Category Archives: News

Using the power of the hive to keep informed

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As Ennis mentioned in the earlier post, there isn’t much we, as American bloggers, can add to the story from Mumbai as it continues to unfold on the ground. The time for blogging about the specifics will come in the next few days as more facts emerge. I recommend forgetting the news channels with their endlessly repeating video loops and paid talking heads. The best place to follow what is happening in Mumbai is to visit the wiki page created to compile all information about these attacks. It is continually being updated and the references section is terrific. There is also a Google Map of the region that has been created with all the attack sites highlighted.

Twitter has also been a great way to get details about what’s going on. Try typing Oberoi for example. “Terrorists trapped” also results in a slew of Tweets.

USE THE COMMENTS TO POST INFORMATIONAL FACTS or WORDS OF SYMPATHY ONLY. RIGHT NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR RECRIMINATIONS. Continue reading →

Breaking news: Terrorist attack ongoing in Bombay

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The revolution will not be televised, but I’m glued to CNN-IBN coverage live of this horrific attack. Here’s the short version from the BBC:

Gunmen have opened fire at a number of sites in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), reportedly killing at least 10 people and injuring others. Police said the shootings appeared to be terrorist attacks. Gunmen opened fire at seven sites including a train station and a restaurant popular with tourists. Shootings were also reported near two hotels and at a hospital. At least two blasts, suspected to be grenade attacks, were reported. [BBC]

According to IBN, terrorists are still holed up and fighting the police, most likely in Oberoi Hotel, Taj and possibly in Colaba. The attack seems focussed on the popular areas of South Bombay, the posh supposedly secure areas, in order to spread panic and terror.

I’m going to close the comments, because they get ugly and we have little to add to the regular news coverage here at SM. If you feel an urge to discuss it and contribute what you have heard, I suggest you discuss the matter on the SAJA post.

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There is a First Time for Everything!

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Given our people’s track record in professional sports in the United States (virtually nonexistent outside a small handful), I was pretty surprised to see the following story on the Pittsburgh Pirates signing two Indians, yes Indians, from India — Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel — as pitchers. From the article:

The two 20-year-old pitchers, neither of whom had picked up a baseball until earlier this year, signed free-agent contracts Monday with the Pirates. They are believed to be the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts outside their country. Singh and Patel are believed to be first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts outside their country.

Patel (L) Singh (R)

I think these are probably the first Indians to sign professional baseball contracts period. I could be mistaken, but I don’t think there are even any Indian-American or South Asian American professional baseball players. The way this happened is pretty interesting. Singh and Patel came to the United States six months ago after being the top finishers in an Indian reality TV show called the “Million Dollar Arm. ” The show drew about 30,000 contestants and was trying to find athletes who could throw strikes at 85 miles per hour or faster. One would think this would be possible in a country of over a billion. Hmm, not exaclty. But while neither pitcher threw hard enough to earn the $1 million prize, Singh made $100,000 from the contest and Patel made $2,500, plus his trip to the United States.

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She wasn’t even safe at Church (7 Updates/BREAKING NEWS)

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She tried.

She tried to make her marriage to a violent new husband work, and when that failed, she did what she was supposed to do; she summoned the courage to leave. She got not one, but two restraining orders. She switched coasts, to take shelter with the only relatives she had in this vast country, and put 3,ooo miles between herself and her abuser. He drove across that vastness, with a single purpose: to take back what was “his”. evil asshole.jpg

She did everything right, and he still hunted her down, and killed her, in front of the Holy of Holies, in God’s own house, while a hapless congregation was on their knees, reciting prayers for the dead.

