Monthly Archives: July 2007

Help Vinay & Sameer – NYC / July 22

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Almost 20,000 have been registered but we don’t have a match yet… NYC mutineers can do their part this weekend at Pianos bar [158 Ludlow b/t Rivington & Stanton] on Sunday, July 22.

If you’ve already registered, go again & bring a friend. Either way, the last event was, to put it mildly, a hoot. This time around, Rashmi and Reena (Vinay & Sameer’s wives respectively) will both be in attendance and will certainly appreciate the show of support.

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p>And, as with last time around, Sepia Mutiny’s “send us a good swabbing pict and we’ll put you on the homepage” offer still stands. Do Good, have fun, and help your marriage / dating / social prospects by getting your mug in front of SM’s vast & cultured readership – not a bad deal

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Red-faced Christians Apologize to Zed

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…on behalf of three misguided hecklers (thanks, Anonymous). I guess I wasn’t the only Christian who was saddened by the actions of a few fringe-dwellers. See? Team Jesus isn’t totally teh suck. 🙂

Via Rediff:

Zed told rediff.com from his home in Reno, Nevada, “I’ve received nearly 100 e-mails — and most of them from total strangers and I don’t know how they got my e-mail address — apologising for the disruption of my prayer by some of these Christian fundamentalists.”
He said many of these e-mails had said, “I am also a Christian but I don’t appreciate what happened with those people protesting, and I apologise for their misguided actions.“
“They also congratulated me for my prayer and for being the first Hindu chaplain to open a US Senate session,” he said.
He said that he had also received some e-mails from some Congressional aides who had also apologised for the disruption by these persons purporting to be from a group calling themselves Operation Save America, a Christian right-wing organisation.

What’s more wicked: intolerance or humbly offering a prayer?

The protestors shouted from the gallery, among other things, ‘Lord Jesus, forgive us father for allowing a prayer of the wicked, which is an abomination in your sight.’

They should ask for forgiveness for being obnoxious.

Zed said he had not received a single hate mail “or any kind of nasty mail at all. I have not got any negative mail or correspondence.”

So, goodness prevailed. More goodness? Recognizing that Hindus are just as American as anyone else and deserve to be treated as such. As long as prayers do open the Senate, they should be inclusive, to accurately reflect the various faiths that a Senator’s constituents practice. It’s only polite. And right:

Meanwhile, the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, DC, wrote letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, who facilitated Zed’s prayer in the Senate, and to the Senate Chaplain Barry C Black congratulating them for facilitating the first Hindu prayer in the Senate and bemoaning the unfortunate incident of the protest by the members of the Christian right-wing outfit…
“We are writing to express how much we deeply appreciate your efforts to insure that the tradition of opening Senate sessions with prayer remains a process that not only accurately reflects the diversity of our great country, but which celebrates that religious diversity as one of our greatest strengths.”

I eagerly await irrational and inapposite comments which ask, “But…where are the apologetic emails to Graham Staines’ loved ones from Hindus, who should be collectively responsible for his brutal murder? Huh??” Oh, wait…I don’t. Such comments are not germane (or logical for that matter).

Similarly, Christians aren’t collectively to blame for the rude, disrespectful outburst which interrupted Zed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t express our sorrow and disagreement with such behavior. All that is necessary for the triumph of fundamentalism is that good people do nothing. Whatsoever we sow, we shall also reap. If we sow intolerance and disrespect, what else are we going to be shown by others? And would we deserve anything else? Continue reading →

What’s up in the UK?

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An interesting set of stats posted on the SM news tab talks about workforce participation amongst South Asians in the UK –

Six million Britons are living in households where nobody works – costing the taxpayer almost £13 billion a year in benefits alone, a spending watchdog report reveals today.

…The problem is concentrated in cities including inner London – where one in four households are workless – Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, and is worse among some ethnic groups. Pakistani and Bangladeshi households are the most likely to be workless at 22.3 per cent, while Indian households are the least likely, at 6.8 per cent.

Internationally Britain has one of the worst rates of worklessness. Around 13.5 per cent of the UK population live in workless households, compared with compared with 11 per cent in France, five per cent in the United States and less than 3 per cent in Japan.

For next door neighbors to be both the worst and the first on this sort of distribution is pretty interesting. Anyone (Razib?) know what diffs in immigration patterns b/t Pakistani & Bangladeshi’s vs. Indian’s to the UK might be?

