Famed indie director seeks Asian cast for 'Tong Wars'

Director Wong Kar-Wai

CASTING is underway for Tong Wars, an upcoming Amazon teleseries opening up a slew of opportunities for Asian American actors.

Wong Kar-Wai, an indie superstar director in Chinese films, will be directing the series that take place in 19th-century San Francisco.

According to Variety, “The series is set against the Tong Wars of 19th century San Francisco and tells a story spanning a significant period of time about Chinese immigrants and the clashes between organized-crime families in the city’s Chinatown.” 

Wong said he's attracted to TV because he could take his time telling a story. In this case, the time frame for Tong Wars is from 1905 to 1971.

Wong may find casting difficult because he's asking for the actors to be fluent in Cantonese and American English. But he's put out the call and if you fit the bill, youo're encouraged to audition. Here are the parts:

What makes this ssries so intriguing is the involvement of Wong. To give you an idea of how big he is, it would be as if Martin Scorsese decided to do a TV series.

His lyricism in romanctic films ChungKing Express and fan favorite In the Mood for Love create moods as well as allow the actors to express subtle emotions such as longing and unrequited love.

The big screen and television "are just different canvases to pain their work, to show their ideas and tell their stories,” Wong explained. 

IndieWire describes the plot as “[following] the lives of Shanghai residents from the end of China’s Cultural Revolution in the early ‘60s through the end of the 20th century, with some scenes set in San Francisco.” The director further elaborated his personal connection to that film, saying, “Shanghai is my hometown and the time that the book describes is the time of my absence from Hong Kong because I went to Hong Kong when I was 19, in ’63, I hadn’t been back to Shanghai until the early nineties. This is my opportunity for me to fill in all the things that I have missed.

"So its a long story."

“The thing that attracted me to this project was the first opportunity to tell the story of the first Chinese/American experience in the most authentic and proper way, because I think there aren’t many films about this experience,” said Wong.

With casting just beginning, don't expect to see Tong Wars on Amazon until 2019.
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TGIF Feature: 2018 Haikus For Hotties calendar destroys the Asian male stereotype

STILL LOOKING for that perfect stocking stuffer for someone turns up a nose at the notion of dating Asian guys?

The Haikus for Hotties 2018 calendar is now taking orders. This is the third year this special calendar is being offered. Part spoof, part social commentary, it actually works as a calendar.

Haikus With Hotties is a calendar series that highlights the attractive and talented Asian men in media that often don’t get as much attention as they deserve.

The calendar counters the popular stereotype that attempts to emasculate Asian men: they can't be sexy, they can't be romantic, they aren't attractive. Or, to reference Steve Harvey, they aren't datable.

Haikus With Hotties is a series that celebrates Asian male hotness in all forms, mainly shirtless and lots of six-pack abs.

After the series launched in 2013 with Godfrey Gao, “Haikus With Hotties” released its first calendar in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter campaign featuring Yoshi and Peter Sudarso. 2017 brought a second calendar with a new twist: “From the makers of Haikus With Hotties now comes Haikus *On* Hotties.” 

For 2018, the fans have been invited to participate in the fun and write Haikus *For* Hotties. What started out as a joke has become a nice excuse to feature a variety of Asian American men doing interesting things in the media. 

For more information, visit www.haikuswithhotties.com.

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Asian American cops file discrimination suit

Asian/Americans make up a majority of the population of San Gabriel, California.

ASAM NEWS

A GROUP of veteran police officers in San Gabriel near Los Angeles is suing the department for discrimination, according to KTLA.

Allen Sam, Wei “Gilbert” Lee, Sunny Kim, Vy Van and Nhat Huynh accuse fellow officers and police personnel of using racial slurs and carrying out acts of racial harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

All three officers are at least ten year veterans of the force. They say fellow officers mocked the English of Asians, made disparaging remarks about their physical traits as well as their food.

