Author Archives: Abhi

About Abhi

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

Stamp of disapproval

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In the U.S. we have been talking for a while now about a Diwali stamp. In the U.K. however, it is a Christmas stamp that has gotten the attention of the Hindu community. The Telegraph reports:

Hindus are demanding that Royal Mail withdraws one of this year’s Christmas stamps, claiming the mother and child image it represents is insulting to their religion.

The 68p Christmas stamp, which would be used to send mail to India, features a man and woman with Hindu markings worshipping the infant Christ.

The image is one of a series of six mother and child stamps that go on sale today.

Ramesh Kallidai, secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, said the image was insensitive, because it showed people who were clearly Hindu worshipping Christ.

“It is the equivalent of having a vicar in a dog collar bowing down to Lord Ram on a Diwali stamp,” he said. “These things need to be done with sensitivity.”

The main feature in this stamp that is causing anger is the fact that the man in the painting has a “tilak” on his forehead, which identifies him as a Vaishnava Hindu, and the woman has a “kumkum” mark on her forehead, identifying her as a married Hindu woman.

“It is striking to see that Royal Mail thinks it prudent to issue Christmas stamps that can cause resentment in the worldwide Hindu community but remains silent on the issuing of stamps for Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated by the third largest faith community in the UK and by a billion Hindus worldwide.”

I usually roll my eyes at things like this but I can’t help but admit that the above point is a valid one. The argument in defense of the stamp is that it is art from the 17th century. Why revise/reject it just to be politically correct?

The picture was chosen for Royal Mail by this year’s stamp designer, Irene Von Treskow, an Anglican priest in an English-speaking church in Berlin.

She said she was fascinated by the image because it was so interesting to see a Mughal painting with a Christian subject.

She does not believe the picture is offensive. “How can it be?” she asked. “It is 17th-century art.”

Pickled Politics has more.

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Biting the hand that feeds

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One of the smartest moves the U.S. could have made (and did make) was moving military assets (helicopters to be specific) from the Afghanistan theater into Pakistan after the recent Earthquake. The U.S. learned in Indonesia after the Tsunami that the most effective way to win hearts and minds in the Muslim world was with less talk and more action.

The U.S. military has sent helicopters, a field hospital and a construction battalion to earthquake-stricken Pakistan – a gesture that has irked Islamic hard-liners but may help improve Washington’s image in the Muslim world after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“When they do something against Muslims, we condemn them. Now, as they are helping us, we should appreciate them,” said Yar Mohammed, 48, a farmer in Muzaffarabad, the devastated capital of Pakistan’s portion of the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

“We are facing hard times, and they are helping us…” [Link]

Now it seems some of the Islamic hardliners have decided to take it upon themselves to jeopardize the help their fellow citizens are getting by taking shots at the American aid helicopters. The AP reports:

Assailants fired at a U.S. military helicopter Tuesday as it ferried supplies to earthquake victims in Pakistan’s portion of divided Kashmir, the U.S. military said, but it vowed to continue aid flights.

The attack with an apparent rocket-propelled grenade came as the CH-47 Chinook flew over Chakothi, a quake-ravaged town near the frontier separating the Pakistani and Indian portions of the Himalayan region, said Capt. Rob Newell, a spokesman for the U.S. military relief effort.

“The aircraft was not hit and returned safely with its crew” to an air base near the capital, Islamabad, he told The Associated Press.

The Pakistani army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, expressed skepticism an attack took place, saying engineers were using explosives to clear a road near where U.S. helicopters were flying.

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NPR’s “Geography of Heaven” series

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NPR’s recurring collaboration with National Geographic Radio Expeditions began a series this week titled, “The Geography of Heaven.”

Radio Expeditions explores how shared beliefs of the afterlife shape the lives of the faithful. The journey begins in Vrindavan, the Indian City where the Hindu faithful believe the god Krishna once took human form.

Long time NPR listeners will be quite familiar with the pleasure of a Radio Expedition:

Radio Expeditions blends narrative, interviews, and digital sound to document stories of our world’s threatened environments and diverse cultures. This pioneering series is a coproduction of NPR and the National Geographic Society. [link]

As you wake up sleepy-eyed in your bed, it is their job to aurally transport you to the scene of the story. When they succeed the result is incredible and the images sometimes enter into your dream world. As the quote above mentions, this week’s running story has been focusing on Vrindavan (Monday, Tuesday).