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Econ 101 Works… Eventually

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With all the brouhaha about outsourcing last election season, I thought this article provided an interesting snapshot of what techie outsourcing looks like today –

Silicon Valley has helped power India’s outsourcing boom by shifting technology jobs to that country. Three months ago, Munjal Shah reversed a bit of that shift.

Shah, who leads a California start-up called Riya Inc., had opened an office in India’s technology capital of Bangalore in 2005, hiring about 20 skilled software developers. The lure was the wage level: just a quarter of what experienced Silicon Valley computer engineers make.

Then Indian salaries soared. Last year, Shah paid his engineers in India about half of Silicon Valley levels. By early this year, it was 75%.

75% of an average US Engineering salary goes FAR in India. Nevertheless, the big picture point remains true — salaries eventually normalize around productivity and, given the fiercly competitive global tech market, infinite pools of 3rd world workers aren’t exactly lying in wait (of course, the right policy mistakes can make this happen, but let’s not go there for now). It is, on the otherhand, pretty impressive and a testament to modern tech + capitalism that it’s happened this fast.

My company, Roundbox, has some similar, interesting anecdotal experience with outsourcing…

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Beats, Rhymes, and Life-THIS Thursday night in Houston

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Just a gentle reminder that it’s still on like Donkey Kong:

Houston has many South Asian artists, musicians, and other creative individuals who never seem to get the type of attention that their counterparts in New York, L.A., and D.C. receive. This summer it’s time to change all that. Join us on Thursday, July 19th from 8:30-11:00 p.m. at the new downtown venue “Bar Bollywood” (basement of the Butterfly High Lounge) for a FREE night of Spoken Word, Live Music, and Visual Arts. DJ Raj Swift will also be on hand to lay down the backbeat.

If you are an artist of any kind and want to perform (especially a spoken word, literary, or dance piece) or just want more information, then email abhi [at] sepiamutiny.com ASAP.

Although this event is meant to spotlight South Asian artists, ALL are welcome and encouraged to attend. Spread the word.

Finally, Roopa Vasan will be on hand to cheek swab people for the South Asian Bone Marrow Registry in hopes of finding a match to save her cousin Vinay’s life.

Bar Bollywood
902 Capitol Street
Houston, TX 77002

We’ve also added a stand-up comic to the line-up. If you are still interested in performing please email me (and keep spreading the word)!

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Laramie Redux?

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First Matthew Shepherd. Now Satendar Singh???

Satendar Singh, a 26-year-old Fiji national who had won a visa to the United States through the immigration lottery, died July 5 at Mercy San Juan Medical Center near Sacramento, Calif., after a four-day struggle to recover from head trauma he suffered July 1 following what has been described as a hate crime at Lake Natoma…

Singh, who was picnicking July 1 with six friends of Fijian and Indian descent at a picnic area near Lake Natoma, was fatally injured in an assault during what witnesses told the Sacramento Bee was an ugly verbal attack laced with racist and homophobic slurs…

Despite his last name, Singh wore neither a turban nor a beard, aside from a small goatee. As he and his friends settled in to enjoy an early Fourth of July celebration, the Russian men began making several racial and homophobic remarks to Singh.

“I’m not pretty sure, but I think (Singh) responded by saying he wasn’t a gay,” one of Singh’s friends who witnessed the incident and who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, told India-West. “I told them we had come to enjoy the day and that we didn’t want to get into a fight or something, and I thought it was all over…”

“They were targeting him because Satendar was dancing to Indian music throughout the rest of the day, like the rest of us…I don’t know what (the Russians) were saying or if Satendar said something back, but then it happened,” the witness said.[Link]

Whether or not Singh was gay isn’t clear, nor does it matter in the event the motive turns out to be homophobia. Elizabeth Edwards, who was campaigning for her husband in the Bay Area, used the opportunity to cite Singh in a speech railing against President Bush’s inaction on hate crime legislation:

Elizabeth Edwards told a prominent gay rights group Saturday night that her husband, presidential candidate John Edwards, would help repeal more than a thousand laws that discriminate against same-sex couples…

The next day, her husband, John Edwards, said her position surprised even him. The former North Carolina Sen. opposes gay marriage but supports civil unions.

