India and Japan have a shared vision of a rising Asia…Our relations draw their strength from our spiritual, cultural and civilizational affinities and a shared commitment to the ideals of democracy, peace and freedom…[Japanese] Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and I will work together to strengthen our strategic partnership.
…a…romp through the…world of the Asian jet set, where anything from this season is already passé and one’s pedigree is everything. When Rachel Chu’s boyfriend, Nick Young, invites her home to Singapore…she doesn’t realize how much gossip she’s generated…To Rachel, Nick is a sweet, intelligent history professor…To the Asian billionaire set, he’s the gorgeous heir apparent to one of China’s most “staggeringly rich” and well-established families who virtually control the country’s commerce… As if the shock of realizing the scale of Nick’s wealth is not enough, she must also contend with…cruel socialites who would…die before they let Singapore’s most eligible bachelor get snapped up by a no-name “ABC” (American-born Chinese).
more.
A new United Nations report say the health benefits of consuming nutritious insects could help fight obesity and world hunger. More than 1,900 species of insects are eaten around the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, but people in the West generally turn their noses up at the likes of grasshoppers, termites and other crunchy fare.
more.
We have got to look at the roots of all of this because it exists across the whole [Asian] subcontinent and the Islamic world around the world. I think we also have to examine [America’s] use of drones [because] there are a lot of civilians who are innocently killed in a drone attack in Pakistan, in Afghanistan and in Iraq. And I can tell you having spent a lot of time over there, young people will come up to me on the streets and say, ‘We love America, but if you harm one hair on the head of my sister, I will fight you forever.’ And there is this enormous rage against what they see in that part of the world as a presumptuousness of the United States.
Tom Brokaw, on Meet The Press
also:
Back in 1968, opponents of the Vietnam War were being marginalized in much the same way critics of today’s wars now are. But when such a revered voice as Cronkite took to television to declare the conflict an unwinnable “stalemate,” he helped create a tipping point whereby Americans began to reconsider their assumptions.
While eating breakfast with colleagues on a recent trip to Brazil, a friend who’d spent several formative years in South Asia casually asked if I’d like to try his watermelon juice. At that moment, the proverbial record scratched. Because he was never exposed to the history of watermelons and American blacks, he was quite puzzled at the awkward silence and darting glances.
more.
…I’m very thankful for Singapore and its partnership. I’m thankful for Prime Minister Lee for his outstanding work. I’m grateful for the people of Singapore. As many of you know, I spent some time in my youth in this part of the world and have a great fondness and affection for the people of Singapore. I’m extraordinarily pleased to see their great success and I’m looking forward to a very productive discussion about how we can continue to improve prospects for people not just in the Asia Pacific region but around the world. —President Obama
…those Asian Americans that say race doesn’t matter anymore bother me the most. Race does matter. Do I want people to be judged by their merit? Of course. But that’s just not the country we live in. Let’s be real here. Race plays a major factor in things like education, health, social economic outcomes, whether you can get a loan from a bank, get a job interview, criminal sentencing, etc. As an Asian American, sometimes it’s just not as oblivious [sic] as it is for other people of color. But they are still there. They are just more subtle. For example, if it was all about merit, wouldn’t it mean that there should be more Asian American politicians, CEOs, and people in positions of leadership in California? Especially when you consider about half the students graduating from the University of California system are Asian/Asian American? Whew. I’m glad I got that off my chest…
One of the regions that were supposedly at risk of becoming a breeding ground for communism was the Middle East, and so the area quickly became one of the focus points of the so called “Jazz Diplomacy.” In 1956 bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was sent to Beirut, and subsequently to Dacca, East Pakistan, prompting one Pakistani editorial to argue that “The language of diplomacy ought to be translated into a score for a bop trumpet.”
more. and a bit on jazz in the Middle East now.
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art: Dizzy Gillespie in Pakistan during his 1950s tour of Asia and the Middle East. At a park in Karachi, 1954.
.Vincent Price & Alice Cooper
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Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk-tales from the Gulf States 
“Mujer, de campo” on Flickr.
Hug and kiss him.
Mos Def @ Sonar on Flickr.
One of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken.
This babe is absolute...
Black Girls Killing It Shop BGKI NOW
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