30 thoughts on “With whiteboard in hand”

1. What about the apprentice guy?

2. What about the apprentice guy?

   That will be next November.

3. pissed about abraham losing.. that does suck big time..the other guy was a jackass..

4. kkkhhhaaannnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wins.

5. hey Florida! reeeeeeecount!!

6. Hey, there must be some sort of automatic recount feature right?

7. Something I just noticed: as per the photo and caption that was just up on the home page of the Houston Chronicle web site (but which apparently is no longer up), the mayor there might have a South Asian campaign manager:

   “Mayor Bill White looks over election returns with his campaign manager, Mustafa Tameez, tonight in Houston. White easily won re-election.”

   http://www.houstonchronicle.com/

8. Damn. We should have registered Manoj Vij to vote.

9. Interesting fact: In that Houston City Council race, all 3 candidates were Pakistani. (John Shike’s real last name is Shaikh.)

10. Interesting fact: In that Houston City Council race, all 3 candidates were Pakistani. (John Shike’s real last name is Shaikh.)

    Oooh, great fact. Thanks! His website is, ummm…VERY patriotic.

11. Although it’s pretty cool that 3 desis are running for the same office in Houston, sadly all 3 candidates sucked ass. I have voted in every election since I turned 18 (I’m now 32). I don’t want to vote for any of the brown candidates running for office in the district I grew up in.
    M.J. Khan is a sell out because he calls himself a Republican in order to gain votes in a red state. District F is a largely working class area, but he lives in a mansion on the other side of town. Also, he used his office for personal gain and has ignored the needs of the residents in the district he represents. Why was he re-elected? He was the lesser of the 3 evils.

    I got tons of campaign literature in the mail from K.A. Khan. One of the flyers showed a pic of him and his wife wearing cowboy hats and posing next to a horse. It was such a blatant example of pandering that I was completely turned off.

    The worst one is John Shike, Sheikh, Shaikh, or whatever the hell is name is. If you look at Abhi’s link, you will see all the different names he has used to run for office. He is obviously trying to hide his Muslim background. It is well known in the Houston desi community that he attempted to start a boycott of several desi video stores and movie theaters because they show/sell Indian films.

    However, I am hoping that the other desi candiate from Houston, Jay Aiyer, wins his runoff election. Incidentally, he served as Chief of Staff under former Houston mayor Lee Brown.

    http://www.jayforhouston.com

12. John Shike, Sheikh, Shaikh etc lists N.R.A. Gun Instructor: Texas Sec Institute under his “education”….hmmmm

13. Good job abhi!

    So, someone who is brown and a Republican is a sell-out, eh, Hamid? Interesting. Thanks for the additional information on the candidates, though.

    *non-specific note to my fellow republicans who will be the only ones to get this, I think: you’ve slid since Schiavo. Quit listening to the K. Lo types at the Corner and get a grip…..

14. Good job abhi!

    Thanks MD. Unfortunately I don’t expect to see NBC calling.

    So, someone who is brown and a Republican is a sell-out, eh, Hamid? Interesting.

    MD, in all fairness to Hamid have you clicked on the link I placed in comment 10? If you go to the home page on his website you will be blinded by all the bunting. Anyone who is THAT ridiculously “patriotic” arouses deep suspicion in me (in addition to his name change). That was probably the motivation behind Hamid’s comment.

15. seriously. Even Ted Nugent says that “Shike” is a bit over-the-top with the patriotism.

16. John Shike is doing a great impression of a real American i.e. He even misspelled constituent on his links sidebar. Not to mention a host of grammatical mistakes on his ‘Issues’ pages that could fit in his Texas ten-gallon hat.

17. abhi, yes, I saw the site and was amused. You should have emoticons on this site, so I can more clearly show how I am being ironic, or teasing (in good Hinglish!)

    Anyway, Hamid was referring to MJ Khan, not Shike et al. Hamid is correct in one sense: many politicians are sell-outs, in one way or another. Pretty hard to be pure and still win enough votes. Beware those who say they are pure in the context of politics!

18. Abhi, I can’t wait for you to be hosting “Meet the Press.”

    One quick correction to your notation of a “runoff election” for Upendra Chivukula’s district — the NJ legislature is different from other legislatures in the following respect:

    The voters in each district elect one Senator and two members of the General Assembly.

    So he’s reelected. But interestingly, the election of Jon Corzine as NJ governor could cause a ripple effect that might make Chivukula a member for Congress. But that may depend upon Corzine naming Frank Pallone to the Senate seat that he vacates, and then upon Chivukula winning a special election for Pallone’s open seat. If Pallone stays put, then no such chain reaction.

    p.s.: hey cicatrix — you’re on deadline, get back to work 😉

19. seriously. Even Ted Nugent says that “Shike” is a bit over-the-top with the patriotism.

