Subject: World Politics

• Look to the Skies

  In a column in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, Ray Lemoine, co-author of Babylon by Bus, recounted his recent brush with the Department of Homeland Security. Lemoine was stopped at JFK airport while returning from Dubai. He'd been red-flagged because of a former job. Lemoine isn't a retired shoe-bomber or an ex-terrorist mastermind– a few years ago, he used sell bootleg t-shirts at sporting events. "Why did you infringe on the Boston Celtics' copyright in Boston in 2003?" the man from Homel

  June 14, 2006

• Irvine Wants Communist $$$ for the Great Park?

  The controversy surrounding Irvine's new "Sister City" relationship with Communist officials in Shanghai and the bizarre snub of democratic Taiwan began with numerous "irregularies," including breaches of protocol, "odd" outside influences and possible "deliberate deception," according to a June 21 memo obtained by the Weekly. Written by Sister Cities Foundation president James E. Dunning, the three-page document outlines how Henry King, the Shanghai-native husband of Councilman Larry Agran'

  June 25, 2006

• Terrorists Attack US Power Plant

  Israeli terrorists have caused significant damage to a power plant in Palestine, insured by the U.S. government for up to $48 million dollars. READ THE STORY ON ALJAZEERA.COM Tony Snow, White House Chief of Verbal Diarrhea, previously described Israel's current assault on the Palestinians as legitimate self-defence, precipitated by "the hostage-taking and attacks by Hamas last weekend." Funny, I don't think he would consider the Iraqi insurgency a legitimate self-defence, precipitated by pris

  July 2, 2006

• Dancing around a great problem at The Great Park

  The El Toro Shuffle? The Great Park Gavotte? The Irvine Ranch Water District Toxic Waltz? We should come up a name for the little dance. It's a simple four step dance, and very familiar one. Scientists point out a looming environmental threat and call for government action. The Bush administration, refusing to act and attempting to dismiss the scientists as panic-mongers and tree-huggers, calls for even more scientific study before it will even consider acting. The further study is completed, a

  July 28, 2006

• Weak on both sides...

  … and radioactive in the middle. By now you know that North Korea has apparently successfully tested a nuclear weapon. (Experts prefer the term "device", rather than "weapon", but given the fact that this device's sole function is to cause large-scale destruction, I think the word weapon is allowable.) The BBC reports: The size of the bomb is uncertain. South Korean reports put it as low as 550 tons of destructive power but Russia said it was between five and 15 kilotons. The 1945 Hiro

  October 9, 2006

• Dumping Ackerman

  There's tension inside the world's smallest big tent. Following the lead of their fellow Republicans in the Assembly-- who bounced alleged Schwarzenegger-appeaser George Plescia out of his position as leader of the Assembly's GOP, and replaced him with the allegedly unbending Mike Villines-- the rightwing of the rightwing in Senate has its knives out for that chamber's top Republican leader, Tustin's Dick Ackerman. John Howard reports in the Capitol Weekly, A closed-door retreat in Newport Beach

  December 1, 2006

• Ackerman Wins

  At the end of last week, it appeared that OC's Dick Ackerman was about to lose his position as Minority Leader in the State Senate. He stood accused by many of his fellow Republicans of being too ready to cut deals with Governor Schwarzenegger and too pro-infrastructure bonds. Sure, voters had already approved the bonds and seem to overwhelming approve of the latest version of Schwarzenegger (the deal-making, semi-Democrat model), but Senate Republicans didn't appear to care. After all, the C

  December 5, 2006

• Ed Royce Makes a Run for the Border

  The San Diego Union-Tribune, whose editorials typically lean solidly to the right, has come out firmly against mixing illegal immigration with the war on terror--and with "The Wrong Mix," they more specifically chide OC's own Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) for chairing an Imperial Beach congressional hearing that did just that. Rep. Royce said his special hearing panel would focus on whether America's porous border makes it more vulnerable to another terrorist attack. That should have been our firs

  July 7, 2006

• Sixteen Hours With Vietnam’s President

  Dozens of media outlets filed reports this weekend about the historic Orange County visit of Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet, but only one American reporter gained exclusive access. Read R. Scott Moxley’s story in Thursday’s edition of the OC Weekly.

  June 25, 2007

• Rohrabacher: Why aren't we causing a revolution in China?

