Understanding the US - Again

The Strategic Issues & International Relations Forum is a venue to discuss issues pertaining to India's security environment, her strategic outlook on global affairs and as well as the effect of international relations in the Indian Subcontinent. We request members to kindly stay within the mandate of this forum and keep their exchanges of views, on a civilised level, however vehemently any disagreement may be felt. All feedback regarding forum usage may be sent to the moderators using the Feedback Form or by clicking the Report Post Icon in any objectionable post for proper action. Please note that the views expressed by the Members and Moderators on these discussion boards are that of the individuals only and do not reflect the official policy or view of the Bharat-Rakshak.com Website. Copyright Violation is strictly prohibited and may result in revocation of your posting rights - please read the FAQ for full details. Users must also abide by the Forum Guidelines at all times.
Ambar
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3173
Joined: 12 Jun 2010 09:56
Location: Weak meek unkil Sam!

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Ambar »

What's the saying in cricket that there's many a slip between the cup and the lip ? In an year as crazy as 2020 anything is possible including Donald Trump getting reelected.

Yes, Vimal's last sentence holds true that US has truly been unlucky with its leaders for a while now but then it had me thinking when was the last time US had a scholarly, articulate, strategic, politically savvy , long term thinking president ? Certainly not Obama since much of his policies were continuation of George W Bush's, George W Bush forged a unanimous consensuses across parties that he was a disaster, Clinton made his share of follies including needling India as much as possible, rolling red carpet to the chinese in WTO, putting globalization on steroids through WTO/NAFTA etc. messing with that young girl etc. George HW Bush was an old guard, a chip of the old republican elites who saw the world in black and white, his Panama deception is well known. Ronald Reagan was politically savvy atleast in his first term but his "trickle down economics" did nothing but bloat the asset prices kicking of a rally in stocks and real estate that continues to this day while the poor and middle class get more and more saddled with debt. Then there was the Iran-Contra affair, uncontrolled expansion of military spending all the while knowing that USSR was in ICU, engagement in south america etc. Jimmy carter was a light weight , Gerald Ford a "placeholder" and Nixon a crook. Despite Nixon having access to some of the brightest people in post ww2 US, he always chose to listen to the most evil of them like Kissinger and Haldeman. In all i think we need to go back to the times of LBJ, John F Kennedy and Eisenhower to see some rational, intelligent US Presidents who despite their mistakes atleast had a sound understanding of the world or let wiser people guide them.

If there was a younger, energetic, articulate fresh candidate from the democrats instead of Biden then this election would have been easy to call. However Biden demonstrating that age has taken a toll on his mental function, his advanced age of 77 (78 by the time elections are over) means he will have one heck of a fight against a misguided missile called Donald Trump when the debates start. For India and much of the sane world, a Donald Trump who despite having no ideological bent other than getting re-elected but will have to continue the charade of his artificial persona of being tough on China, Islamic nuts, Pakis and media presstitutes is any day better than Biden who will be played like a toy by the pakis (metaphorical and real) in Democratic party.

In other news the Trump administration is pretty close to announcing visa and greencard suspension for 6 months including high skilled non-immigrant visas like H1Bs, L1As, L1Bs, etc. It may also include seasonal non-agricultural workers and agricultural workers on H2A and H2B categories. Why would he do that just when the country is trying to pick itself up is beyond me but then again this is election year and he is Trump.
vimal
BRFite
Posts: 1904
Joined: 27 Jul 2017 10:32

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by vimal »

^^ Trump has already signed the executive order banning issuance of H1/H2/L* visas till December 31, 2020.

Trump extends limits on some work visas through 2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/politics ... index.html
Ambar
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3173
Joined: 12 Jun 2010 09:56
Location: Weak meek unkil Sam!

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Ambar »

Yup, its murky at best. Doesn't say if it effects every H1s/L1s or just new ones, my guess is on the later.
vimal
BRFite
Posts: 1904
Joined: 27 Jul 2017 10:32

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by vimal »

It’s pretty clear actually, only affects new visa applications. People with valid stamps can still enter or travel but no new visas will be issued.
mappunni
BRFite
Posts: 364
Joined: 14 Jul 2017 19:07

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by mappunni »

The Molotov Cocktail Attorneys Face Life in Prison

Update on the Pakistani American attorney who firebombed NYPD cruiser.

darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

https://twitter.com/asmiff/status/12747 ... 65478?s=20


Manager fired, training planned, money donated to Muslim council after ad runs in Tennessean
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2 ... 234806001/
The Tennessean and its parent company Gannett announced on Monday that an advertising manager was fired after the news organization published an anti-Muslim advertisement.

The full-page Sunday ad, purchased by an Arkansas-based organization centered on end-of-world preaching, used religious language to predict an impending nuclear attack in Nashville by “Islam.”

An internal investigation revealed three Tennessean advertising staff members "had the opportunity to review the ad in its entirety" before it was published, according to Kathy Jack-Romero, the president of local sales for Gannett.
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32283
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by chetak »

US: Minneapolis City Council Unanimously Approves Proposal To Dismantle Police Department

06/26/20


Minneapolis City Council unanimously approves proposal to dismantle police department
ricky_v
BRFite
Posts: 1144
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by ricky_v »

3 us flags one embassy
Image
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Interestingly so far no real evidence but being investigated as hate crime. The media all ready to go and run the story. Certainly all too similar to what's observed in India with kinds of pehlu.



