Image via ShoppingBlog.com

“We will transform shadows into sunshine, taking on all challenges to diminish the shadows… Advancing justice for all, tackling emerging and current issues”, said The Honorable Thomas E. Perez.

My existential experience occurred at the first annual Advancing Justice Conference for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

This conference brought together numerous leaders in the public sectors and participants of grassroots, mid- sized and larger non- profit organizations, interconnecting people that share the same passion for building a larger foundation for civil rights, particularly for Asian Americans.

I had the privilege of interviewing the president of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Stewart Kwoh. I asked him the ultimate bright red nail biting question, ” What is the one thing you would like to tell the Asian American Community?”

“People have to organize and speak up for their rights, come together and work together. We have to use our collective knowledge and become stronger as a unit. We need to be willing to work together and give credit freely and share the efforts of the work involved”, responded Kwoh.

This was truly an eye opening event. The common theme that underlies the vision of the Asian American people is to strive to become one. Such an avante garde event, setting up a sewing room of experts as well as novices providing a place where our individual threads are encouraged to be woven together to piece together a harmonious tapestry that binds our community as a whole.

Whoever said differences in nationality and politics can’t coincide is truly misled. Together with our passion and efforts, we can become one to advance justice for all.

October 23, 2009

Contact: Grace Chang

Laura Rodriguez

FIRST NATIONAL ASIAN

AMERICAN CIVIL

RIGHTS CONFERENCE

IN LOS ANGELES

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez to

serve as keynote and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio

Villaraigosa to make welcome remarks at the inaugural

Advancing Justice Conference

WHAT: The 2009 Advancing Justice Conference: “Asian American and Pacific Islanders Building New Foundations     for Civil Rights” is an inaugural national civil rights and social   justice conference that drew 400 + of community and         government leaders and legal professionals from across the    country. The Conference will be the largest gathering of       advocates  and community leaders from the Asian American         and Pacific Islander community to share, network, mentor and address the major policy issues facing our nation today. For             a full conference agenda and registration information,                 please visit: www.AdvancingJustice.org.

WHO: The Advancing Justice Conference is a joint project of    Asian American Institute (Chicago), Asian American         Justice Center (Washington, DC), Asian Law Caucus             (San Francisco) and the Asian Pacific American Legal       Center of Southern California (Los Angeles).

WHEN: October 29-30, 2009

WHERE: The Center at Cathedral Plaza
555 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2707

BACKGROUND: The Asian American and Pacific Islander communities           are at the forefront in the fight for justice, protesting against hate crimes                 and racial profiling, as well as the lack of health insurance and the long       immigration backlogs. The four hosting organizations have worked on these        issues for years in their own neighborhoods and cities; but now, have the      opportunity to come together at a national level to dialogue about these issues.

Future Dates: 2nd Annual Advancing Justice Conference 2010 will                     be in Washington, D.C. 3rd Annual Advancing Justice Conference will be in            San Francisco, CA. 4th Annual Advancing Justice Conference will be in          Chicago, Illinois. Please check their website for future updates www.AdvancingJustice.org.

• Fake it until you can make it with rented clothing and jewelry. My fave site off the list was www.weartodaygonetomorrow.com. Via She Finds
• Jimmy Choo and H&M collab is set to be unleashed to the public on 11/14/09. Via Racked.
• Lawyer’s unemployment benefits have been yanked over $1 day from blog. Via Forbes
• How do you know when it is lurve (love)?
• College cutbacks makes it harder and takes longer for students to obtain degrees. =(. Via Yahoo
• “Survey of top economists find that the recession is over”. Via Yahoo Finance
• If you are looking for a job, try reading this. Via YoungUrbanProfessionals.net

Image via Yahoo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday praised an Army soldier in eastern Afghanistan who drew media attention this month after rushing to defend his post from attack while wearing pink boxer shorts and flip-flops.

In fact, Gates said he wants to meet the soldier and shake his hand the next time he visits Afghanistan.

“Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage,” Gates said in remarks prepared for a speech in New York.

“I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban. Just imagine seeing that: a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his cross-hairs. What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare,” he said.

