South Asian "icebergs" as king makers?

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A while back in the comment section of this post about the power of the “Desi voting bloc,” I introduced the term “iceberg” as an alternative to “bloc.” Some people argue, correctly, that you can’t have a “South Asian/desi voting bloc” because on certain issues Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi-Americans etc. simply won’t agree. True. However, I believe that living in America there is far more that we agree on than disagree on. So why not icebergs? They float around and clump together and then float apart again. Nothing forces them to stay together all the time. When they do clump together they can bring down a ship with ease (and drown DiCaprio as a bonus).

In this election cycle SM has been asked to help in a number of political campaigns. People know that we have a diverse South Asian audience that is pretty knowledgeable. We turned all such requests down of course since SM is a non-partisan blog that does not have a political agenda other than to inform our readers of South Asian American politics and politicians. All previous requests came from South Asian candidates. Now we have non-South Asian candidates vying for the attention of this audience (YOU GUYS) as well. You want an example? Tammy Duckworth (D) is running for U.S. Congress in Illinois’s 6th Congressional District (open seat). She is Thai American, and she is also a veteran:

Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates has built her life and career upon serving her country, her community and those in need around the world. She is a dedicated, tireless leader and an inspirational example of what can be achieved through hard work, determination, compassion for others and a positive outlook. Having recently recovered from serious injuries sustained while serving on active duty in Iraq, Tammy’s next goal – in addition to flying helicopters again for the Illinois Army National Guard – is to fight for the interests of the people of Illinois’ Sixth District in the United States Congress…

On November 12, 2004, Tammy was co-piloting a Black Hawk helicopter north of Baghdad when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the cockpit of her aircraft and exploded. Focused on the safety of her crew, Tammy was determined to land the helicopter not realizing she had been severely injured and that the other pilot was already at the controls. It wasn’t until the helicopter landed that she passed out. Ten days later, when she woke up at Walter Reed Memorial Hospital in Maryland, she learned that the explosion would cost her both legs and had shattered her right arm. It has been a long road to recovery, but Tammy is optimistic and determined to serve her country in a new way. [Link]

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It’s on! Some desis to watch tomorrow

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Can you all feel the excitement in the air? I surely can. Election day is tomorrow and I am sure the vast majority of you will be voting (well, I mean those of you that haven’t already voted).

So which desis should we keep an eye on? The biggest hope is Rano Singh in Arizona but Ennis will cover her in more depth a bit later so I am going to talk about a few others of note (although there are quite a few more that I don’t have time to cover):

1) Bobby Jindal (R)- Jindal is considered a safe bet for re-election in Louisiana:

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Metairie, is running against a trio of challengers — Metairie Democrats David Gereighty of Metairie and Stacey Tallitcsh, as well as River Ridge Libertarian Peter Beary.

The 1st District generally covers the suburban areas around New Orleans and the parishes to the north and west.

Jindal, who ran an unsuccessful race for governor in 2003 and is considered a strong contender for a re-match with Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco in next year’s race, raised about $2.5 million for the race.

While Jindal has taken care of buying his ad time, yard signs and other campaign staples, he has also donated a few hundred thousand to the Republican Party at the state and national level, as well as Republican candidates in Louisiana and other states.

Jindal has run his campaign on the issues of economic development and job growth, winning the war on terror, improving health-care access and using the rebuilding of the state in the wake of Katrina and Rita as a platform to make improvements that were needed before the storms. [Link]

For Jindal this is just a dress rehearsal. He is spreading his wealth to curry favor with other Louisiana politicians because he will definitely make a play for Governor Blanco’s job.

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This Convert’s Zeal Could Kill Us

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dirty bomber jackass.jpg

Sepia Friendster postergirl Jane of All Trades reads the BBC at the same time I do, because we’re both horrified at the latest development in the War on Terror:

A Muslim convert planned to detonate a dirty bomb and launch an attack on London’s Tube, a court has been told.
Former Hindu Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, plotted “massive explosions” in the US and UK and synchronised attacks.

I tripped over “former Hindu” as I was reading this and barely absorbed the appalling nature of Barot’s plans, which his lawyers argue he didn’t have the resources to carry out.

Barot, from Kingsbury in north-west London, described by prosecutors as “a member or close associate” of al-Qaeda is to be sentenced on Tuesday.
“The plan was to carry out massive explosions here and in the USA, the principal object being to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people without warning,” prosecutor Edmund Lawson QC told Woolwich Crown Court

This tidbit is kinda interesting:

The BBC, The Times and the Associated Press news agency successfully challenged a judge’s ruling that had threatened to prevent reporting of details from the court hearing.

In order to cause the greatest amount of devastation possible, Barot wanted to blow up a subway train as it traveled in a tunnel under the Thames. These are the suspect’s own words regarding his plans:

“Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here [London] and actually rupture the river itself.
“That would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur.”

As for Amreeka, the IMF, the World Bank (what, no White House?), the NYSE and various bank headquarters were part of the accused’s plans. I will be all the more bitter about this truism tomorrow, after some deluded person in Nebraska votes red to foil terrorists who don’t give a shit about that state, since they prefer to target places where I live, like D.C. But hey– who cares? Let’s keep creating terrorists faster than we can kill them! Continue reading →

Keeping up with the Joneses

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There is a more political way in which there is a “tax” on some South Asian names, and that is when it comes to gaining citizenship. We all know that since 9/11 the gap between the political rights of citizens and non-citizens has grown. Now there is another gap that has arisen amongst applicants for citizenship, between those with relatively common and uncommon names:

The first step involves a computerized search of the F.B.I.’s Universal Index of 94.6 million records for all mentions of a name, a close date of birth and a Social Security number. Different permutations of the name are tried, like the first and middle name only. Nearly a third of naturalization cases come back as having a potential match….

“Common names (such as Mohammed, Singh, or Smith) may result in hundreds of potential matches,” government lawyers wrote. “The sheer volume of the requests has also resulted in delays…” [Link]

This cases sit in limbo even as the INS has promised to eradicate its backlog of applications, since they have simply defined these cases as outside its purview. In fact it now

… takes responsibility for fewer than 140,000 of the 1.1 million immigrant applications that it identifies as pending for more than six months. [Link]
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What’s in a Name?

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With what seems to be the ongoing theme on Sepia Mutiny this week of (self) identification of South Asian Americans and racialization of America, I had to share the following story I got in my inbox this morning. My friend’s name is Nirva. Nice desi name, right? Nirva is shopping for a bicycle, and found one on craigslist…

Nirva: I saw your add on craigs list about the bicycle sale. And, I’m really interested in the nishikisport and murray women’s bikes. Are both of these frames lightweight and are they new? Thanks, Nirva

Craigslist Bike Seller: what nirva, whateva

[What exactly deos the “whateva” mean? Was it an insult to her name? Or was it a “we have no bikes for you”?]

N: i am sorry what did you say?

CBS: oh yeah righ they are brand new for 80 dollars yes. come right over this is hollywood and you can buy a bike nishiki brand for 80 dollars. what boat did you just get off?

[“What boat did I get off?” Kind of presumptuous to get all of that simply from her first name, don’t ya think?]

N: Excuse you…..First of all. It’s a question. If you want to answer it then answer it right. Damn you’re great with customer sales. Ya really want the bike now. Go take some happy pills and think twice before you get on a high horse and act anti-immigrant.

CBS: anti-immigrant? I just saw the movie Borat and you can not take a Joke! I do not think you want the bikes since they are not Brand New. They are used and I am sorry if I offended you but you are obviously too serious.

[Oh no. She didn’t go there with a Borat reference…]

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Where are Desis in Affirmative Action?

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Sunday marks the 10 year anniversary of the overturning of Proposition 209 in California. Thursday, here at UCLA students of all colors got together in the morning for a funeral procession for the Death of Diversity. Students dressed in black staged a silent “walk-in” by walking into law classes and standing in silence, in an effort to depict what a classroom should look like if it were representative of the population of CA. There were over 50% minorities enrolled in the law school in 1995, the year before Prop 209 took place, far more than there have been since that year.

Ten years ago this Sunday, California voters passed Proposition 209, which banned the use of race, ethnicity, color, gender or national origin as a factor in hiring and admissions in public institutions….Since then UCLA has seen a substantial drop in the number of black, Latino, Chicano/a and Native American students who are admitted.