A biracial woman says she was set on fire in Wisconsin. Authorities are now investigating the incident as a hate crime

By Amir Vera, CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/27/us/wisco ... index.html

(CNN)Madison police and the FBI have launched a hate crime investigation after an 18-year-old biracial woman was set on fire.
The assault took place early Wednesday morning when the woman was driving and stopped at a red light and "heard someone yell out a racial epithet," according to a police incident report.
The woman is not named in the report, but a family spokesperson identified her as Althea Bernstein, a college student and a volunteer EMT.
"She looked and saw four men, all white. She says one used a spray bottle to deploy a liquid on her face and neck, and then threw a flaming lighter at her, causing the liquid to ignite," read the report, which was filed over the phone.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway released a statement saying the incident was "a horrifying and absolutely unacceptable crime that I will not tolerate in Madison."
"While we are still learning more about the details, current information suggests this may have been a premeditated crime targeted toward people of color, which makes the incident even more disturbing," Rhodes-Conway said. "I immediately reached out to the police when I learned of the incident, asking them to use all available resources to pursue the perpetrators as quickly as possible."
anmol
BRFite
Posts: 1922
Joined: 05 May 2009 17:39

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by anmol »

Checkout the burn scars :-

Image
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Anthony Tata should be running a QAnon bulletin board — not the Pentagon policy shop
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... ng-recant/

Anthony Tata is a combat veteran. But the retired Army brigadier general and Fox News commentator — now a nominee for the No. 3 post at the Defense Department

CNN’s KFile team, led by ace Internet sleuth Andrew Kaczynski, has unearthed a long trail of deranged comments from Tata, many of which he recently deleted from Twitter in an unsuccessful attempt at cleanup.

The first CNN story, on June 12, reported that Tata had called Islam the “most oppressive violent religion I know of” and that he had described President Barack Obama as a “terrorist leader” who did more to “help Islamic countries than any president in history.” Tata argued that Obama negotiated the Iranian nuclear deal because he had “Islamic roots” and wanted “to help Iranians and the greater Islamic state crush Israel.” In addition, he lashed out at Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), calling them “violent extremists” and accusing Waters of being a “vicious race baiting racist.”

After the first CNN story, many of the Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee announced their opposition to Tata’s nomination for undersecretary of defense for policy. After the second story, several of the retired generals who had initially endorsed him — including Joe Votel, the former head of Central Command, and Tony Thomas, the former head of Special Operations Command — pulled their support.

He is a Trump cultist, not an objective analyst. He has also trafficked in extremism on Fox: “There is intent to harm Western society by Islam,” Tata once said, and he has claimed that China’s initial attempt to cover up the novel coronavirus was “tantamount to detonating a nuclear bomb accidentally and killing 150,000 people.”

If someone with Tata’s wing-nut views is confirmed to a senior Pentagon post, it will further accelerate the politicization of the nation’s armed forces. Trump’s commissars tend to purge anyone at the Pentagon with a hint of independence. The casualties include Undersecretary John Rood (the position Tata has been nominated to fill), Kathryn Wheelbarger, the acting assistant secretary for international security affairs, and Elaine McCusker, the acting comptroller. Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — a true profile in courage — may have his well-deserved promotion torpedoed for testifying truthfully about Trump’s attempts to extort Ukraine.
Last edited by darshan on 27 Jun 2020 18:59, edited 1 time in total.
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Rood was rude once so caught my attention.

Key Pentagon official to resign at Trump's request amid Huawei trade spat
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN20D288
The announcement comes a day after Trump pushed back against a move by some officials in key U.S. federal agencies to further limit exports to China, saying national security concerns should not be used as an excuse to stymy sales by U.S. companies abroad.

One of the measures floated involved expanding the government’s ability to block exports to telecom equipment giant Huawei, which was placed on a trade blacklist last year over national security concerns.

Rood was instrumental in reversing the Pentagon’s initial opposition to that measure, proposed by the Commerce Department, which would have expanded the scope of items made abroad that the U.S. could have blocked from being sold to Huawei, sources familiar with the matter said.

Rood made headlines last year when a letter he wrote to Congress surfaced, certifying that Ukraine had made enough progress on anti-corruption reforms to receive million of dollars in security assistance, as required by law.

The certification undercut Trump’s argument in an impeachment probe against him that he had sought to withhold aid to Ukraine due to rampant graft there, and not to pressure Ukrainian leaders to investigate political rival Joe Biden, as alleged by House Democrats.
https://projects.propublica.org/trump-t ... ohn-c-rood

At the Department of State, he served as Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, and as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. Mr. Rood served in the Department of Defense as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Forces Policy. He served twice at the National Security Council where he was a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterproliferation, as well as the Director of Proliferation Strategy, Counterproliferation, and Homeland Defense. At the Central Intelligence Agency, he served as an analyst following missile programs in foreign countries. In addition, Mr. Rood worked as a Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona. In the private sector, Mr. Rood was Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin International where he led efforts to grow the corporation’s international business. He also served as Vice President for Corporate Domestic Business Development at Lockheed Martin. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, he was a Vice President at the Raytheon Company.

Former Positions Outside Government

Lockheed Martin Corporation Senior Vice President/Vice President
US-India Business Council Member of Board of Directors
US-India Strategic Partnership Forum Member, Board of Directors
Youth Impact Program Member, Board of Directors
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Pretty much small and all white town. Probably everyone knows everyone in this town.

Nisswa council publicly opposed mayor’s controversial Facebook comments
https://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/g ... k-comments
The comments in question related to Kara Hall, a Forestview Middle School teacher who resigned earlier this month after her own Facebook comments about riots in Minneapolis following George Floyd’s death drew community outrage for what many deemed racist content. On a post of a former lakes area student who lives in Minneapolis and described her experience amongst the riots, Hall wrote comments, which included: “I know all I see are scary awful blacks people robbing businesses that don’t deserve this.”

