, Urban, Liberal White People” is the standard target and pinncale lifestyle to which almost all wealthy and educated people in America strive….and...

Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall, a milestone reached as the number of African Americans and Hispanics has remained low and the Fairfax County School Board prepares to review the school's admission policy. At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the Alexandria area this year, more than 2,500 applicants vied for 485 seats. Asian American students got 219, or 45 percent of the total, while white students got 205, or 42 percent. About 38 percent of the school's...

Chalk it up to cultural insensitivity, a lack of understanding or simple ignorance, but there are a number of cultural landmines that otherwise-earnest employees can stumble into when attempting to interact with coworkers of different ethnic backgrounds. Much of the ground covered by DiversityInc's Things Never to Say series over the past several months included comments that reflected stereotypes, such as that Asians are passive, are disproportionately found in technology sectors and are not risk takers. Many people who find themselves making these remarks have no intention of being offensive, but that doesn't make the comments any easier for the...

In October 2000, at a whole-day conference in New York organized by the Association of Asian American Advertising Agencies (A5), the forerunner of the Asian American Advertising Federation (3AF), "the business case for Asian American marketing" was the focus of discussion. The organizers of the conference wanted to call attention to the importance of Asian Americans as a consumer market and to the fact that this was not reflected in the segment’s share of advertising dollars being spent by corporate America. Ironically, while speaker after speaker spoke in glowing terms about the buying power of Asian Americans, not one touched...

Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall, a milestone reached as the number of African Americans and Hispanics has remained low and the Fairfax County School Board prepares to review the school's admission policy. The rising concentration of Asian Americans at T.J. mirrors demographic trends in other elite math and science magnet schools. In New York, the selective and specialized Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High School have Asian American majorities, although about 10 percent of...

SUMMARY: He says: "Who in their right mind, if they were African-American or Hispanic or Asian-American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?" Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean came under attack for speaking out against conservative gay men and lesbians as well as Republicans of color. "They can't become more diverse," Dean said Tuesday at a speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Who in their right mind, if they were African-American or Hispanic or Asian-American, if they were gay or lesbian, would join the Republican Party?" The Log Cabin Republicans issued a statement Wednesday against...

Major General Antonio M. Taguba Deputy Chief in this June 30, 2006 photo, as the Keynote Speaker at the Hmong American Veterans of Minnesota - Military Ball in Oakdale, Minn. Photo by Tom LaVenture. NEW YORK (February 25, 2008) – The nation’s second Filipino-American to reach the rank of flag officer, U.S. Army Major General Antonio M. Taguba, this week announced his Endorsement of U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for President. “Senator Clinton’s unequivocal opposition to the use of torture under any circumstances, and her willingness to take a stand for what she believes in is exactly the sort of...

The three main minorities in the United States -- blacks, Hispanics and Asians -- have little trust for each other and hold prejudiced views about Americans of different ethnic origins to their own, a poll showed Wednesday. "This extraordinary poll reveals some unflattering realities that exist in America today," said Sandy Close, head of new America Media (NAM) which sponsored the poll together with ethnic media groups. Forty-four percent of Hispanics and 47 percent of Asians are "afraid of African-Americans because they are responsible for most of the crime," the survey of 1,105 adults drawn from the three ethnic groups...

The only local monument to a heroic flight attendant from San Francisco killed in the Sept. 11 attacks six years ago is a North Beach mural that vandals have defaced almost beyond recognition. Betty Ong, 45, who grew up in Chinatown and North Beach, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane hijacked by the terrorists. Just minutes before the plane smashed into the World Trade Center, she quietly contacted authorities and gave a detailed description of the hijackers. Ong is one of several Chinatown natives depicted in a 200-foot-long, 7-foot-tall mural dedicated to Chinese contributions...

Asian-Americans, both those born here and new immigrants, have distinctive patterns of cancer incidence that doctors should consider when treating them, researchers have found. A report appearing today in the journal CA is “one of the most comprehensive summaries of cancer among Asian-Americans,” according to the American Cancer Society, which publishes the journal. The report is based on information on cancer cases collected by California from 2000 to 2002, and focuses on five ethnic groups: Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. The state has a large Asian population, 3.7 million, and carefully sorts its cancer data by ethnic group. When...

The ex-general's arrest inspires hundreds to rally in St. Paul. For the old, the concern is for a revered leader. For the young, it's for a distant homeland, too. Tou Meng, 12, of St. Paul, joins a rally Tuesday at the Minnesota state Capitol in support of former Gen. Vang Pao, who is charged along with 10 others with plotting to overthrow the Lao government. Vang Pao, a war hero to many, is drawing support from different factions of the Hmong community. (RICHARD MARSHALL, Pioneer Press) View an audio slideshow from the rally Many young Hmong-Americans view Vang Pao as...

Media Advisory: Coverage on Virginia Tech Shooting Incident FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Janice Lee, 415-346-2051, JaniceL@aaja.org SAN FRANCISCO (April 16, 2007) -- Like the rest of the nation, we at the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) are stunned at the news of today's shooting at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends as they cope with this horrific incident. As coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting continues to unfold, AAJA urges all media to avoid using racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason. There is no evidence at this early point...

In the early days of his acting career, when most roles offered to Asian American actors were caricatures or stereotypes, Mako took just such a part and used it to open the doors of Hollywood and Broadway to others. In the 1966 film "The Sand Pebbles," he played the Chinese character Po-han, who spoke pidgin English, called the white sailors in the movie "master," and treated them as such. But through the power of his acting, Mako transformed Po-han and compelled the audience to empathize and identify with the engine-room "coolie." The portrayal earned Mako an Academy Award nomination, which...