Citing the story of a Sacramento man who died after witnesses said he was beaten to death by men who thought he was gay, Edwards slammed President Bush for not doing anything to help protect gays and lesbians against violence.

“This president talks a lot about good and evil and the need to seek out evil doers,” she told a packed auditorium. “But he doesn’t seem to recognize the evil in hate crimes. The right to live without the fear of being murdered for whom we love is not a special right…” [Link]

What I find really peculiar about this story is that there doesn’t seem to be any effort to verify if he was really gay, or simply stereotyped as gay because he was “dancing to Indian music.” If dancing to Indian music makes one gay then it’s something we ought to know, right? Here is another article with the glaring headline: “Gay Immigrant Satendar Singh Killed in Holiday Hate Crime.” Regardless, there is now an effort to update the laws:

“If the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department asked for help from the federal government in this case, federal law enforcement officials could get involved if the crime turns out to be motivated by racial bias, but not if it was prompted only by anti-LGBT bias,” said Kors. “That gross inconsistency needs to change.”

Last week, Assembly member Mike Eng introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 29, sponsored by EQCA, which calls on the federal government to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, the federal measure would expand the nation’s hate crimes protections to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. It would also boost local law enforcement tools and resources to investigate and prosecute acts of violence against all protected communities of people. [Link]

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Chew on this

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Ummmm.

An Indian firm has launched a paan-flavoured condom designed to evoke the pungent taste of the betel nut and tobacco concoction chewed and then spat out by millions of South Asians, newspapers reported on Tuesday. [Link]

Yeah, so like, is this so women will chew it and spit it out? So…many…jokes…cannot…type. I mean seriously, do we really want a condom to taste like something that you typically chew for an hour and grind down to a pulp? What if one acts instinctively when the aroma begins to entoxicate (although paan makes me want to vomit)? Well, at least nobody gonna mess with the prostitues who will be the test market for this product:

The company ran taste tests with sex workers, including prototypes with chocolate, banana and strawberry flavours, but the paan flavour came out tops…

The condoms will at first be made available only to prostitutes, but will we launched to the general public in a few months, the newspaper said. [Link]

I know some of you guys are thinking what I’m thinking but I am going to just come out and say it. Think I can bid for these on Ebay? During the limited release trial period the prostitutes would make a whole lot more money selling these to paan-flavored condom collectors like me, than they would using these with their clients. We’d both be winners. They’d get to skip work for a long time and I’d have something really cool for show-and-tell the next time I have a party.

Dirty Mouths Come Clean.

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Our "Point Man"

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For years now the Bush Administration has been drubbing it into our impressionable little minds that Iraq is the “Central front in the War on Terror.” Today, the newly released key findings of the latest National Intelligence Estimate disabuses us of any such false impression:

We assess the group has protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability, including: a safehaven in the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), operational lieutenants, and its top leadership. Although we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United States with ties to al-Qa’ida senior leadership since 9/11, we judge that al-Qa’ida will intensify its efforts to put operatives here.

Got that? Everyone clear? The Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) are now the agreed upon (at least by our intelligence community) central front in this “War on Terror.” That is the reason we are starting to pour money into there. Well, I thought it was clear but there was still some confusion at today’s White House Press briefing:

Q Fran, is it a fair reading of the key judgments that you released today that the federally administered tribal areas you discussed is, in fact, the central front in the war on terrorism, to use the President’s phrase? And, if so, tell us how, if at all, you have renegotiated your own operational arrangements with General Musharraf, President Musharraf, so that we would have greater access in there.

MS. TOWNSEND: Okay. Well, to use the President’s phrase, Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. And —

Q Is that supported by the key judgments, then?

MS. TOWNSEND: There is no question, based on the statements of bin Laden, himself, not to mention others and al-Qa’ida , that they regard Iraq as the central front in the war on terror. [Link]

Well sure, if you conflate the group “al-Qa’ida in Iraq” (a newly formed group that didn’t even exist until recently and only looks for inspiration from the original) with the original al-Qa’ida. It’s not like most of the American public cares about the very important difference (which is what the administration counts on). NPR had a great wrap up on all of this.

