Little Saigon Inside

Tyler Diep Quits the Race for State Assembly

2012-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

As has been rumored since last week in Little Saigon, Tyler Diep officially announced his intention to quit the race for 72nd Assembly District. This is a newly drawn district where Asian American voters will be a deciding factor in the race.   His reason - " A new tactical change and also the situation is not favorable".     He felt that since there are 2 other Vietnamese-American candidates in the race, he does not want to be in a three-way battle vying for the Vietnamese-American votes.

This is quite strange for somebody who was supposedly the strongest candidate with the support of well known Republican leaders and also his amazing ability to raise money. Within 2 months of his announcement to run, he has raised over $130,000.

The other two Vietnamese- American candidates so far could hardly raise any money. One of them is a perenial candidate for state assemblyman for the last 10 years, Long Pham.   He is considered to be a joke within Little Saigon and has decided to take out a $100,000 loan instead of trying to go about raising money.

What even more puzzling why he was so unsure of himself is that  he has the personal support of the editor-in-chief of Nguoi Viet Daily News.   Matter of fact, Nguoi Viet Daily News has indirectly promoting his campaign by giving him extensive media exposure for the last 2 months.   This is the largest newspaper in town and still quite influential.

So Tyler must know something that everybody in Little Saigon knows, Van Tran and his cohorts are not well liked within the Vietnamese-American voters in Little Saigon.   He does not have a Vietnamese-American base since the voters rather vote for a political jokester like Long Pham than him.

Anyway, the winner in this new landscape is Do Vinh, the democratic candidate and the husband of Dina Nguyen, the one time supervisor candidate against Janet Nguyen.

What is next for Tyler,  the rumor is that he will be running for mayor against Tri Ta.    What would even be more interesting is to see if Andy Quach would test the water and also run for the mayoral seat in 2012? He and Tyle Diep have a big fallout recently because of their personal business competition against each other.

John Tran Guilty of Bribery & Van Tran Cohorts

2012-02-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

John Tran, a member of the "Gang of Seven" of former state Assemblyman Van Tran, recently pleaded guilty for bribery. Basically when he was the mayor of Rosemead, he used his office to bully a developer in paying him money on the side in order to get the building permit approved. Appearantly, he is not as smart as his "Gang of Seven" cohorts, in this case, Andy Quach and Tyler Diep, city council members of Wesminster. But first let us read the news as published by Whittier Daily News -

http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_19890654

There had been rumors of corruption but it took a developer who has the gut to be the informant for the FBI to bring down John Tran.

According to the Whittier Daily News -

Cathy Satterfield, president of the El Monte Union teachers union, often questioned Tran's integrity during his tenure at the district.

While Tran has not been charged with any wrongdoing at the school district, Satterfield said she had concerns about how the board was awarding contracts and taking bids on projects

I don't know what to say besides, 'I told you so,"' she said. "When you make a decision like that, you can't turn back the clock." ........

Now let us go back to Tyler Diep and Andy Quach. It is well known that both Andy Quach and Tyler Diep have their own consultant firms involving in helping client getting permits from housing development, opening a restaurant to liquor license.

The business is booming it seems for each of them have multiple houses and at least two Mercedes in their respective garages. This is a perk that goes along with being a council member in a small town where it is not a full time job.

When Van Tran was still in power, his underlings Tyler Diep and Andy Quach knew that in order to be successful, they had to learn how to share the actions. Well, now without adult supervison, Quach and Diep are at each other throat vying for every bit of business. It is not a suprise in Little Saigon that Quach is not endorsing Diep for assemblyman or even provide Diep with any politcal support.

In the mean time, poor John Tran. He was a strong supporter of Van Tran and the Trannie as they were vying for political offices. But now, according to his wife, none of the members of the "Gang of Seven" even bother to reach out to him during his trying time.

Luna New Year's Greetings - Janet Nguyen, OC Supervisor

2012-01-23T13:15:00.001-08:00

Lunar New Year's Greetings - Dave Cortese, County Supervisor

2012-01-23T13:12:00.000-08:00

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới

Dear Vietnamese-American Community,

In celebration of the Year of the Dragon, I wish you and your family a joyous year of prosperity, harmony, and good health.

I congratulate the Vietnamese American community for its special and unique contributions to Santa Clara County and for enriching our cultural diversity.

What is crucial to strengthening our County? It is your participation in local events and government so your voices could be heard and your needs can be met. Please join me in improving the Vietnamese American community.

Once again, “Chúc Mừng Năm Mới” and let’s continue to work together to build a better County.

Warm Wishes,

Dave Cortese

Santa Clara County Supervisor

Happy Lunar New Year from President Obama

2012-01-22T07:16:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd7tbOVJKZg&feature=email

Tet Celebration in San Jose, Jan.21 & 22

2012-01-17T00:17:00.000-08:00

Tet Celebration from The Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco

2012-01-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

For the last 12 years, the Vietnamese Consulate in SF has been organizing eleborate Tet celebration receptions for their guests and staff. It is usually a well-attended event with live music, open bar and traditional Vietnamese New Year's food.

For the first few years, there were a number of anti-communist demonstrations but nowaday, nobody seems to mind any more. People of all ages come and have a great time to bring in the Lunar New Year at the expense of the consulate. It has become part of the cultural norm of Little Saigon in the Bay Area

2012 Fellowship for Journalists Writing about Immigrant Women

2012-01-12T22:16:00.000-08:00

Women on the Move”How to report on the intersection of immigration and gender

Women are now the majority of immigrants, not just in the United States, but worldwide. Learn more about how immigrant women are integrating into the diverse communities where they live throughout the U.S., how the current immigration laws enacted by various states affect women, and why immigration is a feminist issue.

New America Media’s 2012 Fellowship for Journalists Writing About Immigrant Women

When: April 19-20, 2012 (Thu & Fri)

Where: Institute for Women’s Policy Research
1200 18th Street NW, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20036

Who: 10 Fellowships Available, five journalists from the ethnic media sector in the U.S. and five from mainstream media outlets in the U.S. Open to bloggers and online journalists.

New America Media is offering a fellowship program covering immigrant women’s issues for journalists within the United States, with funding support from The Atlantic Philanthropies.

This fellowship will be made up of two parts: 1) participation in a two-day training program to be held in Washington, D.C. on Thursday and Friday, April 19-20, 2012; and 2) the publication of an in-depth, substantive story (or series) focusing on the challenges and/or triumphs of immigrant women in the United States, before August 30, 2012.

Two-Day Training: The two days in Washington, D.C. will consist of a series of lectures, discussions, and journalistic training related to immigration policy, the history of the women’s movement, and the intersection of immigration and gender. Each fellow is expected to bring a well thought-out story idea to the fellowship training, and information from these sessions will assist in the development of proposed articles.

Training sessions may include such topics as sex trafficking; the separation of families; immigrant women and the economy; immigrant women in the American South; domestic violence; immigrants and reproductive rights; sexual abuse in immigrant detention centers; the next generation of women leaders, etc.

Ten fellows will be chosen for the program. Former fellows are welcome to apply. New America Media will cover two nights of hotel, travel expenses, as well as lunches for the two-day fellowship training. Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend following publication of the fellow’s proposed story. Fellows are required to submit finished story to NAM editor Elena Shore prior to publication for discussion and approval.

Applications are due on Monday, January 23, 2012 at 5:00 pm Pacific Time. All application forms must be sent to womenimmigrants@newamericamedia.org. Please direct any inquires to Project Co-Director Elena Shore eshore@newamericamedia.org or 415-503-4170. Applications may also be faxed to 415-503-0970.

Vietnamese-American Armed Forces Association Celebration Event in San Jose, Jan. 20

2012-01-12T01:03:00.000-08:00

Tet Greetings from SF Mayor

2012-01-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

Happy and Prosperous Year of The Dragon

2012-01-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

There are a number of Tet events in the Bay Area. The first one will be in SF on Sunday, Jan. 15. Happy New Year everyone and enjoy a wonderful and prosperous new year.

Tam Truong Running For San Jose City Council

2012-01-08T00:18:00.000-08:00

San Jose Mercury broke the news recently that Tam Truong, 30, is planning to run against the incumbent Kansen Chu for D4 council seat with Mayor Chuck Reed's blessing.

http://www.mercurynews.com/internal-affairs/ci_19572562

This is a district where Vietnamese-Americans make up about 20% of the registered voters. It is a surprise to many people in Little Saigon since Tam Truong is unknown in the community. Nevertheless, it is good news for Little Saigon to see new young faces who are interested in political office. These candidates, whether they win or lose, are the upcoming leaders of the community. So it is nice to see them taking on the political challenge and make a name for themselves.

The first sighting of Tam Truong at a Vietnamese community function was in early October 2011. It was an event for Vietnamese veterans held at Dynasty restaurant. He was accompanying Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen and was introduced as a SJPD detective. Some people in the crowd thought he was there as her police escort.

At any rate, this should be an interesting race since Tam Truong will get the powerful support from Reed and Nguyen. He is good looking and as a young fresh face, has no political baggage. Conventional wisdom suggests that it will be a competitive race. Kansen Chu will need all the help from his Vietnamese-American friends that he has built up the relationship since his last election and of course his Chinese base. The Chinese-American voters compose about 12% of the total voting bloc.

Last time Kansen Chu ran against a Chuck Reed's candidate, it was in 2008. Hon Lien was also an unknown in the community with little political experience. But with the mayor's support and Vic Aljouny helped managed the campaign, she ran a surprisingly competitive race against Chu. However, Chu was not the incumbent in 2008 and his Vietnamese-American base was not as strong. The white votes will make up about 30% of the total votes. They are the minority majority that will play a crucial role in either re-electing or replacing Chu. Reed and Nguyen ability to wield influence with the white voters will be the key to defeat Chu.

Merry Christmas from Vietnam!

2011-12-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

Hung Phuong Nguyen & His Libel Lawsuit

2011-12-23T23:30:00.000-08:00

In his heyday, former State Assemblyman Van Tran, who was often referred by the media as "The Godfather of Little Saigon Politics", used to have his henchmen roaming Little Saigon and attacking his political opponents (mostly Vietnamese-Americans) as communist sympathizer, communist agent or traitor working for the communist. These henchmen would be paid by his campaign coffer to terrorize political candidates (via radio shows, TV shows, and newspaper ads) who Van deemed to be a threat to him regardless if they were running against him or not. Some of the familiar faces showing up at anti-communist rallies and in the news about their anti-communist redbaiting are Nhon Ky Phan, Ky Ngo, Hung Phuong Nguyen, etc..

For these people, who also proclaimed themselves to be the community gatekeepers against communism in Little Saigon, everything can be concocted as an infiltration plot by the communist to bring unrest to Little Saigon.

Recently, the Little Saigon community has a brewing conflict created by one of these henchmen, a vocal anti-communist activist named Hung Phuong Nguyen. Hung, as you recalled, was aslo a representative for Van Tran's campaign

http://bolsavik.com/2008/12/goodbye-hung-phuong-nguyen-hello-hung-phuong-nguyen/

Earlier this year, Hung attended a welcoming reception for the new Vietnamese consulate general, Nguyen ba Hung. His wife was one of the singers for the event. He also decided to go back to Vietnam after 36 years. He travelled to Vietnam as part of the overseas delegates invited specially by the communist government to attend a conference on "Presevation of Vietnamese Culture and Language for Vietnamese Overseas Community". Along with him were the 3 people from Viet Weekly newspaper.

It was an emotional moment for him as he started bawling the minute he arrived at the Tan San Nhat International Airport. Later on he would explain in his many interviews with Viet Weekly: " I was overtaken with emotion. I left Vietnam 36 years ago and vowed never to come back until the country changes. Because I was an anti-communist activist, I did not come back to Vietnam to even say goodbye to my parents before they passed away. Now I realized I was wrong for the country is much different than what I had envisioned..."

During the long two weeks trip, the overseas delegates were the VIP of the communist government. They were taken to to see tourist places, talked to various vice ministers (including Nguyen Thanh Son, vice minister of Foreign Relations) and attended a reception at the US Consulate in Vietnam. Viet Weekly reported their trips on their newspaper and it was posted on Hung's Website for a broader audience.

Well, of course this did not sit well with the dwindling anti-communist activists. How could one of them, who actually was the leader of the protest against Viet Weekly in 2008, is now collaborating with Viet Weekly to write op-eds that are favorable to the communist government while openly attack the overseas community for being extreme in its anti-communist stand.

http://bolsavik.com/2008/06/protesting-viet-weekly-the-end/

http://www2.ocregister.com/articles/community-viet-weekly-1781601-protest-vietnam

And worse, Hung is using his Website to poke fun of his former comrades-in-arms. He even displays the communist flag side by side with the so called Freedom Flag on his Website, http://kbchn.net/
The idea is that since the war is long over, it is time to come together and do whatever is best for the country, no matter what side you are with. This is the same policy that the communist government has been pursuing with the overseas community over the last 20 years. The official propaganda lingo is hoa hop, hoa giai. It means to come together, unite and to reconcile the differences with the goal to help rebuild the country.

The anti-communist crowd reacted swiftly with their public declaration that Hung is an agent of the communist government trying to spread communist propaganda. The written declaration was signed by 64 well known anti-communist activists in the community. They also held demonstration against Viet Weekly with signs denouncing Hung. There were about 30-40 people showed up for the demonstration. Viet Weekly, sensing the lack of support of the community for the demonstrators, decided to have a demonstration of their own against the demonstrators. They brazenly called out Phan Ky Nhon and Nguyen Xuan Nghia, two of the leaders of the anti-communist demonstrators, as anti-democracy and trying to suppress the freedom of the press.

In the meanwhile, Hung has decided to take these people to court for smearing his good name. He declared that he is now a free-lance journalist and not an activist anymore. He filed a libel lawsuit against 31 people who signed the declaration. The other 33 people decided to drop their names from the declaration out of fear when Hung confronted them with the lawsuit.

This week, the court ruled that Hung failed to establish a case against the first defendant. Hung apparently is suing each signer individually. The judge granted the motion to strike against Hung's complaint. The anti-communist group held a press conference to explain the court decision on the same day.

So what does it mean for Hung? For now he is not responding to the press inquiry about his next step. At the hearing, he was by himself. His English was weak and his grasp for the law was weaker. A month before, he declared on his Website that he had retained the service of "one of the top legal firms in the country". He was referring to the same one that just won a multi-million dollar judgement in Virginia for a defamation lawsuit brought on by Vietnamese-American woman. In this case, she was libeled as a communist agent.

Christmas Cheers in Little Saigon

2011-12-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

In the wonderful Chrismas spirit of sharing and giving, three organizations within the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose have been giving out gifts to families with kids in the Bay Area.

Last Sunday, Viet Dreams and Viet Tribune gave out 200 toys at the headquarters of Viet Tribune. Dave Cortese (President of Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara County) stopped by playing Santa Claus to the kids and then honored Vivian Truong Gia Vy (Publisher of Viet Tribune) with a commendation for her longtime contribution to the community in general

The day before, Asian American Center of Santa Clara County handed out 1,200 toys in their annual toy-for-kid event. The nonprofit foundation is headed by Mylinh Pham who used to be the director of Viet Volunteer Foundation.

This coming Saturday, the Viet-American Voters Coalition will also have their first Christmas celebration where toys will also be given to low-income families. It will be from 9 AM to 12 PM on 2290 Tully Road.

Vietnamese American Business Association Gala - Dec 2, 2011

2011-11-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

Chamber Music - November 20, 2011

2011-11-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Grants For NGO Work in Vietnam

2011-11-11T07:37:00.000-08:00

Center for the Encouragement of Self-Reliance (CESR)

Announcement

The Center for the Encouragement of Self-Reliance (CESR) wishes to announce its intention to award grants worth between $1000.00 and $10,000.00 to selected members of the VA-NGO Network, other NGOs, and individuals inside and outside of Vietnam that work to help needy fellow Vietnamese.

The grants will be awarded before December 31, 2011, and are expected to total $200,000.00.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for award, an organization or individual shall meet the following criteria:

1. Has been working to help the needy Vietnamese inside or outside Vietnam for more than one year with proven financial records and tangible results.

2. Can match the grant dollar-for-dollar with funds from other sources or with in-kind contributions that could be clearly monetized.

3. Has an on-going program that could use the grant in 2012.

4. Submits electronic applications before November 30, 2011.

Who Could Apply?

• A member of VA-NGO Network or any NGO anywhere operating a program that helps needy Vietnamese in improving the seven human security (which CESR calls happiness) factors promoted by the United Nations. These are food, health, economic, individual, community, environmental, and political security.

• A citizen or group of citizens that operates inside or outside of Vietnam, independently from the government, with the goal of helping needy fellow Vietnamese.

Applications

Applications shall be no more than 10 pages, font 12, 1.5 spaced, with the following sections:

1. Eligibility. Affirmation that the applicant satisfies the four eligibility criteria listed above. Monetization of in-kind contributions that is not clear, realistic and reasonable could be reason for elimination.

2. Description of the organization or individual(s). The description shall be made specifically for this application. Off-the-shelf material that is less than 10 pages could be included in an appendix that needs not follow the font and spacing criteria of the main application. Exceeding the page limits could lead to elimination.

3. Plan to use the grant. Emphasis shall be put on encouraging self-reliance and empowering the honor of recipients. Emphasis shall also put on the use of money in a reasonable, controlled, and transparent fashion. Expected results shall be described.

