DISGRASIAN™

AMAZIANS OF THE WEEK! Tibetans The Fastest Evolved Humans EVAR

Okay, first the good news: Tibetans are superhuman!

Tibetan pilgrims–or hipsters?

About 3,000 years ago, when Tibetans split off from the Han Chinese, they developed a unique ability to survive in altitudes above 13,000 feet, where oxygen levels are 40% lower, a genetic change a recent study cites as the fastest ever observed in humans.

Now, for the bad: “For such a very strong change, a lot of people would have had to die simply due to the fact that they had the wrong version of a gene,” said Rasmus Nielsen, a professor of integrative biology at Berkeley who led the statistical analysis.

This may not come as a surprise to anyone nominally aware of Tibetan history, which has been marked by struggle and loss. On that note, today marks the 75th birthday of the Dalai Lama.

Happy birthday, Your Holiness!

[CNN: Tibetan DNA study reveals human evolution]

Filed under: Amazians, China, Dalai Lama 75th Birthday, Genetic Changes, Genetic Mutations, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Human Rights, Scientific Studies, The Dalai Lama, Tibet, Tibetans, Tibetans Fastest Evolved Humans

Is It Intern Jasmine’s Birthday Yet?

Intern Jasmine’s birthday is in March, but Jen and I happen to think it’s never too early to start compiling gift ideas for her next celebrasian!

Cuz here’s the deal: MINDstyle has made an actual Manny Pacquiao toy collectible. A frickin’ MANNY PACQUIAO toy. Are they FOR SERIOUS??? Jasmine is gonna freak the eff out! FREAK OUT! It’s so awesome!!!





Those details!!! The belt, the brow, that frown of intimidasian… little Pacman is BADASS.

And not to be a dick, but now that I’ve thought about it… Jasmine, shmasmine! I think we ALL need one of these! When’s our birthday, again?

[via Bambu]
[MINDstyle: Manny Pacquiao - Art Toy Collectible Figure]

Source

Filed under: Action Figures, Amazians, Best Presents Ever, Birthday Presents, Boxers, Boxing, Gift ideas, Gift Lists, Intern Jasmine, Manny Pacman Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao Art Collectible Toy, MINDstyle, Sri Lanka + London and South East UK = Awesome, Toys

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Diana Keng

Name: Diana Keng

Age: 18

Hails from: Silicon Valley

Occupation: High school senior, CEO

Known for: Doing business. WSJ just profiled Keng, a high school senior that presented her company, MyWeboo.com (a social networking management site that launched in March), to venture capitalists at last week’s Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. Keng shares MyWeboo with her 25-year-old brother, but it’s her third start-up company.  Yeah, that’s right muthafuckaz! THIRD START-UP.

Did we forget to mention that Keng started her first company at age 15, but bailed because it wasn’t making enough money? And that despite her busy business schedule, she still does well in school and plays badminton? AND for goodness sake, her name is DIANA? By golly, Keng is my a Hardass Asian Parent’s WET DREAM. Perhaps that’s why her dad gave her $100k in business seed money and my dad still regrets paying for my English degree. *sigh*

[MyWeboo.com]
[via 8 Asians]
[WSJ: Report Card? How About That Annual Report]

Filed under: Amazians, Amazing Teens, Businesswomen, CEOs, Cupertino, Diana is Quite a Name, Diana Keng, English Degrees Are Useless, Hardass Asian Parents' Wet Dreams, High School, My Weboo, San Francisco, Seed Money, Silicon Valley, Social Network Integrasian, Social Networking, Startups, Teen Wonders, Websites, WSJ

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Mao Asada Gets Her Day

Ice Queens: First Loser Kim Yu-Na and Winner Mao Asada at the 2010 World Figure Skating Championship in Turin, Italy

Name: Mao Asada

Age: 19

Hails from: Japan

Occupation: Figure skater

Known for: Playing second-fiddle to Queen Yu-Na at this year’s Winter Olympics; looking woefully sad on the medal podium while collecting her silver; inspiring some crazy nationalism between Japan and Korea; being the first woman to land two triple-axels in the same program back in 2006; finally getting redemption a month after the Olympics at the World Championships by beating Yu-Na, who fell on a triple salchow during her free skate.

So the rivalry between Yu-Na and Mao? Yeah, it’s ON. Like Ali-Frazier, but with sequins and spangles and a shit-ton of makeup.

Meanwhile, you gotta love the headlines from some of the Korean news outlets, which aren’t reporting Mao’s triumph so much as Yu-Na’s failure. From the Korea Times: “Yu-Na Fails to Defend Title.” And from Chosun Ilbo: “Kim Yu-Na Loses World Title in Turin.”

