Category Archives: Politics

Hey…did you check out the new neighbors?

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Our own F.A.Q. defines “South Asia” in the following way:

What is South Asia?

It’s the countries in the area of the Indian subcontinent which share common ethnic and cultural roots (food, family, Bollywood). SAJA opines that South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. The U.S. State Department also includes Afghanistan.

Well it seems we may now have to tweak our F.A.Q. just a bit. The U.S. State Department reports:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says South Asia and Central Asia are high on her list of global priorities, and the State Department is adjusting its bureaus so that the same teams of experts and diplomats are focused on both regions.

“One of the things that we did in the State Department was to move the Central Asian republics out of the European bureau, which really was an artifact of their having been states of the Soviet Union, and to move them into the bureau that is South Asia, which has Afghanistan, India and Pakistan,” Rice said January 5.

“It represents what we’re trying to do, which is to think of this region as one that will need to be integrated, and that will be a very important goal for us,” Rice told reporters in Washington. (See related story.)

The five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are predominantly Muslim nations with a combined population of nearly 60 million.

The New Eurasia Blog opines:

This is an interesting move for the State Department, and potentially a problematic one. While Central Asia’s being grouped with the rest of the former Soviet Union might be an “artifact” of history, it is an important one. Over a hundred years of dominance and control has left its mark on the former Soviet republics in Central Asia, and officials experienced with South Asian states like Afghanistan and India may lack an important context of understanding for the region.

I know that it isn’t going to go over well with some people that Russian speaking Muslims are moving in to their “neighborhood.”

See Related Post: A New Spook at the Agency

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Yeti kitsch

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The Imagineers at Disney World in Florida have erected a mandir to the abominable snowman next to their new Himalayan-themed roller coaster. Expedition Everest opens in spring (via Boing Boing):

Yeti another mandir

The artificial mountain is not a reproduction of Mount Everest; it is the fictional “forbidden mountain” guarded by the yeti… One of the highlights of the attraction is an encounter with an enormous audio-animatronic yeti… Although moderate by contemporary roller-coaster standards, Expedition Everest is unique for having its trains travel forward and backward as a result of the yeti’s interference…

Riders approach the attraction through the remote village of Serka Zong in the fictional kingdom of Anandapur, which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. Several village buildings that had been used by the Royal Anandapur Tea Company have been repurposed… the legend of the yeti is communicated vividly through a mandir… and a makeshift museum that documents yeti sightings, the yeti’s significance in Himalayan cultures and a so-called “lost” expedition that ran afoul of the yeti many years before… [Link]

Disney is taking over Times Square immediately after Valentine’s Day:

Disney plans to transform the exteriors of the W Hotel and the adjacent Argent building at Broadway and 47th Street into a gigantic backdrop of Mount Everest. An aerial acrobatic troupe will perform there Feb. 15 and 16 on a stage 57 stories high, rappelling down the mountain and coming face to face with a Himalayan yeti — the legendary abominable snowman. [Link]

I’ve never felt entirely at ease in simulacrum cities like Orlando and Vegas, miniature Matrices. There’s something odd about Imagineers daubing tilaks onto idols of yeti which look like ‘roid-crazed Hanumans, leaving offerings of plastic fruit and hanging a poster of Krishna stealing butter. Disney movies like Aladdin and Pocahontas often mince cultures into purposely inaccurate baby pap which plays to stereotype.

(And in the other direction of mashup done badly, I can’t stomach the weak-ass rap in Bollyflicks. French and Spanish rap has coalesced as the language of the barrios, but Little B rapping is as silly as Nic Cage going gangsta.)

But let’s not be yenta about yeti. At first glance, the props around this roller coaster look pretty cute. I love the hand-painted signs.

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Hare Krishnas supporting ‘Intelligent Design’

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Secularist Meera Nanda writes that American Hare Krishnas filed an amicus curiæ brief against evolution in the intelligent design case in Cobb County, Georgia (thanks, Razib):

ISKCON devotees in Allahabad

It is these I.D.-creationists who are leading the current barrage of anti-evolution lawsuits… They have found enthusiastic allies among the Hare Krishnas… who have been actively propagating their theory of “Vedic creationism”, “Krishna creationism”, or “Hindu creationism”, as it is sometimes called…

Earlier this year, the Hare Krishnas filed an amicus curiae brief supporting I.D.-creationists… Hare Krishnas appealed to the court to keep the anti-Darwinian warning stickers. As the stickers only attack Darwin without endorsing a specifically Christian God, Hare Krishnas see them as an opportunity to introduce Vedic creationism into American schools. They know that once one religion gets its foot inside the door, all others will automatically get equal time to bring in their own creation stories and cosmologies into science classrooms in America. [Link]