  Last night in a C-SPAN televised speech, Dana Rohrabacher called Chinese government officials “gangsters,” slammed both Bush presidential administrations for failing to challenge China’s human rights abuses and complained that the U.S. Government isn’t working to spur a democratic revolution in that nation on the eve of the next Olympic games. Oh, and the OC-Long Beach Republican congressman also told us that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t have been a coward to stand up to the Chinese Commun

  October 2, 2007

• CA GOP Sure Knows How to Pick OCers

  The Republican Party of Orange County's Weekly Squeeze e-letter (guys: drop the cutesy orange metaphor, por favor) tells me today that longtime local GOP activist Kathy Tavoularis is now Executive Director of the California Delegation to the 2008 Republican National Convention. "A well organized delegation is extremely important for our candidates and delegates, and Kathy is uniquely qualified to take on this role," California GOP chairman Ron Nehring tells the Squeeze. Not only that, but Tavoul

  December 12, 2007

• Guerrilla in the Midst

  March 18, 1999

• Ho Chi Minute Rice

  July 1, 1999

• Mmmm . . . Freedom Naan

  June 3, 2004

• Proposition 2 Opponents Use Pete Wilson Card for Their Tricks

  Amazingly, both parties have ignored Mexicans in this election. So leave it to the animal-abusing geniuses behind the No on Proposition 2 campaign (y'know, that nefarious measure that would force farmers to treat their animals humanely) to conjure up the spectre of the Reconquista in this ominous ad. Dig the long lines! And it's not the first time Prop. 2 opponents have bagged on Mexico:

  October 28, 2008

• !Ask a Mexican!

  July 27, 2006

• Vicente Fox UCI Visit Draws "Welcoming Committee"

  Photo by Ariel Gutierrez Vivanco/Presidencia de la RepublicaThe "Vicente Fox Welcoming Committee at UCI" won't be bearing flowers, fruit baskets or a key to the university when Mexico's former president visits the campus Wednesday. Fox, who is being hosted by the university's Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), gives a public lecture 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Irvine Barclay Theatre. An invitation-only reception and $500 a plate dinner are also scheduled."Students at UC-Irvine in Orange County

  April 6, 2009

• [¡Ask a Mexican!] Special Guadalupe Edition

  December 11, 2008

• Waiting With Red-baited Breath

  Little Saigon’s latest wave of anti-communist fervor spreads beyond Viet Weekly

  August 23, 2007

• Red Scare in Little Saigon

  Le Vu's Viet Weekly newspaper endures OC's latest anti-communist witch-hunt
  

  August 16, 2007

• Letters

  Allow me to write a similar column to !Ask a Mexican! called Ask an American, and lets see which column people like more

  July 5, 2007

• Protesters Don't Rattle Vietnam's President

  In OC, an affable Nguyen Minh Triet seeks to heal ‘old wounds’

  June 28, 2007

• From Hunter to Hunted

  In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought hed seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar

  June 28, 2007

• Letters

  July 20, 2006

• Too Much Cabo Wabo

  March 9, 2006

• Special on Sambo, Aisle Dos!

  July 14, 2005

• 'Gwen, We Hereby Disown You'

  July 14, 2005

• Losers Again

  June 30, 2005

• How-to Manual for Deportation

  January 20, 2005

• We Respond to Register Letters

  November 27, 2003

• Human Rights and Wrongs

  May 16, 2002

• The Little Engine Who Took His Place in the Underclass

  May 16, 2002

• Just Declare Victory

  December 7, 2000

• Peaced Off

  October 12, 2000

• Peace Meal

  December 23, 1999

• The Phantom Menace

  July 15, 1999

• Superpower Like Us

  July 8, 1999

• Letters

  June 24, 1999

• Rebel Yell

  April 1, 1999

• Pacific Rim Family Festival

  June 4, 2009

• Chuck DeVore's Quixotic Attempt to Twitter and Parody-Video His Way Into the U.S. Senate

  May 21, 2009

• Royce, Sanchez Blast North Korea's Harsh Sentencing of Journos

  Two Orange County representatives in the U.S. Congress came out strongly today against North Korea's harsh sentencing of 12 years hard labor for two U.S. journalists charged with "hostile acts." The other four Members of Congress were silent.Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) emailed the Weekly the following statement:"I am deeply concerned by reports that two U.S. citizens and California reporters have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of illegally crossing into North Korea