4. Recommendation. Letters of recommendation by two respectable individuals who have known the application’s work for more than a year. These two letters do not count in the page limitations described above.

Scope of Work

Any work that benefit needy Vietnamese, inside or outside of Vietnam.

Who is CESR?

CESR is a small private charity organization established in 1997 by Dr. Doan L Phung and Ms. Thu-Le Doan using their personal savings. CESR has assisted members of VA-NGO Network for many years, and, since 1999, has operated Trung Tâm Khuyến Khích Tự Lập (TTKKTL) in Hue, Vietnam. TTKKTL has helped more than 20,000 families in over 35 communes to pursue a trade to be self-reliant.

The United Nations has conferred CESR the UN Habitat- Civil Society Innovation Award in 2008. Many members of VA-NGO Network have also conferred CESR awards of Compassion or Achievements. The current policy of CESR is to assist others to help needy fellow Vietnamese in accordance with the principles upon which CESR was established.

Contact Information: doanlphung2@gmail.com

Vu Trinh for San Francisco DA. November 8, 2011

2011-11-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

http://informant.kalwnews.org/2011/10/qa-candidates-for-district-attorney-part-v/

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/08/new-da-contender-piques-san-franciscos-interest

Vu Trinh, a graduate of University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, is a former deputy public defender and veteran trial lawyer who has served for over twenty years in the state and federal criminal justice systems, in his community, and in government. He is the current Commissioner for the State Bar of California's Criminal Law Advisory Commission (CLAC) to the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

Like so many others, Trinh and his family immigrated to America in 1975 to pursue the promises of a better life, a life free from government oppression and corruption. Since then, Trinh has been able to achieve the American dream. Upon receiving his law degree and passing the bar in 1992, Trinh worked as a deputy public defender in Orange County where he handled a high volume of criminal law cases. Even after his tenure there, he continued to represent indigent clients by serving on the Orange County Homicide Panel, an organization that appoints attorneys for indigent defendants facing homicide charges.

Trinh is dedicated to finding ways to improve his legal skills and knowledge. In 2000, Trinh was certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as a specialist in the area of criminal law and began building his private criminal defense practice, handling cases investigated by some of government's best investigative agencies. Within the legal community, Trinh has established a reputation for being a tenacious advocate for those whose voices are often ignored by society. Throughout his career, Trinh has not merely taken on cases, but causes. In 2009, due to his vast experience in the criminal justice system, the State Bar of California Board of Governors appointed Trinh as a commissioner for the Criminal Law Advisory Commission (CLAC) to the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. His term ends in 2012. Trinh is committed to fighting for truth, equality, and fairness in the criminal justice system.

As the only candidate that is a certified criminal law specialist and has extensive criminal defense experience, Trinh has seen first-hand that the phrases "innocent until proven guilty" and "to serve and protect" are law enforcement mottos that have long been forgotten. Rather, by fault of both prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys, the criminal law field has become more adversarial, unconcerned with finding the truth and more concerned with winning the case. Trinh has the well-being of others firmly in his heart and truly believes in establishing justice. This is why he is running for district attorney: to achieve justice and ascertain the truth.

Vu and his wife, Helen Phan, live in the SOMA district of San Francisco with their two children, Chloe and Daniel, both of whom are attending San Francisco public schools.

Agent Orange Conference in Berkeley - Oct 28 - 29

2011-10-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

http://makeagentorangehistory.org/conference/

VN Help Fund Raising Concert - Oct 22, 2011

2011-09-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese American Business Association Gala

2011-09-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Joe DoVinh Running for Assembly District 72nd

2011-09-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

It seems that Joe DoVinh has made up his mind for now to run for the newly created Assembly District 72nd seat in next year nonpartisan primary. He will be running as a Democrat against at least 3-4 more candidates.  One of the candidates is of course Tyler Diep Truong (R), a Van Tran's disciple or "The Trannie" as the main media would refer. Joe DoVinh is a court translator and used to work for Viet Star, a small local tabloid in Little Saigon.

Since this is nonpartisan primary, anything could happen. Joe DoVinh is banking on the fact that Tyler Diep Truong is a controversial candidate in the eye of the mainstream and has a high negative in the Vietnamese-American community.   With the usually strong turnout of the Vietnamese-American voters, he hopes that they will choose him instead of Truong and this will be enough to carry him at least to the run-off.    He gave Phu Nguyen (D) a run for his money in the democratic primary for the 68th assembly district last year without even putting in any effort.   And Phu Nguyen was the darling of the Democratic Party with all the supports of the unions and political heavyweights.

Joe DoVinh is a smart candidate and knowledgeable journalist and he understands the sentiment within the community.   It is very clear that they are still sick and tire of the Trannie. Tyler Diep Truong has a job cut out for him to distance himself from Van Tran even though he still needs Tran to help raising fund.   Joe DoVinh can run as a "Anti-Trannie Candidate" and most important of all, a fresh breed of  candidates free from the shenanigans and gangster-like politics of Tyler Diep Truong and Van Tran.

However, Little Saigon politics is unpredictable.   As mentioned at the beginning of this article, Joe DoVinh for now is planning to run.   However, Van Tran and his cronies will likely try their best to cut a deal with Joe DoVinh. Little Saigon insiders are already whispering the possibility of Van Tran buying Joe DoVinh out - How about some ad money to support your newspaper so that you would not run?

It is unlikely that Joe DoVinh will back down for he understood that this is his biggest chance.  After all, this is race where everybody is a wild card in the primary. And if Joseph Cao could beat the odds in 2008, why couldn't he? Fortune will lie with those who take chances

Three Successful Mid-Autumn Festival Events

2011-09-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.freevietnews.com/tintuc/detail.php?subaction=showfull&id=1315800274&archive=&start_from=&ucat

Great job by all three organizers!

Mid-Autumn Moon Festivals - Sept 10, 2011

2011-09-07T01:54:00.000-07:00

This year in San Jose, there are three major Mid-Autumn Festivals planned for on the same day - Sept 10, 2011. LSI is listing them all here for those who are interested. All of them are free except for the event at Independence High.

Feasting Meets Philanthropy Event - Sept. 18

2011-08-30T02:27:00.000-07:00

http://go.onevietnam.org/streeteats/

Billing as a charity gala, the organizer is transforming the historic Ferry Building on the San Francisco waterfront into a culinary experience with the help of two dozen local chefs and vintners. Expected to be an exciting event as star chefs are rolling up their sleeves to bring favorite street eats from their home country to benefit OneVietnam Network.

OneVietnam Network is a nonprofit social network designed for Vietnamese all over the world. Co-founded by James Bao and Uyen Nguyen, the organization received various grants to support its mission. The largest grant so far came from the Ford Foundation. Here is an excerpt from its blog announcement a year ago sending out to its supporters

" OneVietnam.org is launching on Monday, July 19. We are a new online network dedicated to connecting Vietnamese communities worldwide. In celebration of our public launch, we will host a release party at Butterfly restaurant in San Francisco on Sunday, July 18. We invite you to come join us in the celebration and help us spread the word.

The Ford Foundation Grant

OneVietnam recently received a $100 thousand grant from the Ford Foundation as part of the “Special Initiative on Agent Orange/Dioxin.” Ford Foundation has distributed nearly $16 billion in grants worldwide since it’s inception. We will work with the Ford Foundation and other special initiative grantees to raise awareness and help ease the harmful effects of Agent Orange."

Vietnamese-American Politics and Redistricting

2011-08-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Unless there are serious legal challenges, the redistricting map will be set for the next 10 years as finalized by The California Citizens Redistricting Commission for Santa Clara County and Orange County. At first glance, there are many opportunities for Vietnamese-American candidates to be in a favorable position to run for offices at city, county, congressional and assembly levels. So at least for now, the general conventional wisdoms are -

Council Office in San Jose and Little Saigon OC

In San Jose, District 7 will always be a stronghold of Vietnamese-Americans where they make up about 1/3 of the electoral votes. In 2014, the overall strongest council candidates are Thai Buu and Khoa Nguyen. They both currently serve as board members of Franklin Mckinley School District.

In District 8 and District 4, the Asian voters are about 35% (District 8) and 40% (District 4), any single Vietnamese-American candidate can have a very good chance of winning the election if they can form a coaltion among the Asian electorates. In each district, the Vietnamese-American registered voters make up about 20% of the total voter registration.

LSI would not be surprised to see Lan Nguyen and Van Le vying for the council seat again in 2016. They both lost in 2008. Lan Nguyen and Van Le are currently serving as trustees of East Side Union High School District. Van Le, as you recall, is part of the Madison Nguyen Recall effort during the naming of Little Saigon controversy.

In Orange County, Westminster already has the first Vietnamese-American majority council. Ta Tri Duc will run for mayor in 2012 and he is the strong favorite to win. Garden Grove has enough Vietnamese-American population to have at least 2 city councilmembers (out of 5). Andrew Do resigned early this year from his seat and that left Dina Nguyen as the lone Vietnamese-American council member.

Supervisor Office in Santa Clara County and Orange County

The redistricting has made Orange County 1rst District a favorable seat for Asian-American. The Hispanic voters were the dominant voting bloc (~39% overall) but now with the reshuffle, the Asian votes and in particularly the Vietnamese-American votes made strong gains. There are now about 4% difference between the two voting blocs instead of 10% previously. With a typical high turn out to vote by Vietnamese-Americans, the Hispanic voting bloc will be less influential. The seat is currently occupied by Janet Nguyen who will be termed out by 2016. Look out for at least 3 Vietnamese-American candidates vying for the seat.

In Santal Clara County, District 3, which is now occupied by Dave Cortese, is the district made for an Asian-American candidate. Dave Cortese won it because of his strong tie with the Vietnamese-American and Chinese-American communities. He will not term out until 2022.

However, there are rumors that he might put his hat in the ring for the mayoral election in 2014 against potential candidates like Madison Nguyen and Sam Liccardo. It is too early to tell but Nguyen already hinted her intention to run when asked by Viet Tribune. She told Viet Tribune that it is her destiny. She is talking about setting up her campaign headquarters in the new shopping mall Vietnam Town.

State Assembly in Little Saigon SJ and Little Saigon OC

In the South Bay, the most promising seat for any Vietnamese-American candidate is the 27th which will be occupied by Nora Campos. With the redistricting, the newly formed assembly district will have about 15% Vietnamese-American voters since it will cover most of San Jose District 7 and District 8 where the majority of the Vietnamese-Americans reside. She will be termed out in 2016.

The new 72nd District in Orange County is designed to favor an Asian- American candidate. Since this will be a contested race in 2012, LSI will dedicate a whole article to break down the district and the potential candidates.

State Senate In Orange County

State Senator represents an area of covering 1 million residents and so this is a major race for any candidate. Unlike the assembly district and congressional district which represpen about 500,000 and 750,000 residents respectively, there are no foreseable Vietnamese-American candidates that have the ability to raise money or strong enough base to be seriously taken in the Bay Area.

However, in Orange County, this might be a different story. It is too far out to predict but the cards are there for a first Vietnamese-American to be elected to the State Senate.

Congressional District in Santa Clara County and Orange County

With Van Tran soundly defeated by Loretta Sanchez last year and the reshuffling of the congressional districts in Orange County, it is unfavorable for any Vietnamese-American candidate at the moment. Sanchez's new district is more Hispanic than ever and it is unlikely that she will be challenged.

However, in the Bay Area, the newly formed 17th District is favorable for a Vietnamese-Amerian candidate. This is a district that gerrymanders Morgan Hills, most of San Jose District 7 and District 8. It currently composes about 10% Vietnamese-American registered voters. Zoe Lofgren is looking to serve this new district as Mike Honda has declared his intention to run for the 19th District. Lofgren will be serving at least 8 to 10 more years since she will be only 65 years old in 2012. By that time, the district should be even more heavily dominated by Asian-American voters, in particulary, Vietnamese-Americans.

For the last decade, the demographic has changed dramatically in the Bay Area as well as in Orange County. In the South Bay, Asian-Americans and Hispanics represent more than 55% of the population. Thus it is not suprising to see the political power shifting rapidly toward these ethnic groups in the next 10 years.

Field Rep for Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski

2011-08-26T01:39:00.000-07:00

Note: Due to the new redistricting, the new district will contain most of North San Jose and Santa Clara. A typical assembly district has about 500,000 residents

__________________________________________________

Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski seeks a proactive, strategic, and community-oriented individual for the position of Field Representative in his Fremont District Office.

Basic Function: To act, within Southern Alameda County and Northern Santa Clara County, as an official representative and liaison to the Assemblymember. This is a FULL TIME, Entry Level position.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Establish relationships with elected officials, community leaders, business groups, and local organizations.

• Attend local meetings, events, and hold office appointments on behalf of the Assemblymember.

• Recommend and execute strategies to meet identified outreach goals, and track issues of importance to our community.

• Work in collaboration with staff to identify, plan, and coordinate events for the Assemblymember to attend and host.

• Resolve constituent concerns with state and local agencies.

• Complete various assigned tasks and projects, as directed.

• Provide administrative assistance, including: data entry, answering phones, writing correspondence, greeting constituents, and maintaining basic office

operations and systems.

Qualifications:

• Candidates MUST understand the basic functions and organization of the California State Legislature.

• Strong verbal and written skills are required. Must be comfortable with public speaking.

• Enthusiastic, proactive, and organized. Time management skills are a MUST.

• Must possess extensive computer skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Office, Internet, Outlook Email.

• Professional demeanor.

• Willingness to be flexible in a small, team oriented office.

• Candidates must be team players that also work well independently.

• Must have a car and valid driver's license.

• Willingness to work nights and / or weekends as necessary to attend events with or on behalf of the Assemblymember.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Candidates with political experience or knowledge of local or state government are preferred.

• Familiarity with the East Bay Area, including San Jose, Fremont, Newark, Union City, Hayward, and Castro Valley.

• B.A. or equivalent degree.

• Additional knowledge of computer graphic programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and In-Design are a plus.

• Second language (Spanish / Chinese) is a plus.

Salary: Dependent upon experience. Excellent Benefits.

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and one-page writing sample to:

Office of Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski

Attn: Trisha Tahmasbi, Chief of Staff

State Capitol, Room 4162

Sacramento, CA 95814

Or Fax: 916.319.2120

Attention: Trisha Tahmasbi, Chief of Staff

No telephone calls, please.

Compensation: Salary: Dependent upon experience. Excellent Benefits.

Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.

Please, no phone calls about this job!

Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Ông Nguyễn Cao Kỳ và Hòa Giải Dân Tộc (Nguyen cao Ky and His Reconciliation)

2011-08-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

The former South Vietnam Vice President Nguyen cao Ky passed away earlier this month . He was 81 years old. Just like his life, his death is a news maker. There are numerous articles and discussions on the Web about his flamboyant life of booze and women, his rise briefly to power in a corrupted South Vietnam political system, his hardliner against communism and ultimately his return as a refugee in America to live in Vietnam (albeit part time) as a middleman trying to bring American investors to build a golf resort in a communist country.

What livid a lot of the anti-communist groups is his condescending attitude toward them. In an interview on 4/30/2005 in Vietnam by VTVI Hanoi as part of a program titled "The Vietnam War In Retrospective after 30 Years", Nguyen cao Ky did not mince his words (see video). The first few minutes of his interview is transcribed as follows -

"... I told many Viet Kieu (Overseas Vietnamese) and my former soldiers, I used to fight along their side and just like them, I wanted to have a final victory to unite the country. I know that it is a responsibility of every Vietnamese citizen to unify the country.

But we could not do it. The people on the other side did it. This is now history and we have to accept it. The country is now united after 30 years. I cannot understand why some people still talk about the country is lost and we have to take back the country. The country is not lost to China or France. Why we have to regain our country? From what? Even the 3 million Vietnamese people overseas cannot say they represent the true Vietnam. They are not representing Vietnam.....................

There are extreme elements in the community who always claim that they are in the name of nationalism, freedom and democracy (to fight to take back the country). These people are crooks who hide under these worned-out jingoisms to take money from the people. To manipulate people's good will for their own agenda. Don't be fool by them I tell you........... These anti-communist extremists are making a lot of noises even though they only represent a very small minority. The majority of the community ignore them. That is the saddest thing about our Viet Kieu community. These anti-communist people are a bunch of clowns.........."

Lou Correa vs. Janet Nguyen for OC Supervisor?

2011-07-22T00:21:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of rumors within the Vietnamese-American community in Little Saigon about the upcoming 2012 race for the First District OC Supervisor seat currently occupied by Supervisor Janet Nguyen. An often mentioned contender for the seat is the current State Senator Lou Correa. With Nguyen receiving strong support from the community and being an incumbent, the conventional wisdom is that this is an unlikely matchup.

Couple weeks ago, Viet Herald Daily sat down with Lou Correa and the subject was brought up. The interview was done by the reporter Doan Trong. Here is an excerpt as translated into English:

VH: Earlier this year in an article in the OC Regiter, columnist Martin Wisckol disclosed that you are fundraising in Sacramento to potentially run again for the "1st district supervisorial" in 2012. Would you care to comment on the speculation since your state senate term doesn't end until 2014?

Correa: My fundraing in Sacramento is for the attorney general of California in the future. That is the seat that I am aiming for and not any other position at the moment.

