MIND. BLOWN.

(as seen on Angry Asian Man)

--O.W.

A LOOK BACK AT THE MILLENNIUM

This morning, I was reflecting on how lucky we all are to have seen the dawn of a new millennium. Most humans never lived to see a new one, after all.

Moments later, a friend sent me the above and below clips of George W. Bush speaking.

While I was watching it, I stood at the edge of truly appreciating what humans in the year 3000 will think of humans in the year 2000.

They'll look back at these clips of the first person that the most powerful country on the planet elected to be its leader.

And they will feel smug and intellectually superior, secure in the belief that any society that elected George W. Bush as its leader must have been profoundly retarded.

--Junichi

READING ROOM

betel nut beauty?
Last time I was in Taiwan, driving out from Taipei and into the smaller cities on the island, I couldn't help but notice the preponderance of betel nut stands, most of them staffed by "provocatively" dressed, young women. The LA Times reports on the phenom in today's paper.

The Times also has a profile of Mirai Nagasu, the 14 year old skater from San Gabriel Valley who is set to be the next major U.S. skater. (Begin your Kwan/Yamaguchi comparisons now!)

And in unexpected Southland news, crime in Antelope Valley - which has taken it on the chin during the implosion of the real estate market - is actually down 10%; the lowest rate since 2001. Given the financial hardships in cities like Palmdale and Lancaster, conventional wisdom says the rate should climb but as some have suggested, changes in the crime rate do not always conform to expectation. That said, let's hope this trend continues elsewhere, especially the equally hard-hit Inland Empire.

--O.W.

MARK ANTHONY NEAL'S "LETTER TO MY DAUGHTERS"

the new First Daughters

Leave it to Mark Anthony Neal to pen a lovely letter to his daughters about both the social and personal significance of yesterday. (It occurs to me, since I keep noting that my own daughter is a bit too young to appreciate the weight of the moment, I should do that same).

Also, Jodi Kantor at the NY Times put together a strong story on this being the First Family of contemporary America. Let's hope they're not the last.

And Jay Smooth puts in his own message on the occasion:


Also, my man Mr. Lif has a new single out called "Obama."

--O.W.

WHAT'S REALLY REAL ABOUT TODAY

I don't know what the future will bring but this is a good start.

--O.W.

LIVE BLOGGING THE INAUGURATION

9:53pm: I'm going to leave the last words of the evening to George Packer, who, writing for the newyorker.com, ended his reflections on Obama's inaugural address by saying: "The most reassuring thought on this Inauguration Day is that we Americans always get the President we deserve."

---

8:15pm: Ok...Anderson Cooper thinks telling a band "hit it" is some kind of youthful hip-speak. Is Cooper secretly 73 but looks 30 years younger?

---

8:09pm: Now I'm watching footage from the Youth Ball again and now the First Couple is dancing to an instrumental (sounds like a brass band) version of "At Last." I hope Etta's getting residuals! (And seriously, they couldn't book Etta for this?)

---

7:24Pm: I'm watching the Obamas appearance at the Neighborhood Ball and it is very, very sweet and I don't mean to hate but seriously, I really wish Beyonce would stop singing "At Last." The song is just beyond her, like it is almost any singer not named Etta James (who, I may add, is not dead! They couldn't book her or something?)

This all said, you gotta say, the Obamas are a ridiculously attractive couple. That's not a criteria for making a good president but it doesn't hurt.

---

7:16pm: By the way, I'm sure it's already been said, but Obama's presidency promises to be one with the most Asian/Asian American involvement ever, including down to Michelle's gown maker (and of course, there's his half-sister, brother-in-law, niece, and cabinet appointees.

---

7:07pm: So I'm watching the Youth Ball and Kanye West is performing and I'm thinking about how much Kanye has emphasized the issue of "personal responsibility" in his stumping - including his inauguration speech today - and am wondering how this message will go over with cultural elites, especially artists like Kanye, Jeezy, Jay-Z and others who have been very vocal in support of Obama's candidacy and presidency but would also be prime targets for criticism in regards to the politics of "responsibility."

Also, I've only now been able to tune in and apparently, I've missed out.

---

2:32pm: Can Obama's campaign sue Pepsi for copyright infringement? Or just plain shamelessness?

---

1:50pm: The street anthem of the moment. (Jay-Z's remix of Young Jeezy's "My President Is Black."

---

1:47pm: Folks in S.F. replace the Bush Street signs with "Obama." (This happened back in Nov too).

---

1:26pm: This has been said countless, countless times but it is so extraordinary - just as a visual statement - to see the First Couple. Obama could keep silent the entire day and still make a profound statement.

In lighter news, Al Roker was probably the most entertaining guy on the MSNBC team today. Thank god Chris Matthews had to take off to do "Hardball" - provided, he's a lot less soporific than watching the PBS team but good god, does he go on and on. If he could, he'd probably talk over himself.

