Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

Readers may want to see my recent post on another blog: Documenting my part auto bio with pics - school and college education certificates and marksheets, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/12/documenting-my-part-auto-bio-with-pics_28.html , 28th Dec. 2018

Readers may want to see my recent post on another blog: Documenting my part auto bio with pics - computer software industry appreciation and experience letters,  https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/12/documenting-my-part-auto-bio-with-pics_27.html , 27th Dec. 2018

Readers may want to see my recent post on another blog: Documenting my part auto bio with pics - the Visa trail as documentation of my foreign trips,  https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/12/documenting-my-part-auto-bio-with-pics.html , 26th Dec. 2018

From my recent Facebook posts, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7 [To open pic in higher resolution, right-click on pic followed by open in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.] Blue marble in largely black (empty) space with stars including our sun, and other planets etc. But it is largely empty space and black. That's what is the physical reality of our earth. Just a blue marble in the solar system, and a tiny speck in space. ---- Earthrise: What It's Like to Escape Our Planet | Op-Docs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syQi7Q-ITCE , around half an hour, published by New York Times on 5th Oct. 2018. From the video description: What is it like to see the universe in a way no one ever has before? In “Earthrise,” this week’s new Op-Doc, the astronauts of Apollo 8 tell the tale of humanity’s first journey beyond Earth’s orbit. Director Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee — who previously directed the Op-Docs “Sanctuaries of Silence,” “Vanis...

Readers may want to see my recent post on another blog: Some old pics of me (Ravi S. Iyer),  https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/12/some-old-pics-of-me.html , 25th Dec. 2018

Usually, I avoid posting such sensitive USA politics related stuff. But here I am making an exception as the judge ensured that truth prevails by directly asking the person concerned (a retired military general) whether he claims that he was tricked into making a guilty plea. A small extract from the New York Times Editorial Board article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/opinion/editorials/michael-flynn-sentencing.html , dated 18th Dec. 2018 : “I cannot recall an instance of a court ever accepting a guilty plea from someone who did not maintain he was guilty,” Judge Sullivan said, “and I do not intend to start today.” Chastened, Mr. Flynn told the judge that nobody tricked him, that he lied and that he knew he shouldn’t have. --- end extract --- Ravi: That's what a judge can do! Ensure that truth is declared and upheld. Miscarriage of justice is a horrendous thing. By directly asking the accused about this, the judge has ensured that on this vital guilty plea point, t...

The new dividing line in Western politics, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-yellow-vest-protests-add-to-a-new-dividing-line-in-western-politics/2018/12/13/f468b8d8-ff1d-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html , 13th Dec. 2018 The article talks about rural backlash against urban elites in the political arena in USA, Britain, France and Belgium (the latter two having had the 'yellow vest' protests recently). The article claims that rural populations feel looked-down upon by the urbanites, and so the former have "deep resentment" towards elite urbanites. It quotes a USA census article of 2015 that over 60 percent of USA population lives in cities and occupies only 3.5 percent of the land, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-33.html . These cities are doing well as compared to rural areas which are facing lots of problems. The article quotes a study that use of robots in industries reduces employment and that robots are being used in t...

Interesting! In my youth in Bombay, I never imagined that I would see a Bombay businessman's daughter acquire such a celebrity status and have such a lavish wedding. BTW during my software professional days, I recall a visit I made to Dhirubhai Ambani (Mukesh Ambani's father) company's (Reliance) Patalganga plant for some presentation/meeting. They had Wang computers there and I was well versed with Wang Computer software. I think this video captures the rise of the Indian merchant princes and princesses to world fame. Note that some Indian origin merchant families have made it big in business in Western countries. But they are essentially foreign business tycoons. Mukesh Ambani and his father Dhirubhai Ambani's businesses have primarily been based in India, and both of them have essentially been Bombay based business tycoons. Another fascinating aspect of the super-rich Indian merchant princes and princesses class is that most of them are educated in top USA unive...