A 24-year old Indian immigrant from Kerala trying to escape an abusive marriage, was killed by her husband, who also shot two other persons injuring them critically at a church in New Jersey. [express]
The shootings happened at 11:44 a.m., a witness said.
The gunman ran from the church and drove away in a green convertible Jeep Wrangler with a black soft top and the California license 5JHD200, said the police, who identified him as Joseph Pallipurath, 27, of Sacramento. He remained at large Sunday night as the New Jersey State Police and law enforcement authorities in northern New Jersey widened a manhunt on highways and at transportation terminals. [nyt]

Police kept the parishioners inside the defiled sanctuary for two hours, to gather statements. Then,

Stunned, teary-eyed congregants emerged from their Clifton church this afternoon after a gunman shot three people in the head, killing his estranged wife from an arranged marriage, and leaving the other two victims clinging to life.
Reshma James, 24, died about 4 p.m., police said. The other two victims, identified by fellow parishioners as Dennis John Malloosseril, 23, and Silvy Perincheril, 47, were in what police termed “very critical condition.”
Friends of Malloosseril said he was near death and family members were making arrangements to donate his organs late tonight. [NJ.com]

Malloosseril did die tonight. Besides being on the church’s Board of Directors, he was a computer analyst who took responsibility for the parish website. Had Malloosseril survived, this heroic man would have celebrated his birthday on Tuesday. Instead, he is a victim of what the New York Times called “the climax of a violent domestic quarrel that had reached from California to India to New Jersey over the past year”. Continue reading →

Pro-Hindu group tackles random crime

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Lately, when reading some Indian publications on the web, I often see America portrayed as a dangerous jungle where Indians (especially students) get slaughtered left and right (and the race of the suspected murderer is always stressed in the article). Over the past year Anna has written here on SM about some DBD students who were the unfortunate murder victims of what were probably robberies (see here and here). Also, just last week a silicon valley CEO was killed by a disgruntled employee fired earlier in the day. All of these are really tragic deaths. However, to make the absurd leap of logic that Indians around the U.S. are being targeted is just ignorant. If all the victims were turban-wearing Sikhs and a terrorist attack has just occurred, THEN there might be reason to worry about this being a trend. But random crime in a large country does not a trend make. Enter the Atlanta-based “United States Hindu Alliance” who want something done:

Expressing concern over killing of Indian students and professionals in the US, a Hindu group in New York has approached the top American intelligence agency asking it to take steps to prevent such incidents.

In a letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Hindu Alliance said it is “alarmed” by growing number of the killings, pointing out that there have been as many as five reported murders of Indian students and professionals in the past one year.

The letter, which was released by the alliance, also referred to the latest attack on 22-year-old MBA student in the University of Middle Tennessee Pulluri Shashank on November 16. He was shot but is reported to be out of danger.

The killings, it said, began at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge when two PhD students – Komma Chandrasekhar Reddy and Allam Kiran Kumar — were found dead in their apartment near the campus on December 14, 2007.

This was followed by the murder of Dr Akkaldelvi Srinivas, a second year medical student at Scranton University in Pennsylvania. Tummala Soumya Reddy, who was pursuing her master’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Southern Illinois University, was killed on September 22, 2008. Her cousin Vikram Reddy was also found dead near a lake in Chicago. [Link]

I can’t find a website for USHA but I did find a statement by one of its founders (Gokul Kunnath) that may help to explain the psychology behind this request:

Gokul Kunnath said that post 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US; Hindus became targets of racial hatred, violence, discrimination and abuse due to ignorance and misperceptions. There are one billion Indians, about 20% of the global population. The global Hindu diaspora is peace loving, and believes in pluralism and freedom of worship. Sadly it is being targeted for the wrong reasons. Hindus everywhere need to be proactive in safeguarding their interests. USHA will strive to empower Hindus everywhere through education, advocacy and activism. It will release an agenda of its concerns and problems and deliver it to the political representatives to resolve the issues in a bipartisan manner, he said. [Link]

I feel like this is tangentially related to Amardeep’s post from earlier in the week. I would be SHOCKED if the FBI decided to investigate any of these crimes. They are all local incidents and not part of some conspiracy. However, I can see how this “pro-Hindu” organization might be able to bring in donations from both here and abroad simply by writing this letter and convincing people that they are standing up for Indians/Hindus. I know that I risk coming across as overly cynical here. Maybe the folks in this organization truly are clueless and this letter is just an innocent token of concern. The alternative is that they are contributing to fear mongering and using the deaths of these students as a recruiting/fundraising tool for their organization (which is wrong no matter how innocuous the organization might be).

