Think Twice

Now that I think about it, I don't like SB 1070, the law that gives police the right to stop anybody they suspect as an illegal immigrant. Earlier last week, I didn't support or oppose it but I believed that the police were only doing their best to protect the laws of this country. But now that I've thought about it some more, read more on the law, listened to more opinions about the law, I think that it's unfair.

It legitimizes racial profiling and actually forces federal officers to engage in racial profiling. So how much really is this law helping people? I'm not so sure anymore.

Another interesting topic is Meg Whitman! I'm helping out in her campaign for Governor of California, and my 3 hours of participation thus far has been quite interesting.

(If you want to see me on CBS 5, click HERE.)

The polls show that recently, Whitman and Poizner's race for the Republican nomination is getting tighter and tighter! Right now, I'm not so sure what their policies are but I'll be sure to give you my opinion tomorrow night, so keep your eyes out!

Asian-Pacific Heritage Month

So. It's Asian-Pacific Heritage Month.

It's kind of like Black History Month...right?

So why don't I see Disney movies or television shows about it on Disney Channel? For Black History month, there was That's So Raven specials, The Proud Family specials, movies such as The Color of Friendship and more! So, where's all the Asian love? Yeah, not so much. Instead there's a very stereotypical Asian Disney Original movie from a couple years back called Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. Now all little kids will think, "Oh, Chinese people! Asian people! They do ninja moves!!". Yeah, not so much kids.

I just find it a bit irritating that Asian-Pacific Heritage Month isn't as big of a deal as something such as Black History Month. Asians have worked and struggled significantly here in the United States, and it's only right to commemorate this culture, too, right? Or maybe I'm just being bias because I AM Asian. Nevertheless, my point stands. I want to see more YELLOW FEVER! (<--- Joke).

I Choose You! [Pikachu]

President Obama has nominated his second Justice to the Supreme Court - Elena Kagan. After watching her press conferences and Wikipedia-ing her credentials, I must admit that her experience is quite impressive: Dean of Harvard Law School, clerk under Justice Thurgood Marshall, teaching law at the University of Chicago, etc.

But the debate sparks over her sexual orientation - the first openly gay Supreme Court Justice?

No doubt this will impact decisions for her Confirmation. But, that gets me thinking. Is President Obama nominating such unique and diverse Justices for the sake of nominating people who not only have excellent experience but also are "the first ______ Justice"? Such as the first female Hispanic woman or the first openly homosexual Justice? I can't help but notice that President Obama is quite big on his interpretation of "change." Even my Obama-supporting peers can agree that it's quite odd that President Obama always happens to select the most diverse people to serve the United States. Not that there's anything wrong with that - but I do hope that these kinds of attributes aren't what make these candidates special. Instead, I wish that President Obama would select these nominees solely on the basis of academia and judicial experience; but I'm not a utopian thinker, I know the real facts.

It's quite apparent to me that President Obama seems to have a goal to leave behind a striking legacy, one of "hope" and "change". Perhaps he wants to be remembered throughout history like Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, or Reagan, and not be forgotten. But I really don't know what lines he will cross to be "remembered"...do you?

When in Doubt, Box it Up

With the oil spreading every day, now even to the United States mainland waters, the broken rig is not going to be fixed anytime soon. So, what are we doing? We have put a 40-foot tall 100-ton steel and concrete wall/box to stop the spreading. As simplistic as that sounds, it seems to be a good idea. I'm not a big fan of "Going Green" enthusiasts, but I don't want my ecosystem to be destroyed. So many fish and other marine life are in the waters, and the toxic oil is destroying all that. What's more disturbing is that this oil might be coming onto the shores of Louisiana and other coastal American areas in the South. It's thick, sticky, gooey oil that will take forever to clean off. I pray for the people and the marine life of those waters.

