US Supreme Court denies new trial for Adnan Syed, subject of the 'Serial' podcast

Adnan Syed

The long trial and tribulations for Adnan Syed appears to have run its course as the US Supreme Court Monday (Nov. 25) rejected his bid for a new trial spurred by information uncovered by the hit podcast "Serial."

The justices left in place without commenting the ruling by Maryland's highest court that denied a new trial for Syed, who was convicted of murdering classmate and ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. 

Syed was found guilty in 2000 for killing 17-year old Lee and burying her body in a Baltimore park.  He was sentenced to a life term.

Syed’s lawyers had argued that his trial lawyer’s failure to investigate an alibi witness violated his right to competent legal representation.

"Two courts have said he deserves a new trial, and then Maryland's highest court reversed that. We think it's appalling," Brown told NPR. "We think this is a grave injustice. The way this has played out is sickening."

“We are deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court but by no means is this the end of Adnan Syed,” defense attorney C. Justin Brown told The Associated Press. “There are other legal options and we are exploring each and every one of them.”

Syed's case attracted an international following when it was featured in NPR's 12-part podcast in 2014. His case seemed to have a breakthrough in 2016 when a Maryland court ordered a new trial, citing an alibi witness that was never explored by Syed's defense attorney. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals agreed with the lower court.

However, in 2018, the Maryland Court of Appeals denied Syed a new trial.
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Jolibee opens North American HQ as Filipino fast food chain continues expansion

Philippines fast food giant Jolibee opened its store in Artesia, California in October.

ASAM NEWS

Filipino fast food chain Jollibee plans to open 250 North American stores by 2023, reports Daily Hive.

Along with this expansion news, Jollibee also announced the opening of new North American headquarters in West Covina, California.

The red-and-white bee logo on the new headquarters off the I-10 will be visible as people enter and exit the city. According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, West Covina mayor Lloyd Johnson said the city is looking forward to telling people it is the home of Jollibee.

In the Philippines, Jollibee is a dominant leader that beats out McDonald’s and Burger King in popularity and market shares, according to CNBC Make It. Its parent company, Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), is one of the world’s fastest growing Asian restaurant companies and has over 230 international branches, CultureMap Dallas reports.

“North America is a key growth market for us at Jollibee to achieve our goal of becoming one of the top 5 restaurant companies in the world,” said Jollibee Foods Corporation’s chief executive Ernesto Tanmantiong.

There are currently 46 Jollibee restaurants in the United States and Canada, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports. Jollibee’s first America store was in California and opened in 1998.

According to CNBC Make It, Jollibee said it had “record-setting, double-digit sales growth” in the U.S. in 2017. Store openings in America have attracted crowds, and social media influencers have contributed a role in increasing interest through videos trying Jollibee’s menu.

Jollibee credited its worldwide appeal to its flagship product, Chickenjoy. The hand-breaded fried chicken made with a secret marinade has been praised for being crispy and juicy.

″[Jollibee] is going to be up there when we talk about Chick-fil-A and KFC, who’s got the best chicken?” Kara Nielsen, vice president of trends and marketing of the food and beverage consulting firm CCD Helmsman told CNBC Make It. “That I could see happening.”

Jollibee’s menu also includes Jolly Spaghetti, served with the Filipino staple banana ketchup as well as cheese and hot dog slices. The company also lists its Peach Mango Pie, which combines peaches and Philippine mangoes, as a fan favorite. 

Two Jolibee favorites: Spaghetti and fried chicken.

“One of the key things really is that it’s popular food — fried chicken, pasta, pies — but it’s twisted in a different way that’s very true to Jollibee in its uniqueness,” Jose Minana, Jollibee’s North America group president, told CNBC Make It. “It’s almost like a mosaic of different flavors, it’s not just that one blanket that fits all.”

Minana added that Jollibee was encouraged by the US reception at the October opening of a Manhattan location where there is not necessarily a large population of Filipino Americans.

“It’s very humbling when [people] share their gratitude for us coming here, saying, ‘Thanks for giving us a new way of eating,’” Minana said.