Meanwhile, I think feedback on Michelle Obama's dress preceded analysis of Barack's speech. A highlight from Slate.com's chatter: "The color was utterly weird and daring, a chartreuse-y yellow which, while it looked great with her coloring and the forest-green gloves she had on, seemed to carry no intrinsic message besides "I look awesome in this." (By the way: I don't know if J.Crew is publicly traded, but buy stock in them if they are. Their kids' line is about to blow up).

---

9:52am: J: I have to admit that the most moving part of this morning is watching the tears of people on the Mall. It's a very good day to be an American.

O: First time in a while (well, since Nov. 4).

J: Now, I'm going to balance out the solemnity of the day by watching the "Black Bush" skit from Chappelle Show.

J: I'm now watching George W. Bush enter a Marine Corps helicopter to head for retirement. Oh, happy day. Our long national nightmare is over.

(Junichi ducks out. Oliver might stay on for the parade but we'll see).

---

9:49am: J: By the way, I'm astounded -- dare I say, impressed -- that W didn't pardon all of his cronies and preemptively pardon himself. I thought Scooter Libby, Alberto Gonzales, Duke Cunningham were good bets on getting a pardon.

O: Yeah - are all his pardons public now?

J: The border patrol officers were the last to get pardons, I believe.

---

9:40am: O: [Regarding Rev. Lowery's benediction:] "When white will embrace what is right." Oh snap.

J: "Tanks beaten into tractors." I like that line.

O: Yeah but "When yellow will be mellow?" WTF does that mean? I guess yellow is hard to find a rhyme for.

J: "When it's yellow, let it mellow. When it's brown, flush it down."

O: He needs a better rhyme book.

J: Yellow does rhyme with fellow. "If you're yellow, you can be a White House fellow." Or, "If you're Oriental, you won't be seen as mental." ... It's too early. We should not live-blog before 10 am.

---

9:32am: O: I don't mean to sound like an a--hole but that sounded like a parody of what poetry sounds like.

J: To Alexander's credit, her poem is better than Maya Angelou's painful "A Rock, A River, A Tree" poem for Clinton's inauguration.

O: I forgot that. Was it that bad?

J: I appreciate Maya Angelou, but I remember being very disappointed with her poem. "On The Pulse of Morning" actually began with the line: "A Rock, A River, A Tree / Hosts to species long since departed / Marked the mastodon." I can name several dozen of my former Poetry for the People students and classmates who could have cranked out a much better poem.

---

9:28am: O: PBS just said he's "Barack Hussein Obama Jr.". He's a Jr?

J: I think that's wrong. Actually, it's right. He is a junior.

O: Wow.

J: Assuming Wikipedia is right.

---

9:23am: J: Even though he has only been president for a few minutes, his message to the rest of the world already and undoubtedly is improving this country's standing with the planet.

O: Yeah. I feel like the underlying, unsaid qualifier to every line is, "unlike my predecessor."

J: At last, he doesn't seem afraid to say the word "Muslim".

---

9:20am: J: As of now, this sounds a bit too much like a stump speech. I never thought I'd say this, but I could actually use more soaring rhetorical flourishes.

O: Really? I thought he has a lot of that too. But I hear you.

---

9:18am: J: Hearing him say "All deserve to pursue their full measure of happiness" is a bittersweet moment. I can't avoid thinking about how he opposes gay marriage.

O: Yeah, I had the same thought.

---

9:12am: J: I have to admit ... as the soon-to-be father of an Arab American child, I take great pride in hearing his whole name: Barack Hussein Obama, parts of which have Arab and/or Muslim origins. My son will surely have a name that is as far from "George Washington" as his.

---

9:06am: O: And here we are!

J: Did the Chief Justice just f* up this amazing historical moment?

O: I don't know. That whole thing seemed kind of stumbly.

J: For a brief second, I was alarmed when there were cannons firing at him as soon as he was sworn in.

O: Ha! Me too.

---

9:03am: O: [During the "Air and Simple Gifts" performance] I think I liked Aretha better.

J: If you had the chance to pick an inaugural poet and you were forced to choose a rapper, who would you choose?

O: I think Young Jeezy is aiming for 2012.

J: I would give MC Skat Kat a call.

---

8:59am: J: Trivia: When JFK was inaugurated, the person holding the Bible was not Jackie O, but the official clerk of the Supreme Court. That clerk was James R. Browning, who became a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge. And I served as a law clerk for Judge Browning in 1999. (That makes me only one degree away from JFK. Holla!)

---

8:54am: O: Aretha is rocking a BIG bow.

J: She looks quite thin by comparison.

O: Man, I can't believe she gets to sing "My Country Tis of Thee" for the incoming president. Hell yeah.

