By Jeff Yang, Special to SF Gate
Thursday, February 25, 2010

The notion that Asians and Jews are two shoots from the same cultural rootstock is an old but evergreen meme.

You see it in fringe theories about the Lost Tribes of Israel -- there's an entire body of cryptoarchaeological canon that uses similarities between customs, language and naming convention to "prove" that the ancient vanished Jewish clans ended up in China, India or Japan. (Japan's 50,000-member Makuya sect, which has as its central dogma that the Japanese are descendants of a lost Jewish tribe, keep kosher, speak Hebrew and use the seven-armed menorah as their symbol.)

Halfpipe gold medallist Xuetong Cai of China is flanked by compatriots Zhifeng Sun (left), silver, and Xu Cheng, bronze as they stand on the podium at the FIS snowboard world cup Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 in Stoneham Que. (CP) Source: CIV

We knew during the Beijing Olympics the media took every opportunity to mock the Chinese Athletes just about anything they could find.

When it comes to talking about Chinese athletes, it seems like every article must reemphasize the words  'government-funded', 'state owned', and rather acknowledging the concept of dedication, hard work and discipline as athletic qualities in the Chinese they prefer to call it 'cultural oppression' or even 'inhuman torture'. 

The same rhetorical defamation recycles itself again and in the 2010 Vancouver Winter games the media has taken another stab at it.

 Software sales executive Joe Wang and his wife Heidi have been married for 11 years. Heidi thinks the race "exemplifies empowerment" and she wants her kids to see that she is "not just a mum". 

Joe Wang

Age: 42

Hometown: El Segundo, Calif.

Connection to your Teammate: Married

Current Occupation: Software Sales Executive

Favorite Hobbies: Coaching youth sports, poker and golf

Achievements: My biggest achievement is my family.

Lifelong to do List: Travel around the world.

If I could switch places with someone: My son Jameson who has unlimited potential.

Role Model/Hero: My parents. They immigrated here to USA to provide a better life for me. 

What are you passionate about? Raising my kids to be the best they can be.

What would you do if you won the million dollars? Pay for my kids' college education.

People would be surprised to learn:  I was born in Taiwan and speak fluent Mandarin Chinese 

Favorite place you have ever visited: Fiji

Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on the Race together: Getting a task that we both can’t do and being away from our kids for an extended period of time. 

Harvard University is known for its top notch academics, but not exactly as the hotbed of hoops excellence. It has been more than 60 years since the nation's top-ranked academic institution has been invited to compete in the NCAA March Madness tournament. But that could change this year, thanks, in part, to star basketball player Jeremy Lin, who some say has a shot to going to the NBA. Host Michel Martin talks with Lin about his skills on the court and some of the racism he's faced as an Asian-American player.

Vote for Jeremy Lin for the Bob Cousy Award by clicking here. 
Let's give him the recognition he deserves.

You can also catch the the Jeremy Lin interview NPR.org

Our summarized transcript:

As explained in section IV of Remember, the Asian-American Man and Woman are a couple under siege from mainstream America.

Those that choose to remain with each other are stamped as 'Asian and foreign', while on an unspoken but quite apparent level - only Asian women are afforded the opportunity to mingle and integrate into white social circles and white families.

The psychological pressure on the Asian woman to conform becomes immensely powerful, given the life-long indoctrination she is given by a mainstream American media that is completely devoid of images of Asian faces and depictions of viable Asian-American couples/families. This will gradually and inevitably destroy the kindred bond the Asian female shares with the Asian male from a young age, and the damage is thorough and complete.

In other words, the internalized racism that Asian-American children learn from the American Media destroys their ethnic self-esteem - and this in turn erodes the ability of the Asian-American boy and girl to love each other as adults.

BEWARE OF CUPID - a Valentine's Day show
FEBRUARY 5 - 21, 2010

Falling in love for the first time, struggling to make a relationship work, getting over the one that got away... BEWARE OF CUPID presents a collection of original scenes and monologues that explore love and other matters of the heart.

OPENS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5th
Fridays, Saturdays @ 8:00pm
Sunday matinees @ 3:00pm

THE ACTOR'S PLAYPEN
1514 N Gardner St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(off of Sunset Blvd, near the Guitar Center)

FEATURING
Jared Asato | Sara Ceballos | Julia Cho | Benjamin Kim
Lynnette Li | Chris Miyasaki | Jason Rogel | Sandy Yu

TICKETS
$14 Generation Admission | $20 Opening Night + Reception
(Discounts and group rates available.)

To purchase: 1-800-838-3006 | www.brownpapertickets.com/event/92523
For more information: bewareofcupid@gmail.com
 

Certain truths are tied to March Madness, that time of year when the NCAA men's basketball tournament turns every cubicle-dweller into a college hoops junkie. That batty lady who picks the winners based on the cuteness of the mascots will crush you in your office pool. Duke will have a guy that gets under your skin. And the Harvard basketball players will be locked in the library instead pulling off the Cinderella upset.

Japanese film Looking For Anne, directed by Takako Miyahira, took the top honours of Best Film and Best Director, the AFFF said in its press release.

The movie tells the story of a 17-year-old Japanese girl with a secret mission to find her recently deceased grandmother's first love.

First-time producer Sona Jain bagged four awards - including Best Producer - for her film, For Real, a story about a family seen through the eyes of a child.

Last Friday's event was the fifth instalment of the AFFF.

The six men on stage included a poet, a break dancer and a filmmaker. They pounded rhythms on the dhol drum, modeled fresh fashions, slathered whipped cream on bare skin and discussed their passion for community service.

This is the "Mr. Hyphen" contest, a faux pageant in the San Francisco Bay area aimed at redefining the image of Asian-American men beyond nerdy, sexless stereotypes.

Conspicuously absent from the stage were computer experts, doctors, lawyers or dry cleaners. There were, however, martial arts - with a twist.

Pahole Sookkasikon, an American-born graduate student partial to drawing, cooking, and "flirting for free drinks at the bar," knew that his hobbies would not translate well to the talent portion of the show.

It’s Raining, y’all! With the advent of his first starring role in a major Hollywood feature, the Korean pop god known simply as Rain sat with us exclusively to talk up his martial arts manifesto, Ninja Assassin. We chatted about the film’s surprising violence, his future as a singer, his fans and his mom. Never let it be said that LMD was ever smart enough to come in out of the Rain.

Dig it.

The Lady Miz Diva: Ninja Assassin is a really violent, bloody film. Were you concerned that so much of your fan base, which consists of younger kids and people who might not usually go to this type of movie, wouldn’t be able to see your big Hollywood film?

Rain: Yeah, I know, but it’s gonna be huge. I believe they will like my movie. I am a little bit worried, but it’s something different from what I’ve done, so it’s interesting that way. And I believe more male fans will be interested in this movie.