“Because SGPD management engages in this harassing and demeaning behavior, SGPD officers learn, from the time they start as new trainee officers, that degrading people of Asian descent, including plaintiffs and city residents, is a practice condoned, if not encouraged, by SGPD,” attorneys said in their lawsuit, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Attorney Bernard Alexander III, called the incident ironic, given that the San Gabriel Valley is a majority Asian American community. According to the U.S. Census, Asian Americans make up more than 60 percent of the population in the city of 41,000.

Jonathan Fu, a spokesperson for San Gabriel, declined to comment.
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Thanksgiving, 1621 to 2017

Uh ... The first Thanksgiving was not like this painting.

THE POPULAR MYTH of Thanksgiving was that in 1621, the Pilgrim's invited the Native Americans to a feast for a successful harvest. We now know there's more to the story but Native Americans still have reason to regret their welcoming attitude to the undocumented aliens in their land.

A year ago, Native Americans and environmentalists were at Standing Rock, South Dakota trying to prevent the construction of the oil pipeline across their land out of fear of contamination of their water source.

In November that year, when officials became agitated with the ongoing presence of the protestors, the demonstrators were sprayed with water and tear gas in freezing cold weather. That same fall, security dogs reportedly bit protesters on multiple occasions.

Thanksgiving last year at Standing Rock included police tear-gassing the protestors.

Donald Trump's oil-friendly administration removed any environmental or legal barriers to the pipeline last February, opening the way for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The dire warnings of environmental danger came true last week when more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil leaked out of the South Dakota pipeline, a leak that engineers said wouldn't happen.

RELATED: 

• A different perspective on Thanksgiving
• Thanksgiving greetings: From the 'you've got to be kidding department'

TransCanada confirmed that on Nov. 17, that the leak, the largest in the state to date, follows another leak in April from the Dakota Access Pipeline that tainted the land with nearly 17,000 gallons.

"It is a below-ground pipeline, but some oil has surfaced above ground to the grass," Walsh said of the most recent environmental setback. "It will be a few days until they can excavate and get in borings to see if there is groundwater contamination."

We're tempted to say, "We told you so," but that won't stop the oil industry from lobbying for more pipelines, more oil and -- despite the industry's assurances -- we can expect with certainty, more oil spills.

Tnanksgiving 2017: The Dakota of 200,000 gallons of oil last week is leaching into the ground and threatens
the water supply
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Asian American frat found guilty in hazing death

PI DELTA PSI, an Asian/American fraternity, has been found guilty in the 2013 death of a student participating in the frat's hazing rituals.

The fraternity was convicted Tuesday of five felonies and two misdemeanors in the death of Chun Hsien "Michael" Deng who died in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.

Chun 'Michael' Deng

The fraternity was acquitted of the two most serious charges, third-degree murder (involving a willful, wanton disregard for the potentially fatal consequences of one’s actions on someone else) and voluntary manslaughter (a heat-of-the-moment killing).

Deng, 19, who attended Baruch College in Manhattan, was pledging to Pi Delta Psi when he died during a December 2013 retreat at a rented house in the Poconos. 

Blindfolded and wearing a weighted backpack, Deng was forced to walk in the backyard in the early morning hours through a gauntlet of fraternity members who allegedly pushed, shoved, and tackled him in an attempt to bring him down, according to court records.

RELATED: Fraternity on trial for hazing death

Deng died from his injuries after fraternity brothers waited too long to contact authorities after the 18-year old  lost conciousness. It took a hour before the frat brothers brought him to a hospital. A forensic pathologist said the delaysignificantly contributed to his death, according to court documents.

Four frat brothers, Kenny Kwan, 28, Charles Lai, 26, Raymond Lam, 23, and Sheldon Wong, 24, have already pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter as accomplices and hindering apprehension for concealing evidence, according to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. The four men were originally charged with murder. Their sentencing is slated for December.

With a future sentencing date being scheduled for the fraternity, the prosecution plans to seek the maximum penalty of a fine and the fraternity being banned from any Pennsylvania college campuses.

