I'm on this really late, because lo and behold! the day is upon us, but better to get educated later than never. I have had my qualms about Google for a long time, and this just confirms it. It doesn't help that I'm particularly partial to the plight of the Tibetan people, who I feel are just as desi as the rest of us, and have been totally under attack since the Chinese oppression became institutionalized in 1950. More power to the movement against Google, and it's never too late to turn away from them, and towards an email provider with more scruples. Hmm. Doesn't Google own Blogger?
Regardless, happy V-Day.
On that tip, check out the V-Day movement while you're reading this. They are doing important work about the issue of redress and Justice for the hundreds of thousands of Comfort Women forced into sexual slavery in Japan during the WWII period. War truly does inflict some of its ugliest casualties upon the bodies and freedoms of women.
Get informed, and get involved.
Feb 14, 2006
No Luv 4 Google; V-Day
Feb 13, 2006
Bahubali Celebration in Karnataka
Pilgrims dance ecstatically at the feet of the 58 ft high statue of Bahubali in Shravanabelagola, Karnataka, South India, during the Mahamastakabhisheka festival. This is one of the most important Jain religious festivals, with pilgrims arriving from all over India and the world. Photo: Karoki Lewis, BBC NEWS
I've been to this sacred site, and the statue of Bahubali is breathtaking. It stands at more than 57 feet tall, is carved out of a single piece, and is on the top of a mountain overlooking a considerable number of temples. It is considered one of the most important Jain sites in South India, which was in itself a revelation as I used to think that Jainism was limited to the Northern and Western states of India. But I've been reading about how that's not the case at all. Anyway, this celebration only occurs once every 12 years. Relevant article.
Damn. Missed it again.
On Desi Blogging
I have been reminded a number of times, by a number of people, that I should be careful about what I write in these pages. I laughed at them in the beginning, thinking that there are few (but much appreciated!) folks tuning in regularly, and I can't foresee that changing drastically.
However, with search engines like Google and the wide array of special-interest list servs, it is generally pretty easy to get more people to tune into your site once, when you know what buttons to push (i.e. write something timely and that has a kick). And with that power, as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben told him, comes great responsibility. Or does it? I've been thinking a bit about the whole blogging with a consciousness thing, especially as the number of blogs, even those that are just desi/brown in focus, has mushroomed.
Self-publishing has been going on forever, and is generally a very good thing, taking the control of content out of the hands of the mainstream production and dissemination circuits who focus more on the bottom line than the fine line between art and a simple commodity. I'm old enough to remember the explosion of 'zines in the 90s and went through the community literary scene when self-made/bound/(sometimes) handwritten poetry chapbooks were also in vogue (and still are in some corners of La Boheme). Those chapbooks were one part mini-rebellion to the concept that publishing poetry is a losing proposition, and one part the DIY spirit that makes artists and other free spirits so vital in our overly specialized and technologically dependent world.
Self-publishing can be empowering, it can be honest, and it can focus on views and news that may not be widely covered or coveted in the mainstream. It can be flippant, irreverent, and profound. Fox News can be profane, but not really any of the other things. When the market guides your decisions, you're no longer independent.
But the difference between the old school paper and ink publishing and self-production and dissemination in weblogs is that anyone with time and internet access can create a site, and more importantly, anyone with internet access can tune in. A homemade 'zine or poetry chapbook will not go nearly as far as a home"made" weblog can. Production cost for the former can be quite prohibitive when distribution is a question; you can't drive demand from referrals alone; and folks have to see what they are getting before they are willing to "buy" it (with money or their hearts and minds). But a blog is like a candy shop that gives out free samples all day. You can stay, linger, move on. Get addicted.
Weblogs are generally opinions, mixed with some research to support the arguments being made by the blogger. However, blogs have begun to take on a more serious place in the business of news in the past year. Mainstream news sites, television channels refer to their own "blogs" of news, and have even occasionally turned to the blogs to see what the "blogoverse" is thinking/saying about a particular issue or event, in real time. "Let's see what the bloggers are saying" is quickly replacing "Let's go to the video tape" as a favorite cut in broadcast news.
I have some very keen problems with blogging, especially in niche markets like the South Asian community.