Ouch!

[SF Chronicle: Japan's Asada tops rival Kim to capture world skating title]

Filed under: 2010 Figure Skating World Championships, 2010 Olympics, 2010 Winter Olympics, Amazians, Bitchfights, Figure Skating, Ice Queens, Ice Skating, Japan vs. Korea, Kim Yu-na, Mao Asada, Nationalism, Queen Yu-na, Rivalries

Apolo Anton Oh-face

I realize this ad featuring AOTW Apolo Ohno is supposed to be selling you on that nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine-induced sleep coma Nyquil is so famous for…

But all I see is a serious case of O-Face. You know what I’m talkin’ about…Oh!

Filed under: "O" Faces, 2010 Winter Olympics, Advertising, Amazians, Apolo Anton Ohno, Apolo Ohno, Apolo Ohno Nyquil Ad, Mixed People, O-Face, Office Space, Unfortunate Ads, Vancouver Olympics, Vancouver Winter Olympics

Cotton Candy, Sweet And Low, Reprzentasian In The Super Bowl!

THE SAINTS ARE FINALLY GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep your eyes on amazian linebacker Scott Fujita (aka “Asian Assassin”) when they do.

That’s not actually asking much. Last night, during the NFC Championship shootout/battle royale/best game of the season, it was hard to look at anything else. When Fujita wasn’t putting pressure on Brett Favre, he and Anthony Hargrove were tackling him hard.

Continue reading Cotton Candy, Sweet And Low, Reprzentasian In The Super Bowl!

Filed under: Amazians, Brett Favre, College Sweethearts, Defense, Defensive Linemen, Focus On America, Football, Gay Rights, Go Saints, Honorasians, Hotties, Linebackers, National Equality March, New Orleans, New Orleans Saints, NFL, NOLA, Professional Athletes, Rad Japanese Dudes, Reprzentasian, Saints, Same-Sex Marriage, Scott Fujita, Sports, Super Bowl Ads, Super Bowl Miami, Super Bowl XLIV, Who Dat?

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! US Army Staff Sgt. Sandra Lee

Last week marked the first annual Military Rape Awareness Week, sponsored by Veterans For Peace, a non-profit and officially-recognized United Nations NGO comprised of military veterans seeking alternatives to war.

Military Rape Awareness Week was conceived as a response to a recent Veterans Administrative Study funded by the US Army Medical Corps that found 1 in 3 women in the military have been raped.

US Army Reserves Staff Sgt. Sandra Lee, who was raped twice while serving in Iraq, is one of those women. She spoke at the week’s kickoff event, at the Times Square Recruiting Station in NYC:

1 in 3 servicewomen raped in the military.

Wow.

And we’re worried about gays in the military because why?

[Veterans For Peace]

Thanks, @erwinism!

Filed under: Amazians, Gays in the Military, Iraq War Veterans, Military Rape Awareness Week, Rape in the Military, Rape Victims, Sandra Lee, Scary Studies, U.S. Army, US Military, Veterans, Veterans' Affairs

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Efren Peñaflorida Jr.

Name: Efren Peñaflorida Jr.

Hails from: Cavite City, The Philippines

Occupation: Student, Founder of the Dynamic Teen Company organization, source of the pushcart classroom in Cavite City

Known for: Building a new path.

CNN has highlighted the 28-year old Pinoy, who grew up in the slums of Cavite City, amongst their Top 10 Heroes of 2009. Peñaflorida, like many of his peers, grew up terrorized by gang violence in his community that included offenses of vandalism and rape.

In high school, he made a decision–he was going to create a different option. With three friends, Peñaflorida created a club called the Dynamic Teen Company, aspiring to “cater youth awareness projects, talent and self development activities, and community services.” Living near the dump site of his city, he eagerly developed feeding projects for the small children sent to scavenge for leftovers and rotten food there. Years of development (building awareness, training themselves as educators, staging activities and concerts) eventually led the group to become a self-sustaining education organization, and they soon obtained a pedicab to create a traveling vehicle for their educating missions.

Ten years after the launch of DTC, Peñaflorida travels weekly with the pedicab–which has been outfitted as a foldout classroom, around the city to lead classes for children 2 to 14. He is armed with armed with a team of trained teen volunteers. They also run a hygeine clinic where kids can bathe and learn to care for their teeth.

CNN adds:

“Since 1997, an estimated 10,000 members have helped teach more than 1,500 children living in the slums. The organization supports its efforts by making and selling crafts and collecting items to recycle.”