The Asian/American fraternity was founded at the State University of New York’s Binghamton campus in 1994. Pi Delta Psi has 25 active chapters and five inactive colonies (aspiring chapters) on college campuses in 13 states including Pennsylvania.

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DOJ pressures Harvard over alleged bias towards Asian American applicants

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Harvard graduation ceremonies.

ASAM NEWS

THE U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT is upping its pressure on Harvard in its investigation of discrimination against Asian/Americans at the elite university.
A letter from the DOJ to the school obtained by the Wall Street Journal stated Harvard is being investigated under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on race or national origin, according to the BBC.

The investigation seems to have been prompted by complaints from Students for Fair Admission, which filed a federal complaint against Harvard.

“Harvard’s Asian quotas, and the overall racial balancing that follows, have been ignored by our federal agencies for too long,” said the group’s president Edward Blum.

The DOJ's battle with Harvard potentially sets the stage for the first major legal test of affirmative action policies under the Trump administration. Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that race can be one among many factors universities use in making admission decisions. 

Harvard says it is cooperating with the investigation.

“As we have repeatedly made clear to the Department of Justice, the university will certainly comply with its obligations under Title VI,” said a Harvard spokeswoman.

According to NBC, the DOJ is threatening to file a lawsuit of its own.

“We sincerely hope that Harvard will quickly correct its noncompliance and return to a collaborative approach,” the letter said.

The DOJ says Harvard has yet to produce a single requested document.

The University responded that it is seeking to comply while protecting the privacy of its applicants.

In this potentially pivotal case involving affirmative action policies, Asian/Americans will be on both sides of debate.

The case has divided the Asian American community with many American born Asians supporting diversity goals and affirmative action, while also saying they oppose discrimination in all forms. Those against it are primarily made up of Chinese immigrants who accuse Harvard of capping the admission of Asian students to Harvard at 20 percent.

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Sen. Al Franken's behavior not funny, says Filipina American deejay

ABC

Leeann Velez Tweeden

SENATOR AL FRANKEN, D-Minnesota, a progressive politician, is in a heap of trouble because of his treatment of a Filipina/American deejay during a USO tour.

Los Angeles radio host Leeann Velez Tweeden tweeted that Franken kissed her without her consent and fondled her breasts while she was asleep during a 2006 USO Tour in the MIddle East.

Inspired by the #MeToo campaign that was launched by the women making public the sexual assaults and harassment by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Tweeden told how Franken wrote a comedy skit that ended with a kiss. During a rehearsal of the skit, Tweeden claims that the senator grabbed her behind her neck and forcibly kissed her, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

She pushed him off and told him not to do that again. She said she went to the bathroom to rinse the taste of him out of her mouth.

Franken apparently didn't stop there. At the end of the tour on the flight back to the U.S., a photograph was taken of Franken appearing to grope the breasts of a sleeping Tweeden with the senator leering back at the camera.

This photo shows Sen. Al Franken and the sleeping Leeann Tweeden.

"I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann," said Franken. "As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."

“Nothing about it is ever funny,” said Tweeden. “Is it funny if he does that to your sister, to your daughter or to your wife?”

When the incriminating photo was made public, Franken personally apologized to Tweeden and she said that she accepts the apology. Tweeden said she accepted Franken’s apology and was not calling for Franken to step down from office.

Franken has called for an ethics investigation on himself, and said he would gladly cooperate. But that might be too late for his political career as calls for his resignation, to the delight of his enemies on the right and sadly by former liberal allies.

Tweeden is not the first Filipina who has spoken out about sexual assault and harassment. One of the first women to speak out was Ambra Battaliana Gutierrez, an Italian model with Filipino heritage, who told the story of her encounters with Harvey Weinstein. Since an article about her meetings with the Hhollywood power broker became public, more than 70 women have come forth to tell their experiences with Weinstein.

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"Mother of Dragons' reveals that she has a dark side

Emilia Clarke's real coloring, left, and as the blonde-tressed Khaleesi.

EMILIA CLARKE, the actress who plays Daenerys Targaryen, Khaleesi, Mother of Dragons, in HBO's megahit Game of Thrones, is part South Asian.