---

8:52am: O: I'm sure Jeremiah Wright would have killed this. I'm also looking forward to the day when the invocation is done by someone besides a Christian.

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8:50am: J: Do you believe either of us will live to see a president inaugurated with his hand on anything other than the Bible?

O: Yeah. I could see a Jewish or even Muslim President one day. Don't know about an atheist though! I guess he/she could put their hand on a Richard Dawkins book or something.

---

8:44am: J: Songs that would be awkward for Aretha Franklin to sing: "Chain of Fools," "Who's Zoomin' Who," "Mr. Big Stuff."

O: Ha. "Mr. Big Stuff" isn't her song though; that's Jean Knight.

J: Ok, let's go with "The Weight" instead.

---

8:43am: O: What's up with Barack H. Obama?

---

8:30am: O: You think Obama made a bad move with the Rick Warren invite?

J: Although Rick Warren is no Pat Robertson, I am very disappointed in the choice. I hold out hope, however, that his calculated decision will be a small footnote in history after Obama signs a national civil rights bill banning discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation. (Go ahead, call me naively optimistic.)

---

8:36am: O: People in Congress have some loooooong titles.

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8:31am: O: "O-Ba-ma" sounded like "No more Bush" to me. Either chant works! Also, PBS commentator on the Obama children and (presumably) their Blackness: "this is a day where symbolism actually means something." Yup.

J: Speaking of Natalie Maines, I know that she is one of thousands that have one of those "Bush's Last Day: 1.20.09" countdown keychains. How thrilling it must be to see it count down to zero and become obsolete.

---

8:27am: O: Obama kids are looking cute today (as usual). What is the what woman in front of them wearing though? Oof.

J: Rosalynn Carter looks amazingly good and -- dare I say it -- cute. I kind of have a crush on her. Don't tell Jimmy I have lust in my heart.

O: For real too: Laura Bush radiates charm that her husband couldn't muster a fraction of on his best day.

---

8:24am: J: I'm watching CNN. It's very surreal to hear Campbell Brown talk about the history of slavery, black men being 3/5ths of a human being, the fact that the Capitol building was built by slaves -- all while we're looking at pictures of a smiling Dan Quayle, Walter Mondale, and Al Gore.

---

8:18am: O: How bummed do you think Bush Sr. is about his son's legacy and what it's done to the Bush name.

J: Sadly, I suspect that Jeb is going to make a run in 2012 to try to fix that problem. They both seem to have powerful needs to impress their father.

O: From all accounts, Jeb was supposed to be next anyway. W jumped the line.

---

8:16am: J: Is Justice Scalia wearing a Kangol? I heard Justice Alito isn't here, which is really lame. He's probably still bitter that Biden/Obama voted against him.

Live-blogging is fun. Why don't we live-blog other things like the Teen Choice Awards or the upcoming Bruins/Rangers game?

O: I think we want to keep the two readers we have.

---

8:14am: O: Much as I like Rachel Maddow, it's really painful to also have to deal with Chris Matthews' incessant pattering. Switching over to the PBS feed now...

---

8:09am: Junichi's in the house! His opening thoughts:

J: Since junior high school, I knew I would be excited to see a person of color elected president. I never imagined, however, how that enthusiasm would be eclipsed by a passionate desire to see the existing administration go. For me, the relief in seeing an end to Bush's incompetence and crimes against humanity far exceed the joy of this significant but largely symbolic day. Any era where a country-western singer gets accused of treason for lightly criticizing the president is a dark chapter of this nation's history that I'm happy to see end.

---

7:58am: How long until a rapper shows up in a video with the same tricked out Presidential limo?

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7:45am: For those on the Presidential sartorial beat...Michelle Obama is looking (in the words of my wife) kind of Jackie O. today. Stylin! (Apparently it's Isabel Toledo but I have no idea what that means).

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7:39am: I don't mean to keep beating this dead horse, but a guest on MSNBC just said that this moment represented the "perfection of the nation" (in reference to the "a more perfect union" part of the preamble of the U.S. Constitution).

We're perfect now? Obama's inauguration is the salve for the wound of slavery (which the commentator implied)? Please be serious.

BTW: Yo Junichi - wake up, dude!

---

7:26am, 1/20: I feel like there should be a voiceover that intones, "this moment brought to you by George W. Bush".

But seriously, the number of peole out there on the Mall is incredible. On Nov. 4th, I had a brief impulse to want to fly the family out for the inauguration. I'm kind of regretting not going through with that.

Random: I was trying to figure out who the young Asian girl, sleeping through parts of the Lincoln concert was and thanks to Angry Asian Man, now I know: Obama's niece Suhaila.

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12:04am, 1/20: Cheney to observe inauguration from a wheelchair after injuring his back, moving boxes. The karma is delicious.

