“I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities. As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions.”

Politico also reported this week that the ad appeared to have damaged the Hoekstra campaign, based on a Public Policy Polling survey (PDF):

… 54 percent of voters in Michigan were aware of Hoekstra’s controversial ad and 45 percent said it made them less likely to vote for him, according to Public Policy Polling. Only 16 percent said that the spot made them more likely to vote for him, and 37 percent said it didn’t make a difference in their voting preferences.

Hoekstra is now 14 points behind incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow in head-to-head polling, 51 percent to 37 percent. In July, her lead was just nine points, and in PPP’s previous three polls, her lead had been an average of seven points.

Stabenow’s approval ratings have changed little over the past six months. In fact, the change in poll numbers appear to be driven by disapproval of Hoekstra, whose favorability has dropped by a net ten points since PPP’s last poll.

Hoekstra’s team dismissed the news, arguing that the poll was weighted in favour of Democrats. This would not completely explain changes relative to previous polls using the same model, however.

GOOD Design (via Adam Minter), meanwhile, explores the history and significance of the “chop suey” fonts used liberally on the ad’s accompanying website (now offline).

In an article for Print magazine, type expert Paul Shaw traces the origin of these Asian-inspired fonts. They began in 1883, when the Cleveland Type Foundry created a typeface called Chinese, which became known as Mandarin by the mid 1950s. The font became famous when it was used in a poster that promoted tourism to San Francisco’s Chinatown after the 1906 earthquake ….

But though chop suey fonts rose to popularity through entrepreneurial Chinese immigrants, they waned in the second half of the 20th century as graphic designers shook off the prejudice that dominated the discipline through the 1950s Modern era. Today, chop suey types are still contested by those who find them derogatory ….

Hoekstra’s use of chop suey fonts and other racially charged imagery shines a light on the stereotypes that still exist within every part of society, including the political and graphic design worlds. “Ethnic” typefaces, though often only found on sketchy websites offering free font downloads, survive today simply because they are good at what they do: distill an entire culture into a typographical aesthetic that becomes a signifier to the uninitiated.

Chop suey type is just one example of “simulation font”; another can be found in China itself. Dechen Pemba of High Peaks Pure Earth has collected a number examples of Chinese characters designed to mimic Tibetan script, used “from book covers to food packaging to album covers, basically for anything packaged as ‘Tibetan’” in order to “exoticise Tibet and Tibetans.”

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Post tags: michigan, racism, san francisco, Tibetan language, United States
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The four steel modules, weighing a combined 5,300 tons, will then make a 22-day journey across the Pacific Ocean, before being joined with 24 other sections already in place. Together, they will help form the world’s longest single-tower, self- anchored suspension bridge, stretching 2,047 feet (624 meters).

The structure is part of the Bay’s new $6.4 billion East Span, due to open in 2013, which also includes a 1.2-mile viaduct. Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co.’s work making the 525-foot tower at the heart of the suspension bridge and the 28 steel deck sections for it, highlights how Chinese engineers are expanding overseas and winning contracts for more complicated projects.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind-project,” William Ibbs, professor of construction management at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a telephone interview. “Seeing something of this magnitude go up is astounding.”

Al Jazeera’s Melissa Chan was at the dock as the bridge span was being loaded and tweeted this photo:

Update: Watch Melissa Chan’s video report here:

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Post tags: bridges, california, exports, manufacturing, san francisco
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It’s the night before the highly anticipated Olympic torch relay in San Francisco, and I am watching a training session for protestors led by Students for a Free Tibet, the group who scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to unfurl two banners the day before. A stream of young Tibetans files into the back of a Berkeley church until the room is filled. Lhadon Tethong, the executive director of the organization, arrives with a caravan of weary protesters who had attended a candlelight vigil in San Francisco. Nobel Peace laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu had spoken there. So did actor and activist Richard Gere. Draped in Tibetan flags, with their face paint reading “Free Tibet,” the protestors look like sports fans after a long tournament.

The City has pulled a fast one, changing the route at the very last minute. A bus has taken the torch across town to Van Ness, leaving an estimated 10,000 disappointed people here at what was supposed to be the starting point along the original route. Saddest of all are the patriotic Chinese. Some of them spent the night here to watch this torch spectacle. Many are elderly. All of their costumes, signs, boxed lunches, and eager anticipation are for naught. At the moment, the City gives no explanation. And the once-fiery crowd responds with resignation.

Full story here (including video link) and an earlier report also by Alison Satake “Beijing’s Blaze.”

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Post tags: Olympics torch, san francisco, Tibet
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A New York environmental activist selected to carry the Olympic torch, Majora Carter of the Bronx, signaled her solidarity with Tibetan protesters by unfurling a Tibetan flag soon after she was handed the torch here yesterday afternoon.

Ms. Carter said that after she pulled the flag from her sleeve the torch was quickly taken from her and she was pushed out of the Olympic entourage. “The Chinese security and cops were on me like white on rice, it was no joke,” she told the Associated Press. “They pulled me out of the race, and then San Francisco police officers pushed me back into the crowd on the side of the street.”

