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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

In China, Apple makes stoves?

Another case of Trade Mark infringement. And yes, I know about the iPad shake down.
In China, Apple makes stoves? - LA Times

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Chen case: Asian-American soldiers endure bias

Chen case: Asian-American soldiers endure bias - SG Tribune
Words fail me. A good family friend of mine was a Captain in the Airforce (30 years ago), and is ethnic Chinese. His family dates back to the Gold Rush. Another friend of mine in school (20 years ago), 1st generation Taiwanese, was in the Marines and was very proud of it.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Asian American Journalists Association releases guidelines on Jeremy Lin media coverage

Thursday, February 23, 2012

China's new sports problem - Stop the Linsanity?

A delightful article which reminds me why I read the Economist. Insightful, as well as funny.

China's new sports problem
Stop the Linsanity? 
The Economist

Great point, that Jeremy Lin in China never would have become a basketball star. And his Taiwaneseness and Christianity are not the right message for China's soft power.


I also found out my daughter was following Jeremy Lin's Youtube channel before he became famous. Small world.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Rich-Poor Divide Starts With Education?

I don't agree with this, since I see a lot of Asian students, who's parents were not rich or educated, do amazingly well in school. I believe the home environment with high expectations is a huge factor in the educational achievements of children. Money is helpful for tutors and such, but it does not create the necessary attitude. I have seen some very rich kids, who do so so in school.
And many lower achieving school districts actually get more money per student than others (such as Diamond Bar where my daughter went), but achieve less. And home schooling can also have some amazing results.

The Rich-Poor Divide Starts With Education - Atlantic Mobile

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Chinese Labor, Cheap No More - NYTimes.com

Good article, many businesses are relocating manufacturing from China due to cost, some even back to the US.
Chinese Labor, Cheap No More - NYTimes.com

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Chinese couples come to U.S. to have children through surrogacy

On Sunday night we were going home and saw a lot of pregnant Chinese women on Colima, a couple of groups of them. There is a huge population of Chinese coming to the US to give birth to give their kids US Citizenship.
Chinese couples come to U.S. to have children through surrogacy - latimes.com

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Wal-Mart raises its stake in a Chinese e-retailer

Interesting, Wal-Mart now owns 51% of Yihaodian. Note, the Chinese government still needs to approve tthe deal.

Wal-Mart raises its stake in a Chinese e-retailer - Internet Retailer

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

How many Home Schoolers in the US

I was curious on the numbers of home schooling students in the US. The statistics vary depending on who is giving them out.

What I found:
  1. Home Schooling is growing. Per one statistic home schooling is growing at 7% per year, with the total school population growing at 1% per year.
  2. Total student population in the US is 85 Million for students age 5-17 years old.
  3. Home schooling estimates range from 4% of the student population 1%
  4. 350,000 to 2 Million kids are home schooled.
  5. States use different methods of measuring numbers of  home school students
  6. 20% (estimated) of home school students enroll in public schools at least part time
  7. Some states allow home school students to participate in some activities at public schools (sports, etc.)
  8. 20% of private school students may be home schooled
References:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/home-schooling/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling_international_status_and_statistics
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7315029490266806661
http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Feb11/Art_Feb11_23.html
http://school.familyeducation.com/home-schooling/alternative-education/56352.html
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009030.pdf

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SNL mocks the Jeremy Lin double standard

Great video to watch, mocking the double standard on racism on coverage of Jeremy Lin. SNL mocks the Jeremy Lin double standard - MSN



References:
Jeremy Lin isn't fazed by ESPN headline condemned as racist - LA Times

For Knicks' Jeremy Lin, success is couched in a whole new way - LA Times

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Interracial Marriage Hits All-time High

I have noticed a lot of ChildBook's customers are mixed couples, like my wife and me.

For the children, race loses its meaning. A high school friend of mine was Half Japanese and English, and she chose the racial classification based on what she felt would help her the most. And I agree, its blurring the color line. Its interesting to watch the politics on this. President Obama, for example, chose African American on his census form, even though his Mother was White.
Interracial Marriage Hits All-time High - Yahoo

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Why East Asian Students Are Superior

The comments are thought provoking, the article so so. What I have seen is the Singapore Math Books are much better than the US ones.

Why East Asian Students Are Superior - WSJ

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Traveling Light in a Time of Digital Thievery

Scary...

Traveling Light in a Time of Digital Thievery - NY Times

Everybody knows that if you are doing business in China, in the 21st century, you don’t bring anything with you. That’s ‘Business 101’ — at least it should be.”       
 Jacob Olcott, a cybersecurity expert at Good Harbor Consulting:

“If a company has significant intellectual property that the Chinese and Russians are interested in, and you go over there with mobile devices, your devices will get penetrated,” 
Joel F. Brenner, formerly the top counterintelligence official in the office of the director of national intelligence.

And a related article:
How Much Have Foreign Hackers Stolen? - NY Times

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China clamps down on foreign telly on its channels • The Register

I met a group of US investors who had done some amazing work getting foreign programming into China, and then met failure due to political issues.  Very sad.

China clamps down on foreign telly on its channels • The Register

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Hollywood Bows to China Soft Power

What I have noticed is Hollywood is great at finding suckers investors that often lose money with the wonders of Hollywood accounting. But China's leadership is willing to hurt entertainment companies that they feel are presenting an anti-Chinese image. Red Dawn is a great example (digitally changing Chinese to North Koreans in the movie amazes me).
Hollywood Bows to China Soft Power - The Diplomat

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Chinese Hackers Suspected In Long-Term Nortel Breach

Wow! 10 years of access. Since this has been deemed material by the SEC, more companies should be coming out with details of when they have been hacked.

