Monthly Archives: August 2004

Sobhraj convicted again

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After serving out a 20-year term in India, Indian-Vietnamese serial killer Charles Sobhraj has been convicted again in Thailand (via Shashwati Talukdar). Sobhraj is an odd and unusual fellow as far as homicidal sociopaths go, befriending hippies on the ganja-moksha trail:

Charles Sobhraj was born… to an unwed Vietnamese shop girl and an India merchant who denied paternity… “I will make you regret that you have missed your father’s duty,” he confided in his diary.

… years later he made an even more audacious escape: this time by throwing a birthday party in which guards and prisoners alike were invited. Grapes and biscuits handed around the guests were secretly injected with sleeping pills, knocking out everyone except Sobhraj and four other escapees. Indian newspapers reported that they were so haughty about their getaway that they even photographed themselves walking through the prison gates onto the Delhi streets.

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It’s not just republicans who can wrap themselves in the flag

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My favorite image from the DNC in Boston:

star spangled turban.jpg

This is delegate Harjit Singh from Hershey, PA. There’s actually been a Sikh delegate at the DNC for at least 12 years. When I was younger, I remember watching an older gentleman from the South in the televised coverage; he always got at least one closeup.

Sadly, there is no guaranteed patriotic prophylaxis against hate crime. Post 9/11, Surinder Singh Siddhu was badly beaten in his L.A. liquor store by hoodlums who accused him of being Bin Laden and hit him with metal poles. Siddhu was also similarly attired.

Sepia Mutiny loves Bhangra

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i know the rest of you blase brown are probably so over it you’re ready to be in to it again, but because i didn’t play or hear Punjabi MC’s “beware of the boys” 1000 times over the last few years, i still get excited whenever i hear it in some unexpected place. like right before they do “the numbers” on marketplace. i just heard the unmistakable joint an hour ago, and i thought i was hallucinating, so i went to their website. there, i was delighted to find that they list all the songs used during each program…et voila:

Most Recent Listings 8/12/04

Beware of the Boys – Panjabi MC

The Shy Retirer – Arab Strap

Sun is Shining – DJ Krush

One Big Love – Patty Griffin

Thank You – Dido

Arab Strap? i also saw Belle and Sebastian listed, and i confirmed that on June 24 of this year, they had indeed played my beloved Pixies. someone at marketplace has hot taste in music. 🙂

Daler – Back and Blacker than Ever

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Mutineers wept openly last October when our favorite, cheesy, chubby-cheeked Baritone was arrested by Delhi’s finest in a brutal police raid. We chanted, marched, and printed posters to speak Truth to the Power. How could they not understand that Na na na na na re (whatever it means) was the answer to Rodney King’s question for the ages – Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
FreeDalerMehndi.jpg
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God’s own comedy

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Paul Varghese made it to the semifinals on Last Comic Standing (via MD). Varghese is a Texan Malayalee who started doing stand-up comedy in 2001. More here:

Growing up was a struggle, Varghese had roving gangs of Malayalee doctors and aeronautical engineers brandishing slide rules in da hood. So, to stay off the streets, he kept it real at comedy clubs… My favorite desi stand-up is still the inimitable Russell Peters, a big, chubby Canadian upon whose dewy lashes perches the daemon of unapologetic cruelty.

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India backs off of Moon ambitions

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Warning: Given my non-blogging job, the following posting is bias. I don’t care!

The Tallahassee Democrat reports:

India is rethinking its plan to send a man to the moon by 2015, as the mission would cost a lot of money and yield very little in return, the national space agency said Thursday.

Okay, I have no problem with that. India has so many other concerns that space travel should not be even a top 100 priority. What I have a problem with is that they can’t be honest about that fact and instead have to cover their retreat by saying the following:

“Whatever a man can do in space, it can be done with instrumentation, also,” said G. Madhavan Nair, head of the Indian Space Research Organization.

False! Not true. This is the same myth perpetuated by the anti-space lobby in our country as well. Here is a good explanation of why robots cannot and should not compete with humans.

Also, keep in mind that the real motivation behind the Indian space program announcing a Moon mission in the first place, was probably the same motivation behind our own program in the 50s and 60s. A nuclear arms race. Whose rocket is bigger, India’s or Pakistan’s?

If I vote, I will be stuck in jury duty.

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Georgia’s Khabar Magazine takes an in-depth an thought-provoking look at the Indian-American voter. The article addresses some of the chief reasons Indian-Americans don’t vote (can you believe that the fear of Jury Duty is near the top of the list?), as well as breaks down this voting group into five general types.

First, the why?? question:

Why donÂ’t more Indian-Americans vote? A basic theory shared by political scientists is as follows: the more money and education you have, the more you will vote and participate in politics. Indian-Americans are one of the most educated and wealthiest ethnic groups in the country. So, why is our voter turnout and participation so low?

An analysis by Ritesh Desai who serves on the Georgia Governor’s Asian American Commission sheds light on the jury issue at least:

The Department of Motor Vehicles is required to give their list to the Federal and State Jury services. In other words, if you drive in the State of Georgia you can be called for jury duty. Yet, this myth [voting enters you into the jury pool]is just one of the many fears I have heard from Indian-Americans who hesitate to register to vote because they think the government will interfere in their lives. If they are not fearful of the government, it seems voting is still an inconvenience.

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“Daughters are as good as sons!”

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is this where india is headed? read on, it’s from the hindustan times:

“Rural families in China, where there is a traditional bias for boys, are being offered cash incentives to stop aborting baby girls and help correct a sex imbalance, the China Daily said on Thursday.

Under the “Care for Girls” pilot programme, girls would be exempted from paying school fees, insurance would be given to households until their daughters grow up and families with just one daughter would enjoy housing, employment, education and welfare privileges, the newspaper said.

…The problem is particularly acute in the poverty-stricken countryside, where some governments have responded by plastering villages with posters reading: “Daughters are as good as sons!”