Gloria Allred's Legal Confusion

It seems that every other day another woman pops out of the woodworks to accuse comedian and uber famous star Bill Cosby of committing rape that occurred at least ten years ago. Naturally when there are women involved in a high profile lawsuit, guess who will appear at a new conference in front of dozens of cameras leading the charge--Gloria Allred.

This Los Angeles feminist rights lawyer has been photobombing sensational news stories for decades, always holding herself up as a savior to women involved in some sort of lawsuit against a greater, meaner, more callous defendant. A couple of days ago, she demanded that Mr. Cosby put up $100 million as a legal fund to compensate all the potential suits that women may bring against him now and in the future. Says Ms. Allred, "If Mr. Cosby believes all the women are being untruthful, then this is his opportunity to prove it. What could be fairer than that?"

I don't know what kind of law the Loyola University School of Law taught Ms. Allred, but the American legal system has for centuries been based on the maxim that a person is innocent until proven guilty. It is very disingenuous of her to demand that Mr. Cosby drop the statute of limitations of these accusations and allow these women to sue him and have him prove his innocence. As a lawyer, she should know that it is not the defendant's duty to prove his innocence, it is the plaintiffs and their lawyers to show guilt. Mr. Cosby has no legal obligation to prove that he did not touch these women. That would be like asking him to prove he did not touch the other seven billion people on this earth. How would you prove a negative?

Most people I know are quite skeptical of all these women who suddenly appeared in the last few months to make the same complaints over and over again. Where were these women ten or twenty, or even forty years ago when they were supposedly raped by Mr. Cosby? Not a single one of them went to the police or told a family member who could talk them into going to the authorities?

Also hanging a $100 million kitty out there for anybody to collect is bound to bring forth even more women, not least of which is Ms. Allred herself. History has taught us that anytime a defendant settles with a large sum of money to distribute to plaintiffs, the legal vultures start circling hungrily. This has happened in cases like the tobacco and BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill lawsuits. Once an enormous amount of money is at stake, more people will suddenly decide that they have a good reason to want a pick of that carcass.

I don't know if Mr. Cosby is innocent or guilty of these charges. But his lawyer is smart in keeping him mum about the whole legal circus that is swirling around him. He is legally protected by the statue of limitations for activities that may or may not have happened decades ago. Unless there is some sort of photographic or DNA evidence, it is basically a he said/she said situation. Lawyers like Ms. Allred are just there to get their faces on the news cameras and make more money and fame for themselves.

I Am Darren Wilson

I am for the rule of law. If a criminal is out there creating mischief and mayhem, I wholeheartedly support any means necessary to stop him. I believe that's what former Ferguson, MO police officer Darren Wilson was attempting to do the fateful day he shot Michael Brown. Consequently, I am supporting Officer Wilson and whatever actions he felt was necessary to stop Mr. Brown.

By now, almost everybody has seen the security video inside the convenience store that Mr. Brown robbed about thirty minutes before his shooting. He was stealing cigarillos from the place when a store employee attempted to stop him. As the picture clearly shows, that took an enormous act of courage. Mr. Brown is 6 foot 4 inches tall and weighs nearly 300 pounds. He is essentially an NFL football player with no job and a bad attitude. He tosses the employee around like a rag doll. The fact that the mass media still refer to him as an unarmed teenager totally misrepresents the situation.

If Mr. Brown's robbery wasn't enough to send him to jail for a long time, he decided he was going to pick a fight with a policeman inside his own patrol car after he was told by Officer Wilson to stop walking in the middle of the street. He even attempted to reach for the officer's gun while assaulting him. All of this is without dispute. Yet the news organizations and liberal bleeding hearts think that Officer Wilson should somehow have let him off easy because he was "unarmed". Mr. Brown has already shown himself to be gravely dangerous to society and bringing him down was probably the best thing to happen to Ferguson's crime rate in a long time. These kinds of events don't just happen overnight. I'm sure Mr. Brown's robbery was not his first, but luckily for Ferguson, it was his last.

The St. Louis grand jury heard all this evidence and came to the conclusion that Officer Wilson acted within the law and decided not to indict him. Yet the liberals say the process is broken and justice was not given. It is especially appalling to me that so many Asian Americans are going along with this fractured narrative. What the heck are they thinking? I don't support any of these Asian American associations that have placed their lot with the likes of the NAACP and clowns like Al Sharpton. These Asian community "leaders" think that support of any minority cause is worthy of their time and energy. I bet none of these people has ever run a business and been robbed or beaten by some hooligans who think they can do as they please. As far as I'm concerned, if somebody commits a serious crime, they deserve whatever punishment they get. This is justice. Not another business will ever again be terrorized by Michael Brown and the world is a better place for it.

I'm sorry to read that Officer Wilson felt compelled to resign from the police force in Ferguson. But I suppose that was inevitable. He seemed like a policeman who did what he thought was the right and legal thing to do in the middle of being attacked by an opponent who was almost 100 pounds bigger than him. I hope he and his new wife are able to settle down and find a new job soon in a community that is more grateful for good police work than Ferguson.

If any of these anarchists are done torching their own town, they may find that there are going to be a lot fewer businesses opening up in Ferguson from now on. And since the townspeople feel that the white police force is discriminating against the predominately black population, maybe they'll feel happier if the police don't come running the next time they call 911 when another black person is robbing, stealing, assaulting, raping, or committing any other felonies against them. Why should the police risk their lives for people who only turn around and accuse them of being racists. The citizens of Ferguson will have nobody to blame but themselves.

Why Asians Will Always Be Foreigners

My son hates his last name. He is always complaining about other kids in school teasing him about it. He has already asked me when he can change his name. I told him once he turns eighteen he can do whatever he wants. Until then, he is going to have the same last name as me, end of discussion.

Unfortunately, my son's complaints painfully reminds me of my experiences in school with other kids. Whenever I am asked my name, I inevitably have to say it twice, along with spelling it out so people can at least grasp how it's supposed to be pronounced. Over the years I've learned to live with this ritual. But inevitably some white American will think he's clever and make an unfunny pun with my name, as if that he was the first one to think of it. Sorry sir, but at least a thousand people have already told me the same lame joke already so forgive me if I don't laugh.