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Filipinos, Native Hawaiians have more health risk factors than other AAPI groups

Kaiser findings suggest value in identifying AAPI patients’ 

ethnic backgrounds in medical records

By Jan Greene
Kaiser Permanente

Asian Americans from different parts of Asia have very different cardiovascular risk factors and chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, research from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research suggests.

The study released Sunday (Nov. 24) found that overall, Filipinos and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders had significantly more risk factors and chronic disease prevalence than other Asian American ethnic groups. Prevalence among Filipinos and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders was similar to that for blacks and Latinos, two groups that have been the focus of health disparities research.

“Based on a relatively small body of previous research, we suspected that we would see differences,“ said lead author Nancy Gordon, ScD, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. “But we didn’t expect them to be so large. For instance, Filipino Americans in the study were twice as likely to have diabetes than those of Chinese ethnicity.”

The study, published in BMC Public Health November 25, used electronic health record (EHR) data for 1.4 million adults aged 45 to 84 who were Kaiser Permanente Northern California members during 2016. The researchers identified 274,910 Asian Americans using race and ethnicity information from the EHR and patient surveys.

They assigned the patients to Asian subgroups, including Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian and South Asian. They also studied Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, who are grouped together separately in epidemiological research.

The study examined prevalence of smoking, obesity (using both standard and Asian-specific classifications), and diagnoses of diabetes, hypertension, and coronary artery disease.

Other findings of the research included:

• Diabetes prevalence ranged from a low of 15.6% for Chinese to 31.9% for Filipinos and 34.5% for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

• Obesity using standard BMI measurement ranged from 7.6% among Koreans and Southeast Asians to 43.6% among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, 20.8% among Filipinos, 20% among South Asians, and 19.7% among Japanese.

• Using a separate BMI threshold recommended for Asians, obesity prevalence ranged from 19% among Southeast Asians, Koreans, and Chinese to 36% to 40% among Japanese, South Asians, and Filipinos; it was 60% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders. Prevalence was higher among men than women in most subgroups, except South Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders

• Smoking rates were 3% for South Asians, 4.8% for Chinese, 7.3% for Southeast Asian and Filipino, 7.7% for Korean, and 10.4% for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders.

The research team didn’t attempt to explain the reasons for the differences. The authors plan to further study issues such as the role of obesity in varying diabetes prevalence and how social determinants of health and psychosocial risk factors relate to differences in chronic illness prevalence among Asian ethnicities.

The information could identify patients who are more likely to have cardiovascular risks and chronic conditions, allowing physicians to carry out earlier screening and more frequent monitoring, said coauthor Joan Lo, MD, a research scientist with the Division of Research. 

“This could become even more important as physicians increasingly see patients by video or phone visits that don’t involve collection of vital signs that can track small changes in health status,” she said.

The findings could also be of interest to health researchers and population health managers, Gordon said. Having more granular Asian ethnicity data in the EHR would allow health systems to track quality metrics specific to Asian ethnic groups.

Asian ethnicity information could also help organizations enhance delivery of equitable and culturally competent care by offering ethnicity-tailored dietary assessments and patient education resources, Gordon said. They could also use it to build a workforce whose ethnic diversity mirrors the patient population, she added.

The study was funded by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Program.

Sunday Read: Analysis ... Yang's got a beef with MSNBC; he says he's being marginilized

 Candidate asks for apology from network

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

MSNBC coverage of Andrew Yang has been lacking, says the candidate and his supporters.

Being interviewed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer, presidential candidate Andrew Yang, is genuinely aggrieved by the treatment he's receiving from rival network MSNBC, which seems to be giving him short shrift as compared to other candidates.

It would seem to be simply an oversight, but Yang has been marginilized enough times by the news network to make one suspect that something more nefarious is at work here.

Blitzer asked Yang about his recent performance on the debate held Nov. 20. “It went on for more than two hours. You only got to speak and we did some checking, you can see over there, about six and a half minutes or so. That’s probably half that some of the other candidates got. Do you think that was fair?”

In his typical, nonconfrontational style, Yang then proceeded to explain why he felt slighted. “America saw it, and I went 32 minutes without a question and I was raising my hand trying to get a word in edgewise during that time,” he noted, adding “So when you all (CNN) moderated the debate it was straight up the middle, it was professional and we got real substantive topics.”