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The Jury Finds Anand Jon Guilty.

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Today, in Los Angeles, Anand Jon was convicted of rape and sexual assault.

A Beverly Hills fashion designer was found guilty today of sexually assaulting seven girls and young women, capping a two-month trial that offered a sordid portrait of the fashion world.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated for seven days before finding Anand Jon Alexander guilty of one count of rape and 15 counts of sexual assault and other charges.
The designer, who goes by the professional name of Anand Jon, sat silently in court wearing a light gray suit and yellow tie as the court clerk announced the jury’s verdicts. Behind him, his sister sobbed as she sat with friends and family in the crowded downtown Los Angeles courtroom. [LAT]

Obviously, the culprit– how I love that especially brown word– saw things differently. A charming snippet of a screen shot from one of his official sites, which clearly explains how Jon sees himself is below:

Anand Jon Home Page.png


Some of you may remember Jon from his memorable stint on the blink-tastic reality program America’s Next Not-Quite-Top Model, the show which elevates women (Eva Panni-ford, I’m looking at your unpleasant kundi) who are too short or too old to succeed in the industry to…mediocre heights. On ANnqTM, Anand was an utter douche to fellow Malayalee Julie Ann Titus during season three. But I digress.

Jon, 34, a rising designer who had dressed socialite Paris Hilton and singer Janet Jackson before his arrest last year, faces possible life imprisonment after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found him guilty on 16 criminal counts.
The crimes involved lewd acts on a child, rape and sexual battery in assaults between 2001 and 2007 against nine would-be models aged between 14 and 21. He was also convicted of possessing child pornography. [Reuters]

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Anoop Josan reprazent.

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Anoop.jpeg

I think mutineer Fuerza Dulce said it best when she emailed us this tip:

A brown girl fighting for the world cup? Sweet.

Word!

Hold up, hey–I have to write an entire post? Truly, 20-year old midfielder Anoop Josan is so fantastic that I shouldn’t have to, but FINE. Be that way. Just EXPECT me to paste stuff, why don’t you…

From the official University of Texas, El Paso athletic site:

UTEP junior midfield Anoop Josan has passed through the final roster cuts for Team Canada, and will help her country fight for the championship at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008 from Nov. 19-Dec. 7. The placement to the squad will afford Josan the opportunity to showcase her talents on one of the highest stages in the sport.
The native of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, who is redshirting this year in order to compete at the prestigious event, is no stranger to the international stage. She was a member of the Canadian Olympic Development Team that won the 2007 International Soccer Festival. Furthermore, she has worked out and gained experience at the National Training Center. She also competed at the 2005 adidas cup as a member of the U-18 national team and for the U-17 development team.
“I am so proud of Anoop making the Canadian Under-20 World Cup team,” UTEP head coach Kevin Cross said. “It is a dream come true for her, and she has worked her whole life for this opportunity to represent her country. Not only is she representing Team Canada, but she is also representing the UTEP Soccer program very well.” [UTEP]

Oh, she’s representing all right. GO AJ! <—That would be her nickname. A nickname I think very highly of. Ahem. 😉

I discovered that bit of Anoop Josan-trivia here, where I ganked the rest of this disjointed information:

…both of her parents were born in India… grew up playing volleyball, tennis, soccer… enjoys watching movies… speaks English and Punjabi… [link]

And once she’s done with the wonderful world cup?

Josan will once again take the pitch for the Miners in 2009, and Cross’ charges will certainly be glad to have her back. She has been an instrumental member of the squad since venturing to the Sun City. In 2006 Josan tallied the second-highest single-season assist total (14) in program history on the way to earning freshman All-America honors. Last year, Josan started 18 of 21 matches. She racked up three goals and three assists for nine points.[UTEP]

Random aside #1- Before this story, I had never encountered a girl named Anoop. I like it. I like that it’s different. Unexpected. Well, to me, anyway. Less random aside #2- brown girls who play soccer are teh hawt. Thanks for the tip, FD! Continue reading →

The Grewals heart Obama, wake up to a cross-burning for it.

