In Japantoday.com, it reports a story yesterday that “a Japanese-American group on Monday demanded an apology over a film starring Jeremy Piven due to a scene satirically depicting the mob beating of an Asian-American man.

“The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, which opened in sixth place in the North American box office last Friday, is a comedy about a down-and-out used-car salesman played by Piven who tries to make it big with a Fourth of July sale.

“On the trailer seen on the movie’s official website, Piven’s character is seen shouting at an Asian American employee at the dealership: ‘Don’t get me started on Pearl Harbor. We are Americans and they are the enemy! Never again!’

“As the Asian-American—played by Korean American actor Ken Jeong—sheepishly joins in chanting ‘Never again!,’ an older white man says, ‘Let’s get him!’ and the employees beat him up.

“The Japanese-American Citizens League said Piven’s character also used the racial slur “Jap” in the movie and, acknowledging it was a hate crime, asked employees to say the Asian American was attacking them with a samurai sword.”

Read more at
http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/japanese-american-group-outraged-by-film

South Korea’s Y.E. Yang became the first Asian-born golfer to win a major men’s tournament in U.S. soil at the PGA golf championship last weekend. And what could be a more satisfying win than staring down Tiger Woods who has not lost a final round when he leads it.

The media coverage played up the drama unfolding before them last Sunday. It was a good coverage. Yang was labeled accordingly as an Asian-born player, which should inspire other Asian-born players to compete on the world stage.

If anyone still remembers, Woods is Asian, too; half-Asian that is. having a Thai mother.

It’s been a long time coming for Asian-born players. Among the string of close calls through the years are  Liang-Huan Lu of Taiwan who finished one shot behind Lee Trevino at Royal Birkdale in the 1971 British Open; and Isao Aoki of Japan who pushed Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol in the 1980 U.S. Open until he had to settle for second place.

Corazon C. Aquino of the Philippines, who was swept into office on a wave of “people power” in 1986 and then faced six coup attempts restoring Philippine democracy for six years as president, died on Aug. 1 in Manila. She was 76.

Last weekend, the American media reported her death after battling with colon cancer for over a year. Two of the most riveting accounts came from Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

Time Magazine called her the “People Power’s Philippine Saint.”
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1914125,00.html

In the piece, an article is also linked to Time Magazine’s “Woman of the Year” awardee for 1986. (The mag replaced the honor to “Person of the Year” later.)  In the now-famous cover, we have pinned a yellow  ribbon to honor the Woman in Yellow who led the fairy-tale revolution that also propelled her to speak before the U.S. Congress (video here). The tying of yellow bows is a take-off from the 1970s hit “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Ole Oak Tree,” a song about a man who is asking his beloved to perform the gesture as a sign that she still longs for him, a song Cory’s late husband-hero, Benigno Aquino, related to when he became a political exile in the U.S.

In the Wall Street Journal, the writer Paul Wolfowitz reports:

“The years following the triumph of People Power witnessed a series of remarkable peaceful transitions, in places as diverse as the Soviet Union and Chile, Romania and South Korea, Taiwan and South Africa. The trend continues today despite the resistance of authoritarian rulers (witness Iran’s “Green Revolution”) and some regression on the part of democracies. While these results always depend principally on the people of the individual countries, some credit goes to Corazon Aquino for showing the way and for encouraging a U.S. policy of support for democratic reform. One hopes that U.S. policy continues in this vein and has not returned to a “realist” approach that minimizes the importance of peaceful democratic reform.”

To read more, click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240529702043136
04574328502857058922.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Some American political analysts  even contend that Cory and many Americans did not realize the magnitude of her people power revolution.  Unwittingly, she ended the Cold War when she influenced eastern Europe into launching its own democratic revolution.

Odd: Several comments in various online publications mistook Corazon “Cory” Aquino for Imelda Marcos. No two women could have been so different. Cory came from a rich family but lived modestly, Imelda came from a poor family but lived extravagantly. Imelda is still alive.–Dennis Clemente

Photo: Zappos

Zappos will be acquired by Amazon reportedly for $880 million in cash and stock. That’s a lot of moolah. The 10-year-old company with footwear roots will be operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon and will remain at its Las Vegas headquarters.

Reports say CEO Tony Hsieh and other key executives have no plans to leave the company.

Zappos and Amazon, a match made in retail heaven?

The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival – March 11-21, 2010 – is now accepting submissions for its 28th festival. Submit early and save on submission fees!

The SFIAAFF is reportedly the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting approximately 130 works in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose. Since 1982, the SFIAAFF has been an important launching point for Asian American independent filmmakers as well as a vital source for new Asian Cinema.

For details and guidelines, please visit
http://asianamericanmedia.org/blog/featured/2009/06/30/sfiaaff-2010-call-for-entries/