It’s a lot of work, with slow-moving impact and very little fanfare. Yet somebody wants to do it: Efren Peñaflorida and his team of friends. What’s a little work when you’re creating real change?

So what else does Peñaflorida want? More carts. And, in case you’ve forgotten, the winner of the CNN Heroes Contest will receive $100,000! Help a brother out by voting for Efren now.

[CNN Heroes: Vote for Efren Peñaflorida]
[Dynamic Teen Company - Official Site]

Source

Filed under: Amazians, Children, CNN Heroes Awards, Do-Gooders, Educasian, Helping People, Making Changes, the Philippines

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Colonel Om Prakash, Author Of Anti-”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Essay

In the current issue of the Pentagon’s top scholarly journal, Joint Force Quarterly, Air Force colonel Om Prakash has published an article arguing that openly gay troops do not hurt unit cohesion or combat effectiveness, calling the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy a “costly failure” and asking President Obama to find a way to repeal the ban.

The essay was selected as the winner of this year’s Secretary of Defense essay contest and was reviewed in advance of publication by the office of Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the NY Times. Prakash, who works in the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, studied the issue while a student at the National War College. The article signals a shift in the thinking of the Pentagon’s top officials and is expected to put pressure on Obama to repeal DADT.

In “The Efficacy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Prakash reasons:

…the law as it currently stands does not prohibit homosexuals from serving in the military as long as they keep it secret. This has led to an uncomfortable value disconnect as homosexuals serving, estimated to be over 65,000, must compromise personal integrity. Given the growing gap between social mores and the law, DADT may do damage to the very unit cohesion that it seeks to protect.

Yes sir, Colonel! We couldn’t agree more.

[Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 55]
[Boston Globe: Pentagon airs criticism of 'don't ask']

Source

Filed under: Amazians, Barack Obama, Department of Defense, Discriminatory Policies, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Gays in the Military, Military Men, Pentagon

Dan Choi Fills Us With Joy

Standing behind the Poitier building on the Sony lot in Culver City last night, I reminisced with pride about the calm, cool manner in which I once met Sidney Poitier. He shook my hand and I somehow avoided squealing, then followed up with charming conversation and gentle laughter, holding in my excitement for the first moment he wasn’t within shouting distance. An hour later, I totally fucking freaked out and called everyone I could think of to brag. But the running phrase in every call was: “Well you see, I tend not to get starstruck, so I…”

Mid-flashback, I spotted Dan Choi, one of DISGRASIAN’s favorite Amazians, who was in Los Angeles last night to present the press screening of Brave New Foundation’s latest installation of the In Their Boots series: “Silent Partners.” “Partners” is a documentary short (watch a preview here) about the same-sex partners of three American service members whose lives are shrouded in secrecy because of our military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy–heartbreaking and difficult to watch, but important and incredibly beautiful.

I immediately turned into a bumbling idiot, gushing over Choi’s awesomeness and DISGRASIAN’s deep (and clearly very clunky) admiration of his good work. Witnesses have told me that I barfed out words like “flurferful” and “prowb,” possibly even referred to myself as “Dinana.” Whoops.

Still, despite my semi-creepy enthusiasm, the wondrous (and completely adorable) Dan Choi humored me. He even spared some of his early West Point knowledge, teaching me how to properly salute (this actually took awhile):

Until I got it right:

Filed under: Amazians, Awesome Documentaries, Dan Choi, Discriminatory Policies, Don't Ask Don't Tell, I am Starstruck, In Their Boots: Silent Partners, Knights Out, Salutes

We <3 Kevin Lin

Is it wrong to have a crush on a 12 year-old kid? If so, we don’t want to be right.

We don’t know if Kevin Lin is going to grow up to be a burnout raver or the next Spielberg, but we’ll be keeping an eye on him. You can, too, here.

Filed under: Amazians, Cool Kids, Filmmakers, Kevin Lin, Kid Geniuses, Prodigies, Special Effects, Steven Spielberg, YouTube Sensations

AMAZIAN OF THE WEEK! Vidur Kapur

Name: Vidur Kapur

Occupation: Comedian

Known for: a memorable stand-up act that grabs laughs internationally from Bangalore to NYC, his performance in OutLaugh with our lady Margaret Cho, a top-ten nominasian for desiclub.com’s 10 Sexiest men of 2007. He’s Indian hailing from New Delhi, and an Amazian Gaysian… what’s not to love?

See for yourself:

Source
Thanks, jRu!

Filed under: Amazians, Comedians, Famous International Playboys, Funny Stuff, Hot Asian Men, India, Margaret Cho, Stand-Up, We Heart Gaysians