Asian names are notoriously difficult for English speaking people to comprehend. "Why is Nguyen pronounced as 'Win'?" We once had two Chinese coworkers at my workplace. Their names were spelled "He" and "She". Though they look nothing alike, different age, different height, people were always getting them mixed up. Would Americans have mixed up two white people named "Johnson" and "Johnston"? Somehow Asian names seem to be the perfect set up for bad puns by white people. Think of how many jokes you have heard in the media regarding names like "Wong" or "Chin". And don't even get me started on names that sound like English slang for genitalia. "Long Duk Dong" anybody? Yes I do know a real Chinese person with the last name of Dong so don't think that was a purely fictional name they put into the movie "Sixteen Candles".

I didn't realize how much our family's last name bothered us until one day I heard my father complaining about it. He was irritated by the rudeness of total strangers whom he just met who feel they can make a joke out of our name. While people may just be trying to lighten the mood by saying a joke, I would never think of joking about somebody named "Dick" or having fun with a black person named "White" or a white person named "Black". But with Asian names people don't seem to have the same restraint.

There have been many times while growing up that I wished I could have an easily pronounceable and spelled last name. Why couldn't my name have been Wilson? Or Smith? Jones, Brown, Williams will all do. These names imply AMERICAN. There is no stupid pun that people will think to bring up. They suggest a long glorious history of living in the United States. Nobody would ask me to repeat my name again because they didn't think they heard it right the first time.

So all I can tell you my son is that I too had to live through a lifelong dread of having to say my name to strangers, whether at school or at work. Just expect some wise guy will try to make a joke about it. Laugh if you're feeling generous. Ignore it and move on if you don't. Try not to make a big fuss about it because the joker usually isn't saying it out of malevolence. And once you are of legal age, I will understand if you want to change your surname to "Anderson". But I think by then you will have learned to be proud of your name and your heritage like I have and pass it along to your children. Then you can give them the same advice I'm giving you, "You can do whatever you want when you turn 18."

The Arrogance Of Ted Lieu

With a week to go before the general election, it looks like California Democratic state representative Ted Lieu will win the U.S. House seat of retiring Congressman Henry Waxman. Recent polls show he has a 17 point lead over Republican candidate Elan Carr. With a congressional district that draws heavily from the limousine liberals of the Westside and beach communities, the outcome of this campaign isn't really a surprise.

However Ted's arrogance during this election cycle is especially annoying. He has already dismissed Mr. Carr as a viable opponent. He has already met with Congressional insiders in Washington to discuss his role after the election. He is already talking about this seat as if it is a lifetime appointment. He tells the newspaper that he told his wife, "If we win in November, my first priority is to live as long as I can. Congress is like the military--it's just pure seniority." So Ted not only has brushed off the candidacy of Mr. Carr, he has already carved his name into his presumed office door on Capitol Hill.  He is so audacious that he doesn't for a second believe there could be another candidate who could successfully vie for the Congressional seat, maybe as early as 2016.

You would think that since Ted is having such an easy time cruising toward his victory party he would be more bold and daring with his ideas. But once again, he proves to us how vacuous his so called leadership will be when he ascends to the Hill. He has already parroted Mr. Waxman's position that his number one priority will be passing environmental laws, particularly cap and trade legislation to decrease emission of greenhouse gases.

Really Ted? You think that's what your constituents in Los Angeles are most worried about? What are you going to do about illegal immigrants flooding our borders and using up our limited resources in schools and hospitals? How do you plan to make healthcare affordable when Obamacare subsidies begin to dry up? What should the U.S. do about Ebola? ISIS? Russia? How do you plan to raise the standard of living of thousands of your constituents without using the job killing gimmick of raising the minimum wage? Are you going to keep pushing for a bullet train to nowhere even though most Californians now oppose its construction now that we have realized what a white elephant Gov. Jerry Brown's pet project has become? How are you going to fix the public pension crisis that is bankrupting cities all over California? There are so many issues that are of more immediate concern to the average voter yet he professes he will go to the Hill and legislate climate change. What an out of touch Democratic idiot.

It's too bad Mr. Carr declined to be interviewed by the local newspaper because it has decided to endorse Ted. If only voters knew more about him, I think his mature leadership as a former prosecutor would have given people a clear choice about who to vote for. It seems that the more we know about Ted, the more diminished he becomes.

Madison Bumgarner's Racist Move

Madison Bumgarner is
a. The San Francisco Giant's ace starting pitcher
b. A binge drinking alcoholic
c. A racist?

Anybody who was watching the first game of the National League Championship Series in St. Louis last weekend will surely remember the seventh inning. At a crucial juncture of the game, St. Louis Cardinal Kolten Wong hit a short ball into the infield. Bumgarner then received the ball from the first baseman and raced down Wong to first base to tag him out. But instead of the usual tap with his glove, Madbum practically body checked Wong and pushed him off his running path. It looked more like a football tackle than a baseball tag. The move was so flagrant that the Cardinals's coach asked for a review by the umpires, who inexplicably confirmed the out despite the interference with the base runner.

I can't help but wonder if Madbum pulled this stunt because he is a huge hulking white guy who thought he could get away with pushing around a smaller Asian American player. Bumgarner is 6 foot 5 inches tall and weighs 235 pounds according to his bio on MLB. By comparison Wong is a relatively diminutive 5' 9" and 185 lb. Would Bumgarner have contemplated pulling the same stunt against somebody like the Cardinals's first baseman Matt Adams, who is 6' 3" and 260 lb? I bet he wouldn't dare. Adams would probably have body checked him right back and sent him sprawling back to the pitcher's mound before allowing somebody as uncouth as Bumgarner, not to mention dishonest, to push him around like that.

But Wong didn't do himself any favors by meekly accepting the ump's bad call. In the usual Asian American fashion, he quietly accepted their verdict without so much as a protest, thereby confirming to everybody that he too thought he was out instead of being illegally shoved aside. Again I bet Matt Adams wouldn't have been so agreeable when somebody so obviously attacks you like that during play.

Of course Kolten was the hero the next day in Game 2 of the NLCS when he hit the game winning home run in the top of the 9th inning. Maybe it's just karma that helped him deliver that powerful swing to tie the series. Go Kolten!

Ted Lieu, The Airheaded Reactionary

California State Senator Ted Lieu has just been shown to be the empty headed reactionary politician that he really is. The California Supreme Court has disallowed his proposal from being placed on the ballot for the November election. The senator, who is running to replace long time U.S. Representative Henry Waxman on the Westside, wanted to put Proposition 49 in the state general election. Prop 49 would merely ask California voters whether they approved or disapproved of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision allowing businesses to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaign donations. That is probably the most populist and vacuous proposal ever granted a place in California elections.

