Department of Odd Things

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

US Citizen Deported - By The US - For Looking Foreign

Via Steven D at the Booman Tribune comes this ridiculous (and possibly tragic) story. And, as belledame points out, it’s almost a case of fact imitating fiction. 

Reuters:

ACLU spokesman Michael Soller said 29-year-old Pedro Guzman was serving a 120-day sentence in a Los Angeles jail for trespassing when he was deported to Tijuana, Mexico, on May 10 or May 11 for an alleged immigration violation.

The group’s suit filed in U.S. District Court seeks to have the deportation order suspended and for the U.S. government to help locate Guzman.

Guzman, who was born in Los Angeles and lived about 70 miles north in Lancaster with his mother, could barely read and write, Soller said. He did not know his phone number and kept his brother’s telephone number on a piece of paper. But the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in a written statement denied Guzman’s deportation, which followed immigration checks at the jail, was improper.

“ICE only processes persons for removal when all available credible evidence suggests the person is an alien,” ICE officials said. “That process was followed here and ICE has no reason to believe that it improperly removed Pedro Guzman.”

[....]

The only telephone call Guzman made came shortly after his deportation, on May 11 and was received by his sister in law, Soller said.

“The last thing she heard him do was ask someone nearby ‘Where am I?’ and then the line went dead,” Soller said. Guzman has not been heard from since and is assumed lost in Mexico.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

‘Duh’ Idea: Design Clothes to Fit the Women, Instead of Women to Fit the Clothes

What will they think of next? 

From BBC:

Spain is to overhaul its clothing sizes for women as part of a government drive to ease pressure on young girls over their body size.

There are fears that efforts to conform could be leading to eating disorders.

The move follows Spain's ban of ultra-thin models on the catwalk during Madrid fashion week last September.

[...]

It is a source of frustration for customers and shop assistants alike that in Spain women tend to go into the changing rooms with an armful of different sizes never knowing which one will fit this time or whether any will fit at all.

[...]

For the first time ever the National Consumer Institute will measure Spanish females - more than 8,000 of them to be exact - between the ages of 12 and 70.

Spanish fashion houses will then try to fit them, rather than the other way round.

They have also agreed to decorate their shop windows with slightly bigger mannequins.

The health ministry described the current ones as unreal dolls of alien dimensions, which it sees as directly encouraging eating disorders such as anorexia.

I suppose there are a lot of important things that could be said about this story, but I'm afraid all I can do is laugh.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

The dot that protects brothers

Today is “Bhai Phota” in Kolkata. Well, make that West Bengal.

It’s a charming custom where sisters (and we have lots of sisters in our extended families) call all their brothers together, feed them the choicest delicacies and anoint them with three dots on the middle of their forehead, chanting a mantra designed to keep the God of Death (Yama) away. One dot is with the paste of the sacred sandalwood tree; another with “kajol”, the Indian version of mascara, often called “kohl”; and the third is with “ghee”, or clarified butter. The perfumes make quite a heady mix. No wonder Yama decides to stay away.

All the brothers have to do is be anointed and fed. They do bring along gifts for their sisters, though that’s not compulsory. And these could range from the latest music CD to an Ipod, depending how affluent you want to show you’ve become, thanks to your sister’s good wishes. Those less musically inclined could choose from any of the wondrous knicks and knacks that seem designed to charm sisters available at your nearest shopping mall. A good time is had by all, especially the economy.

There is a variant of this ritual, called “Rakhi” celebrated mostly in North India where the sister ties a “thread of protection” around the brother’s right hand.

Are there any similar customs across the world? Where the sister protects the brother? Or the other way around?

Sumit

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The global local earthling

I am returning to Human Beams after several years.

I remember with excitement the concept of a world without borders that inspired Nanette to come up with Human Beams.

I do see myself as a global citizen. But I must confess that for the last five years I have been more concerned about things that have been happening in India than I have been about my global village.

Why just India? It would be right to say that it’s watching Kolkata become a global city that has attracted my attention.

18 million people live/work in this city. Of course it has it’s own character. As does every city in the world.

What’s interesting is that if you step in to any of its shopping malls I guess you could be in any city in the world. You could certainly get anything the world produces.

Shopping malls, I guess, is one phenomenon that has transcended global barriers. And strangely to make that conquest, the truly multinational brands have had to localise.

Coca-Cola is a campaign running here, “Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola” which will not make any sense to anyone who is not Indian. Yet it is true to the Coke brand.

Pizza Hut has toppings that are so Indian that no Italian would ever believe that it could be used on a pizza.

What is it about us that makes us want to localise every global concept?

Why do we still live in a world with cultural, geographic and political borders?

What makes us search for our own food and music, our own language, even when we should feel at home in another part of our global village?

What will it take for Earth to unite?

An invasion from outer space?

Sumit

Friday, October 13, 2006

Newsy Bits – Iraqis on the move; and 600,000?; Lebanon War; Don’t Think of an Elephant

From the BBC:

Iraqis 'fleeing rising violence'

Thousands of Iraqis are fleeing the country every day, in what the UN's refugee agency describes as a steady, silent exodus.

The number of Iraqis claiming asylum in the West is growing, says the UNHCR.

The agency also says the number of internally displaced is growing, with some 365,000 Iraqis uprooted this year.

Earlier this week the Baghdad government estimated that about 300,000 people had been internally displaced since February.

It was in February this year when Shia Muslim shrines in the town of Samarra were destroyed in bomb attacks blamed on Sunni militants.

[…]

The agency says that last year about 50,000 Iraqis returned from neighbouring countries. This year only 1,000 did.

[…]

Most of those Iraqis who have fled to Syria and Jordan have not registered with the UNHCR, in what the agency calls a "silent exodus".

The UNHCR says that tens of thousands more are moving on to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gulf States and Europe.

