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.