The two pics below, taken from this ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com blog today (17th Dec. 2018), give the details. This blog holds posts that typically are not related to spirituality & religion and are not in-depth technical posts (except prior to Sep. 2011), as I have other blogs for such posts (after Sept. 2011). Note that the second pic above gives the top ten countries from whom visits have been made to this ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com blog. The view counts for both the pics seem to be for the period from Sept. 2011 to today (17th Dec. 2018). The first post on the blog was made in Aug. 2007 but at that time the blog name was different (gabbarsing.blogspot.com or something like that). I think I changed the name to ravisiyermisc from gabbarsing in Sept. 2011.  Also note that I did not post much on the blog till Aug. 2014. The number of posts made prior to Aug. 2014 are only 10. Whereas from Aug. 2014 to 17th Dec. 2018, around 730 posts were put up. The pic belo...

Last updated on 16th Dec. 2018 Michael Cohen says he's 'done being loyal to President Trump', https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/14/politics/michael-cohen-abc-interview/index.html Hmm. This may turn out to be a big issue for Mr. Trump. However, Mr. Trump refutes Mr. Cohen's statements and says in these recent (13th Dec. 2018) tweets: "I never directed Michael Cohen to break the law. He was a lawyer and he is supposed to know the law. It is called “advice of counsel,” and a lawyer has great liability if a mistake is made. That is why they get paid. Despite that many campaign finance lawyers have strongly......", https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1073205176872435713 "....stated that I did nothing wrong with respect to campaign finance laws, if they even apply, because this was not campaign finance. Cohen was guilty on many charges unrelated to me, but he plead to two campaign charges which were not criminal and of which he probably was not.....

The great Mohammed Rafi sahab was, I have to say, my favourite singer and has given me so much joy with his songs over decades. Here's him singing live the 1966 movie Teesri Manjil song Tumne mujhe dekha. The video is interspersed with still pics of great singers and heroes/heroines of Hindi film world of those days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN959Zm6at4 , around 2 mins. Mohd. Rafi sahab, aapko mera salaam! ---- Here's the song in the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHfx7R53N1g (longish, around 6 mins, as there is some sub-plot). ---- Seems to be a Pakistani channel and a Pakistani singer (his name seems to be Khalid Baig) singing it in 2015. Great rendition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOFh33ukOBI ---- Great orchestra and singer (Javed Ali) rendition in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onV-Dik-qDw ---- A nice rendition perhaps in 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmGTauoLvSY ---- Young guy gives decent rendition even if the support ...

From my FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2361377724078791 , 8th Dec. 2018 Hmm. So should I use (Jala) Neti for clearing my sinuses? I do it occasionally using Amruta water in Puttaparthi. ... What's clear is that if I want to be really safe then I should boil and cool that water before using it for Jala Neti. Any readers who use Jala Neti? What do you think about this? "Woman dies from brain-eating amoeba after using neti pot", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb662O3W4-0 , 1 min 19 secs published by USA Today on 7th Dec. 2018 ---- In response to a comment that partially said "They do tell you to use boiled water.", I wrote (slightly edited): Thanks --name-snipped--. I was told to use it with salt, which is what I do. ... Maybe I will use boiled and cooled water from now. ---- In response to comment, I wrote (slightly edited): I think in these matters, medical science does not have a crisp black-or-white view. I have read of such...

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer). ============================================================== https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2377325399150690 Eddie Murphy with all his 10 kids (and wife, her mom and Eddie's mom) - https://www.instagram.com/p/Br0bsU2A6Cq/ . For middle class Indians of my generation, one or two kids in a family is where it stops, with three kids being a rarity. So it is quite fascinating for me to see the USA film star have such a big family in today's age. For more on the pic, see https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2018/12/27/eddie-murphy-poses-with-all-10-of-his-kids-for-the-first-time-pic/23627955/ =============================================================== https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2379144605635436 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6kV8BpbR8g , 1 min. 28 secs. Rain could not deny the Indian cricket team the victory they deserved ...

From my FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2363818267168070 , dated 11th Dec. 2018. A private Beyonce concert just tells you how much money power the Ambanis have! I guess these are like the royal weddings, royalty in Europe have. The rich industrialists/business magnates of India are India's royalty now. And I think this is similar to the USA. And like famous yesteryear USA money kings like Rockefeller (Standard Oil man), the Ambanis are into significant amount of philanthropy too. [This link is shared: Crazy rich Asian wedding – India abuzz over marriage of Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha to Anand Piramal, https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2177356/crazy-rich-asian-wedding-india-abuzz-over-marriage-could-be-among-most , 11th Dec. 2018 ----- In my above mentioned FB post, a comment was made: "Just think what good could have been done with that kind of money...". I (Ravi) responded (slightly edited): Well, --name-snipped--, live and let ...