The CA Supreme Court rightly stated that California's proposition system allows voters to directly decide new laws of the land, since our state representatives are too cowardly to make any laws on their own that might be deemed controversial ie/ Prop 8. It is not there for any Tom, Dick, or Harriet to put up bogus statements simply for grandstanding. Even California's governor disapproved of this nonsense. Said Gov. Jerry Brown, "we should not make it a habit to clutter our ballots with nonbonding measures, as citizens rightfully assume that their votes are meant to have legal effect."

Of course none of this is a surprise for anybody who has followed Mr. Lieu's career. He has trademarked the qualities of being a politician who has no personal convictions, somebody who uses his position as a lawmaker to make up whatever bills he deems popular at the moment that will bring him votes. Remember his anti-swatting bill from last year? At the time there was a rash of celebrities getting prank calls to 911 and having a platoon of emergency vehicles show up at their front doorsteps. Mr. Lieu, sensing an opportunity to curry favor with Hollywood and getting his face in front of the cameras, wrote this bill to increase criminal penalties of anyone caught swatting. Ironically, his own residence was swatted shortly after he introduce this bill. Of course it was another one of those faddish activities like the Harlem Shake that people got tired of quickly and nobody bothered with a short time later. Mr. Lieu's bill just prolonged the publicity these stunts craved and helped it gain more life than it otherwise would have.

While Mr. Lieu is the favorite to win his election in November, since he is the Democrat running in a heavily Democratic district, the voters should know what kind of person they are getting. He has already shown his jelly spine to the Asian American communities who used to support him strongly until he stabbed them in the back by supporting affirmative action for University of California student admissions. I have no doubt that he will do the same thing in the future to any future constituent if he thinks he can get more votes or publicity by supporting a cause that runs directly against his voters' wills. Caveat emptor.

Is Global Warming Pessimism A White Man's Conspiracy?

The Los Angeles Times has another story about man's destruction of nature leading to global warming, or now called under the PC label, climate change. The paper's article uses a chart compiled by the National Weather Service to point out that 2014 had the hottest January through July of any year ever recorded in California. They highlight that singular peak way over on the right hand side, with an average temperature of 60.2 F this year. That compares with an average temperature of 57 F in the past century.

What I find more profound was how cold California has been since 1900. While the Times wants to look at only the red bars from the last twenty years, it appears to me that about 80% of the time, the state has been running below, way below, the mean temperature of 57 F. In fact, in the mid 1950's, the state's average temperature dropped to 53 F, four degrees below the mean. That makes it the polar opposite (pun intended) of today's climate which is only three degrees above the mean. Yet I don't think there were screaming headlines sixty years ago about the need to reform the world economies to compensate for the cold weather they were experiencing.

I have a theory about why that is. Is it because white people, who control the major political parties and media companies of the developed world, like cold temperatures? Most of the WASPs who hold the levers of power came from northern European climes, and thus prefer frigid cold temperatures. Look at any ski slope during winter. Virtually every face up there is as white as the snow they are standing on. Who hold stupid polar bear swim meets in the dead of winter? White people. The rest of us brown people are shivering our asses off and looking at these pinkish white idiots incredulously.

We brown people love warm climates. My father used to wear long sleeve flannel shirts in mid summer during the hottest days of Missouri. Town folks used to think he was crazy. It is 95 F outside with 90% humidity but he was driving around town in long sleeves and no air conditioning. In the meantime, white people were dying by the hundred every summer from heat stroke. But when the seasons changed, we would have on our thick jackets and gloves at the slightest chill while Caucasians were still running around in T-shirts and shorts. Most non Caucasians come from warmer countries. We love our days warm and nights cold. Who wants to walk around wearing a sweater in August like they do in Seattle or London?

So maybe this whole notion that the world is about to end because of global warming is another way for white people to stay in control. They don't like warm temperatures so they are demanding that developing countries, who are mostly of browner complexion, curb their industrialization to decrease the release of greenhouse gasses. This of course will slow down their economies and keep the developed countries superior, who just happen to be mostly run by Caucasians.

Marijuana Vs. Gay Marriage. Liberalism's Conundrum

This week the New York Times is publishing a lengthy editorial on why the regulation of marijuana should be taken out of the federal government's jurisdiction and handed over to the states. They note that marijuana is legal in one form or another in 37 states. They can be used as everything from "medicinal" purposes with a doctor's prescription all the way up to free-for-all recreational use in the states of Colorado and Washington. The NYT ridicules the Drug Enforcement Agency's classification of marijuana as a Schedule One substance, as dangerous as heroin or LSD with no known medical use.

The paper wants to decriminalize the sale and use of marijuana by the U.S. by allowing the individual states to decide for themselves how pot should be regulated. They obviously see the hypocrisy in their position by noting the difference between marijuana and other liberal ideologies. Says the Times, "Consuming marijuana is not a fundamental right that should be imposed on the states by the federal government, in the manner of abortion rights, health insurance, or the freedom to marry a partner of either sex." They go on to restate a mantra conservatives have been making about the right to decide whether gay marriage should be allowed, "(Marijuana legalization) is a choice that states should be allowed to make based on their culture and their values."

Since when did the Times rediscover states' rights? Gay marriage has been banned in 31 states by their citizens and their state representatives. Some of these laws are even enshrined in their states' constitutions. Yet the federal judiciary has been slowly dismantling the states' rights to self determination one court district at a time. The NYT have been one of the loudest proponents of this destructive fiat by unelected officials. Yet when it comes to drug use, suddenly the states have the right to decide which of their citizens can get a legal high? Last time I checked, marriage is actually an official function of the state government, "By the power invested in me by the state of X, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Marriage is not mentioned anywhere in the U.S. Constitution but that hasn't stopped the third branch of government from imposing its values on the general population. Meanwhile drugs are clearly regulated by federal laws. Otherwise this country will have fifty different rules for drug manufacturing and distribution. Yet we should make an exemption for pot?

The problem with labeling something as a universal right, like their classification of gay marriage, is that universal rights mean different things to different people. Homosexuals may believe that same sex marriage is a universal right, but more than half the American population would disagree. I would bet that more people believe owning guns is a universal right than believe in gay marriage. And possessing a gun is actually something that is specifically written in the U.S. Constitution, not any of the other "rights" the Times lists as universally desirable. Yet the Times would be the first to sign on the dotted line if it ever has a chance to repeal the Second Amendment.