VH: If in the future, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez leaves her 47th district seat, Are you ready to replace her for that position?

Correa: In politics, anything can happen. However, as I just mentioned, I would like to be able to run for the AG seat after my term is over.

VH: Is it safe to say that your name will not appear on the list of candidacy for either congressional or OC supervisor race in 2012?

Correa: It is safe to say for now that my next political campaign will be for the AG position.

A Conversation on Vietnamese American Literature

2011-03-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Bridging Cultures & Generations:

A Conversation on Vietnamese American Literature

Saturday, May 7 3-5 p.m.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Library

Second floor, Rooms 225-229

150 East San Fernando Street

San José

FEATURING AWARD-WINNING & CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED AUTHORS:

Angie Chau, Quiet As They Come

Andrew Lam, East Eats West

Isabelle Pelaud, This Is All I Choose to Tell

The San Francisco Chronicle described ANGIE CHAU'S Quiet As They Come as "a powerful mix of tragedy and kindness, of miscommunications and all-too-painful empathy, which bound together are a resonating homage to many an immigrant." She was born in Vietnam and now lives in Eddie Money's former studio in Oakland.

ANDREW LAM is a writer and a co-founder of New America Media. Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora has won the Pen American "Beyond the Margins" Award in 2006, and was short-listed for "Asian American Literature Award."East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres was published in October 2010 and listed as top ten indie books by Shelf Unbound Magazine.

ISABELLE PELAUD is associate professor in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and author of This Is All I Choose To Tell: History and Hybridity in Vietnamese American Literature. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN).

Survey on Court Administration in Viet Nam

2011-02-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

Request for Proposals

Research Team to conduct Survey on Court Administration in Viet Nam

United Nations Development Programme- Vietnam

Full RFP for this and other activities at the link below.

www.undp.org.vn/get-involved/undp-opportunities/current-tender-opportunities/?contentId=0&languageId=1

UNDP Viet Nam seeks proposals from individual consultants and consulting firms/institutions/organization for a Research Team to conduct Survey on Court Administration in Viet Nam, under the Project “Strengthening Access to Justice and Protection of Rights in Viet Nam”.

The overall objective of this survey is to describe and capture a detailed and comprehensive picture of court administration in Viet Nam.

The key objectives of the survey are:

2.1. To assess normative framework of court governance and administration (including the reviews of Party’s policy, guidance and legal normative documents) and identify the gaps and shortcomings in practice

2.2. To examine the practical situation in which independence and impartiality of the court and judges are enhanced or undermined

2.3. To provide new data aggregated from available and independent sources and to possible extent to capture the impacts and changes in court governance and administration as resulted from the newly extended jurisdiction of district courts over the past few years

2.4. Drawing on the overall assessment of court administration (both from normative and reality perspectives), to identify key factors which appear significant in relation to enhancing (or undermining) the impartiality, accountability and independence of judicial decision-making, and to provide evidence-based recommendations for enhancement of independence of court and judges in adjudication

Submission deadline: February 11, 2011; 5:00 pm Hanoi time (UTC/GMT +7 hours)

New Year Celebration in The Bay Area - The Year of Cat

2011-01-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

There are different New Year Celebration events in the Bay Area organized by various community groups during the last week of January and first week of February. All will attract thousands of people. With the economy rebounding, the community is excited and ready to celebrate big to bring in the new year and getting rid of the old. To everyone, A Happy and Prosperous Year of the Cat!

Diasporic Vietnamese Artist Network Fund Raiser - January 14 in SF

2011-01-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

Here is an excerpt of the event as posted on DVAN Website - http://diacritics.org/2011/01/06/dvan-holiday-fundraiser-silent-auction/

"....So hopefully you all know that diaCRITICS is part of the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network. Our mission is to promote the arts of the Vietnamese at home and abroad. For the second time, we are hosting a holiday fundraiser at Andrew Lam’s condo complex in San Francisco. Last year we raised a big chunk of money, due to the generosity of our supporters. We had some music, some author readings, a lot of good wine and food, and a silent auction of some very nice artwork. So more of the same this year, EXCEPT:

We have a reading and book signing by Andrew Lam and Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, for Andrew’s not-as-new book East Eats West and Isabelle’s brand-new book this is all i choose to tell.: History and hybridity in Vietnamese American Literature, with proceeds benefitting DVAN.

We announce a project that’s been well under way, our Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora anthology of literature and art. Unfortunately, a book with high-quality art images is expensive to produce, and this is one big reason for the fundraiser–to raise crucial funds to subsidize this important book, the first of its kind. The anthology is done. We just need some extra money for printing! Meet several of the authors, who’ll be reading that evening.

Even if you don’t have a lot of money to give, we hope you have $10. That’s the price of admission, and you can eat all you want and listen to all the readings and hobnob with the authors.
......And once you’re there, if you can’t afford the silent auction, or a book by Andrew or Isabelle ($20), we know you can afford to have a drink–a few bucks for a glass of wine, which you’ll actually enjoy. The wine is not from Trader Joe’s or Costco or Safeway, but from a pretty darn good source who’s cutting us a deal for some very nice bottles.

So please help spread the world for a good cause. We’ll see you on January 14.

Scholarship Programs For Vietnam

2011-01-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Foundation (SFF)

Multicultural Fellowships 2011-2013:

Arts and Culture, Civic Engagement, and Community Health
http://www.sff.org/programs/multicultural-fellowship-program
Deadline - January 20, 2011.

Compensation: $46,000-$50,000 annually

Special Information Sessions at 225 Bush Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94104.

Jan 11, 2011 – 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF)
Fellowship program

Visiting Scholar Program

U.S. Faculty Scholar Program
http://www.vef.gov/

Deadline: Various depending on programs Feb 7 – April 10, 2011
Compensation: Various financial support.

The Institute for Vietnamese Culture & Education (IVCE)

Vietnam Teaching Assistantship (ViTA)
Vietnam Education Development (VED)

http://www.ivce.org/

Deadline: various

Compensation: stipend for housing

Friends of Hue Foundation (FHF)

The VASF Cultural Bridges Fellowship (Summer 2011)

http://www.vietscholarships.org/fellowships.html#

Deadline: Jan 17, 2011

Compensation: $2500 - travel expense and stipend

Ly Tong and His Trial

2010-12-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

Ly Tong and his infamous attack on a popular Vietnamese singer Dam Vinh Hung with pepper spray is but all forgotten in the community for now.  The only thing in the news are from Ly Tong and his constant email to various Web forums boasting about his action to attack the singer as a just cause to defeat the communist propaganda against the overseas Vietnamese community.   He currently is being shunned from the community for his outrageous and over-the-top claims for many things.

This is a quite a turn about for just 2-3 months ago, he was being embraced by every Vietnamese-American politician running for office, including State Assemblyman Van Tran and Wesminster councilmember Ta Tri Duc.

He is on trial for 2 felony charges and the court date is set for 2/28/2011.  His team of lawyers has resigned since they could not stand his self-delusion and blatant purpose of making a mockery out of the justice system by planning to turn the trial into his own personal political forum as a one man anti-communist superhero.

Ly Tong is seeing himself as an anti-communist martyr. He has publicly said many times that he rather serves time in jail to make a point.  LSI is not a legal expert but the conventional wisdom is that for such an unstable defendant, the court might want to consider him as an insane person.

Open Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger from Dina Nguyen

2010-12-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

Re: Opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Greetings” Letter
Sent to Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco, Dated September 2, 2009

Dear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

We are writing this petition letter in opposition to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Greetings” to the celebrants of Vietnamese Independence Day in which he states “Today we celebrate our Vietnamese American residents for their contributions to our Golden State. You enrich our communities and enhance California’s blossoming diversity. It is an honor to join you in commemorating this special occasion”. This “Greetings” letter was addressed to the Vietnam Consulate in San Francisco and is posted on its website: www.vietnamconsulate-sf.org. It is highly inappropriate for the Governor of the State of California to “commemorate” or “celebrate” September 2 as “Vietnamese Independence Day” because Vietnamese Americans as refugees from Communist Vietnam have never and will never “commemorate” or “celebrate” this day since we do not recognize the government or leadership of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, an illegitimate government which through force of arms overran the Republic of Vietnam, an independent democracy, of which most all Vietnamese Americans were former citizens.

We particularly condemn this action on the part of Governor Schwarzenegger since it was the Governor that recognized the Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage Flag (the yellow with three stripes flag, representing the government and people of the Republic of Vietnam) and thus the Governor most certainly cannot be ignorant of the history and culture of Vietnamese Americans in the State of California.

Your “Greetings” letter addressed to the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco on September 2, 2009 is highly offensive and does not reflect the aspirations of the Vietnamese Americans or the spirit of democracy in the State of California, of which you represent as Governor. Although your term in office as Governor of the State of California is about to end, your understanding and position on Vietnamese Americans’ fight for freedom and democracy will remain historic. Therefore, the importance of these issues requires that we demand a full explanation and immediate public retraction of your “Greetings” letter to the Consulate General of Vietnam. We will continue to rally our Vietnamese American community to educate our elected public officials as to these matters.

Sincerely,

Dina Nguyen, Esq.,
Councilwoman of Garden Grove, CA

Sidenote from LSI: What is interesting about this letter is that neither Van Tran nor his usually anti-communist troops (Andy Quach, Tri Ta, Diep Truong, Lan Nguyen, Trung Nguyen) have signed on. They also have not publicly denounced the governor as the anti-communist community in Little Saigon urges them to do so.

Loretta Sanchez Still Angry At Van Tran

2010-12-05T20:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=123434

In a post-election press conference for the Vietnamese-American voters as reported by Nguoi Viet Newspaper, the victorious Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez did not mince word and blasted Van Tran for his dirty campaign tactics. She personally thanked Mr. Ho Dac Cam for risking his life to support her campaign. Apparently he received threats from Van Tran's supporters for publicly speaking out to support Sanchez on Vietnamese radio shows.

Her parting word to Van Tran: " The voters wanted to vote for an elected official who can do the job. They wanted to vote for somebody who has a record of representing the community. Nobody knows what he has been doing in Sacramento. This was a very dirty campaign despite the fact that my people refused to play such game."

Musical Performance - "Breath of Asia"

2010-11-10T16:17:00.000-08:00

Breath of Asia, “Music of Vietnam” is the first ensemble of it’s kind from Vietnam. It’s combined use of traditional music composed with a modern twist, theatrical presentation and solid musicianship brings Vietnam’s finest cultural traditions to an International audience.

Tearful eloquence, meditative spells, enlightened earth spirituals and technical flurries all contribute to an endless musical journey. A journey so transparent and clever the show never opens or closes it’s curtains... seemlessly beautiful, emotionally angry and monk meditative … join the wild ride of Vietnam.

•Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 8:00pm

•Jackson Theatre, Smith Center at Ohlone College

•Tickets:

◦General Admission $20

◦Students & Seniors $18

◦Youth Under 12 $15

•Box Office / Ticket Information

The ensemble features national champion and gold medal winner Van-Anh Vo on dan Tranh (zither), Khac Quan-violin, Ai Van-vocals, Huy Phan-bass and Song My on dan bau and violin. Rounding out the ensemble are Kumi Uyeda-piano and Jason Jong on percussion. Compositions range from century old traditionals to Do Bao (Vietnam’s #1 composer) modern originals.

Show conceived, arranged and produced by Kallan Nishimoto, Flytrap Studio.

Can Loretta Sanchez Ever Be Defeated?

2010-11-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

After her impressive win in a congressional race against Van Tran (R) in a year where most Democrat incumbents got shellacked,  it begs the question can Sanchez ever be defeated?

The fact that Sanchez did not even bother to spend the majority of her money is even more amazing. With two weeks left in the race, she only spent only about $500K total while Van paid out about $700K to cover his expenses.  She won the election with more than half of her war chest unspent.

And according to the only available poll publicly done (Commissioned by Van Tran), Tran was tied with Sanchez going into the final weeks but with a higher support level among White, Independent and Asian voters.  According to his poll as summarized on Red County Internet Blog :

"........Tran enjoys a commanding 34-point lead with White voters in the district (60% Tran – 26% Sanchez).

"........Tran also polls strongly with Independent voters (42% Tran – 28% Sanchez) and older voters (50% Tran – 30% Sanchez) – two groups that are likely going to determine the victor here.

"........Tran has a commanding 22-point lead over Sanchez (52% - 30%) among voters who say they are “extremely interested” in the upcoming elections (rate their interest a “10”on a one-to-ten scale). Among a broader high interest segment of the electorate – the “8-10s” – Tran is up eight points (44% - 38%).

"........Sanchez has twice the unfavorables as Tran (with about the same favorables) explains why voters who have an opinion of both candidates are voting for Van Tran by an 18-point margin (54% Tran – 36% Sanchez)....."

So she must have known something that most OC political observers did not realize.   There were about 39,800 absentee ballots received by Monday, Nov.1.   The breakdown according to the OC Registrar office was: ~ 17,000 Democrat; ~ 15,000 Republican and ~7,000 DTS voters. So there were more Republican, DTS voters combined than Democrat voters.

The first ballot result posted on Tuesday showed the first 32,400 absentee ballots counted and Van was about 320 votes behind Sanchez (0.8% behind) while Ceci Iglesias received 3.4%.   Van knew then he was in for a long night since the first batch of absentee ballots should favor him because his assumption was that Republican and DTS votes would be for him.

By the time time the second set of results was posted (44,000 ballots total), Van was about 1,000 votes behind. At the end of the night when all the precincts were counted, he was 8% behind and needed 5,500 votes to catch up.   When the rest of the absentee ballots finally got counted 5 days later, Tran actually lost more ground and he is now about 9,800 votes behind (The final number has not been posted yet).

After looking at the voting trend, a number of OC pundits analyzed as follows:

1. Despite the poll numbers, Van did not get the majority support from neither the DTS nor the Asian voters. If he had, he would have been ahead of the Sanchez when the first set of result posted.   Vietnamese-Americans are mostly absentee voters and Republican. Historically up to 80% or more preferred absentee ballots.  There were about 12,000 to 14,000 Vietnamese voters who actually voted in previous elections.

2. The ploy to have a second Latino candidate to dilute the Latino votes is a strategy that usually does not work and sometime could backfire.   Most Latino would prefer to vote for a candidate that has a chance of winning and somebody who is proven to bring home the bacon to their community.   Some pundits commented that Iglesias probably ended up taking more DTS votes from Van than Latino votes from Sanchez.

Van Tran spent a lot of money to win votes in Little Saigon, he funded a newspaper and published newsletters, bought a radio show and had his own people attacking Sanchez 4 hours a day. Van was hoping the Vietnamese Catholics would turn out to vote against Sanchez as his campaign hit her on abortion issue and her "loose-woman" image. Vietnamese Catholics is about 35% of Little Saigon population.   Meanwhile, Sanchez spent little money with the media in Little Saigon and mostly to defend herself sporadically against Van Tran's attack.

So the question here can a Republican candidate defeat Sanchez?   From the election result, it shows that this is a district where the Asian and DTS voters are moderate in their view and if a candidate can get the support of these two voting blocs, the race can be competitive against a liberal Sanchez.

Loretta Sanchez and 2012 ??

2010-11-08T14:31:00.000-08:00

According to a recent article on Orange Juice Blog about Loretta Sanchez and her prospect in 2012...

http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2010/11/will-loretta-sanchez-become-more-liberal-with-half-the-blue-dogs-gone/

"........In two years she will be in a tough electoral battle again. Termed out Assemblyman Van Tran is likely to run again in 2012, for her seat. And today, moderate Republican Quang Pham announced in an email that he is “officially running.” Pham ran this year, but he pulled out before the Primary, allowing Tran to win...."

Everybody knows Quang Pham was running yesterday and will be running in 2012, it is his in blood. He cannot help it.

The Lan and Mark Beyster Public Interest Fellowship

2010-11-07T20:00:00.001-08:00

The Lan and Mark Beyster Public Interest Fellowship will provide $25,000 to one law graduate who will work for one year to provide legal services to and advocacy for the Vietnamese American community and/or other underserved, underresourced communities. The Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC) will administer the Fellowship Program.

Mark Beyster is the son of Robert Beyster, the legendary founder of SAIC, the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States. Mark and Lan Ly were married earlier this year in San Diego.

Fellowship Requirements

1. J.D. in hand at the beginning of the grant period or awaiting bar results.

2. Strong demonstrated interest and commitment in working with the Vietnamese American community and/or social justice work with underserved communities.

3. Unique life experience or other experiences in overcoming personal adversity/challenges.

4. Overall academic excellence.

Application:

1. Official Law School Transcript

2. Two letters of recommendation

3. Resume

4. A proposal no more than 3 pages (12 point, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins) detailing the proposed public interest project, and describing which legal rights the applicant will be enforcing and the projectâ€™s relevancy in advancing the legal and civil rights of the Vietnamese American community and/or other underserved communities. (Please note that the applicant should have secured a host non-profit legal organization who will support his or her work and he or she should describe the legal organizationâ€™s role in the project.)

Please send completed applications by December 1, 2010, with a cover letter indicating interest, to VABANC at vabancinfo@gmail.com. For questions, please contact Quyen Ta at qta@kvn.com.

Van Tran Planning a Press Conference Tomorrow?