Awesome rendition of the 1964 Dosti Hindi film emotional tear-jerker and deeply touching song - Chahunga main tujhe saanj savere - by Javed Ali and HemantKumar musical group in 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKZ_cWhyQTU , around 5 mins. The original singer is Mohd. Rafi sahab. --- The original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1CLFK9T028 from the movie (Dosti, 1964), 4 min. 16 secs. --- Sonu Nigam sings it live in Pakistan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRcAZxDn9dI --- Awesome but short clip. of the Great Man himself, Mohd. Rafi, singing it live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SPaSUpPr_8 ---

Nice Hindi couplet about victory and defeat. It was said recently by an outgoing CM (Chief Minister) of an Indian state who was CM for 13 years (from 2005) and is reportedly from a poem by Shiv Mangal Singh (Suman). Hindi: Kya haar mein, kya jeet mein, kinchit nahin bhaybhit main, kartavya path par jo bhi mila, yeh bhi sahi woh bhi sahi My rough English translation: Whether it is in victory or whether it is in defeat, not scared in the least am I; Whatever is got in the path of duty, this (good) is also fine, that (bad) is also fine. Please note that I am publicly neutral in Indian politics.

A small extract from the article, Google grilled in Congress, https://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/google-grilled-in-congress/article25726227.ece , 12th Dec. 2018, is given below: "Governments around the world are becoming increasingly unnerved by the power being amassed by major technology companies with the dominance of Facebook in social networking, Google in search and Amazon in e-commerce raising the most concerns." Then the article talks about the specter of President Trump and Congress getting anti-trust regulators to cut down the power of these companies. It refers to the history of American super-rich man of late 19th and early 20th century, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company being broken into smaller companies by a US Supreme Court decision in 1911 that "reshaped the business landscape". Ravi: One thing is very clear to me now from the parts of the USA Congress hearings that I have seen of Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and now Sunda...

Last updated on 13th Dec. 2018 I think Sundar Pichai, an India born software techie, now Google CEO, must have been quite distressed to be confronted by Alex Jones and another person, while he was going to the hall in the House of Representatives for his hearing with the Judiciary committee. I think I can understand his unenviable position in such matters and so sympathize with him, as I am an India born former software techie. Now this video has not only that confrontation but some other very harsh words from Alex Jones about Google, after Sundar Pichai has entered the room, and Alex Jones & co. are left in the passage way (I don't want to say it here but it can be heard in the linked video). In the recent past, Alex Jones' channels have been banned on many social media channels. I think this includes Google owned Youtube. I think, but am not sure, that the stated reasons are that his channels have violated their norms with respect to hate speech. Now this would ha...

Former USA Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barrack Obama in a selfie pic. Above pic courtesy:  https://www.facebook.com/reggie.paul.35/posts/10156406378906970 , dated 1st September 2018 One of the fascinating things about USA Presidents that I have observed from when I was in my teens (from Jimmy Carter, 1977 to 1981), which I think is reflective of USA's democratic (I mean democracy-wise and not Democratic Party wise) heritage, is the friendly connect ability with the people, at least their supporters, that they had/have. It was/is not a solemn and respectful, even fearful, of power kind of thing which is what is the norm in Asia, including India. I think that unless they demonstrated that friendly connect ability, they would not have won the presidency! I think, the American public expects that of their presidents and so only people with such ability can make it to becoming President. This pic shows that friendly connect ability of 3 former US Presidents - ...

Former USA president George W. Bush eulogy for his father: Touching with a lot of frank talk and humour! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrRzED2vOHA , 12 min. 26 secs. CNN interview with Colin Powell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgZPUlov6IA , slightly over 10 mins. Shares a lot of inner info. about major world events involving former US President George H. W. Bush. While I am publicly political neutral about USA politics, I have to say that over the years that I have read about Colin Powell and seen him on video interviews like this one, I have formed a very positive view of him. James Baker eulogy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfpqKVXMcyU , around 10 mins. James Baker on CNN about how George H.W. Bush spent his last day, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CB5UtSx9cg , around 10 mins.