1) No matter what we think, most bloggers are not journalists. They often just play them on the 'net. We haven't been trained to idealize "objectivity", we don't get paid to do this (though by the looks of it, I'm sure that quite a few are earning a salary at the same time that they are blogging), and we are often not fit to appear in front of cameras. In other words, while browsing, the casual reader should keep in mind that it's not the "news" page of the paper that you're reading, but the op-eds and the letters to the editor. There are many personal biases built into the information product, even moreso than usual.
2) This brings us to the fact that there is no code of ethics for bloggers. Netiquette is really not a code of ethics, but rather more of a hip way to squash someone that pisses you off. So anything goes, and some folks can get pretty nasty for undisclosed reasons (or sometimes just because they're having a bad day). A biased writer may not be obvious in a post itself, and her work can be picked up as "objective reporting" by the casual reader and battle its way into conventional wisdom on a topic, especially when subsequent web searches ring up the slanted piece and unwitting readers stumble onto it without the context of the blog, the writer, and sometimes even the facts themselves.
3) Speaking of which, who are the fact-checkers? What kind of research are we talking about? Specifically, push-button publishing makes it infinitely easier than ever before to just write up what you think, or what you heard, and pass it off as fact, especially when you juxtapose that with "real" news reporting and snippets of articles from here, there, and everywhere.
Moreover, I'd wager that the "research" is more often than not, internet searches. How much history, fact, and nuance is missing from the 'net about so many events, even in recent memory? I have experienced and witnessed enough in my handful of years in the social change arena in NYC to know that much of the Asian American organizing, history, struggles, triumphs, and challenges have not really been documented anywhere, let alone on the web. (Which, as an aside, is why it is important to support something like Asian American Movement webzine, and to get more representative voices to join their collective).
Additionally, even when something is documented and linkable on the web, who is to say that that piece (often an academic or a journalist) is balanced, correct, and has weighed the different perspectives before choosing one in their (re)telling of history?
4) Where is the accountability? Many bloggers are anonymous, using nom-de-plumes, or just make things up about themselves. If we can make things up about our own identities, what makes you think that we can't make things up about the news, the world, and what's happening out there? And what makes us believe that there aren't hidden agendas guiding attack-posts (which can't even pretend to be investigative, since they don't pick up the phone and talk to people before writing about them), especially concerning community-based organizations, public individuals, and other matters of significance?
Aside from the occasional thorn-in-the-side commenter, who is going to call them out on matters of fairness and transparency in their writing? Would a likely response be: "It's my personal journal/weblog, and I can write what I want"? I think that I've read that flavor of response fairly regularly on some of the sites out there.
Even if there is dissent by way of an engaged readership, who really reads the comments with that level of scrutiny? It's like reading the corrections box in a newspaper for the news the day before. Some of us do it, but most do not. And therefore, aside from egregious errors that are often pointed out and corrected in the body of the text, the post stands as the principle communication about any particular topic, and that's what gets read the most. Not to mention that that's what gets picked up by newsreaders and syndication feeds.
Which may bring us to the ultimate question about desi blogs, specifically when they purport a "community" perspective. Where is the line between sharing your opinion, and shaping your post so that others believe it, and therefore, adopt your particular perspective about the community? Are blogs set up to inform people about news (even though they usually just "report" on news that's already been reported on in an actual media source) or encourage a dialogue to explore issues that the news presents? Or are their principle purpose to build a chorus to ultimately feed egos?
While the advent of push-button publishing has made it possible for anyone to share their opinions, their routines, and the minutiae of their days, it has also allowed for people with opinions about the world to have access to an audience. Technology has opened many doors this way, and created a form of populist media that has become very popular, but we have to be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that bloggers are everymen/women who represent anyone other than themselves, and also to recognize that more often than not, blogs are far less about populist media than popularity games, and that the currency of truth is not measured in hits per day but rather in track record of experience, quality of research, depth of analysis, and honesty about shortcomings, failings, and mistakes.
Maybe this is a good place for an example. I have been guilty, myself, of stating that some sites are a good source for desi news. I have begun to check myself, explain that I look at these sites to learn about things that are going on that I may not have heard, and then try to formulate my own opinion about that event/incident/issues/organizations. While I value some of the opinions, I still treat these sites like an advanced and fairly thorough clipping service more than a place to actively and safely develop my own thinking and perception of the issues raised by the writers.