So come on New York Times. Try to stay consistent with your message. You say citizens should have a say in how they are governed, but only if it conforms to your liberal viewpoints. If they prefer a less progressive state, then somehow they need to be educated about what is right or wrong by the feds. That kind of condescension is what makes people suspicious of liberal motives. At least conservatives in general are consistent with their opinions. Individuals are allowed to decide for themselves how they are to be governed. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Conservatives don't deviate from this principle based on the subject at hand. If the citizens of the states have the right to decide how they want to deal with marijuana drug laws, then they should have the right to determine how they should live with all state laws that aren't superseded by the U.S. Constitution.

My Asian Privilege

There's been a lot of talk lately about white privilege. However, race privilege is not confined to white people alone. While minorities like to bemoan their lack of white privilege they too have qualities that only white people can dream of. Here is a list of my Asian privileges that makes me superior to white people.

Asians are rarely suspected of being criminals. When I go to L.A. International Airport, I am usually allowed to breeze my car right by the security stand at the entrance to the facility. I have never been asked to drive to the side to open the trunk of the car. Passing through the TSA is also effortless. Though we have to remove our belts and shoes like everybody else, the TSA agents couldn't be more bored when they see an Chinese-American family walk through. East Asians couldn't possibly be terrorists, right?

We Asians are also very unthreatening. When I walk down the sidewalk at night, no woman is clutching her purse tighter to her body. No one is turning around to see if I am following them. The police car cruises by without giving me a second look. At the mall, no security guard or camera is focusing his attention on me as I browse through the shops. In essence I turn into the tall blond white guy with the preppy shirt and chino pants that couldn't possibly be out ready to commit a crime.

When I walk into a room, people instinctively assume that I am smart. While some Asian Americans consider this an offensive stereotype, I personally consider it a compliment. I would rather strangers think I am smart than not.

Yet, Asian Americans are also frequently mistaken for being illiterate in English, even if we have advanced postgraduate degrees from Ivy League universities. While that may not sound like a privilege, one can use that ignorance to his best advantage. When I get phone calls during dinner time trying to sell me something or asking me to vote for a certain candidate for the next election, just for fun I just start talking in Chinese and pretend I don't know what the caller is trying to say. This usually results in an awkward silence on the other end then a quick dial tone. Ha, the joke is on them.

Asian Americans are also privileged to know where the best ethnic restaurants in town are. Through a tight network of Chinese American friends, the best Chinese restaurants are frequently discovered and the information propagated. This informal structure can't even be replicated on rating sites like Yelp. In the meantime, white people think the best Chinese restaurant in town is the local P.F. Chang, or worse, Panda Express.

Most of us Chinese Americans are shorter than the average white American. While this may not sound like a privilege, it does produce certain advantages. In an airplane's ever tighter seating arrangements, I can still sit in my seat without bumping my knees up against the back of the chair in front of me. I can also lower the tray table without having to suck in my gut, not that I have one since Asians are all thin anyway, correct? At the movie theater I don't have to worry about squeezing down the rows of seats or accidentally bumping the one in front of me with my giant boats for feet. I can even comfortably cross my legs without hitting my foot or knee on the person's head in front.

Finally, Asians always look young for their ages. In a country where youth is so highly prized and billions of dollars are spent on drugs and surgery to look younger, my naturally youthful skin tone is a major privilege. Asians are infamous for looking years, sometimes decades, younger than their real ages. Asian women can be deceivingly girlish looking, especially in the eyes of other races.

So there you have my list of some of the privileges Asians enjoy over other races. Why should privilege be the domain of white people alone? Every race has its advantages and disadvantages. If white people want to trumpet theirs, we can certainly publicize ours. We should be proud and proclaim loudly we are the smartest, youngest looking, safest race in America. That's a privilege we should never apologize for.

Is Being Racist The Worst Crime In America?

Poor Donald Sterling. The owner of the LA Clippers was banned for life from being involved in the NBA after being recorded making racist comments to his girlfriend. Now he is trying to sue the league to retain ownership of his team. Unfortunately for him, it appears that no major law firm is willing to attach itself to this controversy.

Has being a racist in America become so toxic that not even a billionaire with nearly endless resources can find legal representation? While being a racist itself is not a crime, apparently having been stigmatized as one is worse than almost any other atrocity. None of the law firms wanted to be tainted with defending a racist as it might upset their African American and corporate clients.

For instance, murderers almost always get some sort of legal assistance in the courts, unless the accused refuses any. OJ Simpson had A-list celebrity lawyers on his side of the court bench for years during his trial. Music producer Phil Specter also didn't have any trouble finding an attorney to defend him in his murder trial. Seems like none of these lawyers were afraid of how these cases might have affected their reputations with white clients or musicians.

Confessed drug use is also not a crime so heinous that people can lose their jobs. Both Presidents Clinton and Obama have confessed to smoking marijuana during their youths yet they were elected to the highest public office in the country. Most infamously, former Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry was convicted of using crack cocaine yet is still working in public office on the Washington City Council.

Child molestation, like racism, is also highly frowned upon in this country. However that didn't prevent one of the most famous child molesters of all time, Roman Polanski, from winning an Academy Award for Best Director in a vote by his directing peers.

What about infidelity? Everybody's doing it so it can't be that bad, can it?

Even 9/11 terrorist suspects can find lawyers to defend them in court.

Being a racist in America is so bad that Shelly Sterling would rather have people think her husband is demented than to consider him a bigot.

So yes, being outed as a racist in this country is probably the worst thing that can befall an individual. Unless it is being called a right wing conservative. Then you don't even get a voice in public at all.

Infidelity Vs. Racism. Lesser Of Two Evils?

The Other Woman

The revelation that L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling made racist remarks to his mistress V. Stiviano has rightfully brought a huge uproar of indignation among basketball players and fans alike. It is almost unfathomable that the owner of a business whose star employees are nearly all African Americans could harbor such hatred of black people.

Yet while all these denunciations are occurring over Mr. Sterling's racist rants, I find it disheartening that his other moral failing isn't even being discussed, much less condemned--his affair with his mistress V. Stiviano. Mr. Sterling has been married to Mrs. Rochelle Sterling for over fifty years. Yet there are multiple pictures of the mistress all over the internet of Mr. Sterling cavorting with his mistress in their court side seats at Clippers games.

