Category Archives: News

N.Y. Giants games are no fun

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Some of you may have heard that last week five Muslim fans alleged racial bias while attending a New York Giants game. The Boston Globe reported:

Five Muslim football fans were detained and questioned during a game [Sep. 19th] at Giants Stadium because they were congregating near an air duct on a night former President George H.W. Bush was in the stadium, the FBI said yesterday.

Some of the Muslims said they did not know they were in a sensitive area, and said they were subjected to racial profiling while they were praying, as their faith requires five times a day.

”I’m as American as apple pie and I’m sitting there and now I’m made to feel like I’m an outsider, for no reason other than I have a long beard or that I prayed,” said Sami Shaban, a 27-year-old Seton Hall Law School student who lives in Piscataway.

Come on, they are probably just being oversensitive, right? I was willing to give the FBI the benefit of the doubt:

FBI agent Steven Siegel, a spokesman for the bureau’s FBI office, said the men had aroused suspicion because they were congregating near the main air intake duct. Bush was in the stadium that night as part of a fund-raising campaign he and former President Bill Clinton were leading for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The site is now fenced off and is no longer accessible to fans.

Ok, no harm no foul. Then I read this article yesterday. Seems like this might be a pattern at Giants games, at least when there is a Bush in the house:

Two more men stepped forward Friday accusing authorities at Giants Stadium of racial profiling.

Mathew Varughese, 26, of Port Chester, and Pierre Mainville, 28, of Stamford, Conn., said they and four other men were unfairly questioned and detained by stadium police and the FBI during a Sept. 19 Giants-Saints game.

The incident happened the same day that five Muslim men were detained and questioned by authorities. Those men, who accused authorities of violating their religious rights, are considering whether to file a lawsuit. [Link]

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Armistice day

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Veterans day has its roots in Armistice day, the holiday that once marked the end of the “Great War” (WWI) on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 [Link].

Over 138,000 Indian troops fought in Belgium and France during World War I, many of them Sikhs. More than one quarter of these soldiers would became casualties.

In the first battle of Ypres at Flanders in 1914 a platoon of Dogra Sikhs died fighting to the last man, who shot himself with his last cartridge rather than surrender.

After the bloody battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915 the Sikh regiments had lost 80% of their men, 3 regiments stood at only 16% of their original compliment. [Link]

Encarta: Indian Soldiers in France

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Fire Fire, Pa?

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The New York Daily News reports today of one Karnail Singh, a Queens, NY resident who is currently recovering in Weill Cornell Medical Center’s burn unit since being seriously burned on October 28. How was he burned, you ask? Well, he hasn’t been convicted or anything, but it turns out Singh, 48 apparently set himself on fire while trying to set a deathtrap for his daughter-in-law by torching her basement apartment. The cause of his anger (according to fire officials): Singh claimed his daughter-in-law wasn’t sending money to his son in India. Oh, and he also also accused her of seeing other men. Thankfully Singh’s daughter-in-law Gurpreet Kaur, was rescued unharmed by firefighters who had to cut through metal bars on a basement window to get her out. In a weird twist of fate, as Singh was fleeing, he mistakenly set himself on fire. What goes around, perhaps really does come around.

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Missing mom

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In addition to keeping you informed and occasionally amusing you, SM has often served in the past as an Amber Alert-type site for missing persons of South Asian descent. I know that lots of people go missing and that posting it here may not make a difference…but maybe it might. The San Jose Mercury news reports on a missing mom (thanks for the tip Zahir):

It was 5.2 miles from Dr. Zehra Attari’s west Oakland office to a meeting she wanted to attend in Alameda.

The 55-year-old San Jose pediatrician left her office about 5 p.m. Monday. It was dark and it was raining hard.

Somewhere between her clinic office at 2700 International Blvd. in Oakland and the meeting conference room at 1240 South Loop Road in Alameda, Attari disappeared.

Three days later, Attari is still missing — one of 5,500 missing person reports San Jose police receive each year. Most of those people make it back home. But this case has investigators worried…

Attari’s family was able to confirm that she never signed in at the medical conference she had planned to attend. Her badge was still on the sign-in table.

“About 10 or 11 o’clock on Monday morning, she talked to my dad and said she was going to the meeting,” said her daughter, Dr. Ruby Attari Ali, who is a medical resident at the University of California-Davis.

