Busy body

I got a chance to visit my parents’ graves over the Fourth of July holidays.

I can relate to those Illinois people whose relatives’ graves got exhumed, disembodied and reburied en mass so that

the empty lots could be resold (imagine the upcoming court battle between old and new “tenants”).

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-07-10-illinois-cemetery_N.htm

All for $300,000.  The culprits should be in the live body business (porn industry tops $13B), instead of dead body business.

Apparently, this scam has been going for some time, and they thought they have found a recession-proof business model.

When someone is dead, leave him/her alone. Period.

Yet, the exhibition by Dr Death has been attracting world-wide attention (the displayed bodies apparently signed a consent form so that they could travel to large cities they couldn’t have set foot to while alive).

I hate to add fuel into the fire, but what about some who held dear to “the resurrection of the bodies” tenet of faith?

This could be an interesting Supreme Court debate for the incoming Hispanic judge.

Next month, we will flip the channel and see all things Hispanic (should have been during May to top it off with Cinqo De Mayo): Lopez in comedy, and Supreme Court nominee before Congress takes off for their August vacation.

As a male, I can’t help admiring recent political female figures who had to juggle between family, faith and fame:

Hillary, Condi, Palin. The latest got quite a whip from Peggy Noonan (WSJ Op Ed, Sat July 11th, 2009).

At least, here is a female journalist taking on a female political figure. Someday, when it’s the Asian male turn to emerge in the national scene, I will venture to play the role of the watch dog, taking on him or them. It’s easy! All you need to do is to recycle the stereo types : family loyalty (corruption case of Diem, Marcos),  the lightness of being (Westmoreland commenting that the Vietnamese held low view of human life- what about the Illinois grave scam. There were no mention that a Vietnamese bad guy was involved) and maybe not enough heroic icons (are we forgetting Bruce Lee, Jet Li and lately Japanese American business icons such as Rich Dad Poor Dad author, or Kawasaki, the evangelist).

Life goes on this Saturday in July. The recession lingers on whether Obama is at home or abroad.

He is visiting Ghana, where I also visited back in 1986. A good friend from Grad School took me home to have dinner with his family. Joe was smart, articulate and friendly. He told me that even when greeting the crossing guard, just called him “chief”. I learned about the village culture there. About giving and “over”giving everyone the respect they deserve. That leads home to a Vietnamese saying “talk is cheap, so why not select words that elevate instead of putting people down”.  Another Vietnamese cultural aspect which I refuse to let go “honor your parents in life as in death”.

I wish there were no Vietnamese parents buried there in Illinois. The cries would punch holes in high heavens.

Loud enough to wake up Westmoreland. My sympathy to our black families in Illinois where the pain is taking place.

I am not a busy body. Just want to react in my own way to the new business of monetizing bodies, alive or dead.