MSNBC invited Yang to speak Saturday (Nov. 23) but the candidate turned them down. Yang told CNN he’d be “happy” to appear on the network if they’ll “apologize on-air” to him, presumably for how he was treated at the debate.

The lopsided time allotted Yang was obvious during the debate when members of the Yang Gang got on social media and started the hashtag #LetYangSpeak.

The day after the debate, protesters gathered outside of the MSNBC-hosted debate on Wednesday night in defense of 2020 presidential hopeful Andrew Yang, with many of them accusing the liberal network of a negative bias.

Members of the #YangGang were seen chanting "M-S-N-B-C, hands off our democracy!" at the Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, the site of the Democrats' fifth debate.

Yang received the least amount of speaking time of the 10 participants on the debate stage with 6:48, roughly half of the time Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., received.

In a recent Iowa poll from CNN and the Des Moines Register, the entrepreneur reached 3 percent support, tying him with Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., along with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and billionaire donor Tom Steyer.

SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC

Andrew Yang is missing from a recent MSNBC graphic even though he polled at 3%.

However, in an on-air graphic of that poll, Yang was missing from the roster -- even though it included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who polled at 2 percent, and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., at 1 percent.

"Why does @MSNBC keep leaving out @AndrewYang on their graphics (actually at 3% here)?" political commentator Ian Bremmer asked Sunday. "This has happened on a number of occasions, I haven’t seen with any other candidate. It’s not just a slip-up. Unacceptable."

MSNBC offered an apology to Yang later Sunday, claiming it "inadvertently" left him off the graphic and shared a graphic that included him as well as the several candidates who had polled at zero percent.

The Yang campaign didn't seem to welcome the apology. It was not the first time Yang has been left off MSNBC graphics.

"Thank you @MSNBC, for making this apology for the 15th time. The #YangGang is very excited for #16," Yang campaign manager Zach Graumann reacted.

The candidate later tweeted his disgruntlement with MSNBC.

We can expect an occasional misstep by MSNBC, but if what Yang has claimed, the network has left him out of the conversation at least a dozen times. That's inexcusable and unacceptable.

Bovada, which tracks betting odds for the candidates, says: "If you asked us about Andrew Yang’s chances of winning when he first announced his intentions to run for President, we would have answered with a ‘probably not’. However, we’ve seen him connect with voters very easily, particularly younger voters, and with the improved odds we’ve seen from bookmakers, we definitely are not ruling him out. Yang has seen a recent surge in his odds as his social presence has soared and he secured a spot in the upcoming Presidential debate scheduled later this year in June."

No matter the outcome of the primaries, one cannot discount what Yang has been able to accomplished. What Yang has done, coming from nowhere to become one of the top six candidates for the Democrats is nothing short of extraordinary. With no national organization or party backing, he has become a viable candidate by introducing ideas and issues such as the Universal Basic Income, or as he calls it, the "Freedom Dividend," to talking about 21st century topics such as the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence in the context of what he calls the "fourth industrial revolution."

Yang's treatment by one of the major networks is something most Asian Americans are familiar with. We are too often shunted aside and go unheard, spoken over and ignored. We are too familiar with being marginalized. 

Yang is resonating with the youth and disaffected. As hard as MSNBC would like to admit, although he is unlikely to win the Democratic nomination next summer, he deserves to be treated as a serious candidate and with respect. 

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Congress: Stephen Miller, Trump's man for immigration, has got to go

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

White House senior adviser Stephen Miller is credited for Donald Trump's immigration policy proposals.

In the run-up to the 2016 election, White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller promoted white nationalist literature, pushed racist immigration stories and obsessed over the loss of Confederate symbols after the Charleston church massacre, according to leaked emails reviewed by Hatewatch.

More than 100 Democratic members of Congress are demanding the firing of senior White House aide Stephen Miller after e-mails that contain white nationalist sentiments he sent as a congressional staffer were leaked. Miller is credited for the racist policies proposed by Donald Trump including the wall with Mexico, the Muslim ban, the deportations of Southeast Asian refugees, the separation of refugee children from their families and doing away with family reunification as a priority.

