Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

The Maps That Show That City vs. Country Is Not Our Political Fault Line, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/opinion/urban-rural-united-states-regions-midterms.html , 30th July 2018 I found the article to be fascinating. However, I don't know how accurate its analysis is. Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about USA politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in USA elections.

Warning: This post deals with some horrible violence that happened in Uganda under Idi Amin. Readers who prefer not to read such stuff may please skip reading the rest of this post. end-Warning. For the past week or couple of weeks, I have forced myself to see videos and do some reading up on Idi Amin and Uganda. It started with a British video of the early 1970s covering the expulsion of Asians (mostly Indians, I guess) from Uganda with many being British passport holders and so being accommodated in Britain/UK. I forced myself to expand it to other videos and a movie on Idi Amin. I also saw PM Modi's address to Ugandan parliament (first by an Indian PM) a few days ago. This informal study of Uganda after British colonial powers withdrew in early 1960s, clearly shows me that democracy is: Oh so fragile! Uganda got so easily into horrible levels of murderous tribalism and authoritarian rule using mercenary soldiers. Some extracts from wiki page of Idi Amin, https://en.wikipe...

Firstly I would like to say that I do think that the period of emergency in India imposed by then PM Mrs. Indira Gandhi, was a big blot on Indian democracy. Also 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. An extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) : In India, "the Emergency" refers to a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country. Officially issued by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed under Article 352 of the Constitution because of the prevailing "internal disturbance", the ...

The Congo Dandies ..., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W27PnUuXR_A , around 25 mins, RT documentary, published in Nov. 2015 Definition of dandy - A man unduly concerned with looking stylish and fashionable. [Source: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dandy ] Fascinating video showing a not so uncommon human trait among men to be a dandy! The city that I was born, lived, studied and worked in for most of the first four decades of my life - Mumbai/Bombay (and surrounding towns/cities) - sure had quite a few dandies who dressed up to appear far more richer than they really were. However it was not so extreme as in this video about the Congo dandies. I think India, in general, including Puttaparthi :-) , has its share of dandies. BTW I am not being critical of them. Just sharing this reality of human society. And I have to say, dandies, add some colour and fun, sometimes, to life. Though if they are living beyond their income, their dependents may not be happy with it. P...

Saw this video: CNN Special Report: Killing John Lennon (2015), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kF-pLQ2VCY , around 42 mins. While some of the earlier videos and reports mentioned in an earlier post on this topic (Video and article links related to the tragic killing of Western pop music icon John Lennon in 1980, http://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2018/07/video-and-article-links-related-to.html ) also suggested this possibility as the twisted and very wrong notions due to which Mark David Chapman ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman ) killed John Lennon, this one gives more details on it. So I felt it appropriate to share these twisted and very wrong notions of Chapman. I mean, this is the reality of the world in which we live. People idolize celebrities and then sometimes become their murderous enemy based on some twisted notions. I think it is appropriate to know these truths of human society and so am providing those twisted and wrong notions of Mark David Chapman b...

It was wonderful and inspiring to watch this speech of former USA president Obama. It touched upon various matters related to democracy, rights of the weaker sections of society, current political atmosphere in various parts of the world, historical context etc. I think it is a superb commentary on the situation the world is in today, though I do not mean to say that Obama is right in everything he said. But most of what he said seems to based on facts and strong analysis. He brings in a lot of humour and casual man-on-the-street talk which I think makes it easier for his views to get across to people. He is undoubtedly a great orator on politics and his having been an occupant of the most powerful political office in the world, President of the USA, for eight years, gives solid ***practical*** weight to his words. Here's the video I saw: WATCH: Barack Obama delivers the annual Nelson Mandela lecture in Johannesburg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlrWhx8Spp8 , 1 hr. 25 mins, p...

Around 6:17 in the video: WATCH 🔴 President Trump - Putin HISTORIC Meeting at Finland Summit, Helsinki July 16, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We5vSlR9Krs , USA President Trump says to Russian President Putin: And (I think) the world wants to see us get along. We are the two great nuclear powers. We have ninety percent of the nuclear .. That's not a good thing. (Its) a bad thing. And I think we hopefully can do something about that. Because its not a positive force. Its a negative force. So we will be talking about that among other things. --- end President Trump quote --- Ravi: I completely support this initiative of Presidents Trump and Putin to talk about reducing their fearsome nuclear weapons power which can cause terrible destruction anywhere in the world. And USA and Russia are the two great nuclear weapon powers in this early 21st century that we live in. So they alone are in a position to lead the world towards a safer zone with less probability of catastrop...