2010-11-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

The rumor is that Van Tran will have a press conference tomorrow at his campaign headquarters. Right now with about 24,000 absentee and provisional ballots (or 25% of the total votes) not counted yet, he is still trailing by 51% to 42%. Van Tran could not make up any ground in the last two days with the the absentee ballots. The ballot deficit actually increases by 150 votes from about 5,550 to 5,700.

Meanwhile, his campaign and finance manager for the Vietnamese community, Cuong Bui, just sent out a mass email denouncing those Vietnamese-Americans who voted against Van Tran as Chinese sympathizers who are traitors to the Vietnamese people and their cause.   LSI assumes Van Tran is trying to lecture the voters and put them into shame using the anti-Chinese sentiment caused by the 1000 years of struggle against the Chinese invaders who always wanted to subjugate its tiny neighbor, Vietnam.

If Van Tran ends up losing about 6,000 votes, he deserves to lecture the Vietnamese-American voters who voted against him. After all, if the majority of them had voted for him, he could have won it, especially with the low Latino turn-out   This is his base and yet from his reaction so far post-election, he is angry that they did not turn out to vote for him as he had expected them to.

The Republican Party leadership right now has already thinking about the next candidate to challenge Sanchez in 2012.   Will Van Tran run again? Or could it be the well-received and popularVietnamese-American, former Marine pilot Quang Pham, who voluntary pulled out of the Republican primary because he did not want to cause divisiveness within the community and the Republican Party in general.   Some OC pundits considered Quang Pham to be a better candidate against Loretta Sanchez  since he has a clean slate and people tend to vote for outsider in this year of the anti-establishment.

Van Tran:" There are still about 30,000 votes unaccounted for.."

2010-11-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

After all D47 precincts counted, Loretta Sanchez is leading 51% to 42% with about 5,600 votes difference between her and Van Tran. There were about 64,000 votes officially counted. Tran is not willing to concede yet. On his Vietnamese radio show this morning, he told the listeners that there are still about 30,000 provisional and absentee ballots not counted yet.

Cecilia Iglesias received 7% of the votes and did take away some of the Latino votes from Sanchez. Without her, Sanchez would be leading by at least 13% instead of 9%.

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez - Latest Poll

2010-10-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

D.C.'s Political Report's Rating: Democratic,

Congressional Quarterly's Scorecard: Leans Democratic,

Cook Political Report: Lean Democratic,

Rothenberg Political Report: Lean Democrat,

Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic,

The Hill's Race Ratings: Likely Democratic,

Absentee Ballots for D47 (OC) and D7 (San Jose)

2010-10-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

At last count, about 20,000 absentee ballots have been received by the Orange County Registrar Office for the hotly contested D47 congressional race between Loretta Sanchez (D) and Van Tran (R). The break down is roughly 44% Democrat, 40% Republican and 16% Independent. If this trend holds true, there might be about 100,000 to 120,000 total votes for D47 race. There are about 12,000 to 14,000 Vietnamese-American votes expected.

The San Jose city council race in D7 between Minh Duong and Madison Nguyen is also a very tight race. So far about 6,000 absentee ballots have turned in. If this trend holds true, there might be about 11,000 to 13,000 total votes for the election. Of course, this number will fluctuate depending on the World Series scheduling.

Republican Joseph Cao: " I Love The President"

2010-10-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

In an interview with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Republican Congressman Joseph Cao proclaimed: "I love the President, and I believe he truly likes me." Cao also emphasized on his website that he voted 68% of the time with the President.

It is not odd to have strong love for your leader but it is strange to hear it from a conservative Republican who voted to not accept TARP money for his devastated hometown (New Orleans) that is still recovering from the Katrina diseaster.

But again, when you are in a district where 65% is Democrat and trailing by at least 8% in the upcoming general election, it is important to say anything to appease to the crowd.

Tran vs. Loretta Latest Polling from Cook Political Report

2010-10-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for the US House Representatives, the US Senate, Governor's offices and the Presidency. Founded by political analyst Charlie Cook in 1984, it has come to be relied upon for objective information and analysis about who is running in what races, what the most important dynamics are in the races, and what factors to look for as the campaigns progress.

The report categorizes the race as Lean Democrat with Van Tran within striking distance to close the gap. The race is tightened as expected. Sanchez had a double-digit lead in July-August.

Within the Vietnamese-American voting bloc, she is the receipient of an unexpected backlash against Van Tran recently as he tried to use his influence to block Vietnamese radio shows talking about how the community is displeased with him. The latest confrontation on the issue of freedom of speech is against the well known and popular radio personality Viet Dzung.

The buzz in the community is Van Tran and his Gang of Seven are at it again.   The question is not why Van Tran is so afraid of people expressing their opinions about him. Everybody knows that he is quite paranoid and is willing to do anything to keep people talking honestly about him and his Gang of Seven. But why he would risk such an effort and give the anti-Tran voters the fuel to go out and vote against him?

Meanwhile, he is using Ngo Ky, the Nguoi-Viet Newspaper's nemesis, to be on his radio show everyday to attack Loretta Sanchez at a very personal level.

The sentiment is strong against him in the community. Loretta is well liked and voters are tired against extreme negative attacks by his henchmen. Whether his strategy will backfire will be known soon enough. Loretta does not need to win the Vietnamese-American votes. She only needs to keep it close.

On the other hand, his spending so much money and effort to reach the roughly 14,000 voters is surprising.   He is the only candidate in California who spent money to buy his own radio show and newspaper to ensure that his message against Loretta are everywhere.

This is his base, his constituents and it should be automatic and yet he is fighting for every vote.   It shows that he is in trouble with his own base. For a race this big and he is claiming to be "The Vietnamese Candidate" and his followers proclaimed him to "The Political Leader of the Vietnamese-American Community in the US", he so far has not been able to mobilize the community. It shows in the money that he managed to raise.   It is no suprise that he raised 20% less money than his campaign for State Assembly.

Wesminster Hit Piece Against Andy Quach, Tyler Diep, Bruce Tran

2010-10-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

LSI readers received this hit piece their mailboxes the other day.

The Strong Emergence of Vietnamese-American Democrat

2010-10-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

In a mid-year election cycle where the Republican Party is expected to win the majority of the races, a funny thing transpires in Little Saigon Orange County and the politics within the enclave of this once dominant Republican bastion.

Democrat Phu Nguyen, a first time candidate is basically in a tie with his Republican opponent, Allan Mansoor, to succeed Republican Van Tran in California’s 68^th Assembly District. This district has traditionally been a Republican seat. However, according to the latest poll by Tulchin Research as reported here,

http://www.theliberaloc.com/2010/10/10/positive-poll-numbers-for-phu-nguyen-in-68th-assembly-race/

Nguyen’s overwhelming lead among Vietnamese American voter’s puts him in a position to win in this district because of the expected large number of likely voters are Vietnamese-Americans. In addition, Phu Nguyen has received strong supports of big names Democrat politicians like Lou Corerra, Loretta Sanchez as well as powerful groups like firefighters and police officers associations that traditionally support Republican candidates .

Democrat supporters like the lawyer Phu Do (co-owner of STBN TV and one of the most successful lawyers in Little Saigon) are doing their best to get out the votes against Allan Mansoor who is supported strongly by Van Tran.

The Vietnamese-American Democrats are mostly young and well educated. They are in their 20s and the 30s and like Phu, they really believe in making a difference in issues that are relevant to the welfare of the daily folks like education, jobs and healthcare.

Nguyen is currently has the momentum going into the last 2 weeks of the election with more money than Allan Mansoor and less negatives.

His candidacy so far has helped Loretta Sanchez within the Vietnamese-American voters, especially those voters that are looking for any reasons to vote against Van Tran and his people. And there are a lot of anti-Van Tran voters at the moment since they could not stand his arrogance while truly afraid of his power hungry personality to be the "Godfather" of the Vietnamese-American politics. After all, they risked their lives to come to America so that they could be free of political tyranny.

Candidate Mailers for November 2010 Election (Sanchez, Tran, Phu Nguyen, etc..)

2010-10-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez - A Street Brawl

2010-10-13T10:48:00.001-07:00

According to an article by Voice of OC, a nonprofit investigative news agency, Van Tran is trying his best to silent his critics in the media in the Vietnamese-American community. In this latest episode of silencing the media, it is alleged that he took out the Long Vo's radio show and forced the show to be cancelled.

This sounds like a familar tactics that Van Tran used against Janet Nguyen in 2008 and 2007. His influence as the "Godfather" is powerful in the Vietnamese-American community, especially with the print and radio media. Janet Nguyen could not even buy an ad in both Viet Bao or Nguoi Viet in 2008 in response to some of Van Tran's attack against her. Both of the newspapers would print Van Tran's attack on Janet Nguyen as communist sympathizer but they refused to allow Janet Nguyen to answer the false charges.

Now the "Godfather" is up to his old trick again. See the excerpt of the investigative piece below:

Controversy Surrounds a Now-Silent Little Saigon Radio Show

Posted: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 11:10 am
Updated: 1:34 pm, Wed Oct 13, 2010.

NORBERTO SANTANA, JR.
0 comments
http://voiceofoc.org/oc_central/garden_grove/article_7205e986-d6f6-11df-8f25-001cc4c002e0.html

Every day dozens of broadcasters go on the airwaves in Little Saigon -- which sits in parts of Garden Grove and Westminster --- and talk politics. The news programs, which rent time by the hour, have dedicated Vietnamese-language audiences and the potential to sway elections.

For more than 20 years, Long Vo has been one of the local stalwarts in this arena. His "Vietnamese in California" show has received commendations from the Republican Party of Orange County as well as Democratic lawmakers.

But on Sept. 29, his show was yanked off the air.

The reason given by the station is that Vo was taken off AM 1190 because he refused to sign the station's newly constituted pledge regarding what can and can't be said on air about politicians.

Vo, who was a political prisoner for five years in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, said he was told that the shut down was ordered by Republican state Assemblyman Van Tran, who is in a tough battle with Democrat Loretta Sanchez for her 47th District seat in the U.S. Congress.

Tran, Little Saigon's most recognizable and powerful politician, denies having anything to do with the shutdown of Vo's show. And Bob Hastings, who manages the station owned by Salem Communications, backs up Tran. Hastings said the station is requiring all show hosts, not just Vo, to sign the new pledge.

Regardless of whose version is closer to the truth, the controversy shows just how much of a street brawl the race between Tran and Sanchez has become.

Vo and others say the timing of the station's new pledge is too coincidental to not have been done on Tran's behalf. There are also those who say that the rhetoric on the 4th District race hasn't changed on the pro-Tran news broadcasts.

On Sept. 29, Vo hosted a call-in program on AM 1190 that began with him reading a story from the Voice of America on recent allegations that ethnicity had become an overriding issue in the race. Sanchez was criticized for remarks on Spanish-language TV, saying that Vietnamese were trying to take the congressional seat away from Latinos.

Vo said callers to his program criticized Republican nominee Tran but didn't slander him. Other Vietnamese language speakers who have listened to a reproduction of the broadcast verify Vo's comments.

Yet the morning after the broadcast aired, Vo said he got a call from a broker who sells time to broadcasters, such as himself, who put their news shows on commercial radio stations.

Vo said the broker, Chan Phan, told him that the heat was on and that Tran's supporters were putting pressure on him to keep the broadcasts under wraps. Unless Vo agreed to cease talking about the 47th Congressional District, he would not be allowed back on the air.

Phan did not return calls for comment. Tran knows about the situation with Vo but denies making any phone calls to the station to complain about Vo's broadcasts.

Yet soon thereafter, Vo said he was faxed an amended policy from the radio station that precluded him from "denigration of any person, whether a private citizen or public figure" over the airwaves.

Vo refused to sign the agreement and so the night of Sept. 30 his program went silent from its usual timeslot of midnight to 5 a.m.

"We have the rights to have freedom of speech," Vo said. "This is totally unfair having my radio station cut when I talk about the race while the others are not. This is very un-American."...........................................

Minh Duong vs. Madison Nguyen, The Final Stretch

2010-10-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

So it comes down the final three weeks of a boring D7 city council race to see whether the controversial incumbent Madison Nguyen deserves another 4 years.    Despite her barrage of negative campaigns on the radio, Vietnamese-American newspapers  and mailers, the voters so far apparently are not convinced.   Minh Duong is being portrayed as a pro-communist, negatively as a struggling businessman trying to keep his business alive and about his personal lives from the car he drives to the suit and tie he wears.

Yet, the latest rolling poll done by the Asian-American Poll Media shows that Duong is at 47% and Nguyen is at 44%. The margin of error is +/- 5%.   The survey was done by telephone with a representative sample of 125 most likely voters among 14,000 registered voters in D7 whom are considered likely to vote in the 2010 election.

This is a suprising result since so far in the race, Nguyen has refused to talk about issues facing the people of D7. She refused to debate her opponents no matter what, when, where. Instead she and the Mercury News, the only newspaper in town, have chosen to make Minh Duong's small business enterprise and his struggle to keep it afloat a central issue in the race.   By going negative on her opponent's personal issues and refusing to discuss real issues concerning to the D7 citizens, she is hoping to hide her shortcomings.

But this has backfire,  to a lot of people in this economic down turn, they think Minh Duong's struggle represents their struggles. And they don't need a city councilmember and a newspaper to politicize it and paint it as a shameful thing.    After all, this country economic backbone is being built on entrepeneurs and small business people who are willing to take risks to create jobs for the community. It is historically the government, especially here in San Jose, that always put heavy burdens on the small business people with high taxes and suffocating regulations.

The Mercury News never made an issue of Rose Herrera's bankruptcy, the lawsuit from her creditors on the debt that she owed during her race for city council in 2008.   And D5 candidate Magdalene Carrasco's financial struggle is portrayed by the Merc as a positve for it shows that she can relate to the people's economic plight.

It is comical to note that Nguyen's negative campaign flyer sent to the voters the day after the latest Mercury News article attacking Minh Duong on personal issues has the same comparison points. To some of the voters, it was as if both the newspaper and Nguyen are cooperatively running the same negative campaign against Duong.

Minh Duong's message meanwhile is " A Time To Change".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHUsq8UuYQo

As an elected official, Nguyen is controversial with her decision to support special interest groups. She received her election money from out-of-town special interest groups. She has shown that she will do anything to get elected even though her talks and promises are empty after the election. During her term, she has consistently voted with Labor Unions in supporting programs that have costed tax payers money without any benefits. It was not until the result of the primary where she only received 42% of the votes despite spending 2 times more money than her opponents combined that she realized that she needed to play a different tune.   Whether the voters will believe her or not, it will be decided at the poll in November.

The question the voters need to ask is what has she done for them in the last 5 years besides less services, higher taxes and empty promises and why she is receiving so much money from out-of-town people.

Van Tran Desparately Forcing Janet Nguyen To Endorse Him

2010-10-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

LSI received this email trail by State AssemblymanVan Tran asking Trung Nguyen (the Photoshop Candidate) and Lan Nguyen (Van's henchman who called Janet Nguyen communist) to distribute to everybody right away. It announced a press conference to be hold by Janet Nguyen with Van Tran. This is of course with the anticipation to announce her support for Van Tran

The only problem is that County Supervisor Chair Janet Nguyen was not informed and she is up to now has not plan to neither do any press conference with Van Tran nor alone calling a pressing conference for Van Tran

Janet Nguyen is being forced by Republican leaders into endorsing Van Tran. She needs their money for her campaign in 2012. She is well recognized in D47 with the Vietnamese-American voters as well as mainstream voters. Of course she has much higher favorable rating than Van Tran.

Van Tran has a 39% unfavorable rating in D47. Van Tran is forcing her hand with his dirty politics, basically blackmail her into endorsing him

However, this kind of game might back fire with the voters, especially with Vietnamese-American voters who will make up about 12% of the votes in November. They either vote against Van Tran or don't go to vote for he brings such bad taste in their mouth.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
----- Forwarded Message ----

From: Van

To: George Andrews

Cc: Nguyen Quoc Lan ; VVV ; Trung Quang Nguyen ; Phat Luu ; minhgiang pham

Sent: Fri, October 8, 2010 3:22:20 PM

Subject: Re: Media Advisory: OC Supervisor Janet Nguyen to Hold Press Availability with Congressional Candidate Van Tran (CA-47)

Attached is a "little" Friday Surprise for all of you. PleAd distribuw far and wide ASAP, in time for tomorrow event at 9:00 am

Sent from my iPhone

Van Tran

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Minh Duong vs. Madison Nguyen

2010-10-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

Last week, there was a candidate forum for the upcoming election held at the Santa Clara County Building. The forum was designed for county supervisor and city council candidates to discuss local issues affecting the voters. It also allowed the voters to ask direct questions to the candidates on issues affecting their neighborhoods. One of the organizers was Vic Aljouni, the well known political consultant of Mayor Reed. The moderator was Scott Herhold, a well respected columnist of the Mercury News.

Minh Duong was invited as well as the incumbent City Councilmember Madison Nguyen. At the forum, only Minh Duong showed up to represent candidates in D7.

When came D7 candidate turn, Minh Duong introduced himself and then Scott Herhold began: " Thank you. Let’s have some questions from the audience here. Minh does not have an opponent here, so we’re letting him off a little bit easy."

