{"id":16735,"date":"2013-03-16T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-16T07:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/?p=16735"},"modified":"2018-10-14T22:00:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T05:00:43","slug":"what-happened-in-february-2013-some-news-and-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dvan.org\/2013\/03\/what-happened-in-february-2013-some-news-and-events\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happened in February 2013: Some News and Events"},"content":{"rendered":"
What happened in February 2013: news and events relating to Vietnamese at home and in the diaspora.<\/em><\/p>\n Okay, folks, for those of you who celebrated Valentine and didn’t get what you wanted from your sweetheart, don’t fret about it. Love isn’t all that great, especially, when it comes in the form of American chocolates. Just go buy yourself some Belgian chocolates; you won’t regret it like the way you regret your last love. Anyway, get over your disappointment and read some diasporic news below.<\/em><\/p>\n [It\u2019s time for our second subscriber drive. We\u2019re looking for 100 new subscribers for diaCRITICS, and we\u2019ll be giving away prizes<\/strong> to the 25th, 50th, 75th, and 100th new subscribers. Read more details.<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n \u2022 The 2013 Vietnamese International Film Festival launched on March 1<\/a>. The Festival runs April 4-7 and April 11-14.<\/p>\n \u2022 Professor Thuy Vo Dang<\/a>, the researcher\/project coordinator for the Vietnamese American Oral History Project (VAOHP)<\/a> at the University of California, Irvine, talked about preserving the Vietnamese American experience<\/a>. See Professor Dang in an interesting video interview<\/a> done in January 2013. [OCR<\/a>, WT<\/a>] [Photo by Ana Venegas\/OCR]<\/p>\n \u2022 Oakland Police falsely imprisoned Chau Van<\/a>. He’s suing them<\/a>. See Van and his lawyers at a press conference<\/a>. This could happen to any of us, but factoring in the anti-Asian sentiment in many communities in the U.S. the probability may be higher for Asian Americans. [SFG<\/a>, YN<\/a>, CNS<\/a>, HP<\/a>]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2022 Bao Nguyen is a person whose passion is “to do what’s right and criticize what’s wrong.”<\/a> I admired him when I saw him on the Public Broadcast Service documentary a few years ago. Nguyen continues to be inspirational. Dude, you rock! [Photo: John Gilhooley]<\/p>\n \u2022 Vietnamese Canadian Kim Nguyen\u2019s \u201cWar Witch\u201d<\/a> was one of the five nominees for the Oscar for best foreign-language film. [IW<\/a>, TS<\/a>, TGAM<\/a>, TDB<\/a>, THR<\/a>, FM,<\/a> NYT<\/a>]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Two funeral insurance scammers<\/a> in the San Jose Vietnamese community are sentenced. Taking advantage of our senior citizens is just plain despicable.<\/p>\n \u2022 “Misplaced” money<\/a> from the Orange County Vietnamese-American community is finally delivered to New York government officials to help victims of hurricane Sandy. [Photo: Steven Georges]<\/p>\n \u2022 A Long Island luxury shopping outlet pictorially misuses Vietnamese people<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 This is a hot story about a rooster and David Tran<\/a>. Okay, so it’s really about the founder of the Rooster-brand hot sauce. [Right photo: Nathanael Turner]<\/p>\n \u2022 Overseas Vietnamese students have been collecting books for children<\/a> in rural areas of Vietnam. <\/p>\n \u2022 The play “H\u00e0 N\u1ed9i m\u00f9a Gi\u00e1ng Sinh” (Christmas in Hanoi) by East West Players won the Future Playwriting Competition<\/a>. One of the main actors in the play is Long Nguy\u1ec5n, who played the lead role in Ham Tran’s 2006 film, “Journey from the Fall”<\/a> (V\u01b0\u1ee3t S\u00f3ng). [Photo: East West Players]<\/p>\n \u2022 Kim Phuc, an emblem of human suffering during the Vietnam War, chooses forgiveness<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Orange County physician Dr. Van Vu is under investigation<\/a> related to drug deaths of 16 fatal overdoses.<\/p>\n \u2022 Vietnamese LGBT members were sidelined<\/a> from the 2013 Tet parade in Westminster; nevertheless, many people in the parade overwhelmingly supported their presence. [OCR<\/a>, HP<\/a>, OCR<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u2022 Thang Dinh Tran’s map collections<\/a> may be used in the territorial dispute between Vietnam and China. [Photo: Ann Hermes]<\/p>\n \u2022 A story of how two Vietnamese-American lawyers worked towards a mutual contract<\/a>. [Photo: Matt Roth]<\/p>\n \u2022 The U.S. Marines wants to train in Vietnam<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Phi Tien Son’s film, Dam Me (Desire)<\/a>, will be competing among twelve international films<\/a> at the Francophone Film Festival in Hanoi<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Hanoi police department is taking drastic measures to change its image<\/a> of being the “most corrupt” organization in Vietnam. [BBC<\/a>, Time<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u2022 This temple in Hung Yen province has over 100 ancient soil-made Buddha statues<\/a> that are hundreds of years old.