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/2234583790091519 dated 29th July A hit song over decades. Mohd. Rafi sahab sings the male voice part of the song as only he can! The female actor role is played by Saira Banu - her debut film. [Shared video link: https://www.facebook.com/danniology/videos/1555974947861425/ Din Sara Guzara Tore Angana - Junglee (1961)] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From  https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2234472853435946  dated 29th July A Hindi film oldie goldie song .. The title words are: Gaata Rahe Mera Dil [May my heart keep on singing] Tu Hi Meri Manzil [You are my destination/goal] [Shared Video: https://www.facebook.com/kishoreonly/videos/1936508426622050/ ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From...

Last updated on 15th July 2018 Marry Yourself - Japan's Lonely Women | Journal Reporters, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g82Eu8oER_Q , around 12 mins, published by DW (Germany), in 2015 (video voice over is in English). The solo wedding as described in the video is for (Japanese) women who want to fulfill their dream of having a marriage ceremony and be dressed and photographed in the bridal dress, even if they cannot get a suitable husband. So they go through the wedding stuff but without the husband! The lady in the video seems very happy with her solo wedding. And she had the money to pay for the expenses. So the solo wedding organizing company (there must be quite a few such solo weddings for a company to be doing this work) is happy, the lady is happy, and nobody is put to any problem. Fascinating! ------ A New Yorker lady goes through the Japanese solo wedding experience and describes it here with some great pics as well: Everything but the groom: why I faked my o...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7lGC4w4A48 , 8 min 30 secs Hearty congratulations to Hima Das for running a fantastic race and not panicking when others had surged ahead in the initial 300m of the run. She just turned on the juice in the last 100m, caught up with the leaders and then broke away from them! What a run! It was also very nice to see the top three in the race - Andrea Miklos of Romania was 2nd and Taylor Manson of USA was 3rd - embrace each other at the end of the race. That's the spirit. The event was held in Tampere, Finland. Hima Das seemed so confident of herself! Great to see such an Indian youth emerge. Best wishes for her to repeat these feats in the regular woman's track events in future. And I have to say I liked her prayer gesture at the beginning of the run and her Namaskar (folded palms gesture) to the camera. She is said to be from the rice fields of Assam! Great to see the North East of India make such a notable contribution to Indian athle...

Last updated on 13th July 2018 I had shared some pics and videos related to South Korean President Moon Jae-in's recent visit to India, on Facebook. This blog post is based on those shares on Facebook. [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.] [Indian PM Narendra Modi:] Pictures from the ceremonial welcome for Mr. Moon Jae-in, the President of the Republic of Korea. Above pics and text courtesy:  https://www.facebook.com/narendramodi/posts/10160662052440165 ----- https://www.facebook.com/PresidentOfIndia/videos/431160024063662/ has a video on "Ceremonial reception of the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, at Rashtrapati Bhavan". ---- [Indian PM Narendra Modi:] A partnership powered by technology and innovation. President Moon Jae-in and I inaugurated Samsung Mobile's new production unit in Noida. This is a special moment...

CNN fact-checks Trump's claims about NATO, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dms7zi8eVE , 3 min 26 secs, published on 11th July 2018 AP FACT CHECK: Trump presses falsehoods about NATO, Germany, https://www.apnews.com/051df8e38b2b427f99e8e6002f21bec0 , 11th July 2018 FACT CHECK Germany Imports Gas From Russia. But Is It a ‘Captive’? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/world/europe/trump-germany-russia-gas.html , 11th July 2018

Here's the Facebook post and associated video: https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/videos/10161249259250725/ , 12th July 2018 (as Indian Standard Time). The video is around 45 seconds. The video has clips from a political campaign event in the USA where Mr. Trump is speaking plainly about Germany and its leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel. I felt it appropriate to transcribe the words in the video: [Mr. Trump says:] And I said, you know Angela, I can't guarantee it. But we are protecting you and it means a lot more to you than protecting us. Cause I don't know how much protection we get by protecting you. And then they go and out and they make a gas deal - oil and gas from Russia where they pay billions and billions of dollars to Russia. Okay? So they wanna protect against [be protected from] Russia, yet they pay billions of dollars to Russia and we are the schmucks [American word meaning, in this context in my view, stupid guys, fools, https://www.urbandictionary.co...

