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Is China moving toward freedom? Ask Hua Jia, jailed for his blogging
You can try to ignore the reality in China and think the Olympic torch run is a nice benign little thing. But it’s impossible to separate China, the games’ host, from China, the oppressor.
Tibet is one thing. The crackdown on writers like Hua Jia is another. Play the games, but let China know that the [...] -
Playing ball with China–Urging not bashing over Tibet and “splittism”
Maybe you didn’t notice. On the Ides of March, no less, baseball– America’s game–was Nero’s fiddle while Rome burned.
Hey, sports fans, in this column you’ll need a scorecard to count the metaphors.
Or the dead.
You see, it wasn’t Rome. It was Lhasa, Tibet. And the city didn’t burn, but dozens of people protesting for democracy lost [...] -
NPR’s war bias?
Norman Soloman, a former colleague and friend,wrote a great piece critical of a former employer of mine, National Public Radio. I used to be host of “All Things Considered,” many moons ago.
When I was there, the “P” in NPR didn’t stand for Pinoy. As Norman points out, it doesn’t really stand for “Public.” He makes [...] -
Obama speech Clinton’s exit cue?
A week later and people are still talking about THE SPEECH.
My fellow AsianWeek columnist Phil Nash has written an eloquent column in support of Obama’s speech on race. And for the most part, I agree with him.
I just think it’s impossible to separate the speech from its political context. Obama has run a campaign where [...] -
Iraq death toll hits 4,000
On a beautiful Easter day, my family drove by a military cemetery in the Bay Area.
My younger daughter couldn’t believe the uniformity of the tombstones, as rows of white markers seemed to go on endlessly.
“That’s what war does,” my wife was quick to comment. I didn’t say anything. I just thought about how many [...] -
Praise for Nancy Pelosi: Pressuring China on Tibet
While I’ve had differences with Speaker Pelosi’ on the Filipino American vets issues, Ms. Pelosi is showing true leadership on the Tibet issue.
She’s one of the few politicians to speak out for human rights in light of last week’s crackdown by China on political activists in Lhasa.
Those events are a wake up call for all [...] -
Bill Richardson goes with Obama: Latino/black unity?
According to reports, Bill Richardson, the former Clinton administration cabinet member who ended a presidential bid earlier this year, is going with the O.
I had my reservations about Richardson because of his connection with the Wen Ho Lee case. But he often was one of the few people making sense during the early primary debates. [...] -
Dobbs’ galling political correctness on Obama speech
Just caught a bit of Lou Dobbs’ program tonight where he takes Barack Obama to task for statements stereotyping whites. Specifically, it involves the line in Obama’s speech about how his grandmother “once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered [...]
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The Liberal side of Colorblind: Obama’s Post-Affirmative Action Politics
It’s easy to dub Barack Obama’s speech as the 21st Century’s Gettysburg Address on race in America. In recent memory, no one has had to speak so candidly, so eloquently, so publicly under such stress on the issue.
Indeed, no one really likes to talk about race anymore. Most people prefer to engage in “race [...] -
Tibet? Who cares! The Dodgers and Padres are battling in Beijing!
The Dodgers and Padres played to a 3-3 tie in the first Major League Baseball game ever in China.
I wonder if they knew what the score was in Tibet?
On Friday, it was Chinese Government 10, Demonstrators 0.
The AP reported still another more violent skirmish this weekend: Chinese Government 30, Demonstrators 0.
Those were the life and [...]