Ly Tong and His Trial

Ly Tong and his infamous attack on a popular Vietnamese singer Dam Vinh Hung with pepper spray is  but all forgotten in the community for now.  The only thing in the news are from Ly Tong and his constant email to various Web forums boasting about his action to attack the singer as a just cause to defeat the communist propaganda against the overseas Vietnamese community.   He currently is being shunned from the community for his outrageous and over-the-top claims for many things.

This is a quite a turn about for just 2-3 months ago, he was being embraced by every Vietnamese-American politician running for office, including State Assemblyman Van Tran and Wesminster councilmember Ta Tri Duc.

He is on trial for 2 felony charges and the court date is set for 2/28/2011.  His team of  lawyers has resigned since they could not stand his self-delusion and blatant purpose of  making a mockery out of the justice system by planning to turn the trial into his own personal political forum as a one man anti-communist superhero.  

Ly Tong is seeing himself as an anti-communist martyr.  He has publicly said many times that he rather serves time in jail to make a point.  LSI is not a legal expert but the conventional wisdom is that for such an unstable defendant, the court might want to consider him as an insane person.

Open Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger from Dina Nguyen

Re: Opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Greetings” Letter
Sent to Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco, Dated September 2, 2009

Dear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

We are writing this petition letter in opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Greetings” to the celebrants of Vietnamese Independence Day in which he states “Today we celebrate our Vietnamese American residents for their contributions to our Golden State. You enrich our communities and enhance California’s blossoming diversity. It is an honor to join you in commemorating this special occasion”. This “Greetings” letter was addressed to the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco and is posted on its website: www.vietnamconsulate-sf.org. It is highly inappropriate for the Governor of the State of California to “commemorate” or “celebrate” September 2 as “Vietnamese Independence Day” because Vietnamese Americans as refugees from Communist Vietnam have never and will never “commemorate” or “celebrate” this day since we do not recognize the government or leadership of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an illegitimate government which through force of arms overran the Republic of Vietnam, an independent democracy, of which most all Vietnamese Americans were former citizens.

We particularly condemn this action on the part of Governor Schwarzenegger since it was the Governor that recognized the Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage Flag (the yellow with three stripes flag, representing the government and people of the Republic of Vietnam) and thus the Governor most certainly cannot be ignorant of the history and culture of Vietnamese Americans in the State of California.

Your “Greetings” letter addressed to the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco on September 2, 2009 is highly offensive and does not reflect the aspirations of the Vietnamese Americans or the spirit of democracy in the State of California, of which you represent as Governor. Although your term in office as Governor of the State of California is about to end, your understanding and position on Vietnamese Americans’ fight for freedom and democracy will remain historic. Therefore, the importance of these issues requires that we demand a full explanation and immediate public retraction of your “Greetings” letter to the Consulate General of Vietnam. We will continue to rally our Vietnamese American community to educate our elected public officials as to these matters.

Sincerely,


Dina Nguyen, Esq.,
Councilwoman of Garden Grove, CA



Sidenote from LSI:   What is interesting about this letter is that neither Van Tran nor his usually anti-communist troops (Andy Quach, Tri Ta,  Diep Truong, Lan Nguyen, Trung Nguyen) have signed on.  They also have not publicly denounced the governor as the anti-communist community in Little Saigon urges them to do so. 

Loretta Sanchez Still Angry At Van Tran

http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=123434


In a post-election press conference for the Vietnamese-American voters as reported by Nguoi Viet Newspaper,  the victorious Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez did not mince word and blasted Van Tran for his dirty campaign tactics.  She personally thanked Mr. Ho Dac Cam for risking his life to support her campaign.  Apparently he received threats from Van Tran's supporters for publicly speaking out to support Sanchez on Vietnamese radio shows. 

Her parting word to Van Tran: " The voters wanted to vote for an elected official who can do the job.  They wanted to vote for somebody who has a record of representing the community.  Nobody knows what he has been doing in Sacramento.  This was a very dirty campaign despite the fact that my people refused to play such game."

Musical Performance - "Breath of Asia"

Breath of Asia, “Music of Vietnam” is the first ensemble of it’s kind from Vietnam. It’s combined use of traditional music composed with a modern twist, theatrical presentation and solid musicianship brings Vietnam’s finest cultural traditions to an International audience.



Tearful eloquence, meditative spells, enlightened earth spirituals and technical flurries all contribute to an endless musical journey. A journey so transparent and clever the show never opens or closes it’s curtains... seemlessly beautiful, emotionally angry and monk meditative … join the wild ride of Vietnam.



•Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 8:00pm

•Jackson Theatre, Smith Center at Ohlone College

•Tickets:

◦General Admission $20

◦Students & Seniors $18

◦Youth Under 12 $15

•Box Office / Ticket Information

The ensemble features national champion and gold medal winner Van-Anh Vo on dan Tranh (zither), Khac Quan-violin, Ai Van-vocals, Huy Phan-bass and Song My on dan bau and violin. Rounding out the ensemble are Kumi Uyeda-piano and Jason Jong on percussion. Compositions range from century old traditionals to Do Bao (Vietnam’s #1 composer) modern originals.

Show conceived, arranged and produced by Kallan Nishimoto, Flytrap Studio.

Can Loretta Sanchez Ever Be Defeated?

After her impressive win in a congressional race against Van Tran (R) in a year where most Democrat incumbents got shellacked,  it begs the question can Sanchez ever be defeated?

The fact that Sanchez did not even bother to spend the majority of her money is even more amazing.  With two weeks left in the race, she only spent only about $500K total while Van paid out about $700K to cover his expenses.  She won the election with more than half of her war chest unspent.

And according to the only available poll publicly done  (Commissioned by Van Tran), Tran was tied with Sanchez going into the final weeks but with a higher support level among White, Independent and Asian voters.  According to his poll as summarized on Red County Internet Blog :

"........Tran enjoys a commanding 34-point lead with White voters in the district (60% Tran – 26% Sanchez).

"........Tran also polls strongly with Independent voters (42% Tran – 28% Sanchez) and older voters (50% Tran – 30% Sanchez) – two groups that are likely going to determine the victor here.


"........Tran has a commanding 22-point lead over Sanchez (52% - 30%) among voters who say they are “extremely interested” in the upcoming elections (rate their interest a “10”on a one-to-ten scale). Among a broader high interest segment of the electorate – the “8-10s” – Tran is up eight points (44% - 38%).

"........Sanchez has twice the unfavorables as Tran (with about the same favorables) explains why voters who have an opinion of both candidates are voting for Van Tran by an 18-point margin (54% Tran – 36% Sanchez)....."


So she must have known something that most OC political observers did not realize.   There were about 39,800 absentee ballots received by Monday, Nov.1.   The breakdown according to the OC Registrar office was:   ~ 17,000 Democrat; ~ 15,000 Republican and ~7,000 DTS voters.  So there were more Republican,  DTS voters combined than Democrat voters.
 
