another random link roundup

So many stories, so little time... I sort of like this short-and-sweet blurb format to cover a bunch of links at once, so it'll probably become a regular thing:

In New York, twelve tourists shopping for counterfeit merchandise were stuck for more than two hours in the basement of a Chinatown building during a police raid, forbidden to leave by the peddlers: KNOCKOFF SHOCK FOR TOURISTS

Last week, Chinese American community members in Boston celebrated the conclusion of 20 years' creating the Chinese Immigrant Memorial at the city's Mount Hope Cemetery: That their ancestors may be satisfied. It was part of a lengthy project launched in 1988 to restore and honor the cemetary's Chinese sections.

Here's a column in the OC Register about Janet Nguyen's squeaky three-vote win over Trung Nguyen in February's county supervisor's election: Janet Nguyen and the "silent majority". Who new Orange County politics could be so dramatic?

The New York Times has an interesting story on Yoshiaki Yoshimi, a historian who dug up proof of the Japanese military's practice of forced sexual slavery during World War II—including documents that carried the personal seals of high-ranking Imperial Army officers: In Japan, a Historian Stands by Proof of Wartime Sex Slavery. That was 15 years ago. Somehow in the face of this proof, we still have these denials.

In recent years, many scholars and activists have drawn parallels and contrasts between the internment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the treatment of hundreds of Muslim noncitizens who were taken into custody in the weeks after the 2001 terror attacks, then detained for months before they were cleared of links to terrorism and deported: Relatives of Interned Japanese-Americans Side With Muslims

For decades, the "diversity permit" program at Beverly Hills High School has intended to bring in a deliberate mix of black, Latino and Asian students from outside the city limits, but today it seems that the vast majority of students enrolled at the school through this program are high-performing Asian students: Diversity program mostly benefits Asians

And here's a story on martial arts movie asskicker Tony Jaa, the Thai star still poised to become the next big thing: Thai action hero Jaa kicks up storm at box office. I've said it before plenty of times, but if you haven't seen Ong-Bak yet, put that movie in your Netflix queue right now. His next film is Ong-Bak 2, which is not a sequel, despite the title. Tricky.

My email has been acting funny lately.