"A documented white nationalist has no place in any presidential administration, and especially not in such an influential position," the representatives wrote recently in a letter to Donald Trump. "Miller's white supremacist influence on your immigration policy, and it seems like that his perfidious adherence to extremist ideology has shaped your administration in ways that are not yet public."

Last week the leaders of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), and  issued a joint statement calling for Stephen Miller’s resignation, following a report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center documenting multiple instances in which Stephen Miller espoused white nationalist beliefs and vilified communities of color and immigrants in leaked emails to Breitbart.

“It’s clearer than ever that Stephen Miller is a far-right white nationalist with a racist and xenophobic worldview. His beliefs are appalling, indefensible, and completely at odds with public service,” said CPC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Pramila Jayapal, CBC Chair Karen Bass (CA-37), CHC Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and CAPAC Chair Judy Chu (CA-27). 

"As documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Steven Miller has embedded himself in white nationalist doctrine for years, including promoting racist propaganda from fringe sites like VDARE and InfoWars. And as the chief architect of the Muslim Ban and cruel family separation policies, Stephen Miller has spent the last three years turning his bigotry into policy — with President Trump’s blessing,” read the letter, which was sent Thursday (Nov. 21).

In their letter, the members of Congress link the white nationalist sentiments in the email with policy produced by the White House.

"Stephen Miller's nativism was cited as a major impetus behind your decision to reject a bipartisan compromise immigration bill that would have protected Dreamers due to his belief that the compromise would not reduce enough documented immigration," the authors wrote. "Appallingly, Mr. Miller referred to refugees as 'foreign-born terrorists' in his e-mails, a belief which clearly translated to the unprecedented low ceiling on refugee admissions and even lower actual entrants at a time of the worst refugee crisis in history."

The representatives concluded that they "refuse to tolerate white nationalism and xenophobia in the White House" and that Miller "must be fired immediately."

Common Dreams reported Wednesday that tens of thousands of people have signed petitions demanding Miller's resignation or firing since the Breitbart emails were made public. Civil rights organizations including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Never Again Action, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have also said Miller must leave the Trump administration.

“We feel like it is up to us to point out the obvious — someone who writes, talks, and governs like a white nationalist is in fact a white nationalist. Stephen Miller is a white nationalist and he has no business serving in the White House,” the Congressmembers added. “As leaders in the Democratic Caucus, representing diverse constituencies who have been targeted by Stephen Miller’s hateful beliefs, we call for his resignation without delay.”

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Ex-CIA officer sentenced to 19 years for spying for China

Former CIA agent Jerry Chun Shing Lee.

A former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) case officer was sentenced Friday (Nov. 22) to 19 years in prison for spying for the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

According to court documents, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 55, Lee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver national defense information to aid a foreign government on May 1.

“Lee betrayed his own country for greed and put his former colleagues at risk. The seriousness of his betrayal and crime is demonstrated by today's sentencing,” said Timothy R. Slater, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office.

Lee left the CIA in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong. In April 2010, two Chinese intelligence officers (IOs) approached Lee and offered to pay him for national defense information he had acquired as a CIA case officer. The IOs also told Lee they had prepared for him a gift of $100,000 cash, and they offered to take care of him “for life” in exchange for his cooperation.

He was arrested in Honolulu in 2012. A search of his hotel room found a thumb drive and documents with sensitive information about his activities as a CIA officer.

“Mr. Lee served as a CIA officer and was entrusted with extremely sensitive national security information, and he broke that trust with no regard for the consequences,” said John Brown, Assistant Director of Counterintelligence for the FBI. “His actions aided a foreign government, hurt our national security, and jeopardized the safety of his former intelligence colleagues."

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Bay Area Filipino American community bands together to ensure accurate count for 2020 Census

ASAM NEWS

Filipino Americans and organizations from six Bay Area counties have formed regional Bay Area Filipino Complete Count Committee (BAFCCC) ahead of the 2020 census, NBC News Bay Area reports.

The BAFCCC’s goal is to ensure an accurate count of Filipinos in the Bay Area. Its tagline is ​“​Kabilang Tayo sa Kinabukasan​”, “Be Counted for our Future.” 