Army Specialist Zachary Boyd, 19, of Fort Worth, Texas, rushed from his sleeping quarters on May 11 to join fellow platoon members at a base in Afghanistan’s Kunar Province after the unit came under fire from Taliban positions.

A news photographer was on hand to record the image of Boyd standing at a makeshift rampart in helmet, body armor, red T-shirt and boxers emblazoned with the message: “I love NY.”

-Yahoo

A salute to our soldiers this Memorial Day weekend! And the hot guy in the pink boxers.

The Dream ft Kanye West- “Walking On The Moon”

Video by sneakerhut.net

Found on: dabagirls.wordpress.com

“Ain’t No Messing With A Broke Banker”

This whole messy ordeal has advanced my Botox start date by at least two years.  Like every other DABA girl, the economy was wreaking havoc on my relationship and youthful good looks.  Phone calls went unanswered, Hamptons invitations un-extended, plans canceled (including, but not limited to, expensive opening night tickets to the ballet, which were scalped instead of being graciously offered to me and a galpal), and so forth and so on.  Until – the horror of all horrors – my FBF lost his job, which I guess technically downgrades him to just my BF.

Overnight, he went from unavailable to downright clingy.  He wants to have dinner every night.  By dinner I mean staying in and cooking as Megu is no longer in the budget.  AND, FYI DABA girls – chopping vegetables along side your man in a hot New York sized kitchen is NOTHING like the sexy kitchen scene between Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger in Nine and a Half Weeks.  Seriously.  It sucks.  Anyhow, he suggested I meet his parents over the holidays and he keeps commenting that half Asian babies are by far the cutest.  My take on his 180: having no steady source of income for the foreseeable future, he realized that his chances of securing another fashion industry type girl are pretty much zilch and so he is cleaving to me as the last vestige of his former high rolling lifestyle.

Thanks to the recession, I now have a completely devoted BF, which is exactly what I wanted.  So I should be happy, right?  Wrong.  I’m bored and can’t stop thinking about my perpetually unattainable Euro ex-boyfriend who is recession proof courtesy of an offshore trust account.  To be honest, I’m only with my BF because I just don’t have the heart to change my facebook status from “in a relationship” to “I ain’t saying I’m a gold digger, but I ain’t messin’ with no broke banker.”

(I must say this post was very well written.)

I had a mini crisis this morning while trying to get ready for work. I was running late and I couldn’t decide on what to wear. The sudden rain in conjunction with my waking up late, led me to choose a pair of practical boots. Unfortunately, these boots have a bad reputation and are known as F* me boots or hooker heels. Out of a 100 pairs of open toed stilettos these boots were the most practical.

So, I proceeded to get dressed after picking an outfit consisting of: a pair of tapered Citizens of Humanity jeans (and yes I did tuck my jeans into my boots), a black v neck shirt, and a dark charcoal grey cashmere zip up hoodie topped with thick white scarf with black stripes.

I get into work and then my male coworker says, ”Nice work boots”.

(I neither work at a brothel nor a mainstream “corporate” job.)

Hmmm, did I. Fashion faux pas at work? No… Yes?

What about Jill Biden’s outfit for the inauguration? She too donned a pair of boots that hit right below the knee.

So sue me… It’s raining and cold outside.

Inauguration can also be viewed on http://www.cnn.com/live/

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — California will not pay tax refunds for individuals and business that overpaid 2008 taxes, in order to conserve dwindling cash for priority payments including school spending and debt repayment required by state law, the state’s controller office said Friday…

Various state officials have been warning in recent weeks that the most populous U.S. state’s coffers would run dry if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers fail to balance the state’s current budget. The governor in his state of the state speech Thursday said California faces insolvency within weeks if it does not balance its books.

• Steve Guttenberg from Police Academy and Dancing With The Stars runs in the park buck nekkid. Dudstota13.
• Who would have thought… If you have a “non-recourse” mortgage it might make more sense if you stop paying. Non recourse meaning all they can do is ruin your credit and foreclose your home, in short they cannot garnish future wages… You can live mortgage free for about 6 months before they evict you. You can save yourself about $12,000 but your credit will take a hit. Consult your CPA and Lawyer. Denninger.
• Oddball couple alert: Tila Tequilla is dating the Mac Guy. Hahahahahaha. Dlisted.
• Out with the old in with the new…. Old man finds two new blondes to play with, turns out they are criminals. Old bunnies no longer warm his bed.  
• One old bunny, Kendra Wilkinson is now engaged to Hank Baskett of the Philadelphia Eagles? PH.
• The other old bunny, Holly Madison is now official with Britney’s Ex sex partner Criss Angel. PH.

