Author Archives: Abhi

About Abhi

Abhi lives in Los Angeles and works to put things into space.

Young Padawan

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Star Wars fans were excited to learn today that a new animated film based on the the Star Wars Universe will be released this August:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars makes its theatrical debut as an all-new, computer-generated feature film in August 2008, followed by a television series in the fall.

The new adventures in a galaxy far, far away apparently take place between the second and third Star Wars prequel films, similar to the Clone War series of the same name that ran between 2003 and 2005. Returning characters include Anakin Skywalker – who later becomes Darth Vader – along with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme Amidala. New heroes also join to battle familiar villains from the Star Wars prequels, such as Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, and General Grievous.

“I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell,” said George Lucas, Star Wars creator and executive producer of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. “I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward…” [Link]

One of the major points covered in the press release is that a new female Jedi character will be introduced. She will serve as Anakin’s padawan (the way Anakin was Obi-wan’s padawan). The name of this young Jedi (who will of course eventually be hunted down and killed by Vader) is Ahsoka Tano:

… among the familiar characters like Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda is a mysterious new Padawan named Ahsoka Tano.

This young Togruta is eager to prove herself as a worthy Padawan to her bold Master, Anakin Skywalker. Able to wield a lightsaber and pilot a spacecraft with great talent, Ahsoka promises to become a worthy Jedi. [Link]

Tano joins a long list of other sci-fi desi characters. Mysterious is right though, because I can’t find much of a backstory on her yet. The name Ahsoka makes it seem like she is Indian (dot not feather) but the name Tano makes it seem like she is Indian (feather not dot). Or maybe, since this all happened a long long time ago, and in a considerably far off galaxy, ethnically ambiguous is ok. For those of you who like bad-ass ambiguously desi chicks, get your tee-shirt here. For those of you who like your animated warriors more traditional, there is always this.

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The mini Hercules

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As a person who appreciates his time at the gym (and advocates fitness in general), I knew I had to post this story as soon as I read it earlier today. Meet India’s Aditya ‘Romeo’ Dev, the world’s smallest bodybuilder:

Unlike many dwarfs, Romeo is well proportioned, with a head circumference of 15in and a chest measurement of 20in.

Romeo said: “I’ve been training as a bodybuilder for the last two years and by now I think I must be the strongest dwarf in the world.

“I have always been fit but since I started working out, I have become famous for my strength. [Link]

I doubt very much that he is the strongest dwarf in the world, but I do admire his ambition. What I appreciate most about “Romeo” is that he just does his thing with confidence. One big fear some people have about going to the gym is that they will look weak in front of the rest of the “big muscle-bound” guys. As you can see from the pictures, Dev isn’t even afraid to wear Calvin & Hobbes shorts while working out:

Don’t stare without pinhole sunglasses

Finally, the media will have something from India besides the Little Superstar to talk about. At least this guy is a certified pimp.

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Evidence of Voter Intimidation

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In case you needed to have it pointed out, today was the so-called “Potomac Primary,” where the voters of Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. weighed in on their favorite candidate. My dad was one of the voters who showed up bright and early to get his vote in. I know that one’s ballot should be secret and that this is one of the fundamentals of our Democracy. However, I am a blogger, and our kind is not known for always playing fair. Thus, I will share with you all the first email in my inbox this morning:

from: Dad
to: Abhi
date: Feb 12, 2008 7:27 AM
subject: Hold on to your Dreams * Love ……..Dad

2-12-2008 [0829]

Abhi: I voted for Hillary – an hour ago. I urge you to think positive and hang on to your dreams.
Also please try and select life partner before next January !! Good luck !! Love…. Dad

My primary in Texas isn’t until March 4th. I am still one of those undecided voters that I usually deride during other elections. All my recent energy has been focused on choosing the best candidate to elect to office next January. Now I have another choice to make on my plate apparently. A friend who I forwarded the above email to replied with an insightful remark:

Well, if you think about it, it makes sense. What else happens next Jan? Obama becomes president. So it’s perfect — Abhi will find a life partner when a black man becomes president. See, our dads really do know everything.