The first ballot result posted on Tuesday showed the first 32,400 absentee ballots counted and Van was about 320 votes behind Sanchez (0.8% behind) while Ceci Iglesias received 3.4%.   Van knew then he was in for a long night since the first batch of absentee ballots should favor him because his assumption was that Republican and DTS votes would be for him.
 
By the time time the second set of results was posted (44,000 ballots total), Van was about 1,000 votes behind.  At the end of the night when all the precincts were counted, he was 8% behind and needed 5,500 votes to catch up.   When the rest of the absentee ballots finally got counted 5 days later,  Tran actually lost more ground and he is now about 9,800 votes behind (The final number has not been posted yet).
 
After looking at the voting trend, a number of OC pundits analyzed as follows:
 
1.  Despite the poll numbers,  Van did not get the majority support from neither the DTS nor the Asian voters.  If he had, he would have been ahead of the Sanchez when the first set of result posted.   Vietnamese-Americans are mostly absentee voters and Republican.  Historically up to 80% or more preferred absentee ballots.  There were about 12,000 to 14,000 Vietnamese voters who actually voted in previous elections.
 
2.  The ploy to have a second Latino candidate to dilute the Latino votes is a strategy that usually does not work and sometime could backfire.   Most Latino would prefer to vote for a candidate that has a chance of winning and somebody who is proven to bring home the bacon to their community.   Some pundits commented that Iglesias probably ended up taking more DTS votes from Van than Latino votes from Sanchez.
 
Van Tran spent a lot of money to win votes in Little Saigon, he funded a newspaper and published newsletters, bought a radio show and had his own people attacking Sanchez 4 hours a day. Van was hoping the Vietnamese Catholics would turn out to vote against Sanchez as his campaign hit her on abortion issue and her "loose-woman" image.  Vietnamese Catholics is about 35% of Little Saigon population.   Meanwhile, Sanchez spent little money with the media in Little Saigon and mostly to defend herself sporadically against Van Tran's attack.  
 
So the question here can a Republican  candidate defeat Sanchez?   From the election result, it shows that this is a district where the Asian and DTS voters are moderate in their view and if a candidate can get the support of these two voting blocs,  the race can be competitive against a liberal Sanchez.

Loretta Sanchez and 2012 ??

According to a recent article on Orange Juice Blog about Loretta Sanchez and her prospect in  2012...


http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/11/will-loretta-sanchez-become-more-liberal-with-half-the-blue-dogs-gone/


"........In two years she will be in a tough electoral battle again. Termed out Assemblyman Van Tran is likely to run again in 2012, for her seat. And today, moderate Republican Quang Pham announced in an email that he is “officially running.” Pham ran this year, but he pulled out before the Primary, allowing Tran to win...."

Everybody knows Quang Pham was running yesterday and will be running in 2012, it is his in blood.  He cannot help it.

The Lan and Mark Beyster Public Interest Fellowship

The Lan and Mark Beyster Public Interest Fellowship will provide $25,000 to one law graduate who will work for one year to provide legal services to and advocacy for the Vietnamese American community and/or other underserved, underresourced communities. The Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC) will administer the Fellowship Program.

Mark Beyster is the son of Robert Beyster, the legendary founder of SAIC, the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States.  Mark and Lan Ly were married earlier this year in San Diego.


Fellowship Requirements


1. J.D. in hand at the beginning of the grant period or awaiting bar results.

2. Strong demonstrated interest and commitment in working with the Vietnamese American community and/or social justice work with underserved communities.

3. Unique life experience or other experiences in overcoming personal adversity/challenges.

4. Overall academic excellence.



Application:

1. Official Law School Transcript

2. Two letters of recommendation

3. Resume

4. A proposal no more than 3 pages (12 point, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins) detailing the proposed public interest project, and describing which legal rights the applicant will be enforcing and the project’s relevancy in advancing the legal and civil rights of the Vietnamese American community and/or other underserved communities. (Please note that the applicant should have secured a host non-profit legal organization who will support his or her work and he or she should describe the legal organization’s role in the project.)

Please send completed applications by December 1, 2010, with a cover letter indicating interest, to VABANC at vabancinfo@gmail.com. For questions, please contact Quyen Ta at qta@kvn.com.

Van Tran Planning a Press Conference Tomorrow?

The rumor is that Van Tran will have a press conference tomorrow at his campaign headquarters.  Right now with about 24,000 absentee and provisional ballots (or 25% of the total votes) not counted yet, he is still trailing by 51% to 42%.  Van Tran could not make up any ground in the last two days with the the absentee ballots.  The ballot deficit actually increases by 150 votes from about 5,550 to 5,700. 

Meanwhile, his campaign and finance manager for the Vietnamese community, Cuong Bui, just sent out a mass email denouncing those Vietnamese-Americans who voted against Van Tran as Chinese sympathizers who are traitors to the Vietnamese people and their cause.   LSI assumes Van Tran is trying to lecture the voters and put them into shame using  the anti-Chinese sentiment caused by the 1000 years of struggle against the Chinese invaders who always wanted to subjugate its tiny neighbor, Vietnam. 

If Van Tran ends up losing about 6,000 votes, he deserves to lecture the Vietnamese-American voters who voted against him.  After all, if the majority of them had voted for him, he could have won it, especially with the low Latino turn-out   This is his base and yet from his reaction so far post-election, he is angry that they did not turn out to vote for him as he had expected them to.

The Republican Party leadership right now has already thinking about the next candidate to challenge Sanchez in 2012.   Will Van Tran run again?  Or could it be the well-received and popularVietnamese-American, former Marine pilot Quang Pham, who voluntary pulled out of the Republican primary because he did not want  to cause divisiveness within the community and the Republican Party in general.   Some OC pundits considered Quang Pham to be a better candidate against Loretta Sanchez  since he has a clean slate and people tend to vote for outsider in this year of the anti-establishment.

Van Tran:" There are still about 30,000 votes unaccounted for.."

After all  D47 precincts counted,  Loretta Sanchez is leading 51% to 42% with about 5,600 votes difference between her and Van Tran.  There were about 64,000 votes officially counted.   Tran is not willing to concede yet.  On his Vietnamese radio show this morning, he told the listeners that there are still about 30,000 provisional and absentee ballots not counted yet.

Cecilia Iglesias received 7% of the votes and did take away some of the Latino votes from Sanchez.  Without her,  Sanchez would be leading by at least 13% instead of 9%.

