I am not a fan of boxing but somehow Ali, who died this week, was the first athlete other than C.K Yang that I remembered.  The first I heard of Ali was when he was still Cassius Clay.  I remembered hearing over the radio in Hong Kong that a man called "Strange Luck", the translation of Clay in Chinese had beaten Liston whose name started with the Chinese sounding name Li.  I did not know the significant of that bout only that it was big news in Hong Kong. 

The next I heard of Ali was when I had already migrated to the U.S. and this man was defying the U.S. government and refusing to go into the army.  I thought at the time he was a bad guy for refusing to serve his country.  Even years later after I began to have doubts about the Vietnam war, I still thought he was a coward.  I thought this because by that time I was old enough to register for the draft.  All I knew then was that I was too chicken to fight.  I thought Ali probably thought the same as me.  So this religious objection was just a way to justify his fear of going to war.  Of course I was chicken both ways.  I didn't want to go but I was too chicken to protest, fearing people will call me a coward and disloyal.  So I registered.  But if my number had come up, I would have gone to college, medical school and get as many deferment as I can.  The war ended before I was drafted, but I certainly was not brave.  Was Ali brave.? Well, people say he was.  It is hard to say but he was braver than me in that he was willing to take a stand.

I remember his fights with Frazier.  I always felt that he went over the line with his trash talk against Frazier.  So even though I liked Ali's style a lot better than Frazier's, I was neutral in their fights.  Then in 1974, I thought Foreman was going to destroyed Ali.  But I remembered standing in a lounge in my college dorm that night when about ten black students running into the lounge, shouting that Ali had won.  Since Foreman is also black, I was very surprised by the reaction.  I began to understand that Ali was not just a boxer, but a cultural icon.

As with all famous people who died, tributes are pouring in.  The Greatest Of All Time, is the most frequent description of Ali.  I am not sure he was the GOAT in boxing.  One can argue for Joe Louis or Rocky Marciano as well.  Interestingly enough they did two computer analysis of Marciano fighting Ali many years ago.  One was done in the U.S. and one in the UK.  At that time, white establishment was still weary of Ali in the U.S.  The results:  Marciano won in the U.S. and Ali won in the UK.  But certainly among world wide sports figures in my lifetime, only Pele maybe more well known throughout the world than Ali.

I always thought that Ali as a young man was too brash.  Unlike MLK, I don't think he was much help for the civil right movement by aligning  with the Nation of Islam.  I did not consider him a role model.  But as he got older, he came across as a kinder and gentler soul.  He was also courageous in his fight against Parkinson.  We like to think of our heroes as perfect or superhuman.  They never are.  Ali was not perfect or superhuman.  But he was a great athlete who was also loquacious.  He was a great cultural icon and he made us think.  Rest in peace, Champ.

I had the privilege of attending the 50th anniversary of the election of William Soo Hoo as mayor of Oxnard last night.  Soo Hoo was the first Chinese American mayor in the state of California and possibly the whole U.S.  At a time his family was still not welcomed to live in certain parts of the city, it was a tremendous accomplishment to be elected.  He paved the way for and mentored subsequent mayors of Japanese and Hispanic descents in Oxnard.  I had the honor of meeting his widow Angela who at 87 years old is still extremely vibrant.  I also met his sister Irene who is 95 years old!  Irene was a ballroom dancer and she still move amazingly well on the floor.  My wife and I were thrilled to dance with her.  She is an inspiration for us to keep moving.

The keynote speaker for the evening was John Chiang, the treasurer of California.  Chiang had just announced his entering the race for governor in 2018.  It was mostly a speech honoring Soo Hoo and what he means for Asian American politicians.  He did talk a little about the economy of California.   It is too early to know if he ideas and policies match with what I think for me to fully support him.  But I think his fiscal policies as former controller and now treasurer were reasonable.  He was also a very good speaker so that he will at least pass the eye ball test.  The question is:  can he beat Gavin Newsom, the early front runner?   Newsom has  a lot of support within the Democratic party.  As a former mayor of SF where he courted the Chinese community, he may also get a lot of the Asian votes from Chiang.  But in California, the top two moves on from the primary to the general election regardless of party.  So if Chiang can get second place, he has a chance against Newsom.  The reason being a lot of independent and Republicans don't like Newsom for his extreme liberal views.  So if the choice is between Chiang and Newsom, they may go for Chiang.  It is early but it will be interesting.

While we are all surprised that someone like Trump has become one of the two final candidates who will be our next president, there are examples of him in other parts of the world.  Trump's rhetoric  against foreigners and Muslims are also used by politicians all over Europe.  In fact the platforms that made him successful here has been even more successful elsewhere.  Conservative populist parties have already won power in Poland, Hungary and even Denmark.  Elsewhere opposition parties with same agenda are gaining against established parties.  Even in Britain, there is the threat of leaving the European Union because of the fear of immigration, terrorism and lose of control of its own economy. In Asia, the Philippines have elected  Rodrigo Duterte who is called the Trump of the East.