Minh Duong politely responsed: " Actually, I was looking forward to…debating with my opponent. I have challenged my opponent to three debates. One in the General, one in the Latino community and one in the Vietnamese community…and I…I have to say this…even whether it be in the parking lot or a coffee shop…I am willing to…you know…show respect to our residents and our voters to let them know what we…what we stand for and our differences…and it is time…you know, and who is the better person this time around to serve on the City Council for District 7. So, again, I would like to spread that challenge again to my opponent."

Part of the forum discussion can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2K-9xhIFbg

Minh Duong then proceeded to distinguish himself as hard working small businessman who has real life experience of the economic hardship of the people and not a career politician (He himself as a businessman struggling just like everybody else in this economic depression). He mentioned that Madison Nguyen received her support from Labor and a lot of her funding are from out-of state special interest groups who have no interest in the lives of the D7 citizens.

He mentioned that we need a change in our District 7 leadership. For the last 5 years, the leadership in office is only interested in serving special interest groups at the taxpayers' expense. While taxpayers are being taxed more than ever to pay for unsustainable benefits and wages, residents are experiencing tremendous cut back on city services. Nevertheless, the current leadership continues to allow out-of-state and local special interest groups to control city politics and waste millions of taxpayer money for their own personal agenda.

Minh Duong is running for he believes that thing cannot be business as usual, there is a public outcry in D7 (eventhough ignore by the main stream press), and the only way to change is to replace Madison Nguyen.

Van Tran vs. Loretta Sanchez

2010-09-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

As the election heating up, Van Tran is taking the race issue to Loretta Sanchez. His right hand person Lan Nguyen is on radio calling Vietnamese to demonstrate against Sanchez this Saturday (October 2) while demanding that Sanchez should apologize to Van Tran personally. The sin is for suggesting that Van Tran is anti-immigration and that she is does not want to have the seat to be " taken away by Vietnamese and Republican". What Loretta Sanchez meant to say was "not to have the seat taken away by Vietnamese and Republican supporters of Van Tran" as she issued an apology to the community.

Meanwhile, Van Tran is recycling his well used slogan " Vietnamese should only vote for Vietnamese candidates" in the his 24-hour radio show network. Van needs to get his Vietnamese base to vote for him. A lot of them are wary of him since they despise his ambition to be the "Godfather of the Vietnamese-American politics". And his red-baiting tactics against County Supervisor Chair Janet Nguyen gives him the notoriety of a sleazy politician. Sanchez meanwhile has done an excellent job in nurturing the Vietnamese votes with her anti-communist stand. Two of her official staff are Vietnamese-Americans.

It is ironic that two candidates with immigrant background is fighting over who is browner than the other in order to get the votes of the ethnic groups.

Minh Duong Received Endorsement from County Supervisor Dave Cortese

2010-09-22T01:27:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend at a fund raising event for charity, Minh Duong was officially endorsed by Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese. He encouraged all voters in D7 to vote for Minh Duong for he has what it takes to bring needed change to the city. Along with the recent endorsement from Lt. Governor Maldonado, Minh Duong is building up his momentum to face the incumbent Madison Nguyen who is backed by Labor Unions. Nguyen is the favorite to win the election with her overwhelming advantage of campaign money (which came from donation mostly from out-of-state special interest groups). Her campaign theme is to maintain the current course for the city. On the other hand, Minh Duong advocates new changes to the unsustainable fiscal policy that so far have resulted in taxpayers paying more taxes into a city government full of abuses by Labor Unions and special interest groups while receiving less service than ever.

Jade Buddha Controversy and The Mercury News

2010-09-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

A recent article written by Bruce Newman of the Mercury News titled :" The Jade Buddha, symbol of peace and harmony, everywhere but in San Jose" depicted the conflict between Madison Nguyen, city official Mike Hannon, businessman Tron Do and the lawyer Michael Luu.

According to Newman, Michael Luu was jealous of Tron Do, a supporter of City Councilmember Madison Nguyen who had illegally allowed Nguyen to use his buidling as a campaign headquarters in the recent primary. The reason is that Do had successsfully bid for the opportunity to host the Jade Buddha while Michael Luu could not because Mike Hannon, the head of code enforcement for the city of San Jose shut down his building.

According to the Buddhist Monk, Tien Lien, who is repsonsible for the Jade Buddha tour, she first approached Michael Luu and asked to use his building in October of 2009. Michael Luu, was gracious enough to offer the building to her free of charge. Earlier this year, Mike Hannon, responding to complaints of Charlie Ly, a non-San Jose resident and a supporter of Madison Nguyen, decided to shut down the building since it was not zoned for the gathering of 49 people or less.

Tron Do then approached Monk Tien Lien to host the event for a fee to cover the cost of utility and maintenance.. The city record shows that the 1980 Senter Road building as of date has no zoning permit for such large gathering. There are not enough parking spaces and the building is not built to code to maintain safety for crowd expected to be in the thousands. In an event where there will be thousands of people in a building that has no permit to hold such a large crowd, this zoning violation that can lead to undesirable consequences.

LSI believes that Mercury News has done a disservice to the community by implicating that Michael Luu was bidding to host the event for financial gain (which was totally untrue according to the Buddhist Monk) while ignoring the crux of the issue - the building is not suitable for such a large crowd and the fact why Mike Hannon ignores such zoning violation. As responsible press and news reporting, LSI thinks it is a tragedy when public concerns being ignored by city officials for the sake of politics.

Minh Duong Received Endorsement from Abel Maldonado

2010-09-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

Minh Duong, candidate for San Jose city council D7, recently received the endorsement from Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado (R). The following link recorded the event as Abel Maldonado was in town at the request of Assemblyman Van Tran (R) to help Tran raise money from businessmen in San Jose. Tran is from southern California and running against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. He is having difficulty tapping into his constituents in OC Little Saigon so he has been hitting the Bay Area for money. It was his 6th visit in the last 3 months in the Bay Area.

http://www.vietland.net/

Will Janet Nguyen Endorse Van Tran?

2010-09-16T09:22:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of pressures from the Republican Party to have OC Supervisor Chair Janet Nguyen endorse Assemblyman Van Tran for his US congressional run against the incumbent Loretta Sanchez. Nguyen is undecided at the moment.

In a campaign where 40% of the electoral votes are in her district, Tran has a lot to gain with Nguyen supporting him. Even though he is fully aware of the situation but he still inexplicably has his henchmen attacking Janet Nguyen at every opportunity he has in the Vietnamese-American community.

Currently, his negative is very high within the Vietnamese-American community. They consider him as a selfish politician with an oversize ambition of, as the OC Register called it correctly, “being The Godfather of Vietnamese-American politics”. To the community, he is the product of special interest groups, especially of wealthy Chinese-American businessmen who has close tie with the Vietnamese government. The last 10 years, he has done a lot for the special interest groups while just provide lip-service to the Vietnamese-American community. His image took a beating when he and his gang blocked Nguyen's effort to build a pedestrian bridge across Bolsa Blvd. The bridge has been something that the community wanted for a long time to help alleviate the traffic jam in Little Saigon. He hurt his underlings’ campaigns against Nguyen when he sent out a letter on their behalf using his personal assemblyman letterhead urging the voters not to vote for Janet Nguyen because she is a communist sympathizer. The proof was that she accepted $500 donation from a person who has business in Vietnam. His hatred and despise for Janet Nguyen is so deep that he would do anything to destroy her political career.

The fact of the matter is that he could not raise money within his own Vietnamese-American constituents in Orange County. He has to rely on the Chinese-American businessmen in San Jose and Sacramento to help with his fund raising. He spent more time in San Jose and San Francisco with fund raising because his image is better there than within his own district.

Out of the potential 14,000 Vietnamese-American voters in D47, many would vote against him out of disdain for his scorched earth political tactics against Vietnamese-American politicians who are not in his fold. Of course, the voters also are afraid of his giant ego of being the “Godfather”.

Janet Nguyen is a smart and established politician and she has difficulty being Van Tran’s underlings. The rumor mill in Little Saigon told a story of how when she first ran for the supervisor seat, Van insisted that she paid him and his gang to be her consultants. When she refused, he vowed to destroy her political career. So far he fails but his scorched-earth campaign against her has put Nguyen over $200,000 in debt. In return, he manages to destroy the political careers of Trung Nguyen, Andy Quach and Diane Nguyen.

If she decides to endorse Van Tran and he wins, he will guarantee to put her in her place and will continue to destroy her political career. To Van Tran, there is only one top dog in the Vietnamese-American community. He already recruits two people to run against her in 2012.

Janet Nguyen already has granted him a favor by not supporting Quang Pham in the primary. The main reason Pham dropped out of the race was because he knew without her support, he would not win the primary.

So what Janet Nguyen to do? To sleep with her nemesis and prays that he will spare her if he wins or to stay out the race altogether. The lesson that she has learned about politics is that a promise today means nothing tomorrow and politics is personal. It is whoever in power will make or break her. And Van Tran has vowed publicly to teach her a lesson. It is just a matter of time for him to succeed.

Jade Budha for Universal Peace Tour in San Jose

2010-09-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

This coming Wednesday, the Jade Budha for Universal Peace is making its debut in San Jose and is scheduled to be in town for public viewing until  October 1. This is part of a 2 years long tour to promote the statue as well as to raise funding for its permanent home in Bendigo, Australia. Almost 10 ft high, this is the supposedly the largest buddha statue carved out of quality gemstone.   The Jade Budha statue will be exhibited at 1980 Senter Road. The ceremony as well as fund raising events for the next two weeks are expected to draw thousands of people.  The main ceremony will be held on Saturday, Sept. 18 with Councilmember Madison Nguyen to be the guest of honor.

At a press conference recently to promote the Jade Budha tour, questions were asked by local newspapers including the Viet Tribune about the location and the logistics of the exhibition.  The questions were mundane enough but the responses from the organizer were surprisingly very defensive.

The organizer of the event reiterated that they have permission from San Jose officials to stage the ceremony and exhibit at 1980 Senter Road despite the fact the building has no zoning permit for such an event where there would be thousands of people attending. How about parking? The question was raised since the building has no more than 50 parking spaces

Everybody who has been followed the Jade Budha tour in the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose knows the controversies about the upcoming event. There were questions about the financial transparency of the tour including fraudulant promotion for profit by people who the organizers recently denounced. The Jade Budha was origninal planned to be at a building on 10th street. The monks had approached the owner of the building on the 10th street and he agreed to have the event held there free of charge. However, Mike Hannon, the head of San Jose code enforcement, decided to shut down the building for not having the right zoning permit to hold event for more than 49 people.

And conspiracy theorists in the community also noted that the building on 1980 Senter Road is owned by Tron Do of Vien Thao Media. Tron Do is a close friend and strong supporter of Madison Nguyen. His other building on 545 Parrott St (Just a block away) has been Madison Nguyen's campaign headquarters even though they have no zoning permit for such activity. Mike Hannon has been slow in shutting down the operation on 545 Parrrot St. even though complaints have been filed against Tron Do for allowing Madison Nguyen using the building illegally.

The monks who brought the Jade Budha are from San Diego and they are relying on the local promoters and organizers in San Jose to host the event.  They are unlucky to be caught in the spotlight caused by local promoters.

Madison Nguyen, Van Tran & David Duong

2010-09-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

If there is a kingmaker in Vietnamese-American politics, David Duong and his brother Victor Duong fit the description. The brothers live in Oakland and are owners of Califonria Waste Solutions, the recycle company that has major contract with San Jose City. They started their business as a subcontractor for Norcal Waste Systems. Then using their political connections through generous political contributions and the Norcal controversy with former Mayor Gonzales, they out bid Norcal for the lucrative San Jose contract.

Their recycling business took off and they then expanded to Vietnam with a lucrative contract signed personally by the former Prime Minister Phan van Khai. They also own many commercial properties in Oakland, San Jose, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and even a travel agency (VMC Travel).

They are famous for have an amazing ability to raise money for politicians within their Chinese business connection. Councilmember Pete Constant saw it first hand last year when he attended a cozy fund raising event the brothers put together in San Jose for State Assemblyman Van Tran (R) who is running for US Congress against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D) in southern California. Within 2 hours, they raised over $42,000. Of course, Pete Constant missed the second half of the event when Van Tran and the two brothers afterward went to a private fund raising party hosted by Tang Lap, the owner of Grand Century Mall.

State Assemblyman Van Tran has such high negatives in his own district within the Vietnamese-American community that he hardly could raise any money in Orange County. Over 1/3 of the money that he has raised so far came from the Bay Area (mostly from the connections of David and Victor Duong) and Sacramento. The largest newspaper in Orange County, the OC Register, often calls him the "Godfather" and his political cohort - The Gang of Seven. This is to reflect the powerful political machine and influence he used to have in Orange County.

With Van Tran needing more money, the brothers this Tuesday (Sept. 14) will co-host another fund raising event for Van in San Jose - the admission is $1,000 per plate.

But the brothers are even more attentive with the local election of Madison Nguyen. David Duong has said publicly that he will help Madison Nguyen with everything he can. So far, he has helped her raised over $20,000 with his friends in San Francisco, Oakland and other East Bay cities.

David Duong and Victor Duong need her since they know that their San Jose contract always need a champion in City Hall just in case. After all, they are financially in trouble with their investment in Vietnam as well as here in San Jose. Even though they have a cozy relationship with the highest ranking Vietnamese officials and they have received many state and city commendations and recognitions, their $50 million investment so far in Vietnam since 2004 has yielded a project that requires more money and delay to resolve land-use problems. Here in the Bay Area, they over expanded their operation and just like every other businesses, got hurt by the economic downturn. Their bankers feel uneasy and they are worried that their credit rating might not be as solid as they would like it to be. San Jose City has credit rating requirements that contractors of municipal services have to meet in order to be considered for contractual bid.

So being a practical businessmen and don't really care about political ideology, they have approached the lawyer Michael Luu to see if they can contribute to Minh Duong's campaign $250 each. This is to "buy insurance" as they told Michael Luu.

We don't know if Minh Duong's campaign accept the donation or not. However, everybody in the community knows that Michael Luu gave both State Assemblyman Van Tran and Victor Duong the finger at a recent fund raising event and told them either they are with Madison Nguyen or against her but don't play both candidates like their personal puppets.

Robert Sandoval, Madison Nguyen & Minh Duong Saga

2010-09-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

At the press conference today at his campaign headquarters, Minh Duong detailed what happened to his volunteers two weeks ago as they were walking in a District 7 neighborhood talking to people about the upcoming election. The two volunteers were suddenly stopped by a black Honda Accord with 4 people inside.   Two big men (One Hispanic and one Asian) jumped out of the car and started to verbally and physically abuse the volunteers.   There were two witnesses who saw part of the assault and came forward with their recorded testimonies.   Minh Duong's campaign had filed complaints about the incidence to the SJPD and the San Jose City Election Commission. One of the thugs who allegedly started the assault was identified by the volunteers as Robert Sandoval.   The case is under investigation by the SJPD.

Meanwhile, the San Jose City Clerk stated that she will neither allow the complaint to go forward to  the San Jose City Election Commission nor have the investigation initiated by the Election Commission.   LSI assumes that the San Jose Election Commission is under the control of the City of San Jose and reports to the San Jose City Clerk.

Meanwhile, Robert Sandoval can be heard on Madison Nguyen's Vietnamese radio show saying that he will sue Minh Duong and LSI for making up the story.   At the press conference, Minh Duong's campaign stated that they will take further legal action against the identifed thugs to stop the blatant practice of voter intimidation by Nguyen's campaign.

Madison Nguyen, Robert Sandoval & Minh Duong

2010-09-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

Robert Sandoval, the president of West Evergreen Neighborhood Association, is being investigated by both the San Jose Police Department and the San Jose City Election Commission for assaulting campaign volunteers of Minh Duong.

On Thursday, August 26, in the early afternoon at a neighborhood near the Tropicana Mall, two volunteers for the Minh Duong Campaign were accosted and verbally attacked by a volunteer from the Madison Nguyen Campaign, identified by the police as Robert Sandoval (photo ID).

According to the volunteers, they were first stopped by a black Honda Accord with two Asian guys driving in the front seat. Then a Hispanic man, who was later identified by two other witnesses, as Robert Sandoval, stepped out from the back seat and started threatened to beat the s... out of them if they don't leave the area. He then pushed one volunteer to the ground. As two witnesses saw the incidence, they approach the two volunteers and Sandoval sped away with his cohorts. One of the volunteers had the presence of mind to write down the license plate. Immediately following the incident, the Duong volunteers called and reported the incident to the candidate, Minh Duong. They then drove to the SJPD office and filed an incident report (Case #10-XXX-XX19) under 240 PC Assault and Battery.

Robert Sandoval as the readers recall was the person that filed a complaint against Minh Duong for not filing his expense properly. In his testimony to the Election Commission against Minh Duong, as reported by LSI last month -

....Robert Sandoval told the commission that he has been a supporter of Madison Nguyen for the last 6 years. When asked by Commissioner Shepard what prompted him to file the complaint, Sandoval gave a lengthy answer. According to him, he was surfing the Net and noticed a lawsuit brought by Ron Wong (President of ICG) against Minh Duong. Being a “concerned citizen”, he promptly brought it to the attention of City Clerk Lee Price to see if Minh Duong could be disqualified as a candidate not having good moral character. Next, he brought the case to the attention of Mayor Chuck Reed. Sandoval said that the Mayor thought the lawsuit has merit and recommended City Attorney Rick Doyle to file the complaint with the Election Commission to disqualify Minh Duong. Still according to Sandoval, he then filed the comnplaint and personally followed up with the lawyer, Mike Moye, who was responsible for the investigation on behalf of the Election Commission. His reason was to "assist so that the investigation can be successful”

Bauxite Mining in Vietnam

2010-08-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

According to Reuters News

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/Citi-lends-Vietnam-200-mn-for-bauxite-complex/articleshow/5796550.cms

" Citibank has signed a $200 million loan agreement with Vietnam's top coal miner, Vinacomin, to help it develop a bauxite complex.....

