Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

JOHN KELLY FULL ONE-ON-ONE EXPLOSIVE INTERVIEW WITH LAURA INGRAHAM (10/30/2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUjZy9Qiegw , around 23 mins. At around 6:20 in the video, you have the TV host Ingraham asking Kelly about the fears of an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) bomb from N. Korea which, she says, could be devastating for the whole country (90% people killed) if detonated over the middle of the country. [Ravi: I really don't know how accurate Ingraham's words are. Here's a Popular Mechanics article  about EMP bomb threat  which seems to be more based on science and technology: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a28425/emp-north-korea/ , 28th Sept. 2017] . Kelly's response shows how concerned the USA is about N. Korea achieving capability of that sort. [Ravi: They are not yet there but close to it, is what I understood Kelly's response to be] . Around 18:03, Ingraham asks Kelly, "What do you pray for?" Kelly responds, "I pr...

Over the past few days, I shared some article and video links on the tragic and horrific opioid addiction epidemic in the USA, on my Facebook pages, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7 . This blog post consolidates those article and video links along with a few comments of mine. Just 2 minutes New York Times video, https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/1933144356903077/ , 27th Oct. 2017. But gives what seems to be an excellent short explanation of the opioid epidemic that has hit the USA. ------------------------------------------------ USA president Trump made a strong speech recently, about opioid addiction crisis in USA and how they plan to resolve it. Trump declared it as a public health emergency (lower than 'national emergency'). WATCH: President Trump delivers speech on opioid crisis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmDr_Vquc6A , 37 min 7 secs, published by PBS Newshour on 26th Oct. 2017 Here's the transcript of USA President Trump's speech: https:/...

Ravi: I did not have much exposure to Fats Domino. His recent passing away brought him into the spotlight, and so I was fortunate to read about him and hear and see videos/audios of him. From  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Domino : Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) was an American pianist and singer-songwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. Domino's large persona, dance hall piano playing, and tales of love and home made him Elvis Presley's top rival. By the end of his career, Domino was credited with selling more records than any other 1950s rock and roll act except Presley. Domino's humility and shyness may be one reason his contribution to the genre has been overlooked. During his career, Domino sold more than 65 million records. He had 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits...

Great to see USA Senator Bernie Sanders in this video, https://www.facebook.com/noticelpr/videos/1906822686002469/ , around 8 min 30 secs, make this visit to Puerto Rico and interact in such a human way with people who are living with the aftermath of the recent hurricane there, which includes living with no electric power! In my life in India in Mumbai, Dombivli - an outlying area of Mumbai, and Puttaparthi, I have faced a lot of regular power cuts, including power holiday during daytime on some day of the week (but not in Mumbai). That Puerto Rico is facing this crisis, for so long a period (weeks, I think), is astonishing given that it is technically a part of the USA. As Bernie Sanders said, money has been allotted for Puerto Rico to handle this hurricane aftermath situation. So let's hope and pray that things will improve quickly and that electric power will be restored to Puerto Rico. What I love about democracy is that such videos sharing real-life situation in Puer...

The Fascinating Story of How India’s First Indigenous Computers Were Built, https://www.thebetterindia.com/119136/the-fascinating-story-of-how-indias-first-indigenous-computers-were-built/ , dated 25th Oct. 2017. Ravi: The above article talks about the role of Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prasanta_Chandra_Mahalanobis , and Homi Bhabha, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homi_J._Bhabha , under first (post-independence) Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's directions for developing India's scientific (and technological) capabilities, in developing indigenous computers in India. The article states that Mahalanobis and Bhabha shared a professional rivalry. Mahalanobis founded the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Statistical_Institute , in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1931 (formally in 1932). He got a team to work on creating the first Indian indigenous computer, an analog computer, which they achieved in 1953 by cr...

This post tries to capture important aspects of USA Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to India over the past few days, as reported in social media and mainstream media. Secy Tillerson meets Indian External (Foreign) Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Above pics are courtesy:  https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/1485040048278686 (of Facebook user U.S. Embassy India). [To open pics in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window, and in new tab/window click on pic to zoom in.] Given below are some extracts (slightly edited) from "Press Availability" of Secy. Tillerson with India's External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2017/10/275091.htm [Note that Sushma Swaraj spoke in Hindi, which would have been translated to English simultaneously and made available to USA team through headphones. Here's a video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EShBI77PWAg , 28 min...

I thoroughly enjoyed this Kim Jong Un impersonator in New York city video. Around 7 mins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acpDD4eNeh8 . The guy also walks into "The Trump Building" (not Trump Tower) and asks "Have you seen Donald Trump"? What a fantastic way to lighten the crazy nuclear heat, only for a few minutes though, that's been built up between USA President Trump and North Korean President Kim Jong-Un! I enjoyed the reactions of some NYC folks in this video. Like the African-American lady in the Harlem hairdressing salon telling the impersonator to have Dennis Rodman with him. The impersonator's colleague (acting like the supreme leader's assistant) says, "He came here to find him. They are going to play some basketball tonight." [For readers who do not know about it: Dennis Rodman is an African-American retired professional basketball player, who has visited North Korea and met Kim Jong Un, with their meetings being well publicized....

*) What an all-powerful Xi Jinping means for the rest of the world, http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/25/asia/xi-jinping-china-trump/index.html , 26th Oct. 2017. Very interesting CNN view of what a powerful China under a very powerful man - Xi Jinping - could mean for the rest of the world. The article has a few embedded short videos which are also very interesting. The above article quotes James McGregor who is a China watcher and analyst, saying, "He [Xi Jinping] has this narrative of 'China was great, the foreigners ruined it, and the party has brought it back'" I (Ravi) get the impression that McGregor may have got it right, at least to some extent. To understand the term 'national rejuvenation' used by Xi Jinping quite often in his 19th Communist Party of China Congress speech recently (18th Oct. 2017), I found watching this video to be useful to understand the historical background: China's Century of Humiliation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo...

Last updated on 25th Oct. 2017 Note: This is a long post. Some readers may prefer to first skim through it before deciding whether they want to spend the time to read this long post. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an over 3 hours speech at the 19th Communist Party of China Congress on 18th Oct. 2017. Note that this Congress event is held every five years and is the most important Chinese government and communist party event. In this event, I think the biggest sub-event/item is this speech by the General Secretary which gives a report of what was achieved over the past 5 years and a plan for the future. The Congress was from 18th Oct to 24th Oct. 2017. Now this speech delivered by one man - the most powerful man in China now, Xi Jinping, heading Chinese govt., communist party and the military, I think, could be viewed as the main official central planning view of China today and its plan for the next five years! That makes this an extraordinarily vital speech for those w...