Sepia MutinyAll that flavorful brownness in one savory packetNaan Fromage, Sil vous plat- September 20, 2008 Hurray for traveling, but also: hurray for airports with sweet, stable and FREE (!) Internet connections. I have a brief interlude here in Kansas City on my way back from a reading, so I thought Id tell you about a trip I took last month. After attending a desi wedding in Georgia (the American one!) I took the Delta nonstop to Paris (the French one!) for another wedding. And in France, I did a little desi-spotting, in the part of Paris known as La Chapelle. So, in this blissful hiatus from the..http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005384.html Are You Excited... To Vote- September 20, 2008 Its not that Im against Sunny Leone (NSFW). I am totally pro desi woman in any non-mainstream industry. I even blogged about her on Sepia Mutiny previously as a cool desi woman under 30. I like her, you know, for a porn star. But at work today, I was researching voting public service announcement (PSA) targeted toward the Asian American community. There was the bikini-clad Korean one, the kung fu epic one, the Kelly Hu bowing to George Takai one. There are even several PSAs put out by the...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005420.html It's not a 10 gallon hat- September 19, 2008 To complete our trifecta of news from Texas, the county of Dallas finally settled a case concerning a judge who told a Sikh plaintiff that he had to choose between his right to free exercise of his religion or his right to go to court: Amardeep Singh appeared in Judge Albert Cercones court to contest a minor a traffic citation. Mr. Singh was denied entrance into the court due to his turban. Unfortunately, Judge Cercone threatened that if Mr. Singh did not leave the courtroom and stayed with his.http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005419.html Panthers guard desi-owned businesses- September 19, 2008 Things in the Houston area are only partly starting to get back to normal in the wake of Ikes destruction. Still only about 50% of the people here have their power back (I was luckily in the top 35%) and tensions are running high, especially as you get closer towards Galveston. Taz tipped me off yesterday that some nearby gas stations (specifically the ones with a small co-located convenience store) have been hiring Black Panther party members to secure the premises and prevent potential...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005418.html Slur-ricane Ike: Stress Brings out the Worst in People- September 19, 2008 As the comments section of Ennis post on the GOPs efforts to reach out to minorities indicates, many of us saw the video below on ABC News last night. I know I wasnt the only one who immediately hit rewind, out of a combination of incredulity and astonishment. Natural disasters are awful and over-worked, frazzled law enforcement officials are under much strain, but that still doesnt justify ignorant reactions like the one captured above. I wonder if that same cop instructed other drivers who...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005417.html Macaca Man Minority eMissary- September 18, 2008 Perhaps in response to my last post about the record blinding whiteness of the RNC, the GOP has decided to reach out to minority voters in the key state of Virginia with a big rally this weekend. Among the key speakers at this rally will be none other than former Senator George Allen of Macaca fame, a man the state party sees as perfectly exemplifying the face they want to put forward to minority voters: George Allen has an excellent record on issues of diversity, reaching out to peopleHis...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005416.html Another Desi Reality Show Contestant!- September 18, 2008 this time, its Shazia Kirmani, of HoustonDallas, Texas (thanks for the tip, Sadaf). Shes an ABD whose parents are from Pakistan, and shes one of the contestants on Bravo TVs excruciatingly boring show, Top Design. I aint tryin to hate, but I couldnt get through all of the one episode which I had DVRd in preparation for writing this post. Thats sad, really, because I asked for and received a subscription to Conde Nastys HG as one of my sixth-grade graduation gifts, way back in 1986. I already...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005415.html A Teacher's Expos- September 16, 2008 I used to work at a tutoring center on a small private college campus in Westchester, NY several years ago. Our offices were a safe space that students visited for help with writing papers, coursework, math, ESL. We hired several peer and professional tutors every semester to provide such services to our student body, and very often, I also took on a small student load. It was tremendously fulfilling work, helping students navigate challenging course material or a tricky writing assignment,...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005414.html Eva Mehta- Devoted and Disciplined- September 16, 2008 Condekedar alerted us to an interesting story in the Chicago Tribune, via our NewsTab. Eva Mehta, a 17-year old from Evanston, set a local record by fasting for over a month: At times, the 17-year-old was so weak and nauseated that her parents had to use a wheelchair to bring her from their van to their Jain temple in Bartlett. When the hunger pangs hit hard, she would pinch her ears. But she kept up her fast, even when she went to bed hungry and dreamed of food. I would just say in my mind,...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005413.html Atul Vyas, Everlasting be Your Memory- September 15, 2008 Via our NewsTab, word that one of the 25 victims of Fridays tragic head-on train collision in Southern California was Desi (thanks, Kusala): Atul Vyas scored in the top 1 percent on his medical school entry exams, but he was having trouble answering one question on applications to Harvard and Duke: Describe a hardship youve overcome. He said, Ive not had any, Ive had a blessed life, Vijay Vyas said of his son Sunday. Atul Vyas never finished the application, never came closer his goal of...http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005412.html |