Why hasn't anybody ever condemned this immoral behavior before? Has infidelity become so commonplace that nobody wants to be accused of throwing stones at glass houses? You can almost take it for granted that practically all the NBA players have had affairs while on the road and away from their spouses (yes Kobe Bryant I'm looking at you). Probably most of the men in high power positions like NBA team owners also have had indiscretions with their girlfriends too. Is that why nobody has been willing to speak up about Mr. Sterling's blatant acts of shamelessness at every Clippers game for the whole world to see?

Adultery was once an act of unbearable indecency. It is after all one of the Ten Commandments as set by God. History didn't used to treat infidelity with such blithe disregard. Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic book "The Scarlet Letter" demonstrated the ugly consequences of committing an affair in early America. All the way up to the 1980's, having a mistress on the side was so reprehensible that it could bring down the careers of aspiring presidential politicians (I'm talking about you Gary Hart).

But in the last twenty years, with its freewheeling attitudes towards behavior, where anything goes as long as nobody gets hurt, infidelity has become not only accepted, but practically expected of people in certain positions of power. President Clinton probably set the tone when he literally lied to the nation about his affair with Monica Lewinsky and nothing happened to his presidency. He is practically a saint in the Democratic Party now despite all that baggage. Movie stars are in the news regularly for their sexual indiscretions yet the multimillion dollar contracts and fan adorations continue. The America of the 1960's could only dream of being as carefree as the 2010's. This is truly the era where one is allowed to live and let live, without judgement.

Unless of course you are accused of being a racist. Or use the N word (unless you're black). One can't even talk about the inner city without being accused of racism if the speaker is of the wrong color. Racism has truly become the untouchable subject of our society. Drug use? OK with that. Infidelity? Sure. Everybody's doing it. Out of wedlock births? That's the hottest Hollywood trend. But being stuck with the term racist is practically a societal death sentence. One automatically becomes a persona non grata of his former social circle.

So go ahead. Have an affair. Have one hundred. Nowadays nobody will look disparagingly at you anymore for that moral failure. Can it even be labeled a moral failure if nobody considers it immoral? But watch what you say about races other than your own. This will truly put the fear of God into the very fiber of your being.

Learning To Become An American Rebel

The United States was founded by rebels. From the very beginning of its existence, American colonists defied their British rulers and fought victoriously in the American Revolutionary War. Every single one of our country's forefathers who signed the Declaration of Independence could be considered an insurgent. To this day American media celebrate the dissident. From Clark Gable to James Dean to Harrison Ford we Americans love to see lone wolves take on "The Man" and win. We deify Americans who break the mold and step on other people to get to the top, people like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. That's the kind of heroes American love to worship--rule breakers and insubordinates.

However it can be difficult at times for an Asian American to adjust to this highly celebrated American culture of rebelliousness. Like any good kid growing up, but particularly in an Asian American household, I was always taught to obey the rules. I had to listen and follow my parents' instructions without question. Any deviation from the strict laws set by my parents, grandparents, or teachers would be seen as an embarrassment and bring shame to the family. To this day I am still trying to come to terms with my innate need to follow orders against the Western culture's expectations that to succeed one must make his own rules.

For instance, my elementary school daughter recently participated in her school's science fair. We had thought up multiple excellent projects she could conduct to show off her astute knowledge of science. But when we received the application, it said the project had to comply with this year's theme of environmentalism--another typical liberal brain washing subject. There went my ideas for studying things like thermodynamics in the kitchen or making astronomical observations, both of which I'm sure my daughter would have loved.

We searched through multiple science project books and came up with one that was healthy for the environment, easy to conduct, and understandable for elementary level school children. It took a few weeks to perform but we got all our observation data. We printed up multiple pictures and constructed a very pretty poster board for her presentation. We were all so proud of her hard work. On the day of the fair, we waited anxiously at home while the judges looked through all the experiments during school hours.

When we went to the public showing that evening, we were disappointed that our daughter's work was not recognized for its creativity nor appreciated for how much time she put into it. While walking around the gymnasium I started becoming disturbed by how few of the projects actually complied with the theme of environmentalism as spelled out in the rules. There were studies on how many Mentos candies does it take to blow up a soda bottle. Another project opened up multiple bags of Skittles to see the flavor distribution inside each bag. What the heck does that have to do with the environment?

But one of the grand prize winners made it clear that following the rules in America is for losers only. The kid demonstrated how to turn a Wet-Dry Vac into a hovercraft. Granted it was a pretty cool project and certainly drew plenty of attention on the floor of the fair. But first of all, it was more like a shop project than a science fair project. Second, there is no way the child did most of the carpentry and electrical work. And third, it had NOTHING to do with helping the environment. Sure it was loud and flashy and made people smile just watching it in action but this contraption was a detriment to our air and noise pollution, not a savior. In the meanwhile my daughter's quiet little experiment was stuck in a quiet corner of the floor barely drawing any recognition or even a second glance from all the passerby's.

So what should I teach my children after this episode? I comforted my daughter's deflated ego as any good parent would. I told her I thought her experiment was great. Her work was original and her conclusions matched her premises. She has nothing to be ashamed of for not winning any medals. But inside I was still seething with resentment for the typical American attitude of rewarding the showiest and most ostentatious subjects regardless of merit. I still have a lot of learning to do to succeed in this country. I hope my children will understand this need to disobey the rules more easily than me if they hope to get ahead in life in the U.S.

Senator Ted Lieu. Two Time Loser

This is what happens when a politician doesn't possess any core convictions. California State Senator Ted Lieu hails from the South Bay area of Los Angeles. It is generally more conservative than the Westside and has a large Asian demographic. Even though the senator is a Democrat, he has been able to win elections here based on his Asian American background and an impression as a moderate Democrat.

When longtime U.S. Congressman, Democrat Henry Waxman of Hollywood announced he is retiring when his term ends this year, multiple candidates jumped into the fray, hoping to win this coveted and long occupied seat. Mr. Lieu quickly won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party. But now he is in serious hot water with the more liberal members of the group.

What is the sin that he committed to get him in trouble? He initially voted for SCA 5, the California Senate bill that will bring back affirmative action as a factor in public college admissions in the state. Needless to say, there was a huge uproar from the Asian American community over this discriminatory plan. Mr. Lieu and two other Asian American senators were forced to back down and said they would no longer support the bill. He claimed he had never heard any of his Asian constituents complain about the contents of the bill prior to the senate vote.

