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Reblogged from asiamericana
americanbornglobalvision
united we stand
Today, an American university’s chorus group came to give a performance at the school. We were invited to attend, and everyone was kind of watching our reactions…waiting to see how excited and thrilled we would be with the American entertainment!
About five seconds into the first song, we…
It’s important to be aware of what we are ‘selling’ at all times.
Wow, so the government (Department of Justice) seized phone records from about 20 AP phone lines. That sucks. They used to ‘ask’ ahead of time for phone records of the Press, but I guess since the government is feeling ‘all-powerful’, they’ve decided to skip the asking part and just seize private phone records without alerting the AP beforehand. I know…they had their reasons and I’m sure it had something to do with national security.
The DOJ is searching for a government ‘leak’. Somebody gave the press information the government didn’t want the press to have. The government actions kinda indicate that the ‘leaked’ information just might be true, huh? Of course, I suppose our government might have a few things they’d rather not let the press know. I mean, if the press does find out things and lets the public know about it….the government might have to waste their precious time admitting that they did something they shouldn’t have done, like….say….instruct employees to target a particular group of American citizens for special scrutiny. And then the government would have to go out of their way to ‘make it right’….with a freaking IRS “We’re sorry.” Awe, don’t we all feel better now? We got a polite apology. You know, it doesn’t matter how I personally feel about a group of targeted American citizens. The fact of the matter is that if the government separates that group out for special scrutiny, a group of citizens I support might be next in line.
Come on guys, WE are YOUR bosses. You don’t get to ‘hide’ stuff from us. And that ‘national security’ excuse you use when you get caught doing something you probably shouldn’t be doing is really wearing thin. Every little thing you do is simply not a matter of national security. But, you know, there is one thing that you can start focusing on that is a huge factor in the security of our nation. Yes, if there is one thing in this country that needs to be looked at for possible modification, it is the ‘checks and balances’ we have in place to keep our government organizations in line. Those apparently aren’t working as well as they once did. You guys are so embarrassing!
In the beginning:
When you first get in country:
When you start to teach:
Your first few lessons don’t go so hot:
But then its summer already:
First care package:
6 months in:
Classes have started again:
You start to make the connection:
Photojournalists Sharing the World through Instagram
Photojournalists from around the globe have begun using Instagram as an important part of their storytelling, using the intimacy and immediacy of mobile photography to open up new avenues of engagement with their audiences.
From Hurricane Sandy’s destruction to baseball’s opening season, photojournalists are capturing and sharing the world’s stories with people in real time through Instagram.
To tune into the news as it unfolds, be sure to follow these photojournalists:
- Michael Christopher Brown, documents life in Congolese refugee camps — @michaelchristopherbrown
- Ben Lowy, a conflict and feature photographer based in New York City — @benlowy
- Phil Moore, a British photojournalist based in East Africa — @philmoorephoto
- Kevin Frayer, the chief photographer for the Associated Press in South Asia — @kevinfrayer
- Ivan Kashinsky, a freelance photographer based in Quito, Ecuador — @ivankphoto
- Michael Yamashita, a documentary photographer for National Geographic specializing in Asia — @yamashitaphoto
(via govtoversight)
Paul Krugman, on why South Carolina Republicans were right to vote for Mark Sanford, given their political preferences. He’s right.
People who say they vote for “the person, not the party” are either lying or 100% naive about how politics works.
Legislative majorities not only determine what policies are enacted, they decide what gets discussed.
This applies to state legislatures as much as it does the US House and Senate. Elect a Republican assembly and the agenda will be voter ID laws, abortion restrictions, Planned Parenthood defunding, school vouchers and tax cuts.
And if these are the things you want from your legislature, it is totally alright to vote Republican.
But don’t believe you bear no responsibility for this kind of retrograde agenda just because you sent some nice, “moderate” reformy Republican to represent you in the state capital, instead of some hackish/corrupt/unsavory Dem. The most important vote that moderate dude takes will be during the chamber’s organizational session, when he will vote for the GOP leadership to assume the speakership and take control of the committee chairmanships. From then until the majority flips, it’s nothing but Medicaid cuts and hearings about Obamaphones.
I can’t really imagine the case for voting for the “right person” over a party label until you get to municipal government.
There, transposing the views of national parties onto local political actors is a fools errand because the issues are totally different. Most growing metro areas have competing political cliques along the lines of Let the Developers Build All the Things Party versus the Only Existing Residents Are Allowed to Have Nice Things Party and since members of these cliques don’t align perfectly with the views of national parties, you actually have to study the issues to make an educated choice in a local election.
tl;dr I’m a NY Democrat who votes for complete assholes all the time, so I totally get where SC Republicans get off voting for Mark Sanford.
(via ilyagerner)
Congrats to Delaware!
The wall is up! We’ve created a wall of questions and answers on the second floor of our teaching building.
Big thanks to all the wonderful Tumblr pals out there who shared their words—they’re now printed out and hanging up for all 15,000 students at our school to read. We hope everyone can learn something new from our dialogue wall!
Do you have a question for a Chinese college student? Ask away, and we’ll answer!
“Does it easy for American students to pass the test?
What do American usually wear in the summer?
Do All the school hold many many parties?
What will you when you are in day off?
Many Chinese like the movies from America. They like stars who come from America, Korea. But I don’t like the stars from Korea.”
It depends on the test. Some tests are very hard and take quite a bit of studying, others are easier. I have heard that tests in Chinese schools require more studying. We think Chinese students study more than American students. A popular summer clothing style in America includes tank tops, shorts, and sandals. American students do like to attend parties on weekends. it might be a school or club function or just a bunch of students all meeting in the same location to talk , eat and have fun. Our days off are usually relaxed. I like to read a book, go to a movie, go for a bike ride, hike or see if there is any event going on in the city (Seattle) that I am interested in attending. Sometimes we have cook-outs with friends, if the weather is nice. Most movie theaters in America only show American movies. There are a few movie theaters that show movies from other countries, but those movie theaters are very limited. I watch Chinese, Japanese, and Korean TV and movies on my computer sometimes. I enjoy them. Why don’t you like Korean stars?
