T hirty years ago, the United States, then under the leadership of president Ronald Reagan, gave my family refuge. We settled in Toledo, Ohio, with help from the UNHCR and through a policy decision to shelter refugees of special humanitarian concern, the refugee act of 1980. Years later, my parents relearned their craft of medicine. I grew up to […]
Refugees in America, then and now Read More »
Well, America, I thought you were just curious with those dystopian films and tv shows you loved to watch: zombie plagues, Nazis winning WWII, a post nuclear disaster earth. It wasn’t just curiosity, though. You really wanted to see it all blow up. And so here we are, observing our elected prime snake oil salesman ascending unimpeded to the
The apocalypse is here, may it be short-lived Read More »
Some thoughts about my country as I get ready to leave it on a 16 hours flight, in the midst of a crazy week of elections: This has been the absolute craziest month in politics I’ve witnessed, and I was here in the states, certifiably depressed, for the Gore/Bush and Supreme Court debacle. I honestly don’t know what’ll happen
Thoughts on American politics, sports, and culture as I depart Read More »
T he last time that I voted on site was the election of 2004, and I voted for John Kerry. My state agreed with me, but it wouldn’t be enough. Bush took the overall electoral map, which looked overwhelmingly red after the election finished. The day after that election, my students looked like they had been put
Some thoughts while waiting in line to vote Read More »
L ast month, I was surprised to find that the first Trump supporters I know of turned out to be Vietnamese Americans. They’re a middle aged couple, family friends, and while I’ve always known them to be Republicans, (most Vietnamese who left the country for political reasons naturally gravitate to the Republican party) the tenacity of their support for Trump
The conservatism of Vietnamese Americans Read More »