Another comment from Hall criticizing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and calling for law and order to be restored included: “The creepy, destructive, violent blacks we are all across America watching raid and ruin businesses across America need to be put in jail!”

Heidmann’s comments came on a later Facebook post from Deb Cruz, who called for Hall’s resignation June 3.

“What was said is a pretty accurate account of what is happening,” Heidmann wrote of Hall’s comments, according to the Echo Journal story. “I believe with all my being that what happened to George Floyd is inexcusable. Those officers need to face the consequences to the full extent of the law. But when one side can say anything they want and get praised for it and the opposite side is chastised for everything they say, that then becomes communism.”

A subsequent comment from Heidmann stated, “I do not see that her words were hateful or vulgar. What is harmful is teaching our children that Islam is good, Christianity is bad, there is no God of the Bible, science knows everything, America is bad Cuba is good, etc.”

Ulm also included screenshots of posts from Heidmann’s Facebook page, including an article about why homosexual marriage is harmful and should be opposed; a post stating Muslims hate Christians, Jews and atheists; and an article on Somali migrants from a website called Bare Naked Islam. The website’s tagline, according to the homepage, is “It isn’t Islamophobia when they really ARE trying to kill you.”
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Black Lives Matter: U.S. Protesters Tracked By Secretive Phone Location Technology
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman ... nsumertech

Mobilewalla buys mobile phone data from aggregators that, in turn, buy their data from the operators behind the apps we install on our phones. The company says that it has 80-90% device coverage in the U.S., fairly evenly split between iOS and Android. It also says that at any given event, it can usually poll devices from somewhere between 30% and 60% of those present.

“Normally we’re fairly introverted,” Mobilewalla CEO Anindya Datta told me, “this is one of the rare occasions we publish a report like this.” And while claiming it was socially responsible to do so, because the data suggested “the vast majority of protesters were white and marched within their own cities,” Datta acknowledged that such a report would inevitably trigger a response, given the backlash against surveillance and seemingly secretive phone data collection.

Most protesters were males, in all cities, and the clear majority were under 34 years of age, again in all cities. The report then steps into ethnicity distribution—the vast majority of tracked phones belonged to “caucasian/other.” Despite the percentage of African Americans being much lower, the report then also presents its “gender distribution” for African Americans, but not for other ethnicities.

As for ethnicity, Datta told me “we look at signals—there are a small number of signals that make the likelihood the person is of a certain class, ethnicity or gender or anything. We gather data where we know the class and use AI to extract patterns and project those patterns on others, it’s all probabilistic.” It is impossible to know how accurate the data is, although Datta says the firm runs controlled tests for commercial customers to prove out its models.
Tuan
BRFite
Posts: 440
Joined: 16 Oct 2008 01:26

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Tuan »

Intelligence dominance is the only way to adequately manage the threats that stem from China and Russia, argues Kagusthan Ariaratnam.

Combining Three Tiers of Intelligence-Gathering Is Key to Keeping Russia and China at Bay
https://thegeopolitics.com/combining-th ... na-at-bay/
vijayk
BRF Oldie
Posts: 8785
Joined: 22 Jun 1999 11:31

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by vijayk »

https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-design ... ty-threats
FCC Designates Huawei and ZTE as National Security Threats
Full Title: FCC Designates Huawei And ZTE As National Security Threats
Document Type(s): News Release
Bureau(s): Media Relations, Public Safety and Homeland Security, Wireline Competition
Description:
Money in FCC's Universal Service Fund Can No Longer Be Used on Equipment and Services from These Suppliers
KL Dubey
BRFite
Posts: 1756
Joined: 16 Dec 2016 22:34

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by KL Dubey »

An insightful article on the 2016 USA presidential election. Worth reading before trying to predict 2020 (or comment on various polls)...

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/wh ... yone-else/

Already I see polls showing the same likely systematic errors as last time...like giving sleepy Joe a lead in Texas for example. :P
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32283
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by chetak »

darshan wrote:https://twitter.com/asmiff/status/12747 ... 65478?s=20


Manager fired, training planned, money donated to Muslim council after ad runs in Tennessean
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2 ... 234806001/
The Tennessean and its parent company Gannett announced on Monday that an advertising manager was fired after the news organization published an anti-Muslim advertisement.

The full-page Sunday ad, purchased by an Arkansas-based organization centered on end-of-world preaching, used religious language to predict an impending nuclear attack in Nashville by “Islam.”

An internal investigation revealed three Tennessean advertising staff members "had the opportunity to review the ad in its entirety" before it was published, according to Kathy Jack-Romero, the president of local sales for Gannett.

Image
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32283
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by chetak »

gonna tell my kids this was the world’s largest terrorist group

the body count for this pic is like 3 mil easy

not to mention that the bill for this group's combined dental work alone would easily number in the high hundreds of thousand$. :mrgreen:

Image
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32283
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by chetak »

Image
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

California taco chain shuts after abuse by customers refusing to wear masks
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... SKBN2433HZ
Bill Kohne said he made the decision to close the doors at Hugo’s Tacos to protect his staff, who were becoming traumatized by the constant verbal attacks.

“Over the last two, three, four weeks the emotions attached to simply asking people to wear one while they’re with us has become really vitriolic and at times, personal, hostile and abusive,” said Kohne.