An accurate count, the committee says, will help give the Filipino community the financial resources and political representation it deserves.

Around 500,000 Filipinos live in the Bay Area. This means the Bay Area is home to roughly 12 percent of America’s Filipino population and 30 percent of California’s Filipino population.

The committee plans to use the knowledge and expertise of locals and community organizations to pinpoint which Filipinos in the Bay Area are most vulnerable to an undercount. It also has developed an outreach and education campaign to teach others how they can make sure they are counted. Recently, they partnered with the Oakland A’s and attended a game to share more information about the 2020 census.

Updates on the BAFCCC’s outreach campaign can be found on their Facebook page.

“If this strategy is working please make sure out communities all across the united states use this strategy to ensure that we are 4 million strong and we want to make sure that there are 4 million voices in the upcoming census 2020,”  said Geraldine Alcid.

RIP Wataru Misaka, he broke the color line in pro basketball

ABC

Wataru Misaka, 1923-2019

Before Jeremy Lin, before Yao Min, even before Earl Lloyd, who in 1950 was the first black player in the National Basketball Association, there was Wat Misaka.

Wataru “Wat” Misaka, an Ogden native who was recognized as the first person of color to play in the NBA, died Wednesday (Nov. 20) in Salt Lake City, the Sports Department of the University of Utah announced.

Misaka was 95.

A graduate of Ogden High School, Misaka played for Weber Junior College in his hometown and then joined the Utah program. The 5-foot-7 guard contributed to Utah’s victory over Dartmouth in the 1944 NCAA championship game at Madison Square Garden in New York and to the team’s 1947 NIT title, alongside Arnie Ferrin, who remained a lifelong friend.

In 1947, he was drafted by the New York Knicks, making him not only the first Asian American but also the first player of color to play professionally in the Basketball Association of America in 1947. The BAA was one of the NBA’s two forerunners along with the National Basketball League before the new league was established in ’49.

“We achieved things that a lot of people never will,” Ferrin said Thursday (Nov. 21). “He made us a better team and made me a better person. I can’t say I had anybody I enjoyed being around more than Wat."

Only later did Misaka recognize how he had inspired other Japanese Americans during World War II, as they were “really searching for their identity and to be accepted,” he once said.

A 2008 documentary titled “Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story” enabled even his former Utah teammates to understand more about what he went through in college, hearing racial taunts from fans and having his family endure harsh experiences.

“I’m not sure if we were aware of some of the pressures he had to overcome,” Ferrin once said.

That’s why Wisaka is remembered as being “bigger than the game of basketball,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said in a statement.

He played in only three games for the Knicks before being released. 

After turning down an opportunity to play for the Harlem Globetrotters, he returned to Utah and completed his degree in engineering.

He is survived by a son and a daughter.

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The Impeachment Proceedings: The immigrants strike back

Marie Yovanovich, left, and Fiona Hill.

Three immigrants -- three patriots -- three public servants who chose to work for the good of their adopted country, gave powerful, compelling testimony this week in the impeachment hearings.

As an immigrant myself, Donald Trump's policies trying to limit immigration to the US is personal. So I was struck by the irony that these public servants, who have served both Democratic and Republican Presidents, gave testimony that blasted holes into the Republican defense of Trump's attempt to bribe Ukraine leaders with US military aid.

• Marie Yovanovich, The former Ambassador to the Ukraine, daughter of refugees from the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, that’s who. An immigrant, no less, who earned her citizenship.

• Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the White House's Russian expert, who as a young boy fled Russia with his family, to start over in a country that offered a better life. He earned a Purple Heart during his service in a war zone.

• Fiona Hill, the National Security Council expert and adviser on Russia who has written a book on Vladimir Putin. She was born a coal-miner's daughter from northern England and fulfilled her family's dream of becoming an American.

Despite pressure from the White House to block government employees from testifying in the House hearings to determine whether there are grounds for impeaching Donald Trump, these US citizens put Republicans on the defensive.

Yovanovich, the anti-corruption former Ambassador to the Ukraine and who was summarily recalled by the State Department, was attacked by Trump while she was testifying. She said she felt threatened and Trump's tweet/threat is being seen as witness tampering and possibly providing another reason for impeachment.

