TOM PLATE WRITES – Two guys walk into a drinking saloon. Only three in the afternoon and they’re glowering at each other. They settle at the bar, the bartender asks, “What’ll you have?” The Chinese guy says a Maotai, make it a double. The American says an Americano, light on…
NAWAF ALSABAH WRITES — The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has recently been in the spotlight—unfavorably — for its unforgiving treatment of female activists. In late 2018, the country made headlines following the killing of Saudi journalist/activist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. This brought…
ALBUS WANG WRITES– East West Players, the oldest theatre group representing racial minorities, has a new play: “Man of God.” Inspired by the “Me Too” movement in 2017 and the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the show emboldens sexual assault survivors and supports the vow of the…
CHELSEA SALAC WRITES– On December 17 last year, Catriona Gray won the Title of Miss Universe 2018. “It’s our Superbowl. The level of support that Filipinos give the arena of pageantry is phenomenal,” 25-year-old beauty queen Catriona Gray explains. The Philippines, a country that dominates International Beauty Pageants, has produced…
SARAH ALMUAWAD WRITES– Why does Kuwait, a small country in Western Asia, want to become the world’s food capital? Maybe, to boost tourism? To decrease the country’s reliance on oil? To take advantage of lower oil prices over the past three years?? To compete globally? To expand the economy? All…
CONOR FAIRTLOUGH WRITES — Felix Kjellberg, more commonly known by his youtube name “Pewdiepie,” has sat atop the most subscribed Youtube Channel since 2013. His is, in fact, the world’s most watched channel. With over 60 billion views, Kjellberg’s channel had, as of February, over 83 million subscribers. However, a new…
PATRICK POLESHUK WRITES — In a cutthroat economic environment in which trading is perceived as a zero-sum game, the placement of tariffs on roughly $250 billion worth of Chinese goods is merely perceived as keeping things fair. President Trump has held to this view since his 2017 ascension to office,…
JENICA GARCIA ROSE WRITES– Everyone has a favorite animated movie. This past holiday season, in addition to the usual Western animated classics, such as Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer (1964), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), The Polar Express (2004), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), I had the chance to…
JENICA ROSE GARCIA WRITES — Every December, the internet excitedly awaits the acclaimed “Moving Pictures” mashup, which strings multiple pieces of footage from disparate movie trailers into a whole new trailer. The creative genius behind “Moving Pictures” is Clark Zhu, who has accumulated millions of fans and has been featured…
TOM PLATE WRITES — Every year about this time, a late, great American columnist would knock out his ‘People I’m Not Talking to This Year’. It was a get-even roll call of big-time baddies and political pompinjays – a crabby crusade whose charm pleased readers and deterred nervous, gimlet-eyed newspaper editors…
ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL WRITES – If you can’t stand scenes depicting violence against women, stay away from “Wajma: An Afghan Love Story.” Filmed in 2013 on a budget as small as they get, and now released on DVD, this was Afghanistan’s submission to the 86th Oscars for Best Foreign Language…
OLIVIA AMEZCUA WRITES– When one thinks of Indonesia, palm oil might not be the first thought that comes to mind. Many folks remain vastly unaware of both the country’s near-existential ties with the product— and the self-destructive dangers the palm oil industry imposes on this sprawling nation’s environment. Palm oil…
AN ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL REPORT: BY LMU STUDENTS– Salem AlSabah, Mohammed AlSabah, Saud K AlRashed, Saud F AlRashed, Bader Bahman, Ali AlKhater, and Mohammed AlShehri. Managing Editors’ Note: One of the dominant news stories of this past year concerns the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist and Washington Post columnist…
AASHNA MALPANI WRITES– Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, victims of Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing, are packed into refugee camps just 20 miles from the city of Cox’s Bazar, in Bangladesh. Their everyday life is riddled with little access to education and restricted cellular reception. And they are social pariahs. “The average…
ASIA MEDIA INTERNATIONAL WRITES – Tre Publishing House, the noted publisher of books and magazines and one of the top publishers in Vietnam, has issued its Vietnamese translation of ‘The Fine Art of the Political Interview’. Serving a dynamic country of almost 97 million, Tre (https://www.nxbtre.com.vn/en/about-us/general-introduction.htm) has its headquarters in…
MILES KENT WRITES– The G20 Summit, an annual gathering of 20 established and developing economies that took place, has been called an American automaker win by the Trump administration. Following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump tweeted about Chinese plans “to reduce and remove tariffs on American…