Ellie Rosalez, who manages one of two taco stands in the Los Angeles area that has shut, said the barrage of name calling, mocking and objects being thrown was just too much to take. “All we asked for was for respect.”
Mollick.R
BRFite
Posts: 1033
Joined: 15 Aug 2016 10:26

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Mollick.R »

Pompeo says U.S. looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok
JULY 7, 2020 / 9:11 AM / UPDATED 16 MINUTES AGO

(Reuters) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is “certainly looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

“I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News.

U.S. lawmakers have raised national security concerns over TikTok’s handling of user data, saying they were worried about Chinese laws requiring domestic companies “to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.”
.
.
TikTok, a short-form video app owned by China-based ByteDance, was recently banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps after a border clash between India and China.

Reuters Link
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN2480DF
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

2 kids slain among 79 shot in July 4th weekend gun violence; 3rd weekend straight of children dying
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020 ... ia-wallace
Chicago was left reeling over the Fourth of July weekend as citywide gun violence left multiple children killed for the third weekend in a row.

As of 5 a.m. Monday, 79 people were shot, 15 of them fatally, including two children shot dead Saturday night. Nine other gunshot victims over the weekend were minors.

Ten children under 18 have died in Chicago gun violence since June 20, according to Chicago Sun-Times records.
Kemp issues statewide emergency order amid Atlanta violence
https://www.forsythnews.com/news/state/ ... -violence/
The order authorizes Georgia National Guard troops to help quell any unruly protests and for state and local law enforcement “to do all things necessary to maintain peace and good order.”

“This measure will allow troops to protect state property and dispatch state law enforcement officers to patrol our streets,” Kemp said in a news release Monday. “Enough with the tough talk. We must protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.”

Atlanta authorities said 8-year-old Secoriea Turner was shot and killed when a group of armed people opened fire on the car in which she was riding late Saturday night.

The car was attempting to enter a parking lot across the street from the Wendy’s restaurant that the armed group had blocked off south of downtown Atlanta, according to city police.

A 53-year-old man was killed in a triple shooting next to the Wendy’s Sunday night roughly 24 hours after Turner’s death, according to police.

His order also notes between 60 and 100 people “armed with rocks, spray paint and fireworks” vandalized the Public Safety headquarters early Sunday and tried to set it on fire.
Vivasvat
BRFite
Posts: 346
Joined: 11 May 2005 08:03

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Vivasvat »

China's Attempt to Influence U.S. Institutions: A Conversation with FBI Director Christopher Wray



The US is now bringing this out what has been known for years into the open.
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Way to soften the blow: unconscious, or overlooked, biases


Google Campus Security Singled Out Black, Latinx Employees
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-lab ... -employees
The internet giant encouraged employees to check colleagues’ ID badges on campus, and asked security staff to do the same. This went beyond the typical corporate office system where workers swipe badges to enter. The policy was designed to prevent unauthorized visitors and keep Google’s open work areas safe.

But some staffers told management that Black and Latinx workers had their badges checked more often than other employees, according to the people, who experienced this themselves or saw friends and colleagues go through it.

As a result, these employees felt policed on campus in a similar way that they are under suspicion elsewhere in life, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the issue. It’s an example of the unconscious, or overlooked, biases that make working in Silicon Valley harder for minorities, the people added.
sum
BRF Oldie
Posts: 10195
Joined: 08 May 2007 17:04
Location: (IT-vity && DRDO) nagar

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by sum »

Here is the Wire pitching in on casteism in US:

The Cisco Case Could Expose Rampant Prejudice Against Dalits in Silicon Valley
San Francisco: Over 20 years ago, a student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay figured that a classmate was a Dalit. The discovery was made when the student didn’t see the boy’s name on the general merit list, and so figured that he had been admitted to the prestigious institution via reservations, India’s affirmative action programme.

Decades later, when both men made it to the Silicon Valley headquarters of the tech multinational Cisco, the “upper” caste staffer carried the knowledge of the other man’s “lower” caste with him and even passed on the information to colleagues at work. Last week, Sundar Iyer, the man who “outed” the other man’s caste, found himself at the centre of a civil rights lawsuit filed by the California government, which accused Iyer, his colleague Ramana Kompella and Cisco itself of unlawful employment practices.

While the lawsuit is the culmination of years of investigations, it couldn’t have come at a more significant time. While caste discrimination has never been a major public issue in the US, the lawsuit comes at a moment when the country is confronting racial discrimination, giving the Cisco case a sharper edge.

A number of Dalits in US tech companies point to the irony of their casteist colleagues supporting Black Lives Matter while continuing to suppress Indians from so-called lower castes.

While caste discrimination among Indians in US workplaces is not new, tech companies largely ignored the practise, primarily because, in strictly legal terms, it is not unlawful.
In October 2016, two colleagues informed John Doe, a principal engineer at Cisco, that his supervisor, Sundar Iyer, had told them that he (Doe) was from the “Scheduled Castes” and had made it to the Indian Institute of Technology via affirmative action. “Iyer was aware of Doe’s caste because they attended IIT at the same time,” said the case.

The suit says that, when confronted by Doe, Iyer denied having disclosed his caste.

In November 2016, Doe contacted Cisco’s HR over the matter. Within a week of doing so, Iyer reportedly informed Doe he was taking away Doe’s role as lead on two technologies. Iyer also removed team members from a third technology that Doe was working on and reduced his role to that of an independent contributor and he was isolated from his colleagues, the lawsuit says. In December 2016, Doe filed a written complaint with HR on the matter.

He also complained that Iyer had made discriminatory comments about a Muslim job applicant.