The only exception to this pattern recently is the election of Sadiq Khan to be the mayor of London.  The pressure is on him to decrease the number of Asian youths leaving London to fight for terrorist groups.  That is not the usual job description for a mayor.  I am worried that terrorist group will actually make London a even more likely target than it already is.  If an attack occurs under his watch, the right wing extremists will blame him.  There will be more opposition against immigrants which will lead to more youths becoming possible recruits for terrorists.  The cycle may not be stoppable.  So the best of luck to Sadiq Khan.

I have no idea who Trump or Clinton will pick as vp.  I am sure Trump will not pick Rick Perry, who expressed interest, or Sarah Palin, who is attacking Paul Ryan on Trump's behalf.  Perry will probably forget who he is endorsing by next week.  Palin's threat to unseat Ryan in his district is laughable.  Ryan is very popular back home and Trump lost Wisconsin.  So I am sure he is safe there.  He will probably come to some understanding with Trump later but is helping GOP candidates in tough election fights to stay away from the negative effect of Trump.

Another caveat for GOP voters who think that a business executive will help the economy.  Did they not know that Herbert Hoover was a CEO before politics?  What happened during his presidency?  George Bush was also a CEO before politics and I am sure everybody remember how things were 8 years ago!  And if we think rich business people make great presidents, then maybe we should elect Bill Gates or Warren Buffet who are way more successful than Trump.  Carlos Slim would then help Mexico become a rich country!

Congratulations to Leicester City for winning the Premier League championship!  The ultimate underdog story with discarded players and 5000 to 1 odds before the season started!  It is also owned by a Thailand conglomerate and has a Japanese striker in the starting lineup!  It gives hope to the Detroit Lions, Chicago Cubs and LA Clippers of the world!  Happy Mothers Day to all Moms!

The GOP gathered in California this weekend and of course Donald Trump is the focus of attention.  There were protests outside and rhetoric inside that reminds one of 1994 when Pete Wilson helped push through Prop. 197 that prevented illegal immigrants from getting government services.  The GOP won that battle but the activism that followed has led to decrease in Republican influence in California.  While acknowledging that Trump is the likely nominee, the GOP leaders must fear that this will lead the party to even more irrelevance in the state after this November.

Trump, of course, keeps going on the attack on immigration while in California.  He blames illegal immigrants on murders and rapes.  He even say they are the cause of the drug epidemic.  I am pretty sure that even if there was no illegals in the state, the Hollywood stars will be able to get their recreation drugs of choice!  Prescription opioid abuse is rampant in this country but I know of no doctor or pharmacist who is an illegal immigrant.  They certainly don't run the drug companies that sell the opioid without keeping track of them.  Of course, Trump believes that Mexico will build a wall for him and that will keep out the illegals.  If he is so versed in the drug trade, does he not realize that the drug cartels have been quite successful digging tunnels to bring in the drugs?  I am sure they can build tunnels to bring in illegals and skirt whatever wall Trumps thinks he can build.

It looks like Trump and Clinton are going to be the nominee of their respective parties after tonight's primary results.  With Trump sweeping all five states by big margins, I don't see how the GOP will be able to deny him at the convention even if falls short of the majority.  It does not seem like any strategy Cruz, Kasich and the establishment tries has work at all against Trump.  I guess there are a lot of angry Republicans out there.  They just want to punch out the established politicians.  I don't think Trump can beat Clinton.  But if he does win, I say to those angry Republicans:  Be afraid of what you asked for!

San Francisco police officer Jason Lai was found to be sending racist text to fellow officers and others.  This is really appalling.  Even if Lai himself had not been victim of prejudice, I am sure he had family members who were victims.  So now he is in a position of power, he looks down on other people?  Having just witnessed the Peter Liang situation, I am wonder what this is going to do in recruiting of Asians in law enforcement and if this hurt the good Asian cops out there.

Officer Peter Liang was sentenced to 800 hours of community service and five years of probation today after judge Danny Chun reduced his manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide.  A few weeks ago I wrote that Liang should not have been charged with manslaughter and that he was made a scapegoat for all the previous shootings and beatings by police officers.  I also did not think he deserved anywhere the maximum of 15 years for manslaughter.  I thought that by assigning Judge Chun to the case, he would get a long sentence since it would look bad for an Asian judge to go easy on a convicted Asian officer.  Turns out I was wrong.

I am not sure that criminally negligent homicide sounds a lot better than manslaughter but apparently it gives Chun more leeway.  I have not heard anything about riots in New York.  Maybe they are too busy voting for Trump and Clinton!  I had wrote that Liang deserved to be punished but maybe only for couple of years in jail.  He got off much better!  I would totally understand if blacks are upset over this sentencing.  Either Chun is very courageous and want to do the right thing or he is biased.  I am not sure.  Now, I also read that the prosecutor asked for probation and community service and no jail time.  So if that is the prosecutor's belief that Liang deserved no jail time, then why go for the manslaughter conviction?  Is this all a show that the government won't let officers get away with it but still protect the officers?  I am happy for Liang that he doesn't have to spend years in jail but I feel badly for the Gurley family that the justice they thought was within reach was taken away.

