Even though Asia is well on its way to be the permanent powerhouse to beat in the global economic heavyweight division, it’s still hard for me to believe that it could someday unseat the ultimate GDP champion: U.S. of A. As a life-long American historyphile, I’ve been inculcated to believe that our beloved “shining city upon a hill” has the goods to remain on top for…well, forever. Sure, all great things must come to an end and other illustrious nations have met their unexpected demises, but c’mon, the red, white, & blue has to be the ONE exception, no?

Well, my bubble of naive optimism is going to be popped a lot sooner than I thought after coming across an interesting International Business Times interview with noted financial commentator and wealthy American investor, Jim Rogers. After continuously praising the Asian economy and moving his entire family to Singapore, Rogers expressed his astute belief that his future descendants stand a much better financial chance in Asia:

In 1807, if you had moved to the U.K., you and your heirs would have been much, much better off for the next 100 years. If in 1907 you had moved to the U.S., you and your heirs would have been much better off for the next 100 years.

In my view, moving to Asia in 2007 means my heirs are going to be much better off in the next 100 years.

Definitely something to make you go hmm….

cr: absolutelyfobulous.com, businessinsider,com

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Muslim organization, My Faith My Voice, created a powerful PSA against those who believe Muslim Americans don’t have a right to live or practice their religion in this country. Their message? We’re not here to take over your country nor do they support terrorism.

Watch here:

Tags: Inspirasian, Uncategorized by ellie
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Kevin Wu (kevjumba @kevjumba) has made his return to YouTube with a new web series titled My Dad is Asian. The video focuses on some of the things his father does during his day such as Tai Chi. Check it out here and also support his second fund raising channel JumbaFund.

My Dad is Asian – Episode 1

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Getting high in the heartland of America has been made just that much more difficult after 3 men have been charged with running an extensive marijuana production operation that consisted of 4 houses (in 2 separate neighborhoods) and a grand total of 13,500 cannabis plants!

Illinois police arrested Chang Hai Chen, Mingdi Lu, and Jinzu Shi after neighbors reported suspicious activity in the pot houses used in the Naperville location.

The real pressing question is whether or not their Kumars will bust them out of jail and save the doobie-rrific day!

cr: myfoxchicago.com

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Archie Panjabi, who portrays Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife, just won an Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. It was her first nomination and her first win.

Congratulations! Here’s to a successful rest of your career!

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Actress Mindy Kaling showed up at tonight’s 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards looking like this:

I’ve never been a huge fan of Kaling’s fashion choices but she looks absolutely stunning in this black number. The fit is perfect for her curvacious body and everything from the hair, to the make-up, down to the sparkling shoes is a winner in my eyes. Love it!

Will you be watching the Emmy Awards tonight? And do you love it or hate it?

Tags: Actors/Films, Uncategorized by ellie
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The Sinabung volcano, located on the western island of Sumatra in Indonesia, erupted for the first time in 400 years and forced thousands of people to evacuate from the Karo district in North Sumatra yesterday.

“Initially we thought the ash and smoke were triggered by rain but now we know the driving pressure was from magma,” Surono, the head of the nation’s volcano disaster alert centre, told the AFP news agency.

“It’s clearly dangerous so we’ve raised the warning to the highest level, or red level. From the crater, it shot smoke and volcanic ash 1,500 metres into the sky,” he added.

Indonesia has issued a red alert. So far, no injuries or deaths have been reported.

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And I laughed too.

M. Night Shyamalan is currently the most hated director roaming around the cinematic block. His movies since “Unbreakable” have been disappointing and flat out terrible. The 2010 thriller, Devil about “group of people trapped in a elevator realize that the devil is among them,” was recently released into theaters. When I saw the trailer myself in the theaters, it seemed semi-thrilling until the words “From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan,” flashed across the screen. The audience boo-ed in harmony, I put my head down low and slowly swayed it from side to side. But what to do when everyone hates you and your future movies? Time to call Shyamalan’s PR team!

With a little bit of money and time, the director’s PR team pulled through and shelled out a hilarious parody of “Devil,” entitled “Escalation.”

Watch Devil here first:

It did its job with me though! I find myself slowly climbing back on Shyamalan’s movie train. Maybe, not really.

Tags: Actors/Films, Uncategorized by ellie
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Give me a folded tenegui bandana, slap a white-haired goatee on my chin, and call me Ms. Miyagi because I finally know the answer to the mankind-plaguing, age-old question: why aren’t Asians overweight? It’s because they are all secretly walking off their transitory wibbly-wobbly bits in the middle of the night!

In an attempt to de-chunk my physique, I’ve taken up nightly brisk walking jaunts around my neighborhood. Due to my abnormal, vampire-friendly schedule, I am forced to hit the pavement when most people are presumably winding down from the day in the comforts of their beds. However, instead of huffin’ n’ puffin’ up and down the streets like a solitary sweat hog, I’ve had unexpected but highly welcome company.

There is an “Asian Invasion” literally afoot in my aerobic stomping grounds, and it’s certainly a wonderful sight to behold! I’m not one of those idyllic ever-present neighbors who people unhesitantly borrow cups of sugar from, so I never realized the burgeoning Asian population in my surrounding residential area. I might only get to see them as mysterious passing shadows of the night, but it’s quite an amusing comfort to know that we share not only an affinity for ingesting carbohydrates in granular form but also engaging in this specific type of physical activity.

There might be a non-Asian invading our path every now and then, but the majority of my fellow walkers all belong in the same racial (more or less) club. Whether its the stereotypical lone Chinese lady scarily criss-crossing her arms while walking at speeds Speedy Gonzales himself would envy or the adorable young Indian couple PDA-ing with matching sneakers, I gratefully embrace briefly seeing them all. I am not fortunate enough to personally interact with Asians in my everyday life (I need to migrate to an Asian-centric bustling metropolis), so it’s nice to know that I’m not alone, on multiple levels, on these solo excursions of mine.

I wish I could provide you well-documented scientific evidence explaining the high concentration of Asians walking unknowingly together at un-godly hours of the night, but I don’t. All I know is that what started out as a lonely mobile pity party for me has fortuitously turned into a warped neighborhood Asian block party!

Now if only I could start talking to them…

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