According to the suit, Cisco employee relations manager Brenda Davies’s investigation notes on the case showed evidence of caste-based discrimination, and yet she closed the case on the grounds that caste discrimination was not unlawful. The lawsuit says that her investigation notes even have Iyer admitting to outing his colleague’s caste by saying he was not on the “main list” at IIT.

The case says that Doe, who was further isolated and repeatedly harassed at work, called for a re-investigation. HR official Tara Powell reopened the investigation in April 2017. In a damning indictment of Cisco, California government investigations show that, despite employees telling Powell that Doe was being treated unfairly though he was technically competent, that Iyer was trying to push Doe out of the company, and that witnesses feared retaliation from Iyer if they spoke out against him, Powell closed the investigation on grounds that she could not substantiate any caste-based discrimination against Doe.

In February 2018, when Kompella became the interim head of engineering for Cisco’s team after Iyer stepped down, the lawsuit said he continued to “discriminate, harass, and retaliate against Doe by….giving him assignments that were impossible to complete under the circumstances.”

“Cisco’s training was deficient in that it did not adequately train managerial employees on workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, nor did the company prevent, deter, remedy, or monitor casteism in its workforce,” says the lawsuit.
Mohan, another Dalit techie, never experienced caste-based discrimination at work over the past 16 years in the US. This is because he never had an Indian boss. Those who did have Indian bosses found that revealing their views on caste could adversely impact their career, and sometimes even cost them their jobs.

Samir was once unable to hold back from expressing his views on caste at work. “At the time, I was a top performer at work. One day, a client mentioned the Indian caste system in a meeting. My upper caste boss tried to defend the caste system, saying it was actually good for India. I couldn’t control myself, and blurted out that while he may be upper caste, for us lower castes, the caste system was a curse.”

Samir says his appraisal was impacted by the revelation of his caste, his rating in the company slipped and he was transferred out of the US, to the company’s Indian office. “In a matter of minutes, everyone at work got to know my caste,” he says.

Many Dalits said that once a person’s caste was made public, the word spread rapidly through close-knit upper caste networks.

Samir, who went to the same IIT as Sunder Iyer and John Doe, said that he was ragged the moment he stepped into the hostel on account of his caste. The discrimination he faced in US tech companies was like a throwback to his college days.
ricky_v
BRFite
Posts: 1144
Joined: 11 Aug 2016 06:14

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by ricky_v »

https://archive.is/deZZF
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that much of eastern Oklahoma falls within an Indian reservation, a decision that could reshape the criminal-justice system by preventing state authorities from prosecuting offenses there that involve Native Americans.
“The State’s ability to prosecute serious crimes will be hobbled and decades of past convictions could well be thrown out,” Justice Roberts wrote. “The decision today creates significant uncertainty for the State’s continuing authority over any area that touches Indian affairs, ranging from zoning and taxation to family and environmental law.”
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Donald Trump: Why The Tell-It-Like-It-Is President Is Hated By Most
https://swarajyamag.com/world/donald-tr ... ed-by-most
“What? How can you be a Trump supporter?”
“You are a minority, an immigrant. How can you like him?”
“You have a daughter. Do you understand what a leader like him means?”
“Your boy [referring to Trump] just tweeted something that makes a middle school child look smarter.”
Trump signs order for better educational and economical opportunities for Hispanic Americans
https://www.wionews.com/india-news/trum ... ans-312145

"The executive order I will sign in a few moments will expand our efforts across all of federal government to deliver educational and economic opportunity for Hispanic Americans," Trump said at the White House.

This order will help improve the access to educational, training and economic opportunities for Hispanic American students. Under this program, the Hispanic American students will be provided with better school choice, personalized learning, family engagement, civics education, and pathways to in-demand jobs.
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Sometimes I wonder if politico really writes articles to support Trump.
Tera Dahl, who briefly served as the deputy chief of staff at the White House-based National Security Council in 2017, is the latest in a string of hires that have alarmed career employees at USAID. She’s being given the title of senior adviser at USAID, an agency spokesperson confirmed.

Like some other new political appointees at the aid agency, Dahl has a history of sharp commentary on Islam. She has disavowed efforts to delink the concept of terrorism from the religion, in ways that Muslim advocacy groups view as discriminatory.

“There is no difference between Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda, and the Boko Haram; all are dedicated to the creation of a global Islamic Caliphate,” Dahl was quoted as saying in one Breitbart report.

The employees and some outside allies have demanded that John Barsa, USAID’s new acting administrator, sideline some of the appointees or at least take steps to ensure that career staffers will not face discrimination based on their faith, sexual orientation or other reasons.

Barsa has insisted he will not tolerate discrimination on his watch, but he’s also criticized “news article attacks” on the political appointees.
......
The Gorkas and Dahl have argued, among other things, against efforts to avoid using terms such as “Islamic terrorism,” saying it’s important to name the religion in describing the motivations of some terrorists.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/1 ... ire-356349
Rony
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3512
Joined: 14 Jul 2006 23:29

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Rony »

who gets to define what’s ‘racist?’

https://contexts.org/blog/who-gets-to-d ... ts-racist/

'White elites —who play an outsized role in defining racism in academia, the media, and the broader culture — instead seem to define ‘racism’ in ways that are congenial to their own preferences and priorities. Rather than actually dismantling white supremacy or meaningfully empowering people of color, efforts often seem to be oriented towards consolidating social and cultural capital in the hands of the ‘good’ whites. Charges of “racism,” for instance, are primarily deployed against the political opponents of upwardly-mobile, highly-educated progressive white people. Even to the point of branding prominent black or brown dissenters as race-traitors (despite the reality that, on average, blacks and Hispanics tend to be significantly more socially conservative and religious than whites)'.
chetak
BRF Oldie
Posts: 32283
Joined: 16 May 2008 12:00

