I came across an interesting BBC story about a rural development project in western China -- making Yak cheese.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5281250.stm
As the article points out, cheese is not a big item in China. After all, dairy herds have never been part of the culture -- not enough land, I suppose.
Anyhow, what's particularly interesting about the effort is that it's being supported by a non-profit foundation run by Asians and Asian Americans, Ventures in Development.
This is the only ViD web presence I could find, so far:
http://yaks4d.blogspot.com/
In the continuing debate about what to do about immigration in this country... do we know what we're talking about?
The Office of Immigration Statistics (Dept. of Homeland Security) recently released a report on where illegal immigrants (they refer to them as "unauthorized immigrants") were to be found (by state) and where they came from.
Here's a quote containing some figures you would expect, and some surprises:
"Mexico was the leading source country for unauthorized immigration with nearly 6.0 million residents in the United States in 2005. El Salvador, Guatemala, India, and China were the next leading source countries, accounting for a combined total of nearly 1.4 million unauthorized immigrants. Among the 10 leading source countries, the annual average increase in the unauthorized population from 2000 to 2005 was greatest among Mexican immigrants (260,000). However, the greatest percentage increase in the unauthorized immigrant population from 2000 to 2005 occurred among immigrants from India (133 percent) and Brazil (70 percent)."
And here's a more detailed list of the estimated numbers, taken from Table 3 -- "Country of Birth of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population" (in thousands):
Country of birth Estimated population in January 2005 2000
all countries 10,500 8,460
Mexico 5,970 4,680
El Salvador 470 430
Guatemala 370 290
India 280 120
China 230 190
Korea 210 180
Philippines 210 200
Honduras 180 160
Brazil 170 100
Vietnam 160 160
other countries 2,250 1,750
=- =- =- =- =-
here's the citation and URL:
Hoefer, M., Rytina, N., and Campbell, C. (August, 2006). Estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States: January 2005. Population Estimates. Washington, D.C.: Office of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/publications/ILL_PE_2005.pdf
It seems the news story of Sen. George Allen (R-VA) calling an Indian American tracker by the name (or label) of "macaca" has legs.
Last Friday, the tracker, a worker or volunteer for Allen's Democratic opponent, James Webb, was videotaping Allen at a rally in Breaks, Virginia.
In his remarks to the audience, Allen pointed out the Webb worker, who had been following the senator around at different campaign stops. Allen referred to him as "Macaca". He also challenged the tracker and Webb to expose themselves to a part of the country (or the state) that wasn't fake. What he said was:
"Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."
(Perhaps he was highlighting a remote area of Virginia. If you look at a map, Breaks is in the southeastern corner of the state (or should I say, commonwealth), near the border with Kentucky. It's in Appalachian country.)
The Washington Post put the story on the front page of Monday's issue:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400589.html?nav=hcmodule
They also editorialized about it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401114.html?nav=hcmodule
The issue bounced around the blogosphere. My favorite discussion of it is found at sepiamutiny.com, a forum for South Asians.
I'm not sure how much other regular press picked up the story, but at least AP did:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060816/ap_on_el_se/allen_campaign_volunteer
And the Post followed up on the controversy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/15/AR2006081501210.html
If you go to that page, there's a serious picture of S.R. Siddarth, the guy that Allen referred to.
In his initial apologetic remarks (some would say, pseudo-apology), Allen's spokesperson said the Senator was trying to refer to Siddarth's hairstyle, which he called a mohawk.
If you look at Siddarth, that ain't no mohawk.
And how does "mohawk" morph into "macaca"?
Is macaca really slang that Allen picked up from his mother (a Jewish French who grew up in Tunisia)? Or is it slang that he picked up from some Belgian or Dutch racist? Either slang refers to persons of color as maccaques or monkeys.
My own theory is that he was refering to Siddarth's skin color by way of a fellow Senator, Daniel Akaka (D-HI). The latter has a slightly dark complexion.
So he could have been combining Mohawk with Akaka. Or he could have been hailing Siddarth as "my Akaka".
Allen would not strike most observers as particularly fleet of tongue, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that he would say some gibberish that sounded racist. I know that his detractors are quick to resurrect his past transgressions, going back to high school. See the comments to my initial posting on Sen. Allen back in 2004:
http://aamplitude.baltiblogs.com/archives/2004_02.html
(scroll down to March 3)
What gets me is that he is well on the way to becoming his state's version of William Donald Schaefer. I guess every state is entitled to their own politician who puts their foot in their mouth. In Maryland, we have Schaefer, and Virginia has Allen.