The Friendship That Made Google Huge; Coding together at the same computer, Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat changed the course of the company—and the Internet, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/12/10/the-friendship-that-made-google-huge , 10th Dec. 2018 issue Ravi: Pretty computer techie stuff but if you can handle it, then this article is a great read about two of Google's best technical brains. The article states that Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat are Google Senior Fellows - Level 11, and are Google's first and only Level 11's (as of now). Level 1 is the bottom level IT support staff, according to the article, and level 11 is the highest technical grade/level in Google, as of now. Dean and Ghemawat used pair-programming technique, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pair_programming , where both worked together on one computer. As a former programmer/software developer, I find it intriguing that these top technical fellows of Google extensively used pair-programming fo...

This is a 2014 youtube video published by ABC News: Colorado Restaurant Staff Proudly Open-Carries Handguns, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb1VldFpRG8 , 7 min. 44 secs. This restaurant continues in the same way in 2018 as per article: Armed and ready to feed you: Shooters Grill in Rifle serves up barbecue with a gun on the side, https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/22/shooters-grill-rifle-waitresses-guns/ , 22nd June 2018 This is in a town called Rifle! I think such stuff can happen in our early 21st century, only in the USA! It is like the Old West in here, says the owner lady of Shooters Grill. She also says, "My firearms have nothing to do with the amazing hamburgers that we cook." The lady and her husband own the restaurant. They have four children. A deputy (police officer) of Colorado who lost his nephew in the Aurora, Colorado theatre mass shooting in 2012, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting , says, "This is America. They are allowed to do...

Last updated on 3rd Dec. 2018 A freaky spoof song on being Indian, with some Mumbai and Maharashtra touches, which I think Shah Rukh Khan and team do well - at least I enjoyed it. It shows the ugly and the beautiful, the crooked and the straight, the bad and the good of Indians. It is titled, "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" meaning Yet, the heart is Indian, and is the title song of the Hindi film with same name, released in 2000. The music is peppy and the singer Udit Narayan does a great job - I would love to see him do a live rendition of it in an orchestra. So here's the freaky spoof song (guys who tend to take offence at humourously critical views of Indians should skip seeing the video; BTW I am an Indian - My heart, for sure, is Hindustani :-) ) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1yeukkQTOg , 3 min. 20 secs. ... The song seems to have become popular as an Indian Republic Day / Independence Day dance sequence song for school children. Here's one such schoo...

Note: Readers who do not like to read about gun violence may please skip reading rest of this post. These are based on my comments on an FB post elsewhere. Just read this: Man accidentally shoots self in groin inside Buckeye Walmart, https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/southwest-valley-breaking/2018/11/28/man-accidentally-shoots-himself-groin-inside-buckeye-walmart/2143635002/ , 28th Nov. 2018. So he will survive. That's good news. I have never held a real gun in my life. So maybe my question is really naive. But I would presume the gun would have a safety catch which would have been on. There is no mention of that in the report! Hard to believe that a guy was so casually carrying a loaded gun which went off accidentally in this fashion. I mean, it seems to be just way too irresponsible! ---- Did some browsing on it as I just wanted to know more about such scary situations. I mean, it is one thing for kids who are playing with guns to accidentally shoot them. Bu...

From my recent Facebook posts: Mrs Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel (1968): (Only audio), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C1BCAgu2I8 , around 4 mins. ---- Sittin' on the dock of a bay by Otis Redding (1968), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISxskvJ9FwI , around 3 min. ---- Joan Baez - The night they drove old dixie down (1971), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKrdbCbAxZ0 , 3 min 20 secs. ---- Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound (1966): Only audio, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9wd9bS1FM , 2 min. 30 secs. ---- Beatles - Yellow Submarine (1969): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2uTFF_3MaA , 2 min. 45 secs. ---- Pink Floyd - We don't need no education (1979); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38Y81FBEcQ , 3 min. 26 secs. ---- Beatles - Yesterday (1965): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSuVCyT63II , 2 mins. ---- Beatles - Let it Be (1970); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xDzVZcqtYI , around 4 mins. ---- Abba - Money, money, money (1976); https://www...