Who would've thought? The English rose has a "dark" past.

Her racial heritage came to light in an interview as cover girl for Harper's Bazaar's December issue.

“It's this epic story: My grandmother was colonial Indian, and it was a big old family secret because her mum had an affair with someone in India,” says the English rose Emilia Clarke. “She would wear makeup to make her skin look white.” Granny passed away when Clarke was 16, and the teenager took off for India with her boyfriend to scatter the ashes. “She loved India more than she loved England,” Clarke says. “F--k, yeah. I love that part of me—I’m like one-eighth Indian.”

It's great that the actress revealed -- and is apparently proud of her racially mixed heritage. In truth, we're all a little mixed up. 

I know, there are some of you who will say, "But she doesn't look Indian," or "But, she has not experienced the discrimination that other Indians have faced."

Small steps, folks. And if Clarke's admission will creak open the door for others to walk through, we'll be better off for it. And people have to realize, that Asians come in all shades and if people cheer her as she slays the White Walkers, they need to know that they are cheering for an actress who is one-eighth Indian. It makes it harder for them to swallow the racist lies perpetuated by the haters.

I say: Welcome, Emilia! F--k, yeah!
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A recipe for making an American Thanksgiving a Filipino/American tradition

A Filipino American Thanksgiving made its historical debut on network TV in the first season of 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' when main the character Rebecca Bunch cooked dinaguan (pork stewed in pig blood) for her boyfriend's Filipino family.

THANKSGIVING is upon us and that usually means visits from relatives and friends. Our family, like most Asian American families like this tradition because it means family gatherings center around the latest gossip and -- food.

Who can forget this historic first? A Filipino American Thanksgiving dinner made its network debut in the TV in 2017 in the first season of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" featuring Josh Chan's (Vincent Villanueva III) family. Besides the turkey, there was panic, lumpia and dinuguan. That last dish, (my favorite) pork cooked in pig's blood and vinegar, was prepared by Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) who was trying to impress her boyfriend's family.

As a nod to our American tradition, we can't pass up the traditional roasted turkey. Mashed potatoes are a must, but it's not a sin to have rice instead. Or, as a nod to the mixed cultures, both rice and mashed potatoes, not in the same bite, of course

Lots of that turkey gravy over the turkey or rice,  Yum.

However, there is always an Asian twist to the meal. In my case, I mean a Filipino twist.

We reserve the lechon (roast pig) for other holiday feasts like Christmas, Easter or New Years, or somebody's wedding or graduation or any other time weak excuse to have that delicious roasted baby pig with potato-chip like crackling.

What family feast would it be without lumpia, that Filipno take on the Chinese spring roll, except a properly made lumpia is made with the paper-thin rice wrap. I remember my mom experimenting and experimenting with making the perfect rice tortilla-like wrapper. 

Finally, she perfected it. She made it on an upside down pan heated over high heat, much like a French crepe. Her version included a filling of ground pork, chopped up shrimp, chopped up chicken, green onions, chopped cabbage and  bean sprouts. Sad to say, I haven't been able recreate the recipe or technique ... yet.

For my far-flung family (or, anybody else who reads this blog) I can share one quick, easy recipe for your holiday meal: My version of green beans. It involves the use of bagoong, that pungent Filipino shrimp paste. You can usually obtain it in Asian markets.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 TBS of peanut oil
• Dash of red pepper flakes
• Green beans. Amount varies according to how many are at the table. Prepare as you like, tips cut off or cut into two-inch pieces. You can also use Chinese green beans.
• Bacon. Two pieces of thick cut bacon. Cut into quarter-inch slices. Add more bacon if necessary for larger amount of green beans.
• Half a yellow onion, quartered and then cut in half again.
• Bagoong. 1 TBS. Filipino shrimp paste. There are so many varieties on store shelves. I usually buy the one that says alamang from Pangasinan. It is not so odorous as other brands but still delivers that high-salt burst.

