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Annise Parker Enters Colbert Nation

July 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Houston’s Madam Mayor Annise D. “The Batman” Parker was the guest on last night’s Colbert Report.

Madame Mayor Annise D. Parker with Sir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert

In introducing Parker, Colbert joked

I assume she’s here in New York to pick up Jeremy Lin.

She, however, passed through Colbert Nation on her way to the U.S. Conference of Mayors in nearby Philadelphia. I take that to mean The Colbert Report had its choice of mayors and Parker came out on top.

What does Houston have going for it?

We’re a foodie town, we’re an arts town, we’re a sports town, a theater town, anything you want in a big city you have in Houston, plus we have a good quality of life, we’re affordable and we have jobs.

Yep. An arts town and a theater town. She neglected to mention one of the best restaurants in the country is a nice walk from her house.

Colbert also mocked Houston when noting Parker would be his guest:

I’ll ask her how she broke it to her parents that she wanted to live in Houston

While people enjoy or at least make the best of living in Houston for the above things, they live in Houston for the jobs.

Oil and gas — still the biggest. But we have America’s largest foreign tonnage port, we have Johnson Space Center with NASA and aerospace, and we’re a big manufacturing center

That’s right. Johnson Space Center is still going strong.

When Colbert asked how it’s possible that Parker is the first openly gay mayor of a major American city — insulting Portland, Oregon and ignoring that Houston is one of the largest cities in the world to accomplish such a feat. Parker wisely noted Houston elected her six times before electing her mayor and explained

Houston is very tolerant of a lot of things; they want to know what you can do, not who you are or where you’re from.

Admittedly, I was disappointed Parker failed to mention Houston is the most diverse big city in America.

Watch the full interview:

Only time will tell what the Colbert Bump will mean for Mayor Parker.

- Justin Gillenwater

Filed Under: 2009 Campaign, 2011+2012 Campaigns, Culture, Demographics, Economy, Healthcare, Humor, Jeremy Lin, Jobs/Employment Issues, Justin Gillenwater, LGBT, Local Politics, Media, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas

Why GOP Christians are Pushy

March 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We know GOP Christians decided Obama’s not a Christian little matter how much proof we pump here, so instead of wasting time doing that, I explore why GOP Christians decided as such. Their religion gives hints:

1. GOP Christians see the world in black vs white.
These folks are literalists, they take the Bible as their primary source and haven’t a care for the notion of intrepretation because they view their intrepretation to be actually the single only right way to view the Bible with all other intrepretations as wrong, misled, flawed, not of God, whatever wording they like to use. Either Obama’s a non-black guy yapping about Jesus’ working his life (ignore intelligence or hard work, education is for non-Republicans, hard work is for everyone “else”) or he’s just not Christian, period.

2. GOP Christians have a way with words that splits the world.
Naturally, a religion requires others be wrong so to split the world into “us” vs “them”. What else could invigorate a man of faith more than to conquer, the whole “soldier of Christ” imagery and language which makes a Christian man feel like twice the man because now he’s got some vision (another word Christians salivate at), some worth, some sense of purpose. If you’re non-Christian, get out. They want to preach to the choir, not everyone else. Either you’re with them or against them, something past conservatives have honed.

3. GOP Christians need to denegrate others because there has to be a particular reason Christians exist.
GOP Christians are self-assuredly (they’ll say their assurance comes from Jesus Christ, but often it’s more in their own heads instead) the (self-)righteous kind who naturally, spiritually seek purpose and when none can be found, religion offers them the reason they exist. Existing in economically depressing areas requires such spiritual resolve and a great many GOP Christians exist in just such areas. For those on the rich end, they still carry the same sense of purpose as they manage the big wig task of screwing over others. Those in between can uneasily adopt both psychologies for an especially uneasy and insecure one that prefers religious comfort.

4. GOP Christians fundamentally preach the Gospels, religiously or politically, better when combined.
Don’t pretty it up, they’re bullies who use religion to (self-)justify their shoving their beliefs on you. The irony is that they’re the least likely to be receptive to others shoving beliefs down their throats, like, oh, rational thought. If we told the fundamentalist how pregnancy works, they’d use the opportunity to remind you how interested in your reproductive health they are because a fetus gives them great purpose in life. Churches train their followers to use any opportunity to preach the Gospels. Likewise, they’ll use an opportunity to preach anything to you, whether religion, politics, or both.