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10:37pm, 1/19: Hua Hsu just sent me this link to John Heilemann's criticism of the inaugural celebrations as being obnoxiously expensive ($125,000,000 - I had no idea) and just plain obnoxious. I think Heilemann makes some excellent points here, especially around the contrived nature of much of the proceedings. And talk about sticker shock. $125M (or more)? In this economy? I hope at least the money is going to help stimulate some part of local D.C. economy!

---

10:30pm, 1/19: Jeff Chang, updating his blog for the first time in a month, drops one of those "realest sh-- I ever wrote" posts.

---

8:24pm, 1/19: So tomorrow, if we can pull it off, I think Junichi and I will try to live-blog the inauguration (along with 310,103,908 other blogs). J may be too buried under work to join but I'm hoping he can.

NPR's Fresh Air had a great show today, interviewing civil rights pioneer John Lewis, followed by Ta-Nehisi Coates (of the Atlantic Monthly); both of them reflecting on what Obama's presidency/election means for American race relations, Black identity, and the current state of our culture and society. One of the more poignant moments during Terri's interview with Lewis came when she asked him: "of all the people you knew, who have passed, who would you have wanted most to have been able to see Obama's inauguration?" It's a helluva question but it's something I had pondered in November too and it was a moment mixed with profound sadness and humility in the midst of joy and elation.

I can only imagine what was going through Lewis' mind during that interview; there have been so many people who sacrificed for the struggle of civil rights - not just in the '50s and '60s, but through our current times - who didn't live to see Obama elected or sworn in. The one person I dwell upon is the late June Jordan, who I feel fortunate to have taken a class with at Berkeley in the early '90s (she died of cancer in 2002) in which we spent the entire semester discussing and probing the writings of both MLK and Malcolm X. I wish she could have lived to see tomorrow.

I think of Rosa Parks and of Shirley Chisholm, lost to us so recently. Of Thurgood Marshall and Fannie Lou Hamer. Of James Balwin. Of Martin and Malcolm. And more importantly, of all the people whose names we don't memorize but whose sacrifices through tears, sweat and all too often, blood, all went into making tomorrow possible.

On that note, I am very happy that Yuri Kochiyama is still with us and can bear witness.

And I do wish, a little, that my daughter were older so that she could appreciate the gravity of the moment (we tried watching the Lincoln show yesterday and she was utterly bored...not that I could blame her, I was too I suppose). But I'm also thankful that she'll grow up in a world where Obama's election may likely seem quite ordinary - for all the good reasons. That is also the possible world Junichi's child will be born into and it's not such a bad one.

--O.W.

ON THIS DAY

One of the things that has struck - and irked - me throughout the discussions of Obama's ascension has been the all-too-frequent invocation of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. Hey - I get it: it's a touchstone, transcendent moment in American history (or at least, has been made into one). Heck, when I was in 3rd grade, each of my classmates was assigned the task of reciting a great speech from American history and somehow, I ended up with "I Have a Dream" (note: some adult drew MLK's mustache on me but thankfully, no burnt cork!) so it's certainly been part of my life now for nearly 30 years.

However, it wasn't until I was considerably older that I had a better understanding of the context of Dr. King's comments, especially against the backdrop of his life's work. And when you understand that, it's a little hard to stomach when people (*cough cough* Samuel Jackson) say things on the step of the Lincoln Memorial such as "Dr. King's dream has now been realized/come to pass." Some variation on this refrain has been made countless times since election day and every single time, I wonder which "dream" of Dr. King's they were speaking of since I'm fairly certain "getting a Black person elected President" was not mentioned on August 23, 1963.

To quote:

"There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

This is part of what Dr. King meant by his dreams and aspirations for America. Some have come to pass - at least legally (though not necessarily in practice) - such as the desegregation of lodging. But one only needs to look at the murder of Oscar Grant and countless other examples of Black and Brown bodies under assault by police violence to know we haven't reached the promised land yet. The social mobility of African Americans - as a community - is still largely marginalized, even if specific individuals are exceptions to that rule (Obama being the most obvious example). And while the "For Whites Only" signs have come down, it doesn't stand to reason that alone means self-hood and dignity has been restored along with it.

Obviously, I can't speak for Dr. King but I think it's safe to assume that he would have seen Obama's election as a deeply meaningful step forward in the emancipation of a nation; not just for Blacks but for all peoples. However, that would not have been the fulfillment of his dream. Obama's election is symbolic - at least right now. Time will only tell if it's transformative for our nation as a whole and it's that transformation that is absolutely, irrevocably key to the "Dream" speech. So yes, it is a marvel to consider that tomorrow, the day after MLK's birthday, a Black man will be sworn in as President. I revel in that historic moment. But it's a small step in a larger movement that has yet to be fulfilled; that is far, far, far from being fulfilled.