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Superdelegates and the Credentials Committee (updated)

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Coming out of Super Tuesday it looks like Clinton and Obama are tied in the only race that matters: the race for Democratic delegates.

In a surprise twist after a chaotic Super Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in network tallies of the number of delegates the candidates racked up last night.

The Obama camp now projects topping Clinton by 13 delegates, 847 to 834.

NBC News, which is projecting delegates based on the Democratic Party’s complex formula, figures Obama will wind up with 840 to 849 delegates, versus 829 to 838 for Clinton. [Link]

So let’s play this out to its logical conclusion. If the trend continues then Obama may win states like Virginia, Maryland, and a few other smaller states, but Clinton will probably take Ohio and my state of Texas (states with a large number of delegates). Regardless, the votes will be close enough that the delegates will be split fairly evenly by the time they get to Denver in August. If that is the case then the final decision as to who is the Democrats nominee will come down to two important, but little known groups. The first group is the Superdelegates comprised of Democratic party insiders (which you can assume will probably break for Clinton who is more connected to the establishment). They each get a vote and do not have to reflect the popular vote in any way. Currently Clinton has more committed to her (but they can still switch all the way through the end of the convention). As I scanned the list of Superdelegates I spotted only a single desi on it. It was Kamil Hasan who is currently committed to Clinton. Here is an article from 2006 explaining how Hasan fits in to the Democratic Party and why he was anointed “super”:

Kamil Hasan of Saratoga has a new job: collecting serious cash from the Indo-American community for the Democratic National Committee.

That job may not be as powerful as senator or congressman. But for the Bay Area’s roughly 155,000 Indo-American community members, Hasan’s appointment represents another step the well-educated, affluent immigrant group is taking to gain political clout. His goal is to raise at least $5 million through a newly formed Indian fundraising council in time for the next presidential election.

What’s most important, community members said, is that the appointment isn’t just about Hasan: It’s about the voice of the entire Indo-American community, about 2 million strong. [Link]

There is a great example of “emergent politics” for you right there. Kamil Hasan speaks for 2 million strong.

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The word that changed the 2008 election

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A month ago on January 4th, the morning after Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucus (the first one), I sent the following email off to a group of friends that I discuss politics with:

One word: Macaca. Imagine how differently this election would have been if George Allen hadn’t uttered that word. The fact that he’d be running right now is certain. He was the only potential Republican candidate that appealed to fiscal conservatives, national security conservatives, and religious conservatives. None of the current crop of Republican candidates can boast that wide appeal, which is why the Dems are sitting pretty. And it is all because of “Macaca.”

We have only to look at the Super Tuesday results map to show what happens when the base of the Republican party gets split in three. Huckabee took the religious South, McCain carried the national security conservatives and Romney the economic conservatives. This morning the Washington Post also started thinking about former Senator George Allen and how everything might have been different for the Republicans if it wasn’t for our boy S.R. Sidharth:

As Virginia voters prepare to go to the polls Tuesday to help choose the Republican nominee for president, state and national party leaders are left wondering: What if former senator George Allen had never uttered the word “macaca”?

After years of preparing for a 2008 presidential run, including trips to Iowa and New Hampshire and formation of a national network of donors, Allen’s use of the word on Aug. 11, 2006, changed the landscape of the GOP nominating contest… “A lot of us saw him as the 1,000-pound gorilla. He would have had so much clout and credibility within the party around the country,” said Chuck Smith, chairman of the Virginia Beach Republican Party.

Other Republicans say Allen would have been far from a shoo-in for the nomination despite his potential advantages. As the race heated up last summer, President Bush’s approval ratings were plunging to record lows among GOP voters frustrated over his immigration policies and his management of the war in Iraq.

