Minority Report

No, I'm Not Watching It

If I wanted to see a fictional account of how someone protects Americans and saves the world, I'll watch Spiderman 2, thank you. (Which I still haven't seen, because of the wedding).

Not having a TV helps.

On a completely separate note, I realized that the only movie I saw this summer was Fahrenheit 9/11. Take that, Disney!

Stickin' it to the Pakistanis

A survey conducted by Florida-based Bendixen & Associates found that Pakistani Americans reported higher levels of discrimination and government targeting than Americans of Arab descent.

About 31 percent of Pakistani Americans said they have experienced discrimination in their schools, workplaces or neighborhoods over the past three years. Twenty-one percent of Arab Americans made the claim.

When it came to profiling, 16 percent of Pakistani Americans said they had been mistreated or targeted by government officials because of their background, compared with 11 percent of Arab Americans.

Asked who did the profiling, 63 percent of Pakistani Americans said it was local police. Among Arab Americans, 36 percent said they had been targeted by airport security, and 21 percent answered that they had been targeted by local police.

The head of the polling company, Sergio Bendixen, said one reason why Pakistanis reported higher levels of profiling by police officers may be because they, in general, tend to have darker skin than Arab Americans, and therefore may raise the suspicions of some people in law enforcement.

Nice to know that we're using that time honored and effective law enforcement technique, racial profiling, to combat terrorism...

Rohrbacher is a Moron

Dana Rohrbacker (R-CA) is on Bill Maher right now proving he's the biggest ignoramus on the planet. He's disputing that the Iraq war has been the greatest recruitment tool for Al Queda with this useful retort, "Sure... sure." Absolutely no refutation at all based on a reasoned argument.

Rohrbacher's views on international affairs are pretty scary. I remember a few years ago, he suggested that the US should refuse humanitarian assistance to India (an aid package amounting to about $500 million) because India had been an ally of the former Soviet Union and if the Soviet Union ever re-emerged, India was likely to continue its relationship! And if that wasn't a stupid argument, his other argument was that India had MiGs!

Maher has the killer line = "The three-week war was the trailer... what's going on right now is the movie!"

UPDATE: Rohrbacher has just said that global warming is "global baloney." How did this moron get elected?? This doesn't say much for the people from his district...

I Didn't Read It

For friends of mine that were dismayed to discover that my planned leisurely reading for the honeymoon was the 9/11 Commission report, you'll be heartened to know that I didn't take it with me. Someone alerted my wife who immediately ruled it out because she was afraid I'd get irate during the honeymoon.

All I have to say for myself is that what you and I consider "leisurely" reading is different, especially since I don't get the time to read what I want very often. Faced with a tough school year, this was my only chance to really read it before the Christmas holidays. Now you'll just have to wait for my reaction in pieces.

Sure, I might have gotten upset on the honeymoon but I'm not sure that it was altogether any different from me yelling at the CNN International throughout the vacation...

Flying the Racist Skies

It's been a while since I've been racially profiled - I wasn't sure why but my wedding and subsequent honeymoon demonstrated to me that it wasn't because incidents of profiling have gone down, but rather my exposure to events where it would occur - namely because I've been holed up in grad school.

ON MY WEDDING DAY
The wedding took place at a hotel in the financial area of Jersey City, NJ - one of the areas that has been under heightened terror alert since they found out Al Queda was scoping out the buildings four years ago. The weekend of the wedding, the police set up a vehicular checkpoint on the access street to the hotel - every car was stopped by the police in or out of the street.

For the most part, it was pretty straightforward. You'd stop, tell the police officer that you were heading to the hotel, and they'd wave you through. The morning of the wedding, however, was a totally different story. I was with my best friend, a practicing Sikh (meaning that he wears a turban, among other things, in keeping with his faith) as we drove up to the hotel after running a few last minute errands. We were stopped by the police officer as usual and we explained we were on the way to the hotel. Instead of waving us through, however, he asked us to open up the car to be searched. Eyeing a shopping bag, he first questioned us about what was in the bag, then before we could answer, he seized the bag and looked through it without our permission. While the search of the car is no big deal, the search of the bag without cause is certainly a violation of our civil rights - as confirmed by several civil rights lawyer friends who attended the wedding. There was no cause for search - there was nothing about our demeanor - that would have led a police officer to conclude that we were likely to be terrorists, unless you believe that having olive skin, facial hair, and a turban is cause for suspicion. I was (and still am) pissed about this but I had to calm down and put it aside for the wedding. I plan to file a complaint with the J.C. police department.

