Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

Last updated on 11th July 2018 From https://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-you-know-leaving-the-white-house/ "When his eight years as President of the United States ended on January 20, 1953, private citizen Harry Truman took the train home to Independence, Missouri, mingling with other passengers along the way. He had no secret service protection. His only income was an Army pension." From https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/opinion/02iht-edjacoby.4775315.html 'When Harry Truman left the White House in 1953, historian David McCullough records, "he had no income or support of any kind from the federal government other than his Army pension of $112.56 a month. He was provided with no government funds for secretarial help or office space, not a penny of expense money." One of the reasons Truman and his wife moved back into their far-from-elegant old house in Independence, Missouri, "was that financially they had little other choice."' ---- Ra...

India's huge solar ambitions could push coal further into shade, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/30/indias-huge-solar-ambitions-could-push-coal-further-into-shade , 30th June 2018 Ravi: This is really heartening to note, coming from a UK newspaper. I do recall that some years earlier perhaps around 2012 as I was catching up with world events and issues after Sathya Sai bodily passing away in April 2011, I saw that global warming/climate change was being flagged as the big, big danger to the entire world. And in that scenario, India's industrial and societal growth and its plan to use more coal for the electric power needed by that growth was viewed as a major major threat to the world's efforts to combat global warming/climate change. I felt quite bad about that. Indian government was talking about 'clean coal' but mainstream media articles, especially from USA, were not so positive about supposedly clean 'clean coal' and argued for NO coal ins...

I enjoyed a line I heard from the USA FBI head Mr. Christopher Wray in a video of a recent USA Congress hearing. "I am not really a twitter guy"! :-) These USA law enforcement agency heads sure know how to handle questions in such public USA Congress hearings. Hats off to their professionalism! Here's the video: Rosenstein and Wray testify on 2016 election | Full hearing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TBJB93jMZ8 , streamed live on 28th June 2018. The line is spoken slightly after 4 hrs 37 mins 45 seconds into the video.

When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer). From  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2197662257117006 dated 30th June 2018 India's huge solar ambitions could push coal further into shade, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/30/indias-huge-solar-ambitions-could-push-coal-further-into-shade, 30th June 2018 Ravi: This is really heartening to note, coming from a UK newspaper. I do recall that some years earlier perhaps around 2012 as I was catching up with world events and issues after Sathya Sai bodily passing away in April 2011, I saw that global warming/climate change was being flagged as the big, big danger to the entire world. And in that scenario, India's industrial and societal growth and its plan to use more coal for the electric power needed by that growth was viewed as a major major threat to the world's efforts to combat global warming/climate change. I felt quite bad about that. Indian ...

Last updated on 25th June 2018 [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.] ================================================ A correspondent wrote over email (and was OK with sharing): Lovely pictures. (The lions looked a bit moth-eaten!) --- Terry Reis Kennedy wrote over email (and was OK with sharing):  So exciting!  I like the colors of the materials....Thank you, Ravi Sai Ram ---

Last updated on 25th June 2018 [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.] ================================================================ Terry Reis Kennedy wrote over email (and was OK with sharing): What wonderful photos...What a lovely experience for your relatives. Sai Ram, Ravi

Here's the youtube video for this country music song which also has the lyrics in the description: Colet Selwyn - This Ole House (Live), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCeEXqca-Bc , 2 min 11 secs, published 24th Feb. 2017. Fantastic! BTW the guy's name is Colet Selwyn and this link, https://bookofachievers.com/articles/tamil-boy-from-india-silences-the-judges-by-his-super-deep-bass-voice-at-the-voice-uk-show , reports that he is studying biomedical engineering at Glasgow University, UK. Here's one song version's lyrics page:  http://interlyrics.com/song-lyrics/3980510-624414/This-Ole-House . Here's Colet Selwyn singing it in early 2016 in The Voice UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVnEslY3jqw , 1 min. 43 secs. And here we have Stuart Hamblen singing it in 1954 as per video description (only audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WhLhF12TBE , around 3 mins. BTW I came across this song and Colet Selwyn on my Facebook wall as a Facebook friend shared a...

Given below are a few videos related to the event: President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un (Sign) a Declaration of Friendship, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgTDwhu_tiA , published by The White House on 12th June 2018, 5 min. 48 secs See the promotional video the White House made for the Trump and Kim Jong-un summit, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVVFARIR0Tc , 4 min. 11 secs. Kim Jong Un, Trump meet in person for the first time, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mcyad6g-K6Q , published by ABC News on 11th June 2018, 5 min 3 secs. (Note that the voice-over is in Korean): KCTV documentary on Kim Jong Un's trip to Singapore, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foc4VgKAVrM , 24 mins 21 secs. I could not follow virtually any of the voice-over words but the visuals told a big story. This New York Times video published on 28th Nov. 2017 shows how furious and war-like the anger was in North Korea against the USA in or around end September 2017 (voice-over mentions en...

Last updated on 14th June 2018 Comment I put up on USA President Trump's FB post: https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/posts/10161121391570725 , 12th June 2018, with caption "Historic summit with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea." and having some pics of his meeting with North Korean leader, Chairman Kim Jong Un : So far so good! My prayers to God to ensure that nuclear war is prevented on planet earth, the only planet we humans have. All the best to USA President Donald J. Trump and North Korea Chairman Kim Jong Un and their teams, to ensure that nuclear war is prevented and that both countries have peaceful and harmonious relations with each other. Aum Shanti Shanti Shantihi! [Om Peace, Peace, Peace!] From: Ravi S. Iyer from India ----- This seems like a well thought out and well balanced article from Victor Cha, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Cha , a former USA White House National Security Council director for Asia (under George W. Bush presidenc...

Around 1 min 45 secs, Man repeatedly rams SUV, jumps on roof in bizarre road rage incident, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKslHFsw-Kc , published by CBS News on 6th June 2018. This was really freaky. I don't think I have seen a video capturing this level of road rage consuming a person. Even the police were waiting for the guy to let off his steam as he stomped on the car standing on its (front) hood and later roof!

This happened a few days back in the USA. Quite freaky but fortunately no one hurt (except the driver of the runaway armoured vehicle when he got tased by the police). Police chase stolen armoured vehicle in Virginia, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbYvzT80wV0 published by Guardian News, 48 secs. A video report on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFI8gVgHepE published by Daily Mail, 1 min. 45 secs. I did some browsing for other such incidents and came up with this video where a guy stole a real tank and used it to crush cars and vehicles. Ultimately he got cornered and was killed by the police: Stolen tank rampage (in San Diego, USA), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnUoUKEIGoo , seems to be a video clip captured from Discovery channel, published Oct. 8th 2011, 3 min. 24 secs.