Just to take a break from politics, let me rant about racism in the media...

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A friend of mine, Dr. Benjamin Tong, used to teach film at SF State, and did a study of Hollywood treatment of Asian leads (maybe several thousand Hollywood movies made before 1990). He found that when male Asian leads are cast - a rare event in its own right - the scripts will generally not allow them to "be intimate" with Caucasian co-stars. In his study, he only found four movies that portrayed an Asian male lead in an intimate role with a Caucasian woman. Of these, all four were later killed, as if Hollywood were trying to teach uppity Asians an important moral - don't mess with our women.

So by those unwritten rules, Chow Yun Fat will not be allowed to sleep with Mira Sorvino in The Replacement Killers, but there is no way to stop Jason Statham from nailing Shu Qi in The Transporter. Don't forget that Hollywood refused to star Bruce Lee in his proposal for the "Kung Fu" television series because he was Asian, and instead cast the sleepy David Carradine as a "half Asian". They were afraid to even cast a hapa at that time. I think if Bruce Lee had been cast in that role, the series would have been absolutely sensational.

However, there are some great indy films that are breaking the mold and casting Asian men in cool leading roles, and letting them bed white chicks. Some night, go to Blockbuster and rent "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle", "The Lover" or "The Guru". Let's see if Hollywood continues to cast Asian leads in major films.

The times they are a'changing!

Here's something I just wrote:

Eight reasons for Defeating George Bush in 2004

Deficit
Unemployment
Mass Destruction
Poverty
Blunders
United Nations
Stem Cells
Honesty

Deficit - The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal budget deficit in 2004 will reach $442 billion -- the largest in U.S. history. Failing to veto a single bill, Bush has created a Leviathan government that consumes a fifth of our economy, and has compiled a fiscal record of startling recklessness.

Unemployment - From 1992 to 2000, more than 22 million jobs were created in the United States. Since George W. Bush assumed office, the country has lost more than a million, breaking a campaign promise to create 5 million jobs. One in six manufacturing jobs has disappeared since President Bush took the oath.

Mass Destruction - Bush's Folly began by misleading the country into invading a country that did not threaten us, did not attack us, and did not want war with us, to disarm it of WMD we have since verified that it did not have. "This war in Iraq is the greatest strategic blunder in 40 years." These are the words of conservative Pat Buchanan.

Poverty - The number of people living in poverty was greatly reduced during Bill Clinton's eight years in office. Since 2000, however, that trend has solidly reversed. The latest count under the Bush Administration Watch is that 35.9 million people (12.5% of the population) were living below the poverty line in 2003, which is up from 34.5 million (or 12.1 percent of the population) in 2002.

Blunders - The Bush Administration has committed many blunders, straining the nation's willingness to forgive a wartime president. Starting with the failure to heed (or read) the August 6th Presidential Brief "Bin Laden Determined to Attack the United States" (in New York, with commercial aircraft), George Bush has failed to apprehend Osama bin Laden, while engaging in questionable actions that have increased terrorist recruitment. However, the worst blunder was when the White House exposed the identity of an al-Qaeda double agent, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, during a Pakistani sting operation to capture more al-Qaeda operatives. British home secretary, David Blunkett, had "expressed displeasure in fairly severe terms" over the Bush blunder.

United Nations - Never has the international reputation of the United States been lower. In fact, U. N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has recently charged that the U.S. war on Iraq had been "illegal", bringing cheers from many nations hoping to restore the credibility of international law. This may even lead to an international trial of George Bush and Tony Blair as war criminals.

Stem Cells - Despite what the Bush campaign would have you believe, Bush ran on a campaign pledge to ban funding for embryonic stem cell research. However, when pressed by 206 members of the U.S. House, including 37 Republicans, and 58 U.S. senators, including 15 Republicans, he relented and allowed $20 million in federal funding for the research. Since this is a small fraction of what was requested, his restrictions have severely hampered research. What's more, by diverting funding for basic research and life sciences toward military research and death sciences, and sneaking no-bid government war contracts to the Haliburtons of the world, Bush has hampered U.S. technology competitiveness.

Honesty - The Bush Administration has taken mud-slinging and unapologetic lying to new heights. The Bush Administration has repeatedly lied about the threat of Iraq, the cost, and the expected outcome. Despite growing evidence to the contrary, the Bush adminstration STEADFASTLY refuses to acknowledge the extremely precarious and dangerous position that our troops are facing in Iraq. Bush has lied about the purpose of his tax cuts, about education, the environment, energy, and his own past. He has lied about the cost of Medicare. In Bush's administration, truth takes a back seat to power every time. Their ability to reinforce lies even after they've been shown, repeatedly, to be false... is what makes them world class, Olympic quality fib-tellers and con artists.

Hey there, whether you're for Kerry or Bush, I wanted to ask you to sign up for this little promotion that a couple of friends of mine set up: VOTE or NOT. The promotion is to raise awareness and get as many of our friends and family to participate in the upcoming election, which is the most important election in the past fifty years.