The 13-year credit deal was signed in Washington on Monday and witnessed by Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who was attending the nuclear security summit, the government said in a statement.

It gave no further details on the terms of the credit. State-run Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group has been building two bauxite mining and processing complexes in the Central Highlands coffee belt that have attracted the attention of critics worried about Chinese involvement and possible environmental damage.

The construction of a $460 million aluminium plant at one of the sites has been awarded to Chalieco, a subsidiary of China's state-run aluminium firm Chinalco. Vietnam's bauxite reserves are among the biggest in the world at 5.5 billion tonnes, almost all of which is in the Central Highlands, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Vinacomin has said it plans to sell $500 million of bonds overseas this year to support major mining projects, including coal, bauxite and titanium..."

According to an article written by Duy Hoang in the Asia Times :

http://boxitvn.wordpress.com/

"......The perceived risk has sparked a rare public outcry in Vietnam's government-controlled society, with residents, scientists, state media, bloggers and even military officers lodging vocal protests.

Though apparently not coordinated, their collective dissent is part of a budding Vietnamese environmental movement, notable for challenging the state's traditionally unquestioned authority in implementing large-scale economic development projects.

In recent months, a number of local scientists have written thoroughly researched articles, some published in state-controlled media, exposing weaknesses in the government's mining plans. A state-sanctioned domestic news site, vietnamweek.net, has been at the forefront of probing the issue, while bloggers have provided even more critical analysis..."

John Tran and Bank Fraud

2010-08-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

The SF Chronicle reports the following story:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/04/BAEM1EONVL.DTL

"A former San Jose bank manager is expected to spend six years in state prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $550,000, primarily from elderly clients, police said.

John Tran, 37, entered guilty pleas Friday to theft from an elder, fraud and forgery, drawing to a close an investigation by the financial crimes division of the San Jose Police Department........

Investigators believe Tran victimized customers of the Wells Fargo Bank on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose, where he used to be a manager.

The thefts continued even after Tran left the bank in February 2009, police said. He would visit people at their homes, talk them into making investments and then steer their cashier checks his way, investigators said.

The case began in January, after a customer and her daughter visited the branch. The daughter wanted to know why her mother was being visited by a bank employee and why her investments weren't showing up in her account.

When there was no satisfactory answer from bank officials, the daughter called the police.

The investigation was led by Detective Leonard Lim, who used search warrants to track the path of cashier checks and suspicious withdrawals.........."

Viet Arts Present - “The Silent Sacrifice”

2010-08-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

America is known worldwide as “the land of opportunities”. Those who can adapt to this modern life will realize the American dream. However, after living here several decades, many Vietnamese residents still haven’t felt that they are a part of the community.

It’s painful to suffer in silent – working 2-3 jobs to help the spouse and children pursue an education to have a better career. Now the spouse is leaving for someone else, and the children are influenced by a bad crowd.

The unhappy situations create a negative impact on the children – they accuse parents of not spending time with them, nor sharing the ups and downs of their life, too many generations are living under one roof, who should they listen to!

Sân Khấu Việt Cali and Association for Viet Arts proudly present a bilingual English/Vietnamese play “The Silent Sacrifice”, which focuses on Vietnamese immigrants’ life struggles to maintain Vietnamese culture within the generation gap.

August 14, 2010, at 7:30pm

Milpitas Community Center

457 E. Calaveras Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035

Artistic Director: Vân Phạm Mai
Director Consultant: Dr. Victoria Rue, Ph. D
Psychiatric Consultant: Dr. Phương Thúy Lê
Legal Advisor: Thu Hương Nguyễn, Attorney at Law

For advanced tickets contact:
San Khau Viet CALI (408) 859-3120
skvcali@yahoo.com

http://www.skvc.org/

Phở Nguyễn (408) 945-5909
Làng Văn (408) 274-0404
Phở Phi Long (408) 282-1666

$15/ Ticket

Special Promotion:
Buy 4 tickets get 1 free DVD
Buy 10 tickets get 3 free DVDs

San Khau Viet Cali Performing Arts
A Non Profit Organization

Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 859-3120
F:(408) 942-5566
skvcali@yahoo.com
http://www.skvc.org/

Ly Tong in Southern California

2010-07-26T12:58:00.000-07:00

After posting bail last Friday night, Ly Tong was seen the next morning down south protesting along with the anti-communist crowd at the Anaheim Arena against Dam Vinh Hung. The protest organizers were not expecting more than 500 people participated in the demonstration but with the news Ly Tong coming to the town, the crowd swelled to about 1,300 people.

Almost every Vietnamese-American candidate running for office in Little Saigon this coming November was waiting in line to see him, including the State Assemblyman Van Tran. People were showering him with flowers, gifts and chanting his name everywhere.

In an interview with a local San Jose newspaper (Thang Bom), Ly Tong said that he only used concentrated perfume and not pepper spray. He said that the DA has all the evidence. If this is the case, the charge of "using a deadly weapon" by the DA is with an agenda. LSI learned that the Vietnamese Consulate in SF had asked the DA to prosecute Ly Tong to the fullest extent of the law. In response, Ly Tong's lawyers (Tam Nguyen, Michael Luu ) filed complaints against the IRS and other state and local agencies against Dam Vinh Hung and his handlers for neither having a licence nor filing taxes for previous shows.

Loretta Sanchez vs. Van Tran

2010-07-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

Incumbent US Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is clearly in a tough election against termed-out State Assemblyman Van Tran for the CD47 this coming November. Despite having a sizable advantage on campaign money over Van ($1.3 million vs. $280,000), Sanchez so far has not focused and lacks any clear strategy against a masterful campaigner like Van Tran.

Van Tran has been hitting her hard within the Vietnamese-American community with negative campaign every night on his own radio station. There are about 12,000 to 14,000 likely Vietnamese-American voters. This will represent about 10% to 15% of the total votes depending on the turn-out. Sanchez needs to capture at least 40% of the votes in order to be competitive against Van Tran considering a very anti-incumbent climate. She cannot rely on her Hispanic voters for they are unreliable. The independent voters are likely to favor Van Tran.

What is her next step to garner some of the Vietnamese-American votes? The rumor is that she will get the visa to visit Vietnam and make some noises about human rights. She is asking the White House to lean on the Vietnamese government to grant her the visa. Right now the communist government refuses to allow her into Vietnam.

Current conventional wisdom - Despite the fact that this is a Democratic district, the high turn-out from independent voters and Vietnamese-Americans for Van Tran will make Loretta very vulnerable.

Ly Tong As Lady in Red

2010-07-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

Ly Tong came to the Dam Vinh Hung concert an hour before the show began. Here is a picture of him disguising as lady in red waiting and setting his trap. Below is the picture of him approaching Dam Vinh Hung giving him a red rose before pulling out the Mace spray.

Dam Vinh Hung Shaken Up After Pepper Spray Incidence

2010-07-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Dam Vinh Hung was not in a good mood after receiving pepper spray from anti-communist activist Ly Tong. His handlers are worrying about this week concert at Anaheim Arena. The rumor is that the extremists will sneak in and hit him with flying shoes, a la George Bush in Bagdad. The demonstration is expected to be small due to the lack of space in front of the arena.

Meanwhile Ly Tong is in jail waiting for a hearing this Thursday. He refuses to be bailed out. He said that he will stay in jail if needed to in order to make a case for freedom and human rights in Vietnam.

Demonstration Against Dam Vinh Hung at Santa Clara Convention Center

2010-07-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

Dam Vinh Hung, a very popular singer from Vietnam, is doing his annual concert tour in North America. He was in San Jose over the weekend and performed at the Santa Clara Convention Center last night. The event was sold out with all 600 tickets sold. His concert in San Jose (November 2009) was also a big hit. Dam Vinh Hung has been doing worldwide concert since 2004. Since he is from Vietnam, the critics from the anti-communist folks in the Vietnamese-American community have claimed that he is a cultural agent of the government trying to spread communist propaganda.

By 5:00 PM yesterday, there was a large contigent of demonstrators (about 350 people) gathered in front of the convention center with their flags and slogans. US Congressman Joseph Cao (R) from New Orleans was also there to give support.

The Santa Clara police department charged the concert organizer an extra $11,000 for crowd control and security. Apparently, the additional 15 policemen did not deter Ly Tong, an anti-communist activist, to buy a front row ticket to attend the concert. He dressed up as an elderly woman and came to the stage pretending to give flowers to Dam Vinh Hung. And then suddenly he took out a Mace spray and temporarily stunned the singer with the pepper spray - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a3sKG-rU4M

Security was there quickly to take away Ly Tong and the show went on despite the little interruption. At the end of the show, the audience stood up and gave Dam Vinh Hung a thunderous standing ovation.

Minh Duong vs. Madison Nguyen, Round 1

2010-07-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

For two straight weeks, our mailbox was flooded with email from Charlie Ly and Tuong Pham about the San Jose City Election Commission meeting on July 14 to determine whether candidate for city council Minh Duong had violated city campaign disclosure for his 2008 campaign. The complaint was filed by District 8 resident Robert Sandoval, a Madison Nguyen supporter.

The main theme of the multiple emails to media as well as many Vietnamese-American email groups was that Minh Duong violated the law and if convicted, he would unequivocally be disqualified from the 2010 election.

In the interest of the Vietnamese-American community that has been bombarded with campaign misinformation, LSI attended the hearing. The complaint was about Minh Duong’s failure to disclose an unpaid bill to his consultant during his 2008 campaign for city council. The law requires contributions and expenditures to be documented. The unpaid bill is currently a subject of a civil lawsuit. Duong claimed that the bill was for service unrendered and refused to pay.

The hearing was attended by a handful of people, mostly by supporters of Madison Nguyen. Minh Duong was there by himself along with his lawyer Michael Luu.

In picture, back row - Charlie Ly, unnamed supporter of Madison Nguyen, Robert Sandoval, unnamed supporter of Madison Nguyen , an unidentified man. Front row - Lam van Sang, Tuong Pham and Tracy Siepel.

Usually this type of hearing would not get the attention of the Mercury News, so it must be a slow summer to see Tracy Siepel, a business reporter from the Merc doing the coverage. According to a city hall reporter at the Merc, Charlie Ly, who lives in San Bruno, had sent emails about the case and other innuendos about Duong to the Merc and demanded an investigative article. It was not a surprise to see Lam van Sang, a computer engineer by trade, to be at the hearing. Sang is known for his provocative writing for V-Times. It was in his article titled “The Past History of Minh Duong” before the primary that he emphasized that Minh Duong would be disqualified from the election if he was found to violate the disclosing rules.

Robert Sandoval told the commission that he has been a supporter of Madison Nguyen for the last 6 years. When asked by Commissioner Shepard what prompted him to file the complaint, Sandoval gave a lengthy answer. According to him, he was surfing the Net and noticed a lawsuit brought by Ron Wong (President of ICG) against Minh Duong. Being a “concerned citizen” living in District 8, he promptly brought it to the attention of City Clerk Lee Price to see if Minh Duong could be disqualified as a candidate not having good moral character. Next, he brought the case to the attention of Mayor Chuck Reed. Sandoval said that the Mayor thought the lawsuit has merit and recommended City Attorney Rick Doyle to file the complaint with the Election Commission to disqualify Minh Duong. Still according to Sandoval, he then filed the comnplaint and personally followed up with the lawyer, Mike Moye, who was responsible for the investigation on behalf of the Election Commission. His reason was to "assist so that the investigation can be successful”

After two hours of deliberation, the Election Commission unanimously agreed that the original 460 form filed in June 2008 did not accurately reflect the actual debt because it is in dispute. Therefore it should have being amended. Second, Minh Duong Campaign Committee should have reflected the new amendment before the termination paper was filed in 2009. The commission felt that, as quoted by Commissioner Shepard: "Minh Duong should have gone to paper filing school for bad reporting or paperwork error, not anything more sinister".

In the end, the commission fined Minh Duong for $500 for the two violations of incorrect filing of form 460 and termination without new amendment.

The Election Commission, recognizing that there are members of the press in the room, made it clear that this should not be a negative reflection on the current 2010 campaign. They insisted for the record as well as on the final resolution that this complaint has heavy political overtone to influence the upcoming campaign runoff between Minh Duong and Madison Nguyen.

“I would like to make it clear that I don't like the timing of this, and I think there was a motivation behind it," said commission Chairman Fred de Funiak.

Commissioner Shepard added, “This is simply a case of paperwork error and should not be impugned on the integrity of the candidate.”

In addition, to clarify the rumor floating by Madison Nguyen's supporters to the media, Lee Price said that Minh Duong cannot be disqualifed in the 2010 election.

It was noted that during the deliberation, Charlie Ly would make disgruntled gestures and garbled comments every time any commission made a favorable remark about Minh Duong as a recipient of political dirty play. Chairman Fred de Funiak finally had enough and told him to either stop or leave the room permanently.

Vinh Hoi Bay Resort & Outrigger Hotels

2010-07-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Asia signed an agreement with developer Vietnamese American Hotel and Resort Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of American company ITC Spectrum, LLC, to co-design and manage a luxury resort to be built along the central coast of Vietnam. The Outrigger Vinh Hoi Bay Resort and Spa will be part of the fully integrated Vinh Hoi Bay Golf Resort being constructed on 325 hectares with four other hotels along a 1.6-mile secluded white sand beach five miles north of Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh province.

"We look forward to being a part of what is sure to become Vietnam's most recognized resort destination," said Darren Edmonstone, Outrigger's senior vice president for Asia.

Outrigger, a family-owned company with more than 60 years of hospitality experience, said its participation is included in an agreement signed with developer Vietnamese American Hotel and Resort Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the American company ITC Spectrum LLC.

"Vinh Hoi Bay is a world of peace and tranquility in an off-the-beaten-path area of rural charm," said Canh Tran, chairman and CEO of ITC Spectrum, "The pristine mountain and beach setting of the Vinh Hoi Bay Golf Resort offers a distinctive variety of environments and varied terrain to provide the basis for the most unique and memorable integrated resort experience in Vietnam."

The five-star Outrigger Vinh Hoi Bay Resort and Spa will offer 210 rooms and themed suites, plus a collection of 46 private villas offering one- and two-bedroom accommodations, and a two-story Grand Villa. Six food and beverage outlets are planned, in addition to a cooking school, a Navasana wellness center, a kids’ and teenager amusement zone, fitness center, library, adventure center and retail outlets.

The Vinh Hoi Bay Golf Resort will include a total of five luxury destination hotels, as well as individual villas, with the centerpiece of the resort being an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II. Other outdoor amenities will include an equestrian center, marina and arboretum. The resort will be completed in multiple phases. Outrigger Vinh Hoi Resort and Spa will begin construction during phase one, with the hotel expected to accept its first guest in late 2013.

Vinh Hoi Bay Resort is located in Binh Dinh province on Vietnam’s central coast, between Danang and Nha Trang. Its origins date back to the 11th century and the Champa kingdom, whose legacy, the Cham culture’s temple complexes, can be seen throughout the province. The topography of Binh Dinh province is diverse and attractive, offering visitors lush highlands, forests, alluvial plains, lakes and beaches, all in one destination. The area is currently served by Phu Cat Airport from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The airport, which is located 21 minutes from Vinh Hoi Bay, is slated to offer direct international flights in the coming years. For more information, visit www.outrigger.com.

OneVietnam Public Launching on Juy 19

2010-07-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

Palo Alto, CA, 10 June 2010 – Vietnamese communities worldwide will soon have a unique platform for communication and connection with OneVietnam.org. Founded by 1st and 2nd generation Vietnamese-Americans, OneVietnam is an online network that acts as a nexus between individuals, communities, and philanthropic groups serving Vietnamese communities worldwide. Its interface uses the latest in Web 2.0 technology for easy accessibility and instant connections to causes most relevant to its members. Starting June 17, those interested in reconnecting to and strengthening the community can log onto OneVietnam.org for an invitation to preview OneVietnam’s beta site.

OneVietnam came into being when a group of recent UC Berkeley and Harvard graduates perceived a growing disconnect between Vietnamese communities worldwide. Since the post 1960s Vietnamese diasporas, Vietnamese have spread out across over thirty countries around the globe. With generation gaps widening and geographic barriers present, cultural identification languishes and philanthropic organizations lose what should be a strong support system.

Using social media and Web 2.0, this group of college graduates developed OneVietnam with community, philanthropy, and online innovation in mind. Rather than creating another social network, the founders focused their network on cultivating ties between Vietnamese communities and providing an outlet for later Vietnamese future makers to get their voices heard.

OneVietnam has already managed to get the conversation flowing between individuals worldwide through its Facebook Page, http://www.facebook.com/OneVietnam, with 6,000 supporters and Vietnam Talking Points blog, http://talk.onevietnam.org/, with over 200 original articles.

