AUGUST 26, 2022

Hello, everyone!

In the U.S., almost 1.5 million Asian Americans, Native Hawai'ians and Pacific Islanders are uninsured with many falling through the cracks due to Medicaid income thresholds. However, the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) claims to help AAPI communities by lowering healthcare, energy and business costs, among others.

The act aims to lower health care costs, including prescription drug costs, and expand health insurance coverage for AAPI and Native Hawai'ian families. The act also claims to combat climate change, lower energy costs, create jobs, protect public health, lower costs for small businesses, and make the tax code fairer.

According to the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM), a nonpartisan research organization at the University of Pennsylvania that analyzes the fiscal impact of public policies, the legislation will have little impact on inflation.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a federal agency that provides budget and economic information to Congress, also says the bill will barely impact inflation in the near future.

Race in America 🌎

When 7,200 Afghan refugees arrived in Indiana during the fall of Kabul as part of Operation Allies Welcome, volunteers at Camp Atterbury outside Indianapolis were quintessential in helping refugees settle in and transition.

Some of the volunteers worked 18 hours non-stop to ensure that people were being taken care of. To honor their hard work, the Asian American Alliance will be holding an evening of appreciation, replete with testimonials and award presentations. 

In Other Asian News 🗞

On Wednesday in South Korea, the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission officially recognized the government’s involvement in sending vulnerable Korean citizens to Brothers Home, a welfare center that beat, raped, killed and exploited people. The Commission called it a “grave human rights violation by the state.” 

Even though the scandal at Brothers Home is one of the most documented human rights abuses in South Korea, survivors and advocates still struggled for decades for their story to be heard. The center, which is located in the southeastern city of Busan, abused over 38,000 people from 1976 to 1987 as part of the military dictatorship program to “cleanse the streets of vagrants.” The recognition on Wednesday accompanied a formal recommendation for a governmental apology, an official death toll and assistance to provide adequate care for all victims.

In Vietnam, the Hanoi People’s High Court chose to uphold the nine-year jail term for 44-year-old journalist Pham Doan Trang.

Trang, a prominent dissident, published various material on human rights and police brutality in the nation. For that she was convicted of anti-state activities in December, specifically “conducting propaganda against the state.” In her appeals, Trang argued that “the initial trial in December didn't follow domestic legal procedures and international treaty,” which the European Union also agrees with. On Thursday, European Union spokesperson Nablia Massrali emphasized that “the European Union continues to call on the Vietnamese authorities to release all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained.”

Food and Theater 🥘

New York chef Danny Bowien, the visionary behind Mission Chinese Food, details what is next for him after shuttering his restaurant empire.

He is currently working on a cookbook called “Mission Vegan,” but his dream gig would be a travel food show. Bowien says, "I love 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.’ It's one of my favorite television shows because Guy [Fieri] is about to go to these places, connect with people on a really authentic level, get his hands dirty a little bit, get in there with people, but really allow them to like, shine.”
 

...

“KPOP,” a new musical headed to Broadway, has rounded out its cast with Kevin Woo, former member of boy group U-KISS, BoHyung, former member of girl group SPICA, and Min, a former member of Miss A.

The show, starring former F(x) member Luna, is based on a book by Jason Kim. Previews for the musical begin on Thursday, October 13 at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre, with an official opening on Sunday, November 20.

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

• Netflix has dropped a new trailer for their Korean crime thriller “Narco-Saints” starring Ha Jung-woo as an entrepreneur who gets framed by a drug lord and sent to prison.  

• Only two men among hundreds were charged for paying for sex at an illegal brothel in Las Vegas.  

• A school district in Missouri has reinstated spanking as a last resort punishment for students. 

• An Indian-American hiker in Arizona was found dead after she went missing during a flash flood.

• Male and female twin panda cubs were born in China on Tuesday.