Which brings me to my next point. Isn't it interesting how technologically advanced we are, here in the 21st century, but when natural disasters occur or oil spills happen, we can't fix it. The only thing we can do is accelerate our reaction time and our resources to help deal with the aftermath of the incidents. No matter how industrialized we become and no matter how superfancy all our gizmos and gadgets are, we can't beat Mother Nature and we can't protect all life. Sometimes, we just have to do the best we can.

In this case? It's putting a box around the oil.
As advanced as we are, we always have to go back to the basics.

Don't Be a Bully

There have been several incidents of bullying talked about at schools, eventually leading to suicidal attempts or murder sprees.

Well, in this case, a grown man couldn't handle being verbally harassed by his colleagues and did the number one thing we are all told not to do - he used violence to settle the issue. It made me laugh at first reading that this man was upset because he walked through a security scanner at work and all his colleagues saw that his male sexual reproductive organ was quite small. Then, I didn't find it so funny that he decided to hit his colleague repeatedly with his police baton as some sort of petty act of revenge.

If a full grown man cannot restrain himself and must resort to physical violence, how can society expect a young high school teenager or a preteen or even an elementary school student to abide by the rules and not get into fights? What kind of example do adults really set for the kids of this generation? I've talked about role models before, and like my teacher says at school, "You're a role model, sometimes whether you like it or not." So to Rolando Negrin, an airport security officer who apparently can't handle the fact that he has a small penis, I say this - you need anger management counseling and get over yourself.

The American Flag

The American Flag. The symbol of our nation. The symbol of the 50 states of the United States of America are represented on this flag by the stars, along with 13 stripes representative of the original 13 colonies of colonial America. Shouldn't this be a celebrated and sacred symbol?

It should be. Emphasis on the "should." I've seen so many videos with people burning the flag, but that's expected of angry radicalists. On the other hand, this issue growing in Morgan Hill where 5 students were sent home for wearing a shirt with an American Flag on Cinco de Mayo. How is that racist? Cinco de Mayo is a day of celebration for when Mexican forces overcame the French in the Battle of Pueblo - this celebration isn't even really celebrated in Mexico. It's simply a way for Mexicans to have a day of pride, here in the United States. These students were wearing American Flag shirts - is that offensive to the Mexicans? Who, let me remind you, are also Americans? LIVING IN AMERICA? Don't get offended when you're living in a country and people wear that country's flag. If you do get offended? You should probably move. Far away.

What's more irritating is that if it was Independence Day (July 4th) and some students were wearing Mexican flag shirts and the schools sent THOSE students home, all hell would break loose and there would be massive riots, protests, newspaper articles, television headlines, etc. Why? Because sending Mexican students home would be RACIST. Oh, well, you know what? Sending American students home, saying they can't wear their OWN country's flag to school IN their own country? THAT, my friends, is racist. The hypocrisy in this country never ceases to amaze me. If a minority feels threatened, that's racism. But if we discriminate against a majority ethnic group, it's not really that racist. I didn't know there were different types of racism.

Bombs Away...Or Not

I talked about how racial profiling is unfair and unjust to those who are victims. But now, I'm pretty sure that the U.S. can't help but to look at every Pakistani as a potential terrorist. Why?

It's incidents like today's at Times Square that make people prejudiced against others. I'm so relieved that there was something wrong with the bomb, since it could've killed hundreds of people. At the same time, I'm frustrated  that the mayor of New York City, in his address to the public regarding this issue, made a point to emphasize that we must not alienate the Pakistani in New York. What's even more annoying is that the plane holding the terrorist who planted the bomb almost flew out before we could catch him. Reports show that this man was a suspect and there should've been a more efficient way of stopping the plane and protecting American lives. I suppose it's unfair for me to criticize things that I'm not even a part of, but, as a citizen of the United States, it's only fair that I'm concerned about my own safety when I walk into an airport or enter a city.

So, President Obama, this is a wakeup call to you. I don't know how many times I've said this, but people are trying to kill us. And if you don't start to face these terrorist problems head on, next time we might not be so lucky.