Help Japan part II

I was reading this article on Tofugu about how there is no room for more funding towards the Japan disaster relief. This means that the amount of money that has been donated specifically towards the relief efforts has far exceeded the amount requested by the Japanese. So some organizations may use part of the donations towards other causes, unless the donations were earmarked specifically for Japan, in which case the money is not necessarily being used effectively because they seem to have more than they know what to do with. I think it's great that so many people are doing what they can to help in terms of monetary donations. I myself have donated, but at this point there seems to be other ways to help. This may be easier for those living in Japan at the moment, but for those of us here, Jason Kelly is asking for donations of new pairs of socks for the many who are currently homeless as a result of the quakes.

Sentenced Home

this past weekend, I went to an event at Asian Arts Initiative about the deportation of Cambodian refugees from America. they screened a very pertinent and moving documentary film, Sentenced Home, which you can watch here. the tagline: "Raised as Americans in inner-city projects near Seattle, three young Cambodian American men are deported back to a country they barely remember, caught between a tragic past and an uncertain future by a system that doesn't offer any second chances."

it's not necessarily an issue that receives much attention in the media, at least not so much outside of the sphere of Mexico, so the film offers some very personal positions on the issue as well as provides information about US immigration legislation and how this has changed since 9/11.