Category Archives: controversy

Tiger Mom Amy Chua PBS interview & discussion

Leave a reply

Tiger Mom Amy Chua PBS interview

Last week Yale law professor and author Amy Chua interviewed on PBS about her new book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.” She was nice but defensive. With the firestorm set off by the Wall Street Journal article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she is set on addressing various misconceptions about the book and the article from the WSJ.

Here’s five things to know about Amy Chua
1. Book is a memoir, not a how to guide. She believes prosperity can’t last more than 3 generations.
2. Amy Chua not good at writing humor, but this is subjective.
3. Her sister has down syndrome, but Tiger Mothering has given her a productibe life
4. She is surprised by the tone of the back lash from the Wall Street Journal article. She’s received death threats and been called abusive.
5. She’s making bank with a $500k book advance and the book is currently the #1 Nonfiction Bestseller on amazon.

Chua admitted that casting the book as a clash of cultures may have roused passions. “I’m talking about Chinese values versus Western values, and that’s such a hot button issue right now,” Chua said. But she defended her book, saying it was an expression of core American values as much as anything else. “The current model of relatively permissive and coddling parenting,” Chua said, “I think it’s pretty recent.” Of American parents, she added: “A couple generations ago, they actually parented very similar to the way I did.”

Amy Chua interview on PBS about her book, which is as much about her mistakes as a mother as it is her triumphs.

U.S. and China relations with first half discussion about Amy Chua. Jeff Yang participates in the discussion. See his article Mother, Superior?

Why Chinese Mothers are Superior by 18MMW

Leave a reply

Why Chinese Mothers are Superior by 18MMW

18MMW created a parody of the whole controversy surrounding “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua.” A “Tiger Mother” shows why “Chinese Mothers are Superior.” Watch David Oh Hells Yeah interview parents Doris Chan and Yankel Rosenblatt on their child rearing techniques. Is it insensitivity to children or effective parenting?

Maybe we can learn some tips from Adopting a Kid with Aziz Ansari too.

Why Chinese Mothers are Superior by 18MMW

Agent Orange : 35 Years later

1 Reply

Agent Orange : 35 Years later

In the San Francisco Bay Area, a special report about Agent Orange recently aired. Returning to her homeland, CBS 5 anchor/reporter and Vietnam Reporting Project fellow Thuy Vu reports on one of the most contentious issues remaining from the Vietnam War – the legacy of Agent Orange. During the Vietnam War, more than 20 million gallons of the dioxin-contaminated defoliant were dumped on Vietnam jungles, affecting its people and the soldiers who fought alongside American troops. Vu travels to Vietnam to report on the impact of Agent Orange on Vietnam, 35 years after the end of the war. Generations of Vietnamese continue to be born with birth defects and other illnesses believed to be the result of exposure to herbicide Agent Orange. She also explores how the toxin that was sprayed by US forces has impacted both Vietnamese veterans and US veterans of the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange : 35 Years later (part 1)

Agent Orange : 35 Years later (part 2)

Liu Xiaobo – Nobel Peace Laureate

Leave a reply

Liu Xiaobo - Nobel Peace Laureate

Today is International Human Rights Day and YouTube has profiled Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo, one of the most outspoken critics of the Chinese government, spent a year and a half in prison after the 1989 Tiananmen Square peaceful protests, and in 1996 was imprisoned for three years for criticizing China’s policy toward Taiwan and the Dalai Lama. Last year, he was sentenced to a further 11 years for co-authoring Charter 08, a petition to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A former university professor, Liu Xiaobo won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Human Rights Watch honors Liu Xiaobo for his fearless commitment to freedom of expression and assembly in China.

Liu Xiaobo remains in prison on an 11 year charge for subversion and now the Chinese government have arrested his wife. In this, Liu Xiaobo’s most recent interview, the man about to claim the Nobel peace prize discusses life under China’s authoritarian regime. This interview of Liu Xiaobo was before he was sent to jail here.

“The driving force for positive change within the Chinese political system does not come from the top. It comes from the ordinary people and it’s unstoppable”. Xiaobo discusses humanitarian issues in Tibet and China, the Chinese governments harassment of his family, and the possibilities for democracy in China. “I’m the one who has brought fear into their hearts. So deep down I feel guilt but sometimes that can turn into fear”. He also speaks about what he sees as the growing number of dissidents, like himself, willing to speak out against the Chinese government. “Doing the pro-democracy work I do, the fear of being sent to prison at any time. Doesn’t actually scare me too much. If it did I wouldn’t have been doing this work for the last 19 years”.