5. The truth always wins … their truth, that is.
Truth is indeed always going to win. Sure, some GOP Christians will hijack that word with their powerfully religious definition, causing them to burn the earth in their frustrated attempt to do so.

Now for some comedic relief:
Why God Never Received a PhD

Filed Under: LGBT, Religion, Richard Chen, Social Justice

Focus on the Family: We've Probably Lost on Gay Marriage

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“We’re losing on that one, especially among the 20- and 30-somethings: 65 to 70 percent of them favor same-sex marriage. I don’t know if that’s going to change with a little more age — demographers would say probably not. We’ve probably lost that. I don’t want to be extremist here, but I think we need to start calculating where we are in the culture.” —Jim Daly, president of the far-right social issues group Focus on the Family, on marriage equality. [World via Mother Jones] (h/t NYMag)

This is pretty big that they are waking up and realizing that America is changing and has changed. It’s almost as if the energy CEOs said, “Yeah, we kinda believe in global warming”

Hey, a girl can wish, can’t she?

Filed Under: Caroline, Culture, Demographics, LGBT, Uncategorized

WH: Statement by the President on Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act

December 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 18, 2010
Statement by the President on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010

Today, the Senate has taken an historic step toward ending a policy that undermines our national security while violating the very ideals that our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives to defend. By ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay. And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love.

As Commander-in-Chief, I am also absolutely convinced that making this change will only underscore the professionalism of our troops as the best led and best trained fighting force the world has ever known. And I join the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as the overwhelming majority of service members asked by the Pentagon, in knowing that we can responsibly transition to a new policy while ensuring our military strength and readiness.

I want to thank Majority Leader Reid, Senators Lieberman and Collins and the countless others who have worked so hard to get this done. It is time to close this chapter in our history. It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed. It is time to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve their country openly. I urge the Senate to send this bill to my desk so that I can sign it into law.

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Filed Under: LGBT, Obama Administration Tagged With: , ,

Gay Marriage: What Happens From Here

August 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Now that a federal judge has struck down California’s ban on gay marriage, what happens next?  In a nutshell, the endgame will be up to California’s voters and the U.S. Supreme Court.

To be sure, opponents of gay marriage will appeal this case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  And no matter what the Ninth Circuit does, the case will probably be appealed to the Supreme Court.  But here’s the catch:  this case might not be decided until after the 2012 Presidential election.

This means California voters may well decide the issue of gay marriage before the Supreme Court does.  Amidst all the legal debate, everyone agrees that gay marriage will be back on the California ballot in Nov. 2012.  And this time, it’s highly likely that voters will vote to approve gay marriage.

We all benefit when we’re given a second chance.

– Gautam Dutta

Filed Under: 2012 Presidential, California, Civil Rights/Liberties, Culture, Gautam Dutta, LGBT, Social Justice

2010 Texas Democratic Party Convention

July 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

This past weekend, “AAA-Fund Texas” attended the 2010 Texas Democratic Party Convention in Corpus Christi, Texas, where I came across two delicious restaurants: Yin Yang Fandango & Tango Tea Room, a hippy restaurant with a silly name, and Thai Spice, a delicious Thai restaurant that could survive in a city with much more competition. If you’re ever in Corpus Christi, give these two a try. I’m fairly convinced they’re two of the top ten, and quite possibly top five, restaurants in the city.

For ease of reading, I have broken my report into smaller posts:

The 2012 Texas Democratic Party Convention will be in Houston; I hope to see you there.