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by chetak »

Image
Rony
BRF Oldie
Posts: 3512
Joined: 14 Jul 2006 23:29

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Rony »

Padma Lakshmi’s New Food Show Is a Trojan Horse : Taste the Nation is breezy in tone, but it exposes the betrayals at the heart of “American” cuisine.
And, in a city where the hum of helicopters surveying the border adds ambient foreboding to every interaction, burritos also represent the essence of American food: cuisine from one culture cloaked in the imposed ingredients of another (in this case, wheat flour). “A burrito,” Lakshmi observes, “is tradition wrapped in colonization.”
But what becomes clear through the series’s 10 episodes is how distinctly American cuisine encapsulates a paradox, in which dishes made by immigrants are quickly appropriated as national staples while the people who make them are rejected over generations. Perhaps because a country founded on the violent displacement of Native Americans will always expect violence from successive new arrivals, wave after wave of immigrants has tried to use food as a pacifying, neutralizing force. “It’s all ‘Don’t be scared of us,’” is how the comedian Ali Wong characterizes Americanized Chinese food to Lakshmi as the pair eat their way through San Francisco’s Chinatown. At the end of the El Paso episode, Lakshmi idly mulls why shared tastes can’t bring people together in a more substantial way. “Who,” she ponders, “doesn’t love a taco?”

This knife-edge dance between adoption and rejection comes to define Taste the Nation, as Lakshmi considers what a particular dish or place reveals about immigration, assimilation, and the hunger for home. In Milwaukee, she examines how the seemingly effortless absorption of hot dogs and lager as American staples belies an uneasy history of German immigration to the United States. In an episode dedicated to chop suey, a dish almost totally removed from authentic Chinese cooking, she explores its enthusiastic U.S. adoption in the 19th century even as Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred immigrants from China for decades. “How do you convey who you really are in a place where nobody understands you?” Lakshmi asks in one episode. Taste the Nation also conveys how often authenticity and uniqueness have to be sacrificed in the quest to be accepted.

At home, in New York, Lakshmi shares her mother’s story of coming to this country in search of a better life, and cooks coriander chicken with a pioneer in the mainstreaming of Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey. Lakshmi is particularly attuned to the women she interviews, and to their understanding of food as a totem of love, security, and prosperity. “Your mom was like me,” a Peruvian immigrant named Aida tells Lakshmi in one scene, raising a toast to the bravery of another woman who made a leap into the unknown. Saipin Chutima, who has become the doyenne of high-end Thai cuisine in Las Vegas, explains that when American diners initially rejected her cooking because they were used to greasy, inexpensive Thai fare, “I was not afraid, because I have 10 fingers; I can do anything.”

In the series’s most striking episodes, Lakshmi looks at communities whose traditions and history tend not to be included in kitschy celebrations of culinary Americana. One features the Gullah Geechee people of the southern coast, described by Lakshmi as among “the most beautiful cultures you may have never heard of,” whose ancestors were enslaved and transported to America to turn swampland into rice fields. With the culinary historian Michael Twitty, Lakshmi makes red rice, a meal whose varying components traditionally came from whatever happened to be available. At this point in history, the dish has been so broadly incorporated into southern cooking that even Martha Stewart has a recipe for it. But as Lakshmi and Twitty prepare it, the context they provide adds fraught symbolism: the wealth of the early American economy built on the blood and forced labor of enslaved people. It’s this quality, the particular “dichotomy of the splendor and the suffering,” Lakshmi argues, that truly defines American cuisine as a whole.
At the end of the El Paso episode, Lakshmi interviews Maynard Haddad, a second-generation Syrian American entrepreneur who owns the H&H Car Wash and Coffee Shop, a Tex-Mex restaurant. Haddad employs a number of Mexican cooks who cross the border every day to get to work. He also voted for Donald Trump in 2016, and expresses no reservations about doing so, although he’s irked by how much harder his chefs’ commutes have become. Lakshmi doesn’t press him on the disconnect. She wanted, she told Eater, to document his point of view, not try to manipulate it. She’s been criticized for this unwillingness to hold to account someone with views that directly threaten his staff’s lives and livelihoods, and for her faintly platitudinous conclusion that food might be able to unite people divided by much more than physical borders. But the episode has already exposed the conflict at the heart of American cooking, the inequity of a culture that gets to selectively take and absorb whatever it wants without having to offer anything significant in return. Haddad can profit from Mexican food and the labor of migrant workers while directly betraying those same employees because that’s exactly what American cuisine has always done.
Vivasvat
BRFite
Posts: 346
Joined: 11 May 2005 08:03

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Vivasvat »

Bari Weiss Resigns from New York Times; Accuses Liberal ‘Paper of Record’ of Intolerance, Antisemitism
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/202 ... er-record/
Bari Weiss, a New York Times opinion editor who prided herself on her centrist views and openness to argument, has resigned from the paper, posting a scathing resignation letter on her personal website accusing the Times of intolerance.

Bari Weiss's resignation letter on her website:
https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter
Excerpt...
lessons that ought to have followed the election—lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society—have not been learned. Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else.

Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor. As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space. Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions. I was always taught that journalists were charged with writing the first rough draft of history. Now, history itself is one more ephemeral thing molded to fit the needs of a predetermined narrative.

My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m “writing about the Jews again.” Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly “inclusive” one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.