Liu Xiaobo – Nobel Peace Laureate

Newsweek Obama Hindu cover controversy

Leave a reply

Newsweek Obama Hindu cover controversy

A controversial cover of Newsweek magazine has prompted international outrage and led to calls of a boycott. The cover depicts President Obama as a Hindu god in a “Nataraja” pose. It shows President Obama with six arms, standing on one leg, with a caption reading, “God Of All Things.” The image is similar to the Hindu god Shiva Nataraja – the god of creation, destruction and grace. Each arm represents a different attribute. The President, who was in India recently, is shown trying to balance war, peace, healthcare, housing, and the economy. The Hindu American Foundation wants Newsweek to apologize and to explain to readers what the god symbolizes, but Hindus in Malaysia are taking more drastic measures. Some are demanding the removal of the issue from all of the country’s newsstands.

Newsweek Obama Hindu cover controversy

Triangle Offense comments on Filipinos Being Excluded From Pacquiao-Margarito Festivities

4 Replies

Triangle Offense comments on Filipinos Being Excluded From Pacquiao-Margarito Festivities

Electrohop trio Triangle Offense released a brief video on YouTube on Friday detailing their experience of getting excluded from the official Pacquiao-Margarito pre-fight tailgate in Dallas, Texas. Triangle Offense, alongside other Filipino-American performers and DJs were slated to share the stage with Mexican entertainers in celebration of the highly anticipated fight. Last minute changes to the performance line-up kept TO off the stage and left Filipino fans feeling intentionally excluded and unrepresented. Instead of an even representation of Filipino and Mexican artists, event organizers booked an exclusively Spanish-speaking line-up including musicians,
entertainers, and the host. “When we found this out, we were totally shocked,” explained TO member Sci. “We later on realized that it was bigger than us artists because Filipinos as a whole were no long going to be represented. We definitely don’t have anything against celebrating the Mexican culture, but we did feel that this event was for both cultures to be included.”

Disappointed but united, Filipino fans created an impromptu tailgate on the opposite side of the stadium without the stage and fanfare. “Filipinos still held it down,” said TO member Bry. Sci added, “It really meant a lot to us to see that our people stuck by each other and we really made the best out of the situation.”
Tecate and its parent company Heineken International are yet to respond to the community’s concerns on how the event was handled.

Triangle Offense comments on Filipinos Being Excluded From Pacquiao-Margarito Festivities

Recap of Triangle Offense trip to Dallas:

Hours before boxer Manny Pacquiao raised his hands in victory in front of over 40,000 people in Dallas’ Cowboys Stadium, many that make up the core of his fanbase – Filipino-Americans – were found cheering and chanting his name at a tailgate party in parking lot #10. The impromptu tailgate formed as an alternative for Filipino fans that felt out of place at the official pre-fight tailgate party organized by the event’s sponsor. Despite the wave of success and media promotion the Filipino fighter rode leading up to this fight, many Filipinos found that spectators weren’t welcomed to the stadium as fans of either fighter or even as fans of boxing, but rather as Mexicans.

What was originally planned to be a celebration of both Mexican and Filipino cultures ultimately showcased an exclusively Mexican roster of musicians and entertainers including a Spanish-speaking host on the party’s main stage. This came as a surprise to many, including Filipino-American artists who until the weekend of the fight were scheduled to share the stage in front of the audience of thousands.

“We were so honored to be performing on behalf of Pacquiao and, more over, on behalf of our Filipino people,” says Sci, one-third of the electro hop group Triangle Offense. “We’ve been waiting for this day for months. We made the trip all the way from Jersey City, New Jersey just to be a part of it!”

However, the performers quickly realized what transpired was bigger than a promoter canceling a gig at the last minute. Sci explains, “I can’t even describe the feeling I felt when I found out that not just Triangle Offense, but ALL the Filipino acts were removed from the event. This was supposed to be a celebration for BOTH the Mexican AND Filipino cultures.”

Manny Pacquiao became source of pride for the Fil-Am community since becoming a household name after earning the title of world champion in eight divisions, making several appearances on late-night televsion, and being elected to the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Therefore, it was a shock to many when the 6-to-1 favorite’s fanbase wasn’t acknowledged by the fight’s main sponsor.

“I am very disappointed about the decision made to cut the Filipino performances out of the tailgate,” says New York City based DJ Nano, who was scheduled to perform sets with Filipino-American DJs from across the country. “The Filipino community has a right to representation at a Manny Pacquiao fight.”
Category: