Georgia’s Khabar Magazine takes an in-depth an thought-provoking look at the Indian-American voter. The article addresses some of the chief reasons Indian-Americans don’t vote (can you believe that the fear of Jury Duty is near the top of the list?), as well as breaks down this voting group into five general types.

First, the why?? question:

Why donÂ’t more Indian-Americans vote? A basic theory shared by political scientists is as follows: the more money and education you have, the more you will vote and participate in politics. Indian-Americans are one of the most educated and wealthiest ethnic groups in the country. So, why is our voter turnout and participation so low?

An analysis by Ritesh Desai who serves on the Georgia Governor’s Asian American Commission sheds light on the jury issue at least:

The Department of Motor Vehicles is required to give their list to the Federal and State Jury services. In other words, if you drive in the State of Georgia you can be called for jury duty. Yet, this myth [voting enters you into the jury pool]is just one of the many fears I have heard from Indian-Americans who hesitate to register to vote because they think the government will interfere in their lives. If they are not fearful of the government, it seems voting is still an inconvenience.

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Remember my entry earlier this week titled The Legend of Dilip Singh that mentioned the first Indian congressman in the U.S.? Well the story continues as reported in desi-Talk NY News-India Times with the announcement that a building in California will also be named for him:

I can let you know that we hope to have passed this year a bill that will rename a building in California in honor of former Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, the first Indian-American ever elected to Congress. We are moving very, very quickly on that and we hope with the help of Congressman Bob Filner we have identified a building. We are working that process through. And we hope to just spread the word; we need the entire California delegation behind it to support it.

Anyone know what building in California they have in mind? Also why is a NY congressman (Co-Chair of Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, Congressman Joe Crowley (D-NY)) the main one behind the push? Shouldn’t this suggestion have originated from California?

Brief, fascinating article @ TCS about India’s Woe Over H2O

Water is rarely a political topic in rich countries, and in most developing ones it only reaches the national media when its delivery becomes a problem. But India is something of an exception. It has both serious water problems and politicians that are routinely fired for not delivering voters this most precious substance. India desperately needs water reform, and especially privatization, but even the current Indian government — the most free-market oriented realistically imaginable — is unlikely to try to tackle hydro-politics.

There are two most remarkable statistics about Indian water: over one million children die from water-borne diseases every year and illegal water trading realizes over $1 billion in value. What is perhaps not surprising is that these two issues are inter-related. Few Indians (perhaps 30%) have access to decent sanitation and high quality drinking water. Not only does this expose the majority to dangerous dysenteries and other water-borne disease, but it provides back-breaking toil for those (usually women and children) who have to collect it every day. The indirect costs are even more staggering with salinity levels rising in so much irrigation water that crops fail, farmers commit suicide (over 500 year this so far) and thousands of the poorest starve.

Sometimes you can’t take even the tiniest things for granted…

As a bit of an econo-geek, this passage rang very true –

Indians are proud to be part of the world’s largest democracy, but given the elitism in their society they are also part of the world’s largest rent-seeking, politically manipulative and bureaucratically stifling society the world has ever seen.

quick, think back to when you were small and misbehaving in public…how did your parents react? don’t even try to front like they reprimanded you in english– you know they busted out with the mother tongue for one brutal yet discreet verbal smackdown. that is one small privilege of being “different” in this western world; you may snark about others and they’ll be none the wiser, since the odds of someone understanding your native tongue are totally in your favor.

well, say you’re one of the 308 members of the Canadian House of Commons, and you want to vent about some MP who’s REALLY getting on your last Canadian nerve, but you want to preserve your chances for re-election. have no fear! curse them out in PUNJABI! those damned sons-of-owls!

TEN South Asian Canadians have won recent parliamentary elections, and of that number, eight speak Punjabi, making it the fourth most popular language that is spoken by MPs. basically, this article details how MPs speak english (no, really?), french (ditto), italian (no witty parenthetical remark for this one) and now Punjabi (kiddan?). i think i was just excited that our neighbors to the north are cool enough to have brown legislators in the DOUBLE-DIGITS. now if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to go make a jack-ass out of myself to some Malkit Singh while i fantasize about ONE brown person in congress. oh balle balle!

via Livin’ Simply Continue reading →

Well okay, my title was purposely provocative but I am not too far off the mark. Late today the NY Times reported:

The federal government is offering $1 billion to hospitals that provide emergency care to undocumented immigrants. But to get the money, hospitals would have to ask patients about their immigration status, a prospect that alarms hospitals and advocates for immigrants.

Well of course it alarms hospitals. They know what a dumb idea this is (disclaimer: I am a liberal). Immigrants aren’t going to seek the medical help they might need knowing that Uncle Sam will be there checking their passports. In post 9/11 times, when an illegal immigrant with a brown name can get held, seemingly indefinitely, under material witness statutes, why would they risk going to the hospital? Continuing with the article:

The Department of Health and Human Services wants hospitals seeking reimbursement to ask patients these questions, among others:
-“Are you a United States citizen?”
-“Are you a lawful permanent resident, an alien with a valid current employment authorization card or other qualified alien?”
-“Are you in the United States on a nonimmigrant visa” of the type issued to students, tourists and business travelers?
-“Are you a foreign citizen who has been admitted to the United States with a 72-hour border crossing card?”

Lawyers are already pointing to the 1964 Civil Rights Act in calling this a bad idea. You should read the other silly details in the article for yourself.

FYI – some of you may be interested in comments I left over @ Seshu’s Tiffinbox blog re: Outsourcing & Capitalism. The comments are perhaps a tad overly political vs. the type of stuff I’d generally post here but I thought it may be of interest nonetheless –

FIRST – India’s GNP = $3Trillion

Total Outsourcing market in ’03 = $1.3Billion.

So, outsourcing = 0.04% of India total GNP. A drop in the bucket. By comparison, India’s other exports (farm products, textiles, etc.) = $57Billion

SECOND – there’s a different theme in your post which I consider one of the most significant, and yet unseen political divides – are the Rules of Capitalism Natural or Arbitrary…

Last month during the Democratic National Convention in Boston I was desperately hoping to get an invite as a blogger. I knew that wasn’t going to happen however, and I was overheard several times muttering, “Who do I need to sleep with to get a floor pass?”

That’s why I was shocked when I learned that nineteen-year old Tanisha Sandhu of El Sobrante, California was actually at the convention as a delegate. Its not a trivial thing to be a delegate. Those spots are usually reserved for the party faithful (i.e. biggest fund-raisers and local politicians). As a delegate at 19 she may have a bright future ahead of her.

This past weekend seventeen-year-old Ranjit “Ricky” Gill of Morada, California spoke at the California State GOP Convention.

He is a top student at his high school, where he helps classmates in math. The aspiring doctor also volunteers at Lodi Memorial Hospital. He’s served on the Greater Lodi Area Youth Commission, and last month, he was named by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as the only student representative on the state Board of Education.

Now there seems to be a push, to put him on the stage in NY at the National Convention.

Fox and other major news organizations are reporting that a straight-up bigot will be reppin’ the right in the race for Tennessee’s 8th Congressional district. James L. Hart–an erstwhile real estate salesman who states that he was “forced” to resign from his job due to the attention he received via his campaign–has unsuccessfully run for this Congressional seat before, but this time he was the only republican on the ballot. Dennis Bertrand, a write-in candidate who is a former military officer lost his bid to “Help restore dignity” to the GOP by a landslide. See what happens when you blindly vote by party line, people?

Some choice quotes from the website of the man who counters claims that he is racist by pointing out that he’s okay with Asians:

“We in the Eugenic movement are not interested in competing against Adolph Hitler or Karl Marx for some minuscule little 1,000 year reich. We are interested in competing with Jesus Christ and Buddha for the destiny of man.”

“Equality is man’s most dangerous myth. All men do not have an equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Only the ethical, moral and law abiding have a right to liberty; only the productive and creative have a right to life; and only the wise have a right to the pursuit of happiness.”

and my personal favourite:

“Why does Detroit look like it was hit by a nuclear bomb and Hiroshima look like it was on the side that won the war? Everyone knows the answer but is afraid to say. Because genes have a more devastating effect on civilization than nuclear bombs, and the reason for Detroit’s decline is that there are less ‘favored races’ in Detroit with an average IQ of 85 and more ‘favored races’ in Japan with an average IQ of 104.”

Wow. Continue reading →

Indirect evidence of the growing influence of the Indian lobby in Washington may come in the form of a complaint by Pakistan’s Foreign Office that “a certain lobby” in the US Congress is the driving force behind a new Bill calling for tougher monitoring of its adherence to nuclear non-proliferation. The language in the bill was deemed too abrasive by the Pakistani government.

Here’s ours. The strange tale of the Indian hostages as interpretted by The Acorn –

Fears that Iraqi insurgents do not follow Bollywood scripts and hence not play tango with the Indian government’s hostage negotiation strategy were unfounded. Shiekh Dulaimi, an Iraqi do-gooder who is ‘helping’ in the negotiations has just demanded that Hindi film icons of yesteryears make an appeal for the release of the Indian truck drivers the Iraqi kidnappers are holding hostage. Before this is over, it would not be a surprise if Hema Malini is asked to dance over broken shards of glass while singing that famous song from Sholay. Thanks to all these bizarre twists and turns, the hostage drama is fast reducing into a farce, or so it would appear.