STEPS

1. Par boil as many green beans as you want to serve. (If using Chinese green beans, skip this step.)
2. In a wok, add tablespoon of peanut oil
3. Add chopped bacon (or pancetta) stir fry until crisp. Remove from wok, set aside.
4. Add unions and red pepper flakes. Stir fry.
5. Add bagoong. Start with a tablespoon but you can add more if you like. Ahh, this is when the house begins to smell like a Filipino house. Stir fry.
6. Add green beans, stir fry.
7. Return bacon to wok, stir fry.
8. Serve ... with love.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

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Vanity Fair's newest editor-in-chief is ... who?

Vanity Fair's new editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, wearing a sari, is not shy about her South Asian heritagi.

ASAM NEWS

AFTER 25 YEARS under the helm of Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair will now be lead by Radhika Jones.

The most common question asked about Jones is “who?”

Unlike Carter, and before him, Tina Brown, the two editors with oversized personalities became celebrities in their own right.

“We didn’t need a name for the sake of a name or a celebrity,” Steven O. Newhouse of parent company Conde Nast, told the NY Times.

In Jones, he’s getting smarts, the kind of smarts he hopes will take Vanity Fair into the digital age. “She has vision and energy and a very active mind,” Mr. Newhouse added, “and I think that’s what Vanity Fair needs.”

Jones, whose mother is from Mumbai, was born in New York City but grew up in Cincinnati and Connecticut. Her father is folk musician Robert L Jones.

The pressure on Jones will be immense.

“There’s a code to what makes Vanity Fair Vanity Fair. And Jones has to get it, or better still invent her own, and do it fast, or else she’ll screw up,” one insider told The Guardian.

Jones, 44, had senior roles at Time and the Paris Review before becoming book editor of the New York Times. The position seems hardly a stepping stone for the glamour, power driven Vanity Fair. But maybe that’s the point. Perhaps in Jones they see someone that can make the publication more accessible.

“She needs to build the Vanity Fair community among digitally savvy celebrity-obsessed fashionistas without destroying the dream – how to be inclusive while still being exclusive,” said media consultant Peter Kreisky to the Guardian.

For now, Jones is keeping her plans close to the vest.

“I need to get oriented first — there’s a lot to take in,” she said to the Times. “I’m just really interested in discovery.”

Radhika Jones told Vanity Fair that the one thing she would like people to know about her is: "I'm an omnivore, culturally speaking, and story-wise too. I'm always ready to be interested in something. That's my default position."

(Views from the Edge contributed to this report.)

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MLB and Asian Americans take one more look at the World Series racist kerfuffle

Yuli Gurriel's racist gesture was caught by TV cameras.

THE WORLD SERIES is long over but the incident where one of the players made a racist gesture to an Asian player on the opposing team still continues to be a source of conversation during MLB meetings held last week in Orlando.

For those of you who don't have the time to surf the Internet, let me bring your attention to this article in TheAthletic.com in which some prominent Asian Americans react to punishment meted out to Houston Astros player Yuli Gurriel.

During Game 3 of the series, after Gurriel hit a home run off of Dodger starter Yu Darvish, who is from Japan, Gurriel did the slanted eyes-bit from the dugout and called Darvish, "chinito," which translates into "Little Chinese" but, as we learned later, is a term applied to all Asians in some Latin countries.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred acted quickly and the next day announced his punishment: Gurriel would be suspended without pay for the first five games of next season.

Fans reacted as might be expected. Houston fans gave Gurriel a loud standing ovation the next game when Gurriel came up to bat. Dodger fans, in contrast, showered the Cuban player with a continuous loud unremitting chorus of boos when the series returned to Los Angeles in Games 6 and 7.

While Darvish, a native of Japan, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who is half Japanese, was forgiving of the Cuban ballplayer, some prominent Asian/Americans believe Manfred and baseball struck out by failing to give Gurriel a more immediate, resounding punishment—a one-game suspension during the Series.

