Liu Wen in Marni for H&M, directed by Coppola
Sofia Coppola was tapped to direct the commercial for H&M’s latest collab, out March 8, with Marni and we have the behind the scenes and final product.
In the behind-the-scenes footage, Coppola says she took the assignment because she’s “never really done anything around fashion, and when they told me it was Marni it sounded like an interesting project.” Coppola is a Marni girl! “I always thought [Marni] made interesting fashion and that the prints were always unusual and they really have their own look–it doesn’t look like anything else.”
Coppola shot the commercial at a villa in Marrakech that she’d been to with friends years ago. She wanted to find an actress to be the “main girl” and asked the casting people she uses for her films to pick one...turns out it is Imogen Poots. Poots is the star of the commercial, but not the only familiar face. The commercial is a quintessential Coppola-party: beautiful rich-looking kids (Annabelle Dexter Jones), models (Liu Wen) and actors and models Sam Hayes, Antonine Peduzzi, Nicolas Peduzzi, Charlie Klarsfeld, and Jonatan Frenck)
by admin - February 6th, 2012
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US Senate candidate Hoekstra Taking Heat Over Super Bowl Ad
This ad was done in really poor taste and clearly shows how racially insensitive former Congressman Pete Hoekstra is.
It portrays a young Asian girl claiming Debbie Stabenow aka DebbieSpenditnow lol!(Michigan Senator) is responsible for sending jobs to China.
The 30-second ad created by media strategist Fred Davis of California-based Strategic Perception Inc. opens with the sound of a gong and shows the Asian woman riding a bike on a narrow path lined by rice paddies.
Stopping her bike, the woman smiles into the camera and says, “Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow. Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow.”
The Michigan Republican began taking heat after his ad targeting Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow as “Debbie Spenditnow” ran statewide Sunday during the Super Bowl. Some detractors said the ad was racially insensitive, while national GOP consultant Mike Murphy tweeted that it was “really, really dumb.” Foreign Policy magazine managing editor Blake Hounshell called the ad “despicable.”
Hoekstra defended the ad, telling reporters during a Monday conference call that it has “jumpstarted the debate” over deficit spending. He said it’s only “insensitive” to the Democratic philosophy of Stabenow and President Barack Obama, noting the ad doesn’t criticize China. Asked about the woman in the ad, Hoekstra said that “her parents are 100 percent Chinese.”
What do you think? Insensitive?
Read more on Stabenow's spending
by admin - February 6th, 2012
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Feds probe alleged admission discrimination
Glad they are taking this Asian American discrimination seriously!
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is currently investigating a complaint received in August that the University’s undergraduate admission process discriminates against Asian Americans.
An Indian-American student who graduated at the top of his high school class in California was rejected by both Princeton and Harvard University, according to Bloomberg News. The student filed a similar complaint against Harvard.
The allegation claims “that a student was denied admission to the University based on the student’s national origin/race, Asian-American,” according to a spokesman for the Department of Education, who declined to identify himself due to department policy.
University spokesperson Martin Mbugua denied that the University discriminated on the basis of race or origin.
The percentage of Asian Americans among Princeton undergraduate students has risen from 14.1 percent four years ago to 17.7 percent this year.
Sociology professor Thomas Espenshade has conducted research that shows that the applications of Asian Americans are held to a higher standard in the admission process. Espenshade’s 2009 book, “No Longer Separate, Not Yet Equal,” revealed that Asian Americans need to score 140 points more than whites, 270 more than Hispanics and 450 more than African Americans on the math and reading sections of the SAT to be equally competitive in private college admissions.
by admin - February 6th, 2012
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Laos probes sale of babies to Americans
Laos is investigating a retired justice ministry official for allegedly selling adopted babies to Americans, Canadians and Australians for thousands of dollars each, a report said.
The official is accused of seeking out unwanted babies in poor, rural areas, obtaining adoption papers and selling the infants, all aged between one and two years, on to foreigners for up to $5,000 each, according to Radio Free Asia.