However, if someone were to begin reading a blog as a primary source for their understandingof a community and/or issues that pertain to it, they could be led astray, especially by folks who are on a soapbox about their perspective, or their authenticity, but don't have much more to back it up than a lot of hours in front of a computer screen and, more often than not, minimal interactions with the subjects of their posts. I know that I've been guilty of the same in the past, and have tried to remedy what I could when I was reminded of the flaws. But others don't do that, and their pieces remain up, virtually unchallenged (especially if it's about community organizations or initiatives, when the principals of those entities seldom have the time to respond to misrepresentation (or no representation) in the media, let alone the blogosphere). Then, the next time that someone searches about agency X or person Y, what they get is a source that is often an under- or even un-researched polemic that hasn't even been seen, let alone replied to, by the person/group in question. Is that fair? Perhaps one could argue that the comments section more democratizes the process, or someone else could argue that the process doesn't have to be democratic because blogs are private viewpoints, but is that really true anymore? What's private when everyone can read it?
Moreover, some writers have developed a false sense of authority (equating and conflating the depth of their archives with past scholarship), egotism, and self-righteousness. Criticism is handled harshly, with the echoes of casual readers and avid addicts ringing in that closed courtyard of "public" opinion called the comment area. They zealously guard their fifteen minutes of fame, earned for timing and cleverness in the marketing of a product that the frenzied desi masses are hungry to gobble up. But at the end of the day, how many of the sites will actually make a difference, and how many will survive the inevitable fade from relevance that dooms most ephemeral fads? And who really cares, anyway?
Feb 12, 2006
NASABA and the DEA: What the?!
The North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) put out a problematic press release nearly two weeks ago, which at the time of this writing, still isn't on their site. I wrote much of this response immediately after hearing about this new program, but pocketed it in hope of finding out more about it. However, upon reading this post at Sepia about it, I commented, and figured I should post this since I'm still confused about what they (NASABA) are trying to do.
This time, in relation to Operation Meth Merchant, the sting and profiling of predominantly South Asian merchants in Atlanta, Georgia, NASABA has decided to "partner" with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to create a national program to "educate" South Asian merchants about meth production and usage. I really don't understand this project on a few objective levels, and I'm deeply offended by it on another level, because I feel like NASABA has decided to be the voice of the community without much consultation with anyone. Even that they claim to speak on behalf of South Asian attorneys in North America is problematic, but that's a different post.
First of all - the DEA is a very, very problematic agency, specifically because the so-called "war on drugs" has decimated communities of color and placed the crosshairs squarely on the hearts of the small-time pushers when the much larger fish roam free. And this is not just the opinion of someone who doesn't trust in the benevolence of a government driven by radical idealogues.
Secondly, NASABA is perhaps the least appropriate "agency" to get involved in this issue. What is their expertise? What do they bring to the table? They seem to have more government partnerships than community partnerships, because local chapters of your organization are a long stretch from community partnerships, and frankly, their chapters aren't very happy with the National board and haven't been for a long time. Where is the statement of the local group that's working with these merchants, and has a better sense of what's happening down in Atlanta?
Third, what the hell does this press release even mean? Let's break down the title:
1) "DEA partners with NASABA [that is already problematic, see above]...
2) to Rally South Asian store owners [how the hell are they "rallying South Asian store owners" - by educating them about Meth? Is that really the problem here, that desi store owners don't know about meth and therefore, they are helping to promulgate drug use? Give me a break. Talk about not really conducting a thorough analysis of an issue]
3) to fight top drug problem in rural United States" [So basically, this means that NASABA believes that the way to "fight top drug problem in rural United States" is by "educating" store owners in major cities in the South? What specifically are they saying? That the South is rural - including the cities that they've named, like Atlanta and Houston? That store owners in real rural communities will actually have to travel to these cities to get "educated" about meth?]
Is any of this reasonable? More importantly, is this the appropriate focus for a program? Should we be looking at drug usage in our communities and unjust and selective targeting, or should we be looking for new ways to help law enforcement? What's next, a training program for cab drivers to identify and turn in traffic violators or fares conducting questionable phone transactions? Does this seem like missing the forest for the trees to anyone else out there?