Now the other shoe has dropped. Since affirmative action will likely help mostly Latino and black students, some of the state senators from those districts with large minority voters have now rescinded their endorsement of Sen. Lieu. A letter to the senator from his Democratic peers read in part, "At this point, we cannot in good conscious endorse a candidate who does not share (our) perspective."

Unfortunately for the senator he has lost two of his Democratic constituencies. He has alienated his Asian American voters with his short sighted and asinine vote for SCA 5. If he had spent one minute talking to the Asian parents who go to the same school as his children, I personally have met him at after school activities, he would have realized that the bill would be a total deal breaker for Asian American parents. What Asian voter is going to vote for him now? His attempt to curry favor with Democratic party bosses by endorsing the bill has now backfired as the powerful Latino and African American party members have turned against him too for turning tail just when they thought they had sure passage of a treasured Democratic principle, affirmative action.

Senator Ted Lieu has shown himself to be nothing more than another mediocre opportunistic politician. He has lost two core Democratic voter blocs because he couldn't decide which side of a controversial issue to take a stand. Ultimately he took both sides and quickly lost voters from all sides. You think white voters will choose him from the myriad of white candidates who are also running? I don't think even the Westside voters are that liberal. He had better hurry up and make nice with his core voters of the South Bay if he hopes to have a chance of winning the upcoming election. Otherwise the sewage that spilled into his house recently may have just been an ominous omen for his political career.

New Poster Child For Affirmative Action

First I want to say right at the start that congratulations should be given to Kwasi Enin, the New York high school student who got accepted to all eight Ivy League schools. He deserves all the accolades he's been receiving for this extraordinary achievement.

However, every Asian American parent I've spoken with had the exact same thought when they first read this news--he got in because he is black. Now before you start saying this is just sour grapes, let me just go down the reasoning for our carping.

Mr. Enin's SAT scores are brought up in every article. He scored a 2,250 out of 2,400, which ranks him in the 99th percentile of all test takers. While that sounds wonderful, it's not out of the ordinary for high achieving students. Two thousand two hundred and fifty is just the bare minimum required for Asian students to get into a competitive school, much less an Ivy. I know Asian kids who scored a perfect 2,400 and still were not accepted by Stanford or tougher Ivies like Harvard. They may have a shot at lesser Ivies such as Brown or competitive University of California schools like Berkeley or UCLA. But 2,250 for Asian students will probably land them in the second tier of UC schools: Irvine, San Diego, or Davis.

Articles point out that Mr. Enin also participates in music and arts programs in school. He sings in an a cappella group and plays three instruments in orchestra. I would suggest that most Asian students, with equally high SAT scores, also play musical instruments. Heck, piano and violin are practically de rigueur for a proper Asian American upbringing. Three instruments in orchestra? I played four. It's not that hard if you play the same family of instruments such as B flat woodwinds or brass instruments. My precocious ability to play multiple parts in an orchestra never got me an invitation to an Ivy.

Sports as the reason Mr. Enin was accepted into multiple Ivies? While he is noted to participate in discus and shot-put, there is no mention that he got in on a sports scholarship. And since the Ivies don't offer any sports scholarships anyway, he didn't get accepted for his athletic abilities. Asian American kids also play actively in school sports, just not the usual football, basketball, baseball that many white and black kids play. We're more likely to excel in tennis or golf, which are not the usual glamor events that schools like to recruit for. If table tennis and badminton were NCAA Division I sports, we would totally rule. But since white people don't play or watch those activities, Asian kids don't benefit from these traditional Eastern pastimes.

Some people say that Mr. Enin probably received outstanding letters of recommendation from his counselors and teachers. That maybe true. But frankly, and not to put too delicate a way of saying this, his classmates probably made it easy for him to stand out. Studies have repeatedly shown that African American students score well below the averages of Asian and white kids. When a few of them inevitably break out of that mold and score above their peers, it is easy for their counselors and educators to sing their praises to the high heavens. They may see only one or two African American kids score that high each year. Meanwhile, in Asian predominant schools, a score of 2,250 with musical abilities will land you right in the middle of a pile of similar and not particularly outstanding students.

So once again, congratulations to Mr. Enin. He has achieved what most Asian American parents can only dream of. But his accomplishment only highlights the feeling that competitive colleges use race as a major factor in deciding who gets admitted. Though they all deny it, it is clear to many of us that affirmative action is alive and well in college admission offices around the country.

Filipino Americans Are Kicking Ass!

This has been an amazing month for Filipino Americans. First Robert Lopez won an Oscar for Best Song for "Let It Go" from the movie "Frozen." He becomes the youngest person in history to win all four major artistic awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. And he did it all in less than ten years, also another record.

Then we hear that a 16 year old FA from New Jersey managed to elude tight (?) security in and around the new World Trade Center and climb all the way to the rooftop spire. Justin Casquejo snuck through a hole in the fence surrounding the building and climbed the scaffolding to the sixth floor. From there he hitched a ride on the elevator, courtesy of a trusting elevator guard, to the 88th floor. Then he climbed the stairs to the 104th floor and walked around a sleeping security guard to get to the roof. Too bad he didn't post any of the pictures he took from up there from his cellphone. At least I didn't find any on the web. It sounds like the hardest part of that journey was sneaking out of his house after midnight to get to lower Manhattan.

Finally, here is the amazing victory by Emil DeLeon on the game show Wheel of Fortune. With only two letters on the board, he correctly guessed the phrase "NEW BABY BUGGY" on his first try, thus winning himself $45,000. That is practically supernatural.

Congratulations to all three FA's this month. You have made all Asian Americans proud of your achievements, even if one of you had to break the law to do so.

Asian Americans Don't Buy Domestic Cars

What Asian Americans don't drive.

I'm in the market for a new car. I'm currently driving an eleven year old Honda that we bought before my wife and I got married. Since then our finances have gone towards a wedding, having three children, buying a house, and purchasing a minivan followed by a second minivan after the first one started to have maintenance issues. So you can see we've been pretty busy the last decade. Luckily during all that time my Honda has been running like a champ and the need to get a replacement always ranked at the bottom of our endless priorities list.

My job has been going pretty well these last couple of years. Even though my car is still running great the missus said it's time for me to get a new car. Great, I thought. It's about time. Since I've been having a good year professionally, I asked my wife if I could get a Cadillac. The new CTS is pretty nice according to all the car reviews. It also looks awesome. It's not a car that you see coming and going on every block here in Southern California, like Lexus and BMW. "No way," came her emphatic answer. "Asian people don't by American cars."