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez - Latest Poll

D.C.'s Political Report's Rating: Democratic,

Congressional Quarterly's Scorecard: Leans Democratic,

Cook Political Report: Lean Democratic,

Rothenberg Political Report: Lean Democrat,

Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic,

The Hill's Race Ratings: Likely Democratic,

Absentee Ballots for D47 (OC) and D7 (San Jose)

At last count, about 20,000 absentee ballots have been received by the  Orange County Registrar Office for the hotly contested D47 congressional race  between Loretta Sanchez (D) and Van Tran (R).  The break down is roughly 44% Democrat, 40% Republican and 16% Independent.   If this trend holds true, there might be about 100,000 to 120,000 total votes for D47 race.   There are about 12,000 to 14,000 Vietnamese-American votes expected.

The San Jose city council race in D7 between Minh Duong and Madison Nguyen is also a very tight race.  So far about 6,000 absentee ballots have turned in.  If this trend holds true, there might be about 11,000 to 13,000 total votes for the election.  Of course, this number will fluctuate depending on the World Series scheduling.

Republican Joseph Cao: " I Love The President"

In an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune,  Republican Congressman Joseph Cao proclaimed: "I love the President, and I believe he truly likes me."   Cao also emphasized on his website that he voted 68% of the time with the President.

It is not odd to have strong love for your leader but it is strange to hear it from a conservative Republican who voted to not accept TARP money for his devastated hometown (New Orleans) that is still recovering from the Katrina diseaster. 

But again, when you are in a district where 65% is Democrat and trailing by at least 8% in the upcoming general election, it is important to say anything to appease to the crowd.

Tran vs. Loretta Latest Polling from Cook Political Report

The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House Representatives,  the US Senate, Governor's offices and the Presidency. Founded by political analyst Charlie Cook in 1984, it has come to be relied upon for objective information and analysis about who is running in what races, what the most important dynamics are in the races, and what factors to look for as the campaigns progress.

The report categorizes the race as Lean Democrat with Van Tran within striking distance to close the gap.  The race is tightened as expected.  Sanchez had a double-digit lead in July-August. 

Within the Vietnamese-American voting bloc, she is the receipient of an unexpected backlash against Van Tran recently as he tried to use his influence to  block Vietnamese radio shows talking about how the community is displeased with him.  The latest confrontation on the issue of freedom of speech is against the well known and popular radio personality Viet Dzung. 

The buzz in the community is Van Tran and his Gang of Seven are at it again.   The question is not why Van Tran is so afraid of people expressing their opinions about him.   Everybody knows that he is quite paranoid and is willing to do anything to keep people talking honestly about him and his Gang of Seven.  But why he would risk such an effort and give the anti-Tran voters the fuel to go out and vote against him?

Meanwhile, he is using Ngo Ky, the Nguoi-Viet Newspaper's nemesis, to be on his radio show everyday to attack Loretta Sanchez at a very personal level. 

The sentiment is strong against him in the community.  Loretta is well liked and voters are tired against extreme negative attacks by his henchmen.  Whether his strategy will backfire will be known soon enough.  Loretta does not need to win the Vietnamese-American votes.  She only needs to keep it close. 

On the other hand, his spending so much money and effort to reach the roughly 14,000 voters is surprising.   He is the only candidate in California who spent money to buy his own radio show and newspaper to ensure that his message against Loretta are everywhere. 

This is his base, his constituents and it should be automatic and yet he is fighting for every vote.   It shows that he is in trouble with his own base.   For a race this big and he is claiming to be "The Vietnamese Candidate" and his followers proclaimed him to "The Political Leader of the Vietnamese-American Community in the US",  he so far has not been able to mobilize the community.  It shows in the money that he managed to raise.   It is no suprise that he raised 20% less money than his campaign for State Assembly.

Wesminster Hit Piece Against Andy Quach, Tyler Diep, Bruce Tran

LSI readers received this hit piece their mailboxes the other day.

The Strong Emergence of Vietnamese-American Democrat

In a mid-year election cycle where the Republican Party is expected to win the majority of the races, a funny thing transpires in Little Saigon Orange County and the politics within the enclave of this once dominant Republican bastion. 

Democrat Phu Nguyen,  a first time candidate is basically in a tie with his Republican opponent, Allan Mansoor, to succeed Republican Van Tran in California’s 68^th Assembly District.  This district has traditionally been a Republican seat.   However, according to the latest poll by Tulchin Research as reported here,

http://www.theliberaloc.com/2010/10/10/positive-poll-numbers-for-phu-nguyen-in-68th-assembly-race/



Nguyen’s overwhelming lead among Vietnamese American voter’s puts him in a position to win in this district because of the expected large number of likely voters are Vietnamese-Americans.   In addition, Phu Nguyen has received strong supports of big names Democrat politicians like Lou Corerra, Loretta Sanchez as well as powerful groups like firefighters and police officers associations that traditionally support Republican candidates . 

Democrat supporters like the lawyer Phu Do (co-owner of STBN TV and one of the most successful lawyers in Little Saigon) are doing their best to get out the votes against Allan Mansoor who is supported strongly by Van Tran.

The Vietnamese-American Democrats are mostly young and well educated.  They are in their 20s and the 30s and like Phu, they really believe in making a difference in issues that are relevant to the welfare of the daily folks like education, jobs and healthcare.

Nguyen is currently has the momentum going into the last 2 weeks of  the election with more money than Allan Mansoor and less negatives. 

His candidacy so far has helped Loretta Sanchez within the Vietnamese-American voters, especially those voters that are looking for any reasons to vote against Van Tran and his people.  And there are a lot of anti-Van Tran voters at the moment since they could not stand his arrogance while truly afraid of his power hungry personality to be the "Godfather" of the Vietnamese-American politics.  After all,  they risked their lives to come to America so that they could be free of political tyranny.

Candidate Mailers for November 2010 Election (Sanchez, Tran, Phu Nguyen, etc..)

Here are some of the mailers from candidates for your pleasure:

State Assembly 68D

http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714105

http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714295


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714300


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714110

http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714113

 
Congressional Race 47D
 
http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713855



http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713859


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713863


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713869


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713873


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713877


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713884


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713889


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713896


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713899




http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713906


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713911


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713918


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713923


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713929


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713939


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713948


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713955


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713960


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713965


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713970


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713975


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713980


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713984


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713987


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713991


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713995


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10713998


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714000


Van Tran vs. Janet Nguyen

http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714125



http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714126


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714128


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714130


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714131


Wesminster Council Race

http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714079



http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714081


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714082


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714083


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714085


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714086


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714087


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714088


http://www.badongo.com/pic/10714090

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez - A Street Brawl

According to an article by Voice of OC, a nonprofit investigative news agency,  Van Tran is trying his best to silent his critics in the media in the Vietnamese-American community.   In this latest episode of silencing the media, it is alleged that he took out the Long Vo's radio show and forced the show to be cancelled.  