Out of the 4,422 students in UCLA’s freshman class of 2006, 100 are black. The low enrollment numbers have incited criticism from the UCLA community as well as national media outlets…Alina Ball [in the UCLA Law School Class of ’08] …found herself to be the only black female student, and one of nine black students total, in her class of more than 300. [daily bruin]

At UCLA, Johnson and other speakers noted that African American, Latino and Native American students continue to be underrepresented at UCLA and other UC campuses, with their numbers at the schools well below their proportions in the state’s population. The numbers plummeted the year after the ban took effect, and although they have recovered since then for the UC system as a whole, they have remained low at its most competitive campuses, including UCLA and UC Berkeley. [la times]

But what does this mean for desis? South Asian Americans were out at the rally in full force, with members of the South Asian Law Student Association (SALSA) and Muslim Student Association (MSA) making an appearance. If the law school were to directly reflect the 1.24% [p.48] South Asian American population that we have in California, that would mean of the 340 law students in the 2008 class, there should be at least 4 desis in the entering class. I’m not sure about the exact stats, but I believe last year’s class had 13 South Asians. To further complicate the matter in trying to get stats on how many South Asian Americans are in the UC system, as far as categorization in the UC system is concerned, ‘Pakistani’ and ‘East Indian’ are lumped in with ‘Other.’

Last month, the satirical article written by Jed Levine at the UCLA Bruin caused some ruckus in the Asian American blogosphere…His main gripe? There are too many Asian Americans on UCLA’s campus and their numbers on campus should be limited to make room for other ethnicities… Continue reading →

Live music in L.A. this weekend

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For those of you mutineers who live near L.A. and are fiending for something fun to do this weekend I got two suggestions for you:

The Throws (picture by Preston Merchant)

1) Aditya Rao and his band The Throws will be playing at Hotel Cafe in Hollywood at 10:30p.m. Saturday night (only $7). I’m going to try and make it out.

If summer’s end could be perfectly punctuated, it would be an exclamation in the form of a song by L.A. band The Throws. Comprised of lead singer Aditya Rao, bassist Johnny Vergara and drummer Joey Ponchetti, this melodic neo-British, indie-pop outfit is a triple threat, cultivating a decidedly superior sound in a town where rock bands are as quotidian as a gorgeous day in Los Angeles.

Formerly known as Lovely, the band was obliged to change its name in July 2006 after learning of a Portland glam rock band also registered with the name, and The Throws it became. But it was clear this talented group had gained a sparkling opportunity to reinvent itself and woo new audiences. [Link]

Can’t make it? Are you one of those “popular” people who already know what you are doing on Saturday night? Well how about Sunday night then?

2) Shaheen Sheik [see previous posts 1, 2, 3, 4] is about to launch her second album and is previewing some of the songs on it at The Gig on Sunday night at 9p.m. She adds:

it seems that mtv desi is excited about my set of new songs. they’re coming to shoot the night.

I think I should go. In addition to getting the chance to listen to Shaheen play again, there is a chance I might be on some of the MTV desi footage and then…there is a chance that SHE might finally notice me.

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"Just say NO" says Sanjay

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As election day nears we notice that one of the most polarizing of ballot issues is back. No, not gay marriage and not stem cell research. I am talking about that licentious girl Mary Jane.

With a measure to legalize the possession of up to one ounce of pot on the ballot in Colorado and a measure to allow the regulated sale of marijuana and the possession of up to an ounce in Nevada, Tuesday could be the first time voters in any American state have embraced an end to marijuana prohibition. At this late juncture, most polls are painting it as an uphill fight, though organizers have reasons why they believe the polls may be off. The odds are looking better in Nevada than Colorado.

The only state in which marijuana possession is legal is Alaska. There, it was the courts, not the voters, who made the decision. [Link]

Maybe its inevitable that we will have to legalize marijuana in order to reduce our out of control prison population. However, that still doesn’t make smoking pot ok in my opinion. As South Asians, where can we go for advice if tempted (especially you younger readers)? Fortunately our community has a doctor we can trust. He’s a Michigan grad and has an all-American smile to go with his neurosurgeon creds. Let’s see if Dr. Sanjay Gupta has any advice for us before we go into the booth:

… marijuana isn’t really very good for you. True, there are health benefits for some patients. Several recent studies, including a new one from the Scripps Research Institute, show that THC, the chemical in marijuana responsible for the high, can help slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease. (In fact, it seems to block the formation of disease-causing plaques better than several mainstream drugs.) Other studies have shown THC to be a very effective antinausea treatment for people–cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, for example–for whom conventional medications aren’t working. And medical cannabis has shown promise relieving pain in patients with multiple sclerosis and reducing intraocular pressure in glaucoma patients.