It just seems de rigeur in these times. After all, President Bush (#43) has done a fine job of mangling the English language, over the years.
(And extending that to inappropriate or miscontrued actions, how about that "1-second Texas massage" that Bush practiced on German chancellor Merkel at the G-8 summit? I recently realized that such behavior is highlighted as a no-no in sexual harassment prevention classes. [An interesting side note: from a brief struggle to skim a German magazine article, I don't think the Germans perceive of Bush's massage in the same light.])
While I wouldn't mind joining in the debate on the latest controversy surrounding golf's teen titan, Michelle Wie, it would be more productive to mention some more profound matters involving another well-known Asian American female.
Yes, I'm talkin' 'bout the US Sec'y of Labor, Elaine Chao.
It seems that a few days ago, she addressed a commemoration of OSHA's 35th birthday. According to a Dept. of Labor press release, she commended the Occupational Safety and Health Admin. for a:
strong enforcement record, indicating how enforcement personnel have identified real safety and health hazards in the workplace, resulting in more than a 10% increase in citations for alleged violations over the past five years. Injuries and illnesses continue to decline significantly, she said, and workplace fatalities remain at historically low levels.
While acknowledging these stats, it seems to me that there might be other interpretations of the basic data. When you read reports of the weekly working death toll, as gathered up by Jordan Barab on his website on workplace safety, health, labor, and politics (Confined Space), you gotta wonder if there's a disconnect in the Labor department's data analysis.
Furthermore, I'm afraid I don't have much confidence in OSHA's capabilities, in recent years. I'd tend to regard the agency as a bit of a joke. My impression is that it's been emasculated under the current Administration. (I'm not certain how long OSHA's decline has been going on, whether it started under Clinton or earlier.)
3 House Democrats, this week, faulted OSHA for not following up on findings from the Nat'l. Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) about the danger of the chemical, diacetyl. It's used in popcorn flavoring, candy, frozen food, and dog food.
NIOSH concluded that exposure to this food-flavoring agent could cause a severe and often fatal lung disease known as "popcorn lung disease". (They figure 200 sick and 3 deaths, nationwide.)
...So something to think about for those of you who consume vast quantities of butter-flavored movie and microwave popcorn. (Warning: DO NOT SNORT popcorn!)
Yeah, so anyhow, the 3 Congressional reps (Miller and Solis from Calif., and Owens from NY) sent Chao a letter asking her to issue emergency safety rules for employees who work with diacetyl. We'll see what happens.
Chao also got lobbied, this week, by 200 women's groups to strengthen her department's Women's Bureau. The bureau is facing budget and staff cuts.
A project director at the Nat'l. Council of Women's organizations said:
"President Bush and the House Appropriations Committee have proposed cutting funding for the Women’s Bureau, positions are not being filled as they become vacant, and they’re giving away all of their institutional memory by outsourcing Women’s Bureau jobs to the lowest bidder.”
According to the bureau's website:
The U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, established by Congress in 1920, is the only federal agency mandated to represent the needs of wage-earning women in the public policy process.
Sounds, downright, wonkish.
In these times of Middle East warfare, I wouldn't be surprised if the only women that this Administration cares about are those rifle-toting babes in the IDF.(Israel Defense Force).
As I understand it, David Letterman's top ten list, last night, gave the signs that indicate when "the Supreme Court doesn't give a damn."
#6 was "Recesses now take place at area Hooters."
It occurs to me that the closest Hooters to the U.S. Supreme Court has to be the one in DC Chinatown.
Maybe, now, I'll have a reason to visit that place. (I know where it is. It's across the street from the Goethe Institute.) I mean, where else would you go to bump into a Supreme Court Justice and enjoy chicken wings?
Of course, if I just wanted the pure Hooters experience it would be more convenient to patronize one of their branches closer to home (Towson or Baltimore).
Or if I were more ambitious, I would have ridden Hooters airline (when it was still operating) down to Myrtle Beach, to enjoy the Hooters aviation experience. But I'm afraid I never had a good reason to head to Myrtle Beach. (Heck, I've yet to visit Ocean City.)