- Justin Gillenwater

Filed Under: 2010 Campaign, Campaign Update, Democratic Party, Demographics, Economy, Education, Environment, Grassroots Activism, Healthcare, Immigration, Justin Gillenwater, LGBT, Republican Party, Texas, Voting Rights

TDP2010: Embarrassments

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The lowest point in the convention was not some of the borderline-ugly behavior as delegates weighed in on whether to keep the Texas Two-Step in its current Presidential delegate-allocation form. Instead, the lowest point was when the Convention honored a homophobic racist. His friends and family have my condolences for their loss. Democrats, however, should not honor someone who was such an ugly person so late into his or her life. I’ll never forget the bizarre man who was sitting behind me at the Texas Democratic Convention in 2006 and said, as Glen Maxey took the stage to give his candidacy speech for TDP Chair, “why did they let that little faggot who speaks Mexican on stage.” Ya basta!

I often wondered what a homophobic racist was doing with the Democrats when there’s already a party for homophobic racists, the Republican Party of Texas. You can find a deliciously amusing lost of do’s and don’ts learned at their convention from the Dallas Observer. It’s very much worn the read.

I hope you will also examine the Republican Party of Texas hate manifesto party platform and compare it with the TDP party platform.

- Justin Gillenwater

Filed Under: Civil Rights/Liberties, Democratic Party, Demographics, Economy, Education, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Grassroots Activism, Healthcare, Immigration, Justin Gillenwater, LGBT, Religion, Republican Party, Social Justice, Texas, Voting Rights

Stop Being A Federal Snob (If You Care About Education)

March 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I realize many of our readers have an urge to skip anything they see on this blog about Texas. “What does a land of secessionist rednecks matter?” you might ask yourself. If you care about education, it means quite a bit. You see, Texas’ textbooks are a national problem.

Before I continue, let’s get this making fun of Texas out of our systems. Yes, one third of Texans believes The Flintstones was a documentary — or at least that humans and dinosaurs roamed the Earth together. Follow that link, there’s a lot of insightful information both positive and negative about people’s vies in Texas.

Gautam warned you about the attempted retconning of United States history to fit the “Christian Nation” mold. But what does that mean? WASP-washed textbooks for social studies and science, of course: “American exceptionalism” (“God bless American and no place else”), minimalization of the importance of non-WASPs and non-males, some form of creationism, possibly including young Earth, drill baby drill, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Says Don McLeroy, a lame-duck member of Texas’ State Board of Education and someone who sounds like a money changer at the temple:

“Textbooks are mostly the product of the liberal establishment, and they’re written with the idea that our religion and our liberty are in conflict,” he said. “But Christianity has had a deep impact on our system. The men who wrote the Constitution were Christians who knew the Bible. Our idea of individual rights comes from the Bible. The Western development of the free-market system owes a lot to biblical principles.”

If you’re lucky enough to be in California or two or three other states, maybe you can enjoy the insulation from the Texas Taliban’s textbooks:

Texas . . . buy[s] or distribute[s] a staggering 48 million textbooks annually — which rather strongly inclines educational publishers to tailor their products to fit the standards dictated by the Lone Star State. California is the largest textbook market, but besides being bankrupt, it tends to be so specific about what kinds of information its students should learn that few other states follow its lead. Texas, on the other hand, was one of the first states to adopt statewide curriculum guidelines, back in 1998, and the guidelines it came up with (which are referred to as TEKS — pronounced “teaks” — for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) were clear, broad and inclusive enough that many other states used them as a model in devising their own. And while technology is changing things, textbooks — printed or online —are still the backbone of education.

I’d like to blockquote the entire article from the New York Times Magazine. Take the time to read it.

If the results of the Republican primaries are any indication, things may be looking up. The Texas State Board of Education currently has 6 sane members, 2 occasionally sane members, and 7 total wackjob Texas Taliban types, whose side did not perform well on Tuesday.

Don McLeroy lost by 860 votes to the sane Thomas Ratliff in District 9. In District 10, Cynthia Dunbar’s chosen successor is in a runoff with another crazy. At least Dunbar will no longer be in office. George Clayton, who is little-known but seems sane, defeated an incumbent swing vote. These results should be enough to flip the SBOE towards sanity again. What’s more, Democrats are running in and could win Districts 5 and 10.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The current SBOE will remain in office for many months. Language arts and science standards, among other items, are on the agenda for the SBOE meeting this week.