This sounds like a familar tactics that Van Tran used against Janet Nguyen in 2008 and 2007.   His influence as the "Godfather" is powerful in the Vietnamese-American community, especially with the print and radio media.  Janet Nguyen could not even buy an ad in both Viet Bao or Nguoi Viet in 2008 in response to some of Van Tran's attack against her.   Both of the newspapers would print Van Tran's attack on Janet Nguyen as communist sympathizer but they refused to allow Janet Nguyen to answer the false charges.

Now the "Godfather" is up to his old trick again.  See the excerpt of the investigative piece below:


Controversy Surrounds a Now-Silent Little Saigon Radio Show

Posted: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 11:10 am
Updated: 1:34 pm, Wed Oct 13, 2010.

NORBERTO SANTANA, JR.
0 comments
http://voiceofoc.org/oc_central/garden_grove/article_7205e986-d6f6-11df-8f25-001cc4c002e0.html

Every day dozens of broadcasters go on the airwaves in Little Saigon -- which sits in parts of Garden Grove and Westminster --- and talk politics. The news programs, which rent time by the hour, have dedicated Vietnamese-language audiences and the potential to sway elections.

For more than 20 years, Long Vo has been one of the local stalwarts in this arena. His "Vietnamese in California" show has received commendations from the Republican Party of Orange County as well as Democratic lawmakers.

But on Sept. 29, his show was yanked off the air.

The reason given by the station is that Vo was taken off AM 1190 because he refused to sign the station's newly constituted pledge regarding what can and can't be said on air about politicians.

Vo, who was a political prisoner for five years in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, said he was told that the shut down was ordered by Republican state Assemblyman Van Tran, who is in a tough battle with Democrat Loretta Sanchez for her 47th District seat in the U.S. Congress.

Tran, Little Saigon's most recognizable and powerful politician, denies having anything to do with the shutdown of Vo's show. And Bob Hastings, who manages the station owned by Salem Communications, backs up Tran. Hastings said the station is requiring all show hosts, not just Vo, to sign the new pledge.

Regardless of whose version is closer to the truth, the controversy shows just how much of a street brawl the race between Tran and Sanchez has become.

Vo and others say the timing of the station's new pledge is too coincidental to not have been done on Tran's behalf. There are also those who say that the rhetoric on the 4th District race hasn't changed on the pro-Tran news broadcasts.

On Sept. 29, Vo hosted a call-in program on AM 1190 that began with him reading a story from the Voice of America on recent allegations that ethnicity had become an overriding issue in the race. Sanchez was criticized for remarks on Spanish-language TV, saying that Vietnamese were trying to take the congressional seat away from Latinos.




Vo said callers to his program criticized Republican nominee Tran but didn't slander him. Other Vietnamese language speakers who have listened to a reproduction of the broadcast verify Vo's comments.

Yet the morning after the broadcast aired, Vo said he got a call from a broker who sells time to broadcasters, such as himself, who put their news shows on commercial radio stations.

Vo said the broker, Chan Phan, told him that the heat was on and that Tran's supporters were putting pressure on him to keep the broadcasts under wraps. Unless Vo agreed to cease talking about the 47th Congressional District, he would not be allowed back on the air.

Phan did not return calls for comment. Tran knows about the situation with Vo but denies making any phone calls to the station to complain about Vo's broadcasts.

Yet soon thereafter, Vo said he was faxed an amended policy from the radio station that precluded him from "denigration of any person, whether a private citizen or public figure" over the airwaves.


Vo refused to sign the agreement and so the night of Sept. 30 his program went silent from its usual timeslot of midnight to 5 a.m.

"We have the rights to have freedom of speech," Vo said. "This is totally unfair having my radio station cut when I talk about the race while the others are not. This is very un-American."...........................................

Minh Duong vs. Madison Nguyen, The Final Stretch

So it comes down the final three weeks of a boring D7 city council race to see whether the controversial incumbent Madison Nguyen deserves another 4 years.    Despite her barrage of negative campaigns on the radio, Vietnamese-American newspapers  and mailers, the voters so far apparently are not convinced.   Minh Duong is being portrayed as a pro-communist, negatively as a struggling businessman trying to keep his business alive and about his personal lives from the car he drives to the suit and tie he wears.

Yet, the latest rolling poll done by the Asian-American Poll Media shows that Duong is at 47% and Nguyen is at 44%.  The margin of error is +/- 5%.   The survey was done by telephone with a representative sample of 125 most likely voters among  14,000 registered voters in D7 whom are considered likely to vote in the 2010 election.

This is a suprising result since so far in the race,  Nguyen has refused to talk about issues facing the people of D7.  She refused to debate her opponents no matter what, when, where.  Instead she and the Mercury News, the only newspaper in town, have chosen to make Minh Duong's small business enterprise and his struggle to keep it afloat a central  issue in the race.   By going negative on her opponent's personal issues and refusing to discuss real issues concerning to the D7 citizens, she is hoping to hide her shortcomings. 

But this has backfire,  to a lot of people in this economic down turn, they think Minh Duong's struggle represents their struggles.  And they don't need a city councilmember and a newspaper to politicize it and paint it as a shameful thing.    After all, this country economic backbone is being built on entrepeneurs and small business people who are willing to take risks to create jobs for the community.  It is historically the government, especially here in San Jose, that always put heavy burdens on the small business people with high taxes and suffocating regulations. 

The Mercury News never made an issue of Rose Herrera's bankruptcy, the lawsuit from her creditors on the debt that she owed  during her race for city council in 2008.   And  D5 candidate Magdalene Carrasco's financial struggle is portrayed by the Merc as a positve for it shows that she can relate to the people's economic plight. 

It is comical to note that Nguyen's negative campaign flyer sent to the voters the day after the latest Mercury News article attacking Minh Duong on personal issues has the same comparison points.  To some of the voters, it was as if both the newspaper and Nguyen are cooperatively running the same negative campaign against Duong.  

Minh Duong's message meanwhile is " A Time To Change". 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHUsq8UuYQo


As an elected official, Nguyen is controversial with her decision to support special interest groups.  She received her election money from out-of-town special interest groups.  She has shown that she will do anything to get elected even though her talks and promises are empty after the election.  During her term, she has consistently voted with Labor Unions in supporting programs that have costed tax payers money without any benefits.  It was not until the result of the primary where she only received 42% of the votes despite spending 2 times more money than her opponents combined that she realized that she needed to play a different tune.   Whether the voters will believe her or not, it will be decided at the poll in November. 

The question the voters need to ask is what has she done for them in the last 5 years besides less services, higher taxes and empty promises and why she is receiving so much money from out-of-town people.

