"Thin Skin" Rose Hererra vs. "Lucky Boy" Jimmy Nguyen

With a campaign reaching $1 million spending mark and probably the costliest city council race in the history of San Jose,  it will come down to this -  Should the citizens of San Jose vote for a candidate that support pension reform  to show that they really care how  their hard earned money being taxed and spent by the local government?

The incumbent Rose Hererra has a checkered personal history of fiscal irresponsibility and of course a second rate temperament.   She is legendary for her prima donna behavior among the Asian communities.  " I am a city councilwoman therefore, I should be treated like a queen to all events" .    She needs to remember that she is nothing but a low level public servant that can be kicked out of office anytime.   If it was not for her support of the pension reform, this race would not be even competitive.

Now the Vietnamese-American's "Lucky Boy"  Jimmy Nguyen of course happens to be at the right place at the right time.   His campaign was going nowhere and he was clueless on issues.  However, the puppet master Dave Cortese and the powerful unions cannot stand Mayor Chuck Reed.   It is a proxy political battle that they wave and if Jimmy Nguyen wins, he will be their pawn for the next 8 years.  

So San Jose voters,  what would it be?  The revival of unions and their ways by electing Jimmy Nguyen or keeping a second rate city councilwoman and sending a message about how they want their money to be spent?

The election will be a close one.   From preliminary absentee ballot numbers,  LSI is expecting anywhere from 20,000 to 24,000 total ballots.   If the turn-out is more than 21,000 ballots,  Rose will win.   

Jimmy Nguyen and Duc Lam - "Gotcha Game"

In a brilliant political "Gotcha" move,  Jimmy Nguyen and his supporters decided to see if they could embarass Rose Herrera.    The high paid political consultants, Tom Saggau and Dustin DeRollo were staking out at a park in District 8 to see if they could catch the person who supposedly has been dumping Jimmy Nguyen's campaign signs.    Accompanying  them is Duc Lam, a friend of Jimmy Nguyen and a video camera.    According to the Mercury News -

"...Software engineer Matt Wahlin, 58, admits he did remove some Nguyen signs, which he said someone repeatedly placed on the couple's front lawn in recent days. He said he also removed signs that had been on public property in the area, which he said is a violation of city rules.

But Wahlin said he was attacked Monday night as he was about to throw the signs away in a garbage bin, located in a small park less than a mile from the home he shares with Herrera.

"I was going around the corner and I was blindsided and knocked to the ground by at least one person," Wahlin told reporters late Tuesday morning from his living room. As he stood up after the attack, he said, two suspects shined a bright light and camera in his face.

Wahlin showed reporters scrapes and bruises on his face, hands and left knee that he said he suffered as a result of the confrontation. He filed a police report Tuesday against his unknown assailants...."

The video that the consultants posted on the web is in poor condition but here are two full stories reported on the Internet.

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_21891637/san-jose-councilwomans-husband-removes-opponents-campaign-sign?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com


http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/10_30_12_rose_herrera_jimmy_Nguyen_campaign_signs/

Fire and Bronze Lửa Đông Sơn Concert

The Sound of Fire and Bronze, an enchanting blend of jazz, traditional Vietnamese folk-inspired music and original scores performed by internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyên Lê and Đàn Tranh [Vietnamese Zither] virtuoso Vân Ánh Vanessa Võ.

A small exhibit of ancient Đông Sơn drum and several drum rubbings will be open to the public on Saturday Nov 3, 2012 at the Rose Center.


http://firenbronze.com/aboutus/



Lửa Đông Sơn Cultural Exhibit & Concert
Rose Theater Center, Westminster, CA
Saturday, Nov 3, 2012
Đông Sơn Culture & Bronze Drum Exhibit: 2:00-4:00 PM.
Special talk at 2:30 PM by Drs. Chan and Quynh Kieu – complimentary

Concert at 7:30
Concert Ticket Prices:
$25 Student (ID required, spaces limited)
$40 General
$100 Bronze (Preferred seating)
Tickets Available:
1. By Credit card or PayPal
2. At Lee’s Sandwiches on Beach/McFadden: 15440 Beach Blvd., Westminster, CA 92683
3. At Bolsa Tickets (www.bolsatickets.com): 714.418.2499, 10161 Bolsa Ave, Ste B-207, Westminster, CA 92683
For further questions email: tix@firenbronze.com

2012 MacArthur Fellow - An My Le

The MacArthur Fellows Program awards five-year, unrestricted fellowships to individuals across all ages and fields who show exceptional merit and promise of continued creative work. It is limited to U.S. citizens and residents.  