Even before Lt. Col. Vindman's gave his damning testimony, he was being smeared by the Trump synchophants, causing Rep. Krishnamoorthi to say, “I’m concerned” the smears are coming against you “because you’re an immigrant,” said Krishnamoorthi, referring to questions about him since he immigrated from USSR at a young age. “I assume you are as proud as being an American as I am,” Krishnamoorthi said, choking up
During her testimony in Thursday's impeachment inquiry hearings, Hill also called out GOP attacks against Yovanovich and Vindman. Her message, delivered in her clipped no-nonsense British accent had me cheering. "I think it's very unfortunate," she said. "This is a country of immigrants ... Everyone immigrated to the United States at some point in their family history. This is what, for me, really does make America great," she said. "I know for a fact that every single one of my colleagues — and there were many naturalized citizens in my office and across the National Security Council — felt exactly the same way. I think it's deeply unfair."

But Vindman didn't need anyone to stand up for him. He gave a moving opening statement, recalling his family's journey to the US.

“When my father was 47 years old, he left behind his entire life and the only home he had ever known to start over in the United States so that his three sons could have better, safer lives,” Vindman told the committee. “His courageous decision inspired a deep sense of gratitude in my brothers and myself and instilled in us a sense of duty and service. All three of us have served or are currently serving in the military. Our collective military service is a special part of our family’s story in America.”

In Russia, Vindman said, his “act of expressing my concerns to the chain of command in an official and private channel would have severe personal and professional repercussions and offering public testimony involving the president would surely cost me my life.”

SCREEN CAPTURE / MSNBC

LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN

“Dad, my sitting here today, in the US Capitol talking to our elected officials is proof that you made the right decision forty years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family,” Vindman said in the closing moments of his statement.

“Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.”

For Yovanovich, who has been in the foreign service for 33 years, "My service is an expression of gratitude for all that this country has given my family and me. My late parents did not have the good fortune to come of age in a free society. My father fled the Soviets before ultimately finding refuge in the United States. My mother’s family escaped the USSR after the Bolshevik revolution, and she grew up stateless in Nazi Germany, before eventually making her way to the United States. Their personal histories—my personal history—gave me both deep gratitude towards the United States and great empathy for others—like the Ukrainian people—who want to be free." 
Hill also set Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee back on their heels in her opening statement when she admonished them for playing right into the hands of Russian President Putin.

“Some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country, and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did,” Hill said. “This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves. The unfortunate truth is that Russia was the foreign power that systematically attacked our democratic institutions in 2016. This is the public conclusion of our intelligence agencies confirmed in bipartisan congressional reports. It is beyond dispute, even if some of the underlying details must remain classified."

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TGIF Feature: John Chu denies Brenda Song allegation that she wasn't Asian enough for 'Crazy Rich Asians'

ASAM NEWS

It was one quote in a long article about the career of Brenda Song, the woman dubbed the original Crazy Rich Asian for her role as London Tippin in the Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
In a profile in Teen Vogue, buried deep in the article, Song mentions her heart break when she said she couldn’t get an audition for the landmark film, Crazy Rich Asians.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but I never got to read for Crazy Rich Asians, ever,” she said to Teen Vogue. “Their reasoning behind that, what they said was that my image was basically not Asian enough, in not so many words. It broke my heart,” she says. “I said, ‘This character is in her late to mid-20s, an Asian American, and I can’t even audition for it? I’ve auditioned for Caucasian roles my entire career, but this specific role, you’re not going to let me do it? You’re going to fault me for having worked my whole life?’ I was like, ‘Where do I fit?’”

That quote was picked up by numerous publications including USA Today and Entertainment Weekly. Song’s disappointment had such an impact that director Jon Chu felt compelled to comment about it on social media.

Chuas said that’s not how it happened.



Chu followed up by explaining why Song didn’t get an audition. He said it wasn’t necessary because he’s already a fan and well aware of her work.

Song is half Thai and half Hmong. Her mom is Thai, but adopted into a Hmong family. So Song says she was raised primarily Hmong.