Statistics from the first half of this year show that Iraqis were the biggest single national group claiming asylum in Europe, while the number claiming asylum in industrialised countries had risen by 50% compared to the same period last year.

I remember various human rights and relief organizations setting up refugee camps in preparation for the initial invasion of Iraq... and the crowing from some on the right when they went (mostly) unused. That they are in more use now, along with ever larger numbers of refugees to other countries three years into the occupation of Iraq is just one more sign of what a dismal failure this entire illegal enterprise has been.

One a related note, the Lancet recently come out with a report (pdf) stating:

"We estimate that as of July, 2006, there have been 654 965 (392 979–942 636) excess Iraqi deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2·5% of the population in the study area. Of post-invasion deaths, 601 027 (426 369–793 663) were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire."

A number of people at different sites have been picking it apart, here are just a very few:

Obsidian Wings - Hilzoy
Stayin' Alive - Cervantes
Crooked Timber - Kieran Healy
Crooked Timber - Daniel
Alas, a Blog - here and here - Ampersand

From the Asia Times:

Three part series by Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry, "How Hezbollah Defeated Israel"

The portrait that we give here is also limited. Hezbollah officials will neither speak publicly nor for the record on how they fought the conflict, will not detail their deployments, and will not discuss their future strategy. Even so, the lessons of the war from Hezbollah's perspective are now beginning to emerge and some small lessons are being derived from it by US and Israeli strategic planners. Our conclusions are based on on-the-ground assessments conducted during the course of the war, on interviews with Israeli, American and European military experts, on emerging understandings of the conflict in discussions with military strategists, and on a network of senior officials in the Middle East who were intensively interested in the war's outcome and with whom we have spoken.

PART 1: Winning the intelligence war
PART 2: Winning the ground war
PART 3: The political war

Looks like an interesting series, although I have not read all of it yet.

"Finding out that Pennsylvania didn't actually have a border with Mexico, the ever clever Raj decided that if the border wouldn't come to Raj - Raj would have to go to the border. So off to Texas, Bhakta went."

Go - read the rest - it's hilarious... I can't resist giving a small hint though... :

A few miles from the border, though, somebody always stops you and asks who you are, your citizenship status and other pertinent questions.

Such as, "Where did you get the elephant?"

There is wacky and then there's Republicans.

Might add bits of news as I come across them. Then again, maybe not.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Newsy Bits - Darfur Investment, Ancient Impersonations, Pope a Crusader?

Just things that have caught my eye, some of which should probably be developed into articles, eventually.

From the BBC

Sudan calls for Darfur investment

The Sudanese government has said war-torn Darfur needs investment rather than United Nations peacekeepers.

The Sudanese finance minister said Darfur had a “development problem”, requiring humanitarian aid and investment in basic infrastructure.

At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died and more than two million been displaced during the three-year conflict in the northern region.

The government, accused of stoking the conflict, has rejected UN intervention.

[...]

Sudanese Finance Minister Lual Deng....

He said the UN should spend its money on meeting Darfur’s basic social and economic problems rather than launching a peacekeeping mission.

“What Darfur needs most is resources for water, resources for schools, for hospitals,” he said.

“These resources, if they could be used in order to develop Darfur, it would be much better.”

This actually makes sense, in a way. I think they need both. From my (very imperfect) understanding of the ongoing conflict, beyond the issue of ethnicity, there is the matter competition for resources… water and so on. If people have food, water, security, and all that stuff… well I won’t say that they won’t go to war (just look at the US, the UK, and other quite well fed, well watered and secure Western nations).. but at least there are fewer issues to fight over.

I have to do more reading on this again, but places such as Sudan Watch have lots of information on not only current matters but background if you want to learn more.

Also from the BBC… heh.

Art student caught disguised among terracotta warriors

A German art student briefly fooled police by posing as one of China’s terracotta warriors at the heritage site in the ancient capital, Xian.

Pablo Wendel, made up like an ancient warrior, jumped into a pit showcasing the 2,200-year-old pottery soldiers and stood motionless for several minutes.

The 26-year-old was eventually spotted by police and removed from the scene.

Unearthed in 1974, the statues are said to be one of the 20th Century’s greatest archaeological finds.

The ancient clay soldiers were created to protect the nearby tomb of the legendary Emperor Qinshihuang who united China over 2,200 years ago.

They have a great photo of the soldiers at the BBC site.

From the Guardian.co.uk

Well, it was only a matter of time…

Pope has joined US crusade, says Iran

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday accused the Pope of committing the world’s biggest Christian church to what he claimed was a “crusade” launched by President Bush against Islam.

The Iranian leader’s words represented a setback to more than 25 years of Vatican diplomacy aimed at distancing Roman Catholicism from the west many Muslims regard as hostile and decadent. In his first comment on remarks on Islam made by Pope Benedict last week, the Ayatollah said they formed “the latest link in the chain of a crusade against Islam started by America’s Bush”.

I’m more of the “a pox on both their houses” mind… the Pope really needs someone to write/edit his speeches. What an absolutely inane thing to say and to think there would be no complaint. For people of Muslim religion it must be something akin to water torture… drip, drip, drip from all sides - suspect because of who you worship, suspect because of your skin tone, your religion reviled right and left, and now to have the head of the largest(?) Christian denomination say this… the media of course concentrating on the people in the streets so that they drown out everyone else saying things quite calmly and sensibly.

Oh well. I think probably everyone involved (at the head of things) was trying to play things in one way or another. The Pope for his flock, and whatever it was he was trying to tell them, and then the heads of these pretty oppressive governments (including the ones that are well tied to the West) pretty much promoting outrage… again, I believe, for some sort of benefit they gain from having people irate… concentrating on one thing so they don’t notice another, maybe?

More next time.