Van Tran Desparately Forcing Janet Nguyen To Endorse Him

LSI received this email trail by State AssemblymanVan Tran asking Trung Nguyen (the Photoshop Candidate) and Lan Nguyen (Van's henchman who called Janet Nguyen communist) to distribute to everybody right away.  It announced a press conference to be hold by Janet Nguyen with Van Tran.  This is of course with the anticipation to announce her support for Van Tran

The only problem is that County Supervisor Chair Janet Nguyen was not informed and she is up to now has not plan to neither do any press conference with Van Tran nor alone calling a pressing conference for Van Tran

Janet Nguyen is being forced by Republican leaders into endorsing Van Tran.  She needs their money for her campaign in 2012.   She is well recognized in D47 with the Vietnamese-American voters as well as mainstream voters.  Of course she has much higher favorable rating than Van Tran.

Van Tran has a 39% unfavorable rating in D47.   Van Tran is forcing her hand with his dirty politics, basically blackmail her into endorsing him

However, this kind of game might back fire with the voters, especially with Vietnamese-American voters who will make up about 12% of the votes in November.  They either vote against Van Tran or don't go to vote for he brings such bad taste in their mouth.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Forwarded Message ----



From: Van


To: George Andrews


Cc: Nguyen Quoc Lan ; VVV ; Trung Quang Nguyen ; Phat Luu ; minhgiang pham


Sent: Fri, October 8, 2010 3:22:20 PM


Subject: Re: Media Advisory: OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen to Hold Press Availability with Congressional Candidate Van Tran (CA-47)










Attached is a "little" Friday Surprise for all of you. PleAd distribuw far and wide ASAP, in time for tomorrow event at 9:00 am






Sent from my iPhone


Van Tran

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Minh Duong vs. Madison Nguyen

Last week, there was a candidate forum for the upcoming election held at the Santa Clara County Building.  The forum was designed for county supervisor and  city council candidates to discuss local issues affecting the voters.  It also allowed the voters to ask direct questions to the candidates on issues affecting their neighborhoods.  One of the organizers was Vic Aljouni, the well known political consultant of Mayor Reed.  The moderator was Scott Herhold, a well respected columnist of the Mercury News.

Minh Duong was invited as well as the incumbent City Councilmember Madison Nguyen.  At the forum, only Minh Duong showed up to represent candidates in D7. 


When came D7 candidate turn, Minh Duong introduced himself and then  Scott Herhold began: " Thank you. Let’s have some questions from the audience here. Minh does not have an opponent here, so we’re letting him off a little bit easy."


Minh Duong politely responsed: " Actually, I was looking forward to…debating with my opponent. I have challenged my opponent to three debates. One in the General, one in the Latino community and one in the Vietnamese community…and I…I have to say this…even whether it be in the parking lot or a coffee shop…I am willing to…you know…show respect to our residents and our voters to let them know what we…what we stand for and our differences…and it is time…you know, and who is the better person this time around to serve on the City Council for District 7. So, again, I would like to spread that challenge again to my opponent."

Part of the forum discussion can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2K-9xhIFbg


Minh Duong then proceeded to distinguish himself as hard working small businessman who has real life experience of the economic hardship of the people and not a career politician (He himself as a businessman struggling just like everybody else in this economic depression).   He mentioned that Madison Nguyen received her support from Labor and a lot of her funding are from out-of state special interest groups who have no interest in the lives of the D7 citizens.  

He mentioned that we need a change in our District 7 leadership.  For the last 5 years, the leadership in office is only interested in serving special interest groups at the taxpayers' expense. While taxpayers are being taxed more than ever to pay for unsustainable benefits and wages, residents are experiencing tremendous cut back on city services. Nevertheless, the current leadership continues to allow out-of-state and local special interest groups to control city politics and waste millions of taxpayer money for their own personal agenda. 

Minh Duong is running for he believes that thing cannot be business as usual, there is a public outcry in D7 (eventhough ignore by the main stream press), and the only way to change is to replace Madison Nguyen.

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez

As the election heating up,  Van Tran is taking the race issue to Loretta Sanchez.   His right hand person Lan Nguyen is on radio calling Vietnamese to demonstrate against Sanchez this Saturday (October 2) while demanding that Sanchez should apologize to Van Tran personally.  The sin is for suggesting that Van Tran is anti-immigration and that she is does not want to have the seat to be " taken away by Vietnamese and Republican".    What Loretta Sanchez meant to say was "not to have the seat taken away by Vietnamese and Republican supporters of Van Tran" as she issued an apology to the community. 

Meanwhile,  Van Tran is recycling his well used slogan " Vietnamese should only vote for Vietnamese candidates" in the his 24-hour radio show network.    Van needs to get his Vietnamese base to vote for him.  A lot of them are wary of him since they despise his ambition to be the "Godfather of the Vietnamese-American politics".  And his red-baiting tactics against County Supervisor Chair Janet Nguyen gives him the notoriety of a sleazy politician.    Sanchez meanwhile has done an excellent job in nurturing the Vietnamese votes with her anti-communist stand.   Two of her official staff are Vietnamese-Americans.

It is ironic that two candidates with immigrant background is fighting over who is browner than the other in order to get the votes of the ethnic groups.

Minh Duong Received Endorsement from County Supervisor Dave Cortese

Over the weekend at a fund raising event for charity,  Minh Duong was officially endorsed by Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese.   He encouraged all voters in D7 to vote for Minh Duong for he has what it takes to bring needed change to the city.  Along with the recent endorsement from Lt. Governor Maldonado, Minh Duong is building up his momentum to face the incumbent Madison Nguyen who is backed by Labor Unions.  Nguyen is the favorite to win the election with her overwhelming advantage of campaign money (which came from donation mostly from out-of-state special interest groups).   Her campaign theme is to maintain the current course for the city.  On the other hand, Minh Duong advocates new changes to the unsustainable fiscal policy that so far have resulted in taxpayers paying more taxes into a city government full of  abuses by Labor Unions and special interest groups while receiving less service than ever.

Jade Buddha Controversy and The Mercury News

A recent article written by Bruce Newman of the Mercury News titled :" The Jade Buddha, symbol of peace and harmony, everywhere but in San Jose" depicted the conflict between Madison Nguyen, city official Mike Hannon, businessman Tron Do and the lawyer Michael Luu.

According to Newman, Michael Luu was jealous of Tron Do, a supporter of City Councilmember Madison Nguyen who had illegally allowed Nguyen to use his buidling as a campaign headquarters in the recent primary.  The reason is that Do had successsfully bid for the opportunity  to host the Jade Buddha while Michael Luu could not because Mike Hannon, the head of code enforcement for the city of San Jose shut down his building. 

According to the Buddhist Monk, Tien Lien, who is repsonsible for the Jade Buddha tour, she first approached Michael Luu and asked to use his building in October of 2009.  Michael Luu, was gracious enough to offer the building to her free of charge.   Earlier this year,  Mike Hannon, responding to complaints of Charlie Ly, a non-San Jose resident and a supporter of Madison Nguyen,  decided to shut down the building since it was not zoned for the gathering of 49 people or less. 

