'DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL' RULE SET FOR ILLEGAL-ALIEN PLAINTIFFS
In a case of first impression, an Appellate Division panel held Wednesday that defense counsel cannot ask the plaintiffs about their immigration status during discovery in a putative class action suit alleging that an employer cheated its workers out of required just compensation and overtime pay. Nor can the plaintiffs be asked about whether they lied to their employer or made false statements, unless the defense can make a showing that those statements have a direct impact on their credibility in determining whether they are, in fact, eligible for back pay and overtime, the court said in Serrano and Vivar v. Underground Utilities Corp.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Zhao Ziyang's Taped Comments on the June Fourth Movement Being Released
赵紫阳录音结集出书
A secret recording of Zhao Ziyang, the former Premier of the People's Republic of China (1980-1987) and fromer General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1987-1989), that was taped around 1992 during his house arrest was released recently. See the article here: http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhaoziyang-05142009121836.html and listen to the recording using the YouTube link below.
The recording includes his views and comments on the June Fourth Movement, reform and China's future.
In an interview byRadio Free Asia, Bao Tong (鲍彤), a former member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, indicated that he plans to publish the English edition of the transcript first before issuing the Chinese edition. He explained that if the Chinese edition is published first, it will be immediately censored. If the English edition is published first and received international recognition that the contents are factually accurate, then it will not be possible for the Chinese edition to be censored.
Transcript of part of the recording, copied from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7__pLe39rsg&annotation_id=annotation_320753&feature=iv:
6月3日夜，我正同家人在院子裡乘涼，聽到街上有密集的槍聲。一場舉世震驚的悲劇終于 未能避免地發生了。六四悲劇三年後，我記下了這些材料，這場悲劇已經過去好多年了。這場風波的積極分子， 除少數人逃出國外，大部分人被抓，被判，被反覆審問。情況現在應當是非常清楚了，應該 說以下三個問題可以回答了：第一，當時說學潮是一場有領導，有計劃，有預謀的反黨反社會主義的政治鬥爭。現在可以 問一下，究竟是什麼人在領導？如何計劃，如何預謀的？有哪些材料能夠說明這一點？還說 黨內有黑手，黑手是誰呀？第二，說這場動亂的目的是要顛覆共和國，推翻共產黨，這方面又有什麼材料？我當時就說 過，多數人是要我們改正錯誤，而不是要根本上推翻我們的制度。這麼多年過去了，審訊中 得到什麼材料？究竟是我說得對還是他們說得對？許多外出的民運分子都說，他們在六四前 ，還是希望黨往好處改變。 六四以後，黨使他們完全絕望，使他們和黨處在對立的方面。在學潮期間，學生提出過很多 口號，要求，但就是沒有提物價問題，而當時物價問題是社會上很大的熱點，是很容易引起 共鳴的。學生們要和共產黨作對，這麼敏感的問題他們為什麼不利用呢？提這樣的問題不是 更能動員群眾嗎？學生不提物價問題，可見學生們知道物價問題涉及改革，如果直接提出物 價問題動員群眾，實際上要反對，否定改革。可見不是這種情況。第三，將六四定性為反革命暴亂，能不能站得住腳？學生一直是守秩序的，不少材料說明， 在解放軍遭到圍攻時，許多地方反而是學生來保護解放軍。大量市民阻攔解放軍進城，究竟 是為了什麼？是要推翻共和國嗎？當然，那麼多人的行動，總有極少數人混在人群裡面攻打 解放軍，但那是一種混亂情況。北京市不少流氓，流竄犯乘機鬧事，那是完全可能的。難道 能把這些行為說成是廣大市民，學生的行為嗎？這個問題到現在應當很清楚了。
A secret recording of Zhao Ziyang, the former Premier of the People's Republic of China (1980-1987) and fromer General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1987-1989), that was taped around 1992 during his house arrest was released recently. See the article here: http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/zhaoziyang-05142009121836.html and listen to the recording using the YouTube link below.
The recording includes his views and comments on the June Fourth Movement, reform and China's future.
In an interview byRadio Free Asia, Bao Tong (鲍彤), a former member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, indicated that he plans to publish the English edition of the transcript first before issuing the Chinese edition. He explained that if the Chinese edition is published first, it will be immediately censored. If the English edition is published first and received international recognition that the contents are factually accurate, then it will not be possible for the Chinese edition to be censored.