Is easy supply of raw materials for meth production the key issue facing these and other South Asian merchants, or is this a problem where the government targeted a group of merchants in on of countless skirmishes in a hopeless "war on drugs" (more like the battle to maintain the status quo, but whatever).
Is this anything more than a publicity stunt to show government officials that NASABA is a "good" desi organization that they can partner with on initiatives that others may find questionable? That may end up costing the coalition and the merchants themselves the cases that they are fighting?
What gets to me is that NASABA has no real legs to stand on in this work. They may be sleeping with government agencies, and may even have some prominent firm and government attorneys involved with them as a professional organization, but why are they trying to put themselves forward as anything more than that? If they grew more of a backbone to truly support communities rather than put their own agenda front and center - perhaps then I would be more forgiving of ill-advised moves like this one.
But at this point, NASABA seems misguided and representative only of a small group of perspectives from the corps of South Asian American attorneys. They should leave civil rights work to civil rights advocates and stop muddling up the lines of communication with these occasional befuddled and confused volleys.
I've written more of my thoughts in this comment at SM, and I'm sure I'll post more as this continues to develop. The full press release (sent by NASABA's media consultant) is below, since I can't find it online.
***
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Partners with South Asian Legal Group, NASABA to Rally South Asian store owners to fight top drug problem in rural United States
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) today announced a joint outreach project with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), "C-Store Outreach Project," aimed at educating and creating awareness among the South Asian community about methamphetamine (meth). The outreach project comes in light of the recent increase in the prosecution of South Asian convenience store owners for selling common products to customers that can also be used to make meth; prosecutions many claim are racially motivated. According to a 2005 crime survey conducted by the National Association of Counties, meth has become the number one drug problem, surpassing cocaine, in rural and small towns in the US. Because ingredients to make meth are readily available over the counter, NASABA's outreach program is aimed at educating South Asian retailers, many of who have limited command of the English language, to be aware of purchases that can also be used for meth production such as common cold remedies, cooking fuels, kitty litter and aluminum foil. NASABA believes education and creating awareness among South Asian convenience store owners are key steps to fighting the drug problem.
"The problem requires educating store owners and operators who sell these harmless products that (a), the products can be used to make drugs, and (b), how not to be exploited by those who use convenience stores to purchase those products" said Habib F. Ilahi, Co-Chair of NASABA's Criminal Justice Committee. "We want to work with the DEA to break the language barrier and educate the c-store operators on what to watch out for. This will allow the South Asian community to take an active stand against the meth problem."
As part of the outreach, the DEA, with NASABA's input, has created a poster translated into several South Asian languages for retailers to post in their stores. The poster graphically depicts the items commonly used in meth production and directs store employees to contact the DEA if they suspect a customer purchasing items to produce meth. In addition, NASABA plans to hold forums in major cities like Atlanta and Houston, and has invited the DEA to speak to the community about how meth is made and what items store owners should keep an eye out for. The forums will also provide an opportunity for South Asian store merchants to direct any concerns and questions they may have directly to the DEA. "Meth has spread across our country like wildfire,
leaving only scars of human potential in its wake," said Mary Irene Cooper, Chief of Congressional & Public Affairs for the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Retailers need to be part of this nation's strategy to effectively beat back this blaze. Fortunately, DEA is making progress fighting meth manufacturing and trafficking, and teens' use is declining. We are committed to working with allies like NASABA to promote knowledge about meth and further combat this deadly drug."
NASABA's President, Sabita Singh, understanding the need to educate, both the South Asian community and the DEA, explained that "NASABA hopes that this outreach program will help the nation's efforts to combat meth production while also helping to insure that South Asian store owners are not unfairly targeted by public entities." NASABA's C-Store Outreach Project is set to start in the first quarter of 2006.
About NASABA:
The North American South Asian Bar Association advocates for the South Asian community and promotes alliances between South-Asian legal professionals in the United States and Canada. In addition, the organization supports those who value diversity in the legal profession and helps law students, and those interested in the law, develop contacts with practitioners. NASABA provides information to members on careers and the legal market and provides an avenue for professionals and community leaders to take an interest in matters of concern to the South-Asian community. (www.na-saba.org)
Getting to Know You, Sorta
My pal at Dark Days Ahead just tagged me with an interesting little exercise that he created, based on a simple Census exercise. While I'm all for sharing more about where you're at, I wonder who I'm going to tag, given that most of my readers are on the moon, or at least, out of the U.S.