Tron Do then approached Monk Tien Lien to host the event for a fee to cover the cost of utility and maintenance..  The city record shows that  the 1980 Senter Road building as of date has no zoning permit for such large gathering.  There are not enough parking spaces and the building is not built to code to maintain safety for crowd expected to be in the thousands.  In an event where there will be thousands of people in a building that has no permit to hold such a large crowd, this zoning violation that can lead to undesirable consequences.

LSI believes that Mercury News has done a disservice to the community by implicating that Michael Luu was bidding to host the event for financial gain (which was totally untrue according to the Buddhist Monk) while ignoring the crux of the issue - the building is not suitable for such a large crowd and the fact why Mike Hannon ignores such zoning violation.  As responsible press and news reporting,  LSI thinks it is a tragedy when public concerns being ignored by city officials for the sake of politics.

Minh Duong Received Endorsement from Abel Maldonado

Minh Duong, candidate for San Jose city council D7,  recently received the endorsement from Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado (R). The following link recorded the event as Abel Maldonado was in town at the request of Assemblyman Van Tran (R) to help Tran raise money from businessmen in San Jose.  Tran is from southern California and running against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez.   He is having difficulty tapping into his constituents in OC Little Saigon so he has been hitting the Bay Area for money.  It was his 6th visit in the last 3 months in the Bay Area. 

http://www.vietland.net/

Will Janet Nguyen Endorse Van Tran?

There are a lot of pressures from the Republican Party to have OC Supervisor Chair Janet Nguyen endorse Assemblyman Van Tran for his US congressional run against the incumbent Loretta Sanchez. Nguyen is undecided at the moment.


In a campaign where 40% of the electoral votes are in her district, Tran has a lot to gain with Nguyen supporting him. Even though he is fully aware of the situation but he still inexplicably has his henchmen attacking Janet Nguyen at every opportunity he has in the Vietnamese-American community.

Currently, his negative is very high within the Vietnamese-American community. They consider him as a selfish politician with an oversize ambition of, as the OC Register called it correctly, “being The Godfather of Vietnamese-American politics”. To the community, he is the product of special interest groups, especially of wealthy Chinese-American businessmen who has close tie with the Vietnamese government. The last 10 years, he has done a lot for the special interest groups while just provide lip-service to the Vietnamese-American community. His image took a beating when he and his gang blocked Nguyen's effort to build a pedestrian bridge across Bolsa Blvd. The bridge has been something that the community wanted for a long time to help alleviate the traffic jam in Little Saigon. He hurt his underlings’ campaigns against Nguyen when he sent out a letter on their behalf using his personal assemblyman letterhead urging the voters not to vote for Janet Nguyen because she is a communist sympathizer. The proof was that she accepted $500 donation from a person who has business in Vietnam. His hatred and despise for Janet Nguyen is so deep that he would do anything to destroy her political career.

The fact of the matter is that he could not raise money within his own Vietnamese-American constituents in Orange County. He has to rely on the Chinese-American businessmen in San Jose and Sacramento to help with his fund raising. He spent more time in San Jose and San Francisco with fund raising because his image is better there than within his own district.

Out of the potential 14,000 Vietnamese-American voters in D47, many would vote against him out of disdain for his scorched earth political tactics against Vietnamese-American politicians who are not in his fold. Of course, the voters also are afraid of his giant ego of being the “Godfather”.

Janet Nguyen is a smart and established politician and she has difficulty being Van Tran’s underlings. The rumor mill in Little Saigon told a story of how when she first ran for the supervisor seat, Van insisted that she paid him and his gang to be her consultants. When she refused, he vowed to destroy her political career. So far he fails but his scorched-earth campaign against her has put Nguyen over $200,000 in debt. In return, he manages to destroy the political careers of Trung Nguyen, Andy Quach and Diane Nguyen.

If she decides to endorse Van Tran and he wins, he will guarantee to put her in her place and will continue to destroy her political career. To Van Tran, there is only one top dog in the Vietnamese-American community. He already recruits two people to run against her in 2012.

Janet Nguyen already has granted him a favor by not supporting Quang Pham in the primary. The main reason Pham dropped out of the race was because he knew without her support, he would not win the primary.

So what Janet Nguyen to do? To sleep with her nemesis and prays that he will spare her if he wins or to stay out the race altogether. The lesson that she has learned about politics is that a promise today means nothing tomorrow and politics is personal. It is whoever in power will make or break her. And Van Tran has vowed publicly to teach her a lesson. It is just a matter of time for him to succeed.

Jade Budha for Universal Peace Tour in San Jose

This coming Wednesday, the Jade Budha for Universal Peace is making its debut in San Jose and is scheduled to be  in town for public viewing until  October 1.  This is part of a 2 years long tour to promote the statue as well as to raise funding for its permanent home in Bendigo, Australia.  Almost 10 ft high, this is the supposedly the largest buddha statue carved out of quality gemstone.   The Jade Budha statue will be exhibited at 1980 Senter Road.   The ceremony as well as fund raising events for the next two weeks are expected to draw thousands of people.  The main ceremony will be held on Saturday, Sept. 18 with Councilmember Madison Nguyen to be the guest of honor.

At a press conference recently to promote the Jade Budha tour, questions were asked by local newspapers including the Viet Tribune about the location and the logistics of the exhibition.  The questions were mundane enough but the responses from the organizer were surprisingly very defensive.

The organizer of the event reiterated that they have permission from San Jose officials to stage the ceremony and exhibit at 1980 Senter Road despite the fact the building has no zoning permit for such an event where there would be thousands of people attending.  How about parking? The question was raised since the building has no more than 50 parking spaces

 Everybody who has been followed the Jade Budha tour  in the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose knows the controversies about the upcoming event.  There were questions about the financial transparency of the tour including fraudulant promotion for profit by people who the organizers recently denounced.  The Jade Budha was origninal planned to be at a building on 10th street.  The monks had approached the owner of the building on the 10th street and he agreed to have the event held there free of charge.  However, Mike Hannon,  the head of San Jose code enforcement, decided to shut down the building for not having the right zoning permit to hold event for more than 49 people. 

And conspiracy theorists in the community also noted that the building on 1980 Senter Road is owned by Tron Do of Vien Thao Media.  Tron Do is a close friend and strong supporter of Madison Nguyen.  His other building on 545 Parrott St (Just a block away) has been Madison Nguyen's campaign headquarters even though they have no zoning permit for such activity.  Mike Hannon has been slow in shutting down the operation on 545 Parrrot St. even though complaints have been filed against Tron Do for allowing  Madison Nguyen using the building illegally.

The monks who brought the Jade Budha  are from San Diego and they are relying on the local promoters and organizers in San Jose to host the event.  They are unlucky to be caught in the spotlight caused by local promoters.

