Category: Manhattan

Memorial Day Weekend

So, not only was Queen Elizabeth the one who received an iPod from Barack Obama (which made Obama the worst gift-giver as a Head of State, since… in all likelihood, from what I’ve read about the queen, she probably already had an iPod), she has also gotten herself a totally special Wii. Man, if Queen Elizabeth also has a Kindle, then she really is a 21st Century person.

Ok, May’s flying by so quickly and I have to do some APA coverage while it’s still APA Heritage Month. Some items for consideration:

So, in California, the election to re-fill former Congresswoman Solis’ seat (because Solis is now US Secretary of Labor) will be a Chu v. Chu election. Either way, there’s going to be an Asian-American congresswoman for that district. In fact, this is likely something of a soap opera kind of election, since Betty and Judy Chu are cousins-in-law – not close and pretty much starting their own family feud. Betty’s a lawyer/city councilperson, Judy was a psychologist/state legislator; Betty’s married to Judy’s cousin; Judy’s the Democrat, Betty’s the Republican; and… yadda, yadda, yadda.

As much as Chu v. Chu election seems like a fascinating political thing, I’m kind of glad I don’t live in California.

Congratulations to the Jih siblings for winning Amazing Race. A fascinating Q&A with these attractive Asian-Americans lawyers (which, understandably, we of Triscribe may find particularly interesting, since… hey, they’re one of us!).

Although, really, it is tad unfair that Victor Jih is a partner of a law firm, alumnus of Harvard Law, AND won Amazing Race. At least his sister Tammy is still only an associate.

Anoop Desai did not last long on “American Idol,” leading to his own Q&A with Entertainment Weekly – so I guess APA’s still haven’t quite made it all the way yet with “American Idol.” But, the winner is Kris Allen won; Adam Lambert is only a runner up (probably a better thing for him in the long run).

NY Times’ Alessandra Stanley reviews the finale of “American Idol” from the tv critic perspective, while Jon Caramanica provide the music critic analysis. Confession: I really haven’t followed much of the whole season, although I did kind of watched Adam’s cover of “Mad World.” (primarily because I was waiting for “Fringe” – but it was an excellent cover – he does have quite a voice).

NY1 covering APA Heritage topics (for a week) – with Lewis Dodley on Asian pop – seriously, Lewis Dodley? He’s been the stiff one in the local news media (even back when he was on Channel 13 – I always thought he was a bit waxy – very anchorman-like). Maybe Dodley likes music in real life or Asian culture; or maybe he was assigned to cover this; all in all, interesting stuff.

Last but not least: Pres. Obama selected the new US Attorneys for Southern District of NY (to you non-lawyers: jurisdiction of Bronx, Manhattan, and downstate upstate) and District of NJ. Bonus for APA Heritage Month: an Asian US Attorney for NY, Preet Bharara.

May Weekend

Some words from YC.

So, it’s apparently true – J. Souter’s retiring, giving the president the task of picking a person (not an easy task, considering the various options and considerations) and planning to go home to New Hampshire.

Tons of interesting reading material out there: Kermit Roosevelt, former Souter clerk, on Souter. I liked Dahlia Lithwick’s analysis on Souter. Linda Greenhouse also puts two cents on Souter. I do tend to think of him as the man we keep underestimating.

In an alternative universe, I think Pres. Obama could be on the US Supreme Court (or maybe in a distant future? Hey, it happened to Pres. (and Ch. J.) Taft!). At any rate, as David Brooks noted on Friday’s Lehrer Newshour, noted, “This is something we’re actually used to, and it will probably unfold in a pretty predictable way,” i.e., that at least S.Ct. selections are something we’re awfully familiar with (the controversies, the debates and ultimate confirmations). I think that it’s pretty cool that this time, it’s a Constitutional Law prof who’s doing the selection and that he knows so much about the process and the substance.

Speaking of selections, Alma Mater’s Engineering School has selected a new dean – a man of Dominican ancestry and an MIT alumnus.

Lessons about the flu: NYC’s health commissioner’s having a cool head saved us in 1918. NY Times’ Jim Dwyer on how ignorance and bigotry are the side of effects of the H1N1 flu – no doubt about that; that was the first thing that came to my mind when the news broke about something we knew so little about. I do wonder whether we New Yorkers are losing our ability to be rational – but then again, law school kind of taught us that the idea of a rational person is just that – an idea.

Meanwhile Slate reminds us about how soap – even a dirty bar of soap – is useful stuff, and how those masks aren’t that useful (that’s right – it just doesn’t do all that much good, so how reasonable is it to walk around with those masks on anyway?) – stuff we should have learned from SARS in the first place. NY Times’ Elizabeth Rosenthal also recalls the same her experience with SARS about the ineffectiveness of masks and the better use of hand-washing and just walking away from people with symptoms.

I completely forgot it was Law Day on May 1 – the day to celebrate rule of law (not lawyers).

May 1 was also the first day of the summer blockbusters, with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” A Slate article to explain the fascination with Wolverine; oh, and he’s Canadian (well, a certain kind of Canadian – apparently, not the East Coast liberal Canadian, but probably more like West Coast libertarian Canadian; he sure never seemed to have the Canadian accent in the cartoons though).