“OneVietnam Network is in a position to transform Vietnam’s philanthropic landscape by bridging organizations and the Vietnamese expatriate community in united efforts of unprecedented scale.” – Paul Pham

About OneVietnam Network

OneVietnam Network is an online network that connects you to millions of Vietnamese around the world. Within seconds, you can discover and take part in your community through OneVietnam’s one -click, search, find, and contribute system. Sign up to preview its beta site starting June 17 at OneVietnam.org.

Dam Vinh Hung on Tour in California

2010-07-16T04:35:00.000-07:00

Dam Vinh Hung, a very popular singer from Vietnam is doing his annual concert tour of North America and will be in Anaheim and Santa Clara these upcoming two weeks. His concert in San Jose (November 2009) was a big hit. Dam Vinh Hung has been doing worldwide concert since 2004. Since he is from Vietnam, the critics from the anti-communist folks in the Vietnamese-American community have claimed that he is a cultural agent of the government trying to spread communist propaganda. As usually, there will be a contigent of demonstrators on hand for his events in both cities. The Santa Clara police department is charging the concert organizer $15,000 for crowd control in case the demonstration becomes raucous.

Renaissance Journalism Center Awards 15 Journalists Vietnam Reporting Fellowships

2010-07-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

According to Renaissance Journalism Center

http://www.rjcmedia.org/updates/renaissance-journalism-center-awards-15-journalists-vietnam-reporting-fellowships

San Francisco – The Renaissance Journalism Center has chosen 15 top journalists for a reporting fellowship program that will enable them to investigate the toxic legacy left in Vietnam by the use of the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

The Vietnam Reporting Project Fellowship is designed to use the power of journalism to raise public awareness about the health and environmental problems that continue to affect Vietnam and its people. During the war, the U.S. military defoliated millions of acres of forest and farmland by spraying Agent Orange. The herbicide contained dioxin, a highly toxic organic pollutant linked to cancers, diabetes, birth defects and disabilities.

“Even though the war ended 35 years ago, the toxic impact of Agent Orange lives on, damaging the lives of millions of people,” said Jon Funabiki, executive director of the Renaissance Journalism Center, which is based at San Francisco State University. “Journalists can put a human face on this all-to-forgotten tragedy and help the general public to understand the full dimensions of the problem. Unfortunately, many news organizations are so financially strapped that they can’t afford to send reporters to the scene.”

The fellows represent newspapers, television, radio and the online news sector. The group is cross-cultural and intergenerational with representatives from the mainstream, independent, Vietnamese American and college media. The reporting fellows include:

Sean Connelly, photo editor/multimedia producer, Los Angeles Times; K. Oanh Ha, reporter, KQED Public Radio; Duc Ha, editor and senior correspondent, OneViet.com; Tara Haghighi, journalism student, San Francisco State University; Catherine Karnow, independent photographer; Ed Kashi, independent photojournalist and filmmaker; Henry Liem, columnist, VTimes; Victor Merina, senior correspondent and special projects editor, Reznet; Katy Newton, video journalist, Los Angeles Times; Nguyen Qui Duc, independent radio and television journalist; Connie Schultz, columnist, The Plain Dealer; Nick Ut, photographer, Associated Press; Thuy Vu, reporter/anchor, KPIX TV; Laura Waxman, student journalist, San Francisco State University; Yumi Wilson, assistant professor of journalism, San Francisco State University.

The journalists will receive training, travel support and other resources to help them produce in-depth articles, essays and columns, television and radio reports and web-based multimedia packages. The products will be distributed by their news companies, featured on a special project website (www.vietnamreportingproject.org) and distributed to interested news outlets, including Vietnamese American media.

The Renaissance Journalism Center (www.rjcmedia.org) was created by San Francisco State University’s Journalism Department to stimulate and test promising new practices in journalism. The center also sponsors the Media Greenhouse, which offers mini-grants to community and ethnic news media outlets; and the New Media Lab & Incubator, which is incubating new nonprofit media models. The center is operated in partnership with the ZeroDivide (www.zerodivide.org).

The Vietnam Reporting Project was developed in collaboration with Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (www.aapip.org) and is funded by the Ford Foundation (www.fordfound.org).

According to the Vietnam Red Cross, an estimated 3 million Vietnamese suffer health problems linked to Agent Orange and 150,000 children have serious birth defects. About a dozen “hot spots” are contaminated by dioxin. In the U.S., Agent Orange also has been linked to serious health problems widely reported by American veterans.

New Management and Direction

2010-07-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

Now under the direction of Asian-American Poll Media, Little Saigon Inside will mainly focus on economic trends and business opportunities relating to Vietnam and its community abroad. When relevant, we will provide insights on political trends that affect "the pursuit of happiness" by the Vietnamese people living in Vietnam as well as overseas. Thank you to all of our loyal readers for the last 3 years and we hope to bring a richer experience with our new format.

Little Saigon Inside Staff

iPhone and "Made in Vietnam"

2010-07-08T19:04:00.000-07:00

Since 2007, Foxconn Industry, has been quietly buidling manufacturing facilities in Vietnam to prepare for the inevitable raising inflation and production cost in China. Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwain, is the world's largest manufacturing of electronics and computer components. The founder, Terry Guo is a billionaire and third richest man in Taiwain. His younger brother actually resides in Cupertino, California.

Foxconn manufactures iPad, iPod, iPhone and electronic products for HP, Dell, Sony, Microsoft, Cisco, Motorola and Nokia.

With the recent spate of suicide in its Shenzhen factory and China government pressure on its labor practice that forced Foxconn to increase its minimum wage 100% earlier this year, Foxconn is seriously thinking about relocating to Vietnam. Even though Vietnam lacks the skilled workers and a reliable network of suppliers, the lure of a cheaper location is hard to resist. There have been talks with Vietnamese government to build a cross-border railroad network to Guadong province and its economic hub Shenzhen to bring supplies directly to manufacturing facilities in Vietnam.

The conventional wisdom is that by 2013, it would be common to see iPhone with a "Made in Vietnam" label.

Miss World 2010 Coming to Vietnam??

2010-07-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

From Miss World's Website:

http://www.missworld.com/Vietnam/vietnam-2010.html

" The 60th Miss World festival celebrations will be held in Vietnam between the 3rd October and Saturday 6th November. (The main sponsor and organizer for the event in Vietnam is Kieu Hoang and his company RAAS)

In 2009, Julia Morley, Ksenia Sukhinova (Miss World 2008), Zhang Zilin (Miss World 2007), Tatana Kucharova (Miss World 2006) and Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia (Miss World 2004) visited Vietnam on a fundraising tour, helping to generate over VND8 billion (US $450,000) to support children in need and local community projects by assisting in fundraising for RAAS (Rare Antibody Antigen Supply, Inc.).

Founded by company president Kieu Hoang, RAAS supplies blood and plasma products, as well as vaccines and other much-needed medical goods, utilising state-of-the-art screening equipment and investing in biotechnology developments. Kieu Hoang has dedicated himself to improving the circumstances of many disadvantaged children and families in Vietnam; with the support of Miss World, RAAS has been able to bring great change to the lives of hundreds of Vietnamese people.

The 120 nations represented in the Miss World Festival 2010 will also tour Vietnam, following in the fundraising foot-steps of Julia Morley, Mr Kieu Hoang and our Miss World winners, to raise money to help sick and disadvantaged children. They will play a fundamental role in bringing ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ to the fore.

During the festival, the Miss World 2010 contestants will travel around the country, sampling the many rich delights Vietnam has to offer, participating in a number of special events, as well as joining in with the celebrations for the 1000 year anniversary of the city of Hanoi. "

Biotechnology in Vietnam Conference

2010-07-06T08:30:00.000-07:00

Dr. Thai Duc Nguyen, Chief Scientist of the Biotechnology Division of Saigon Hi-Tech Park, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is concluding a visit to the United States with a discussion about opportunities in biotechnology in Vietnam. The two hour meeting will be held on Friday, July 9 at 9:30AM at the Hotel Rex in San Francisco. Representatives of research, educational, trade and industrial groups are invited to attend.

In cooperation with the U.S. Commerce Department, the San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office, Dr. Nguyen will present information about the Saigon Hi-Tech Park campus where biotechnology research, education and training projects are taking shape and giant computer organizations such as Intel of USA, Nidec of Japan, Sonion of Denmark, Datalogic of Italy and many other organizations are now located, and successfully carrying out research and manufacturing operations. Nguyen, a former medical researcher at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) will detail opportunities for independent operations and collaborative research projects, as well as for investments.

Dr. Nguyen’s visit to the United States began more than six weeks ago when he was a speaker at the 15th Anniversary Celebration of the San Francisco – Ho Chi Minh City Sister City relationship.

Space is limited. Additional information and reservations may be made through the San Francisco – Ho Chi Minh City Sister City Committee: Call (415) 447-6075 or email sfhcmcscc@aol.com.

Thank Our "Bridging Two Cultures" Sponsors

Bernard W. and Eleanor G. Burke
California Pacific Medical Center
Jerome L. and Thao T. Dodson
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Robert G. Gish, MD
Vietnamese American Entrepreneurs Association

Sincerely,

George G. Saxton
Executive Director
San Francisco - Ho Chi Minh City Sister City Committee
Board Member, Northern California Sister Cities International

Van Tran to His Supporters - Sanchez Has No Chance

2010-06-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Email from Van Tran to his supporters

***********************************************************************
From: tranesq@aol.com
Subject: Van got another vote boost
To:
Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 5:21 PM

Dear All,

Below is the latest vote numbers and percentages for candidates in the Congressional Primary race. These numbers are brand new for today.

Notice that I got another .2% increase from yesterday's count. Since the election on June 8, today is the 5th straight count days that I have gained votes, which I bet are substantially Vietnamese.

The OC Registrar of Voters is not done counting yet. The numbers are very encouraging.

If you add all the Republican votes together, there are 18,821. Loretta Sanchez has 16,486, which is 2,335 votes less than the GOP candidates.

Cheers,

Van

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 47th District - Democratic

Completed Precincts: 257 of 257

Vote Count Percentage

* LORETTA SANCHEZ (DEM) 16,486 100.0%

* Indicates Incumbent Candidate, if any

Top

UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE 47th District - Republican

Completed Precincts: 257 of 257

Vote Count Percentage

VAN TRAN (REP) 10,293 54.7%

KATHERINE H. SMITH (REP) 4,793 25.5%

TAN NGUYEN (REP) 3,735 19.8%

Jeff Rosen and His Victory over Dolores Carr

2010-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

From Jeff Rosen to supporters via email

We Won — Thank You!

Dear Friends,

Today we brought change to this county. By a margin of 2,854 votes and 1.14%, we won!

I am incredibly humbled to announce that, on January 3, 2011, I will be inaugurated as the Santa Clara County District Attorney. This change will happen because you spoke out. In this election, we spoke with the people of this county, and together, loudly and clearly, we said one word: justice.

And as long as I serve as this county's District Attorney, that word will be our guide, our inspiration, and our hallmark. Because only through a just process, and a justice-oriented approach, can we achieve just results.

I have bold plans for the District Attorney's office, and I encourage you to read my victory speech, which is copied below. I truly believe that we won this election because we were fair, truthful, and passionate about changing business as usual in this county.

Thank you for all your help, for contributing, volunteering, offering advice, and providing moral support throughout this campaign. Thank you for doing what you knew to be right. We did this together. I look forward to serving you with honesty, integrity, humility, hard work, and a wholehearted commitment to justice.

Sincerely,

Jeff Rosen

Santa Clara County District Attorney-Elect

Phu Nguyen and His Victory

2010-06-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Phu Nguyen (D) won easily over his challenger Joe Dovinh (D) in the primary by 18% point. He is now ready to challenge the Republican nominee Allan Mansoor for the 68th district state assembly seat.

The election also shows that he is vulnerable in a predominately Republican district. In the Vietnamese-American community, despite all the positive media attention, a very good marketing team to help build his image and an impressive list of supporters from the mainstream, people are not yet receptive to him.

Behind his smiling appearance, he has a reputation of being more than he actually is and quite vindictive with his jealousy of others. And he hates people that do not agree with him. In running against an unknown candidate who had little to no money, Phu actually had to work hard to get the votes. Phu raised over $150,000 and during the last 2 weeks of the election, he was spending money on mailers and ads aggressively to ensure his victory over a nonserious challenger. Of course Joe Dovinh is nothing more than a ploy by Van Tran to decimate Phu's campaign chest and it worked. Phu is having difficulty raising money within his own community as well as in the mainstream. The Democratic Party, similar to the Republican Party, can only provide lip-service to local races with no funding to help their own candidates. But on the other hand, the business of money transaction to Vietnam is a lucrative one so it was no surprise to see Phu put down $100,000 of his own money into the race. He could have loaned himself $200,000 to $300,000 but there is a $100,000 limit on how much can a candidate loan himself or herself in a state assembly race.

It will be an interesting summer to see if he could convince the Vietnamese-American voters to stand behind. He will need every vote from his community, especially with Allan Mansoor relying on Van Tran's political machine to get him the Vietnamese-American votes.

Minh Duong In the Run-Off

2010-06-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

With all the city council incumbents won their respective races over their challengers at 65% or more, Madison Nguyen was forced into the run-off by a relatively newcomer- Minh Duong. Despite Nguyen and Labor Council's negative campaign efforts and spending 2X more than her opponent, she could not muster the victory that was expected of her.

Mercury News noted that: "Labor allies Xavier Campos and Madison Nguyen were forced into runoffs for council seats they once were expected to win outright."

http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_15263930

In the editiorial piece, the Mercury News gave Nguyen an insight into the run-off in November:

"Incumbent Madison Nguyen finished first in District 7 as did former council aide Don Rocha in District 9. But each faces a serious conservative in the fall — Minh Duong and Larry Pegram, respectively. Rocha and Nguyen would both be wise to better clarify their positions on city spending and stake out the moderate ground."

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_15263594

With the momentum behind him, Minh Duong received the unequivocal endorsement from Rudy Rodriguez and Janet Nguyen last night.

Rudy Rodriguez came in third in the D7 election with 14% of the votes. His supporters are crucial in the run-off for they will make up the bulk of the Hispanic votes in the race.

Janet Nguyen (R) is the Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisor. Orange County is the second largest county in California. Janet is one of the youngest candidates ever elected to the supervisor seat in OC and is a well known Republican elected official within the Vietnamese-American community.

Cheri Pham - Newly Elected Superior Court Judge

2010-06-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

There were not many surprises in yesterday primary election. The heavy-weight Vietnamese-American candidates won their respective races as expected. Van Tran, Phu Nguyen in Little Saigon Orange County and Madison Nguyen, Minh Duong in Little Saigon San Jose survived so that they can be in for the November general election.

One bright note is the newly elected OC Superior Court Judge - Cheri Pham. She has been the deputy district attorney for the county. LSI first met her 20 years ago at her father's home, the well known and respected author and researcher Pham Kim Vinh.

Congratulation to an old friend who is probably looking down smiling....

Vietnam Daily Newspaper Predicts Phu Le in the Run-Off

2010-06-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Vietnam Daily Newspaper in the last 3 weeks has been writing negative articles attacking Minh Duong's childhood, his supposedly pro-communist stand for he is not wearing the "Freedom Flag" symbol on his attire, his integrity since he refuses to pay a politcal consultant for service unrendered and how Minh Duong did not support the Little Saigon naming as well as recall effort. The articles are written mostly by Can Nguyen, the co-owner of the newspaper. Can Nguyen and his wife, Quynh Thi, are the supporters of Dr. Phu Le, one of the five candidates vying for the city council seat of District 7 in San Jose.

http://www.vietnamdaily.com/?c=article&p=62946#disc

What made this week article even more interesting is the claim that VN Daily had done tracking poll the last two days. By which method or how many people responded to the survey, the article did not detail. But with authoratitive language, they announced that their poll has Madison Nguyen at 49.1%, Dr. Phu Le at 25.2% and Minh Duong at 18.7%. Their headline read - Phu Le Has A Very Great Chance of Being in the Run-Off.

Can Nguyen is a relative newcomer to the community.   He only became active in the community during the Little Saigon controversy. He often refers himself as Dr. Can Nguyen, Ph.D. He, his wife and their three boys live in a multimillion dollars mansion in Los Gatos. They own a large printing shop and one of the oldest and most profitable newspapers in the Vietnamese-American community.

Can Nguyen and Quynh Thi are not the original owner of this profitable newspaper. How they came about in the business is full of rumor within the Vietnamese-American media community.   One story is that the wife started out as a secretary for the original owner of the newspaper.   She had an affair with him and he ended up divorcing his wife. Later on she allegedly dumped him for he was much older than her. In distraught, he went to Washington DC and set himself on fire (self-immolation like Vietnamese monks in the 1960s in protesting the Vietnam War). He died and the newspaper ended up in the hand of Quynh Thi.   The irony is that one of the most well known lawyers in San Jose happened to be in the same hotel with this poor man the night before he died and had to listen to his depressing story of betray and despair.

For almost 20 years, Quynh Thi and her newspaper stayed away from anything to do with the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose. The newspaper rarely reported any news about community and their events and politics.   But during the recall effort and the Little Saigon fight, the newspaper became a staunch supporter of  recall effort.   She became a great friend of the community segment that opposed Madison Nguyen. However the relationship was short-lived.   She and the community leadership had a big fall - out on their fight of who has the right to market NuSkin beauty product within the community and how the commission should be distributed.