    “Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.” – Oscar Wilde

20. Anybody know why a large number of pakistanis have settled in Houston?

21. Sorry MD:

    I didn’t mean for it to sound as if MJ Khan is a sell out for the fact that he is Republican. I know many desi Republicans and I have voted Republican in many elections…it all depends on the candidate.

    The problem with Khan is that in the previous election, he called himself a Democrat and denounced many of Bush’s immigration policies and the Homleand Security Act. He relied heavily on the endorsments of local Democratic leaders such as Sheila Jackson Lee in order to win the black vote in District F. His opponent in the last election, Terry McConn, was a very right wing Republican and had the support of many powerful right wing leaders, such as Tom Delay. Much of McConn’s campaign literature was deemed racist and anti-Muslim by the local media. Khan won the last election by only a small margin (53%) and I have no doubt that it was due to the endorsements of Democrats. (Khan was far behind in many of the polls until he received Democratic endorsements.) Many of the same Democrats refused to endorse him in this election. After he was elected, Khan changed his tune and called himself a Republican. He even endorsed Bush in the last presidential election, which pissed off many of his volunteers and constitutents. I’m sure he did this because he has higher political aspirations and I wouldn’t be surprised if he runs for Mayor in the next election. In a city like Houston, he will need Republican support to win that office. I called him a sell out because his views do not reflect the views of his constituents and he used the office for his own personal gain.

22. Anybody know why a large number of pakistanis have settled in Houston?

    I’m not sure exactly why a large number of Pakistanis have settled in Houston, but here is my theory: Many desis are engineers and this is where most of the large oil and gas companies are headquartered. (My family moved here because my dad was transferred by Brown & Root.) When we first moved here, in 1980, the majority of desis here were engineers. Since then, the desi community in Houston has grown exponentially for several reasons. First, many of the engineering families sponsored their relatives from back home and they settled in Houston because their relatives were here and the low cost of living. Secondly, many desis tend to own small businesses and gas stations. Unlike more expensive cities such as NYC or LA, it costs much less to start a small business and there is tons of available real estate. Many of my out-of-town friends, especially from the North, are shocked at how many gas stations are here. It is not uncommon for there to be 2 or 3 gas stations at one intersection. (Mass transit is a joke here, therefore gas stations are a very lucrative business.) Most of these gas stations are owned by desis, specifically Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

    I dont have any kind of scientific proof to back up my theory, I’m just guessing based upon conversations with desis of all different backgrounds/occupations.

23. Thanks, Hamid. I had no idea Houston had a large concentration of desi engineers. It is not one of the cities most south asians would associate with desi engineers.

24. Hamid and LayZ: that makes sense: there are TONS of desi engineering students at Texas A&M, and elsewhere, and many I think are integrated into the Houston workforce after graduation…I remember visiting a friend who was studying there in 1998, and being quite taken aback by the # of desis around…

25. It is not one of the cities most south asians would associate with desi engineers.

    don’t forget the largest employer of engineers in Houston please–>NASA 🙂

26. From http://www.ialipac.org:

    Upendra Chivukula (D-New Jersey) New Jersey General Assembly, District 17 WON with 32.39% (27,364) of the vote

    Supriya Christopher (D-Virginia) Virginia House of Delegates, District 84 Lost with 44.3% (6,605) of the vote

    Jay Aiyer (D-Texas) Houston City Council, At-large Position 2 RUN-OFF with 26.4% (38,242) of the vote

    Paul Randhawa (D-California) Council Member, Fairfield City Council (Solano County) Lost with 5.3% (1,652) of the vote

    Raj Abhyanker (D-California) Council Member, Cupertino City Council (Santa Clara County) Lost with 11.0% (3,148) of the vote

    Renee Lobo (Ind.-New York) Council Member, New York City Council (District 24) Lost. Actual count unavailable at this time

    Sonny Dhaliwal (D-California) Council Member, Lathrop City Council (San Joaquin County) Lost with 35.9% (582) of the vote

    Tom Abraham (D-Florida) Council Member, Orange City Council, Seat 4 (Volusia County) Lost with 48.7% (363) of the vote

    Kurian Mathai (D-Pennsylvania) Mayor, Millbourne Borough (Delaware County) Lost with 40.9% (63) of the vote

27. Somebody called Satish Mohan has won as Amherst Supervisor…. but what about candidates like Shobha Motwani and Sonny Dhaliwal

28. Hamid- you said of Shike, “It is well known in the Houston desi community that he attempted to start a boycott of several desi video stores and movie theaters because they show/sell Indian films.”

    Please tell us more about this- what was the motivation behind the boycott?

29. shibic mentions that Satish Mohan won as Town Supervisor in Amherst.

    Amherst is a suburb in Western New York, just outside of Buffalo, NY.

    Tim Russert is from Buffalo, NY. Bring it back to the start of the post.

30. Who John Shike really is:

    http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/aol-metropolitan/98/05/09/press.2-0.html