Lê’s “Gangster” Not Just Another Immigration Memoir (tags)
Lê Thi Diem Thúy was brought to this country from Viet Nam by her father in 1978, when she was six, but her book “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” honored this year by the San Diego Public Library and PBS as the 2011 “One Book, One San Diego,” isn’t your ordinary immigrant’s memoir. Presented as a novel — which allows Lê to tap her childhood for material without having to be bound by literal truth — “Gangster” is written in an almost poetic prose style, rich in nature imagery, characteristic of many Asian writers who learned English as a second language. Introducing, reading from and commenting on the book at the Public Library downtown on February 2, Lê gave a presentation touching on a lot of the issues raised in her book, including culture clashes, the role of the imagination and language as a force that can tear people apart as much as it can bring them together.
Hillary Clinton’s LYING she needs 60 votes to Leave Iraq (tags)
Hillary Clinton is passing the buck with an outright lie.
WHEN RACE BURNS CLASS - an interview with J. Sakai (tags)
".... They were inviting me, an Asian, as a way of my joining the crew. Only, he said, 'You got to stop talking to those Blacks. You got to choose. White or Black.' "
Washington Post: Gen. Schwarzkopf Is Skeptical About U.S. Action in Iraq (tags)
Schwarzkopf : Rumsfeld and the people around him lack the background to make sound military judgments
"Candidly, I have gotten somewhat nervous at some of the pronouncements Rumsfeld has made," says Schwarzkopf. Rumsfeld worries him. "It's scary, okay?" he says. "Let's face it: There are guys at the Pentagon who have been involved in operational planning for their entire lives, okay? . . . And for this wisdom, acquired during many operations, wars, schools, for that just to be ignored, and in its place have somebody who doesn't have any of that training, is of concern."