"What's wrong with American cars?" I asked. Tiger mom replied that Asians with means only drive Mercedes or Lexus. None of her friends own domestic cars. Now I grew up here in the States so I wouldn't mind driving an American car again. We were an Oldsmobile family, having owned three before the company was eliminated by GM. I said I like the new Cadillacs. In fact I wouldn't mind owning a Buick. All I need is a car that I can commute to and from work with in comfort. I don't need some fancy label on the hood.

"Absolutely not," she said. "American cars are not reliable. You need a reliable car for your work. You don't want to have a bunch of repair issues that causes you to miss work. That's why you cannot get BMW or Audi either. Besides, American cars are built for tall Americans. You would never fit inside a Cadillac. Plus my parents in China have never heard of Cadillac, no matter how prestigious they are here."

Even though this will be MY car to use, I cannot spend such a large amount of money without mutual agreement on this one. If I bought a Cadillac and something did go wrong or the dealer service department treats us badly because they're not used to dealing with Asian customers, I would never hear the end of it from the wife. So now we are only looking at Mercedes or Lexus cars. Though they're nice enough, I can't help looking enviously at the beautiful Audi's and Caddy's that drive by us on the road. Maybe if Jeremy Lin and his mom promoted Cadillacs it would find more acceptance in the Tiger Mom community. Oh, and having car dealerships that don't look like they are stuck in the 1970's time warp would help too.

Is "Let It Go" the greatest gay coming out song ever?

My children love the movie "Frozen." We have watched it many times and they want to listen to the soundtrack every time we get into the car. It's got some of Disney's catchiest tunes since "The Lion King."

Now a couple of right wing wacko radio talk show hosts have declared that "Frozen" promotes a homosexual lifestyle and even suggests bestiality in the relationship of two of its animated cast members. Kevin Swanson and Steve Vaughn claim that the lead character Elsa is a single, young, extremely eligible queen who doesn't seem to have any interest in the men that come to her castle to celebrate her coronation. She must be a lesbian then for not attracting any male suitors. Then the more preposterous idea is that Kristoff, the ice seller, and his faithful reindeer, Sven, maybe having an unnatural relationship because they sleep side by side in the barn and even share food.

Thanks to these nut jobs I have a hard time watching "Frozen" without some of these opinions creeping into the back of my head, no matter how ridiculous they sound. If you listen to the lyrics for "Let it go," the song that won the Oscar for best song, I can see how people might, emphasis on might, interpret it as being pro gay.

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight

Not a footprint to be seen.

A kingdom of isolation

And it looks like I'm the queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside.

Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried.

Don't let them in, don't let them see

Be the good girl you always have to be.

Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.

Well, now they know.

Let it go, let it go.

Can't hold it back anymore.

Let it go, let it go.

Turn away and slam the door.

I don't care

What they're going to say.

Let the storm rage on.

The cold never bothered me anyway.

These words could suggest to some that the song encourages people to come out as homosexuals. It certainly has all the requisite themes like not hiding who you really are and not caring what people think about you. Will this song reach the pantheon of other great cross dressing and gay karaoke tributes like Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me," or Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"? Two snaps in Z formation point to yes.

SCA 5 is defeated. Why are Asian Americans still voting Democratic?

SCA5 has gone down in defeat. The California Senate's proposed constitutional amendment to bring back affirmative action for admissions to public colleges in the state was opposed by thousands of Asian Americans who believed their children's advancement into higher education was going to be impaired by the proposal. Over 112,000 people signed a Change.org petition urging the California Senate to remove the proposal from November's ballot.

After hearing so many anguished voices from their constituents, three Asian American democratic state senators have withdrawn their support from the bill. Since the amendment requires a two-thirds majority for it to pass the chamber and every Republican state senator opposed it, the Senate no longer had the numbers to pass the bill onward. Instead a task force will now be formed to study how to improve access to higher education for minorities.

This again raises the troubling question of why so many AA's vote Democratic in elections? They were the largest supporters of President Obama's reelection two years ago, greater than even Latinos. Democrats will always place the priorities of African Americans and Latinos ahead of Asian Americans because of sheer numbers. They are a much bigger voting bloc and thus will always have a greater say in how Democrats form their priorities. Their policies of income redistribution and tight government regulations of commerce are the antipathy of most AA's core beliefs.

Perhaps this episode will wake up all those Asian American college students and young adults who voted for Democrats last time. Though it's fun to vote for a young hip president who espouses color blind rhetoric and environmental nirvana, ultimately elections do matter. Though many look down on the Republicans' image as the party of the 1%, isn't that ultimately the goal for most of us? Voting Democrat will only get you higher taxes and decrease your children's chances of getting into a good college.

By the way, no thanks to California Democratic State Senators Leland Yee, Ted Lieu, and Carol Liu for changing their minds about SCA 5. Their change of hearts shows how out of touch they are with their constituents and heritage. These politicians display their true colors by pandering to the Latino and African American voters for their upcoming elections while ignoring those who voted for them in the first place out of ethnic pride. For shame senators.

Facebook's Left Wing Hypocrisy

Facebook yesterday announced that it is limiting the pages on its site that sells guns. Apparently it feels that guns are so evil that they must do anything to stop the sale and spread of this legal device to members of its community. This public service would feel more sincere if they were more diligent about advertising on its pages that sells illegal substances.

When you go to Facebook and search "drugs for sale," there are dozens of pages from companies willing to sell you anything you desire to get yourself wasted or stoned. Marijuana, check. Cocaine, check. Prescription drugs, check. Most of these substances are illegal without a medical prescription, or just plain illegal period, but Facebook doesn't seem to be in too big a hurry to shut them down or trumpet any noble intentions to do so to the media.

But I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the lack of concern about drug abuse from these left wing liberal Silicon Valley hipsters. These are the same people who think they are doing the community a favor by driving home prices so high in San Francisco that ordinary people like teachers and policemen are forced to move out because they can no longer afford to live there. Since they are bringing technology and Starbucks into a neighborhood they feel they are doing the community a service. When they block people's access to the buses that allows them to get to their jobs by their own wifi connected charter buses, the clueless tech geeks think it's only right since they are making their world a better place.