Transcript of part of the recording, copied from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7__pLe39rsg&annotation_id=annotation_320753&feature=iv:
6月3日夜，我正同家人在院子裡乘涼，聽到街上有密集的槍聲。一場舉世震驚的悲劇終于 未能避免地發生了。六四悲劇三年後，我記下了這些材料，這場悲劇已經過去好多年了。這場風波的積極分子， 除少數人逃出國外，大部分人被抓，被判，被反覆審問。情況現在應當是非常清楚了，應該 說以下三個問題可以回答了：第一，當時說學潮是一場有領導，有計劃，有預謀的反黨反社會主義的政治鬥爭。現在可以 問一下，究竟是什麼人在領導？如何計劃，如何預謀的？有哪些材料能夠說明這一點？還說 黨內有黑手，黑手是誰呀？第二，說這場動亂的目的是要顛覆共和國，推翻共產黨，這方面又有什麼材料？我當時就說 過，多數人是要我們改正錯誤，而不是要根本上推翻我們的制度。這麼多年過去了，審訊中 得到什麼材料？究竟是我說得對還是他們說得對？許多外出的民運分子都說，他們在六四前 ，還是希望黨往好處改變。 六四以後，黨使他們完全絕望，使他們和黨處在對立的方面。在學潮期間，學生提出過很多 口號，要求，但就是沒有提物價問題，而當時物價問題是社會上很大的熱點，是很容易引起 共鳴的。學生們要和共產黨作對，這麼敏感的問題他們為什麼不利用呢？提這樣的問題不是 更能動員群眾嗎？學生不提物價問題，可見學生們知道物價問題涉及改革，如果直接提出物 價問題動員群眾，實際上要反對，否定改革。可見不是這種情況。第三，將六四定性為反革命暴亂，能不能站得住腳？學生一直是守秩序的，不少材料說明， 在解放軍遭到圍攻時，許多地方反而是學生來保護解放軍。大量市民阻攔解放軍進城，究竟 是為了什麼？是要推翻共和國嗎？當然，那麼多人的行動，總有極少數人混在人群裡面攻打 解放軍，但那是一種混亂情況。北京市不少流氓，流竄犯乘機鬧事，那是完全可能的。難道 能把這些行為說成是廣大市民，學生的行為嗎？這個問題到現在應當很清楚了。
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Way We Are 天水圍的日與夜
Things are never what they appeared to be. This is what the movie “The way We Are” impresses me most. At the beginning of the movie, we saw Mrs. Cheung working hard at her job in the supermarket while her teenage son lazy around at home watching T.V. all day. Then we saw Mrs. Cheung back at home after work making and eating dinner with her son without much interaction between the two. That comes across as if the son is a no-good loser and Mrs. Cheung as a not caring mother, and there seems to be an enormous divide between the two. This impression is further reinforced at the son’s bible study group scene when his mentor asked how he would response to his mother if she tells him to study, to be back home early, to do chores, etc., and his answer to all those questions was a simple “Yup.”
However, it was gradually revealed that the son is a quiet, obedient and self-disciplined child. That he is lazing around the apartment is because he is unable to find a job to preoccupy himself during his summer break while awaiting his HKCEE results. When his grandmother is hospitalized, he goes to visit her everyday and turns down invitations from his friends to go out. He is not embarrassed to let his friends know that he would rather go home to be with his mother on mid-Autumn festival than to fool around with them. Also, whenever and whatever his mother asks him to do, he will do it without any objections or hesitations.
Mrs. Cheung, on the other hand, turns out to be a very compassionate and loving person. Her husband has passed away quite a while ago already—long enough that her son can’t remember whether his father was slim or fat. Yet she continues to keep her husband’s jeans in the drawer as if he has not left them. When she finally throws her husband’s old pair of jeans out, she breaks down in tears. We also learn that she is a selfless person and that in the past she supported her now successful brothers’ studies overseas. Mrs. Cheung’s compassion also extends beyond her immediate family. She and her son befriend her elderly co-worker. They help her carry a T.V. set home, do grocery shopping together, and change a light bulb for her apartment. Mrs. Cheung even accompanies her elderly co-worker on a trip to Shartin to have tea with her co-worker’s son-in-law.
