Nichi Bei Times Report

Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada defeated West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon for the 8th Assembly District's Democratic nomination, according to unofficial results.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Yamada defeated Cabaldon 17,009 to 15,961 votes — or 51.6 to 48.4 percent — to face Republican Manuel Cosme, who ran unopposed in Tuesday's GOP primary for the District 8 seat in November.

By GINA HOTTA

After Sept. 11, Faisal Hamid's parents, immigrants from Bangladesh, wanted him to keep a low profile. At school, his sister's hijab was pulled off and she was taunted with the question, "Are you related to Osama Bin Laden?" Now 16 years old and a student organizer, Hamid was a speaker at the recent event "Inalienable: Immigrant Rights — Youth Voices from World War II and Post-9/11."

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing on H.R. 662 for July 31, moving towards the establishment of a commission that will investigate the internment of more than 2,200 persons of Japanese ancestry from 13 Latin American countries by the U.S. government during World War II.

By CHIZU OMORI
Nichi Bei Times Columnist

I confess to being a political junkie. It really is like an addiction, since I allow thoughts about our presidential campaign to override a whole lot of stuff going on in my life — including some serious decision-making that is impacting my household. I eagerly read the newspaper, I watch pundits on TV, I read Politico and The Huffington Post on the computer and I get tons of e-mail from many, many entities that want me to sign this petition, write to this person, call my congressman, and mostly, send money, send money, send money.

By GRANT UJIFUSA

The 20^th anniversary of the redress signing ceremony arrives on Aug. 10 of this year. But before we begin to indulge ourselves in hosannas of self-congratulation, I think we should pause for a moment to remember people, many now dead and sometimes forgotten, who made essential contributions to our success.

The first is Senator Spark Matsunaga, who virtually alone produced a 69-vote, veto-proof majority for his authorization bill on the floor of the Senate. The earlier House vote showed that there was no way a potential veto from Ronald Reagan could be overridden. The Japanese American community did very little work to produce what happened in the Senate. It was instead intense, member-to-member lobbying by Matsunaga over a period of four years that led to what Senator Jeff Bingaham of New Mexico, on the committee with jurisdiction over the bill, called "a set of greased skids." He added that "Senators just love Sparky, and if this is what he wanted, they were going to give it to him."

By APRIL ELKJER
Nichi Bei Times

Sergei Bodrov made history for Kazakhstan as the Central Asian nation garnered its first Academy Award nomination for best foreign film while creating a film on the early history and life of 12^th century conqueror Ghenghis Khan called "Mongol." Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano plays the lead role and the film is shot in the Mongolian language in the remote corners of Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China.

By BEN HAMAMOTO
Nichi Bei Times

Ladies and gentlemen, A-pop has arrived. When this happened exactly is kind of hard to pinpoint. There are too many indicators spread over too long a time to know for sure. A casual glance at a Saturday morning cartoon lineup will reveal several animated shows which borrow heavily from aesthetics pioneered and popularized by Japanese manga artists, just about every mainstream rapper out there sports Japanese designed BAPE clothing or some derivative thereof, and even the most iconic American comic book heroes, Batman, Wolverine, etc., have been given visual revamps by Japanese artists in special comics/animated films.

Hapa, award-winning recording artists from Hawai'i, will bring Island spirit to San Francisco for a benefit concert in support of Japantown's 35th Annual Nihonmachi Street Fair. Featuring Barry Flanagan and Nathan Aweau, Hapa will headline a special concert titled "Bringing Our Communities Together" on July 5 at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, with opening performances by local Bay Area Polynesian groups.