Jo Koy is a Filipino American and one of the funniest comedians that I have seen. I’ve watched him on the show “Showtime at the Apollo”, Dave Chappelle Show, VH1’s “I Love the 80’s” and “I Love the New Millenium”. He has always left me crying laughing at his jokes and from his facial expressions alone. Tonight, January 4th at 10PM EST on the Comedy Central, he will be doing a one hour stand up comedy show called, ” Jo Koy Don’t Make Him Angry”. Be sure to tune in and enjoy some bone, cracking, laughing fun!
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Tags: comedian, Comedy Central, filipino, Jo Koy, stand-up, The Jo Koy Show

Over the years I have seen all kinds of musical talents from different parts of the country and the world. I love the ones that bring something new or something old with a fresh twist on it, not straying too much from the origin. One day I came across a guy on a website that was a music artist. He was very different from the average music artists in that he performed without any background music. The music was actually coming from within him. He himself was actually a musical instrument. I was amazed at his talent. He has fresh sounds, you can see the energy popping off of him, and he is fierce. His name is Jason Tom, a beat boxer from Honolulu, Hawaii. I asked him if I could feature him in one of my blogs on this site. He was very shy and he agreed. Here follows his story.
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Tags: beat boxer, Entertainment, Hawai'i, hip-hop, Jason Tom

Immigrants who come to this country sometimes go through harrowing experiences as in the case with Hiu Lui Ng, an engineer, who died after a year in custody this past August at Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. He left behind a wife and two young sons. He was repaid with his pursuit of a green card with abuse and suffering from extreme anguish while pleading for help that never came. The confusion and pain he went through was unimaginable. His wife is teaming up with the American Civil Liberties Union in a civil lawsuit. As a result of Mr. Hiu Lui Ng’s death, the Wyatt Detention Facility will no longer be used to hold immigrants. I hope that Ms. Ng gets the justice that is due to her although it cannot bring her dear husband back.

Please read the article about this injustice here: Hui Lui Ng

Tags: detention, Hong Kong, Hui Lui Ng, immigrants, injustice

President-Elect Barack Obama is staying true to his word and is creating a much diversified cabinet. On December 6 of this year, Obama named General Eric K. Shinseki as his Veterans Affairs Secretary. He is the first Asian-American to hold this post. Obama feels that Gen. Shinseki’s calculations were right during the time he served the Bush administration in regards to the troop size in Iraq at that time. The Bush administration ignored Gen. Shinseki’s concerns and forced him from his post.

Obama has chosen and is choosing cabinet members that are more than competent for the job and with qualifications that are greatly remarkable such as General Eric K. Shinseki that will benefit our country now and in the long run.

Please view the ABC News article on this wonderful news here: Shinseki to Be Named VA Secretary

Tags: Gen Eric K Shinseki, Japanese American, obama, Obama cabinet, Veterans Affairs

One day I was browsing the web and I was reading up on some Asian American issues. Somehow I came across a link to a film festival in San Francisco. It was called the SFIAAFF which stands for the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival. I also knew of some people in a Facebook groups and some Asian American message boards that were buzzing about it. I read up on it and decided on a spur of the moment to attend it.
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Tags: asian american, Benson Lee, Center for Asian American Media, Planet B-Boy, san francisco

James Yee, the former US Army Guantanamo Chaplain and 2008 National Delegate for Barack Obama was out doing some grassroots campaigning in Ohio from October 23-26 for the Democratic Presidential Nominee. He made stops in Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

During the four days, Capt Yee made several Get Out The Vote presentations at major Islamic centers in Columbus and Cincinnati, also focusing on Muslim Participation in the Political Process The American Muslim vote will make a serious impact this year in several key battleground, swing states which have significant Muslim constituencies - Ohio being one of them.
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Tags: american, APIA, asian, asian american, Chinese, Christine Chen, cincinnati, college democrats, columbus, dayton, delegate, democrat, election, filipino, Gov Gary Locke, jacl, james yee, muslim, national, obama, ohio, Politics, vote

Many people are very familiar with Tim Kang’s face from the various Home Depot and Cingular commercials he has done

Tim Kang is a very busy man these days popping into a dozen or so shows on t.v. I have seen him in the t.v. series Ghost Whisperer, Chappelle Show, Law and Order, Third Watch, and The Unit to name a few.

Tim Kang was born in San Francisco, California and he studied acting at Russia’s Moscow Art Theatre School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Berkeley and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University

Tim Kang plays as agent Kendall Cho who works for the CBI, California Bureau of Investigation, alongside Simon Baker, the star of the new show The Mentalist. It comes on every Tuesday night at 9pm eastern on CBS. Tim Kang is a regular cast member of The Mentalist and that’s really good, because we need more Asian men beaming into American households on a regular basis.
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Tags: agent, Asian men, california, cingular, harvard, home depot, rambo, san francisco, the mentalist, Tim Kang, two weeks notice, uc berkeley

http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/governorlocke/bios/bio.htm

http://www.mltsf.com/lawyer-attorney-1067081.html

On Friday October 3, 2008, James Yee and other notables attended an Obama Victory Fund event at the home of Laurie and Scott Oki in Bellevue, WA. The Asian American Finance Committee also headed the event.

Representative Mike Honda was scheduled to attend this event, but he was unable to attend, because he was voting on the Emergency Bill to bail out Wall Street. The first person that spoke at this event was Washington State Senator, Maria Cantwell. She talked about why Obama is good for Washington State and for America. There were several people who were there from the Microsoft community. It was not surprising, because Microsoft is headquartered in Seattle.
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Tags: Asian American Finance Committee, Bellevue, Chinese, civil liberties, Dale Minami, Didi Saluja, election, Emergency bill, Fred Korematsu, Gary Locke, Indian American, james yee, japanese, Laurie Oki, Maria Cantwell, Microsoft, Mike Honda, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Obama Victory Fund, Scott Oki, Seattle, wall street, Washington

In eastern New Orleans there is a town called Versailles that was founded by Vietnamese refugees. After Hurricane Katrina blew through their town and they picked up the pieces, they had to fight against the city’s choice of putting a landfill just a few miles from their town that they cultivated with so much love. They stood and fought their ground. Now their struggle and joyous victory will be turned into a full-length feature by filmmaker S. Leo Chiang. Please click on the following links included in this blog to learn more about these courageous residents story.

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Tags: catholic, Center for Asian American Media, church, courage, democracy, environment, Hurricane Katrina, landfill, Mayor Ray Nagin, New Orleans, refugees, S.Leo Chiang, Versailles, Vietmanese, Vietnam

Earlier this week I contacted James Yee about him being chosen as a national delegate and what will it will entail at this years Democratic Convention from August 25-28.

James Yee is the “former US Army Chaplain and graduate of West Point who served as the Muslim Chaplain for the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba that would become controversial for its treatment of detainees designated as “enemy combatants” by the U.S. government. While ministering to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Captain Yee advised the commanders of the camp on detainee religious practices and objected to the cruel and degrading abuses to which the prisoners were subjected.

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Tags: abuse, army chaplain, Councilman John Liu, cruel, cuba, delegate, democratic convention, detainee, Emil Amok, guantanamo bay, interview, james yee, Jesse Jackson, Mayor Mufi Hanneman, Mayor Ray Nagin, muslim, Norman Mineta, prisoner, religion, Roland Martin, Tamlyn Tomita, U.S. Congressman Eni Falemoavega, united states, Wendell Pierce