Among the constellation of Hindu deities, Krishna is the truest expression of God. The faithful believe Krishna assumed human form in Vrindavan thousands of years ago and lived a single life as a man. For countless generations since, the town and the miles of low hill countryside surrounding it have been considered sacred.

Reminders of the Hindu faith are everywhere. There are countless temples, pilgrims marching through narrow streets following holy men in saffron robes, devotional music and singing. There is also stark, third-world poverty and suffering. It’s city of narrow, trash-blown streets and open sewers, alongside a river black will pollution — the overcrowded capital of New Delhi lies upstream.

As if the audio was not enough, the website features a breathtaking slide-show for those whose curiosity overpowers their imagination. In addition to the main stories, NPR also has a running tape of the ambient sounds in four locations around Vrindavan:

  • A Rickshaw Ride Through the Streets of Vrindavan
  • Women Gather to Sing on the Shores of the Yamuna River
  • Bells Call the Faithful to See a Statue of Krishna
  • A Song of Devotion at the Shri Raman Temple

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It’s official. Candidate Bhakta.

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It’s official. I mentioned in September that Raj Bhakta from the Apprentice’s first season was contemplating a run for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 13th district. Newsweek reported this weekend that it’s a go:

As a contestant on “The Apprentice,” Raj Bhakta was famous for his grand gestures: the bow ties, the walking stick, the time he hit on Donald Trump’s receptionist. So it’s not surprising that for his next act Bhakta is aiming for something big: Congress. Bhakta, 29, has never been elected to anything but project manager. But the real-estate developer thinks he’ll defeat incumbent Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz in ’06. “People would be remiss to think, ‘Who is this guy from a television show?’ We’re not talking like I made it on ‘The Real World’.”

Beyond the prospect of Omarosa stumping for him, Bhakta is an unusual candidate. He’s a pro-choice Republican with reservations about President Bush’s policies toward Iraq and the economy. “One of the reasons I’m getting involved in politics is an overall platform of reform, reform, reform,” Bhakta says. “Our government needs to begin focusing on education, health care and the environment.”

Pro-choice Republican? Maybe we can get him to give a quote on his opinion of the Alito nomination? It is going to be especially difficult to run against an incumbent Democrat if you sound like you have reservations about Bush’s policies. Why not just leave the Democrat in office?

See previous posts.

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How to Save a Life

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This week’s cover of Time Magazine proclaims the following: “Six million children–and even more adults–die unnecessarily every year. Good people all over the world are doing their best to save them. You can too.”  I like big statements like this.  One of the things that discourages me most about many current governments around the world is that they have stopped thinking big.  All new initiatives of late seem to revolve around protecting people from terrorists or easing restrictions that allow corporations to make more money.  Where are the proactive ideas that can change the most overlooked lives with even a tiny investment? As we have seen from recent diasters, it is the most ordinary of people that are left to think and act big.  Many of them come through:

We make a living by what we get, Churchill said, but we make a life by what we give. And to save a life? If you’re Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, you give fantastic sums of money, more than $1 billion this year alone. But he also gives the brainpower that helped him make that money in the first place, hunting down the best ideas for where to fight, how to focus, what to fund. If you’re a rock star like Bono, you give money. But you also give the hot white lights that follow you everywhere, so that they shine on problems that grow in shadows. If you’re Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, you raise money–but you also give the symbols of power and the power of symbols: two men, old enemies, who got over it because the needs are so pressing that they now work together. It’s a model for unlikely partnerships of the kind that progress demands, partnerships among doctors and pastors and moguls and lawyers and activists and tribal chiefs and health ministers and all the frontline angels of mercy everywhere.

Time features 18 “frontline angels of mercy,” which include Drs. Abhay and Rani Bang, as well as chemist Ram Shrestha

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“Father of the B-2” arrested

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Breaking news today (thanks for the tip Vikram) is that U.S. citizen Noshir S. Gowadia, the self-proclaimed “father” of the B-2 stealth bomber’s propulsion system, has been arrested for espionage. The Honolulu Advertiser reports on the resident of Hawaii:

Noshir S. Gowadia traveled the world, billed himself as the “father” of the B-2 stealth bomber’s propulsion system, and disclosed classified military secrets about the high-tech aircraft to foreign governments, the federal government says.

The FBI’s criminal case against Gowadia, contained in a seven-page complaint made public yesterday, alleges that the entrepreneur and engineer provided eight countries with stealth secrets, in two instances going abroad to train foreign nationals using classified information.

Gowadia, a former design engineer for Northrop Grumman and later a subcontractor at Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico, told investigators that he “disclosed classified information and material both verbally and in papers, computer presentations, letters and other methods to individuals in foreign countries with the knowledge that information was classified,” the criminal complaint states.