The fellow program is usually referred to as the Genius Grant with the award of $500,000.   Previously two other Vietnamese-Americans had received the award

Dr. Huynh, Sanh Thong, Yale University (1987).  The award is for his exceptional work in literary study.

Dr. Huynh, My Hanh, High Explosives Technology Group,  Los Alamos National Lab (2007).  The award is for her work in high energy chemical reactions and its practical application.


This year, Le, My An, at Bard College, NY, was given the award for her talent in documentary photography.

In given her the award,  the foundation stated the following -

An-My Lê is an artist whose photographs of landscapes transformed by war or other forms of military activity blur the boundaries between fact and fiction and are rich with layers of meaning. A refugee from Vietnam and resident of the United States since 1975, much of Lê’s work is inspired by her own experience of war and dislocation. From black and white images of her native Vietnam taken on a return visit in 1994 to pictures of Vietnam War battle re-enactments in rural America, her photographs straddle the documentary and the conceptual, creating a neutral perspective that brings the essential ambiguity of the medium to the fore.

http://www.macfound.org/fellows/868/

 

Romney Leading Obama Among Viet-American Voters

Just out of sheer luck as Asian-American Poll Media was doing some polling projects, the foundation was gracious enough to do an unofficial survey for LSI to see what is the presidential election landscape within the Viet-American community in the Bay Area in general.  

The unofficial survey was done with 235 likely voters in Santa Clara County.   The result is not surprisingly in favor of Romney at 54% vs. Obama at 44%.   This of course is propably the reverse of the general electorate in the Santa Clara and elsewhere in California where Obama is so overwhelming ahead that neither Romney or Obama even show up to campaign.

The fun race to watch is in Virginia where the Asian-American voters will help decide a very close race for the 13 electoral votes.  Romney are actively courting the Asian-American voters there while Obama is focusing on the Latino voting bloc.    In 2008,  the retiring Senator Jim Webb won a close election with the help of the Vietnamese-American voters who turned in drove to support a Democratic candidate in a heavily Republic leaning district.   Of course, it did not hurt that Webb's wife is a young and good looking Vietnamese-American lawyer who is almost 2 decades his junior.

 

Building Healthy Families Forum

Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy in collaboration with Asian Americans for Community Involvement is proud to introduce the “Xây Dýòng Gia ÐiÌnh LaÌnh Maònh” or “Building Healthy Families” community forum, a Domestic Violence Information & Resource Collaborative event on October 13th at the Franklin McKinley School District Office.

Our mission is to educate Vietnamese American families in identifying signs and symptoms of domestic violence and emotional abuse. We hope to achieve this goal by engaging the community and connecting these families to the resources, information and tools that are vital to a healthy home environment, whether it be their own or a loved one’s.

Xay Dung Gia Dinh Lanh Manh

“Building Healthy Families”

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Breakfast & Registration: 11:30 am

Panel & Discussion: 12:00 pm -1:30 pm

Lunch and Resource Fair: 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm

Franklin McKinley School District Office

645 Wool Creek Drive, San Jose, CA 95112

Panel Speakers:

Judge Jacqueline Duong, Santa Clara County Superior Court

Dr. Le Phuong Thuy, Family Therapist

Quyen Vuong, Executive Director, ICAN

Nguyet-Anh Le, Sr. Legal Advocate, AACI

Please Join Us!

The day’s events will feature a panel of distinguished speakers including Judge Jacqueline Duong of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, family therapist Dr. Le Phuong Thuy Quyen Vuong, Executive Director of the non-profit ICAN, and Nguyet-Anh Le, Senior Legal Advocate for AACI Women's Shelter. The resource fair will bring together legal experts and community service providers to talk about support services, prevention and intervention strategies. After much planning and collaboration we are pleased to invite you to:

Democratic Party and Vietnamese-American Voters

 

 

                             Our Bowl of Rice

                                                                     By Dr. Vinh Cam

I recently had the privilege of attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a delegate from Greenwich. 