Attari’s daughter in particular as asked for help in getting the word out. Anyone that has any information as to the whereabouts of Dr. Attari should get in touch with the authorities:

Attari was driving a 2000 gray Honda Accord with the California license plate 4MUH810. [Link]

The family has offered a $10,000 reward for any information that could help locate Attari. Anyone who would like to help in the search is asked to call (408) 476-6723 or (510) 557-6695.

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Shiver me timbers

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Gurkhas repelled a pirate attack on a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia on Monday:

Keep ya head down

“They launched two rocket-propelled grenades in our direction, one of which hit the ship about 10 feet from our cabin…” [Link]

… the world’s largest cruise line didn’t carry firearms, but had defenses like pepper spray. He said the company’s security staff recruited heavily among Gurkhas, elite Nepalese soldiers renowned for their fearlessness. [Link]

“This time the head of security was an ex-Gurkha from Nepal, and he made some good quick decisions…” [Link]

The stealthiest soldiers now man the loudest weapons:

“On the back of these ships they have a sonic deflector (which can send) out sonic waves which when they hit you on the chest… pound you,” Mr Meagher said. “It’s like being hit with a big rubber bullet and it bursts your ear drums… This device was being manipulated on the rear of the ship by a security guard – a former Gurkha soldier… He was, fortunately for him, kneeling down behind this device because the device was hit and shrapnel from the hit took him in the head… He’s recovering okay. He was the only individual who had any injury. (He was) a very brave man standing by his post…” [Link]

More on the sonic device:

Also known as an LRAD, the recently developed long range acoustic device is a crowd-control and combatant-deterrent sonic weapon… The warning tone is a high-pitched shrill tone similar to that of a smoke detector, only somewhat louder…. being within 100 yards (90 m) of the device is extremely painful…… sound could be reflected from a solid surface, and redirected back to the originator. [Link]
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Squat Like a Hindu

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    Hindu Squatting
    When I was younger, I would inadvertently get into trouble for a many number of things, teasing my younger cousin, not coming home when my mom would call for me (picture an Indian aunty in suburban central Pennsylvania standing outside the front door of her house, screaming for me (in my embarrassing nickname) to come home like she was still in Ahmedabad), or for jacking that extra blow-pop. Like all kids, I knew I would get in trouble, but I did it anyway because it was fun. What wasn’t fun was the punishment. We called them “Ootbes“, which translates into stand (oot) sit (bes) and as an added incentive, we had to hold our ears while we did it, thereby looking like a robotic monkey, doing weird squats. Thanks to tipster, Nalina, I learned that I was not alone in having to do these. While some in the West have found yoga to be great excercise, others have discovered the Ootbes or Bethak, and renamed it the “Hindu squat.” It seems “Politically Incorrect Fitness & Fighting” instructor Matt Furey is using the Hindu Squat, and even the Hindu push-up (also known as downward facing dog in yoga circles) as conditioning exercises for weight loss and as a technique for building muscle. From Furey’s website..
    Hindu squats (bethaks) are an exercise, like Hindu pushups (dands), that have been used by Indian wrestlers for centuries to build explosive lower body strength, power, speed and endurance. Can you get stronger doing this so-called “free hand” leg exercise while also staying away from barbell and dumbbell squats? Absolutely. Can you develop greater muscle mass with this bodyweight exercise? Again, absolutely. The Great Gama of India was 5’7″ and 260 pounds of streaming steal, with thighs so heavily muscled they resemble the proverbial “tree stumps.” Legend has it that Gama of India, who never lost once in 5000 matches, did 4,000 bethaks or Hindu squats each day. These numbers are grossly inflated – but the fact of the matter is that Gama did do this exercise daily and he was unstoppable.
    Google search results for Hindu Squat, Google search results for Hindu Pushup

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But…you two just don’t look very happy

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Canadian resident Parminder Singh Pannu is not a happy man. He misses his new bride who is still stuck in India. The Canadian government won’t let her into the country to live with her man because they don’t believe the two are legitimately married. Why the suspicion? Well, just look at their wedding picture. They don’t look very happy. The Vancouver Sun reports:

Delta resident Parminder Singh Pannu thought his luck had changed when he married his second wife Ranjit in India in November 2002.

Almost three years earlier, his first wife Anupinder died of breast cancer at 43, leaving him a widower. And three years before that, he nearly died when he was sliced from head to hip by a dagger at Surrey’s Guru Nanak temple during a protest by fundamentalist Sikhs.