Congratulations to our new President!

Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 4, 2008

For 12 years Bushes have caused mass hysteria in the United States, causing a somewhat hairy situation.

We must now tame the Bushes by going Democratic.

I will be voting on November 4th, for Obama.

Get a wax and vote for Obama.

For more great general information. Click Here.

Photo By AP

“The Republican National Committe has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since late August.

According to financial disclosures, the accessorizing began in early September that included two bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September”.

Reported by Jeanne Cummings, Politico.com

It’s good to know that one of our VP Candidate (with a clothing stipend of $150k) looks like she can ride the back of a Harley Davidson Motorcycle.

Picture Courtesy of Sky.com

I decided to look up the term home wrecker.

Urban Dictionary states a home wrecker is:

1. A female who tries to steal a man from another woman.
2. Anyone on Jerry Springer. HAHA!
3. One who goes after a married individual; usually succeeds in ruining the other marriage. Takes the married indvidual.
4. The person who steps outside his/her marriage/committed relationship and takes a lover. That person made the choice to risk his/her marriage/commited relationship and should be recognized as the true home wrecker, not the lover.

If a man were to cheat on me and fall in love with another person while still being commited to me, I would question, “Does she make you happier than me?”

Courtesy of cq.swat

Courtesy of Anthony Monterotti, PacificCoastNews.com

Hmm… They (Brangelina, Cindy and John McCain, and Sienna Miller with Balthazar Getty) look pretty damn happy to me.

As much as I would hate to admit it politics effects our economy in many ways. The $700 Billion Bailout was passed today much to my dismay. I now realize I have to brush up on my politics.

If you aren’t exactly sure of what happened. Our economy is a mess. Many people wanted to buy homes during the housing boom. (Many argue that) after the Clinton administration, America was instilled with an “everyone has the right to” attitude. Remember, no child left behind? Ring a bell? Unfortunately, many say this ideology seeped into the housing market, thus leading to the mess we are in now. Everyone had the right to own a home. Last clause left out, even if they cannot afford it.

I just think people got greedy.

Brokers and future homeowners got greedy. Brokers wanted the commissions off home loans. Homeowners wanted too much home with not enough money. Then banks and Wall Street wanted in, they too wanted to get rich quick. Traditionally, banks were liable for any defaults in home loans, but Wall Street (aka The Fat Cats) got innovative. They wrapped all of these loans (that were pretty much junk) and started to slang them on the market, as mortgaged back securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO). AKA just fancy dancy names to confuse us common folk.

Anyways after people started to default on their home loans, the market realized these MBS and CDO’s are worthless and toxic. Banks and even other countries, bought in on the hype and bought them. Everyone was buying them. Now, many banks and even countries are dealing with their losses. Many banks are either selling off assets to cover their toxic debt or they have closed shop. At least government jobs are up. Yay!

Recession Ahead?

The surplus of money that the Clinton era left behind is now gone. We have trillions in deficit and now we have to foot Wall Street $700 Billion. Pensions are now down, unemployment is creeping up, Dow Jones is down, and no money for our children and elderly.

We can expect to pay more for taxes too. We are also paying for:wooden arrows, auto- racing tracks, rum production and of course toxic MBS and CDO’s. Don’t believe me? Check out Chicago Tribune or OpenCongress.org.

Bear with me as I educate myself on what a bill is.

taking the 5 south

• Illegal immigrants stop coming to the US. Yahoo!
• Playboy then swoops in to pick up the pieces… Yahoo!
• The bailout bill is back… Voting will most likely take place tomorrow (Friday). In case you did not know, this bailout will cover “consulting” fees to companies that are owned by many famous politicos… * Cough, Rudy Giuliani. Forbes.
• In pictures. 7 better uses for $700 Billion that will benefit Main Street (us regular folk). Try private health care for all. Who hates traffic? We could build us some roads! What about education? Forbes.