  June 8, 2009

• Royce, Sanchez Blast North Korea's Harsh Sentencing of Journos

  Two Orange County representatives in the U.S. Congress came out strongly today against North Korea's harsh sentencing of 12 years hard labor for two U.S. journalists charged with "hostile acts." The other four Members of Congress were silent.Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) emailed the Weekly the following statement:"I am deeply concerned by reports that two U.S. citizens and California reporters have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of illegally crossing into North Korea

  June 8, 2009

• New Free Iran Movement to Hold Teach-in at UCI's Aldrich Park

  Courtesy of PersianoEvents.comIt begs the question.The Iranian government now says Neda Agha-Soltan--the 26-year-old martyr in the struggle for freedom in that tense country--may have been killed by a gunman who mistook her for the sister of an Iranian "terrorist," the Islamic Republic News Agency reports today. Rather than blaming the marksman, Iran suggested "those groups who want to create division in the nation" are responsible for Neda's death, even hinting at something of a conspiracy by s

  June 24, 2009

• McKinney Follows UC Irvine Speech With Israeli Detention [UPDATED, THE SEQUEL]

  UPDATE: MCKINNEY IS ON HER WAY HOME, REPORTS ATLANTA-JOURNAL CONSTITUTION ...Former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia) is shown speaking at UC Irvine May 13 as part of the Muslim Student Union's controversial, three-week "Israel: The Politics of Genocide" teach-in. Here she makes the case that forces hellbent on continuing U.S. wars in the Middle East devised a coordinated effort to get her defeated in her unsuccessful 2006 reelection bid. That, she says, paved the way for Congress

  July 6, 2009

• Chuck Devore to China: Set Your Prisoners Free!

  In September 2001, Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) self-published a book called "China Attacks" which envisioned a Chinese sneak attack against Taiwan that precipitates a third world war. Call it a case of bad timing: as the events of 9/11 suggested, China might not be America's worst enemy after all. In 2004,  DeVore became a California Assemblyman representing the 70th District, but he still finds time to take the Chinese government to task from time to time.The latest example? Today, DeVore fire

  July 7, 2009

• Loretta Sanchez Will Defend a Kid in Vietnam But Refuses to Support Kids Here?

  Photo by Christopher VictorioWhat was Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez thinking today when she took to the floor in Congress to fight for the rights of a youth activist in Vietnam while she continues to ignore the youth activists pleading for her support in her own backyard? It's not that Nguyen Tien Trung, a well known youth and pro-democracy activist in Vietnam, shouldn't be released from prison, what nags here is yet another instance of Sanchez's blatant hypocrisy."The recent arrest of lawyer Le

  July 8, 2009

• "Press Conference" Against Iran Government Produces No News, Much Political Support in Irvine

  Rep. Laura Richardson (inset), Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rep. Ed Royce, together at last.If the goal of a press conference is to produce a "big announcement" that makes news and warrants coverage--the usual reason one calls a press conference in the first place--then the Iran Supporters Network failed Friday evening at Irvine City Hall. But if the idea was to bring local politicians, community leaders and the Iranian American community together, engage in some spirited preach

  August 10, 2009

• Dana Rohrabacher is Going to Be Pissed

  Dana Rohrabacher believes missiles should be pointed at China that way.A day after Rep. Dana Rohrabacher sent a blistering letter urging President Barack Obama "to unambiguously condemn the Communist Chinese government's violent crackdown on peaceful Uyghur protests in the Xinjiang province of China," Radio Free Asia reports that an outspoken Uyghur economist has gone silent and his whereabouts are unknown after police summoned him from his Beijing home. "Police have been watching my home for

  July 9, 2009

• UC Irvine Seeks to Cut Through Healthcare Reform Bullshit

  The AFL-CIO convention in Pittrburgh voted last night to endorse single-payer, universal healthcare for all Americans, and rU.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) just trotted out to reporters his bill to provide non-single-payer, non-universal healthcare for not-quite-all Americans. Coincidence?  With healthcare premiums expected to rise 94 percent by 2020, everyone agrees something must be done. Well, everyone except town-hall criers. And Fox News. And Republicans. The main stic

  September 16, 2009