As reported by the New York Times, a recent research survey compiled by scholars at Yale and Columbia universities and in collaboration with the World Economic Forum ranks the countries in the world in terms of environmental sustainability.

The overall rankings includes 75 total measures, including such tasks as maintaining or improving air and water quality, maximizing biodiversity, cooperating with other countries on environmental problems, the rate at which children die from respiratory diseases, fertility rates, water quality, overfishing, emission of heat-trapping gases, and the export of sodium dioxide. The study notes,

Finland, Norway and Uruguay held the top three spots in the ranking. . . The United States ranked 45th of the 146 countries studied, behind such countries as Japan, Botswana and the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, and most of Western Europe. The lowest-ranking country was North Korea. Among those near the bottom were Haiti, Taiwan, Iraq and Kuwait.

Although the study acknowledges that there are certain data and measurement limitations, it seems to represent a pretty accurate assessment of where the U.S. stands in relation to the rest of the world. I just wonder if the report mentions whether the U.S.’s ranking has incresed or declined under Bush’s administration . . .

I guess it was inevitable -- different cellular phone providers are debating whether they should offer their customers services that allow them to download pornographic pictures (as well as violent video games) onto their cellphones. As a New York Times article notes,

A growing number of content providers are adapting steamy images and video for use on mobile phones. But the major phone operators are blanching at the images and at providing access to new video games that are violent, explicit and designed for phones. . . Such decisions show the fine line that the carriers are trying to walk. Many, for example, already offer downloadable images of bikini-clad models from magazines like Sports Illustrated and Maxim.

But some critics are raising concerns that the phone operators are acting as content gatekeepers. Historically, telephone carriers have not been allowed to censor what people say over the telephone or what phone numbers they call. Similarly, the Federal Communications Commission has said that mobile phone operators cannot censor what sites consumers visit on the Internet. But the F.C.C. said no rule governed what content the carriers could sponsor and sell themselves.

So what do you think will win out in the end -- morality or capitalism?

Salon.com has an interesting article that describes that according to a recent Pew Internet study, both blogging (from 5% of all Internet users to 7%) and the reading of blogs (from 17% to 27%) increased in 2004, mainly due to events surrounding the November elections and the tsunami tragedy. The article notes,

Blog creators tend to be male, affluent, well-educated and young; 70 percent of them have high-speed connections at home, and 82 percent have been online at least six years.

Hey, I resemble that remark. But the articles also describes: “Despite the attention to blogging, a large number of Americans remain clueless -- only 38 percent of Internet users know what a blog is.” Ahhh, life on the cutting edge

Today I began my new semester and for the first time since I started in the Fall of 2003, all of my classes are on Tuesday and Thursday, instead of my usual Mon., Wed., and Fr. Another change for me is that I was able to change my parking lot to one that is much closer to my office than my old one. I also have a carpool permit, which is another bonus because there are specially designated carpool spots right in front, all of which were empty when I pulled in earlier today. Ahh, the simple pleasures of being a professor at UMass Amherst.

Anyway, I’m teaching “Race, Class, Gender, and Ethnicity” again (which I still like to teach) and a new class, “The Demography of Minority Groups” (Soc 361). The students in my Soc 361 class seem like a good group of kids -- I’m loooking forward to having some fun with them (in a demographic sort of way, of course).

The Seattle Times has a very interesting article about the legacy of Washington Governor Gary Locke. If you’ll recall, Gov. Locke was the first mainland Asian American governor ever, and his governorship recently ended after two terms (he decided not to seek a third term). As the article describes, Gov. Locke seemed to have a rather complex set of priorities and accomplishments:

Many conservatives view him as a big-government liberal. Many liberals view him as, well, a conservative. . . As a legislator, he supported one of the biggest business-tax increases in state history and frequently argued for imposing a personal income tax. As governor, however, he approved billions of dollars in tax breaks to big business and vowed to never support an income tax. . . He has championed civil rights and tough-on-crime measures. He is a big backer of social-service programs and preaches personal responsibility.

During his first year as governor, Locke joined with Republicans to enact landmark welfare-reform legislation -- but only after they agreed that the program be open to immigrants. . . As governor, Locke has been dogged by the charge that he lacks the vision of a true leader. Technocrat and tinkerer are two of the words most frequently used to describe him. He has been portrayed in cartoons as a limp rag-doll and as captain on a ship that remains tethered to the dock. Some say it’s just his low-key manner and his plain way of putting things. He once referred to his legislative agenda as “prudent yet bold.”

