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.