That whole vision of "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers" can't be read into Obama's election. Far from how it's been spun, his election cannot be read as absolute proof of the transcendence of racial attitudes or resistance; as I tried to stress a few months ago, Obama's lost the White vote nationally (as has every Democratic candidate since LBJ). What has fundamentally changed in America since the 1960s isn't necessarily racial attitudes - it's demographics and that has as much to do with Obama's victory as any major shifts in beliefs or prejudices.

But I don't want to dwell on this.

On this day to celebrate MLK's life and work, the speech that comes most to mind isn't Dr. King's "I Have a Speech" but another, strikingly entitled sermon from 1957, "The Birth of a New Nation." He wasn't being merely symbolic but literal; much of the sermon was a condensed history of Ghana, given that it had just declared independence that year. Within that history, Dr. King extracted several allegories that he felt was relevant for Americans to appreciate. To quote a short excerpt that seems especially apropos for our current moment:

"There is a great day ahead. The future is on its side. It’s going now through the wilderness, but the Promised Land is ahead.

And I want to take just a few more minutes as I close to say three or four things that this reminds us of and things that it says to us—things that we must never forget as we ourselves find ourselves breaking aloose from an evil Egypt, trying to move through the wilderness toward the promised land of cultural integration. Ghana has something to say to us. It says to us first that the oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. You have to work for it. And if Nkrumah and the people of the Gold Coast had not stood up persistently, revolting against the system, it would still be a colony of the British Empire. Freedom is never given to anybody, for the oppressor has you in domination because he plans to keep you there, and he never voluntarily gives it up. And that is where the strong resistance comes. Privileged classes never give up their privileges without strong resistance.

So don’t go out this morning with any illusions. Don’t go back into your homes and around Montgomery thinking that the Montgomery City Commission and that all of the forces in the leadership of the South will eventually work out this thing for Negroes, it’s going to work out; it’s going to roll in on the wheels of inevitability. If we wait for it to work itself out, it will never be worked out. Freedom only comes through persistent revolt, through persistent agitation, through persistently rising up against the system of evil. The bus protest is just the beginning. Buses are integrated in Montgomery, but that is just the beginning. And don’t sit down and do nothing now because the buses are integrated, because, if you stop now, we will be in the dungeons of segregation and discrimination for another hundred years, and our children and our children’s children will suffer all of the bondage that we have lived under for years. It never comes voluntarily. We’ve got to keep on keeping on in order to gain freedom. It never comes like that. It would be fortunate if the people in power had sense enough to go on and give up, but they don’t do it like that. It is not done voluntarily, but it is done through the pressure that comes about from people who are oppressed.."

Lastly, some brief words from Dr. King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, delivered days before his assassination in Memphis:

Let us rise up tongith with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge, to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."

--O.W.

AMERICA THE MILQUETOAST?

If the Lincoln Memorial concert was supposed to be reflective of what the new America looks like...it looks a lot like Walmart's CD shelves.

As a cultural event (which it was as much as a civic one), it was just so banal. It's not like I expected Obama to ask Animal Collective and Lil Wayne to perform (together, natch) but pairing Betty Lavette with Jon Bon Jovi to sing "A Change Gonna Come" was deflating. As was going from inspirational footage of Marian Anderson singing "My Country Tis Of Thee" to...Josh Groban. Fail. Shakira and Usher? Garth Brooks singing "American f---ing Pie"? Really?

I didn't find the entire thing terrible (note: Pete Seeger >>> U2 tonight) but assuming the celebrity line-up wasn't picked randomly out of Entertainment Weekly's rolodex iPhone contacts, I didn't find it a particularly inspired vision of "America renewed."

Seriously, I'm genuinely surprised Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers weren't invited. Did they donate to McCain or something?

--O.W.

MILK: SEE THIS

I watched Milk last night and I have to say: it was easily the best film I saw out of 2008 in terms of its formal, filmmaking elements, its performances, and its inspired energy.

It was a remarkably, incredibly prescient film for 2008 - not just because of Prop 8 (though its dramatization of the fight against 1978's Prop 6 was an obvious, sobering parallel), but also given Obama's election and the idea that mass movements in the United States are still a possibility.

But that larger backdrop aside, the performances were phenomenal, especially Sean Penn who, to me, was completely unrecognizable from any other role I've ever seen him in. While, sentimentally, I like pulling for Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, I feel like Penn does the better "acting" job here. James Franco is very good, Emile Hirsch is great and Josh Brolin as Dan White was incredible too, imbuing White with a nuance that gives his character such depth beyond "the guy with the Twinkies defense." Did I mention that Penn smiles, a lot? It's weird. But in a good way.

(Milk also further confirmed how downright trifling Slumdog Millionaire was. If people are looking for a "feel good" film, Milk's real-world message is >>>>>>> some fantasy about game shows and destiny.)

--O.W.