With his signature cowboy boys and “aw shucks” personality, Allen could have been defined as the candidate most like Bush, some Republican strategists say.[Link]

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The Insurgent vs. the Emergent

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Ok folks get ready! The political fiend in me is ready to pound out three political posts in a row tonight (with a dinner break in between) that I hope you’ll find interesting and can add to in the form of interesting comments/debate. First up, in the aftermath of Super Tuesday here is what we learned:

  1. Women voters break for Hillary
  2. Latino-American voters break for Hillary
  3. Older voters break for Hillary
  4. Asian-Americans voters break for Hillary
  5. Male voters break for Obama
  6. Independent voters break for Obama
  7. Younger voters break for Obama

In the list of observations above, I want to especially focus on the two that I have highlighted, and on the nexus point between the two. Why is it that the Latino population seems to greatly favor Clinton (sometimes by a 3-1 margin), and helped her win in states like California? One possible answer some might suggest is the politically incorrect reason which offers that Latino people see African Americans as competition. They often compete for the same jobs, and many in the African-American community are quick to point out that illegal Latino immigrants depress wages, which works against African Americans seeking similar jobs (this was even a debate question the other night). Cynics would say that African Americans and Latinos would rather have a white person in charge than someone from the other group. Okay, lets assume all that is true for a minute. What about Asian Americans (including South Asian Americans)? Polls from last night showed that they voted for Clinton over Obama in even higher proportions than the Latino population. Here is an excerpt from Salon:

…a self-congratulatory article in the India Express touting the influence of Indian-Americans in the Democratic primary process reveals even greater constraints on the appeal of Obama’s diversity. In California, exit poll data suggests that 69 percent of Latinos voted for Clinton, while only 29 percent voted for Obama. But Asian-American voters skewed even more sharply pro-Clinton: 75 percent voted for her, compared to 23 percent for Obama. That’s almost as high as the percentage of the black vote (78 percent) that went for Obama…

Despite the claims of the Indian press, the total numbers of Indian-American voters in the New York and New Jersey primaries were too small to significantly influence the overall results. (The total Asian vote was too small for there to be any relevant exit poll data.) A better case can be made in California. In Santa Clara County, where there are some 115,000 Indian-American residents, Clinton cleaned up, winning 54.8 percent to 39.3 percent — better than her statewide average. (Whereas just to the north, in San Francisco and Alameda counties, Obama was the victor.)…

But that’s just one piece. In California, 8 percent of all Democratic voters identified themselves as Asian — a category that encompasses a vast swath of cultures. Truly, California’s diversity is extraordinary. But it doesn’t appear, so far, to translate into a willingness to vote for a “diverse” candidate for president. [Link]

So why didn’t Asians pick the more “diverse candidate” who seems to have more in common with them? Does this mean that Asians might be influenced by the bigotry against African Americans that pervades much of Asian culture (Anna joked around about this in her post last night)? Let’s just admit it. Many in our parents generation are openly bigoted against blacks. But all this might just be a partial explanation and miss the underlying reasons altogether. Continue reading →

What do Anand Jon and Narendra Modi have in common?

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First, a quick background. For those of you who aren’t already familiar with the subjects of this post, Anand Jon is the 30-something Indian-born fashion designer who is currently awaiting trial in the U.S. on multiple counts of rape, including the rape of minors. Most of these alleged rapes took place through “casting couch” situations and involved young models. You can get a quick re-cap on the specifics here and here and here.

As far as Narendra Modi, most people don’t need a recap of his sordid history. He is the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, and many both there and abroad feel he was complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Muslims (see our archives or here and here). Others however, including many American Gujaratis (especially hotel owners) admire him for his economic policies and his “tough stance” against Muslims. They support him vociferously from the U.S.

So what is the admitedly loose connection between these two individuals that motivated me to write this post? Both of these men, in there own way, have become symbols of Indian Nationalism and are being used as vehicles to enflame Nationalistic sentiments (with varying success) both in India and the U.S.