Normally I do not make public posts or comments on sensitive matters like international security alliance issues. But here I am making an exception. I am an Indian living in India who has lived in Brussels, Belgium for 15 months in the 1980s at which time it already was the NATO HQ. I have done work for German clients and have visited Germany for marketing purposes in the early 1990s (Cologne, Frankfurt). And I have changed planes at Frankfurt (without going out of the airport) many times as I was travelling to other places in Europe and USA from India and back. So in my international air travel days Frankfurt international airport was quite familiar to me. What USA president Trump said ****publicly**** to NATO leader Stoltenberg is ****shocking****. He said "Germany is totally controlled by Russia" and that Germany is captive to Russia due to its (according to him) great dependence on Russia for oil. Those sort of words have to be publicly said only if there is a lot ...

Around 7 mins, a 2015 CBN video on Japan's (de)population problem - Japan Is Dying: All Work, No Sex Means No Future, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YslIQvRH4w Hmm. In my early youth in 1980s, the big problem for India was population growth. Hum Do Hamare Do - 'We two and our two (children)' was the family planning slogan heavily advertised by the government. And the population growth issue still continues for India. Limited resources when viewed against huge population of India and more material aspirations among young Indians do indicate possibility of some tough challenges in the future. But I would never have thought then in 1980s that some top industrialized countries in the world would, in the 2010s, face a population shrinking problem along with an ageing society issue both of which have quite a negative impact on quality of life in the country. I mean, one needs youth to get infused into society on a regular basis for society to tick! And that I think hol...

Armed (Lady) Employee confronting Assailant after Brutal Attack on co-worker at Milwaukee (USA) restaurant, [Warning graphic violence is depicted in video; those who don't want to see such stuff may please skip reading the rest of this post] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-eEtFxF56g , 2 min 34 secs, published on 8th July 2018 (incident is reported to have happened on 29th June 2018). Ravi: I think this video shows very well how being armed with a gun can make the difference when confronting violent people. The brutal assailant did not get that scared even when the gun was pointed at him! The lady had to wave her gun at his face to make him withdraw! Perhaps the assailant is familiar with such gun confrontation situations. Without a gun, the lady and her co-worker who was brutally fisted in her face/head by the violent assailant, would have, in all probability, been battered by the assailant! That I think is an inescapable truth! Hats off to the courageous lady (who use...

Please note that I have a publicly neutral stand on politics of Malaysia. This post dwells on democracy and multi-religious aspects of Malaysia and is NOT in any way a criticism of any political party of Malaysia which includes the political party(ies) that was(were) previously in power in Malaysia before this 2018 election. 🇲🇾 Exclusive interview: Malaysia PM Mahathir Mohamad | Talk To Al Jazeera, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz1p33HMREA , around 25 mins, published by Al Jazeera English on 7th July 2018 Great to see a close to 93 year old Asian leader give a frank interview answering tough questions, to Al Jazeera. In the interview he is asked about ***allegations*** that a Saudi Arabian royal figure had donated a large amount of money to his political opponent's election campaign and whether that constitutes foreign interference in Malaysian democracy. Mahathir responds saying that if there is proof of involvement of Saudi Arabia government in Malaysian democracy, Mal...

Last updated on 21st July 2018 Over the past few days I saw a few videos and read a few articles about the tragic killing of the Beatles' star and Western pop music icon, John Lennon, in 1980. I did not know a lot of the details that these videos and articles provided. Don't have the time to make a proper post on this sensitive matter. But thought I should share some of the key links and give some quick thoughts of mine on it. *) John Lennon's Last Day and Death in New York City, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ68xik2pMo , 8 mins, publsihed by Inside Edition on 7th Dec. 2017 *) The Man Who Shot John Lennon (The Beatles Documentary) | Timeline, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkmaGvdJIZU , around 54 mins, published by Timeline - World History Documentaries on 6th Feb. 2018. *) Murder of John Lennon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_John_Lennon . The killer, David Chapman, talked about being heavily impressed by J.D. Salinger's book, The Catcher in th...

This tragedy seems to have started with Facebook cyberstalking and Facebook & email harassment by alleged killer, Jarrod Ramos, who is reported to be a computer engineering graduate who had previously worked for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for six years. A lady, who went to the same high school as Ramos, was contacted by Ramos over Facebook some time before 2011. The lady did not recall Ramos but found that they indeed had been together at the school in the past. They had some exchanges over Facebook and emails which later soured. She blocked Ramos on Facebook but he continued to cyberstalk her on Facebook and sent her emails with screenshots of her comments on Facebook pages other than her own. Eventually the lady complained to the police. The harassment stopped for some time but then restarted. The lady started having problems at work where she was first put on probation and then laid off. She thinks, based on some information conveyed to her by her supervisor then, th...