Anyway, so here goes. In the census tract where I live:
There were a total of 2,240 people in the year 2000. It is 73% African American, 16+% white, and ~10% OTHER. 85% of the people over 25 are high school graduates or greater. 25% claim some kind of disability. The median family income is $75,000+ (compared to a National median of $50,000), while the median per capita income is approximately $27,000 (about $5,500 higher than the National median). The mean travel time to work is 33 minutes. There are only 94 people living beneath the poverty line. Fourteen percent are civilian veterans. Forty-six percent were born in a different state. The median mortgage in the area (there is a 65%+ home-ownership rate) was $1,205 in 2000.
I'm looking to move soon, and thought it would be interesting to compare the data from that area to this one, so here it is for that census tract:
There were a total of 3,630 people in the year 2000. It is 24% African American, 66% white, and ~9% Latino. ~89% of the people over 25 are high school graduates or greater. 15% claim some kind of disability. The median family income is $71,000+ (compared to a National median of $50,000), while the median per capita income is approximately $31,000 (about $9,000 higher than the National median). The mean travel time to work is 33.5 minutes. There are 364 people living beneath the poverty line. Seven and a half percent are civilian veterans. Sixty percent were born in a different state. The median mortgage in the area (there is only a 42% home-ownership rate) was $1,671 in 2000.
Fascinating. I definitely learned some things. Like, no wonder I can't find a decent Asian market nearby. And also, that you can't make assumptions on socio-economic status characteristics just based on race (duh). Okay, so who are my victims? I tag flygirl and burnedouteyes.
Just do this:
1) Go to American FactFinder on the Census Bureau website.
2) Type in your zip code to get a fact sheet on it.
3) Identify at least 5 interesting facts about your zip code.
4) If you don't live in the U.S., then use whatever comparable data you can find. And if there isn't any, just describe your neighborhood to us to give us a sense.
Thanks DDA.
Feb 7, 2006
Pandora's Box.
Totally over my head in work, so though the post ideas are flowing, I don't have time.
But I'll share this with the faithful reader(s?) who love music and have a high-speed connection. Check out Pandora. It's so dope, I'm flying through my work using its intuitive, customizable radio "stations" that you can create based on your personal taste. It's been awesome so far. Give it a spin!
Feb 5, 2006
Troy Polamalu
I don’t know anything about American football (or really, any football), but I do know that there have been a number of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have done well in the game. Troy Polamalu was just onscreen, and they have been talking about his as a defensive force to be reckoned with. He’s Samoan American, and I guess all I can say is, you go brother.
His Wikipedia link.
Update
There's another Samoan American in this game. LofaTatupu, son of another former pro-ball player. Wow.
Feb 3, 2006
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
It’s easy to be paranoid these days. And I have nothing to complain about - an Indian guy who sort of blends into the crowd and isn’t anything out of the ordinary, especially in urban settings. But there’s still an element of question when people look at me funny. There’s still the lingering feeling that I’m being sized up from the corner of their eyes, and I don’t like that feeling - opting to make myself as unassuming or inconspicuous as I can in most instances, or sometimes, staring back/straight on with a bit of a challenge in my eyes: “if you want to stare, I can too.”
The funny thing is that I don’t know if it’s truly there for me, or if I’m just flipping out. Of course I’ve heard things, and growing up in small-town suburbia, I’ve been told some choice things. But all in all, the harassment, when at all there, was minimal. I can understand how a lot of people can either ignore it, or even be oblivious to the very fact that it exists at all. I’m not surprised when I hear members of South Asian communities - even those that are more often profiled or targeted than others - state with clear conviction that they’ve never run across discrimination, hatred, or animosity. it’s likely that they haven’t, at least face on, because that animus is hard to forget, let alone deny.
But I think that it’s interesting what you start to notice. I’ve sat in the dining car for as long as I can remember in my trips on Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor. it is very unusual for anyone to occupy the other side of the table, across from me. Not that I welcome a slew of neighbors in my personal space - I rather value the ability to stretch my legs - but the point is - why aren’t people sitting here? Even when the trains are very crowded, I hardly ever have a request to sit next to me. I’ve seen white folks pass it up, which I can understand, but people of color just as easily pass it up, willing to forge new understandings with “non-swarthy looking fellows” rather than just overcome whatever may be affecting the split-second decision of where to sit.