Her co-worker is a lonely elderly woman. Her only daughter passed away some time ago and her former son-in-law remarried another woman. The elderly co-worker misses her grandchild, but is prevented by the former son-in-law and his new wife from having any relationship with her grandchild. Mrs. Cheung and her son’s friendship brighten up the elderly woman’s otherwise mundane, meaningless life.
Throughout the movie there is an undercurrent of loneliness--the loneliness of Mrs. Cheung without her husband; the loneliness of her son without a girlfriend or close friend; and the loneliness of her co-worker without her daughter and grandchild.
Counter-balancing this is perhaps the compassion of the characters, especially that of Mrs. Cheung, her son and her elderly co-worker. Even her brothers turn out to be loving and compassionate characters. One of her brothers tell her son that they will support his overseas studies if he could not get promoted to Form Six—a sort of repaying their gratitude for Mrs. Cheung’s support of their overseas studies in the past.
“The Way We Are” set in the background of Tin Shui Wai is about the lives of average people. A town built on reclamation land by the government in the 1990s, which earned its nickname “The City of Sadness” through a series of media coverage of widespread unemployment, organized crimes, domestic violence, and tragic suicides. Just as the feeling of loneliness that seep through the movie, it is a portrait of the way average working people go about their lives copying with their sorrows, tragedies and disappointments both individually and collectively. It is a rare gem out of Hong Kong cinemas and deservingly garnered a number of awards at film festivals.
However, it was gradually revealed that the son is a quiet, obedient and self-disciplined child. That he is lazing around the apartment is because he is unable to find a job to preoccupy himself during his summer break while awaiting his HKCEE results. When his grandmother is hospitalized, he goes to visit her everyday and turns down invitations from his friends to go out. He is not embarrassed to let his friends know that he would rather go home to be with his mother on mid-Autumn festival than to fool around with them. Also, whenever and whatever his mother asks him to do, he will do it without any objections or hesitations.
Mrs. Cheung, on the other hand, turns out to be a very compassionate and loving person. Her husband has passed away quite a while ago already—long enough that her son can’t remember whether his father was slim or fat. Yet she continues to keep her husband’s jeans in the drawer as if he has not left them. When she finally throws her husband’s old pair of jeans out, she breaks down in tears. We also learn that she is a selfless person and that in the past she supported her now successful brothers’ studies overseas. Mrs. Cheung’s compassion also extends beyond her immediate family. She and her son befriend her elderly co-worker. They help her carry a T.V. set home, do grocery shopping together, and change a light bulb for her apartment. Mrs. Cheung even accompanies her elderly co-worker on a trip to Shartin to have tea with her co-worker’s son-in-law.
Her co-worker is a lonely elderly woman. Her only daughter passed away some time ago and her former son-in-law remarried another woman. The elderly co-worker misses her grandchild, but is prevented by the former son-in-law and his new wife from having any relationship with her grandchild. Mrs. Cheung and her son’s friendship brighten up the elderly woman’s otherwise mundane, meaningless life.
Throughout the movie there is an undercurrent of loneliness--the loneliness of Mrs. Cheung without her husband; the loneliness of her son without a girlfriend or close friend; and the loneliness of her co-worker without her daughter and grandchild.
Counter-balancing this is perhaps the compassion of the characters, especially that of Mrs. Cheung, her son and her elderly co-worker. Even her brothers turn out to be loving and compassionate characters. One of her brothers tell her son that they will support his overseas studies if he could not get promoted to Form Six—a sort of repaying their gratitude for Mrs. Cheung’s support of their overseas studies in the past.
“The Way We Are” set in the background of Tin Shui Wai is about the lives of average people. A town built on reclamation land by the government in the 1990s, which earned its nickname “The City of Sadness” through a series of media coverage of widespread unemployment, organized crimes, domestic violence, and tragic suicides. Just as the feeling of loneliness that seep through the movie, it is a portrait of the way average working people go about their lives copying with their sorrows, tragedies and disappointments both individually and collectively. It is a rare gem out of Hong Kong cinemas and deservingly garnered a number of awards at film festivals.
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