READING ROOM

their cultural reign...ended?
A few stories friends of mine have contributed in recent days:

In this month's The Atlantic cover story, Hua Hsu discusses "The End of White America". Hua's talking about the end of Whiteness as a normative identity in American culture (but certainly not the end of White racial privilege). An interesting idea to ponder in the days leading up to Barack Obama's inauguration.

Speaking of which, Ta-Nehisi Coates profiles Michelle Obama, also in The Atlantic and he and Hua chop it up, blog-style.

Kai Ma reports on the (in)value of having a PhD in today's current academic market. This hits too close to home! (She did interview a few friends of mine though - and boy, are they salty!)

Ok, this one wasn't written by someone I know, but it's still interesting: Christopher Shea on how sociology is confronting the genetics of human behavior. Does this mean I should have listened to my mother and gone into medical sciences instead?

--O.W.

JUST TO BEAT THE HORSE DEADER

Reverand Al Sharpton lays it out kind of beautifully here:

"There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end brutality and poverty, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that God sent you. It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being [relegated] into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting adults from choosing their life partners."

"I am tired of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they're preaching, when the lights are off they go cruising for trade...We know you're not preaching the Bible, because if you were preaching the Bible we would have heard from you. We would have heard from you when people were starving in California--when they deregulated the economy and crashed Wall Street you had nothing to say. When Madoff made off with the money, you had nothing to say. When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren't there you had nothing to say. But all of a sudden, when Proposition 8 came out, you had so much to say, but since you stepped in the rain, we're going to step in the rain with you."

(Originally sourced here)

--O.W.

PROP 8 MAPS

not welcome in La Canada?

I think the ethics of a map like this - identifying individual donors to Prop 8 - are very much open to debate but I have to say - there is some fascinating demographic/geographic data to be explored here, in particular, the intersections between politics and wealth in specific neighborhoods (seriously, what's up with La Crescenta/La Canada in Los Angeles?)

(Thanks: HHH)

--O.W.

PLANET B-BOY TO AIR ON MTV

And now for something less contentious...

One of the better documentaries I've seen on so-called "hip-hop culture," - Planet B-Boy - is going to be airing on MTV starting this Sunday:

Sunday January 11:
- 11 am PST/EST (10 am CST)
- Midnight PST/EST (11 pm CST)

Wednesday January 14:
- 1:30 am PST/EST (12:30 am CST)
- 8 am PST/EST (7 am CST)
(Thanks to Angry Asian Man)

If you haven't seen it before, it's a very well done look inside the world of contemporary b-boying. Peep the trailer:


I also interviewed director Benson Lee for UCLA's Asia Pacific Arts.

--O.W.

TEEN PREGNANCY RATES UP

all her fault?
In my social issues class, my students can pick their own final research topics and I've been struck, this past semester especially, how much interest there is around teenage pregnancy (only homelessless comes close in popularity of topic). The bulk of that interest focuses on teenage pregnancy in the Latina community specifically - rates are significantly higher amongst teenage Latinas than it is for any other major ethnic group - but it looks like it's really a national trend these days.

A major report came out this week that says that rates of teenage pregnancy have increased in recent years, especially the last two, reversing a huge, 30%+ slide that began since the early 1990s. In the most recent year analyzed (2006-7), rates in over half the states increased, especially in the South.

As usual with these kind of studies - it's one thing so see the data, it's an entirely other thing to try to explain it and so far, most of the analysis has been strictly armchair. This is from USA Today's article:

rates have increased so widely isn't easy. Some blame a more sexualized culture and greater acceptance of births to unmarried women. Others say abstinence-only sex education and a possible de-emphasis on birth control may play a part. And just where abortion fits into the puzzle won't be known until late this year or early in 2010, when 2006 abortion data will become available from the New York City-based Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that has been tracking abortions since 1974. Government abortion statistics are based on voluntary state reports and do not include every state.

Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, says she is less inclined to believe abortion is driving higher teen birth rates and suggests that increases in high-profile unmarried births in Hollywood, movies and even politics is a significant factor for impressionable teens.

"In the last couple of years, we had Jamie Lynn Spears. We had Juno and we had Bristol Palin. Those three were in 2007 and 2008 and not in 2005 to 2006, but they point to that phenomenon," she says.

I'm not going to say popular culture doesn't have an impact but I always want to roll my eyes at the suggestion that a few high-profile pregnancies are really that influential. Maybe that's more because I tend to find too much put on pop culture, i.e. "Blame Juno! Blame Britney/Jamie!" which can be a red herring to avoid tackling some more difficult questions around public policy, family values, etc.

That said, I don't have a better explanation either. As my students have suggested through their research, in the Latino community, it's a combination of family and religious values (Catholicism and machismo, for example) and structural forces, such as the proportionate lack of family planning resources available in many Latino neighborhoods.