There are terms for all of this: unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge. I’m no legal expert. But I know that this is wrong.
vimal
BRFite
Posts: 1904
Joined: 27 Jul 2017 10:32

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by vimal »

Bari Weiss Is the same gasbag that called Tulsi as “Assad Todie” amongst other things on the Joe Rogan show. When asked for specifics she had none and barfed NYT neo-liberal propaganda. She is an idiot of the highest order and a Hinduphobe.

Jarita
BRF Oldie
Posts: 2649
Joined: 30 Oct 2009 22:27
Location: Andromeda

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Jarita »

9
vimal wrote:Bari Weiss Is the same gasbag that called Tulsi as “Assad Todie” amongst other things on the Joe Rogan show. When asked for specifics she had none and barfed NYT neo-liberal propaganda. She is an idiot of the highest order and a Hinduphobe.


These people keep howling anti semitism but appear to be terribly racist and discriminatory towards other minority groups. Terrible

However, also on the same note, about the white nationalist wing, there was once a Katherine Mayo and they still think that way. Many of them believe that colonisation was beneficial to India. Everyone in this group is obviously familiar with Katherine Mayo.
Katherine Mayo (January 27, 1867 – October 9, 1940) was an American white nationalist, researcher and historian. Mayo entered public life as a political writer advocating White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Nativism, opposition to non-white and Catholic immigration to the United States, and opposition to recently emancipated African slave laborers. She became known for denouncing the Philippine Declaration of Independence on racialist and religious grounds, then went on to publish and promote her best-known work, Mother India (1927), wherein she opposed Indian Independence from British rule. Her work was well received in British government circles and among American Anglophile racialists, but was criticized by others for notorious racism and Indophobia.
Mayo also became a member of the Mayflower Society and had cordial links with the Daughters of the American Revolution. The latter were hostile to non-white immigration to the United States at the time, believing the country to rightfully belong to white Anglo Saxons of British descent and Protestant faith.[2]
Mayo became notorious for her polemical book Mother India (1927), in which she attacked Hindu society and religion, and the culture of India. Critics of Mayo accuse her works of being racist, pro-imperialist[2] and Indophobic tracts that "expressed all the dominant prejudices of colonial society. Conversely, supporters cited the truth of her first-hand observations[3]
The book created a sensation on three continents.[4] Written against the demands for self-rule and Indian independence from the British Raj, Mayo alluded to the treatment of India's women, the Dalits, the animals, the dirt and the character of its nationalistic politicians. Mayo singled out what she perceived to be the "rampant" and fatally weakening sexuality of its males to be at the core of all problems, leading to masturbation, rape, homosexuality, prostitution and venereal diseases and, particularly, to very early sexual intercourse and premature maternity.
Please note that above is exactly the same language used by western media when talking about India and it's supposed rape culture - per capita numbers are different. They also keep harping about the faultlines in India including gender, caste etc. The interesting part is that both the liberals / left and the conservatives share the same POV when it comes to India. Therefore Indians' should be under no delusion and think that any side will work for them. The white nationalists don't want them and the liberandus only want them as sepoys furthering the destruction of Indian civilization.


As a side note, these toadies from NYT are also plain jealous of the gorgeous, strong and energetic Tulsi. You can only hope you sloppy, bad tea drinking, unwashed pretend nerds <<evil laughter>>.
Last edited by Jarita on 18 Jul 2020 02:19, edited 2 times in total.
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

I learned that long ago in US. Shout Hitler and people would jump up from sleep. Point out rivalry between different abraham sects that involved Jewish and you would be called anti Semite even if you're brown Indian born Hindu. However, talk about any other genocides and they will keep sleeping including Jewish (the poster child of genocides).
Vayutuvan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 12062
Joined: 20 Jun 2011 04:36

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by Vayutuvan »

The other one is Ana Kasparian of TYT. She was at the forefront of tarring Tusli G. She has given her endorsement to Shahid Buttar, who is going against Nancy Pelosi. Shahid Buttar is of Pakistani origin. I have no idea what his politics is or his views on India.

Added later:
I found his 2020 campaign page.

https://shahidforchange.us/
San Francisco deserves a Representative who will champion
climate justice, human rights, and racial justice for all.


Shahid embodies San Francisco’s values. He has actively represented both San Francisco and Washington as a legal advocate, national non-profit leader, grassroots organizer, and movement musician. Through his work building movements for peace, immigrant rights, black lives, and the Occupy movement, Shahid dedicated his career to public service long before running for public office.

An early advocate for marriage equality for same-sex couples and a prolific organizer in the movement to end warrantless surveillance, Shahid most recently built a national grassroots network for the Electronic Frontier Foundation as the organization’s Director of Grassroots Advocacy. He has been building social movements and speaking truth to power for two decades, and graduated from Stanford Law School in 2003.

In addition to LGBTQ rights, privacy, and the right to encryption, Shahid’s work has advanced immigrant rights, campaign finance reform, government transparency, international human rights, and police accountability. His writing has explored issues from the right-wing attack on reproductive freedom to the erosion of voting rights, and from effective counter-terrorism strategies to counter-cultural activism leveraging art & culture.
Two people I respect very much, Lawrence Lessig of Creative Commons fame and Richard Stallman of GNU Project, endorsed Buttar. Buttar was a student of Lessig. Cory Doctorow as well. :cry:
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

Words but no sanctions. Doesn't this sort of thing result in sanctions or actions in UN? This should be preached at all muslim areas in US. All muslim candidates in US should be forced to clarify their stand on uighurs and communist chinese. Again and again. Save muslims from communist china.
China forcing mass abortions and sterilization on Uighur Muslims is a stain of the century: US secretary of state Mike Pompeo
https://www.opindia.com/2020/07/china-u ... ke-pompeo/
US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, speaking during a visit to Iowa on Friday said that China is imposing draconian measures to slash birth rates among ethnic Uighurs as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population. Calling it a “stain of the century”, Pompeo slammed China for practising forced sterilization and abortion of Chinese Muslims in Western China.