It’s hard not to read into things sometimes.
And I have the privileges of class, “perceived non-foreignness” (at least when I open my mouth and my blended mimicry of urban/suburban/midWestern/Southern comes out. Whatever it is, while they can’t always place what part of the country I’m from, at least the country is never in doubt), and non-profiled physical characteristics (generally clean-shaven, no head covering). I stop myself from getting too worked up from a couple of stares or questionable looks when I think about the experiences of practicing Muslim men and women, Sikh men, or anyone who speaks English with a non-American accent, speaks another language in public, wears traditional clothing... it seems so hostile. And I know that they aren’t always facing the gentile racism and mistrust of the middle class/northeast.
So I have little to complain about, but feeling this way - on guard and wary - makes me appreciate the gap between melting pot rhetoric and bubbling cauldron reality that much more. Maybe we’re not on the brink of a riot, but is this really liberty?
Feb 1, 2006
To Be or Not to Be... A Planet.
I've been meaning to post about this for a while. So last year, they found an object (actually 3 or 4) that seemed the equal to or greater than the size of Pluto in the Kuiper Belt - the ring of icy debris that orbits beyond Neptune. But tomorrow, Nature will publish the first measurements of the size of the object, which is estimated to be 30% larger than Pluto.
So now that brings the question of what is a planet, and what isn't, into a raging debate in the science world. What I find interesting in all of this is the assumption that the object(s) will be named after Roman deities once they are accepted into the planetary pantheon. I find that to be incredibly annoying, so-called Ancient Western Civ-centric, and just plain regressive. Why can't they take a look at something out of Sumerian or Egyptian, or indigenous cultures?
Then again, when you think about it, these are just hunks of ice and rock way the hell out there. Do I really care if they name these things more responsibly? Does it really make a difference when in truth, all the stars in the sky have many names, and belong to different interstellar families and stories throughout the oral traditions of the peoples of the world. They are not rigidly aligned by the conventions of one tradition, but rather a million million points of light, woven together by mystics, dreamers, and pets of the ages, forming intricate matrices of our own history between them, even though the sum of all our generations are but a moment in their own lives.
Maxim India off to a great start
Well, not that this really surprising, but male-centric Maxim's recent launch in India is already facing litigation from an actress of whom they printed a mock-up picture. The story can be found here
and I'm not interested in writing about it in detail because commentary about controversy between a media rag (if you can even call it that) and an actress just isn't very interesting to me.
I just want to scoop people. And I think that it's funny, because I wonder how long it would take a case like this to go through Indian courts when many more important cases are languishing there. Is this the reason that genocide cases take forever to see the light of day? Is it frivolous litigation or just a court system gummed with molasses?
Jan 29, 2006
What - ANOTHER South Asian Magazine?
Just found out about this mag. So what's the deal - yet another magazine trying to capitalize on a group that is 2+ million strong in a nation of 300 million? Is it Femina for all genders? I don't really care, actually, and I have bigger fish to fry in the next couple of posts, so I'll leave it to the interested reader to find out more about this venture. Hell - it may not even be new, for all I know.
Still - a cursory glance through the contents of the recent issue begs the question "hasn't this already been covered enough?" *sigh* Forgive me for hoping to find more progressive spaces in print and on the 'net. But still, perhaps it's just as well, given the time constraints that law school put on me. Can't go on reading other people's opinions all the time. Especially if they end up being the same all the time anyway.
Jan 27, 2006
Left South
There's a revolution goin' on in Latin America. Venezuela's leader, Hugo Chavez has been kicking up a fuss since he's been in power. His rhetoric and his ability to bring people to the message of revolutionary change has been inspiring from a distance. I wonder about the specific way that things are going down in Venezuela, but it's fantastic to see Latin America turn left as the rest of the world continues to look right.
Hell - the World Social Forum just took place in Caracas, Venezuela.
Bolivia just elected a new President, Evo Morales, a member of an indigenous community in Bolivia. He just declared that he is halving his salary. Yup. That's definitely not capitalism.