But I suspect that most of the people eager to vote yes on the new ballot measures aren’t suffering from glaucoma, Alzheimer’s or chemo-induced nausea. Many of them just want to get stoned legally. That’s why I, like many other doctors, am unimpressed with the proposed legislation, which would legalize marijuana irrespective of any medical condition.

Why do I care? As Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, puts it, “Numerous deleterious health consequences are associated with [marijuana’s] short- and long-term use, including the possibility of becoming addicted…” [Link]

I am totally against drug use (unless its in a dark jungle in Peru under the watch of a trained Shaman). Its amazing how many people think that its okay to drive stoned even if they would be against driving drunk. In any case, please consider Sanjay’s advice before the election on Tuesday.

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Hate Assault on Brooklyn Desi

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Hate-crime charges have been filed against a group of Orthodox Jewish teenagers in the brass-knuckle beating of a brown, South Asian brother this week in Brooklyn (Thanks, tipster Ravi):

“They hit me in the face with brass knuckles four or five times while somebody held my hands,” said the victim, Shahid Amber, 24, a gas station attendant. “Then they all beat and kicked me. They were screaming ‘Muslim m-f-r. You m-f-g Muslim terrorists. Go back to your country.'”

Amber, who was eating ice cream outside a Midwood Dunkin’ Donuts when the gang attacked on Sunday, needed 15 stitches on his broken nose and reconstructive surgery.

Witnesses who called 911 said that 10-12 youths jumped him, a source said.

There’s an only-in-New-York dimension to this incident — the attackers were from the Orthodox stronghold of Borough Park and apparently dressed in full black-coat and black-hat regalia — but of course, we know that desis can be, and have been, taken for “terrorists” anytime, anywhere. I dare the “We’re not South Asian” contingent to tell me that what happened to Shahid Amber isn’t their problem.

Amber, who has lived in the U.S. for seven years, said, “I respect all religions . . . I love this country. It has given me everything. I would defend this country with my blood.

“These guys just break my heart.”

Yes, they do. Here’s wishing Shahid strength and a rapid recovery. Continue reading →

A Farewell to Doffing & Doffing About

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Marginal Revolution’s Tyler Cowen has a (p)review of Gregory Clark’s “A Farewall to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World” in today’s NYT.

It takes 3 men to replace one good woman?

Unfortunately, the book isn’t available quite yet but, interestingly, the full manuscript is available on the web (not anymore!)

Clark follows in the footsteps of recent mass market developmental econ books such as Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer-winning Guns, Germs and Steel and William Easterly’s The Elusive Quest for Growth. All three attempt to tease apart resources, institutions, culture, money, colonialism, and the like in trying to answer the age old question of why some nations are rich and others are poor.

Clark comes down firmly in favor of culture while using the somewhat oblique, econ-centric term “Quality of Labor”. The example Cowen chooses to excerpt in his NYT review comes from India –

…A simple example from Professor Clark shows the importance of labor in economic development. As early as the 19th century, textile factories in the West and in India had essentially the same machinery, and it was not hard to transport the final product. Yet the difference in cultures could be seen on the factory floor. Although Indian labor costs were many times lower, Indian labor was far less efficient at many basic tasks.

For instance, when it came to “doffing” (periodically removing spindles of yarn from machines), American workers were often six or more times as productive as their Indian counterparts, according to measures from the early to mid-20th century. Importing Western managers did not in general narrow these gaps. As a result, India failed to attract comparable capital investment.

Contrary to the “race to the bottom” thesis, Clark argues that the real driver of globalization is interconnectedness amongst others who’ve mastered the strange calculus of economic growth rather than simple exploitation of the poorest –

Professor Clark’s argument implies that the current outsourcing trend is a small blip in a larger historical pattern of diverging productivity and living standards across nations. Wealthy countries face the most serious competitive challenges from other wealthy regions, or from nations on the cusp of development, and not from places with the lowest wages. Shortages of quality labor, for instance, are already holding back India in international competition.
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