And, cherry blossoms in Brooklyn (sadly, I missed the festival this year, but the pictures on the NY Times website are lovely).

And with May, it’s APA Heritage Month. PBS/Channel 13 has been putting up its schedule for APA items for viewing. May 3, 2009, was the 30th APA Heritage Festival – unfortunately, the rainy weather made it less than fun, but the show went on. Henry Chang, writer of the Detective Jack Yu series, was there and I said hello (coincidentally, I had finished reading Year of the Dog, sequel to Chinatown Beat, last week; I had read Chinatown Beat some time last year; the series is good stuff).

In case you were wondering what happened to those “Top Chef” contestants, NY Times checks out what happened to some of them who are in the NY metro area.

An interesting FYI column in the Sunday Times’ City Section – about the “Essex” sign and how it’s been grandfathered in despite its – uh – garishness.

Good stuff in Time Out New York’s Great Walks issue – even a Staten Island walk. Now, if only I actually would be doing these walks…

Last but not least: the passing Jack Kemp; they don’t make Republicans quite like him anymore.

Sunday and Stuff (Some of it Serious)

Because we of Triscribe are Asians and lawyers, we touch on issues on Asians and lawyers. Consider the following (yes, still part of the whole I’m-catching-up-on-blogging, since I fell behind; where are the other triscribers…?)

I’m not a Yankee fan, but even I was amazed by the how-low-can-you-go of yesterday’s game by Chien-Ming Wang – with the historic 14-2 by the end of the second inning and total loss of 22-4, and it’s not clear what’s the matter with the guy. The fans aren’t too happy in the Bronx at the new Yankee Stadium.

Dahlia Lithwick on the right wing attack on the selection of Yale Law’s Dean Harold Koh to be legal adviser of the US State Dept: she makes good points; but I do wonder what’s the strategy to deal with the right wing extremists. Marginalizing them only makes them nastier; responding to/fighting them doesn’t make them see the light either.

Lithwick on the subject of a gender balanced US Supreme Court. I do think that true diversity – whether by educational background, social class origins, career background (the justices can’t all be ex-law profs/appellate judges) racial/ethnic/gender/religious/etc. – would make for more than just the usual right-of-center thinking on the court… Just my opinion; I could be wrong.

While Dean Koh is dealing with the process of being confirmed, we get other things that impugn the standing of Asian Americans: one of those kinds of “are you serious” stories… Texas legislator’s suggestion that Asian names should make the government’s life easier. Guess the legislator doesn’t understand that confusion regarding the transliteration of names into English are not necessarily the fault of the people with those names… Meanwhile, NYC Councilman John Liu demands an apology from said TX state legislator…

Mussolini made it difficult to be a Jew in Italy, apparently; but that didn’t stop Rita Levi Montalcini from becoming a Nobel Prize winner and now living at 100 years young. Interesting story about her.

Another Nobel Prize winner – Stephen Chu, US Sec’y of Energy – does a Q&A with the NY Times. Apparently, his Nobel Prize didn’t quite impress his mom, because she expected him to come visit more often. Hmm.

A poignant piece – maybe art is the only thing that can save us from doom. … Okay, I exaggerate. But, still, kind of funny to think that the some Wall Street people are just repressed artists.

And, another member of the Cabinet: US Sec’y of Commerce, Gary Locke – some good stuff about him as a descendant of a “paper son” and how he won’t have an easy job with the census, not to mention the rest of trade and other issues.

The state of the world: Skadden lawyer survives the Miracle on the Hudson plane landing; but loses job and his father passes away. Life can be strange. Have hope; it’s all we got when Pandora opened the damn box.

Slate’s Fred Kaplan raises interesting points on maybe a coalition of nations should gather and discuss ways on addressing the pirate problem; but historically, not an easy issue. So… we have G20 to address the economy and we’ll need more international cooperation for security and legal issues? Hmm… We live in interesting times.

Slate’s John Dickerson says sometimes a dog is just a dog; I say: nothing is easy when you’re president and there’s a whole lot of stuff to deal with. Your only best friend’s going to be your dog anyway…

So, they’re changing the way they do news at NYPD; will any new way be any better? If the White House fixed up the press space, why should the NYPD evict the press? Ridiculous (but, that’s just my two cents on that; not like I want the mayor coming after me because I disagree with him).

Plus — the new phrase of the week is: “glimmers of hope.” Hmm. Can I have “Audacity of Hope” back, please? One speaker out there compared “glimmers of hope” to like the green sprouts of spring; well, the hard part is keeping those sprouts growing…

More things we’ll have to wait and see: Adam Cohen in the NY Times’ Editorial Observation on the Legal Profession and how it’s probably time for a change. I’m eagerly awaiting for that cultural shift in the legal profession; a “course correction”? An end to crazy high salaries for Big Firm associates? An end to billable hours? For real? It gets even scarier when we’re in an era where the well-educated are getting unemployed.