When people ask why I’m a Democrat, I say that Democratic core values resonate with my heart and mind. 

Growing up in a devout Catholic family in Saigon, compassion, love, respect for the elderly, humility, education, sharing and unwavering faith in God were our core family values. 

Since a very young age, I believed that poverty and ignorance are the worst diseases on earth.  I wanted to devote my life to help people by choosing a career in scientific research and public service, and I believe the Democratic Party is most supportive of those goals.

Having survived centuries of colonialism at the hands of the Chinese and more recently the French, the Vietnamese people have demonstrated tremendous political stamina.  The famous Trung Sisters, perched on elephants, led an army of women and men to push back Chinese invaders in 40 AD. 

The success of our Vietnamese community has spanned from the continuing growth of small business to the prominence of a number of Vietnamese-Americans in arts, business, and sciences.

I have witnessed firsthand how Democratic legislators have fought for "our bowl of rice" in protecting and expanding social programs that provide economic security for millions of Vietnamese families, including seniors, students, and veterans. 

The Democratic Party has created a large tent for Americans from all walks of life.  Its policies of inclusion, social justice, and shared prosperity has allowed minorities to make giant leaps in their education and career growth.

Democrats want to continue fighting for a better quality of life for our community and want to prevent cuts (such as those in the Paul Ryan budget) that would adversely affect our community.

Although there is a perception that Republicans have been more aggressive in targeting the Vietnamese vote, Democrats have been working very hard to earn it.  Recently, Republican intolerance on immigration issues, and attacks on Social Security and Medicare have driven many Vietnamese away from the Republican Party.  The people whom I have helped to register to vote over the years have told me that they found that Democrats have done more for people of color.

I believe that war - causing untold suffering - should be avoided at all costs and only used as the last resource.  That's why I voted for Senator Obama for President in 2008, for his opposition to the War in Iraq and his promise of ending it if elected.  He kept his word in ending the war in Iraq and brought our troops home.  President Obama, Michelle Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden have worked tirelessly to help former service members getting training and jobs to ensure that military families have a prosperous life.

I learned a great deal from attending the Convention in Charlotte.  Our dreams, no matter how ambitious, can become reality.  I was fired-up from seeing so many "rags to riches" stories that were accomplished through sheer determination of individual spirit.

I don't have the words to describe the various emotions I felt while attending the Convention.  I cried and laughed, depending on what different speakers said.  One thing I felt for sure was gratitude.  Gratitude to God for having given me the strength to overcome adversity and leading me to the right path.  Gratitude to America for having adopted me into her loving arms and giving me political and economic security.  Gratitude to all my friends and colleagues who have helped me along my life journey.  Gratitude to my grandmother , Huynh thi Sang, and mother, Huynh thi Cuc, who have raised me with absolute binding faith in God and deep inculcation of strong work ethics, compassion and self-sufficiency.

In 2008, I was the Founding Chair of Vietnamese Americans for Obama to conduct voter registration and enlist our community support for Senator Obama.  Blessed with strong will and faith, our Vietnamese community ought to seize the moment to shape our own destiny right here in America.  I strongly urge you to embrace active citizenry and fully exercise your rights at every single election.

Whether  you're Democrat, Independent, or Republican, rich or poor, I urge all my fellow Vietnamese Americans to be engaged in the political process.  Don't consider politics a dirty business.  It's upon all of us to make politics clean and rewarding.  Get involved!

I will entrust my vote to re-elect President Barack Obama on November 6, 2012.  I urge you all to reach into the depth of your heart and ask yourself who has been fighting for your rights.

President Obama and Democrats have been fighting for "our bowl of rice."  It is just not the Vietnamese bowl of rice but the” AMERICAN BOWL OF RICE.”  Let us give them our heart and sweat in reelecting President Obama on November 6.

 

Dr. Vinh Cam

Delegate from Greenwich, CT
PO Box 5303
Greenwich, CT 06831
poema1925@gmail.com
Dr. Vinh Cam is a former member of the Representative Town Committee, and a member of the Democratic Town Committee