Cambodian Immigrant Becomes Citizen, American Combat Hero By Rudi Williams American Forces Press Service HONOLULU, May 30, 2006 – Sarun Sar first experienced combat at age 11 in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He fought in several combat actions before being wounded and sent to a refugee camp near the Thai-Cambodian border. Today, Sar is a decorated U.S. Army master sergeant who has been awarded the Silver Star Medal among other recognitions. He was lauded earlier this month at an Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month commemoration in Honolulu. Sar was born in a southwestern Cambodia village. His long trek to becoming...

HONOLULU, May 30, 2006 – Sarun Sar first experienced combat at age 11 in the jungles of Southeast Asia. He fought in several combat actions before being wounded and sent to a refugee camp near the Thai-Cambodian border. David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, greets Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Sarun Sar and his wife, Dobromila, after introducing the Silver Star recipient to the audience during DoD's observance of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in Honolulu on May 10. Photo by Rudi Williams  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Today, Sar is a decorated U.S....

Today President Bush Met with Former Secretaries of State and Former Secretaries of Defense at the White House to talk about the situation in Iraq and get their input, later in the day the President celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Presents President's Volunteer Service Awards in the East Room of the White House. The President also asked the media for airtime on Monday night at 8:00 PM EST to speak about border security and the possibilty of sending the National Guard to patrol the border

BERKELEY, Calif. -- The number of freshman heading off to college this fall in the University of California system will be at an all-time high. Asian-Americans top the list of freshman with 19,896. U-C officials say more than 55-thousand students who applied were accepted, a new record for the system. This fall's record admission beat last year's, which was also a record, by about ten percent. Officials say a relatively stable state funding situation meant U-C was able to follow a tradition of finding a place somewhere in the system for all students who met eligibility requirements. Students have until...

He immigrated as an infant, became a U.S. citizen and soldier, and Thursday, he received a hero's burial. U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. John Kun Young Kim was born in Korea, grew up in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties, and was killed April 2 in Iraq along with three other American troops when their Humvee hit a hidden bomb. He died before he was old enough to drink. [SNIP] His relatives and friends said his time in the Marines had transformed him from a reserved, shy teenager to a confident, quietly assertive young man. They also said he was very proud...

Some members of San Diego's Asian community think two Easter greetings recently sold at Target are offensive, so they are demanding the cards be pulled from store shelves. And as of Wednesday night that demand is being heard loud and clear. "The first thing that stands out is the rabbit with buck teeth, slanted eyes and a Chinese outfit," said Joni Low. Low is highly upset with two Easter greeting cards recently sold at Target stores. One card reads an "Easter Haiku -- He Hops By Each Spring. He Leaves Eggs Unpainted. It's A Cry For Help." Low, who is...

Just this week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer paid a visit to his high school alma mater, Lowell High School in San Francisco. He took a tour of the school’s campus, which moved in 1962 from downtown San Francisco to its present Sunset District location, and then spent an hour taking questions from the school’s junior and senior classes. According to AP, Justice Breyer (Class of 1955) was treated like a “rock star” during his visit to the highly-selective school’s campus. Besides the change in location, Lowell High School has in recent years undergone an immense transformation of its student...

Rising test scores and higher academic standards in public schools are usually a cause for celebration among parents of school-age children. But in the liberal suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area, this development is triggering panic among white parents who are increasingly choosing to send their children to private schools, or moving to more exclusive neighborhoods. Despite living in safe and desirable areas where diversity and tolerance are preached as gospel, white parents in the Bay Area are apparently avoiding many high-performing public school systems for the simple reason that they have too many Asians. The slow but steady...

A pair of authors are offering tips on how parents can replicate the success of Asian parents who have raised academically driven children. Soo Kim Abboud, a physician in the University Health System, and Jane Kim, authors of Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers -- and How You Can Too, spoke to Penn staff and students yesterday. The authors say that due to their upbringing, Asian children are more driven than average Americans. Abboud said that while 50 percent of American children opt for a college education, 85 percent of Korean-American and 95 percent of Indian-American...

"The New White Flight" was the title of an eye-opening article in the November 20th issue of the Wall Street Journal. It was about a high school in Cupertino, California, where a growing Asian American student population is causing rising academic standards -- and causing many white parents to withdraw their children from the school and some to move out of the community. The school has some of the highest test scores in the state. But, although everybody is in favor of high academic standards in the abstract, not everyone is in favor of having to struggle to meet those...

PARAMUS - Victims of human trafficking are growing in numbers "right underneath our noses," North Jersey Asian-Americans were told Saturday in a workshop designed to help community activists identify and assist the casualties of this "modern-day slavery." According to government estimates, between 18,000 and 20,000 immigrants are smuggled into the United States every year for labor or sexual exploitation - including some 4,000 coming to New Jersey - mostly from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

TRENTON, N.J. -- Asian-American groups and politicians will hold a news conference in Bergen County Thursday to protest what they say is hate programming on a radio station. They're angry about comments made by Craig Carton on New Jersey 101.5 on Monday. Carton said he's upset Democrats in Edison are catering to Asians, which are a growing population. Korean-American Jun Choi is challenging Mayor George Spadoro. The talk show host repeated a number of Asian stereotypes and affected a Chinese accent. He also said, "Chinese should never dictate the outcome of an election. Americans should." The station's general manager has...

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Wednesday declared improper a request by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to allow an immediate takeover of the property of First Presbyterian Church in Torrance, Calif., and the installation of former General Assembly Moderator Syngman Rhee as the interim minister. Judge David Yaffe ruled that their request was improperly timed and that he would not consider it until after conducting a hearing in June. The leaders of the 2,700-member Torrance congregation, the largest Korean church in the PCUSA, are seeking to renounce the jurisdiction of the PCUSA and stake claim to their property, which is...