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grewals.jpgAn anonymous tipster emailed us about a disturbing story out of dirty Jersey:

A family who had supported Barack Obama’s presidential campaign emerged from their home in the northwestern New Jersey town of Hardwick Thursday morning to find the charred remnants of a 6-foot wooden cross on their front lawn.
Pieces of a homemade bedsheet banner reading “President Obama , Victory ’08,” which had been stolen from the yard the night before, also were found, leading investigators to believe the banner had been wrapped around the cross before it was set afire.
Lt. Gerald Lewis of the New Jersey State Police said his agency is treating the incident as a bias crime. [philly.com]

And why is that?

“Even though the victims are not African-American, it is being treated as a bias crime,” Jones said, noting the combination of a cross — a “well-known icon” — and Obama’s race. [PoconoRecord]

Obama received a mere 38% of the votes cast in Hardwick. The area is rather snowy:

As of the census of 2000…The racial makeup of the township was 97.06% White, 0.61% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.89% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.32% of the population. [wikiwiki wikiwiki]

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Grant Park

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[Apologies this was delayed. It took me a while to recover on Wednesday]

I was lucky enough to be at the official victory celebration of the Obama Campaign in Grant Park, Chicago Tuesday night. It was indeed an amazing experience.

The crowd was friendly and mellow. The air was one of expectation rather than suspense, since the outcome was over determined. I was passing through the various checkpoints when the networks called OH for Obama, bringing him to 194 electoral votes. Since the Pacific states would bring the total up to 271 FTW, everybody knew what would happen.

If the Cubs had won the World Series, the celebration would have been far more ecstatic and frenzied, with drunken people venting all the excitement that had been pent up during the games. This was very different, and far calmer than it appeared on TV.

People milled around, chatting, while watching CNN on the jumbotron. A cheer would go up every time a new state was called for Obama, and a few people cried when CNN finally called the election for him, but these were quiet tears of release leaking from the corners of peoples’ eyes, and not the ragged sobbing I had expected. I too was far calmer than I had expected, given all the energy I had put into the campaign in my life off-line.

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Who will the dead cat hit next?

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An article published in the Hindustan Times on Monday quoted an anonymous Obama advisor as saying, “You can’t swing a dead cat in the Obama camp without hitting an Indian.” The implication here is that Indians and South Asian Americans are going to be a huge part of this new administration. Well earlier today one “Sonal Shah” rocketed all the way up to the 7th position as the most searched term on Google:

Turns out that Ms. Shah was named part of Obama’s transition team advisory board today:

On the list: former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Carol Browner; Obama friend and former Commerce Secretary William Daley, University of California-Berkeley law school dean Christopher Edley; Obama law school friends and advisers Michael Froman and Julius Genachowski; former Gore domestic policy adviser Donald Gips; Governor Janet Napolitano; former transportation secretary Federico Peña; Obama national security adviser Susan Rice and Sonal Shah of Google.org. [Link]

Shah was probably brought in on the recommendation of the current head of the transition team, John Podesta:

Shah, although not as visible an Obama activist as Bansal, had been brought into the transition team in the summer by her old boss Podesta, and told rediff.com that she will be taking a leave of absence from Google.org for the next two-and-a-half months at least till Obama is sworn in January 20 as the 44th president of the United States.

While Bansal will be working on personnel operations beyond January 20, her name is also been thrown up for a senior level position in the Department of Justice, and speculation is rife that she could be the new Solicitor General.

However, Bansal has been keeping a low profile and told rediff.com that she didn’t want to comment on the speculation or her duties as part of the personnel selection team, but insiders said, “She will be very heavily involved on the personnel side.” [Link]

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