Cultural resistance is a broad term describing specifically how individuals or groups attempt to change society. The reason it is a broad term is because cultural resistance could come in almost any form. As long as the possible process in which the action could change the current norm in society is clear, it can be considered to be cultural resistance.

This can include the way a person dresses, the way he or she talks, the music he or she makes, and it can even scale up to riotous behaviors like the questionable actions of Project Mayhem in “Fight Club.” Project Mayhem burned apartments and exploded buildings in the name of cultural resistance.

Massive finger pointing and tragic consequences are the results of the massive oil spill off Harbin, China. This situation can’t be amended, the 80 kilometer slick of toxic benzene is heading down the Songhua Rivver that supplies a city of over four million people with running water. While the government shut down the water system, residents hurriedly scrambled to obtain and stock bottled drinking water as schools and businesses and markets closed down. The government has already made a formal pre apology to Russia since the chemical is heading towards Khabarovsk. Being labeled as one of China’s worst environmental disasters, a formal criminal investigation is being held to take responsibility.

The dog whistle is a common item used by pet owners to draw their dogs to them. It is silent to the human ear but attract the attention of canines. Insect repellent candles and spray are unharmful to human beings but drive mosquitos and other annoying pests away from the area. Now, there’s the child whistle, combining both the genius powers of the dog whistle with the same intention as the insect repellent. Invented by Howard Stapleton, he puts to use the fact that children are capable of hearing a higher frequency than adults. Quite simply, that means there are noises that a child can hear that adults can’t. And that, would come in mighty handy.

In the popular science fiction movie thriller, John Travolta and Nicholas Cage underwent an operation that allowed them to swap faces and therefore, become each other. In the twenty first century, a face transplant has become a reality for a certain woman and it is far less than thrilling or entertaining. After a savage dog attack, a French woman lost her nose, chin, and lips. Marking the first time in world history, this anonymous 38 year old will receive tissues, muscles, arteries, veins, and skin from a brain dead patient to be transplanted onto her own.

There is a popular misconception that our ancestors were significantly shorter than we are today. However, after an extensive study of hundreds of churchyard skeletons, British archaeologists Charlotte Roberts and Margaret Cox believe that the general population hasn’t changed too drastically from the Medieval era to now. In actually, basic male and female height in Britain has pretty much remained quite steady since the Neolithic era!

Turkey is a country in Europe. However, it is also Islamic, has a per capita GNP that is less than a third of the EU average, and an unemployment rate above 10%. More than forty years ago, the people of Turkey decided that they should become a member of the European Union, as they have always believed they rightfully belonged to. While some members met Turkey’s request with enthusiasm and support, others expressed fierce debate, criticism, and opposition. The question that remains is: Turkey is a country in Europe, but is it a European country?

in celebration of halloween this upcoming weekend, i just wanted to share this with all of you.

my sister made me a really thoughtful one and it was so sweet. carve one yourself and sent it to someone you love to make them smile too:

pumpkin carving.
hey. you want procrastination, you got it.

happy halloween!

for all those of you who don't watch the abc show, LOST, i can't recommend it highly enough. it might be a little confusing catching them on the second season if you haven't been following all the episodes but if you try getting into it, you won't regret it. the story is about the survivors of a plane crash who are trying to figure out a way off the island they are stranded on. however, it is so much more than a build-campfire-hunt-wild-boars type story. it explores the most delicate and painful topics of human nature- disappointment, shame, destiny, as well as accepting your mistakes, making peace with yourself, and letting go of the past.

Since I'm sure everyone is super excited about Banned Books Week, this would be a great way to explore the topic of censorship. Some of the books on the American Library Association's list of banned books include Judy Blume's Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and Richard Wright's Native Son.

Last week, two guest speakers came to my Asian Americans Community class. They were both Japanese Americans who had gone to the Internment Camps during World War II. Their speeches were a reminder to us, of the way their lives were taken from them, the betrayal they felt, the incredible strength of a people to make the best out of nothing and live through whatever odds, and the struggle to move on past hopelessness. In their telling of their lives, it is easy to see all we take for granted in our own lives and our responsibility to open, discuss, defy, and impact general perceptions and stereotypes and what will happen if hatred, misunderstanding, and racism ever cause us as a nation to forget where we’ve been and what we’ve overcome.

A few minutes ago, I just finished watching the HBO movie, Angels in America, and I can't help but think about a lot of the issues dealt with in this film. Politics, AIDS, sexism, racism, loneliness, abandonment, fear, death...it was a painful thing to watch America with all it's outer glory and it's bitter hatred underneath. And it is as prevalent and real today as it was during the Reagan era, when this film took place. A generation of people, isolated, forgotten, and ignored; a people America wished to disappear like a bad dream.

each and every one of us belong to a number of communities just as we define with many different identities. we are daughters, lovers, and best friends. we may obsess over spongebob squarepants and hate macaroni and cheese. we are quiet and outgoing, and insanely brilliant while still being a little stupid some of the time. some of us may be graceful dancers, talented swimmers, and some of us may not know how to dance or swim at all. but in coming up with a community to belong to, we have to be selective in the fact that it doesn't define what we are but who we are. and accept the fact that others might not truly understand what it is like to walk in your shoes. to have lived the life that you lived. and that's simply ok. because that is what makes each of us whatever it is we are. i identify as a new yorker, having grown up and spent all my childhood on the trash littered cold concrete, running through central park, visiting the met and moma more times than humanely possible, seeing my favorite broadway shows over and over again, paying $10.50 for a movie ticket, chinatown, soho, times square, union square, flushing, bronx science, bryant park. i identify as a chinese american, being raised in the rich culture and language that i love so dearly. a heritage is the history of my family, poignant stories and heartbreaking memories. i hope i will always remember the smell of my grandmother's chow fun, the sound of the mah jong table, the bedtime stories my mother used to tell me at night, the way to tell if a watermelon is sweet, or how to speak chinese. i hope i never lose this part of myself.