The ID’ers don’t mind since it gives them multi-culti camouflage:

`I.D.’ is often accused of being a scientific-sounding cover for Christian creationism. The ID-ers conveniently use the support of Hare Krishnas to paint themselves in multicultural colours. Prominent I.D. theorists (Philip Johnson, Michael Behe) and some Catholic creationists have endorsed Vedic creationism. Any enemy of Charles Darwin is their friend… [Link]

ISKCON creationism sounds just as nutty as the ID’ers:

The intellectual force driving Vedic creationism is a pair of American Hindus, Michael Cremo and Richard Thompson, both resident “scientists” of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, the research wing of ISKCON. Cremo recently published a huge book, Human Devolution: A Vedic Alternative to Darwin’s Theory… While Cremo insists he is offering a “scientific” alternative to Darwin, almost all of his evidence comes from paranormal phenomena, including studies of extra-sensory perception, faith-healing, reincarnation and past-birth memories, UFOs (unidentified flying objects) and alien abductions…

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‘If I spoke Punjabi’

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Almost fifty people are running to become Canada’s latest South Asian MPs:

Who wants to be a Canadian millionaire (USD $14.92)?

For Jaipal Massey-Singh, Bal Gosal and Jagtar Shergil however, Saturdays for the past month and a half means knocking on doors, listening to complaints and plaudits and eating take-away food… All three men are running in the Canada’s 23 January general elections… [Link]

Fluency in Punjabi or Hindi is virtually a prerequisite for the ethnic vote. In the Punjabi area of Vancouver, the streetsigns are in Gurmukhi:

Nearby, a volunteer makes comforting noises into a phone receiver, before hanging up and saying wistfully, “If I spoke Punjabi, I would know whether or not I was promised that vote.” Mr Gosal says he campaigns in three languages, Punjabi for his largely Sikh constituents, Hindi for other South Asians and English for the rest. [Link]

‘If I spoke Punjabi, I would know whether or not I was promised that vote’If s/he spoke Punjabi, s/he’d also endure a cross-examination about his/her marital situation, village ancestry and parents’ health before being force-fed chai and laddoos. Michael Bloomberg also attempted speaking in Urdu in his re-election campaign for NYC mayor:

During his re-election campaign, Mr. Bloomberg soaked up the city’s diverse communities by hopscotching across its ethnic neighborhoods, and he even studied Spanish. He recorded campaign commercials in two Chinese dialects, Russian, Urdu and Korean, among other languages. [Link]

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“…so whip it on over here”

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Apparently the Republicans in South Carolina’s General Assembly think that Assemblywoman Nikki Randhawa Haley (see previous post) has got that whip appeal. They have just named her Majority Whip for the South Carolina House Republican Caucus. Rediff reports:

As majority whip, Haley will be responsible for lining up votes in support of caucus priorities and setting the direction of the 74-member Republican majority.

“Haley was selected because of her proven leadership skills. She is always prepared when we go to the floor and she’s passionate about issues of concern to her constituents,” Republican chief whip Shirley Hinson said.

For Nikki this is the third leadership position she’s held in her first two years in the General Assembly.

“I’m honoured to be recognised again by my peers and I know this new position helps me serve my constituents.This position will help me drive legislation that will benefit Lexington County and the entire state,” Nikki said.

The Whip position requires you to know everyone in the state legislature because it is your responsibility to twist their arms and get them to vote the party line. It is the sort of position that would definitely help to have under your belt should you later decide to run for U.S. Congress.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Bobby Jindal is a deputy Whip. With head whip, Roy Blunt (R-MO) vying for ousted Majority leader Tom Delay’s position, look for Jindal to seek a move up the leadership chain should Blunt win. He is exactly the type of young outsider that many disgruntled Republicans want.

My apologies to Babyface.

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Parents can buy cell phone records

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Speaking of cell phones and sweet, sweet looowe, it used to be that desi parents could track your nefarious romantic activities via phone bills, but only until you went off to college. Now they can track who you’re dating right now simply by buying your cell phone bill– and it’s all totally legal:

You wanna tight thappad, beta? I know who you been callin’

The Chicago Police Department is warning officers their cell phone records are available to anyone — for a price. Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls… In some cases, telephone company insiders secretly sell customers’ phone-call lists to online brokers, despite strict telephone company rules against such deals, according to Schumer. And some online brokers have used deception to get the lists from the phone companies, he said. “Though this problem is all too common, federal law is too narrow to include this type of crime…” [Link]

Ennis says it even happened to former presidential candidate Wes Clark:

… this morning AMERICAblog bought former presidential candidate, and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO… General Wesley Clark’s cell phone records for one hundred calls made over three days in November 2005, no questions asked… All we needed was General Clark’s cell phone number and our credit card… [AMERICABlog, a liberal blog]

As this becomes widely known, it’s not just police informers, cheating spouses and leaking politicians who need to worry. With desi culture’s open-door, no-privacy social contract, it’s also desi teens living out their Heer-Ranjha stories. Maybe keyloggers, spy viruses and purchased cell phone bills will begin showing up as the new villains in the movies.