I started to think about this at a party over the weekend when my friend Ankur asked me if I had seen an interview in the print edition of India Abroad, a weekly NRI newspaper owned by Rediff.com. He said the interview was of Sanjana Jon defending her brother. I have not seen the India Abroad issue of which he speaks, but I am quite familiar with the campaign to use the media to recast Jon as a martyr of some sort.

Jacob Joseph (an ex-SM commenter), the lead blogger over at The Great Indian Mutiny blog captures the essence of this campaign quite well in a recent “interview” he conducted with Sanjana Jon. [Disclaimer: Sepia Mutiny readers should be made aware that The Great Indian Mutiny was named after this blog. They even call themselves…mutineers. Except their Mutiny is purer. Indian only (no People of Indian Origin fakers who give a bad name to Indians everywhere)]. Here is the “interview” (and I use the term loosely) of Anand Jon’s sister as posted on Joseph’s blog:

Following my earlier post on Anand Jon, someone named GWB left a link to a Dallas Observer article about him. Although GWB claimed it gives you ‘both sides’ of the story, I found it too one sided. I decided to get in touch with Sanjana Jon, his sister, to get some questions answered.

Here is the chat transcript:

Mutiny: Sanajana, let me start by asking you how your mother is doing? It must be pretty tough for a mother to have her son in prison and acussed of these crimes.
Sanjana Jon: I dont want to describe how she feels but not just as a mother and sister but as people who worked with him and lived with him-knowing that none of this ever happened it is traumatizing and kills us seeing this injustice. [Link]

Quick. I’m not a journalist but don’t you learn (on the first day of Journalism school) to make fun of someone who begins an interview with “…let me start by asking you how your mother is doing?” I don’t blame Sanjana for saying whatever she has to in order to help keep bro out of jail, but come on! Continue reading →

Desi Grandma for Obama

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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.

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Bedi vs. Hendon

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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]

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Engineers = Evil

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Every now and then you come across a new study or news article that really just hits home. It helps provide some “professional” or “scientific” insight into something that you always kind of suspected but could never quite properly articulate to yourself. I came across just such an article today (and the study behind it) and it has me re-examining myself (and many of my friends) in a new light:

Is there a thread that ties engineers to Islamic terrorism?

There certainly is, according to Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog at Oxford University, who recently published a paper titled, “Engineers of Jihad.” The authors call the link to terrorism “the engineer’s mindset.”

The sociology paper published last November, which has been making rounds over the Internet and was recently picked up by The Atlantic, uses illustrative statistics and qualitative data to conclude that there is a strong relationship between an engineering background and involvement in a variety of Islamic terrorist groups. The authors have found that graduates in subjects such as science, engineering, and medicine are strongly overrepresented among Islamist movements in the Muslim world. The authors also note that engineers, alone, are strongly over-represented among graduates who gravitate to violent groups. [Link]

One risk factor alone usually does not provide cause for worry (although I do have two engineering degrees). However, when combined with other risk factors such as this one that I had previously written about, you can imagine why I have decided to do some real soul searching. I mean, us engineers do have a lot of things in common with terrorists besides the fact that there are a lot of South Asian engineers and quite a few South Asian terrorists. For example, both groups hope that there are virgins in the afterlife (cause there definitely ain’t many women in engineering school). Both groups also stay home on Friday nights and have time to become increasingly bitter.

However, contrary to popular speculation, it’s not technical skills that make engineers attractive recruits to radical groups. Rather, the authors pose the hypothesis that “engineers have a ‘mindset’ that makes them a particularly good match for Islamism,” which becomes explosive when fused by the repression and vigorous radicalization triggered by the social conditions they endured in Islamic countries. [Link]

I wonder if people that know me think I have an “engineer’s mindset.” I will now have to suppress it by pretending to be intellectually lazy and incurious. How do you liberal arts and business majors do it so well?

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