Hyphen Lynks: All Over Creation

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February 22, 2009

Sorry, but it's raining. I have no little sarcasm, and no made-up theme, for Hyphen Lynks this week. It's just the news, plus a few undigested opinions, from all over the place. Please feel free to insert your own sarcastic comments below. Or to suggest themes. Above, enjoy a vid of Our Tamlyn explaining why everyone needed to vote last November. Glad she did. Why Tamlyn? See below.

Among foreign-born residents, top household incomes belong to folks from India, Australia, South Africa and the Philippines, according to this article. I'd just like to remind everyone that a lot of immigrants will tend to have more working adults in a single household than native-born Americans will, so the per-capita income of these immigrants may still be lower than you expect. That's all.

A brief item in the San Jose Merc about local borderline-criminal provocateur Ly Tong, whose anti-communist stance has led to, most recently, an incident of vandalism against a Vietnamese American's artwork, and a hunger strike. I'm ambivalent about the Merc's tolerant you're-a-freak-but-you're-OUR-freak attitude. It's very San Francisco Bay Area, but it's condescending, but again, it highlights the craziness of an Asian American and I'm all about that.

The San Francisco Chronicle, in the run up to today's Day of Remembrance (of Japanese internment) rituals, has its usual internment article, made interesting by the news that two camps have been declared national parks.

This gives new meaning to the term "opiate of the masses." Casinos are making big bucks by catering to East Asians, a population with gambling firmly in the culture ... and also with gambling addictions running rampant. We had a story on the topic in issue 9. And Angry Asian Man linked last fall to a fight in Philly between Chinatown residents and a proposed casino that wanted to set up shop on the fringes of Chinatown, to access that valuable population. Expect to hear a lot more about this in the future.

Bobby Jindal has rejected Louisiana's take of the stimulus package. Arrrrggghhhh! Dumbass! ... Okay, I feel better now. This article from the Telegraph India suggests that he's putting his potential 2012 presidential viability ahead of the well-being of his constituents. Louisiana is facing a $2 billion budget shortfall, which the stimulus bill's $100 mill would go a long way to help out. On the other hand, the depressed economy would lower taxes for business owners who can fund his 2012 run. Yeah, that's all I have to say except: with governors like this, who needs hurricanes?

New American Media has an article on Our Tamlyn, who is apparently getting old and playing MILFs these days. (I missed her turn as Hiro's mom on Heroes, but you'd better bet that's going into my Netflix queue, pronto.) I didn't know she was a quarter Pinay, did you? See her talk in the vid above.

A film shot by a Fil-Am cinematographer is nominated for an Oscar. PJ Raval shot Trouble the Water, a documentary on Hurricane Katrina in NOLA, which is up for a Best Documentary Oscar. Plus: hottie alert!