RETURNING FROM THE HONEYMOON
Second incident happened yesterday when we were returning from our honeymoon. I haven't flown internationally since well before 9/11 but I had mistakenly assumed that the practice of "random" searches had mirrored what occured in the U.S. That is, initially, the searches weren't random but based on profiles - namely anyone percieved to be Arab. After intense lobbying by Arab and South Asian community groups, Norm Mineta agreed (based on his own experience as a Japanese American during WWII) that searches have to be truly random to be fair and just and saw to it that the TSA adopted race-neutral search policies. This hasn't been adopted internationally. After going through the standard metal detector screening before the entry to the gates, all passengers were stopped before entering the boarding gates and asked those stupid questions about whether we had packed our own luggage and whether someone had given us anything to take onboard.

But that's not the big deal. What pissed me off was before we got onto the plane, we were stopped again by security agents conducting a "random" search. I had to hand over my passport and sign a form consenting to the random search. I was then subjected to a wand search and pat-down of my body, I had to remove my shoes for inspection, and my bags were opened and manually inspected. Out of 100+ passengers on the 767, there were only 5 others before me that had also been searched whose names appeared on the same list that I had to sign. I noted that four of the six, including myself, had Indian surnames. The very next person that was searched was an African Muslim. Not too "random," I'd say.

But wait, friends, that's not all. Apparently, the race-neutral policies instituted in the TSA weren't transported over to US Customs when they got consolidated together under the Dept. of Homeland Security. As we were waiting in line to get through to the passport booth, a customs agent approached us and gruffly asked for our passports. He hadn't asked any of the other white passengers that were ahead of us. While I raised an eyebrow, I didn't become irate until I noticed that he asked the Indian family behind us, and then another Indian couple several groups behind them. That's not "random" either.

I can't believe that within a week, I've been racially profiled three times in two different countries. That means this bullshit is much more widespread and more commonplace than we (certainly me) realize. At some point, I will pull out my policy analysis skillset and show how racial profiling is actually a poor criminal detection device and actually wastes valuable law enforcement resources but for now I'll take the position on principle - what happened to innocent until proven guilty? what happened to the right against unreasonable searches and probable cause?

Yeah, yeah. I know you freepers will just think I hate America. Blow me - your freedom is being paid on my back.

An AMAZING day

Hello all - long time, no read/speak/write. I've just returned from my honeymoon overseas - tanned, rested, and ready to get angry all over again. Many things to talk about - to be coming in the next few days while I collect myself and get reacquainted with what's happening stateside. Wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to Hari for finding time to stick in a few posts in my absence. I'll leave him a key to the blog in case he feels like poking his head in here in the future...

Just wanted to spend a moment basking in the moment that was my wedding day, August 15th. It was without question the most wonderful day of my life. I didn't have the apprehension or nervousness that I was expecting. The day started with the published announcement of the wedding in the New York Times. I think it's the first time that the Times ever published an announcement about two public school kids (ok, perhaps I exaggerate) but it was definitely wierd to see our picture and names up there with all these Ivy Leaguers. I guess this means that we've now joined the ranks of the elites. I was joking with friends that I'll now have to produce a copy of the paper to prove my membership in high society...

We were worried about the weather - it was a cloudy day and all the forecasts were warning that Hurricane Charley was going to crash the wedding. This was worrisome because my baraat - the wedding party escorting the groom - was scheduled to take place outside. On top of that, we had made hurculean efforts to hold the reception at a hotel overlooking lower Manhattan, complete with an outdoor patio. It looked like we might be doomed to take in the view from inside.

But for some reason, the weather let up long enough to give us both an outdoor baraat and also gave us a clear sky to take in Manhattan on the outdoor patio. The waterworks were all happening indoors, anyways. There were several heartfelt speeches, including one from my sister that I will never forget. I was bawling, but then, I'm sentimental at heart.

The thing we didn't plan for, however, were the fireworks. For some reason still unknown to me, there was a fireworks display out on the Hudson shortly after we started the reception. People went out onto the patio to take a better look and they were simply awed. A breathtaking view of lower Manhattan on a clear night, the Empire State Building alit with the colors of the Indian flag, fireworks going off over the Hudson, and a cool breeze. It was an amazing night to kick off a terrific new life...

Oh c’mon now, who doesn’t like Detroit?

I have had a number of arguments with my Southern friends as to whether the North is actually more racist. They claim that in the South, people will at least be honest enough to tell you they do not like you for whatever reason, as opposed to in the North where people talk about equality but, do not actually practice it (the prevalence of racially stratified inner-city ghettoes is one popular example). They then have some vague argument about the larger percentage of institutional racism in the North. It is claim they cannot prove in any tangible way, but need to make in order to justify why outward racism is actually a good thing. Ultimately, I feel I win on the “hey, we are not the ones who had the slaves and were willing to start a new country to keep them”-argument.

Then there’s this darling story I found earlier this month about James L. Hart, the winner of the GOP nomination for a congressional seat in Tennessee. Mr. Hart beat the odds to win over 80% of the primary vote as a write-in candidate. Mr. Hart also happens to be a known racist, and a believer in eugenics.