From my recent Facebook posts: Brown Girl In The Ring by Boney M (1978). This song was very popular among Bombay (Mumbai) English Pop Music listeners of the late 70s and early 80s. I have heard the audio so many times then. But I had not seen the video renditions of it. So it was pleasure to see a couple of them now: a) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywA_aZp1Vd8 b) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiX2PbrBXCQ By the rivers of Babylon, Ma Baker, Love for Sale, Daddy Cool are some of the other big hits of Boney M that I had heard many times in those days. But I think the biggest hit in my Bombay circles was Brown Girl In The Ring. The lyrics did not make such sense for us guys but nobody was bothered about that - the music and voice was great. And I think the Brown Girl bit appealed to us brown skin guys :-). By the rivers of Babylon with lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz6LRBLPKSM Another rendition of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QUi8MFElq0 ---- Whitney H...

Harvard Political Science Prof at its JFK school of govt. Graham Allison's straight talk about prospect of Great Powers war between established top power USA and rising power China. Around 19 mins, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XewnyUJgyA4 , published 20th Nov. 2018.

Readers may want to see my recent post on another blog: US President Trump hosts Diwali event in White House; Am thankful to President Trump for words of support for religious pluralism,  https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2018/11/us-president-trump-hosts-diwali-event.html , 14th Nov. 2018

Last updated on 14th Nov. 2018 Major update:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/us/politics/trump-macron-france.html states that French President Macron did ****NOT**** say that a European army was required to defend against the USA. The above article states, " In his tweet, Mr. Trump chose to use a distorted version of what Mr. Macron said in the interview, even though the French president explained over the weekend what he actually said. Mr. Macron had told the interviewer that Europe needed to defend itself against cyberattacks that originate in a variety of places, including Russia, China and even the United States. Only later in the interview did he suggest building a European army. " Hmm. So Mr. Trump seems to have jumped the gun. Ideally he should apologize and delete the tweet. But I doubt if Mr. Trump will even delete the tweet. I am so glad to see this NYT report clearly stating that French President Macron did not say what Mr. Trump alleged, i.e. Macron ...

Please note that I have a PUBLICLY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian political leaders which may include leaders in government currently and those not in government. I am an Indian citizen and resident of India. I do vote in Indian elections but I keep who I vote for as a private matter. I should also say that I am a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India. Shri Jairam Ramesh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jairam_Ramesh , http://www.elections.in/political-leaders/jairam-ramesh.html , born 1954, is an Indian political leader. He was a Member of (Indian) Parliament representing Andhra Pradesh (my state) in the Rajya Sabha (Upper house of Indian Parliament) from June 2004 to June 2016. Shri Ramesh had been Union Minister of state (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests from May 2009 to July 2011. He was also Union Minister for Rural Development and Union Minister for Drinking Water and S...

Kishore Kumar sings it in a suitably mad way. That was a rare genius that Kishore Kumar had. Amitabh acts it out very well. Not the angry young man role which is how he burst onto Hindi film stardom, but as a mad, crazy in love guy with lots of self-deprecating slapstick comedy. I saw the movie either in 1977 or 1978, if I recall correctly, when I would have been 15 or 16 years old. But I have such vivid recollection of having seen this movie then. It was a multi-starrer - 3 top heroes and 3 heroines and a pretty good villain cast as well. It also had a multi-faith harmony theme with the three heroes being raised in Christian, Islam and Hindu faiths. I think it was advertised very heavily. It was produced and directed by Manmohan Desai and was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year. For more on the movie, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amar_Akbar_Anthony .  Here's the song: Around 5 mins, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl2T-Itb7WQ ---- In the same film, Mohd. Rafi...

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer). FB post of mine,  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2351453788404518 , dated 27th Nov. 2018: USA  President Trump: "On the ten-year anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, the U.S. stands with the people of India in their quest for justice. The attack killed 166 innocents, including six Americans. We will never let terrorists win, or even come close to winning!" Source: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1067142262545674240 , 26th Nov. 2018. My tweet response to him: "Thank you Mr. President of the USA, for your determined fight against terrorists. - From an Indian resident who was born, educated and worked for a living in Mumbai and so loves Mumbai.", https://twitter.com/RaviSaiIyer/status/1067308677189709824 ... FB post of mine,  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2351070535109510 , dated 27th Nov. 2018 shares Maharashtra Chief ...