Related post: Cell Phones of SHAME and LONGING

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A thick slice of Bubba pie

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My friend and international man of mystery Parag Khanna just published an essay which made the cover of Harper’s, Jan. 2006 (not online yet). Congrats, Parag! It’s a modest proposal for reforming the U.N. by putting Bill Clinton in charge:

Indulge me for a moment as I fix the world. First, rich countries must raise their development budgets… underdeveloped societies must root out corruption and boost investment in social welfare… we must strengthen the capacity of international institutions to manage global collective security against the threats of terrorism… we must move rapidly toward free and fair global trade, and involve NGOs and the international business community in providing responsible and accountable delivery of public goods around the world…

… there is only one solution… Embed a super-American at the highest level. That man, at this moment, is Bill Clinton.

But is Bubba the right plumber for these pipes?

Allegations of widespread sexual abuse came to light in a U.N. refugee camp in Bunia, Congo. Blue-helmets were paying girls as young as thirteen or fourteen with bread, milk, or a little cash…

U.N. personnel… have eased the burden they bear in lightening poverty with fermented marijuana cocktails along the banks of the Mekong River.

Parag tells of his first experience with the U.N.’s legendary inefficiency:

I first got involved with the United Nations just before its fiftieth birthday. In 1995, at age seventeen, I was likely the youngest intern wandering the corridors of the two glass towers… One week the Youth Unit had exceeded its quota of printing paper, so we simply were not allowed to make photocopies until our stock was replenished. I started to wonder: If the unit, or even the whole Division for Social Policy and Development, ceased to exist, would anyone miss it?..

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‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’

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A NYT columnist tells a story of vengeance (paid link) that’s become all too familiar (thanks, Turbanhead). It’s got overtones of Mirch Masala, Krantiveer and Bandit Queen:

… in the central Indian city of Nagpur… [f]or more than 15 years, the mud alleys of the slum were ruled by a local thug named Akku Yadav. A higher-caste man, he killed, raped and robbed in this community of Dalits… One woman, according to people here, went to the police station to report that she had been gang-raped by Akku Yadav and his goons, and the police raped her.

Neighbors tell how Akku Yadav forced a man to dance naked in front of his teenage daughter. They say that he chopped one woman into pieces in front of her daughter, and that another woman burned herself to death after he and his men gang-raped her…

Usha turned on the gas, grabbed a match and threatened to blow up everyoneWe have the bad guy, now we need the heroine. Usha Narayane, one of the few to leave the slum and get an education, was back home visiting relatives when the gang attacked. What Narayane managed to pull was like walking into a biker war with a hand grenade:

Akku Yadav returned with 40 men and surrounded the Narayane shack. He waved a bottle of acid and threatened to disfigure Usha’s face, and to rape and kill her… Usha turned on the gas, grabbed a match and threatened to blow up everyone if the gang broke into the house…
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Always record phonecalls to your mom

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In my previous post about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) wiretapping of U.S. citizens, I quipped:

I’ve also been using a calling card (from what may be a shady NSA front company) to call my parents who are vacationing in India. I should think twice about what I say…

NPR commentator Sandip Roy must have had the same thought. In a humorous piece this morning he plays a recorded conversation between him and his mom who is in Calcutta. At various times he pauses the tape long enough to advise the NSA, what he is NOT talking about.

This just reiterated to me that every single person should have a library of recorded phone conversations with their parents. Even the most mundane conversation can make you smile.

Listen.

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Britney Tikka Masala

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britandkfuggg.jpg BREAKING NEWS (well, sort of) via PEREZ HILTON (and tipster Simran):

Casually dressed erstwhile pop superstar Britney Spears attended an event at a Malibu mandir yesterday, Feder-spawn never out of her arms. More pictures of her doing so are available here.

At least this is one occasion where it was appropriate and not disgusting for Brit-Brit to be shoe-free.

Seriously though, motherhood agrees with her– and so does going to mandir. While I have NEVER been a fan and I am gloating that she’s not wearing her ring (DUMP HIM! You still have a chance! Turn your future “Behind the Music” ep around NOW!), I sincerely hope she got something out of her trip to temple.

Anyone have any idea why she was there? After some lazy googling, I haven’t discovered further details so I leave it to you, Mutineers. Kindly call your religious cousins in or near Malibu and beg them for deets, thanks. 😉 Continue reading →