<\/p>\n \u2022 More unexploded U.S. bombs and mines have been found<\/a> in central Vietnam. Approximately 100,000 have killed or wounded by these UXOs since 1975. U.S. atrocities continue.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has banned six U.S.-based Vietnamese artists<\/a> from performing in Vietnam due to their appearances in the politically divisive Asia DVD series.<\/p>\n \u2022 The government’s solicitation for constitutional reforms was met with various and “rare open criticism[s].”<\/a> [ RFA<\/a>,<\/a> Bloomberg<\/a>,<\/a> VN<\/a>,<\/a> VN<\/a>]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 First, China claimed Vietnam’s and surrounding countries’ territories as theirs, then they sent their UFOs all over our skies, and now they are poisoning our land with strange seeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Vietnam has filed a dossier to UNESCO to recognize \u2018Don Ca Tai Tu\u2019<\/a> as an intangible cultural heritage.<\/p>\n \u2022 Photographer Maika Elan (Nguyen Thanh Hai)<\/a> won first prize in the Contemporary Issues Stories category of the 2012 World Press Photo Contest<\/a> for her \u201cThe Pink Choice\u201d collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 In one village, the after effects of war made widowers redefine long-held social-cultural norms<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Da Nang monk Thich Tu Nghiem hopes his collection of over 200 Buddhist statues<\/a> made from wood, silver, brass and even ox horn will “help younger generations explore the centuries-old culture and history of Buddhism.”<\/p>\n \u2022 Hat Xoan, a traditional style of ritual folk singing<\/a>, is being revived and passed down to younger generations.<\/p>\n \u2022 In early February, the Vietnamese government continued its campaign against dissidents and sentenced more pro-democracy activists to jail<\/a>. [LAT<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u2022 In one of its torturous tactics to curtail dissidents<\/a>, Vietnamese authorities arrested blogger Le Anh Hung and placed him in a mental institution. Le was released 12 days later<\/a>. [IFX<\/a>, OMCT<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u2022 Surprisingly, Vietnam freed a U.S.-trained human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh<\/a>, who had been in jail since 2010.<\/p>\n \u2022 A petition by Nguyen Van Hai<\/a>, a Vietnamese prominent jailed blogger, was smuggled out by the recently freed Vietnamese-American pro-democracy activist Nguyen Quoc Quan.<\/p>\n \u2022 In a sign of progress, Vietnam allowed Amnesty International<\/a> officials access to jailed dissidents.<\/p>\n \u2022 Trung Nguyen Group Corp., Vietnam\u2019s biggest coffee retailer, will open shops in Seattle, New York and Boston<\/a>. The company will face insurmountable obstacles given Americans’ aversion to foreign-name products.<\/p>\n \u2022 See photos of the first Starbucks coffee shop in Vietnam<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 Officials find it “boring”<\/a> when they have to repeat “the same cliches for almost every delegation.”<\/p>\n \u2022 A new fast method has been developed to test for leprosy before its symptoms manifest <\/a> in those infected. Please help our people in poor rural areas; if we don’t no one will. Read the pamphlet from Friends of Lepers in Vietnam<\/a> and an article about Vietnam’s forgotten victims<\/a> of leprosy. [MNW<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u2022 List of non-governmental organizations in Vietnam<\/a> from Wikipedia<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u2022 The first case of a so-called “functional cure” in an HIV-infected infant<\/a> may help pave the way to eliminating HIV infection in children. [NYT<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u2022 2012 Well-Being Index State Rankings<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 China has consistently rejected international legal arbitration because the imperialist regime knows it “does not have a strong case.”<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 “Richard Nixon . . . not just criminal, but treasonous too.”<\/a><\/p>\n [Special thanks to Viet Thanh Nguyen<\/a> for providing many of the news items.]<\/em><\/p>\n
\nViet Kieu<\/em> in the news<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nNews about Vietnam<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nOther News<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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