Also, I couldn't help but think of Margaret Talbot's fascinating "Red Sex, Blue Sex" article from the New Yorker last winter where she explains why teenage pregnancy rates are much higher in more socially conservative areas than liberal ones, despite the latter having more open-minded perspectives on sex in general. The key difference is really one influenced less by politics and more by class: liberal families tend to be more middle class and tend to teach their kids that teenage pregnancy comes with a heavy price in terms of holding people back from pursuing college or careers. In contrast, in socially conservative families closer lower down the class ladder, the actual impact of pregnancy may not be as severe since these are teens whose future prospects would have been limited by other factors, regardless of having to raise children. In other words, though sex may be stigmatized more in conservative areas, pregnancy is not. In liberal areas, the reverse is true. It's an interesting, qualitative argument to bring into the mix of thinking about this new bump (no pun intended) in the pregnancy rate.

And of course, there will be those who want to blame abstinence-only programs for failing to teach kids how to responsibly use birth control. Some recent studies paint a mixed picture of that. Judy Rosenbaum's whose recent John Hopkins' study has made a splash. There, she looks at a general body of teenagers who come from socially conservative communities, and then compares rates of sex and birth control use amongst those who take "virginity pledges" and those who don't. In her study, which has made quite a recent splash, the findings suggest that virginity pledges have no impact on when people have sex and furthermore, pledgers are less likely to use condoms once they do start having sex, thus increasing the possibility of pregnancy. That said, her study also found that most people first have sex around 21, which, if accurate, would age them out of the "teenage" demographic which this more recent NCHS study looked at.

However, contradicting some of Rosenbaum's study is another recent project, from the RAND Corporation, which found that amongst virginity pledgers, there's no difference in their rate of condom usage compared to non-pledgers. Their methodology was different from Rosenbaum's however - she crunched numbers based on federal health stats, whereas Steve Martino from Rand lead a team that did survey and interview research with randomly selected youth. (Martino's study did note, importantly, that condom use was lower for pledgers having sex for the first time compared to non-pledgers and though condom use quickly caught up between the two groups, as Murphy's Law tells us - the first time you have sex often seems like the perfect time to get pregnant.

In any case, I'll be curious to see how future studies try to explain this uptick in teenage pregnancy and what kinds of social policies will get proposed to address it.

--O.W.

MARC COOPER CHARTS THE LA WEEKLY'S DECLINE

Marc Cooper is a long-time, L.A.-based journalist who worked at the LA Weekly (among other publications) for many years. In a recent blog post, Cooper performs an "autopsy" on the Weekly, explaining how the paper's buy-out from the New Times/Village Voice company pretty much drove a stake through its heart that's been destroying the publication, slowly by surely. Cooper's inside view should be taken with the understanding that his is not what you'd call a wholly objective opinion - his utter disdain for some people isn't veiled at all - but for those of us interested in how/why print journalism has been in decline, it's a sobering analysis.

I've written for the LA Weekly, off and on, since around 2000 and much of what Cooper addresses hasn't been so transparent to me mostly because the changes that have happened rarely impact the music section in terms of content (dedicated pages is another story tough). Reading this through and one wonders if there are any good weeklies left out there. I hope my old stomping ground - the SF Bay Guardian - has been doing well, especially in this economy. (Credit: M. Matos)

--O.W.

WHEN STOPPING THE VIOLENCE MEANS TAKING SIDES

The latest casualty of war

The senseless deaths in Israel and in Gaza have been a horrifying way to end 2008 and begin 2009.

But for me, what is equally horrifying is how many people in power -- especially in the United States -- continue to take the stand that calling for a cease-fire is anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, or pro-terrorism.

President Bush is balls-out defending Israel's continued aggression, which is hardly a surprise, since for him to do otherwise would be to challenge the core tenet of the Bush Doctrine.

But President-elect Obama has also been painfully mum. He finally broke his silence today, only to say that he is "deeply concerned about the conflict." Sadly, he has yet to utter a single word that calls for calm, cooler heads, or a cease-fire.

I realize Obama isn't president yet, but his silence is costing lives.

What Obama says (or doesn't say) matters, since Israel's war will continue so long as the United States supports Israel's rejection of calls for a cease-fire.

Moreover, the US just blocked approval of a UN Security Council statement that calls for an immediate cease-fire. If Obama indicated today that he would discontinue Bush's blockade in two weeks, his words would have a huge impact now.

What is the political risk for Obama (or Bush), especially when almost half of all Americans are questioning Israel's aggression in Gaza?

Moreover, what would be the political cost to calling on Israel to let the media into Gaza?

I wish Bush or Obama said something similar to the statement issued by J Street, a Jewish group in the United States:

Israel has a special place in each of our hearts. But we recognize that neither Israelis nor Palestinians have a monopoly on right or wrong. While there is nothing "right" in raining rockets on Israeli families or dispatching suicide bombers, there is nothing "right" in punishing a million and a half already-suffering Gazans for the actions of the extremists among them.