When you choose to ignore Texas, you choose to ignore the second most populous state in the country, with nearly 25 million residents including nearly 1 million Asian Americans. And you choose to ignore all of the consequences that flow from letting the American Taliban control such influential institutions as the Texas State Board of Education. Don’t rely on e-books to save the rest of the country. The cover of science textbooks in your state may soon look like this:

- Justin Gillenwater

Filed Under: 2010 Campaign, California, Campaign Update, Democratic Party, Demographics, Education, Environment, Immigration, Justin Gillenwater, LGBT, Religion, Republican Party, Texas

Cao, Tebow, And The Super Bowl

February 7, 2010 By 3 Comments

Congressman Cao will be the only Republican watching the Super Bowl with President Obama. If they watch the commercials too, they’re certain to see the controversial Focus On The Family commercial in which Tim Tebow’s mother discusses her decision to “choose life.”

A lot of the mainstream media has failed to ask the important question — why is CBS willing to air such a misleading ad? Now you may say that plenty of Super Bowl ads are misleading; drinking whatever sort of beer does not guarantee multiple “attractive” women will be ’round, for instance. That’s not what I mean — I mean a deeper sort of misleading. I don’t care to discuss the gay dating ad (which I suggest watching — it’s great as far as most Super Bowl ads go) that CBS refuses to run, but I do suggest you watch Wanda Sykes’ take on the matter. I also don’t care to discuss the irony that CBS will permit the airing of numerous commercials promoting alcohol consumption and treating erectile dysfunction but will not permit an honest discussion of the inevitable result of those two products. No, I wonder why CBS is not mentioning abortion is and was illegal in the Philippines. Of course, there are many, many underground abortions there. That, however, should way heavily on anyone analyzing Mrs. Tebow’s choice.

I think it’s quite fair to ask why is CBS in bed with the religious right? As Michael Rowe rightly points out, CBS rejected a commercial from the United Church of Christ containing a welcoming message for potential gay parishioners because it “touch[ed] on and/or [took] a position on one side of a current controversial issue.”

Is this sort of controversy what Viacom’s shareholders want? Or is this the sort of long-term thinking rarely seen on Wall Street? After all, less abortions should mean increased population, which after several years means more potential eyes and ears for the ad space Viacom will sell to the next group willing to part with a few million dollars to air a misleading ad.

Like Sean James and Al Joyner in the below video, I’m glad for Pam Tebow that her decision to ignore her physician’s advice worked out. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. As William Saletan points out in his Slate column, Ms. Tebow’s decision could have turned out to have much less life than the anti-abortion crowd would like to admit:

Being dead is just the first problem with dying in pregnancy. Another problem is that the fetus you were trying to save dies with you. A third problem is that your existing kids lose their mother. A fourth problem is that if you had aborted the pregnancy, you might have gotten pregnant again and brought a new baby into the world, but now you can’t. And now the Tebows have exposed a fifth problem: You can’t make a TV ad.

Saletan has plenty more, and I highly recommend reading his article. And while you’re at it, don’t miss Jason Fagone’s piece about the Tebow family.

Oh, and one more thing: Geaux Saints!

- Justin Gillenwater

Filed Under: Civil Rights/Liberties, Foreign Affairs, Grassroots Activism, Healthcare, Immigration, Justin Gillenwater, LGBT, Media, Obama Administration, Religion, Republican Party, Social Justice

Updates in CA, TX, MA, and DC

January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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Asian American Action Fund Online Newsletter
Volume 10, Number 1, January 8, 2010
For more, visit aaa-fund.org.
Send comments to info@aaa-fund.org.
Subscribe and unsubscribe info below.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FROM THE AAA-FUND!

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1. Boston: AAAF, Cheung, Yoon Make Waves
2. IRV and AAA-Fund Leader Make the News
3. New APA Federal Judges Confirmed
4. Congrats to UC-Hastings Law Dean Frank Wu
5. Kudos to the DC Council
6. Gordon Quan Runs for Powerful TX Position
7. Jeremy Lin, Sports Pioneer
8. Houston Elects First Gay Mayor
9. True Genius
10. Advertise with us
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1. Boston: AAAF, Cheung, Yoon Make Waves

This year, the Boston area provided much excitement. One Asian American leader (Leland Cheung) made history, while another almost did. His name? Boston Councilmember Sam Yoon, who came close to becoming the first APA Boston Mayor.

