Bailout or Sellout: 1 - Protests and Passage

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Generations to come will remember October 4th 2008 as the day of the largest socialist takeover of the biggest free market in the world, a.k.a, President Bush signing “the bailout plan” into law. [CNN]
Some desis [...]

The Epiphany

Some time in 2003 I read an article that blew me away. Written by Neal Pollack, the title was a succinct “Just Shut Up” . In a wonderfully uncensored diatribe against the bedlam of pro and anti war voices that were peaking at that moment, Pollack says:
Nobody gives a shit what anti-war or pro-war writers [...]

The significance of the India-US nuclear deal

Amid the stock market crashes, bailout plans and elections tamashaa, a significant piece of news that was pushed to the background is the passage of the India-US nuclear deal a.k.a the 123 Agreement. Madhur Singh at TIME magazine explains why this deal is significant to India, and in a way also to the U.S.A. [TIME]
1. [...]

Sleazy Zardari flirts with Palin

Pakistani leaders currently touring the U.S. seem to have developed a communicable strain of “foot in mouth” disease. [CNN] (tip Sidhu via email)
Zardari: Single and apparently ready to mingleimg: via CNN
Remember Shaukat Aziz, Male Gigolo and his discomfiture at the hands of Condi Rice [UD]?
Pakistani politicians seem to be out with a vengeance in [...]

4 more years of the same. Sarah Palin agrees.

From the ABC interview that will air soon. The emphasis, of course is mine.

GIBSON: And let me finish with this. I got lost in a blizzard of words there. Is that a yes? That you think we have the right to go across the border with or without the approval of the Pakistani government, to [...]

Sexism and the City

What a weekend it was ! As Hurricane Gustav threatened to pound the Gulf coast, a completely different storm was brewing on the political front. John “Maverick” Mc Cain pulled a fast one and named Sarah “Barracuda” Palin - Governor of Alaska as his running mate. The media collectively gasped like Victorian ladies and instead [...]

PSA: Ashish Mahendru

Ashish Mahendru is running for the post of Judge of the 334th Civil District Court in Harris County near Houston, Texas in November 2008. [link]
We received this email from his campaign staff and are reproducing it verbatim.

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Chiranjeevi steps into politics

In Andhra Pradesh, everything about Chiranjeevi (star of some of our uber malarial videos 1,2 ), is dramatic - from films to real life.
Cowboy CM for Andhra Pradesh?
Image Source: Idlebrain.com
Born as Konidela Vara Prasad exactly 53 years ago to this day, but popularly known as Chiranjeevi, it hasn’t been too surprising to see that [...]

Why so serious: The Dark Knight delves into politics?

Hollywood directors have long been (in)famous for inserting their political leanings into their works of art, some not so subtle, think Oliver Stone, and some far more subtle. Christopher Nolan, falls in the latter, by design or otherwise, with the movie that is poised to be the greatest revenue grosser of all time.
*** Minor spoilers [...]

Bobby doesn’t want to be the VP

Bobby Jindal, the republican governor of Louisiana declares that he is not interested for the post of the vice-president of the United States. [Link] (tip Annu, via tipster)

Image from Wikipedia

Bobby Jindal has been touted as the next Ronald Reagan and understandably so, because of his achievements at a very young age, (9 yrs younger [...]

UPA government wins confidence vote in India

As predicted earlier on Über Desi, the lure of instant power beat out the lure of promised power. The UPA government won the trust vote in the Indian parliament comfortably by a margin of 275 votes in favour and 256 against. This victory was in spite of major political pundits predicting a closer margin. The [...]

An ode to Aya Ram, Gaya Ram

With the Congress party-led UPA coalition in India staring down the barrel of a crisis, with the no-confidence vote looming large, elected members of smaller parties are coming into more focus. [Reuters]
“So this is democracy??”, Ghandi (sic) seems to be sayingimg: via Reuters
With a vote of confidence (or one of no-confidence) looming large on the [...]