Basically, it's a sweepstakes to win $100,000. And even if you don't win, but referred someone who wins, they'll give the referrer $100,000, so they tap into viral marketing dynamics. They're doing this to encourage us to spread the word quickly, because the voter registration deadline is coming up soon. Also, it doesn't cost a cent, and the chances are much better than a lottery!

Please sign up now for the challenge through my referral link:
http://mm116e5.VOTEorNOT.org

If you still need to register to vote, you can do it online at
http://VOTEorNOT.org/register.php

Thanks! And do join me in making every vote count, and making sure we count every vote.

This was funny:

Come and listen to my story 'bout a boy named Bush.
His IQ was zero, and his head was up his tush.
He drank like a fish while he was drivin' all about.
But that didn't matter 'cuz his daddy bailed him out.

DUI, that is. Criminal record. Cover-up.

Well, the first thing you know, little Georgie goes to Yale.
He can't spell his name but they never let him fail.
He spends all his time hangin' out with student folk.
And that's when he learns how to snort a line of coke.

Blow, that is. White gold. Nose candy.

The next thing you know there's a war in Vietnam.
Kin folks say, "George, stay at home with Mom."
Let the common people get maimed and scarred.
We'll buy you a spot in the Texas Air Guard.

Cushy, that is. Country clubs. Nose candy.

Twenty years later George gets a little bored.
He trades in the booze, says that Jesus is his Lord.
He said, "Now the White House is the place I wanna be."
So he called his daddy's friends and they called the GOP.

Gun owners, that is. Falwell. Jesse Helms.

Come November 7, the election ran late.
Kin folks said "Jeb, give the boy your state!
"Don't let those colored folks get into the polls."
So they put up barricades so they couldn't punch their holes.

Chads, that is. Duval County. Miami-Dade.

Before the votes were counted, five Supremes stepped in.
Told all the voters "Hey, we want George to win."
"Stop counting votes!" was their solemn invocation.
And that's how George finally got his coronation.

Rigged, that is. Illegitimate. No moral authority.

Y'all go vote now. Ya hear?

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http://www.berro.com/entertainment/hillbillybush.htm

Since I'm getting into the swing of the elections, I thought I'd post a few great Bush jokes I heard:

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Three Texas surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed.

One of them said, "Boys, I'm the best surgeon in Texas. Ten years ago, a concert pianist lost 7 fingers in an accident, I reattached them, and 8 months later he performed a private concert for the Queen of England."

The second surgeon said, "Sheesh, that's nuthin'. Ten years ago, this young man lost both arms and legs in an accident, I reattached them, and four years later he won the gold medal in swimming in the Olympics!"

The third surgeon said, "Hell boys, y'all ain't nuthin' but amateurs. About twenty years ago, this cowboy was high on cocaine and drunk as a skunk, and he rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was the horse's ass and a cowboy hat. And today, he's the president of the United States."

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Little Johnnie was in his 5th grade class when the teacher asked the children what their fathers did for a living.

All the typical answers came up -- fireman, policeman, salesman, doctor, lawyer, etc.

Johnnie was being uncharacteristically quiet, so the teacher asked him about his father.

"My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and takes off all his clothes in front of other men. Sometimes, if the offer's really good, he'll go out to the alley with some guy and well... he does naughty things...."

The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and took little Johnnie aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your father?"

"No, ma'am," said Johnnie, "He works for the Bush administration, but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the class. "

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George Bush, Dick Cheney and John Kerry died and found themselves in Heaven, standing across from the Pearly Gates on the other side of the River Jordan. The Archangel Michael was standing on the other side and shouted over to the three surprised Americans, "Hey guys! Contrary to what you have been taught, each of you will have to wade across the Jordan River. You'll sink according to your sins on earth. The more you have sinned the more you will sink into the water. If you make it across, welcome to Heaven."

The three American sages of political lore looked at one another, trying to determine who shall be the first brave soul to cross the Jordan River.

Finally John Kerry, ever the brave soldier, volunteered to go first. Slowly he began to wade out into the river, and slowly the water began to get higher and higher, reaching to his waist. John began to sweat, thinking all of his sins were coming back to haunt him. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever see the other side. But fortunately, he was already half way across, and he began to emerge on the river's bank.

As he ascended to the other side, he looked behind him to see which one of the other brave souls was going next. A shock of surprise registered on his face, as he saw George Bush almost in the middle of the river and only his ankles barely touching the water. He turned to Michael and exclaimed, "Hey, there's no way George Bush sinned less than me! And I won a Bronze Star saving a man in Vietnam!"

Before the Archangel Michael could reply, George Bush shouted back, "Don't worry, I'm standing on Dick's shoulders!"

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Okay, okay, I'll include one Republican joke to provide equal time:

John Kerry, Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton are on the Titanic. The ship hits the iceberg and sinks slowly. Everybody starts screaming, panicking, etc.

Kerry shouts: "Women and children first!"

Cheney goes: "Fuck the women!"

Clinton replies: "Really? Do you think we have time?"