Monthly Archives: September 2015

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: My scoop on Sherry Chen; After spy charges dropped, her employer, the National Weather Service, still wants her fired; See the documents here. And Scoop No.2: Federal spy charges against Temple University’s Xiaoxing Xi to be dropped, sources say.

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Sherry Chen, 59,  whose given name is Xiafen, is the Chinese American scientist who was accused of spying in 2014.

Then in March 2015, after pleading not guilty, the charges were dropped. “Prosecutorial discretion,” was the official reason given by the federal prosecutors.

But life was still on a yo-yo for Chen, who was left dangling on paid leave, but not on the job.

This week we found out what her employers at the National Weather Service want to do.

Fire her.

The spying  charges (related to use of another’s password to gain access to sensitive material on dams and reservoirs) have been dropped against her. But now  Chen has been given notice at her job, and could be gone in 30 days.

Here is the first graph of the letter.

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Chen may still fight this personnel matter. But  once the taint of “spy” is placed on you, even as an allegation, it’s unlikely you’ll ever return to your same government workplace.

The government denies any racial profiling on Chen was involved.

But she continues to pay a price despite the dropping of all espionage charges against her.

Read my story for NBCNews.com’s Asian America site.

The story that ran 9/9/2015, also includes the scoop that the feds are dropping the spy charges against Temple University scientist Xiaoxing Xi.

New York Times posted “breaking story” on Temple prof on 9/11/15.

 

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, Filipino, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Remembering the Delano Grape Strike and the Filipino American leader who forged the way, Larry Itliong

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Fifty years ago on Sept. 8, the Filipino farm workers in Delano, Calif., began the historic Grape Strike that brought the civil rights movement to the fields.

Workers  had been used to working for less than a dollar an hour, but now demanded  a fair wage–$1.40 an hour. Or else.

A unanimous strike vote was taken on Sept. 7 in Delano’s Filipino Community Hall. On the next day, the workers were set. Two-thousand or so men and women  of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AFL-CIO) walked off the job.

Click here to read more about their leader.

Cesar Chavez?

Nope.

Larry Itliong, the unsung Filipino American labor leader of the strike.

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blog, Filipino, Linceblog: Following Tim Lincecum, SF Giants, sports

Linceblog: Tim Lincecum reportedly done for season. Giants too?

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The  Freak in healthier times dangled the ball and had a motion that would turn his whole body into a flame-throwing pitching machine.

But now with his health in question, Tim Lincecum–the best Major League Baseball player ever with Filipino blood– is done for the season, according to multiple reports.

And it could signal the end of his career  as a San Francisco Giant.

Lincecum, 31, a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner for being the best pitcher in the game, four-time All-Star, and a three-time World Series Champion, is being shutdown for the rest season, San Francisco Giants general manager Bobby Evans told the Chronicle.

Lincecum has been recovering from a hip injury and sought medical treatment on Wednesday to see if surgery may be required.

I saw Lincecum last week and tried to talk to him, but with headphones on, he was riding a white motorized rover-style scooter and zipped away.

Lincecum will be a free agent in 2016 and is likely to have pitched his last inning as a Giant.

That would be hard to fathom for faithful Filipino American fans, and others, who looked on Lincecum as their special Giants hero.

Picked tenth overall in the 2006 draft, Lincecum has been the face of the franchise for much of his nine seasons and compiled a 108-83 record, with a 3.61 ERA.

The Giants are known to reward their heroes for past efforts. But Lincecum this year is being paid $18 million.

Once his health is right, Lincecum may want to test the free-agent market, but it’s unlikely he’ll command from other teams whatever the Giants might offer him to keep the fan-base happy.

Then again, the Giants got rid of Mays and brought him back. Baseball is strange that way. I could envision Lincecum trying Seattle, his home base, and a new league.

And then coming back to the Giants at the end.

But the most important thing now is his health. His hips were good enough for the motorized monorover. But just not ready for an MLB playoff drive.

Do they have Tommy John surgery for a pitcher’s hips?

As for the Giants, they may not be good enough for a last minute playoff drive. Three one-run defeats in a row to the Dodgers made for great baseball, but were heartbreaking.

The three games embodied the frustration of an entire season.  The Giants didn’t catch many breaks in the LA series and ended up falling just short. That could be the way the season ends, unless the disabled list clears and the Giants can muster one major push in September. The Giants with the second Wild Card last year have always been masters in “Just In Time.”

There may still be time. But they’ll need some luck too.

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, everything else, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: This week’s writing–Report says Asian Americans overcharged for SAT Prep; The slur on Asians by the Wall Street Journal; And the deportation cloud over Daniel Maher

SAT PREP OVERCHARGING:  It’s being called a “Tiger Mom Tax.”  There’s nothing illegal about unintended discrimination in online pricing, but that doesn’t make it right. I report on NBCNews.com’s Asian America section.

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TIME TO RETIRE ‘CHINK IN THE ARMOR.” : It’s ok if you’re a fashion reporter discussing the latest medieval designs (“What would Lancelot wear?” ) But when describing China’s president? No, no, Wall Street Journal. Here’s where we need an apology.

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DEPORTATION CLOUD:   Daniel Maher immigrated  to the U.S. from Macao when he was 2. But now China and ICE are using him as a political pawn and he can still be swept up and  deported at any time. Read my piece on NBCNews.com.