“I used examples based on my B-2 … experience and knowledge,” the Maui resident told investigators. “At that time I knew it was wrong and I did it for the money.”

As of yet the Feds have not released which countries were involved in the transfer of the classified data. If convicted he could face up to 10 years in prison as well as fines. Continue reading →

Is there a glass ceiling for Asians in the sciences?

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For today’s Science Friday I wanted to talk about science policy (mostly because I don’t have time today to dissect a hard science article) .  This week’s edition of the journal Science features an article (paid subscription required) that debates the suggestion by some that there exists a glass ceiling for Asians in science leadership positions, here in the U.S.:

Virologist Kuan-Teh Jeang always thought it strange that his employer, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), would celebrate Asian Heritage Week each year with a cultural fair. “We’re not known for being great cooks or dancers. We’re known for being great scientists,” says Jeang about an ethnic group that, according to 2000 census data, comprises 14.7% of U.S. life scientists despite being only 4.1% of the nation’s overall workforce. So last year, he and the NIH/Food and Drug Administration Chinese American Association launched a new tradition: inviting a distinguished Asian researcher to give a scientific talk.

This May, as Asian Heritage Week approached, Jeang and his colleagues had another idea: Why not use the occasion to examine the status of Asian scientists within NIH’s intramural program? Jeang had already collected some disturbing numbers about opportunities for career advancement at NIH, and he was eager to see whether his numbers squared with an official tally by NIH officials.

To his chagrin, they did. Whereas 21.5% of NIH’s 280 tenure-track investigators (the equivalent of assistant professors) are Asian, they comprise only 9.2% of the 950 senior investigators (tenured researchers) at NIH. And only 4.7% of the roughly 200 lab or branch chiefs are Asian. (For this story, the term “Asian” includes all scientists with Asian surnames, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. The group is dominated by scientists of Chinese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, or Japanese origin.) Within particular institutes, the numbers were even more sobering. As of this spring, just one of 55 lab chiefs at the National Cancer Institute, NIH’s largest, was Asian. At the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where Jeang works, none of the 22 lab chiefs was Asian.

To Jeang and others, the numbers point to a glass ceiling for Asian life scientists seeking to move up the career ladder.

I know this may be a contentious issue.  Some people automatically think that any suggestion of inequality is “whining.”  Maybe part of the lack of Asians in leadership positions may be due to the stigma associated with a language barrier (or a perceived barrier).  This should become much less of an issue as a generation of American-born Asians reaches “the proper age of leadership.” Continue reading →

One Woman. Two Men. One Bed

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SM tipster “Sirc” sent us the Village Voice review of a documentary that has been around for over a year, but seems to finally be opening to a larger audience (Oct 19, 2005 NYC, Nov 11, 2005 LA).  The film is titled ‘Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family.’  From the review:

This well-told doc follows nine years in the lives of a gay couple and the woman they invited to share their relationship. When we meet this happy threesome–Sam, Steven, and Samantha–they’re trying to get pregnant. In winning interviews spliced between suspenseful EPT tests, the assertively bourgeois strivers chat about their setup, their decision to marry, their spa business, their mix-and-match sex (“There’s never a feeling of being left out!”). Actress hopeful Samantha explains how her traditional Indian family absorbed the news.

Ummm.  Wow.  Trinogamy.  I just imagined the sound of several desi parents dropping dead of heart attacks.  Hell, I almost suffered a heart attack when I saw the trailer.  That “horror-movie feeling” descended upon me.  You know, it’s like when you watch a character on-screen with your eyes half covered saying, “Don’t do it.  Don’t go in there.  You are going to get knifed.  Ooooh, they went there.”  The “monkey wrench” in this case is the birth of a baby.  How will it change the dynamic given that only one man is the biological father? In a perfect world without human insecurities a relationship like this could probably work.  There is unfortunately no such perfect world.  I don’t know how it turns out but I am pretty curious.

The filmmaker gives her quick take on the film and its coincidental political overtones:

We began filming “Three of Hearts” in August 1996, the night of Samantha’s 30th birthday party. When I got home from the first night of filming my boyfriend at the time, and later husband David Friedson told me that the senate had passed the Defense of Marriage Act that day, defining marriage for purposes of federal law as the legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. David pointed out that the love story I had elected to tell was highly political. And as we premiered in Toronto, the whole issue was exploding in San Francisco, Massachusetts and around the country. So even though our film is not overtly political, we take pride in the fact that it does have political overtones.