On the cover of the Time magazine I got this week is my name and the fact that I owe $42,998.12.  This is the amount that every American man, woman and child would need to pay to erase the $13.9 trillion U.S. debt.  There were a few pages inside devoted to how we got here.  But there wasn't any good solution from the author that I can see.  Forget about the presidential candidates.  Independent analysis found that the policies of the remaining candidates, if enacted, would increase the debt and/or decrease the GDP.  I am no economist but I understand that economists believe that debt as a percentage of GDP becomes dangerous if over 90%.  We are at 73.6%, according to the article.  So it is not panic time yet, but it will be if we don't do anything about it.

The argument from the GOP is cut spending.  The argument from the Democrats is raise taxes.  Neither by itself will work as demonstrated by the analysis that none of the candidate's policy would work.  And there are tons of arguments about what to cut.  Also our tax codes are ridiculous with millions of pages that even accountants have trouble understanding.  I propose that we do an across the board cut of 5% and an increase of 5% taxes. To reach the 5% increase, we use a flat tax with no loopholes or exceptions.  We then calculate the flat tax rate that would give 5 % more total than we get now. 

Of course the above will never get passed in real life as both sides will be against it.  One more thing that I feel strongly about is that we have to find a way to get rid of all those off shore accounts.  Money going into those accounts are worse than any domestic spending for our bottom line.  For example, a person on welfare gets his check will likely use all of it in the domestic economy.  This money will circulate, creating more economic activity and taxes.  The money in a Swiss bank account does not circulate here and taxes are avoided.  So cleaning out these accounts is more important than any budget cuts we can make.  Of course again, this will never happen.

The Panama Papers revealed hundreds of thousands of offshore shell companies in 200 countries.  There was more info than Snowden's intelligence leak.  While it is not shocking that dictators and wealthy individuals hide money in untraceable account, the enormity uncovered from the records of one law firm in Panama is amazing.  The prime minister of Iceland has already lost his job over this.  Although people like Putin and the king of Saudi Arabia are not going to lose their jobs, I think there are going to be world wide consequences.  One of which is the confidence in the capitalist system which allow this. 

This is not just a problem in third world and communist countries.  I read where Switzerland and Hong Kong are one and two in hiding accounts.  But surprisingly, the U.S. is number three.  Lots of companies are set up in states such as Delaware and Nevada where the real head of the company is not on record.  The LA Times reported that gambling tycoon Sheldon Adelson bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal with a shell company registered in Delaware so that people would not know that he owned the paper.  I think we have to stop this type of dealings.  Otherwise there will be more anger over the system.  There may actually more call for socialism.  Bernie Sanders has already tap into this.  But if more revelation of tax cheating from the wealthy 1% come out, candidates like Sanders will be more successful in the future.  I believe that capitalism is the best economic system in history.  But I always said that capitalism without regulation is just chaos.  So lets try to have stricter regulations before the confidence in the system diminish significantly.

Well, now that FBI got someone to hack into the iphone of the San Bernardino terrorist without the help of Apple, I think we can conclude that nothing can be totally private.  Apple, having refused to help the government, now has egg on its face.  The world now knows that its products are not impenetrable.  For us consumers, if there is something we don't want anyone else to know, do not put it in computers, email, smart phones, icloud etc.

Scottie Pippen claims the 1995 Bulls would sweep the Warriors of today.  Total nonsense.  It is not really possible to compare generation to generation but to think that anyone of any era can sweep the Warriors is ridiculous.  I would not put the Warriors as the best of all time even if they beat the Bulls' record of 72 wins.  They would have to repeat the championship first to be in the conversation.  But I think they match up well with the Bulls.  I think the Big Two of Jordan and Pippen are better than Curry and Thompson due to superior size and defense.  But Draymond Green is better than Dennis Rodman, the Bulls number three.  Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut are better than Ron Harpper and Luc Longley.  So let say the top five are pretty even.  But the Bulls bench was very thin.  Toni Kucocic is good and Steve Kerr would be a bigger player today with the importance of the three point shot.  But there is practically nobody else any good beyond those two.  The Warriors has Andre Igudala, Speights, Ezelli, Livingston, Barbosa, Rush.  All those are excellent reserves and in case of Igudala, a former all star and playoff mvp.  I don't know who would win but I don't think the Bulls are better.  By the way, if they do play, will Steve Kerr devise a strategy to stop Steve Kerr?

Opening day for baseball is here.  I don't follow baseball too much anymore especially since I don't get Dodgers games on tv.  Time Warners tried to decrease the price of the Dodger games this season to entice Directv and others to opt in.  No taker so far.  I don't want to pay extra for local games even if this is Vin Scully's last season. Vin Scully himself has said he feels uncomfortable being used as a negotiation ploy in this impasse.  I will take Toronto to win the AL and the Mets to win the NL and the World Series.