Madison Nguyen, Van Tran & David Duong

If there is a kingmaker in Vietnamese-American politics, David Duong and his brother Victor Duong fit the description.  The brothers live in Oakland and are owners of Califonria Waste Solutions, the recycle company that has major contract with San Jose City.  They started their business as a subcontractor for Norcal Waste Systems. Then using their political connections through generous political contributions and the Norcal controversy with former Mayor Gonzales, they out bid Norcal for the lucrative San Jose contract. 

Their recycling business took off and they then expanded to Vietnam with a lucrative contract signed personally by the former Prime Minister Phan van Khai.   They also own many commercial properties in Oakland, San Jose, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and even a travel agency (VMC Travel). 

They are famous for have an amazing ability to raise money for politicians within their Chinese business connection.   Councilmember Pete Constant saw it first hand last year when he attended a cozy fund raising event the brothers put together in San Jose for State Assemblyman Van Tran (R) who is running for US Congress against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D) in southern California.   Within 2 hours, they raised over $42,000.  Of course,  Pete Constant missed the second half of the event when Van Tran and the two brothers afterward went to a private fund raising party hosted by Tang Lap, the owner of Grand Century Mall.

State Assemblyman Van Tran has such high negatives in his own district within the Vietnamese-American community that he hardly could raise any money in Orange County.    Over 1/3 of the money that he has raised so far came from the Bay Area (mostly from the connections of David and Victor Duong) and Sacramento.    The largest newspaper in Orange County, the OC Register,  often calls him the "Godfather" and his political cohort - The Gang of Seven.  This is to reflect the powerful political machine and influence he used to have in Orange County. 

With Van Tran needing more money,  the brothers this Tuesday (Sept. 14) will co-host another fund raising event for Van in San Jose - the admission  is $1,000 per plate. 

But the brothers are even more attentive with the local election of  Madison Nguyen.  David Duong has said publicly that he will help Madison Nguyen with everything he can.  So far, he has helped her raised over $20,000 with his friends in San Francisco, Oakland and other East Bay cities. 

David Duong and Victor Duong need her since they know that their San Jose contract always need a champion in City Hall just in case.   After all, they are financially in trouble with their investment in Vietnam as well as here in San Jose.   Even though they  have a cozy relationship with the highest ranking Vietnamese officials and they have received many state and city commendations and recognitions, their $50 million investment so far in Vietnam since 2004 has yielded a project that requires more money and delay to resolve land-use problems.    Here in the Bay Area,  they over expanded their operation and just like every other businesses, got hurt by the economic downturn.  Their bankers feel uneasy and they are worried that their credit rating might not be as solid as they would like it to be.  San Jose City  has credit rating requirements that contractors of municipal services have to meet in order to be considered for contractual bid.

So being a practical businessmen and don't really care about political ideology, they have approached the lawyer Michael Luu to see if they can contribute to Minh Duong's campaign $250 each.  This is to "buy insurance" as they told Michael Luu.    

We don't know if Minh Duong's campaign accept the donation or not.  However, everybody in the community knows that Michael Luu gave both State Assemblyman Van Tran and Victor Duong the finger at a recent fund raising event and told them either they are with Madison Nguyen or against her but don't play both candidates like their personal puppets.

Robert Sandoval, Madison Nguyen & Minh Duong Saga

At the press conference today at his campaign headquarters,  Minh Duong detailed what happened to his volunteers two weeks ago as they were walking in a District 7 neighborhood talking to people about the upcoming election.  The two volunteers were suddenly stopped by a black Honda Accord with 4 people inside.   Two big men (One Hispanic and one Asian) jumped out of the car and started to verbally and physically abuse the volunteers.   There were two witnesses who saw part of the assault and came forward with their recorded testimonies.   Minh Duong's campaign had filed complaints about the incidence to the SJPD and the San Jose City Election Commission.  One of the thugs who allegedly started the assault was identified by the volunteers as Robert Sandoval.   The case is under investigation by the SJPD.   

Meanwhile, the San Jose City Clerk stated that she will neither allow the complaint to go forward to  the San Jose City Election Commission nor  have the investigation initiated by the Election Commission.   LSI assumes that the San Jose Election Commission is under the control of the City of San Jose and reports to the San Jose City Clerk.

Meanwhile, Robert Sandoval can be heard on Madison Nguyen's Vietnamese radio show saying that he will sue Minh Duong and LSI for making up the story.   At the press conference,  Minh Duong's campaign stated that they will take further legal action against the identifed thugs to stop the blatant practice of voter intimidation by Nguyen's campaign.

Madison Nguyen, Robert Sandoval & Minh Duong

Robert Sandoval, the president of West Evergreen Neighborhood Association, is being investigated by both the San Jose Police Department and the San Jose City Election Commission for assaulting campaign volunteers of Minh Duong. 

On Thursday, August 26, in the early afternoon at a neighborhood near the Tropicana Mall,  two volunteers for the Minh Duong Campaign were accosted and verbally attacked by a volunteer from the Madison Nguyen Campaign, identified by the police as Robert Sandoval (photo ID). 

According to the volunteers, they were first stopped by a black Honda Accord with two Asian guys driving in the front seat.  Then a Hispanic man, who was later identified by two other witnesses, as Robert Sandoval, stepped out from the back seat and started threatened to beat the s... out of them if they don't leave the area.  He then pushed one volunteer to the ground.  As two witnesses saw the incidence, they approach the two volunteers and Sandoval sped away with his cohorts.  One of the volunteers had the presence of mind to write down the license plate.  Immediately following the incident, the Duong volunteers called and reported the incident to the candidate, Minh Duong. They then drove to the SJPD office and filed an incident report (Case #10-XXX-XX19) under 240 PC Assault and Battery. 

Robert Sandoval as the readers recall was the person that filed a complaint against Minh Duong for not filing his expense properly.  In his testimony to the Election Commission against Minh Duong, as reported by LSI last month -

....Robert Sandoval told the commission that he has been a supporter of Madison Nguyen for the last 6 years. When asked by Commissioner Shepard what prompted him to file the complaint, Sandoval gave a lengthy answer. According to him, he was surfing the Net and noticed a lawsuit brought by Ron Wong (President of ICG) against Minh Duong. Being a “concerned citizen”, he promptly brought it to the attention of City Clerk Lee Price to see if Minh Duong could be disqualified as a candidate not having good moral character. Next, he brought the case to the attention of Mayor Chuck Reed. Sandoval said that the Mayor thought the lawsuit has merit and recommended City Attorney Rick Doyle to file the complaint with the Election Commission to disqualify Minh Duong. Still according to Sandoval, he then filed the comnplaint and personally followed up with the lawyer, Mike Moye, who was responsible for the investigation on behalf of the Election Commission. His reason was to "assist so that the investigation can be successful”

Bauxite Mining in Vietnam

According to Reuters News

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/Citi-lends-Vietnam-200-mn-for-bauxite-complex/articleshow/5796550.cms

" Citibank has signed a $200 million loan agreement with Vietnam's top coal miner, Vinacomin, to help it develop a bauxite complex.....


