News Bits | | Page 22

Well-dressed with a headdress

January 6, 2011 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In their upcoming issue, GQ Britain is publishing their ranking of the world’s top 10 best dressed men on Thursday. An American makes the list at number two, and he happens to be a turban-wearing Sikh [emphasis added]: Penelope Cruz’s husband was feted by editors of the British version of the publication in its 2011 poll, with Indian-born jewellery designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia and Swedish True Blood hunk Alexander Skarsgard placing second and third, respectively. Waris Ahluwalia hails from […]

Categories: News Bits, Style • Tags: Gentleman's Quarterly, GQ, Top 10 Best Dressed Men, Vanity Fair, Waris Ahluwalia

A “nikki” footnote, cont’d

December 29, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

A recently published letter to the editor of a Philadelphia-area newspaper laments the Republican Party’s growing focus to be more inclusive of non-white minorities (at the expense of the white majority), using South Carolina’s Governor-elect Nikki Haley as an example: But the GOP leadership is just as obsessed with diversity and skin color as white liberals are; in fact, they seem almost embarrassed to be the de facto party of whites, and they work hard to change this image. They have made inroads […]

Categories: News Bits, Politics • Tags: Nikki Haley, Republican Party, South Carolina

TSA, USA cont’d

December 24, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The TSA is finding itself under increasing scrutiny. When not even a Sikh diplomat was spared from the demand to remove his turban at a US airport, the SGPC (the Sikhs’ representative body that manages Sikh shrines in India) held a demonstration outside the US Embassy in New Delhi to protest to the alleged targeting of Sikh turbans by the TSA. However, the TSA is receiving heat not just from abroad, but also from home.

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, California, Federal Flight Deck Officer, FFDO, Sacramento, SGPC, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, whistleblower

TSA, USA cont’d

December 22, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

In the Washington Post, the Sikh Coalition‘s Rajdeep Singh brings up the dubious claims of effectiveness of TSA’s AIT machines: “The TSA and [Department of Homeland Security] sort of intimated to us that if these machines were to be used as a primary form of screening and if they were so powerful that they could detect beads of perspiration, that it would obviate the need for a human screener and setting Sikhs aside for secondary screening,” he said. “But they’re […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits, Politics • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, AIT machines, GAO, Government Accountability Office, L-3 Communications, Lobbying, Sikh Coalition, Transportation Security Administration

Turbans are professional

December 17, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“The TLC couldn’t be prouder that the industry’s drivers come from all over the world,” Yassky said. “Anyone who thinks a turban wouldn’t be professional attire would be misguided.” — David Yassky, chair of the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York, assuring taxi drivers that their new dress code wouldn’t infringe on religious garb.

Categories: News Bits • Tags: David Yassky, Dress code, New York, Taxi and Limousine Commission, taxicab

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When the TSA “drops the ball”

December 9, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

It had come to my mind the other day that I hadn’t seen much more fallout from the TSA’s new aggressive screening procedures. And then today, I receive this news in my inbox: December 9, 2010 (Washington, DC) – The Sikh Coalition filed a formal complaint this week with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on behalf of Mr. Daljeet Singh Mann, a business traveler, who was forced to remove his dastaar (Sikh turban) on two separate occasions within a span of only […]

Categories: Civil Rights, News Bits • Tags: Air travel, Airport security, Daljeet Singh Mann, Racial profiling, Sacramento International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, SFO, Sikh Coalition, SMF, Transportation Security Administration, TSA, Turban

“One of the most interesting religions”

December 7, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

“They don’t believe in conversion, so instead of them trying to convert us we just talked about theological similarities and differences,” Lee said. “They also explained to us their hardships living in the U.S. like being perceived as terrorists after 9/11 even though they have no affiliation to the Middle East.” — Harding University student Amy Lee, on her visit to the Sikh Religious Society Gurdwara near Chicago, IL as part of her comparative religions class.

Categories: Interfaith, News Bits • Tags: Chicago, Harding University, Illinois, Sikh Religious Society

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Vineland, NJ gets a new Gurdwara

December 7, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Sikh community in Vineland, NJ, has just opened their new Gurdwara: The South Jersey Sikh Society – the city’s first Gurdwara – opened its doors to the local community on Sunday, December 5, 2010. The 8,520-square-foot gurdwara — a place of worship for the Sikh religion — on South Lincoln Avenue hosted hundreds of residents from across the region who came throughout the day to visit the new facility.

Categories: News Bits • Tags: Gurdwara, New Jersey, NJ, South Jersey, Vineland

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Sacramento Gurdwara among “Best of Sacramento”

December 7, 2010 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

The Sikh Temple of Sacramento was nominated by SacMag (Sacramento Magazine, available everywhere in the city) in their 2010 Best of Sacramento list: Best Community Mealtime: Sikh Temple of Sacramento’s Langar Hall Everyone’s welcome to come for a free vegetarian meal at the Langar Hall (community kitchen), where all eat together regardless of race, religion, economic status or gender. Many categories in the list are comedic, but it’s nice to see a Gurdwara be recognized about being a great feature […]

Categories: News Bits, Reports/Studies • Tags: Best of Sacramento, Gurdwara, SacMag, Sacramento, Sacramento Magazine

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Considering the experience of Sikhs in America.

Category Archives: News Bits

Well-dressed with a headdress

A “nikki” footnote, cont’d

TSA, USA cont’d

TSA, USA cont’d

Turbans are professional

When the TSA “drops the ball”

“One of the most interesting religions”

Vineland, NJ gets a new Gurdwara

Sacramento Gurdwara among “Best of Sacramento”