He has been taken in for questioning and the adoption process for children thought to be caught up in the scam has been suspended pending the results of the investigation, RFA reported.
Mike Pryor, press officer at the US Embassy in Laos, told AFP that Laos "suspended foreign adoptions on January 9" but did not offer any specific reason for the move.
"Adopting a child for sale... is a crime related to human trafficking, no question about it," a government official told RFA.
The justice ministry is probing how the scam worked, including whether the birth parents sold their infants, which can constitute a human trafficking offence punishable by a three-to-five-year jail term, the official said.
It was not clear how many children were involved in the alleged adoption ring.
Laos is listed as Tier 2 -- out of three -- in the US State Department's 2011 anti human trafficking report, which praises the government's "significant efforts" to combat the problem.
Source AFP
by admin - February 6th, 2012
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Strong 6.8 quake hits Philippines
The Ring of Fire strikes again!
A strong 6.8 earthquake hit the central Philippines on Monday but there was no danger of a widespread tsunami, seismologists said.
The quake hit 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of the city of Dumaguete on Negros Island at 11:49am (0349 GMT) at a depth of 46 kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.
The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology measured it as 6.9 at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres centred in the sea off the city of La Carlota.
Philippine seismologists and local residents said there was panic, but no immediate reports of casualties or major damage.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no danger of a widespread destructive tsunami.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Source AFP
by admin - February 6th, 2012
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Asian Stocks Advance on US job data
Asian stocks rose, with a regional benchmark index set to extend its longest streak of weekly advances since 2010, after U.S. unemployment unexpectedly fell, boosting the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.
Good news and hopefully a good week!
by admin - February 6th, 2012
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Madonna performs with new generation of popstars! Asian!
Related Photos:
Did you have a chance to watch Madonna's half time Superbowl performance? While we weren't wowed by the performance, we were excited to see Madonna perform with the latest generation of pop stars, Ms. Nicki Minaj and Ms. M.I.A!
The 53-year-old entertainer sang some of her hits including “Vogue,” “Music,” “Party Rock Anthem/Sexy and I Know It,” “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” and “Like a Prayer”!
Nicki is of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry and M.I.A is a British rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent....And Yes she flipped us off! Watch the show below!
Remember when Madonna performed with these two clowns?
by admin - February 5th, 2012
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US to move 4,700 Marines from Japan to Guam
Tokyo and Washington have agreed to move 4,700 Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam in a bid to revive a stalled plan for the realignment of US forces in Japan, reports said Sunday.
The two countries in 2006 agreed to the transfer of around 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam and the relocation of an air base on Okinawa but the move has been delayed as Tokyo struggles to convince Okinawans to accept the deal.
The US Defense Department is now considering shifting the remaining 3,300 Marines to elsewhere in the Pacific, such as Hawaii, Australia and the Philippines, Kyodo News reported citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
Senior Japanese and US foreign and defense officials will meet in Washington on Monday, with the two governments expected to announce details of the transfer on February 13, Kyodo and the Asahi Shimbun daily said.
Tokyo has struggled to convince Okinawans to accept the plan to relocate the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, part of the realignment package.
Many Okinawans, angry at having for decades shouldered the burden of hosting more than half of the 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan, oppose the plan which would relocate the US base to another part of the island.
They say another part of Japan should take the base, instead of Henoko on the east coast of Okinawa, where Tokyo and Washington have agreed to build a giant runway-on-stilts in the sea.
The move to transfer Marines to Guam may compromise Tokyo's position because Japanese government officials had used it as leverage to convince Okinawa to accept the base relocation, the Asahi said.
The new development in the realignment program may possibly end up leaving the airstrip where it is, in a crowded urban area of the island near dozens of schools and hospitals, the Asahi said.
Source AFP
by admin - February 5th, 2012
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