These people are completely isolated from what happens in the real world. They ride company buses to work without ever feeling the frustration of commuting in traffic or paying for skyrocketing gas prices. They eat their gourmet meals in their own private dining halls, never having to go outside to wait for a table and pay out of pocket. They have their own private gyms and sport courts so they don't have to get splashed with sweat from the tech challenged community. They don't even have to wait at a doctor's office for an exam as many companies have in house physicians or nurses waiting to take care of them. Heaven forbid they might have to experience what people who go through Obamacare have to experience. And they don't pay taxes on any of these perks since they are so special that companies classify these items as recruitment expenses, which are company write offs, rather than employee benefits, which are taxable.

So yes I can see why Facebook can be so two faced about what it limits on its pages. Legal gun sales is a no no. Illegal drugs splashed across its website, no big deal. As long as their stock prices to shooting up these folks could care less about the difference between legal and illegal, a constitutional right vs. a federal crime.

Proof That Michael Dunn Is A Racist Murderer

Michael Dunn, the white computer programmer from Florida, successfully evaded a first degree murder conviction in his killing of black teenager Jordan Davis. Mr. Davis was sitting in his van on November 23, 2012 with a bunch of his friends at a convenience store parking lot, playing his music very loudly. Mr. Dunn, who was parked next to him, complained about the loud noise and asked the teens to turn down the music.

When Jordan and his friends would not comply with his request, he pulled a gun from his glove compartment and fired ten shots into the van, even getting out of his car and getting down into a shooting position. He claimed that he saw the barrel of a rifle being pointed out of the van and shot in self defense. The teens denied having any weapons inside and the police never found any.

I say his defense is simply legal obfuscation. Mr. Dunn is just a racist murderer looking for any excuse to shoot black people. You want proof? Take a look at the Chase Freedom credit card commercial above. Here is a pretty white woman pounding out her car stereo loud enough to make the windows rattle. Then she gets out of the car and starts dancing around. Now I ask you, would Mr. Dunn feel threatened by this woman playing her music so loudly? Would he feel threatened by her when she gets out of the car to do who knows what, possibly causing him great bodily harm? Or would he just see a pretty young white girl having fun and maybe even get out of his car and start dancing with her?

See what I mean? It's hard to believe his alibi of self defense. Just because it's a black male teenager playing loud music this white man decided to pull out his gun. But if it was a pretty white female doing the exact same thing it is considered cute and entertaining. Sounds like racism to me.

BMW's Diesel Commercial. Asian Archie Bunker In The Room.

I first noticed this BMW commercial run on the Superbowl a few weeks ago. Something about it immediately struck me as being uncomfortable and racist. Unfortunately it did not go away and is now in heavy rotation on the networks. In it, a young Caucasian guy approaches the Asian patriarch at family gathering. He nervously walks up to him and says he has something he needs to announce. The Asian father anxiously looks over at his daughter and we all know what he is thinking. The white guy then says he just bought a diesel. The father then turns around and looks at the BMW and lets out a huge sigh of relief.

This commercial feels all wrong to me. First of all, the father reminds me of the seminal TV character Archie Bunker from All In The Family. He was the bigot that drove his daughter and son in law crazy with his racist rants and attitudes, particularly when it came to interracial dating and marriage. His outrageousness helped open the discussion in America on race and people's bigotry. That has led to today's more open position about interracial couples. It is now so widespread that people think nothing of seeing an interracial couple on TV or living next door. Or if they did object to it, it is considered taboo and backwards to publicly disagree with the relationship.

Yet the ad agency for BMW thought it was acceptable to show an Asian bigot on TV disapproving of a potential white son in law. They would never dare use this concept with a black suitor and white father, or vice versa. It would bring howls of protest about prejudice in the media and BMW would be shamed back into the racist little bunker of their headquarters in Bavaria. But let's put an Asian father in there and everything is okay because we all know Asian parents hate to have their children date outside their race.

Something else that isn't right about the commercial is that it perpetuates the stereotypical white guy/Asian girl relationship. The girl, Jenny, stands by meekly, never saying a word, as she looks lovingly at her white boyfriend as he is talking to her father. Why isn't it ever the Asian boyfriend asking the white father for approval for marriage, or at least announcing he just bought a BMW? Frankly I see more young Asians drive BMW's here in Southern California than Caucasians, who seem to prefer American muscle cars like Mustangs and Camaros.

Again it is too easy to use Asians as comedy props in media (they are props because notice that none of the Asians in the room says a single English word; a sigh of relief doesn't count as spoken speech.) We are literally the last race where it is acceptable to make racist jokes about in public. I think BMW has just lost me as a potential customer.

Gay Olympic Pairs Figure Skating. IOC Put Up Or Shut Up

The practice of sport is a human right. Each individual must have the possibility or practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play. 

My wife and I were watching the always gorgeous pairs figure skating and ice dancing competitions of the Sochi Olympics. One can't help but admire the grace and athleticism of these athletes. Then she asked a very funny question, "Do you think some day there could be a gay couple competing in the Olympics in figure skating?" Hmm, I don't see why not.

The Russians received a lot of grief prior to the start of the Sochi Olympics for discouraging gay people from attending and demonstrating at the massive sports venue. But according to the International Olympics charter above, no discrimination of any kind should be allowed in competition. So the possibility of a gay couple in skating doesn't seem out of the question.

Nowadays, the athletic skills required to compete successfully at the top levels of pairs figure skating practically require two men to compete. With the amount of spins and tossing of partners necessary for a gold medal caliber routine, two men may be more successful than a male/female pair. Imagine a two man pair on the ice, each able to do quadruple loops and enormous leaps. They would beat any male/female pair on technical merits alone.

Now I don't know if the rules of international figure skating specifically prohibits same sex couples from competing in pairs figure skating, but if they do, the IOC should prohibit the sport until it has been removed. Unless of course there is more to the figure skating rules than just human rights. The cynic in me can't help but think that, as always, big money is involved.

While many of the western countries may be accepting of same sex pairings in figure skating, I suspect that most of the rest of the world will not, particularly the Asian and developing countries. If the population in these countries decide they don't want to watch figure skating because of same sex pairings, that could lead to huge financial losses.

So International Olympic Committee and International Skating Union, it's time to put up or shut up. If they truly cared about equal rights as a human right, they would stop bloviating about Russia's lack of gay rights. The idea of same sex pairs figure skating makes technical and artistic sense. But I'm sure they will never allow that to happen because there are billions of dollars at stake here. And in the end money talks while human rights walk.