RELATED: Ballplayer receives 5-day suspension for racist gesture

The Japanese American Citizens League executive director, David Inoue, issued a statement on Oct. 28 critical of baseball for postponing Gurriel’s suspension and said he sent a private message to Manfred as well.

“MLB did drop the ball on this by not doing something during the World Series,” said the statement. “There were some people who were calling for a suspension for the rest of the World Series. But one game, that sends the message that look, this is an issue that is more important than the game, that is above the competition of this game and strikes to the core of the values of the organization. They made the value judgment that, ‘Racism is going to be OK, and we’ll accept it in this situation,’”

“For me, this was the one opportunity for Major League Baseball to show its hand with respect to honor or dishonor,” said Don Yee, a sports agent who represents Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. “And I felt that if the commissioner had issued a one-game suspension during the World Series, for me, as an Asian-American, it would have said that Major League Baseball is a game of honor, irrespective of how big the World Series is.”

Manfred told The Athletic last week that he was aware that his decision was met with less-than-unanimous approval. “I’ve had communication from advocacy groups. I’m aware some people don’t agree with the discipline,” Manfred said. “I’ve tried to be thoughtful about accepting their input on the issue.”

Yee, however, said the issue is particularly sensitive for Asian/Americans, many of whom believe discrimination against them is taken less seriously than racist insults against other minorities, and that Gurriel’s punishment might have been harsher if his gesture had been directed at, say, an African/American, Jewish or gay player.

To many Asian/Americans the delayed suspension was a case of a missed opportunity. MLB whiffed.

READ the entire article here.

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Judge calls threat vs. sanctuary cities 'unconstitutional'

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Demonstrators at San Francisco's City Hall.

IN ANOTHER LEGAL SETBACK, a judge ruled that Donald Trump's threats to cut federal funding to so-called sancturary cities is "unconstitutional on its face."
U.S. District Judge William Orrick Monday (Nov. 20) permanently blocked Trump's executive order that sought cities' assistance in arresting, detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants.

The Trump administration had threatened to cut federal law enforcement grants from cities or counties that fought Trump’s efforts to combat undocumented immigration and said it would publicly shame localities that failed to comply with attempts to increase deportations.

“The counties have demonstrated that the executive order has caused and will cause them constitutional injuries by violating the separation of powers doctrine and depriving them of their Tenth and Fifth Amendment rights,” Orrick wrote.

The city and county of San Francisco and Santa Clara County argued that cooperating with immigration authorities in its efforts to deport immigrants would hurt its own law enforcement efforts, especially among immigrant communities.

RELATED: Orrick upholds ruling against Trump punishing 'sanctuary' cities

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee applauded the ruling, declaring the city “is and will remain a sanctuary city. We know that sanctuary cities are safer, healthier and more productive places to live.” 

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration, called the decision “a victory for the American people” and said the case was “a check on the president’s abuse of power.”

“This executive order was unconstitutional before the ink on it was even dry,” Herrera said in a statement. “This president and his administration have been trying to twist facts, stoke fears and demonize immigrants to score cheap political points. The American people are too smart for that.”

"The only way to stop a bully is to stand up to him. That’s what San Francisco has done," said Herrera.

Orrick strongly considered Trump’s own statements and threats in writing his ruling, including an instance where the president said he would use the executive order as “a weapon” against jurisdictions that disagreed with his policies.

A lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice  argued during a hearing before Orrick in April that the executive order applied to only a few grants for Santa Clara County and possibly no money for San Francisco.

READ Judge Orrick's decision here.

But the judge disagreed, saying in his rulings that the order was written broadly to "reach all federal grants" and potentially jeopardized hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to San Francisco and Santa Clara.

He cited comments by the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions as evidence that the order was intended to target a wide array of federal funding. And he said the president himself had called it a "weapon" to use against recalcitrant cities.

As recently as last Wednesday, the Justice Department told 29 states, cities or counties it believes they are violating a law prohibiting them from limiting information sharing with U.S. immigration officials, and it asked them for details on their compliance.