Hart, 60, vows if elected to work toward keeping ``less favored races'' from reproducing or immigrating to the United States. In campaign literature, Hart contends that ``poverty genes'' threaten to turn the United States into ``one big Detroit.''

Well, this article seems to support both sides of the debate, now doesn’t it? This is an extremely racist story from the South, but at the same time, James L. Hart is most definitely a straight shooter, who does not backstab you with his racism.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=684&e=1&u=/ap/eugenics_candidate

DAVID DUKE IN 2008!! Who’s with me?

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…and your flat chested.

Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Hari, and I am the “talented, up-and-coming comedian who can speak candidly and in truths” that the Angry Desi mentioned in his last entry. While my name is most-definitely “Hari,” I will let you be the judge to whether “talented” and even “comedian” is really warranted.

According to several news sources, the U.S. military has been offering free breast implants, and other kinds of plastic surgery to female soldiers “so military doctors can practice their skills.”

Why on earth do military doctors need to practice their breast enlargement skills??

SOLDIER:What’s the verdict, Doc?

DOCTOR: Well, there’s good news and bad news. I’m sorry Private, but your lungs, liver, and spinal cord have been severely damaged. You only have about 12 hours left to live.

SOLDIER: What’s the good news?

DOCTOR: Well…YOU’LL BE HAVING THE BEST 12 HOURS OF YOUR LIFE!!

(Removes sheet to reveal the soldier’s new Triple D breast implants)

SOLDIER: Thank you doctor! They go great with my artificial arms, legs, and brain.

I really hope this story does not encourage more people to join the military. If it does, it will remind us again of what our society truly values. “It was not the promises of world travel, and a paid education that got me to enlist…but some new breastesses.

Here is a link to an article that discusses this shocking revelation, and a group that is against breast augmentation and is protesting this military policy. The group includes porn star Mary Carey, who ran against Arnold Schwartzenegger in the recent California Gubernatorial recall election. (Wow, no one would have believed this story a year ago.)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&e=14&u=/nm/life_breasts_dc

Maybe I Should Change it to 'Bad Desi'

I haven't posted here in a while - but inexplicably, the site is trucking along at the same pace - a hopeful sign. I'm getting married in - yeeks! - three days so this week has been spent running around like a crazy man.

If I was superstitious, I might think that someone was trying to tell me something - this week, I've had two cell phones break down, I've become the latest victim of debit card fraud, I got pulled over in my parents' car which didn't have up-to-date insurance (though no fault of their own), I got caught in a three-hour flight delay back to New York getting me in last night at 3am, and I accidentally left my father's shoes for the ceremony in a Kinko's (fortunately, they were recovered). People have been asking me if I'm nervous but quite frankly I'm so busy putting out all the fires going on that I don't have time!

Fortunately, one thing I did have time to do was make an invitation to several individuals to post here in my absence while I am away on my honeymoon. I don't know whether they will be posting under their real names or under pseudonyms but I have known both for a couple of years and they are whom I would considered "rising stars." One is an aspiring journalist, recently graduated and now beginning to work his way up the ranks of media - I certainly believe that he has what it takes to become a bona fide reporter rather than stenographer. The other is a talented, up-and-coming comedian who can speak candidly and in truths that comedians are often the ones to expose. Both share a passion for issues that face this community and I have no doubts about their ability to provide some color to this site.

I'm going to leave them the keys and trust their ability to mind the store while I'm away. I've been keeping half an eye on the news and if I can find a spare hour I'll try and do one last binge posting before I go. I'm looking forward to the honeymoon - it'll be my first trip outside of the country in over five years. I'm curious to find out for myself what people are thinking about us and also to experience objective daily journalism!

How Hard is it to Get a Green Card?

So hard, in fact, that there is a game show where the green card is the grand prize:

"Gana la Verde" ("Win the Green") has attracted big audiences and hundreds of contestants willing to eat burritos crammed with live worms, jump off high-speed trucks or wash sky-scraper windows in exchange for a year's legal help in speeding up their visa or green card cases.

The show, run five times a week on small Spanish-language television channels in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston and Dallas, was the brainchild of Lenard Liberman, executive vice president of the independent TV and radio company Liberman Broadcasting.

"When you are in the Hispanic market, you realize that immigration and legal status is the number one issue ... They want to be able to earn a living and not have the pressure of wondering if they are able to stay or not," Liberman said on Thursday.

..."The response has been outstanding. We have a waiting list. We get letters in the mail, hundreds if not thousands of phone calls, and had people flying in from places like Chicago who want to be in the show," he said.

No word yet on whether a game show offering decent jobs, affordable health care, or fair trials is also in the works...