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.

Continue reading →

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]