The move, which could result in the jurisdictions being added to a list of five other cities and counties the government says are violating federal law, widens the effort by President Donald Trump to cut money to so-called sanctuary cities. His administration says these places shelter immigrants living in the country illegally.

The DOJ said that it would appeal Orrick's decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ten days after Trump's Inauguration, San Francisco became the first entity to sue Trump over his executive order to strip federal funding from “sanctuary jurisdictions.” Santa Clara County and other local governments soon followed.

San Francisco had about $2 billion at stake. That included $1.2 billion in annual operating funds, or about 13 percent of San Francisco’s budget; and another $800 million in multi-year federal grants that are not part of the annual operating budget and used primarily for large infrastructure projects, like bridges, roads and public transportation.

That lawsuit is the first of two that Herrera has brought against the Trump administration over federal funding for sanctuary cities.

The second lawsuit, filed Aug. 11, seeks to invalidate grant conditions that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions separately sought to place on a group of U.S. Department of Justice grants for local law enforcement. Those conditions came after the court preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the first executive order in April. That case is ongoing.

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Bruno Mars wins entertainer of the year at AMA

Bruno Mars thanks his fans via a video.

THE LAST TIME Bruno Mars won at the American Music Awards was in 2011.

Last night, the Hawaii-born Filipino/American artist made up for the 6-year dry spell by winning seven awards, including entertainer of the year. Mars also won video of the year and favorite male artist, pop/rock, favorite soul/R&B album and favorite pop/rock album.

Hailee Steinfeld

Mars wasn't able to accept the award in person because he is in the middle of his 24K tour. He did appear in a video - that was shot as he was traveling in a van - to thank his fans.

Other Asian and Asian/American artists who made an impression included Filipino/American Hailee Steinfeld, who joined Alesso and Georgia Line, to sing "Let Me Go."

Making their first U.S. national TV debut was the Korean boy band BTS singing in Korean. What was surprising that the group's young fans sang along. Judging by the wild enthusiastic reception, we'll be hearing more about this group.

When was the last time we had three AAPI and Asian entertainers on a major U.S. music awards show?

Korean boy band BTS made a strong impression at the AMA.

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Hate crimes rising, says FBI report

The biggest increase in hate crimes occurred against Muslim Americans.

HATE CRIMES are becoming more commonplace, according to a report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The number of hate crimes committed in the U.S. rose in 2016 for the second consecutive year, with African Americans, Jews and Muslims targeted in many of the incidents, the FBI said on Nov. 13 in its annual report.

There were 6,121 hate crime incidents recorded last year, an almost 5 percent rise from 2015 and a 10 percent increase from 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hate Crimes Statistics report said. The report did not give a reason for the rise.

The increase in hate crimes is not news for people of color. Unfortunately, for POC, it has become a fact of life. More than half of the reported incidents was related to race. 

Corey Saylor, a spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) who focuses on Islamophobia, said the results "confirms everything we've already known ... Hate crimes went up."

“The FBI’s hate crimes statistics underline that violence has become a fact of life for our communities,” said Suman Raghunathan, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).

Hate crimes against Asian/Americans have become so prevalent that several agencies created their own websites have been established to keep track on those incidents of hate because law enforcement agencies don't do a good job keeping tabs on the AAPI community.

READ the entire Hate Crimes Report.

Since the 2016 US election, in its own survey, SAALT has documented over 205 incidents of hate violence aimed at South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Arab, and Middle Eastern Americans, a 58% increase from the previous year.

African/Americans were targeted in about half the 3,489 incidents based on race, ethnicity or ancestry, the FBI report said, followed by whites, who were targeted in 720. Hate crimes against AAPI people made up 3.3 percent of the recorded incidents.

About half the 1,273 incidents that involved religion were against Jews. Muslims were targeted in 307 religion-based crimes, up 19 percent from 2015 and double the number in 2014.

There were 1,076 incidents involving lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people, with almost two-thirds of those targeting gay men.