Chinese Hackers Suspected In Long-Term Nortel Breach - Wall Street Journal

 Decade-long Nortel hack 'traced to China' - The Register

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What Parents Want: Evidence From Child Adoption

I missed the lecture, but hopefully Cal Tech will post this on iTunes store, some older presentations (until 2010) streaming theater site soon.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 8:00 PM
Beckman Auditorium
Free

ShareThis

Presented By:Caltech Committee on Institute Programs

Adoption is an important phenomenon in the United States. Approximately 2.5 percent of all children, or 1.6 million, are adopted. The adoption process is fascinating for social scientists, allowing inspection of fundamental questions about preferences of parents for child attributes, such as race and gender, that are difficult to identify with biological chilen, where parents have limited freedom of choice. A new data set enables us to examine parents' attitudes and behavior in the domestic adoption process, while providing policymakers an evidence-driven base for evaluating the implications of highly debated policies, such as those restricting adoption by single-sex and foreign couples.

Leeat Yariv is Professor of Economics at Caltech.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

San Francisco New Years Parade

Cute pictures! My daughter thought it was a bit disorganized, but she is comparing it to the Pasadena Rose Parade. We were up in the Bay Area over the weekend.
Chinese New Year parade - SF Chronicle

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In-N-Out vs. CaliBurger: Double-Double trouble in Shanghai

Which is why it's important if you are going to copy, to not have a presence in the US.

A competitor of mine copied my web site, fortunately they are US based.  Frustrating!

In-N-Out vs. CaliBurger: Double-Double trouble in Shanghai - LA Times

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Happy Valentines Day


Monday, February 13, 2012

Jeremy Lin and Moneyball

Asian's Discriminated in Medical School Acceptance?

Do Medical School Acceptance Rates Reflect Preferences for Preferred Minority Groups? - Carpe Diem

For the average GPA, of around 3.53, the admittance rate for Aisans was 30%. 35.9% for Whites, Hispanice 68.7%, and African American's 85.9%

 

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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Tiger Moms vs. 'Bébé' moms

I read the WSJ article on French techiques for child rearing.  Basically don't over pamper your kids.

Tiger Moms vs. 'Bébé' moms - LA Times
After the success of Amy Chua's 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother', is America ready for the French version, Pamela Druckerman's 'Bringing Up Bébé'?

Why French Parents Are Superior - WSJ
While Americans fret over modern parenthood, the French are raising happy, well-behaved children without all the anxiety. Pamela Druckerman on the Gallic secrets for avoiding tantrums, teaching patience and saying 'non' with authority.

Book Review: Bringing Up Bébé - WSJ.com

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After College, What?

I am glad my daughter is going to a challenging college. And that she took a challenging course load in High School.
After College, What? - The Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
A new study shows that students who coast through college often struggle after graduating.

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Teaching Tips

Good article that has some good teaching advice:
  • Mini quizes are good (lots of them)
  • Write about what you learned (journaling)
  • Teaching others is a great way to learn
The challenge is all of the above does take more effort by a teacher, vs. just straight lecturing. Imagine if you have a large class.

Harvard Conference Seeks to Jolt University Teaching - The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Lantern Festival 2012

Amazing pictures!

Lantern Festival 2012 - Sacremento Bee

My favorite!
 

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Sending manufacturing overseas is not the easy road - latimes.com

Good article. Power Supplies is a very commoditized product, where what matters for the most part is price, price, and price. And China does have a lower cost of manufacturing. The problems mentioned in manufacturing overseas were great points. A former employer of mine had similar issues when they tried to outsource manufacturing to Mexico.

Sending manufacturing overseas is not the easy road - latimes.com

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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Year of the Dragon is also the Year of the Baby

Wow - 250% increase in IVF patients at one clinic!
The Year of the Dragon is also the Year of the Baby - LA Times
Many Asian American families are preparing to grow in the Year of the Dragon, which according to centuries-old tradition is a particularly promising year to have a child.

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Hail to the dragon!

Cute article from the Economist
Hail to the dragon! Chinese New Year - The Economist

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Chinese New Year Unique For Adoptive Families

Nice article

Chinese New Year Unique For Adoptive Families - NPR

My favorite resource to find out more on Chinese Customs beyond, we always do this is:

Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide To Chinese American Celebrations And Culture Good Luck Life: The Essential Guide To Chinese American Celebrations And Culture
Our Price: $14.95


Excellent book!
  • The most complete book I have seen on Chinese Culture!
  • Highly recommended.  Covers Chinese Celebrations & Culture A-Z!

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Court orders shutdown of Chinatown bus service

In the US, do not upset a judge.  They have a huge amount of power, it does not matter what level of government you are at.

Court orders shutdown of Chinatown bus service - Philly.com

Feds: Chinatown bus service ignored shutdown order - WSJ

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After the Lunar New Year, Chinatown Schools See More Students

After the Lunar New Year, Schools in Chinatown May See More Students - NY Times
Same thing happens in LAUSD after the Christmas Holiday at the mostly Hispanic School I did my student teaching, many students went back to Mexico for the holidays.  This may be out of date.

And a lot of people also went back to Taiwan for the elections.

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Friday, February 3, 2012

Cal State Fullerton - 39% Less Funding

39% less funding at Cal State Fullerton! Which explains why my wife has been getting so many fund raising letters! CSUF has an excellent accounting program.

CSUF: School implements cost savings to manage new dynamic - OC Register

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Chinese tradition doesn't fall victim to economic woes

Wow on the $700 in Shanghai via Red Envelopes!

Chinese tradition doesn't fall victim to economic woes - Downtown Express

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