And there is nothing to be gained from debating which injustice is greater or came first. What's needed now is immediate action to stop the violence before it spirals out of control.

J Street is urging people to sign a petition that calls for "immediate and strong U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to urgently reinstate a meaningful ceasefire that ends all military operations, stops the rockets aimed at Israel and lifts the blockade of Gaza. This is in the best interests of Israel, the Palestinian people and the United States."

Sounds like a harmless statement to me. It certainly isn't questioning, for example, Israel's right to exist or defend itself.

But given that other prominent members of the Jewish community have attacked J Street's position, there isn't much hope for the peace movement.

I still hold out a knowingly-naive hope that Barack Obama represents the kind of change necessary to help effect a lasting peace in Israel and Palestine.

But as of now, I am disappointed.

If I were the president-elect, when children and other innocent civilians are dying, I wouldn't care if the victims are Israeli or Palestinian. I wouldn't care who started it or whose attacks are retaliatory. And I wouldn't care if the inauguration were still two weeks away.

I would want the killing to stop.

But sadly, in 2009, after eight years of witnessing the epic fail that is the Bush Doctrine, those of us Americans pushing for peace are still being marginalized.

--Junichi

BART POLICE MURDER OSCAR GRANT

deja vu with '92
No doubt, people in the Bay Area are having traumatic flashbacks to the 1992 shooting death of 19 year old Jerrold Hall this week as yet another young Black man has died at the hands of BART police. This story is just now starting to gain some legs though I'm surprised, in age of viral video and social networking, it hasn't spread even faster than it has already. Consider that Greece erupted nationally a few weeks ago over the police killing of a youth, this newly developing story around the shooting death of Oscar Grant is just as egregious, if not more.

Here's the SF Chron's most recent story on the shooting, identifying police officer Johannes Mehserle as the shooter. The story also includes what is now emerging as a popular "explanation" amongst apologists: Mehserle meant to use a Taser on Grant but accidentally(?!) pulled his gun out instead. (I'm not sure how that should make anyone feel safer).

KTVU television has very graphic video (warning!) from cell phone cameras of the shooting where it very clearly shows Grant, on his stomach, in a subdued position, with three cops standing over him, when Mehserle stands, pulls his weapon, points and shoots. Grant, at best, is struggling, but he's clearly not in any position to threaten anyone physically.

Personally, I cannot imagine how anyone could spin this as anything except for murder - not necessarily premeditated but most certainly unlawful. The tragic irony is that Grant left behind a 4 year old daughter while Mehserle became a new father within days of the shooting.

There's going to be a rally at the Fruitvale BART Station (where Grant was killed) on Wednesday afternoon, between 3-7pm.

--O.W.

ASIAN WEEK BOWS OUT

another one bites the digital dust

Just read this on Angry Asian Man: looks like Asian Week, is ceasing publication as a print publication and instead, will go web-only.

This shouldn't be a huge surprise given the current climate for print newspapers - even without the global meltdown, any newspaper would have its challenges and I'm assuming the further disappearance of ad dollars has only exacerbated the issue.

Asian Week - which has been in print for well over 20 years - has long inspired ambivalent reactions from the Asian American community. As AAM points out, the insane Kenneth Eng debacle from last year was a huge black eye on their editorial process, but long before that, Asian Week often came under fire...less for their content and more because their publishers - the Fangs - have political ties (to the GOP) that those on the Left called into question.

Provided, I don't read the paper with any regularity but my own history with them goes back around 15 years and over that time, I always found their news coverage on AA issues to be exceptional, especially in looking at stories that otherwise would go ignored via mainstream press. Whatever the politics of their owners, I don't recall seeing that creep into their editorial content.

I have a special place in my heart for Asian Week since it's where I got my start as a "professional" journalist, back in 1994 when they gave me a column to write (thankfully, very little of it still available online) despite not having much previous experience. That only lasted a year or so but it was a good place to start, especially with the kind of freedom I had to muse. Later in the '90s, I started writing feature stories on them on Asian American arts and culture and I always considered it an important place to start honing my craft as a journalist and writer.

So part of me is sad to see the paper go the way of so many other publications. Hopefully, they can continue to contribute solid reporting via an online presence but for the old schooler that I can be, I'm mourning a little today.

--O.W.

DARTH VADER IS A CONCERNED DAD

Somebody replaced James Earl Jones' dialogue from Star Wars with James Earl Jones' dialogue from Coming to America.

The three-letter words "And?" and "Aha!" have never been used to greater comic effect.

Genius.

(Credit: Sarisa)

--Junichi

ANOTHER REASON WHY DIY VIDEO IS A GOOD/BAD IDEA

--O.W.