Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

USA TODAY's Editorial Board: Trump is 'unfit for the presidency', http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/09/29/dont-vote-for-donald-trump-editorial-board-editorials-debates/91295020/ , dated Sept. 30th 2016 Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.

The chronology of main events in the founding of the USA as an independent country seems to be as follows (reference and extracts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States ) 1) "In the 1760s, the British government imposed a series of new taxes while rejecting the American argument that any new taxes had to be approved by the people". ["By the 1770s, thirteen British colonies contained two and a half million people along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains."] 2) "Tax resistance, especially the Boston Tea Party (1774), led to punitive laws (the Intolerable Acts) by Parliament designed to end self-government in Massachusetts. American Patriots (as they called themselves) adhered to a political ideology called republicanism that emphasized civic duty, virtue, and opposition to corruption, fancy luxuries and aristocracy." 3) "Armed conflict began in 1775 as Patriots drove the royal officials out of every colony an...

Glenn Beck apologizes to listeners for backing Ted Cruz, http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/glenn-beck-ted-cruz-interview/index.html , dated Sept. 27th 2016. A small extract from it: "Glenn Beck, a staunch Ted Cruz supporter in the 2016 GOP presidential race, interviewed the Texas senator Monday in a series of often-tense exchanges, after Cruz finally endorsed GOP standard-bearer Donald Trump." The (phone) interview with Senator Ted Cruz, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57ipQhTpDas , published Sept. 26th 2016, around 18 mins. Glenn Beck & Dana Discuss Ted Cruz Endorsing Trump | ‘Dana’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o8MJGETxKU , published Sept. 26th 2016, around 5 mins. Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.

Watch the full first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BGYYaaLrTc , around 2 hrs, published on Sept. 26th 2016. Here's a Fact check and transcript of it, http://www.npr.org/2016/09/27/495576599/fact-check-first-presidential-debate . Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.

HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT, Our endorsement is rooted in respect for her intellect, experience and courage. by New York Times Editorial Board, Sept. 24th 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/opinion/sunday/hillary-clinton-for-president.html It’s beyond debate that Donald Trump is unfit to be president, by Washington Post Editorial Board, Sept. 25th 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-beyond-debate-that-donald-trump-is-unfit-to-be-president/2016/09/25/f5926648-81b4-11e6-8327-f141a7beb626_story.html Hillary Clinton would make a sober, smart and pragmatic president. Donald Trump would be a catastrophe., Los Angeles Times Editorial Board, Sept. 23rd 2016, http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-hillary-endorsement-20160923-snap-story.html Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of ...

The contents of the relevant Facebook post of USA Senator Ted Cruz, https://www.facebook.com/tedcruzpage/posts/10154476728267464 , dated Sept. 24th 2016 are given below. This election is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Like many other voters, I have struggled to determine the right course of action in this general election. In Cleveland, I urged voters, “please, don’t stay home in November. Stand, and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket whom you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.” After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. I’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, last year, I promised to support the Republican nominee. And I intend to keep my word. Second, even though I have had areas of significant disagreement with our nominee, by any measure Hillary C...

[Please don't read this post if you don't like reading about gun violence in the USA.] Video by Wife of Keith Scott Shows Her Pleas to Police, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/us/charlotte-keith-scott-shooting-video.html , dated Sept. 23rd 2016. The article has a video link to a cell phone video, with transcription of the spoken words as captions, taken by the wife of the person, Mr. Keith Scott, who was sadly shot dead by USA police in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. I think this New York Times article gives a balanced view of the matter. The essential point of contention is whether Scott had a gun in his hand when he was shot dead by the police. That point does not get established by this video. [Here's a youtube video of the same cellphone video,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEXVtCabWQ , 2 min. 12 secs.] Scott's wife's pleas to the police to not shoot her husband followed by her fury at the police for having shot him is heart-rending. I pray to Almi...

It is a one way affair with USA Senator Elizabeth Warren giving a very hard-hitting lecture to the Wells Fargo chairman. But I think it is still worth watching, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJhkX74D10M , around 18 mins, published Sept. 20th 2016 And in this one, USA Senator Elizabeth Warren, on being questioned by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, gets into stuff related to 2008 financial crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbGyX1H-p1Q , around 11 mins, published Sept. 21st 2016

In response to a Facebook post with a comment tagging me, which asked for my view about the leading candidates for USA president, I responded (slightly edited): Sorry bro. --name-snipped--. I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in social media about the USA presidential elections. So I am not in a position to give my personal views on Clinton or Trump. However, I think it is more a Clinton team and Clinton campaign platform versus Trump team and Trump campaign platform that should be the decider for the serious USA voter. It will be people on one of these teams with the plans and approach that they have to confront the problems that USA is facing now (which is what the campaign platform is supposed to elucidate), who will sit in very powerful policy and decision making bodies in the Federal govt. of the USA, after the elections. I mean, it is not Clinton and Kaine alone OR Trump and Pence alone, that will be swept into USA federal govt. power after the electio...

