DATELINE: SAIGON -- Little Saigon that is. In the largest Vietnamese enclave outside of Vietnam they remember the Vietnam War as the American War. Spanning the three Orange County, California cities of Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, the residents of this communist-free (by legislation) stronghold have little use for War Hero candidate John Kerry. Chock full of beauty schools, cafes, and ubiquitous Pho restaurants (the classic Vietnamese soup), the pre-communist national flag proudly waves next to the Stars and Stripes above the Veterans memorial at Westminster City Hall.

Was on the road for the whole day yesterday and today I'm trying to catch up with work. But this article I feel an obligation to share it with you guys...

In the midst of political accusations going back and forth between the two camps during this election time, the article addressed Vietnam situation right on the point and solely for what is really going on there. Yes, it's about Vietnam War but definitely not what you expect to see from either Kerry or Bush campaign. But instead of focusing on a war that happened 35 years ago, the author pointed out the real war that is going on in Vietnam today.

Update(2:15pm 08/24): I'm one of those guys who anticipated to watch Moore's "Fareiheit 9//11" when it first came out. Conclusion about the movie: well done in an artistic sense but purely extreme left propaganda. Full of misrepresentations, distortions and media spins (something Mr. More is really good at).

How about this book from the SwiftBoat Veterans for Truth? Oh yeah, I just placed my order and I think everyone should read it.  It's already on Amazon's best selling book list. Caution: You might have trouble getting one at local bookstores.

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So much has been said about Kerry's war service and his anti-war activities. The Kerry campaign chose to highlight his VN war record, surrounding the candidate with teams of war veterans, (although the majority of veterans still support Bush) in an effort to paint their candidate as a strong leader with experience and honorable character. In the meantime, the left has spent tremendous amount of money, through "independent" groups operating under the 527 tax code, to launch character attacks at President Bush. Till recently, the left has mostly dominated the media, especially on the Internet, with the media, by nature quite liberal, usually lean on their side.

Guess what? The conservative has fought back. After spending quite some time to criticize the inappropriate usage of the legal hole in campaign finance law to fund anti-Bush campaigns, they quickly learn that the best way to fight back is to adopt the same strategy. And so, with Michael Moore coming out months ago spreading his extreme radical left propaganda through his "Fareinheit 9/11" documentary, now we have the SwiftBoat veterans getting so much media attention + surprisingly + with their stories and testimonies about Kerry's war involvement.

Whether you agree with them or not, whether you believe what they say are truth or not, it doesn't matter. They have the right to speak. For many reasons and here are some of mine...First, it's about a war they paid much sacrifice to fight for, they do have a right to present their version of the story. Second, VN war veterans have returned to the US being labeled as war criminals thanks to the effort of anti-war activists. So if the anti-war presidential candidate is using the VN war as a key issue on his running platform, we expect to have a counter opinion force to balance and challenge his credibility. And third, this is a wonderful opportunity for Vietnamese Americans to ever make a difference. Whether we can seize this opportunity to bring our issues on the table or not, it's entirely up to us.

And I am not going to sit by and wait for things to happen. How about you?

Below is an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page:  

"So much is changing and will change, but so much endures, and transcends time." Now as then, the United States' purpose in foreign policy is to chart a new course in a world "lit by lightning." U.S. foreign policy must convey the dynamism and urgency of this new century. This purpose reflects neither the hubris that comes with great power nor the conviction that our power and resources are without end. A Republican foreign policy should unite us at home and gather friends and influence abroad for the great project of making a better and freer world for the next generation."

Some Vietnamese Americans are caught between two identities.
By Nguyen Khoa Thai Anh. Reprinted from Nguoi Viet Online.

I suppose being a person of two worlds — Vietnam and America — bicultural and bilingual, does have its rewards and drawbacks. But that’s only if we take advantage of the two worlds. We can embrace our heritage or we can pretend to be American, or rather, the faceless Asian in the multitude of hyphenated Americans, part and parcel of this larger melting pot.

Her blogs are thoughtful and so surreal. Her look is just mesmerizing. And her poems ... full of emotion and youth energy.

The translated poems are in courtesy of Ho An.

This is an interesting site some of my friends set up. It mainly focused on the controversy surrounding Senator Kerry and VN human rights issue. It was attacked.  Then back up a few weeks ago. Then some pro-Kerry "hackivist" hacked into it again. It was up again today. Talking about dedication from both sides huh?  ;-)  Recommend you to pay it a visit.

www.nokerry.net

Not to say that I'm against Kerry, so for you Kerry supporters out there, I'll feature your anti-Bush website too if you send me the link.

Update (Mon. 08/23): More on the smile, I found this in Patrick's "The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom":

The smile is a very important feature of the human face. But because of human intelligence, even that good part of human nature can be used in the wrong way, such as sarcastic smiles or diplomatic smiles, which only serve to create suspicion. I feel that a genuine, affectionate smile is very important in our day-to-day lives. How one creates that smile largely depends on one's own attitude. It is illogical to expect smiles from others if one does not smile onself. Therefore, one can see that many things depend on one's own behavior.

This little book, surprisingly, is filled with thoughtful observations and teachings from the Dalai Lama himself. Reading it just for a few minutes these past few nights really instilled in me that sense of peace and clarity of mind that I have been looking for.

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Ket Doan people got back to me about voter registration drive at their summer camp. 5-10 mins is all I got but I figure that's enough to say what I need to say. Phewww, this saves me so much time preparing the Power Point presentation. I would do it nonetheless but not this week.

Came across this cool site today! Many of us have a friend or know someone fighting in Iraq now.

President Bush  speaks at the Grand Rapids Community College in Grand Rapids, MI at 3:25 pm