She told Teen Vogue she’s always been proud of where she came from even if her friends didn’t always understand. Song, to many Asian Americans, is remembered as the first Asian they ever saw on TV.

Currently, she’s part of an ensemble cast that includes Shay Mitchell and Kat Denning on Hulu’s Dollface.

Democratic Debate: Kamala Harris slams Tulsi Gabbard; Andrew Yang marginalized

Tulsi Gabbard, left, and Kamala Harris sparred with each other during the Democratic presidential debate.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Kamala Harris do not like each other. Their mutual dislike showed up when the two presidential aspirants clashed during the Wednesday debate among 10 of the candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

When asked to explain her attack against the 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in which Gabbard called the former Secretary of State the "rot" of the Democraic Party, the Hawaii congressmember said the Democrats "is not the party that is of, by and for the people."

The Samoan American lawmaker said she was running to end the "Bush-Clinton-Trump foreign policy doctrine of regime-change wars." Sure enough, before the debate was over, Gabbard's remark was tweeted out alongside a 100 emoji by the official Trump War Room Twitter account linked to the president's reelection campaign. 

The MSNBC panel asked Harris to respond to Gabbard's remarks and, she didn't hold back.

"It's unfortunate that we have someone on this stage … who during the Obama administration spent four years on Fox News criticizing President Obama," Harris answered. 

Harris noted that Gabbard had met with Donald Trump during the transition period after the 2016 election, saying she "buddied up to Steve Bannon to get a meeting" with Trump and criticized Gabbard for her unwillingness to label Syria's Bashar Al-Assad a "war criminal."

"What we need on this stage, in November, is someone who has the ability to win," said Harris.

“When Donald Trump was elected, not even sworn in, (Gabbard) buddied up to Steve Bannon to get a meeting with Trump in the Trump Tower, fails to call a war criminal by what he is — a war criminal — and then spends full time during the course of this campaign again criticizing the Democratic Party.”

Trump's campaign took advantage of Tulsi Gabbard's criticism of the Democratic Party.

Instead of explaining herself, Gabbard called Harris' remarks as lies and smears. She then wheeled back to her safe place by bringing up her military service.

Some called Harris' attack on Gabbard was payback for the second debate when Harris was caught by surprise when Gabbard blindsided the California Snator on her record as San Francisco's district attorney and California's Attorney General. Since that debate, Harris' poll numbers have been falling, dropping Harris out of the top tier of candidates.

Harris's performance was her best since the June debate when she criticized Joe Biden for his work with segregationists, allowing her to bring up a personal story of being bussed for school.

Later in the debate, Gabbard stumbled again when she clashed with Mayor Pete Buttigeig, who has risen in the polls to put himself among the top three candidates. Gabbard said that Buttigeig proposed sending US military into Mexico to fight the drug cartels. Buttigeig said that comment was taken out of context. When discussing future alliances with Mexico, he said that would include military assistance if asked, as the US provides with many of its allies.

Buttigieg counterattacked, saying that he has “enough judgment that I would not have sat down with a murderous dictator like” Syrian President Bashar Assad, with whom Gabbard met in 2017.

The third AAPI candidate, Andrew Yang, was largely ignored by the moderators. It wasn't until 32 minutes into the debate when he was asked a question.

Yang's marginalization was not imaginary. He was allowed only 6:53 minutes of speaking time. Meanwhile, Warren was given twice as much time, according to NBC.

GRAPHIC / NBC

His supporters began using social media with the hashtak #LetYangSpeak needling the moderators emphasis on Warren, Biden and Buttigeig.

Brian Yang, a regional fundraiser for Andrew Yang tweeted out the marginalization of the candidate "systemic racism."

The YangGang was quick to turn the negative into a positive by creating a button with #LetYangSpeak as its message.

Yang's best line of the evening came late in the debate when the entrepreneur was asked what he would say to Russian President Vladimir Putin if Yang won the presidency.

The audience laughed when Yang responded: "Well, I'd say, 'Sorry, I beat your guy ...'"

Yang followed up by saying he would make clear to Putin "the days of meddling in American elections are over."

The moderators seemed to focus on Warren, asking her questions about her health plan for the first 20 minutes of the debate and allowing her to rebut criticisms from other candidates.

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