And here is a rather pleasant thought from the briefing:

Q Is it shorthanding it too much to say that General Musharraf, through his efforts in the tribal areas there against al Qaeda, is the key person, the point man in protecting the United States, and whether he has success there or not is the whole ball game?… [Link]

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Padma Lakshmi’s Rebound Billionaire!

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Padma plus TED.JPG KXB is one sharp, articulate, distinguished mutineer– which is why I hardly expected to find that HE deposited the hot gossip on our news tab! I love people who defy expectations, especially when they provide us with such apposite summer entertainment while doing so. Yay KXB!

Padma Lakshmi might be dating a billionaire?

Of whom we have never

Whom we have never

One who ain’t famous??

Via NYC’s other other paper:

Billionaire Ted Forstmann has trained his gaze on another world-class beauty.
The financier, whose consorts have included Elizabeth Hurley and Princess Diana, has become a fast friend of model, chef and actress Padma Lakshmi.
Their mouthpieces maintain that the two are not dating. But that hasn’t stopped some from noticing that Forstmann has appeared in Lakshmi’s life just as her husband, author Salman Rushdie, is leaving it.

Allegedly, the two are spending time together because IMG (Forstmann’s own!) will be representing her.

As early as this week, we hear, IMG is due to announce a slate of endorsement and licensing projects for Lakshmi. “IMG is global, and so is Padma’s appeal,” says one insider. “It’s a good marriage.”
Did someone say marriage?

The proof isn’t in the picture!

Lakshmi seemed a little guarded when she and Forstmann arrived together at the Elie Wiesel Foundation tribute to Oprah Winfrey at the Waldorf in May. When a photographer snapped her with Forstmann, Lakshmi asked the photog to delete the image – supposedly because the shot was blurry. She agreed to pose again – but not with Forstmann.
Rushdie suggested in a statement this month that Lakshmi was the one who wanted out of their union – that he “agreed to divorce … because of her desire to end their marriage.”

For those who think some of us are finding this mirchier than we need to:

Though he’s seven years older than Sir Salman, Forstmann seems well fixed to counsel the shapely author of “Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet.”
One industry source does find it “a little odd that Teddy is taking such an interest in Padma’s career. It’s not the side of the business he usually focuses on.”
But, perhaps in the case of Lakshmi, he’s more willing to be hands-on.

Ba-dum-bum. 😀 Continue reading →

Do not enter

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I haven’t had much occasion to travel long distances by car lately, so I haven’t really noticed the motel signs that say “American Owned.” Coach D posted about how she boycotted such places on her vacation:

I had adamently refused to stay anywhere that had on it’s sign “American Owned”.

Big D argued well,”What if it turns out they’re not some local dicks trying to cash in on being white in the post 9-11 south? What if they’re naturalized citizens from someplace else and they’re taking advantage of the whole ‘American owned’ movement by putting that on their sign? They are AMERICAN, right?”

“But then they’re feeding that whole line of racist thought, they’re promoting the xenophobic tourist and racist/anti-immigrant mindset. Fuck that shit. I ain’t giving them my money if they put that shit on their sign.” [Link]

This is an issue for the owner of the Route66motels.com website as well, a website designed to encourage travellers on Route 66 to stay at mom-and-pop motels, but which refuses to list any motels that say “American Owned”:

Q. So what are the standards?

A. There are three. First, no vermin. Second, it has to be clean. This means no visible dirt and no weird smells. Third, no motel advertising itself as “AMERICAN OWNED” will ever be listed on this site. Period. No exceptions.

Q. What’s wrong with saying the motel is American-owned? Isn’t that just being patriotic?

A. No. It would be patriotic to fly an American flag or put up a sign that says something like “Support our troops” or “God bless the U.S.A.” The phrase “American owned” has a racist connotation. … There is no legitimate reason to advertise one’s pedigree on a billboard or in front of a business. [Link]

I had no idea this was going on, but it was easy enough to find motel signs (from delightfully cheesy motels) of places that do it. Click on the photo to be taken to the original on Flickr, it’s far larger and prettier.

I’m with Coach D on this issue – I would never stay at a motel that says “American Owned and Operated” in big letters outside. If they’re non-desis, then I don’t think they really want my business – I wouldn’t expect them to treat me well. And if they’re desis, then they might not want me around lest I scare off the @$$holes they’ve attracted as clients. Either way, I imagine I would be treated poorly. Why not take my money somewhere else?

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