Also from itsgettinghotinhere.org:

Majora Carter was one of two people at yesterday’s Olympic torch relay in San Francisco to unveil a Tibetan flag while she carried the torch. Read her statement below:

Only days ago, we commemorated the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – a man who fought and died for freedom and justice everywhere. It is with that same spirit that I stand before you now. My name is Majora Carter, and I am from the South Bronx, in NYC. It is a part of the world known for some good things like the birthplace of Hip Hop, and for some bad things – like a reputation for crime and urban blight.

What you may not know is that it is a glaring example of environmental injustice here in America, it is a poor Latino and Black community that suffers from severe environmental degradation, causing impacts on our health, wealth and spiritual well-being. But there are places just like the South Bronx all over the world, where decisions about locating environmental burdens like power plants, diesel truck routes, and waste facilities are made by people who will not feel the effects of those decisions. We have been able to make real changes in my community but the battle for environmental justice is far from over.

I was honored to have been asked to be an Olympic torchbearer because it represents to me what the games are about: passing the torch as a symbol of the unity around a great purpose. Today, I carry that flame in support of a great purpose – freedom. Freedom everywhere: the freedom to assemble and, the freedom of speech. I know what it feels like to have your voice ignored; and I appreciate how important it is when another voice joins with your own in pursuit of that freedom.

So, although I have no longstanding connection to Tibet, I would not be able to call myself a drum major for justice if I did not speak my concern for Tibetans inside Tibet who are being persecuted by the Chinese government for expressing their desire for freedom. I want to use this moment to shed light on these subjects; but I also want to shed light on the planned route for the torch through Tibet after it leaves this hemisphere.

Velasquez for News
Majora Carter of the South Bronx, who ran with the Olympic torch in San Francisco Wednesday, was quickly ushered away after pulling a Tibetan flag from her sleeve.

To let the Olympic torch run through Tibet would only provoke more opportunities for human rights abuses to happen there. It will not bring people together, but more likely incite them. And even if they resist in the most non-violent manner, we have seen the responses to those types of protests in the past, and can have little doubt that the non-violence will not be reciprocated. It would place the IOC in a position similar to sanctioning the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross in Montgomery, Alabama. Although that freedom is at least protected in this country, it is not something one wants to be associated with.

The IOC must not let its name and stature be used to sanction the repressions of the past and I encourage Coca-Cola and all other sponsors of the torch relay to use their position to push China not to bring the torch through Tibet.

When I pass the flame today, it will be the same flame that Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have passed on to me, and to all of you.It will be the flame of my ancestors, and all of their struggles. The flame that I pass on to the games in China will be – in its own small way – the flame of liberation, and it will be beautiful, and it will be for everyone.

More reports on New York Daily News: Olympic torch bearer from Bronx in Tibet protest.

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Post tags: Majora Carter, Olympics torch, san francisco
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Confusion has marked the start of the only North American leg of the Olympic torch relay, as its route was diverted to avoid thousands of protesters.

Crowds of pro-Tibetan and pro-Beijing demonstrators are on the streets of San Francisco, prompting fears of violence.

Shortly before the relay began, police said the route would be cut. Then the lit torch was carried away from crowds.

There were disruptive protests as the relay passed through Europe. It will end in Beijing, home of the 2008 Games.

Meanwhile, President George W Bush has urged China to “begin a dialogue” with Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a motion condemning China’s “extreme” response to protests in Tibet.

Watch a Reuters video on the San Francisco leg of the torch relay:

==
UPDATE: (April 9, 3:45 pm PST):

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the torch route is being significantly shortened following protests and clashes along the Embarcadero route:

San Francisco officials said they would cut the Beijing Olympic torch route short today, following a chaotic morning along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, where thousands of people descended to support and protest the torch run.

…Police said no arrests had occurred and that clashes related to the protests had been minor. But at least one person was detained in front of the ballpark this morning, and a few hours later, a confrontation between the two sides escalated to a physical violence, when a San Francisco man named Kevin Johnson, 48, walked into a crowd of torch supporters and began yelling, “Communists!”

Watch footage of protesters surrounding the bus carrying the torch in San Francisco:

===
(Original post, April 9, 9:59 am PST)

From the Los Angeles Times:

Hundreds of pro-Chinese spectators, many waving Chinese flags, took their places this morning along the planned route of the Olympic torch relay here, hours before the start of what is expected to be the latest chaotic leg as the torch makes its way to its final destination at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Already this city has seen high-profile protests, with climbers scaling Golden Gate Bridge cables to unfurl “Free Tibet” banners on Monday, and thousands gathered late Tuesday at a candlelight vigil to hear Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu and actor Richard Gere rally support for the Tibetan cause.

The San Francisco leg — the only North American stop for the torch relay — comes after violent protests in London and Paris. In Paris, security officials halted the event and ushered the torch onto a bus. That decision came after swarms of protesters forced officials to repeatedly extinguish the iconic flame.

Read also Ben Arnoldy and Jane Lampman’s report on Christian Science Monitor: Olympic Torch Rallying China’s Critics:

The margins are also where Western leaders are feeling pressure to take action, says Jacques deLisle, an East Asian studies expert at the University of Pennsylvania.

