OC Blog

Vietnamese American Politicians also Against Casino

Deepa Bharath of the Orange County Register wrote another article today on the proposed casino project, an issue that is stirring up a lot of emotion in Central Orange County.  Not sure why it wasn't included in the Red County/OC Blog News Roundup.

After talking to a few of my friends in Little Saigon, I learned that the Vietnamese are not against building a casino because they hate gambling but it is because they love it too much.  A commenter named Lam Pho said it best, go to Bolsa Ave. and you will find many pockets of people gathering around to gamble through various card games and Chinese checkers.  This goes on year-round, not just during the annual Tet Festival.

I truly believe that the Garden Grove City Council should prohibit any sort of gambling in their City, especially when it is in such a close proximity with Disneyland, a family oriented tourist destination.

Furthermore, I am just uncomfortable with the idea of building an Indian-run casino on non-reservation land.  We need to draw a line in the sand somewhere when it comes to expanding Indian gaming in the State of California.  If one tribe is permitted to do it, i'm certain there are a dozen more minor Indian tribes (the ones that has no land) in the State that will try to pull the same gimmick.

Kudos to Lan Nguyen, Trung Nguyen, Tri Ta, Andrew Nguyen and Truong Diep for taking an anti-casino position.

KimOanh Nguyen-Lam vs. Westminster School District Update

Many months have passed since KimOanh Nguyen-Lam (pictured on the left holding a Viet Weekly magazine) filed a $1 million lawsuit against the Westminster School District (WSD) for firing her after just 1 week on the job.  Nguyen-Lam is currently a member of the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education.  There are strong indications that the lawsuit between Nguyen-Lam and WSD is coming close to a conclusion so I just want to refresh readers on what happened.

BACKGROUND:  In May of 2006, the WSD on a 4-1 decision considered and accepted Nguyen-Lam's application for the Superintendent post, but the Board of Trustees rescinded their decision within a week on a 3-2 vote.  The Board's decision caused an uproar in the Vietnamese-American and Hispanic communities for what appeared to be discrimination against Nguyen-Lam.  Then Trustees Judy Ahrens, Jim Reed switched their vote after it became clear to them that Nguyen-Lam did not have the required management experience to lead the district.  Sergio Contreras and Blossie Marquez stayed consistent with their original vote.  After the 2006 General Election, both Judy Ahrens and Blossie Marquez were defeated by challengers with the backing of the teachers association and Jim Reed did not file for re-election.  Nguyen-Lam's candidates: Lupe Fisher, Frank Tran, and Thanh Phan also went down in defeat.  The fired superintendent immediately filed a lawsuit against the Westmisnter School District and others who she considered to be involved in her downfall.

Viet Weekly Condemned by Thousands for Pro-Communist/Anti-American Articles

Yesterday at 2:00 pm, over a thousand Vietnamese-Americans from every corner of Orange County descended upon Main Street & Acacia Parkway in the City of Garden Grove to protest against Viet Weekly and its questionable articles in which many people considered as pro-communism and anti-American for promoting Ho Chi Minh and blaming the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States' foreign policies.

The protesters lined up on both sides of Main Street behind caution tapes provided by the Garden Grove Police Department.  According to my estimation, there was about two dozen mounted police officers and Sheriff's Deputies patrolling the area.

Protesters held banners and signs with short messages like: "Don't Read, Don't Buy, Don't Advertise", "Stop Supporting Communism", "Viet Weekly is a Communist's Tool", "Don't Rent to Viet Weekly". The last message was a direct request to Scott Weimer, the property owner of the building complex which houses Viet Weekly, Janet Nguyen's campaign office with other local shops and restaurants.  Garden Grove residents might remember that Tan Nguyen also ran his political operation out of the same (area) as well in 2006.

Viet Weekly only defense in this matter is that they have the right to free speech and should not be punished by their writings.  The Publisher of the magazine, Le Vu, also announced that he will seek help from the ACLU citing that his 1st Amendment Right has been violated.

I, like many others, do not buy into this argument.  No one is questioning Viet Weekly's right to free speech or press - the Vietnamese-American community is furious that the magazine is glorifying Ho Chi Minh and the terrorists.  How would a Jewish community react if a local newspaper started promoting Adolf Hitler?  Would there be a demonstration by the African American community if the KKK organized a parade through Los Angeles?

                                                                 

Viet Weekly: Accused of being Pro-Communist

Viet Weekly, a Vietnamese language magazine with circulations here in Orange County and San Jose was publicly condemned as "pro-communist" last Sunday during a community meeting held at the Westminster Civic Center for publishing questionable articles that: promoted Ho Chi Minh; blamed the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States' foreign policies; etc...

For those who are not familar with this weekly magazine, it's the Vietnamese version of OC Weekly.  Its content contains nothing but tasteless articles that attack other people and semi-naked pictures of women. It was the only news organization that supported and defended Tan Nguyen in the previous General Election.

There will be an organized effort this weekend to demonstrate infront of Viet Weekly's office on Main Street in the City of Garden Grove.  The people who are leading this fight against the magazine hope to further attract negative attention to Viet Weekly pro-communist writings and encourage local businesses to pull their advertisements, thus impacting the magazine financially.  Residents are also being asked not to purchase Viet Weekly.

For a complete report, readers can visit the Nguoi Viet Daily News' online edition. It would help if you read Vietnamese.

Pictures: Friday Night Reception with Top Communist Official

Someone heeded my call and forwarded these pictures of the Friday night reception in Dana Point to me this morning. Remember, you see this on Red County/OC Blog first! Update: Nguoi Viet Daily News also printed Picture 1 in its print edition today.

Picture 1: I do not recognize all the pro-communists but the man with the receding hairline standing in the center is Nguyen Cao Ky, a former Prime Minister of South Vietnam; the older lady with blond hair standing next to him works in the Orange County Office of Protocol.

Protest Day 2: Tensed, Louder, and again Peaceful

I returned to the St. Regis Hotel this morning at around 7:30 am. The buses of protestors did not arrive until 8:45 am. There was no noticable reduction or increase in the amount of people who showed up yesterday compared to today.

Today the organizers brought out their “heavy artillery” in the form of 4 speakers connected to each other. The speakers were pushed up and down Niguel Road to coordinate the protestors’ chants: “Down with Communism”; “Nguyen Minh Triet go Home”; “Freedom before Business”; etc…

Protest Day 1: Organized, Loud and Peaceful

Over a thousand people carried by ten buses and individual cars decended upon the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point this afternoon to protest against the presence of Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The Sheriff’s Department fenced off the sidewalk across the hotel for the protestors but prohibited anyone from demonstrating directly infront of the facility even though it is still the public right of way. Portable restrooms were also provided by the Sheriff’s deputies.