Freed Indian prisoner sent back at border by babus

An Indian national, Ram Prakash, who was freed from a jail in Pakistan after 10 years on charges of spying, was denied entry into India by our bureaucratic babus for ‘not possessing valid travel documents’. As a result he had to go back into Pakistan where he was promptly jailed. All this because our babus [...]

Jindal flip flops himself out of the veep position

A long time ago, a friend of mine, who wanted to get into politics quoted her dad. He said something along the lines of “Never do drugs, because when you decide you want to be a senator, that will come to bite you”.
Every politician knows this, well every American politician knows this and if you [...]

Did you know Laloo could speak in English?

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The Exorcism Of Susan By The Young Piyush Jindal

Via Boing Boing comes this amazing story about dark forces and spiritual healing, an incident that will be out of place on a Twilight Zone script. And we, at UberDesi would not have even batted an eyelid, if not for the fact that the main protagonist in question was our own Bobby. No, not that [...]

Shivaji goes surfing

Speaking of making extravagant promises to get elected, the Congress party promised the people of Maharashtra a 300-foot high statue of the Maratha king, Shivaji. (no relation to Tamil superstar, Rajnikant) [Rediff] [via Browsekid]
Shivaji surfs the wavesimg: photoshop courtesy Über Desi
Apparently, the Congress party decided this was one promise they could afford to keep, and [...]

An Indian Guantanamo?

This is a sub-plot to the Jaipur blasts that makes me somewhat uncomfortable. Being that Bangladeshi terror outfit HuJI is the prime suspect, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, went into CYA mode and revealed a conversation between her office and the Central Government’s Union Home Ministry in June 2007. The gist of the conversation: Raje [...]

We surprise ourselves sometimes

Santosh’s April 1 post on Bobby Jindal being picked as McCains running mate is no laughing matter now. CNN has just reported that John McCain is hosting a weekend meeting with several top Republican figures.Billed as a “political and social event” , CNN reports that he may be interviewing candidates for the VP slot. [...]

Indian-American group sued for Sonia Gandhi ad

Last year, Indian-American members of a group named “Forum for Saving Gandhi’s Heritage”, published a full page $65,000 ad in the New York Times targeting Sonia Gandhi. [NDTV story] [the picture of the ad]
The ad was also followed by protests when Sonia and Rahul Gandhi visited the UN to participate in the International Non-Violence Day. [...]

Jindal: Not running for VP

Jindal, at a National Press Club conference, has proclaimed point blank that he would turn down the offer for running for VP as McCain’s running mate, if and when it came. He said he would be concentrating on his job as Governor of Louisiana and cleaning up the political system there. [link]

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Mission Accomplished, not!

Remember the huge PR campaign that “Mission Accomplished” was? 5 years later, depending on your perspective and political leanings, it is either the biggest lie or biggest “no big deal” in the brief history of the 21st century. I prefer a desi word, “KLPD“. Following the aftermath of 9/11, the goodwill it generated for the [...]

Nepal gets first gay politican

Nepal got its first openly gay politician after Sunil Babu Pant was selected to represent a small communist party in the new constituent assembly .(link)
Pant is head of the Blue Diamond Society, the only gay rights group in Nepal

India has the first openly gay member of a royal family anywhere - Manvendra Singh Gohil

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Nepal is the new Tibet

Apparently the recent Maoist takeover of Nepal, confused the White House staff so much they can’t distinguish between Nepal and Tibet. Watch National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley, stumble repeatedly during his interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week”.

Can’t say I blame him.
Nepal controlled by Maoists. Tibet controlled by Maoists.
Nepal in Himalayas. Tibet in Himalayas.
Nepal [...]

Desi doctors group to support McCain

There you have it. Indian American Physicians group to support McCain. [link]
How long before we have a “Desi Bloggers to support Obama/Hillary”? Wait a minute, we don’t have a desi bloggers association of any kind, or do we?

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