We thank Sam Cagnina, Samantha Singh and Steven Margolin for their courage in sharing with us eight years of their journey.

The reviews of this film are glowing.  Here is screening info.

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Leaving it all on the field

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I have a rampant addiction that even my co-bloggers don’t know about.  Any time they come up behind me at SM headquarters I quickly switch my computer desktop to make it look like I am writing a post for our blog.  In reality however, I am dedicating obscene amounts of time to managing my Fantasy Football team (The Pocket Rockets).  Yes.  During the regular NFL season I am a Fantasy Football fanatic:

Fantasy Football is a game in which the participants (called “owners”) each assemble a team of real life NFL players and then score points based on those players’ statistical performance on the field. Leagues can be arranged in which the winner is the team with the most total points at the end of the season or in a head-to-head format (which mirrors the actual NFL) in which each team plays against a single opponent each week, and at the end of the year the team with the best win-loss record wins the league. Some leagues even set aside the last weeks of the NFL regular season for their own playoffs. [Link]

I take great pride in my team and in my improvement as a coach.  I hate losing at anything.  My first year playing I was ridiculed by the other coaches in my league (my supposed friends) for not even knowing the names of some famous players.  This year (my third) I am dominating most of the teams in my league and talking smack at every opportunity.  Most of the fun of Fantasy Football comes from emasculating your friends and telling them how pathetic they are.  Yeah, yeah.  If you don’t play fantasy football then you won’t understand the appeal, but I am sure those of you who do, know what I’m talking about.  This isn’t just a passive sport.  Every week you have to research all the different football match-ups and note the teams and defenses your players are going up against, as well as injuries.  It takes A LOT of research.  If you aren’t up to speed and able to make the proper adjustments, then your team will lose.  Thankfully there are bloggers like Vinnie Iyer that make the jobs of coaches like me easier.  It is their full-time job to put in the research hours that will help the rest of  us (hat-tip to Sandeep from my league):

This NFL and fantasy football columnist grew up in St. Louis and is a 1998 alumnus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where he won a decent year’s salary with his appearance on a popular “answer and question” quiz show. Shortly after graduating as a journalism major, he joined TSN in 1999 and has been covering the NFL full time since 2001. He remains loyal to his roots as a fan of the Cardinals (baseball, of course) and Northwestern’s athletic programs (inexplicably). With TiVo, iPod and HD already in his vocabulary, Iyer is ready to “blog” away on pro football and hot topics of the day.

Look.  Let’s get real folks.  There is only one desi player in the NFL.  That shouldn’t mean that all desis should be shut out of football.  I participate by coaching a fantasy team since I am not built like a linebacker.  Vinnie (who may have once had the potential to be an offensive lineman) is doing his part by being one of the best at what he does.  In Fantasy Football circles Vinnie is a celebrity.

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Scott McClellan feels the heat

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As I correctly predicted yesterday, the White House Press Secretary was beseiged today by a question that may end up rocking the administration later this week:

Q Scott, two quick questions. Remembering Miss Rosa Parks. Then in 1955 it was like Mahatma Ghandi in South Africa, same thing happened to him. And during her time, there was very little or not many immigrants in the U.S., but today we have millions of immigrants from all over the globe. What message do you think President will have today as far as civil rights moments —

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President just spoke about her passing a short time ago in his remarks to the spouses of our military officers from all the branches of our military. And the President talked about what a remarkable women she was, and how courageous she was. She is someone who changed America for the better. She is an inspiration to generations, and we mourn her passing.

Q Second question is on the — now again, most of Indian-American community thankful to the President for initiating — or did initiate the Diwali Festival of Lights at the White House. Now it will be next Wednesday, November 1st, when millions across India and America will — Indians will be celebrating the festival around the globe, including at the White House here. What they are saying in the Indian American community, really, just like President initiates prayers with other groups here in the White House, like Muslims and Jews, and all that, that they are requesting him, please, to the President, this time, that if he can take a few moments and be there at part of the White House Festival of Lights on Wednesday, November 1st.

MR. McCLELLAN: On Wednesday, November 1st? Well, we’ll update you on the President’s schedule later this week.

How much do you want to bet that Goyal was the one who asked that question?  I wonder if he reads us?  Keep it locked onto SM for minute by minute news and analysis of this growing scandal.  I am considering launching my own “Special Counsel website” focusing on just this issue.  The truth is that I don’t care one way or the other whether Bush celebrates Diwali.  I just like raging against the machine. I’m good at it.

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