The 13-year credit deal was signed in Washington on Monday and witnessed by Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who was attending the nuclear security summit, the government said in a statement.


It gave no further details on the terms of the credit. State-run Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group has been building two bauxite mining and processing complexes in the Central Highlands coffee belt that have attracted the attention of critics worried about Chinese involvement and possible environmental damage.


The construction of a $460 million aluminium plant at one of the sites has been awarded to Chalieco, a subsidiary of China's state-run aluminium firm Chinalco. Vietnam's bauxite reserves are among the biggest in the world at 5.5 billion tonnes, almost all of which is in the Central Highlands, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Vinacomin has said it plans to sell $500 million of bonds overseas this year to support major mining projects, including coal, bauxite and titanium..."

According to an article written by Duy Hoang in the Asia Times :

http://boxitvn.wordpress.com/

"......The perceived risk has sparked a rare public outcry in Vietnam's government-controlled society, with residents, scientists, state media, bloggers and even military officers lodging vocal protests.


Though apparently not coordinated, their collective dissent is part of a budding Vietnamese environmental movement, notable for challenging the state's traditionally unquestioned authority in implementing large-scale economic development projects.

In recent months, a number of local scientists have written thoroughly researched articles, some published in state-controlled media, exposing weaknesses in the government's mining plans. A state-sanctioned domestic news site, vietnamweek.net, has been at the forefront of probing the issue, while bloggers have provided even more critical analysis..."

John Tran and Bank Fraud

The SF Chronicle reports the following story:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/04/BAEM1EONVL.DTL

 

"A former San Jose bank manager is expected to spend six years in state prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $550,000, primarily from elderly clients, police said.

John Tran, 37, entered guilty pleas Friday to theft from an elder, fraud and forgery, drawing to a close an investigation by the financial crimes division of the San Jose Police Department........

Investigators believe Tran victimized customers of the Wells Fargo Bank on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose, where he used to be a manager.

The thefts continued even after Tran left the bank in February 2009, police said. He would visit people at their homes, talk them into making investments and then steer their cashier checks his way, investigators said.

The case began in January, after a customer and her daughter visited the branch. The daughter wanted to know why her mother was being visited by a bank employee and why her investments weren't showing up in her account.

When there was no satisfactory answer from bank officials, the daughter called the police.

The investigation was led by Detective Leonard Lim, who used search warrants to track the path of cashier checks and suspicious withdrawals.........."

Viet Arts Present - “The Silent Sacrifice”

America is known worldwide as “the land of opportunities”. Those who can adapt to this modern life will realize the American dream. However, after living here several decades, many Vietnamese residents still haven’t felt that they are a part of the community.

It’s painful to suffer in silent – working 2-3 jobs to help the spouse and children pursue an education to have a better career. Now the spouse is leaving for someone else, and the children are influenced by a bad crowd.


The unhappy situations create a negative impact on the children – they accuse parents of not spending time with them, nor sharing the ups and downs of their life, too many generations are living under one roof, who should they listen to!


Sân Khấu Việt Cali and Association for Viet Arts proudly present a bilingual English/Vietnamese play “The Silent Sacrifice”, which focuses on Vietnamese immigrants’ life struggles to maintain Vietnamese culture within the generation gap.



August 14, 2010, at 7:30pm


Milpitas Community Center

457 E. Calaveras Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035




Artistic Director: Vân Phạm Mai
Director Consultant: Dr. Victoria Rue, Ph. D
Psychiatric Consultant: Dr. Phương Thúy Lê
Legal Advisor: Thu Hương Nguyễn, Attorney at Law



For advanced tickets contact:
San Khau Viet CALI (408) 859-3120
skvcali@yahoo.com

http://www.skvc.org/

Phở Nguyễn (408) 945-5909
Làng Văn (408) 274-0404
Phở Phi Long (408) 282-1666

$15/ Ticket

Special Promotion:
Buy 4 tickets get 1 free DVD
Buy 10 tickets get 3 free DVDs


San Khau Viet Cali Performing Arts
A Non Profit Organization

Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 859-3120
F:(408) 942-5566
skvcali@yahoo.com
http://www.skvc.org/

Ly Tong in Southern California

After posting bail last Friday night,  Ly Tong was seen the next morning down south protesting along with the anti-communist crowd at the Anaheim Arena against Dam Vinh Hung.    The protest organizers were not expecting more than 500 people participated in the demonstration but with the news Ly Tong coming to the town, the crowd swelled to about 1,300 people.

 Almost every Vietnamese-American candidate running for office in Little Saigon this coming November was waiting in line to see him, including the State Assemblyman Van Tran.    People were showering him with flowers, gifts and chanting his name everywhere. 

In an interview with a local San Jose newspaper (Thang Bom),  Ly Tong said that he only used concentrated perfume and not pepper spray.  He said that the DA has all the evidence.   If this is the case, the charge of "using a deadly weapon" by the DA is with an agenda.   LSI learned that  the Vietnamese Consulate in SF had asked the DA to prosecute Ly Tong to the fullest extent of the law.  In response, Ly Tong's lawyers (Tam Nguyen, Michael Luu ) filed complaints against the IRS and other state and local agencies against Dam Vinh Hung and his handlers for neither having a licence nor filing taxes  for previous shows. 

Loretta Sanchez vs. Van Tran

Incumbent US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is clearly in a tough election against termed-out State Assemblyman Van Tran for the CD47 this coming November.  Despite having a sizable advantage on campaign money over Van ($1.3 million vs. $280,000), Sanchez so far has not focused and lacks any clear strategy against a masterful campaigner like Van Tran. 

Van Tran has been hitting her hard within the Vietnamese-American community with negative campaign every night on his own radio station.   There are about 12,000 to 14,000 likely Vietnamese-American voters.  This will represent about 10% to 15% of the total votes depending on the turn-out.  Sanchez needs to capture at least 40% of the votes  in order to be competitive against Van Tran considering a very anti-incumbent climate.   She cannot rely on her Hispanic voters for they are unreliable.  The independent voters are likely to favor Van Tran. 

What is her next step to garner some of the Vietnamese-American votes?  The rumor is that she will get the visa to visit Vietnam and make some noises about human rights.  She is asking the White House to lean on the Vietnamese government to grant her the visa.  Right now the communist government refuses to allow her into Vietnam.

Current conventional wisdom - Despite the fact that this is a Democratic district, the high turn-out from independent voters and Vietnamese-Americans for Van Tran will make Loretta very vulnerable.