This was just kind of sweet so I had to promote it off the news tab to get it more attention:
This was one of the so-called “YouBamaVideos” clips being generated by Obama supporters. It would be a damn shame if desi grandmas were more enthusiastic about voting this year than the young folks out there. Make sure you go to the polls on Tuesday if you live in a primary state.
Our story begins in the Illinois [State] Senate 5th District where the incumbent, African American Rickey Hendon has established a “colorful” reputation over the years:
For the last 15 years, Sen. Rickey Hendon has been known around the Statehouse for a style that’s streetwise but controversial, cultivating the larger-than-life persona of a filmmaker-turned-politico whose bravado often overshadows even his best intentions.
Now, as the West Side lawmaker who’s proud of his “Hollywood” nickname seeks to extend his tenure in the state Senate, two challengers are trying to turn that flashiness against him as Hendon faces his first serious re-election campaign.
Jonathan Bedi and AmySue Mertens are relative newcomers to Chicago politics, but both are honing in on what they see as Hendon’s big weaknesses: his conduct toward women, his promotion of a major casino gambling expansion over what they say is the district’s long-term economic health, and the assertion that Hendon is coasting. [Link]
One of the two challengers, Jonathan Bedi, has an Indian American heritage:
Jonathan Bedi is uniquely qualified to represent the diverse and dynamic 5th District in the Illinois Senate. Jonathan’s father is an immigrant from India, and his mother is Irish-American. Jonathan is proud of his multi-racial, multi-ethnic background. Jonathan has a long history of public service–serving as a public school teacher and community activist. Jonathan is an attorney who provided legal counsel to urban non-profit organizations and who recently served as assistant corporate counsel to one of Chicago’s leading manufacturing companies. [Link]
…that there was a right and a wrong place to do Bhangra.
According to the Berkeley Bhangra team, there actually are some places one should not do Bhangra [via Manish in response to Vinod, below]:
As well as some places where one should do Bhangra (anywhere anytime at Cal) [via Vinod]:
No wonder people looked at me funny when I busted out my best dance moves at TraderJoes …
Related posts: I’m not afraid of Elvis, Old folk can still dance, and many others
A fascinating AsiaTimes piece discusses the completion of the latest US military base in Afghanistan. What makes this particular one so special? It’s designed to strike into Pakistan –
KARACHI – Another piece of the United States’ regional jigsaw is in place with the completion of a military base in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, just three kilometers from Bajaur Agency in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Pakistani intelligence quarters have confirmed to Asia Times Online that the base, on a mountain top in Ghakhi Pass overlooking Pakistan, is now operational…The new US base is expected to serve as the center of clandestine special forces’ operations in the border region. The George W Bush administration is itching to take more positive action – including inside Pakistan…
…with the new Kunar base, American special forces will carry out extended operations, which means a limited war against Taliban and al-Qaeda assets in the tribal areas. These clandestine operations can be done with or without Pakistan’s consent.”
For Mushie et. al., the situation boils down to a form of “I know, but can’t do anything, so I’ll stay put” – Continue reading
Back in October I posted Kenneth Cole’s casting call for Sikh models. Just yesterday my brother-in-law texted me with a photo of the ad which covers the entire storefront of their 5th Ave flagship store, so the model is almost 20 feet tall. The model in the ad is Sonny Caberwal, a Duke and Georgetown Law grad who runs Tavalon, a high-end hipster tea “lounge” whose opening we covered earlier. Both the ad and the video below are from the Kenneth Cole website.
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Here’s the blurb for the ad campaign:
Kenneth Cole, one of the world’s leading fashion designers, has launched a worldwide campaign to mark the brand’s 25th anniversary. The focus of his ad campaign is that “we all walk in different shoes”. [Link]
Most of the reaction to it in the Sikh blogosphere has been … well, positively gleeful (chortle, kvell, rejoicing). The one hesitant note comes from the new Sikh group blog The Langar Hall which wonders:
Something else makes me uncomfortable about this ad. Is something that’s supposed to be a symbol of high ideals, if not sacred itself (a sardar’s appearance), being commodified? If it is, is it inevitable that everything will one day be commodified?… [Link]
To Reema, I reply – ooooh baby, exotify me, commodify me. I can handle it 
. [And actually, as somebody who has been photographed a fair amount for similar reasons, I will admit it gets weird at times, but c’mon, doesn’t Sonny look fly 20 feet tall in Rockefeller Center?]
There’s a far better way to get into politics than simply delivering bundles of contributions – and that’s delivering the votes themselves. In a best of east meets west type story, a young desi precinct captain has been accused of facilitating the absentee votes of some older brownz to the benefit of Alderman Bernard Stone. [Thanks Taz!]
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The legion of doom? |
A ward superintendent handpicked by the City Council’s 80-year-old elder statesman, Ald. Bernard Stone (50th), was arrested Monday and charged–along with another man–with improperly steering primarily Indian and Pakistani voters toward absentee ballots for Stone.Anish Eapen, a 37-year-old employee of the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation, “would target different people–primarily Indian and Pakistani voters–and suggest that they take absentee ballots. They would give them reasons why they should be taking absentee ballots–not necessarily valid reasons. They would be present when they filled out the application for the absentee ballot and, in some instances, they would bring the absentee ballot back to the people to vote.” [Link]
This, by the way, is utter genius. It’s like a supervillain team-up cooked up by some stoned teenagers. What would happen if we took the democratic cultures best at cooking elections, and combined them in a superteam? Oooooh, ooooh, and we did it at the same time as laws were making fraud easier around the country!
You see – while in-person voting has become harder to do, squeezing out the elderly and the poor who might not have drivers licenses, absentee balloting has become easier and more common, even though it is the source of much more fraud. Continue reading