By Jaski Singh, Sep 1, 2010 10:05 AM
San Jose's Sikh gurdwara, or temple, is embroiled in controversy about who should be allowed to vote in the temple’s affairs, reports The Amritsar Times. The temple’s managing committee is elected by the members and the bylaws state that anyone who is over 18, follows the Sikh philosophy and believes in the Sikh holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, can become a member.
By Odette Keeley, Aug 31, 2010 10:00 AM
Sutter Health’s California Pacific Medical Center is denying claims made by the California Nurses Association (CNA) that it discriminates in hiring Filipino and foreign-graduate nurses. Three employees of St. Luke’s Hospital, a Sutter affiliate in San Francisco, have filed complaints charging that between 2007 and 2009 an informal no-hiring policy kept out Filipino nurses.
By Vivian Po, Aug 30, 2010 5:15 PM
A new high-density proposed housing development in south San Jose is facing opposition from environmental groups and Chinese-American parents, writes Ren Weiwei for the Sing Tao Daily.
By Aaron Glantz, Aug 30, 2010 5:00 PM
Bay Area Jews seeking to avoid paying hundreds of dollars for tickets to High Holy Day services next month can choose between the ultra-Orthodox and the hippie alternative, j. the Bay Area's Jewish Weekly reports.
By Aruna Lee, Aug 30, 2010 4:40 PM
Meeting that special someone is not usually easy, but for Korean Buddhists in the Bay Area it can be extra difficult. Korean-Americans are overwhelmingly Christian, so meeting fellow Buddhists, whether for friendship or romance, is a challenge. But the Korean-language daily Korea Times reports that TARA, an organization for young practicing Korean Buddhists in Northern California, is trying to help facilitate those connections. Last Saturday, about 30 Korean-American Buddhists from around the country gathered at a TARA event in the home of local businessman Hae Duk Park in Los Gatos, hoping to meet one another and perhaps find the perfect partner.
By Sarah Damian, Aug 27, 2010 4:00 PM
The city of San Jose is seeking community input to help find a new police chief. In public meetings held throughout the city, residents have been sharing with authorities what they deem to be important qualities the new chief should have. The meetings are being simultaneously translated into Spanish and Vietnamese.
El Observador's Rosario Vital reports that outreach to ethnic communities is crucial, particularly after retired chief Rob Davis was criticized during his tenure for his lack of leadership in improving relations between police and the Latino and Vietnamese communities. San Jose police have had several instances of highly publicized run-ins with both communities. In one, a Vietnamese woman brandishing a vegetable peeler was shot in her home by the police. In another, officers were videotaped beating Phuong Ho, who appeared to be unarmed. San Jose also had a high rate of arrests for public intoxication, with Latinos making up a disproportionate number of those arrests.
By Rene Ciria-Cruz, Aug 27, 2010 3:40 PM
America’s news industry is gasping for dear life because of the Internet. Periodicals are axing journalists like so many mixed metaphors. The attrition has eroded journalistic ethics, and only toxic rightwing bloggers and Fox News are thriving. So I figured I better look for a new career.
Quickly, I earned a certificate as an anger management therapist from a prestigious psychiatric institution (the best correspondence school of its kind, according to the back of the matchbook), finishing in just six weeks or less. So now, I can easily spot the signs of a troubled psyche that’s about to boil over. See if you have the following ten signs of uncontrolled rage. Before you hurt yourself and anyone else, see a professional like me, will you?
By Sandip Roy, Aug 26, 2010 11:00 AM
Vishwas Godbole and his son Neil were once the toast of the Indian-American community, with two successful hedge funds, Opulent and Opulent Lite. Neil's 2,500-square-foot penthouse in downtown San Francisco was described by Barbary Coast magazine as a "bachelor dream-castle in the air." Now, the hedge fund has gone belly up, the "dream castle” is up for sale and the Godboles are being sued for fraud and negligence by nearly 100 investors, mostly Indian, reports Achal Mehra for Little India magazine.
By Andrew Lam, Aug 26, 2010 9:35 AM
Quick, what comes after the age of globalization? If you're stumped, not too worry. Most people are. In fact, there's no age yet being coined or agreed upon.
So here's something I came up with: cosmozation. The word doesn't exist in the dictionary, but then 25 years or so ago neither did globalization. Soon, however, Webster will have to add "cosmozation," or something like it, in order to address man's intensifying relationship with the cosmos.
Think about it: We are looking for planets like ours in the Milky Way via the new Kepler telescope. and we are finding some serious possibilities. While astronomer Dimitar Sasselov recently made a mistake identifying some of those 140 possibilities as "Earthlike," instead of Earth-sized, the excitement of potential discoveries lit up the Internet. Despite the fuzzy data, the potential for finding millions more remains great.
Indeed, a radical shift in human psyche regarding our relationship with the rest of universe is taking place. Not so long ago, until Copernicus came along, we assumed our world was the universe's center -- and, for that matter, flat -- and that the sun orbited Earth. Last century we held on to the notion that our solar system was unique. Scientists just a generation ago assumed, too, that conditions on Earth -- a protective atmosphere, ample water and volcanic activity -- made it the only planet that could possibly support life.
That sense of self-importance has given way to a more humble assessment of our place in space. The conditions on our home planet may be unique, but solar systems are not at all anomalies. We are in the process of accepting that we are very much part of the larger universe. Furthermore, by sending space probes to the edge of the solar system, by collecting moon rocks and comet dust, by landing probes on Mars to dig for soils and search for signs of life, and by planning manned missions to Mars, we are in constant exchange with the universe.
Consider these astonishing discoveries made in the past decade or two.
Using the Hubble Telescope to study Earth's atmosphere, astronomer Lou Frank proved that Earth is constantly hit by snowballs from space. The implications are enormous: If snowballs from outer space hit Earth regularly, it is raining elsewhere onto other planets, providing much-needed water for the primordial soup.
The two rovers found ice on Mars. If there's ice on Mars, the probability of ice on other planets has grown exponentially as well.
And then, last year, we found water on the moon.
A few years ago, a meteorite from Mars found on Earth, known as the Allan Hills meteorite (or ALH 84001 to scientists), astonished everyone when some scientists claimed they found tantalizing traces of fossilized life within it. Their findings have been contested, but the meteorite renewed enthusiasm for the idea of "panspermia."
Read the rest at AOL News.
Andrew Q. Lam is an editor for New America Media and the author of two books: Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora and East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres.
By Jacob Simas, Aug 26, 2010 9:00 AM
The excess fruit growing in your backyard is no longer for the birds. The Mission District’s bilingual print and online newspaper El Tecolote recently ran an audio slideshow that follows young food justice activists making their way around town with tree clippers, looking for fruit they can “glean” from trees growing in San Francisco’s private backyards.