Madison Nguyen's Victory Celebration at M Cafe

2010-06-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Madison Nguyen and Friends just sent out an evite to her "June 8 Victory Celebration" as stated in the email. It will be at 8:00 PM at M Cafe (1645 Burdette Drive). This is one of those infamous Vietnamese-American coffee bars where the waitresses are always wear next to nothing. M Cafe is a play-on-word referring to young lady in a submissive way. For an interesting view of Vietnamese-American coffee bar culture in San Jose, see the link below:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-quyen-san-jose

On the other campaign front, South Bay Labor just sent out another hit piece against Minh Duong. How many negative ads can Nguyen and South Bay Labor have against Minh Duong? Is it worth it to have a negative campaign against a nice person? The answer is yes since nice people always finish last in politics. Of course Nguyen with her $93,000 budget can really do anything she wants.

Vietnam Future: Choices and Obstacles

2010-06-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

You are invited to attend an engaging discussion on Vietnam and the current state of civil society. We will welcome philanthropist Doan Phung as well as Dang Huong Giang, executive director of Action for the City. Dang Huong Giang will speak about the burgeoning group of local, grassroots organizations in Vietnam focused on civil society, and Doan Phung is going to speak about the Vietnamese American community's role in this development. We look forward to seeing you at this special reception.

WHAT: East Meets West Foundation Reception - Vietnam's Future: Choices and Obstacles

WHEN: Wednesday, June 9th 6:00-8:00 PM

WHERE: 1611 Telegraph Ave, Suite 1200, Oakland CA 94612

RSVP: John Anner, janner@eastmeetswest.org or (510) 763-7045

About Doan L. Phung, PhD:

Doan and his wife have worked with more than 18 charity organizations since the early 1960s. They also run two charities of their own, the Fund for the Encouragement of Self-Reliance (FESR) and the Vietnamese American Scholarship Fund (VASF). Their work in Vietnam has been recognized by the United Nations with the UN-HABITAT Civil Society Innovation Award in 2008.

Doan uses his own money to support charity activities in human rights, anti trafficking, micro-credit, clean water, medical missions and education. He currently promotes establishing a think tank that works towards a future for Vietnam that is peaceful, democratic, and economically viable.

About Dang Huong Giang:
Dang Huong Giang founded Action for the City in 2006 to promote sustainable urban development. Action for the City, a registered local non-governmental organization in Hanoi, encourages citizens to minimize consumption of resources, carries out communication campaigns on reduction of transport emissions, and promotes green spaces and organic urban agriculture. Giang has been an active advocate for civil society in Vietnam for the past decade as a senior trainer and consultant for the Center for Community Empowerment and as Education Program Manager for Catholic Relief Services. Giang holds an MA in sociology from Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.

Concensus For Little Saigon Area Races - June 2010 Primary

2010-05-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

The concensus of political pundits from the Vietnamese-American voters for relevant candidates are as follows (Note that the concensus reflects view within the VA community only and might or might not represent the general conventional wisdom):

Little Saigon in Orange County

68th District, Assembly

- Phu Nguyen (D)
- Allan Mansoor (R)

47th District, US Congressional

- Loretta Sanchez (D)
-Van Tran (R)

Orange County Clerk-Recorder

- Hugh Nguyen (R)

Little Saigon in San Jose

City Council D7

- Madison Nguyen (D)
- Minh Duong (R)

City Council D5

- Xavier Campos (D)
- Magdalena Carresco (D)

Santa Clary County District Attorney

- Jeff Rosen (D)

San Jose Mayor

- Thomas Nguyen (D) will pick up about 7,000 votes. But Chuck Reed, the current mayor will win at minimum 60%.

US Senate

- Carly Fiorina (R)

California Governor

- Meg Whitman (R)
- Jerry Brown (D)

D7 Council Race is for Madison Nguyen to Lose

2010-05-31T10:37:00.000-07:00

Recently, Councilmember Nguyen has been heard on local radio both in Vietnamese and American shows crying openly and blaming the people who are running against her really putting too much stress and not allowing her to do her work, after all she is a just a woman trying to do her job.

In Vietnamese radio and print media, she has been complaining loudly that the accusation that she is not supporting the community is not true and the stress has forcing her to put on hold of having a family. At 35 years old, she sobbed openly on air that she really wanted to start a family. This is not the first time that the voters have heard Nguyen on the radio crying for sympathy.   She did it during the recall campaign and it worked well.

In the meantime, her supporters have been unleashing a withering attack against Minh Duong. The biggest attack so far, besides Minh Duong is a communist sympathizer, is claiming that the business dispute between Minh Duong and his one time political consultant shows that he is not a goog businessman.   The case is in court at the moment with Minh Duong stating that the consultant's billing is bogus and without merit.

As an incumbent, Nguyen has raised close to the maximum limit of $95,000 for her campaign. That is twice as much as Minh Duong. And with a tremendous advantage with name recognition and support from the powerful South Bay Labor Council, the Democratic Party and the majority of the city council, she is clearly a favorite to win it all.   LSI predicted that she would beat back the recall, LSI now predicts that she would win the primary unless the voters decide not to have the unproductive status quo of controversy and budget deficit while allowing special interest groups controlling the city hall at the taxpayer's expense.

V-Times to Minh Duong: Communist Sympathizer (Part II)

2010-05-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

An interesting article written this week by Lam van Sang of the weekly newspaper V-Times (One of a very few newspapers that does not have a website) titled : "The Past History of Minh Duong" raised issues with Minh Duong about his contract disputes with a political consulting group in Southern California. But it also took a swipe at him for being a communist sympathizer. The reason as Sang stated - "he is known for not having or wearing the Freedom Flag during public parades". The Freedom Flag is of course the old Republic of Vietnam flag before 1975 before the current communist government replaced it with the now official yellow star and red color flag.

Minh Duong, unlike other candidates, does not wrap himself around the Freedom Flag. His dad of course was a Vietnamese veteran and he does not think he needs the flag waving jingoism to solve real issues facing the city and its people. He occasionally wears a small pin that has both the American Flag and the Freedom Flag side by side. Here is a picture of him at the recent Tet Parade in San Jose. Notice, he certainly was not wearing the Freedom Flag around his neck or on his body like other candidates.

Is Minh Duong a Communist Sympathizer?

2010-05-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

An article recently written by Vietnam Daily, one of the oldest and most profitable Vietnamese-American newspapers in San Jose, raised a question whether Minh Duong is a sympathizer of the communist government in Vietnam. The article was disguised as an interview of another D7 candidate. The crux of the article was to attack Minh Duong. One of the main points of the attack is since Minh Duong received the endorsement of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, the same organization that supported Hon Lien, the council candidate of D4 in 2006 who is well known to have close tie with the communist government, then Minh Duong must have close tie and work with the communist government.

Minh Duong has yet to response to such interesting feat of logic.

The article can be seen at http://www.vietnamdaily.com/

District 7 Drama - Charlie Ly and Madison Nguyen

2010-05-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

With a little bit more than a week to go, the city council race is heating up in D7 with Minh Duong and his supporters taking the beating literally. First it was Minh Duong's mom who had her car's window smashed in front of Minh Duong's house. Then Dr. Ho Vu, a supporter of Minh Duong, happened to park his car in front of Minh Duong's campaign office recently. Within a few hours, his window was also smashed. The police was called to the scene and case report was filed.

There have been a lot of email by Charlie Ly attacking Minh Duong both in Vietnamese and in English. He flooded the mainstream media, ethnic media as well as different political organizations about Minh Duong and his business disputes. The interesting thing is Charlie Ly lives in San Bruno which is not even in the same county as San Jose. Sign-in record showed that he visited Madison Nguyen's office at least 3 times last year. He knows his way around the city with his email pinpoint to various department heads of the city as well as of Santa Clara County. Some of his innuendos are politically twisted but kudos to him since it would take a person of knowledge and free time to go through public record, find the information and then twisted them to become negative political issues.

And thene there was an incident in which Charlie Ly was caught putting Madison Nguyen sign illegally on somebody's lawn without permission. The owner confronted Charlie Ly, he immediately yelled at her and threatened to beat her up. She promptly took out her phone and took a picture of him. She had filed a complain with the police. Here is a picture of him running away as she took picture of him after he had threaten to beat her up.

Both Minh Duong's mom and his wife are scared since they are worried for their safety with all the vandalism and threats by anynomous e-mail posting. But again this is small town politics and these types of intimidation happen. What suprising is why beating up on Minh Duong and his family since he is clearly not the front-runner? Why would Charlie Ly from San Bruno spend so much time and effort attacking Minh Duong?

A footnote: Here is another picture of Charlie Ly in one of the communty meetings in December 2009 when he suddenly erupted into profanity and proclaimed certain people in the meeting are agents of the communist government

A CIA Spy Working Against Her own Dad and his Government

2010-05-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

A Thousand Tears Falling by Dang My Dung

http://www.yungkrall.com/

All Quiet On The D7 Council Race

2010-05-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

While District 5 council race heating up with dirty political tricks, the District 7 council race is eerily quiet and basically stale in comparison. The front-runner Councilmember Madison Nguyen has not been active with her radio and newspaper ads. She has more than $65,000 at her disposal. Nguyen of course has a great name recognition and is confident to win it out rigth in the primary. Meanwhile Minh Duong is working hard to gather as much vote as he can while dealing with a couple of anynomous dirty hit pieces against him. The hit pieces have been in the form of mass e-mail to news media, political and business organizations and Internet forum. The other three candidates are campaigning within their own ethnic group and so far have not outreached to the rest of the community.

With little more than 2 weeks to go, LSI does not expect any last minute uproar in the D7 race considering that the conventional wisdom already predicts Nguyen and Duong would be in the run-off. If there is a high turn-out , the conventional wisdom expects Duong to have a very good chance to close the gap between him and Nguyen.

Hit Piece Against Magdalena Carrasco

2010-05-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

San Jose is a town that tends to be controlled politcally by South Bay Labor Council and those who oppose them would tend to pay the consequences. The message is loud and clear to District 5 candidate Magdalena Carrasco this week as she is heading toward the home stretch against South Bay Labor Council's candidate Xavier Campos.

Just a little background, Xavier is the little brother of Nora Campos, the termed-out D5 councilmember. Of course Nora Campos along with Madison Nguyen are little sisters of Cindy Chavez when it comes to politically pecking order and patronage. And Cindy Chavez is the head of Labor Council and they both have been known for infamous political hit piece and dirty political tactics.

Vietnamese-American voters in D5 this week received a flyer from what appeared to be from Magdalena Carrasco's campaign. It was very poorly done both on graphics and contents. But the main emphasis was a Vietnamese Communist Flag positioned next to Carrasco. Representing about 10% of the votes in D5 and in what expects to be a closely contested race, the flyer was clearly designed to hurt Carrasco with the Vietnamese-American voters by associating her with the communist government. The communist flag is considered to be offensive within the Vietnamese-American community

Thomas Nguyen, a community leader, first took notice of the flyer and alerted the Carrasco's campaign. Magdalena Carrasco emphatically said that the flyer was not from her campaign. Whoever it is definitely knew what they were doing and is smart enough not to send the flyer in bulk mail so that it would not be traceable. They simply put a standard $0.44 stamp on each flyer.

Jeff Rosen Endorse by Vietnamese-American Community

2010-05-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

This is a content of an email announcement by a coalition of Vietnamese-Americans who were at the heart of the Madison Nguyen recall - LSI usually call them the Recall Team.

" VietvotersPAC is pleased to announce our endorsement of Jeff Rosen for District Attorney of Santa Clara County.

The Vietnamese American Community of Northern California has been underrepresented in many areas of governments. There is a lack of diversity in the Police Department, The District Attorney Office, the Judiciary Committee, Santa Clara County and San Jose government. VietvotersPAC strive to mobilize candidates and government representatives that share our values and concerns of public safety, ethics, conflict of interest, job growth and our community calling card, FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney office has lost touch with the Vietnamese American Community during the last 3 years. Police brutality and abuse were not addressed until video evidence come to light. Campaign irregularity, voter fraud and lying at City Council hearing complaints went unanswered. The stonewalling tactic employed by the District Attorney for the Daniel Pham police related shooting is the last straw that broke the camel's back. Not only has the current administration reversed the earlier stance of open Grand Jury proceeding and community input for Vietnamese victim shooting at the hand of the San Jose Police Department - a procedure implemented by former District Attorney George Kennedy in light of questionable shooting death of Bich Cau Chao Nguyen in 2003, the Vietnamese community were kept totally in the dark for 6 agonizing months amidst protest and letter writing campaign to "sunshine" facts related to the Daniel Pham police shooting incident. In fact, Dolores Carr spoke openly against the proposed sunshine reform at the September 2009 San Jose City Council that, if passed, would have shed some much needed light for the family members of Daniel Pham and the Vietnamese American community's demand for justice and accountability.

Jeff Rosen exemplified the core value of honesty and integrity that is currently lacking in the incumbent Dolores Carr. His lifelong dedication to justice and accountability as a respected and experienced prosecutor is beyond reproach and will provide the strong leadership anchor Santa Clara County need in this time of crisis. Jeff’s fresh approach to openness and transparency in government, his strong commitment to diversity and his willingness to address controversial issues head-on with the community without Press liaison is the answer VietvotersPAC has been searching for the Vietnamese American Community of Northern California. Jeff Rosen will serve well to restore trust and pride to the District Attorney office."

Minh Duong - Can he stand up to Labor Unions and Madison Nguyen?

2010-05-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

It is a known fact that San Jose local politics is controlled by the powerful labor unions - in particular, the South Bay Labor Council. With their established machinery and money, they can raise a lot ot money at will and wield tremendous political power. In the last local election, the 2009 Recall of Madison Nguyen, Labor Unions helped Nguyen raised over $400,000 with most of the money coming from outside of San Jose to defeat the recall effort. Now with the city facing another budget deficit of over $100 million (With the majority of the funding going to support an unsustainable rich benefits and pension funds that are overly endowed to city union workers at the expense of the taxpayers), Labor Unions have a keen interest to keep its influence more than ever to prepare for a budget cut fight.

Minh Duong, an eloquent fiscal conservative, pro-business Republican, is running against Madison Nguyen for the council seat in District 7. He is considered as an underdog by the conventional wisdom. Nguyen expects herself to be able to win the election outright in the primary. After all, Nguyen not only has the support of Labor Unions but also labor-friendly councilmembers like Sam Liccardo, Nora Campos, Rose Herrera, Judy Chirco, etc.... She also has the support of the Democratic Party and even the Republican Pete Constant.

With the Vietnamese-American voting base splitting between him and another Vietnamese-American candidate - Patrick Phu Le, Minh Duong's best chance is coming in second if he can mobilized his Republican base as well as the the majority of the Vietnamese-American voters.

It has been a very quiet campaign with Madison Nguyen leading the money game with over $65,000 raised. Patrick Phu Le has raised about $45,000 (of which $20,000 is his own money) while Minh Duong has over $25,000 (of which $10,000 is loan to himself).

Minh Duong, despite his clear practical vision as a businessman and the ability to carry a fresh to-the-point message that can instill new ideas in order to bring changes, he still fights a tough uphill battle against a powerful and tricky politician in Madison Nguyen. She can invoke retribution against those who cross her yet can manipulate people's emotion with her "I am a powerless and humble minority woman who are being unjustly criticized".

At the end of the day, this race and other city-wide races will be decided by the voters asking the questions:" Do I want to keep the status quo of the political establishment and the political leaders that continue to control the city with the same policies and agenda? Especially in a time where the city continously provides less services while could not stop enriche itself with unrealistic and unreasonable benefits at the taxpayer's expense"

Knowing the vunerability of San Jose voters at the skillful manipulation of messages by powerful political consultants like Vic Aljouny and tricky politicians like Madison Nguyen, the answer is most likely yes - another big election win for Labor Unions in the primary.

Minh Duong and San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce

2010-04-22T23:13:00.000-07:00

In recent press release by San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, Minh Duong is now officially endorsed by SJSV for the District 7 council seat.

This was a surprise since Councilmember Madison Nguyen received the full support of SJSV against the recall. At the candidate forum, Patrick Phu Le, Madison Nguyen and Minh Duong faced tough questions about the economy and business development vision. Nguyen despite having many friends who are members of the board of directors, could not muster enough support. Her political dependence to Labor Unions and allegiance to Cindy Chavez, the head of South Bay Labor Unions, did not help also.

___________________________________________________________

SJSV ChamberPAC: Minh Duong Secures Endorsement for District 7 Council Seat

SAN JOSE – San Jose Silicon Valley ChamberPAC has endorsed City Council Candidate Minh Duong for the District 7 council seat after concluding that Candidate Duong represents ChamberPAC’s business positions on pension & benefit reform, business fee management & cost reduction to encourage improved business retention and expansion and contracting out of non-essential city services for the City of San Jose.

"During the current severe business downturn, having a councilmember representing District 7 who will embrace business friendly policies will help lead the city out of its current economic recession and facilitate improved financial stability for businesses in District 7 and throughout the City." stated Pat Sausedo, VP Public Policy for the Chamber

ChamberPAC determined that they were not able to endorse the incumbent councilmember due to her consistent failure to support ChamberPAC’s core business positions on public policy issues coming before council.