I shared the following Facebook post on my Facebook status: https://www.facebook.com/brightside/posts/1013858462076230  [It points to this web link:  https://brightside.me/wonder-places/10-incredibly-interesting-maps-that-prove-our-planet-still-has-plenty-of-uninhabited-places-237060/ ], Do you think the Earth is overpopulated? Here are 10 maps proving the opposite. The post has 9 maps giving a 50-50 breakup of population in two differently shaded areas and 1 additional map. The maps are of: 1 & 2) The world - 2 maps 3) Italy 4) Australia 5) United States of America 6) Spain 7) Canada 8) Turkey 9) Northern Africa 10) France I think the maps quite clearly show the concentration of population of various countries in the world in relatively small portions of their country with most of their country being sparsely populated. I added the following comment in my Facebook share, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/1792881427595093 : Very interesting! ...

At 46:25 in Full Speech: Donald Trump HUGE Rally in Fort Myers, Florida (9/19/2016) Trump Fort Myers Speech, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi9wvQ8IHx4 , Mr. Trump says (prepared speech delivered using teleprompter, it seems), "Imagine what our country could accomplish if we started working together as one people under one God saluting one American flag." Lots of applause follows. Trump stops speaking and walks around for a few seconds before resuming his speech. Ravi: Hmm. Uniting as one people under one flag seems quite appropriate for a political leader to call for anywhere in the world I guess. But the "under one God" call from a USA presidential nominee-candidate of a major party seems pretty unusual!!! Did some browsing on this matter and got some interesting result links given below. 1) Donald Trump Really Wants America To Unite 'Under One God', http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/donald-trump-god_us_57d6e5ece4b03d2d459b93e0 , dated 13th Sept. ...

Full Speech: Donald Trump HUGE Rally in Fort Myers, Florida (9/19/2016), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi9wvQ8IHx4 , around 52 minutes. Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.

FULL SPEECH: President Obama Speech at Black Caucus Foundation in Washington DC (9/17/16), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=702wJC6O-6A , around 26 minutes. Here's the transcript for the speech: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/09/18/remarks-president-congressional-black-caucus-foundation-46th-annual . I have copy-pasted that transcript below. Remarks by the President at Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 46th Annual Phoenix Awards Dinner Walter E. Washington Convention Center Washington, D.C. 9:26 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, CBC!  (Applause.)  Thank you, Don, for the great work you are doing and that kind introduction. AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you! THE PRESIDENT:  I love you, too.  (Applause.) I want to thank the CBC Foundation, Chairman Butterfield, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and the whole CBC family.  It’s always good to be with the Conscience of Congress. I also want to congratulate tonight’...

The following seems like an interesting book: What About Me?: The Struggle for Identity in a Market-Based Society by Paul Verhaeghe, published March 2014, https://www.amazon.com/What-about-Me-struggle-market-based-ebook/dp/B00IO8KZH8 . From the book description in the amazon link above: According to current thinking, anyone who fails to succeed must have something wrong with them. The pressure to achieve and be happy is taking a heavy toll, resulting in a warped view of the self, disorientation, and despair. People are lonelier than ever before. Today’s pay-for-performance mentality is turning institutions such as schools, universities, and hospitals into businesses — even individuals are being made to think of themselves as one-person enterprises. Love is increasingly hard to find, and we struggle to lead meaningful lives. In What about Me?, Paul Verhaeghe’s main concern is how social change has led to this psychic crisis and altered the way we think about ourselves. He investi...

Ravi: The first USA presidential nominee-candidate debate (as against primary-candidate debate) for the 2016 election campaign will have only Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump (on the debate stage as candidates). "The basic failure of American politics is its rigidity — we're locked into two distinct camps, divided not just by ideology but by region, race, cultural identity, and to some extent, gender." - from the article, Why America should have more than 2 political parties (Real parties that reflected the full range of views across the country might open up Congress and politics for the better.), http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/9/16/12934792/more-than-two-parties-good , dated Sept. 16th, 2016. Johnson, Stein fail to qualify for first debate, http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/16/politics/johnson-stein-fail-to-qualify-for-first-debate/ , dated Sept. 17th 2016. A short extract from it: The candidates needed to make a 15% polling threshold across several major national polls...

The scrutiny that nominees from the two major USA parties for USA president (Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, this time), come under is extraordinary. At least, it seems that way to me, an Indian living in India. Note that I am not saying that such scrutiny is not appropriate. Just that it is quite extraordinary. See Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Give More Details on Their Health, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/us/politics/hillary-clinton-health-donald-trump.html , dated Sept. 14th 2016 Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA presidential elections. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me voting in these elections.