BANZAI

MANAA organized the first street protest against FOX's new television game show, BANZAI, on Thursday.  The show, which is modeled on "crazy Japanese game shows," is actually an import from England, and was created by a white Anglo.  [MANAA said the portrayals used in the show are offensive stereotypes, and also, that there are not enough realistic portrayals of Asians, especially Asian men, on TV and the Movies.]

[insert audio here]

On the BANZAI internet message forums, a user reported that Sprint PCS had already pulled their advertising from the program.  Individuals are being encouraged to contact the sponsors to pull out from the show.

Also, MANAA has called for APIs to pressure local Fox affiliates to pull the program from their broadcast schedule.

For more information about this protest and boycott, see WWW.MANAA.ORG.

Also, There was no official announcement, but, people were discussing continuing the demonstration next Thursday morning.

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LIL TOKYO JAIL, SOUTH EAST ASIAN DEPORTATION

There are a couple petitions out there regarding jails and APIs.

The online petition against the proposed Lil Tokyo Jail had 6886 signatures the last time I checked.  We'll have a link to it on the Aziatik Rhythmz website: www.aZiatiKrhythmZ.ORG

http://www.petitiononline.com/LAJtown/petition.html

There's another petition there as well.... A petition against the deportation of Cambodian American prisoners.  

http://www.petitiononline.com/seadep/petition.html

We'll have a link to it on the Aziatik Rhythmz website: www.aZiatiKrhythmZ.ORG

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A COP THREATENS TO CLOSE THE JAIL

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks is threatening to close the East County Jail, and the cities of Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, which the jail serves, are upset.  He says there's not enough money to keep it open, despite a 3.75% budget increase this year.  According to Brooks, costs have risen 17%, more than four times the budget increases.  In retaliation, the cities filed civil suits against the Sheriff's department.

According to the Ventura Sheriff's department's statistics, the city of Moorpark, in 2002, saw a 32.5% decline in violent and property crimes, and a 5% decrease overall.  Thousand Oaks saw a 7.6% decrease in violent crime, a 7.8% increase in property crimes, and a 10.8% increase overall.  Both are affluent communities, with Thousand Oaks boasting a median income of $95,000, and Moorpark with $76,000, both above the Ventura County average.

Brooks was not available for comment.

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CHINESE DAILY NEWS UNION ORGANIZING

Newspaper workers at the Chinese Daily News, in Monterey Park, held a big rally on July 9th to fight for their right to unionize.  The Chinese Daily News is America's largest Chinese language paper, and their staff of 150 have been trying to organize since 2001.  The paper is trying to avoid unionization, and votes to unionize are always being appealed to the NLRB.  They're playing hardball, and the paper faces charges on nine counts of unfair labor practices.  The workers have voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with the Newspaper Guild, a part of the Communication Workers of America Union.  The CWA helped organize the rally to raise awareness among public officials.

If you'd like to support this effort call Communication Workers of America 562-944-1300. (repeat)

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APALA ART

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, also known as APALA, is looking for artwork to display, and artwork to auction off at their next convention in August.

Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Immigrant Worker's Freedom Rides.  The Freedom Rides are a project of the AFL-CIO.  Their goal is to change the laws so that immigrant workers can get citizenship more easily, and have increased rights at work.

Artist who want to support APALA should call Liza at 323-660-2076 to arrange submissions.  (repeat)

http://www.immigrantworkersfreedomrides.com