Chile's new president is a woman, a socialist, and a reformer. Peru is working to extradite Fujimori from its nextdoor neighbors.
Brazil has had all kinds of interesting cultural activity going on, or at least so I heard in the past year.
Man, I'm in the wrong hemisphere.
Jan 25, 2006
iPod Stories
Very interesting research project on iPod music listening practices. For an article on this researcher, go here.
Read More......Interesting Take on Gates v. Jobs
I'm an avowed Apple fan, and have been for a long time. I don't think that it's just the "support the underdog" mentality - I really do like the feel of Macs more than the soulless Wintel boxes. But I've grown a little disillusioned over the years, because brand loyalty feels too capitalistic for me, and at the end of the day, all of these companies are just looking at their bottom lines. That said, there's an interesting, and provocative, article on Wired.com by Leander Kahney that I just read that compares the two men behind the icons.
Some excerpts:
Until recently, Bill Gates has been viewed as the villain of the tech world, while his archrival, Steve Jobs, enjoys an almost saintly reputation.
Gates is the cutthroat capitalist. A genius maybe, but one more interested in maximizing profits than perfecting technology. He's the ultimate vengeful nerd. Ostracized at school, he gets the last laugh by bleeding us all dry. On the other hand, Jobs has never seemed much concerned with business, though he's been very successful at it of late. Instead, Jobs has been portrayed as a man of art and culture. He's an aesthete, an artist; driven to make a dent in the universe.
But these perceptions are wrong. In fact, the reality is reversed. It's Gates who's making a dent in the universe, and Jobs who's taking on the role of single-minded capitalist, seemingly oblivious to the broader needs of society. Gates is giving away his fortune with the same gusto he spent acquiring it, throwing billions of dollars at solving global health problems. He has also spoken out on major policy issues, for example, by opposing proposals to cut back the inheritance tax. In contrast, Jobs does not appear on any charitable contribution lists of note. And Jobs has said nary a word on behalf of important social issues, reserving his talents of persuasion for selling Apple products.
***
To the best of my knowledge, in the last decade or more, Jobs has not spoken up on any social or political issue he believes in -- with the exception of admitting he's a big Bob Dylan fan. Rather, he uses social issues to support his own selfish business goals. In the Think Different campaign, Jobs used cultural figures he admired to sell computers -- figures who stuck their necks out to fight racism, poverty, inequality or war.
These are interesting points, and really worth thinking about, even though we're pondering two mega-capitalists. I guess I wonder about the Fords and the Rockefellers and the Carnegies of the early 20th Century - their names were attached to huge corporations that received all kinds of assistance from the government in their unfair business and labor practices. At the end of their days, though, they turned over their monies to charitable work and foundations in their names, and their legacies are sometimes baptized in the new work that they've supported since - would I have seen as much art if not for the monies donated by some of these ultra-industrialists? Why does my Mom always talk about them with a tone apporaching awe? Is this what will happen with Gates, the man who has already donated more than most individual philanthopists in history?
Is there really such a thing as "clean" money? Does the end, of philanthropy, justify the means of acquisition? I don't know how I feel about these absolutes anymore, but I haven't fully let go of my feeling that these things are still important, and that there's something shady about Microsoft. But maybe that's just true of all companies that have that kind of market share and power - Starbucks is another unfavorite of mine, but they are apparently very good about their giving. So where should that line be drawn?
For the rest of the article, go here. Read More......
Jan 24, 2006
Exoticize This!
Keepin' the Neighbors Up With: Testament/Live in London
SM regular, Manish was right on the money in this visual takedown of a new release from Ballantine Books, "The Mango Season." I can't tell you how many times a friend and I would decry the choice of book cover, font, or other elements of design that trivialize or even worse, completely objectify the writer and the writer's community. For him, it was the "chinky" letters that plagued even serious Asian American titles - what gives? Can't they give the damn Charlie Chan routine a rest?
And now, though I have been sick to tears of the food metaphors for more years than I can remember, the scourge remains, and in this example, at least, seems really quite egregious. I just don't know how much creative control the writer has, but you have to see all of the classic examples in this case, and wonder if she couldn't have at least cut some of the most obvious shit out. If we don't stop ourselves from self-exoticization, how can we expect the Man from doing it?