You should not lend anyone money, especially if you know they can’t afford to pay you back. That’s just bad business. If you do lend someone money and they can’t pay you back, don’t expect a third party to bail you out. Well, unless you live in America… And you are financial institution… Well, until Congress votes yes on Monday to bail out failing companies, the price tag: $700 billion dollars.

The Unites States economy has been in turmoil since the housing bubble popped. Once lofty home prices began to drop at an exceedingly fast pace, it revealed a very flawed subprime lending practice. The bad bets made by many of Wall Street giants and Financial Institutions alike froze liquidity in the market. The once blooming stock market is now riddled with bad bets and investors are fleeing the market, opting to keep cash instead. It is hard to get approved for credit, even for the most prime of clients, because banks now realize it’s not smart to lend to overextended individuals. Home prices and portfolios continue to shrink causing anxiety across the world. Senior citizens, currently living off their retirement plans feel the need to rejoin the workforce because their shrinking retirement accounts no longer yield an amount suitable for survival.

Ok, who was the drunk leader? Who ran the US economy into the ground?

I am sure many of you are asking what exactly happened in the subprime housing crisis… The subprime crisis first became evident when home prices stopped moving on and upward. The bank’s (probably realized long before the public) that lending to people that couldn’t afford to pay was a bad idea. The housing bubble much like the dot.com bubble popped.

People got greedy. Joe Blow, the carnival hand that makes $29,000 a year, got greedy. Joe wanted that big nice house but he didn’t have a down payment and he only had a credit score of 500, yet he was qualified for a home loan of $600,000. Joe Blow figured he couldn’t afford it but it didn’t matter because he only had to pay the interest (well, until the interest rates reset) aka Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). Joe Blow wasn’t the only greedy one; there was also the mortgage broker (they like commissions). Oh, and let’s not forget the lending bank (they like commissions too). Anyways, applications were fibbed and over exaggerated so that many less than desirable clients were approved for home loans.

Banks (lenders) that were once responsible for defaults on home loans were no longer responsible. These banks were able to sell the rights to the mortgage payments made by Joe Blow under a process called “securitization”. The banks no longer cared who they approved because they were not liable for default on loans. The securitization process unleashed, Joe Blow and other unqualified buyer’s, mortgage loans bundled together into a “mortgaged backed securities” or “collateralized debt obligations” onto the laps of investors around the world. In the end, the bundled home loans were chopped and diced so much that every investor (both big and small) thought they had the best apples of the bunch. While in actuality, all the apples were bad. Wall Street got greedy, bet the farm and lost. In a few hours we get to see if we, as taxpayers will pick up the Street’s tab.

The following banks have gone under because these bad bets put a cramp in their cash flow. Lacking cash on hand (liquidity), these banks were not able to ease the pain their huge debts were causing them (mortgages gone bad). Bear Stearns was acquired earlier this year. Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Washington Mutual’s ran out of cash as their commercial banking customers withdrew cash to switch another bank. If JP Morgan Chase has not bailed out WaMu, the Federal Deposit Insurance Fund would have been depleted.

Eh?

You know when you go into the bank to make a deposit? Remember seeing a little plaque that says All Deposits Are Federally Insured up to $100,000? If Washington Mutual was not sold in pieces to JP Morgan Chase, WaMu’s banking depositors would have had to been paid out from that FDIC insurance fund, and that fund would have been depleted. Luckily for us, JP Morgan Chase bought them and we still have our Federal Deposit Insurance fund, well until we find out what’s going to happen Wachovia…

Anyways, the bottom line is. If I lend someone money, knowing they can’t pay me back. Since I made my own bed, I should be responsible and lie in it. I should not expect a wad of cash to miraculously fall from the sky. Likewise, if my friend knows they can’t afford to pay me back, they probably shouldn’t ask to borrow such a lofty amount.

These executives (compensated in the millions), should be responsible for their actions, and return their compensation to their companies. Why is it that they are getting rewarded for risking everything, losing everything, running our deficit further into the ground and running companies that survived through the Depression into the ground?!? Why should we have pay for the Street’s mistakes? Makes no sense.