“We have seen a deemphasis on human rights [in US-China relations] in recent years, much of it for good reason,” he says. “The problem is, getting the balance right again has become very difficult because China has become less willing to listen to this kind of criticism as it’s beginning to feel its oats as a major power.”

Strongly worded condemnations of Chinese actions in Tibet could be one US response, he says.

Read also: China doctors the news of Olympic torch on San Francisco Chronicle today.

Watch footage of a candlelight vigil featuring Richard Gere and Desmond Tutu last night in San Francisco:

And a peace march across the Golden Gate Bridge this morning:

More video news clips:

Click here to view the embedded video.

A group of photos about Pro-Tibet protesters is here, from Flickr.

CNN’s Live Developing Story: Olympic torch relay begins amid protest.

Here are some photos online, from dwnews.com:

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Post tags: Olympics torch, pro-China, san francisco, Tibet protests, Tibet status
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Yangchen Lhamo, a Tibetan American who lives in San Francisco, said Students for a Free Tibet hopes to persuade the International Olympic Committee to keep the torch out of Tibet this summer. It is scheduled to pass through Tibet on June 19-21.

Lhamo said the group planned other protests Tuesday and Wednesday that she said would be peaceful. On Tuesday, there will be an alternative torch event, the celebration of the Tibetan Freedom Torch, beginning at 11 a.m. at United Nations Plaza in San Francisco.

This from a Standard Newswire press release:

“In two days, the Chinese government is bringing the Olympic torch to San Francisco, while inside Tibet it continues its brutal and violent crackdown on Tibetans crying out for freedom,” said Tashi Sharzur, spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet and one of the activists detained in today’s action. “The International Olympic Committee must immediately withdraw Tibet from the Torch Relay route. Carrying the Olympic torch through Tibet would exacerbate the crisis and cause yet more suffering for the Tibetan people.”

“San Francisco has a long, proud history of standing up for human rights and freedom, and we will not allow China’s government to make a mockery of everything this city stands for,” said Laurel Sutherlin, one of the climbers and a spokesperson for Students for a Free Tibet. “Gavin Newsom has privately agreed to express his concern with the IOC over China’s torch going through Tibet. Mayor Newsom must now publicly follow up on this promise and call for Tibet to be removed from the torch route.”

Video of the protesters here:

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Post tags: Beijing 2008 Olympics, Olympics torch, san francisco, Tibet
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See the BBC report on the ceremony here.

==
Update 1: The torch has arrived in Beijing to much fanfare. From The Guardian:

On Monday, the flame was escorted off a plane emblazoned with “Journey of Harmony” and passed to officials in a tightly choreographed display outside a gleaming new airport terminal where groups of children waved Chinese and Olympic flags.

The flame, encased in a lantern, was to be officially welcomed at a ceremony at Tiananmen Square, the focus of democracy protests that were crushed in 1989, where police and plainclothes security men lined streets cordoned off with yellow tape.

…At the ceremony, to be attended by President Hu Jintao, a second flame will be lit and taken to Tibet where an attempt will be made to take it to the top of Mount Everest in early May.

==
(Original post, March 30, 9:01AM, Pacific Time):
The Olympic torch has officially been handed over to China from Greece so it can begin its journey around the globe. The BBC reports that pro-Tibet protesters tried to disrupt the handover ceremony in Greece this morning:

A small group of protesters tried to break through a police cordon to enter the stadium.

Thousands gathered as the flame was delivered and transferred to a lamp for its journey by plane to China.

…The flame, which was lit in Olympia on 24 March, will be welcomed at a ceremony in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on Monday.

It will then tour 20 countries before returning for the opening on 8 August.

The Chinese government has been working hard to try to ensure that protests do not follow the torch on its highly-publicized trip. In San Francisco, the only stop for the torch in North America, pro-Tibet and other human rights groups are planning a series of events to highlight their demands, and the local government has said they will place no restrictions on such protests. In response, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. paid a personal visit to Mayor Gavin Newson to discuss the torch’s visit, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

See a map of the torch route, via BBC.

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Post tags: Olympics torch, san francisco, Tibet protests
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At the Haines Gallery, his polished sculptures nod at “scholars’ rocks” that inspired classical Chinese painting. While, at the Asian Art Museum, his rock sculptures “make reference to the exploitation of Chinese immigrant labor during the Gold Rush era,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

While depicting the Chinese diaspora, Zhan Wang proves his art is here to stay. His large outdoor stainless steel sculpture is a permanent fixture in the de Young Museum.

© Alison Satake for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: artists, Beijing, contemporary art, san francisco, Zhan Wang
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Chinese immigrant workers marched through the streets of downtown San Francisco on Tuesday, shouting slogans and waving signs to protest the loss of garment jobs they say are being outsourced to China.

Former employees of San Francisco-based apparel maker Nova Knits Inc. claim they were laid off last month without prior notice, severance pay or benefits in violation of state labor laws. And the workers – mostly middle-aged Chinese women who speak little English – believe their jobs are being shipped to China, the world’s largest clothing manufacturer.

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Post tags: immigrant labor, san francisco, textiles
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