So sisters, do us a favor and stop using mango, chili, spice, papaya, palm trees, curry, vindaloo, coconut, banana, and all the other obvious, rote, boring, tired, offensive, annoying, and unimaginative choices as metaphors for cultural dissonance, plurality, or confusion. Just tell your stories, and leave the lame titles out of it.
Brothers, well... where the hell you at, anyway? And that's a whole other post. Where is the progressive South Asian male literary community? Queer or hetero, but especially the latter. Was there an alien abduction that I didn't hear or read about?
Jan 18, 2006
In the news...
Haven't been able to post much with the Spring schedule kicking my ass already, but I've been saving some articles, and hope to write at some point (wait with bated breath, damn you).
But here's an article to read that I won't be commenting on. Much.
Except that it really bothers me that a desi newspaper writes "American Hindu" and means white folks. Just say it, for damn sake. Not to mention that Hare Krishnas are a different breed altogether. But yeah, live and let live, man. Keep your hands off my cow.
Meanwhile, I'll wear my leather jacket, my Air Nikes, and eat my jello...
Jan 14, 2006
Another Spin on Outsourcing
So I'm at home cleaning up some old files and I have to call up a credit card company on a late Saturday afternoon. I realize a couple of other spins on the whole outsourcing thing:
1) With non outsourced-to-India companies, I can quickly assume the personality of my partner to clear up any issues on her accounts, and they are none-the-wiser because they don't know the gender differences in desi names. Can't do that with call center folks. They offer an added level of security to the companies, and they don't even realize it.
2) With outsourced companies, I seldom have to suffer through the painful process of spelling and re-spelling my name. The call center folks just get it, and the transaction is that much smoother because even if they are amused at my American accent, I'm polite and gracious, and from the reports that I've been reading, that's a bit removed from the common experience that the call center folks have been having with stupid Americans.
Then again, maybe they're more than amused, and a bit contempuous of my apparent departure from the core of "Indianness" embodied in Indian English. Whatever - I hear pleasantness on the other side of the phone, I don't care about what folks may be thinking, and I'm happy to have a good experience and another item scratched off my ever-growing to-do list.
Searching for the Next Generation
I had lunch with a friend who runs a small community-serving non-profit today, and we spoke about one of my favorite subjects: the fact that the folks coming into community-based work nowadays are very different from those even 7 - 10 years ago. The entry-level folks come in with more knowledge, generally, about Asian American or South Asian American issues, but they don't have the context. They've read the books that we read, many even have taken classes in Asian American studies - something that was much more rare, especially on the East Coast, 10 years ago. So they are more savvy in traditional knowledge base. And they have been weaned on the internet, so they are quicker to pick up the new technology.
But there's something missing about many of them. This may be an overgeneralization, and I may have crossed over into the realm of the old-timers who can't deal with fresh new blood coming in and shaking shit up, but I don't know - it feels like a lot of the younger folks entering community-based work either have an entitlement issue about what they think they deserve, or they think that they know everything already (or better yet, that they don't need to know what or who had done similar work in the past). There's a seemingly deep gap in the area of humility. And it feels like there's a deepening gap between the new folks and the old guard who still run many of these organizations, because said old guard has already burned through (and stonewalled) the people of my generation who were rising in the ranks of their respective organizations only to hit a ceiling regarding decision-making power within the institution.
So we have more people entering the work, on the professional track of "non-profit community work" at the same time as we have fewer mid-level folks still around to help guide and support (and train them in both approach and a touch of humility). So what happens? These organizations that we wish would either have a revolt and new blood take over or just run out of suckers to fill the positions keep finding fresh bait to take over vacated positions, and the cycle continues, at the expense of a more expansive, inclusive movement-building effort.
It's very disheartening.
Jan 11, 2006
Falooda Nation
While we're on the theme of crazes that should be taking over the nation, and returning to an old theme of sweets from the past, forget bubble tea: make mine a Falooda. Think about it - Falooda's have all the basic elements to take over the world - saccharine sweet, composed of many fun and colorful elements, ice cream, stringy vermicelli... what's not to love? And I've even had it with Tapioca, if anyone is still a hold-out from the East Asian fave of bubble tea.
Build a good falooda bar. People will follow.