See an exclusive youtube interview with AAA-Fund’s 2009 endorsee, along with ChunFai Chan, the 2009 AAA-Fund/Korean American Democratic Committee Fellow.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3909
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3824
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3664

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2. IRV and AAA-Fund Leader Make the News

Between resignations and politicians’ office-hopping (even in Hawai’i), special elections cannot be avoided. Fortunately, there’s a proven, practical way to rescue hapless voters and taxpayers: Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). In a nutshell, IRV does away with costly runoff elections, by allowing voters to elect a majority winner in one single election.

With IRV, voters rank their choices (1, 2, 3), and their rankings are then used to determine the majority winner. With IRV, we could have one election, with no runoff, and save millions of our tax dollars.

Beyond saving taxpayer dollars and relieving voter fatigue, IRV will also make our leaders more accountable: by encouraging them to run cleaner, more issue-based campaigns.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3794
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3776
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3822
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3927

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3. New APA Federal Judges Confirmed

Our congratulations to our friend Dolly Gee, who just became the first Chinese American woman to serve as a federal judge. Also, the Senate confirmed Jacqueline H. Nguyen to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, making her the first Vietnamese American Article III judge.

Meanwhile, the nomination of Judge Denny Chin for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent. His nomination now proceeds to the full Senate.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3894
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3612
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3645
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3728

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4. Congrats to UC-Hastings Law Dean Frank Wu

UC Hastings has announced Frank Wu will become Chancellor and Dean in July 2010. UC Hastings is located in San Francisco, California within blocks of the California Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. According to US News and World Reports, 23% of the UC Hastings student body, or about 300 of its students, are of Asian descent.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3874

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5. Kudos to the DC Council

D.C. Fair Access Coalition came together in 2009 to fight for the budget and continued existence of the Mayor’s Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. It was a good victory for our community and hopefully it lessens the chance that it will be jeopardized again in 2010.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3815

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6. Gordon Quan Runs for Powerful TX Position

Former Houston City Councilman and nationally-recognized immigration attorney Gordon Quan launches his campaign for Harris County Judge.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3918
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3880

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7. Jeremy Lin, Sports Pioneer

Jeremy Lin is a senior on the Harvard basketball team who is starting to raise eyebrows in college basketball. Lin recently scored 30 points in an almost-upset of 14th-ranked perennial powerhouse Connecticut. With Lin at the helm, Harvard is one of the favorites to win the Ivy League and could upset a top-ranked team, just as they did last season when they beat 17th-ranked Boston College. There’s even talk of Lin playing in a professional league somewhere, although not necessarily in the US.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3693

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8. Houston Elects First Gay Mayor

Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender in a generation to defeat the hand-picked candidate of Houston’s business establishment and the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city.

When asked why Houston became the first big city in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor, rather than New York or San Francisco, the woman who had broken that barrier, Annise Parker, raised her eyebrows and said her victory came as no surprise to people who live here.

“I think the rest of America had the wrong impression of Houston,” Ms. Parker said after winning. “We are a diverse, amazing, international city.”

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3765
http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3784

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9. True Genius

What beats being good at math and science? Helping thousands across the globe discover the joy of learning on the internet.

During the years Salman Khan spent scrutinizing financials for hedge funds, he rationalized the profit-obsessed work by telling himself he would one day quit and use his market winnings to open a free school.

Instead, he started one almost by accident.

MORE: http://www.aaa-fund.com/?p=3915

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10. Advertise with us

For only $95 a month, advertise your company on the AAA-Fund newsletter! Email Sally at sallyzhu626@gmail.com if interested. Advertisements must be text-based only and should not span longer than 200 words.

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Filed Under: 2009 Campaign, 2010 Campaign, AAA Fund, California, Campaign Update, Education, Grassroots Activism, Immigration, Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), LGBT, Media, Sam Yoon, Texas, Voting Rights
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