AAPI individuals were responsible for less than 1% of the hate incidents, according to the report, while 2,671 (46.3 percent) of all known perpetrators were white. The number does not include the 18.1 percent of offenders whose races were either unknown or unreported by law enforcement agencies. Black and Latinx people accounted for 26.1 percent and 5.9 percent of offenders, respectively. Indigenous people made up less than 1%.

The rise of white supremacists coincides with the election of Donald Trump and the rise in hate crimes.
Whites commit most of the hate crimes.

What is even more disheartening, the FBI numbers are most certainly an undercount. The FBI report is based on data that is voluntarily collected and shared by 15,000 law enforcement agencies. Thousands more agencies don't even bother to collect that data. Five states - Wyoming, Indiana, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina don't even have hate statutes. Hawaii didn't submit any data for this report. More than 80 cities with more than 100,000 residents reported no hate crimes or simply ignored the FBI's request for data.

The data doesn't reflect all the incidents spurred by hate. In order for an incident to be called a hate crime, a crime actually has to be committed. Thus, the white supremacist rally prior to the march in Charlottesville earlier this year was not a crime. Chanting "Jews will not replace us" and carrying tiki torches is not a crime. Free speech is protected by the First Amendment.

The report doesn't count all the bullying incidents that occur on school grounds because no crime has been committed. In most cases, schools would just list it as a school yard incident if no one is physically hurt.

The results are the most comprehensive for 2016, a year which saw the Trump campaign - which ran on a nativist, anti-immigration platform - triumph over Hillary Clinton in what many called the biggest political upset in modern US history.

“The significant increase [in hate crimes] over the last two years coincides with Donald Trump’s racist, xenophobic campaign and its immediate aftermath. We reported a surge in hate crimes and other bias-related incidents—many of them carried out in Trump’s name—in the days after the election,” the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement.

The words of our political leaders have consequences, continued the SPLC statement. "President Trump has energized the radical right with his xenophobic rhetoric and has given bigots a license to act on their worst instincts. The most vulnerable people in our country are paying the price."

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Mother shot four times as she shielded her children from Tehama killer

PHOMMATHEP PHOTO

The Phommathep children were wounded by the Tehama shooter.

ASAM NEWS

A QUIET DRIVE HOME to Rancho Tehama after a quick trip to Sacramento turned into a day of terror for Tiffany Phommathep and three of her sons.
Phommathep was nearing an intersection in her Ford F-250 crew cab when authorities say Kevin Janson Neal bumped her from behind. Neal is the same man who killed his wife and went on to kill four others and injure 12, including six children. 

After bumping her, Neal then drove up alongside her and began firing.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Phommathep was shot four times in the back of her left shoulder. Another bullet was lodged in her intestine. Through it all, she shielded her son John Jr who was sitting in the passenger seat to her left. He was shot twice.

Two children sitting in the back suffered minor injuries-six-year-old Jake was shot in the foot and two-year-old Nikos was cut by glass.

Neal is the same man who killed his wife and went on to kill four others and injure 12, including six children. He was eventually shot and killed by police.

“I was just praying. Every bullet that hit me, I was praying he’d stop. Or run out of ammo,” said Phommathep to KXTV.

The mother who has a license to carry a concealed handgun pulled it out to defend her family, but says Neal drove quickly away before she could get off a shot. All she could think of was her children.

“I want to get better so I can be with my kids. I just want to see them grow,” said Phommathep.

“She was in so much pain, but she had to protect her kids,” said her husband Johnny Phommathep to the LA Times. “She said the gun felt like it was a thousand pounds, and it was like there was lava in the back of her shoulder.”

She continued to drive looking for help, but at least four people ignored her pleas including one who told her she didn’t want to be late for work.

It wasn’t until she ran into Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston that someone would help her.

“I was just relieved that even if I stopped breathing at that moment, then I wouldn’t have left my kids stranded with nobody [and if the gunman returned] get gunned down,” she said.

Phommathep is expected to be in the hospital at least another two weeks. A Go Fund Me page set up to help the family has raised just over $50,000 of its $70,000 goal.
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