Pretty in pink?

I came across this article today. Makes me cringe to think what my husband and I will deal with in raising our kids ("No, you cannot wear a midriff-baring t-shirt that says 'Slut'!"), especially when companies are creating marketing schemes targeting them as early as their preschool years ...

"What's Wrong With Cinderella?"

Permanent outsiders

The Salt Lake Tribune is featuring an article about international adoptees ...

"I realized I was a permanent outsider"

"What we know is that none of us fully fit in with our adoptive cultures or our birth cultures.

"But we are excited to start an adoptee culture, one that allows us to pull the good from our cultures and create a space where we feel comfortable with each other and ourselves."

Russia halts foreign adoptions

On NPR this morning ...

"Russian authorities have suspended the work of foreign adoption agencies. That has put into limbo the plans of many Americans waiting to adopt Russian children, even as human rights groups say a growing number of institutionalized children in Russia are living — and dying — in wretched conditions."

"Russia's Halt on Adoptions Spotlights Conditions"

The NPR site has a link so you can listen to the radio segment.

Americans adopt more children from Russia than from any other country except China and Guatemala. But now the government has suspended the work of all foreign adoption agencies. Officials say it's a temporary measure, part of the new registration requirements for all non-governmental organizations.

Still, Education Ministry official Sergei Vitelis says Russian children should stay in Russia.

"Adoption by foreigners probably isn't entirely right," Vitelis says. "Any normal state should create conditions for children to grow up in their own country. That's what we're aiming for."

Children's rights advocates say the official crackdown on foreign adoptions is more about national pride than concern for child welfare. They say it condemns children to a system of Soviet-era institutions desperately in need of reform.

On a different note, another NPR story out of China ...

"Cases of Forced Abortions Surface in China"

Fire 'em!

"CBS Radio suspended two New York City radio hosts on Monday for their prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant that Asian American advocacy groups across the country decried as racist, sexist and vulgar."

"Ex-Bay radio jocks suspended"

Updated (4/26/07):

"Rights groups demand firing of radio hosts"

"Prominent Asian American civil rights groups in the Bay Area are demanding that CBS Radio fire New York shock jocks Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay, who were suspended this week for making a prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant seen as racist and sexist."

Updated (5/14/07):

"Asian Slurs End Shock Jocks' Show on CBS"

"One month after CBS Radio fired radio host Don Imus, it has permanently pulled the plug on a pair of suspended New York shock jocks for a prank phone call rife with offensive Asian stereotypes."

Backlash

"Braced for Backlash"

"Korean-Americans fear that hatred toward the Virginia Tech killer will spill over into their community—and fuel negative typecasting."

Updated (4/24/07):

From NPR's Robert Siegel of "All Things Considered" ...

"Weighing Cho's Heritage and Identity"

And from the Washington Post ...

"Koreans Aren't to Blame"

Mass shooting at Virginia Tech

The AP is reporting that at least 30 people are dead after a gunman opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA, this morning. One eyewitness to the shootings at a Norris Hall classroom described the shooter as "an Asian male in his twenties wearing a maroon hat and a black coat."

"Gunman Kills 30 on Virginia Tech Campus"

Updated: MSNBC is reporting that about 50 people were shot and 33 are confirmed dead, including the gunman.

"At least 33 dead in rampage at Virginia college"

MSNBC also has a phone interview with the eyewitness who described the gunman as an Asian male, along with another interview with a classmate.

Updated (4/17/07):

The gunman has been identified as 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui, a Virginia Tech senior majoring in English. He was a legal, permanent resident of the U.S. from South Korea. His family lives in Centreville, VA. (Kind of weird because I was thinking of my Korean friend who lives in Centreville yesterday. I looked up Blacksburg on Google Maps and saw it was about three hours away from Centreville.)

"Va. Tech: Gunman Student From S. Korea"

"Gunman came to U.S. at age 8 from South Korea"

"Korea 'In Shock' at Shooter's Origin"

"South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the suspect had gone to live in the United States while in primary school and had permanent residency there while maintaining his South Korean citizenship, citing an unnamed official."

"Gunman's writings had raised concerns"

I'm still processing everything that happened yesterday. I woke up to hear NPR reporting that only one person was dead at Virginia Tech. Then I get to work to read that the number was up to 21. And then a little later it was 33 and the gunman may have been Asian. And now this morning that he was Korean.

All day yesterday I was checking various news Web sites for updates, wanting to know what happened and why -- something officials, students, and the victims' families are still wondering. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the victims and the Virginia Tech students and staff.

'North Koreans face danger on the run'

CNN.com has a video, "North Korean escape route," that describes the journey of North Koreans refugees who are making their way to Thailand from China. The Thai government's official policy is to deport North Korean refugees to South Korea, instead of returning them to North Korea as the Chinese government does.

The video includes the story of one woman who was on the run for four years. In China, she was raped and lived as a sex slave until she made it to Thailand. She had to leave behind her 3-year-old daughter in China. She also tells of the bodies of the dead in North Korea used for food because people are starving.

Also, MSNBC.com is featuring two slideshows on Korea, "Korea conflict in pictures" and "Inside North Korea," on it's Asia-Pacific page (scroll down, on the right side).

All in the family

Jeff Yang has a nice write-up on Korean-American comedian Bobby Lee in his Asian Pop column ...

"Asian Pop: Mad Man"

That's why, given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to develop a show for Comedy Central, Lee told them he wanted to do a show about a screwed-up Asian American family -- his. Starring his real family. "It's like an extension of that sketch, but obviously, a lot more in-depth," says Lee. "And I'm going to make it really Korean. It's going to be set predominantly in Koreatown, and it'll be a totally ethnic comedy show, shot single-camera, kind of like 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' only with singing, dancing. Maybe some sketches and animation. They bought the idea -- we'll see if it ever gets on the air."

Check out this MADtv skit with Lee's family.

Baby ape looking for love

"Sungai is only 7 months old, but she's already had enough rejection to qualify for a lifetime of therapy. Born in Albuquerque, she was instantly cast aside by her mother. Sent to Houston, she fared no better. Now she's in San Francisco, clinging to three foster parents who tend to her needs 24 hours a day."

"Zoo's poster child for hand-rearing"