“A few weeks back, I read a report about the Chinese Communist Party forcing mass abortions and sterilisation on Chinese Muslims in Western China. These are some of the most gross human rights violations we have seen and I have referred to it as the stain of the century,” Pompeo said.
China slaps U.S. Rep. Chris Smith with sanctions following ‘genocide’ allegations
https://www.trentonian.com/news/china-s ... 221c6.html
HAMILTON — Congressman Chris Smith of Hamilton has been sanctioned by the People’s Republic of China after accusing Chinese President Xi Jinping of genocide.

“I am going to double down,” Smith said Tuesday in an interview with The Trentonian. “We want a peaceful and democratic China. That is the hope.”

Smith’s bill, if enacted into law, would give civil litigants the power to pursue wrongful death lawsuits against China in American courts.

Smith has been serving in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981 and has authored a variety of human rights legislation during his political career.

The 39-year incumbent will face Democratic challenger Stephanie Schmid in the Nov. 3 general election.
Last edited by darshan on 18 Jul 2020 23:25, edited 1 time in total.
darshan
BRF Oldie
Posts: 4018
Joined: 28 Jan 2008 04:16

Re: Understanding the US - Again

Post by darshan »

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski responds to Missouri senator’s email: F–k you
https://nypost.com/2020/07/10/espns-woj ... i-senator/
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver criticizing the league’s once-cozy and now-complicated relationship with China. The NBA’s most prominent reporter offered a blunt response to the Republican.

“F–k you,” wrote ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski — who didn’t use dashes in his writing — after being included in a press release with details of the letter.

Hawley, 40, posted a screenshot of the email, tweeting, “Don’t criticize #China or express support for law enforcement to @espn. It makes them real mad.”

As the NBA readies for its restart to the season at the end of July, the league is allowing players to showcase social justice messages on their playing jerseys, such as, “Equality,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Vote” and “I Can’t Breathe.” However, the league limited statements to an approved list, which excluded any commentary regarding China.

In Hawley’s letter to Silver, the former critically questioned whether “Free Hong Kong” could also be featured on the back of a player’s jersey, writing that the NBA’s “free expression appears to stop at the edge of your corporate sponsors’ sensibilities.”

Last season, nearly 500 million people in China watched NBA programming through the country’s exclusive digital platform.
The NBA is Taking Billions of Dollars From Modern-Day Nazis
https://www.outkick.com/the-nba-is-taki ... day-nazis/

A lot of people ask why they should care about what the NBA is doing with China. Here’s why you should care:

The NBA is taking of billions of dollars from modern-day Nazis.

Historical analogies rarely directly correlate but if you had to say which world power right now which is most like the Nazis of the 1930s, the answer would be China.

They have Muslims in concentration camps. They have forced slave labor. They have no basic human rights. They are a totalitarian regime which is expanding their influence around the globe and just took-over Hong Kong.

China has got us all fighting internally in the United States — Democrats, Republicans, Independents all throwing punches at each other while they are taking over Hong Kong.

The NBA won’t allow you to put Free Hong Kong on a jersey that you buy in the United States. But they will allow you say “****** the police.”

Think about that. You can’t say Free Hong Kong on a jersey in the United States but you can say “****** the police.”

The NBA is working for Chinese propaganda. Everything that they are saying they are putting on the jerseys in the NBA will be used as propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party to argue to the Chinese people — look things are not very good in America, this is what happens with democracy, it fails.

The United States is in a Cold War with China even though most citizens haven’t recognized it.

We have to start to stand up to China. If I were president right now, I would cancel all outstanding debt over the coronavirus. I would pull all the manufacturing jobs that I could out of China and put them into other countries — certainly anything that is important we need to make in America.

A lot of you don’t remember what it was like when the U.S. was in a Cold War with Russia. People have gotten fat and lazy in the U.S. They don’t realize we have an enemy in China and they are filling of our social media with hate.

And the NBA is an important metaphor because of the Daryl Morey tweet for why we need to stand up to China and why we can’t allow our American sports leagues to become communist propaganda like we are allowing right now.

Moreover, we have Adam Silver and Lebron James bending the knee to China.

Think about this, Adam Silver said we express mutual express to China and no one talked about it.

No one mentioned it in the media.

Mutual respect. What does Adam Silver respect? Democracy book burnings? Concentration camps? Does he respect a lack of basic human rights and freedoms?
https://www.foxsports640.com/nba-store- ... e-of-jews/

Criticism over the NBA’s reported ties to China have resurfaced after a Twitter user revealed his order for a custom NBA t-shirt reading “Free Hong Kong” has been rejected.

A user named Vince says his request was met with the following message: “We are unable to customize this item with the text you have entered. Please try a different entry.”

After sharing the message on Twitter, countless basketball fans have revealed they’ve been able to order shirts featuring such messages as, “Defund Police” and “Beware of Jews.”

Daily Caller reporter Peter J. Hasson also chimed in, writing his requests for shirts reading, “Free America,” “Free Canada,” “Free Mexico” and “Free Taiwan” were also allowed.
Post Reply