Does Gov. Locke’s shifting stances on issues and programs represent a tendency toward indecision and lack of executive backbone, or is he merely being pragmatic, realistic, and more focused on results than ideology? I may be a little biased but as someone who has always admired him, I think it’s more of the latter. In fact, I think Gary Locke represents an excellent example of what sociologists might call a “postmodern” leader -- someone who is not bound by traditional political or ideological boundaries and instead, focuses on what is the right thing to do at the moment given the circumstances and at the same time, what will benefit the most people in the long run.

As I have repeatedly stressed throughout Asian-Nation, the Asian American community is way too complex and diverse to expect all of us to think, act, or attain socioeconomic success (or fail to do so) in the exact same ways. In other words, Asian Americans are another reflection of the world around us -- complex, multifaceted, and ever-evolving. With that in mind, I think Governor Locke is an excellent example of contemporary Asian America.

On the heels of the recent tasteless and offensive incident in which a radio DJ insulted and physically threatened a call center operator in India, Hot97 FM in New York recently created a parody song to “We Are the World” entitled “Tsunami Song” that mocks the tragedy in south and southeast Asia and that also uses racial slurs against Asians. Here are the lyrics:

There was a time, when the sun was shining bright
So I went down to the beach to catch me a tan
Then the next thing I knew, a wave 20 feet high
Came and washed your whole country away

And all at once, you can hear the screaming
And no one was saved from the wave
There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away
You can hear God laughing, ‘Swim you bitches swim.’

[Chorus]
So now you’re screwed, it’s the tsunami,
You better run and kiss your ass away, go find your mommy
I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head
And now your children will be sold to child slavery

Apparently the radio host, Ms. Jones, played the song twice, had a heated on-air argument with one of the show’s other hosts (who is Asian American), and then later the radio station apologized for airing the song. The latest is that the staff of the morning radio show that first aired the song have agreed to donate one week’s pay to tsunami aid efforts.

I applaud that the station eventually realized that the song was completely tasteless, offensive, and racist and apologized. I also applaud the morning staff’s decision to try to make amends by donating one week’s salary to the relief efforts.

However, I still cannot fathom why so many people apparently felt that it was ok to mock and ridicule a human catastrophe that has already claimed over 200,000 lives and that it was even better to call the victims of this tragedy racial slurs. What saddens me even more about this event (as well as the previous radio incident described above) is that the people behind these racist acts were Black -- other people of color.

If people still wonder why the Democrats lost this past election and why “The Left” is in such shambles these days, this is a perfect example -- people who should be supporting each other and helping each other out in times of crisis are instead using human tragedies to try and be funny.

Many people apparently feel that tensions and conflicts between Asians and other groups of color are overexagerated or blown out of proportion by the media. That may be true to some extent, but incidents like this only serve to once again show that there are very real differences between groups of color. Further, this most recent slap in the face of Asian Americans all across the country is likely to negate years of goodwill and bridge-building between the Asian and Black communities.

In other words, at a time when both our communities should be marching forward together, what we have instead is one step forward, two steps back. This is a tragic incident in more ways than one.

As I’m sure you’ve heard, the east coast just got rocked with a huge snowstorm yesterday. I woke this morning with about 16 inches of new snow on the ground. It look me, my wife, and my daughter (who was really just playing in the snow) about an hour to shovel our driveway, which only measures about 15′x25′. It’s alright I guess -- it’s good exercise, but you have to remember to stretch a little beforehand.

It’s days like this that I miss being in southern California -- just a little

The FBI has notified law enforcement authorities in the northeast about a possible terror plot that involves about 10-14 Chinese nationals who may be be planning some kind of terrorist attack against Americans involving some sort of nuclear or “dirt” bomb in the Boston area. This alert is significant because, as far as I know, it is the first time that an Asian or Asian American has been identified as a possible front-line terrorist (as opposed to being suspected of espionage or assisting terrorist suspects).

It will be interesting to see how law enforcement officials handle this alert, especially considering that many authorities believe that the “tip” is nothing more than an act of revenge against the Chinese immigrants for failing to pay a smuggler. Will they treat this alert just like all the other ones that I’m sure they receive on a daily basis, or will this particular alert receive extra attention, perhaps based on the implicit assumption that, once again, Asians are perpetual foreigners and therefore, not “real” Americans.

Even though the FBI has actual names and photographs in this case, should we expect another case of racial profiling here, where virtually all Chinese Americans (and by implication, virtually all Asian Americans) are suspected? We’ll have wait and see.

Latest update: The FBI is now saying that as I suspected, this terror alert was a false alarm and that the person who made the original tip most likely did do so out of revenge against the Chinese immigrants. It’s nice to know the truth, but I find it interesting how much attention this alert got even when the FBI itself admitted that it was never substantiated nor independently verified.