But Pannu is more frustrated than ever now because the federal Immigration Department is refusing to allow his 36-year-old bride into the country, calling the marriage bogus…

“Your marriage is not genuine and was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring permanent residence in Canada,” a 2005 rejection letter states…

One of the government rejection letters said the pair looks too stiff in some pictures to be a real married couple.

Pannu tried to explain to the Immigration people that Sikhs aren’t down with PDA. THAT is why they look so stiff:

Family friend and community activist Gurnam Singh Sanghera said the comment is outrageous and shows the Canadian official does not understand Sikh culture, in which public shows of affection are not typical.

“I have probably never hugged my wife in public,” Sanghera said Sunday. “How can they tell this from a picture? Are they psychic?”

Pannu’s son Byron is getting married pretty soon:

Byron is getting engaged in December and was hoping his stepmother could finally be here to perform the role of mother in the ceremony marking his pending marriage.

I have just one piece of advice for Byron: Smile during the wedding pics.

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State of the union

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You’re probably familiar with State of Bengal’s iconic drum ‘n bass fusion track, ‘Flight IC408,’ on Talvin Singh’s Anokha. The airport sample below was good for one correct answer on Amardeep’s quiz. Listen here.

[In thickly accented English] Your attention please… Your attention please… Indian Airlines announces the departure of their flight IC408 to Calcutta.

This kickass DJ is spinning at a live show tomorrow in Manhattan. It’s in honor of the third anniversary of Third I New York, the screening group for desi indie films.

Sam, aka State of Bengal… [was] a cutting edge producer/DJ at the infamous ‘Anokha’ club nights… His eruptive tracks ‘Flight IC408’ and ‘Chittagong Chill’, featured on Talvin Singh’s Anokha compilation… remain anthems. State Of Bengal is finalizing his new… album, Skip-IJ… His [set will include] his new tracks.

Also playing: videos for M.I.A., Cornershop, Asian Dub Foundation, Karmacy, Lal, Geto Boys, Gurpreet & Jugular.

State of Bengal at the Sullivan Room, 218 Sullivan btwn Bleecker and W. 3rd, Manhattan; Thursday, Nov. 10, 10pm, videos at 11; $10
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Pakistan quake vigil

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Candlelight vigils for the Pakistan earthquake were held in 25 cities worldwide tonight. In NYC’s Union Square, chic midtown suits sold fundraising bracelets, listening somberly and flirting subtly. One white paramedic who volunteered in the relief effort spoke of doing amputations in the open air without anesthesia, of villagers hoisting near-dead relatives upon their backs and hauling them seven hours down the mountains to the paramedic camp. After the speeches, Nusrat sang quietly in the background.

A buddy of mine, Monis Rahman, penned this first-person account of volunteering in the mountains:

Two weeks earlier, a Sungi volunteer named Tariq took a helicopter filled with relief supplies to one of the mountain villages. The villagers rushed the helicopter, which was hovering slightly above the ground… Amidst the chaos, one fell to the ground. As Tariq reached to help him up, the rear rotor blade of the helicopter struck his head. He died instantly…

… we saw smoke coming out from a distant peak. Yasir casually asked Farooq if it was a volcano erupting. Our village guides immediately stopped, clearly terrified by the possibility of another catastrophe. There had been rumors in these areas that a volcano would erupt to further punish the villagers for their sins. Most of them believed that something they did as a community was responsible for the devastation they faced… I quickly pointed out that it was just a man-made fire… [Link]

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Watch Out Now, Hrithik

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We go from the strangely disturbing to the just plain strange today on the Mutiny. Right on time for dinner!

An Indian boy considers his rare birth defect to be an advantage. Devender Harne, 10, was born with 25 fingers and toes — six fingers on each hand, six toes on one foot and seven on the other.

Video of the child here. Of course he’s going to take the brown view of things: at school.jpg

Though it would be considered an abnormality to some, Devender says it allows him to work faster than the average child.

Despite his super powers, Devender is a pretty ordinary kid:

The extra digits on his hands and feet don’t hinder his daily life. Like any normal 10-year-old, he goes to school, plays sports and spends time with his friends.

As tipster BJ said– another one twenty-five for the world of Guiness. Brilliant!

The Guinness Book of World Records has contacted the boy’s family and is investigating whether he has the most useful fingers and toes in the world.

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