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John Liu is ready to leave the City Council in 2009, but nobody knows what his plans are. They think that he is aiming for the mayoral position, but he is refusing it he doesn’t want to attempt to improve the city Council.
The soon-to-be-candidate is knocking into the office of the so called “voice of the people.” He encourages the people not to disregard the contribution of the immigrants into the city.
Dear Friends:
This is an appeal on behalf of our surviving Filipino WWII veterans. Out of the more than 400,000 listed after WWII, only about 20,000 remain. Time is of the essence as they are in their mid-80s and their numbers are dwindling. In a few years they will all be gone. For the first time ever, the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill has passed Committee levels of both Houses and has passed the US Senate. The House will act on S1315 TOMORROW, May 21.
S.1315 was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 24, and it contains a range of benefits for U.S. veterans, as well as benefits for our surviving Filipino WWII veterans. We must all ask Speaker Pelosi to move S.1315 towards approval and we should contact our U.S. Representatives to support the House version of S.1315 and to ensure that the benefits to Filipino WWII veterans are not amended or removed.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NEXT:
I just sent an email to my representative by following along with the very SIMPLE steps below. You should do the same NOW. Do each step as you read it now:
(This is an adaptation of the NaFFAA call to action email.)
Daniel Wong was endorsed as Mayor by the Houston 80-20 Asian American PAC for the Sugar Land City elections. The said announcement on Sunday at Madras pavilion in Sugar Land also highlighted the group’s support for Tom Abraham and S.B. Gaddi as city councilmen.
The 80-20 Initiative is a national, non-partisan, and Pan-Asian-American political organization. According to the organization, as stated in New York Times, Houston 80-20 encourages Asian Americans “to vote as a bloc and to promote active participation in the political process.”
The Bush administration has accused China, and eight other nations of not protecting American producers of movies, computer software and other copyrighted material from widespread piracy.
In addition to China, eight other nations have all been placed on a “Priority Watch List” for piracy: Russia, Argentina, Chile, India, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela. The placement of these countries on this list subjects them to increased scrutiny and could lead to economic sanctions.
Click here for a link to the Washington Post article
When it comes to American producers of movies, no one should be under any obligation to protect Hollywood’s copyrighted material until racist and discriminatory casting policies against Asians are put to an end. To mercilessly subject Asian audiences to Hollywood’s poisonous, diversity-negligent images and then force them to pay for such filth evokes memories of the Opium Wars of the mid-19th Century.
Statement by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA)
Washington, D.C. April 24 - At around noon today, the U.S. Senate passed S. 1315 by a vote of 96-1. The omnibus bill includes a provision which restores U.S. veterans status and pension benefits to Filipino World War II veterans.
Today’s historic vote came about after the senate struck down an amendment introduced by Richard Burr, ranking minority leader of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. By a vote of 56 to 41, senators rejected Burr’s proposal that would have denied pension benefits to Filipino veterans in the Philippines. Burr needed 49 votes for his amendment to pass. Six Republicans joined the Democrats in rejecting what was widely viewed as a highly discriminatory act against Filipino veterans.
The bill now moves to the House for debate and a floor vote. If it passes intact, it will then go to President Bush for his signature.
“This is a great day for our veterans,” says NaFFAA National Chair Alma Kern. “It has restored our faith in the American justice system. Our veterans have waited more than 60 years, and now they are closer than ever to regaining their honor and dignity.”
Kern calls on the Filipino American community to call members of the House of Representatives and urge them to support the Filipino Veterans Equity Act. “We have to see this campaign through to the finish,” she adds. “It’s up to us to make this happen.”
In December 2006, NaFFAA and the Philippine Embassy co-hosted a meeting of advocates for the Filipino Veterans equity that resulted in the formation of NAFVE, the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity. In the last two years, activists from NAFVE, which includes NaFFAA, and the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV) lobbied long and hard to get Congress to act on this bill. “I’m very hearted by our community’s response, flooding the various offices in Congress with e-mails, phone calls and visits. We couldn’t have done this without your support,” Kern says.
She also thanked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senators Daniel Akaka, Daniel Inouye, Ted Stevens for their consistent championing of Filipino veterans equity.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate began debating on whether to give pension benefits to Filipino veterans of World War II. If you are a person of common sense, you’d be wondering, what the heck is there to debate about? These men fought valiantly alongside U.S. forces, and haven’t received a dime of what was promised them!
Well according to the New York Times:
Republicans argued that the pension benefit was too big given the average annual income in the Philippines is $2,864. They argued that would give Filipino World War Two veterans a better benefit than the average U.S. veteran given the lower cost of living in the Philippines.
Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, planned to offer an amendment that would limit pension benefits to Filipino veterans living in the United States and use the $221 million savings to enhance benefits for U.S. veterans.
“I believe it is time for us to stand up for our guys versus that select group (for whom) there was never a promise made,” Burr said during Senate debate.
Senator Burr, imagine how much more we’d be paying the veterans had this bill included the BACK PAY they deserve! And that’s not even to mention the thousands of Filipino veterans who will never receive any compensation because they died before justice was ever served!
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon greeted the new president of his native South Korea on Wednesday. Saying he was encouraged by Lee Myung-bak’s support for the U.N.’s fight against poverty and its far-flung peacekeeping operations, Ban told reporters that the South Korean leader said his country would do as much as it can to support U.N. activities such as peacekeeping and providing aid to developing regions.
Click here for the original article
Chan, who arrived Monday to promote his latest kung fu movie “The Forbidden Kingdom,” said the games represent “unity, love and peace” and should not be used as a platform for people to express their opinions. “I hope people do not mix sports with politics. This is wrong,” said Chan. “I don’t understand why people would want to destroy the Olympics.”
Click here for the original article
Angie Chen Button just won the Republican primary in the race for retiring state Rep. Fred Hill’s seat and became one of the two Asian-American women seeking election to the Texas House. While there appears to be a growing interest in public service, it is still painfully clear that Asian-Americans are still lagging behind.
Click here for the original article
Now, a booming China is hosting the 2008 Olympics and is sending the Olympic torch to San Francisco. Many Chinese Americans are upset about the demonstrations planned by thousands of Tibetans, Burmese, Falun Gong believers, and others to protest China’s human rights record.
Click here for the original article