Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

USA - Life-threatening heart attack leaves teacher with $108,951 bill, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/08/27/npr-life-threatening-heart-attack-leaves-teacher-with108951-bill , 27th Aug. 2018 Ravi: His life got saved. That's the great thing. But even after being orally told that his insurance would cover his hospital bill, he got billed over 100,000 dollars. The guy is a 44 year old teacher with kids. He said, "They're going to give me another heart attack stressing over this bill," .. "I can't pay this bill on my teacher salary, and I don't want this to go to a debt collector." What a very complex thing this health insurance stuff is! If you don't figure it out correctly, your life can get really messed up  even if you have some decent job. ------------------ Some more thoughts of mine on this: Health insurance systems that I saw and read about in the USA in the 80s and 90s have slowly and steadily made way into upper middle class...

Besides high medical care costs that threaten the happiness and peace of mind of poor and middle class families in USA and India, the other big problem for the poor and middle class, both in USA and India, is student debt. I am very disappointed to read this news article, Student Loan Watchdog Quits, Says Trump Administration 'Turned Its Back' On Borrowers, https://www.npr.org/2018/08/27/642199524/student-loan-watchdog-quits-blames-trump-administration , 27th Aug. 2018. The student loan ombudsman, Seth Frotman, said in his resignation letter: "Unfortunately, under your leadership, the Bureau has abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting" .. "Instead, you have used the Bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America." The consumer mentioned above is the student in US universities who has taken a student loan! The student loan industry volume is US $1.5 trillion! I am very worried about pred...

This article is by The Hindu's London correspondent, Vidya Ram: In memory of a 200-year-old massacre, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/in-memory-of-a-200-year-old-massacre/article24780937.ece , 25th Aug. 2018 It covers the Peterloo massacre on 16th August 1819. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre The Peterloo Massacre occurred at St Peter's Field, Manchester, England, on 16 August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000–80,000 who had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation. The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 had resulted in periods of famine and chronic unemployment, exacerbated by the introduction of the first of the Corn Laws. By the beginning of 1819, the pressure generated by poor economic conditions, coupled with the relative lack of suffrage in Northern England, had enhanced the appeal of political radicalism. In response, the Manchester Patriotic Union, a group agitating for parliamentary reform, o...

As video game tournament went on, these gunshot sounds were real, https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/27/us/jacksonville-madden-tournament-shooting/index.html , 27th Aug. 2018 I am trying to make some sense of this. A 24 year old gamer is reported to have participated in a video gaming event in Florida, USA. At the event, perhaps as he got upset with something, he is alleged to have used a real gun or guns and fired many shots which killed two people and have injured nine. He later turned the gun on himself and killed himself. Well, life is a game. But this is certainly NOT the way to play the game of life. Killing and injuring people with a gun because you got upset with something in a computer/video gaming tournament!!! And then, as he was not able to face the worldly consequences of his act, killing himself!!! I mean, we are worried about guys in the USA whipping out guns and killing people out of anger at losing a job, marital or romantic relationship problems, out of hatred o...

Gave regular warnings to Kerala, Tamil Nadu tells SC, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gave-regular-warnings-to-kerala-tamil-nadu-tells-sc/article24774196.ece , 24th Aug. 2018 According to above report, Tamil Nadu top officials told the Supreme Court of India that Tamil Nadu "duly informed Kerala since the water level in the Dam reached +136 ft. Thereafter, when the water level reached +138 ft., +140 ft., +141 ft. and +142 ft., suitable warnings were issued and the quantum of discharge was also intimated. Thus the State took all the required measures before water was released from the dam." Tamil Nadu said, "The allegation that action was taken by the Respondent State (Tamil Nadu) only after the water level in the dam crossed the permitted storage of +142 ft., is denied". Tamil Nadu said in its affidavit that Kerala had released water from (some of, I guess) its dams in the first week of August, whereas Mullaperiyar dam water was released only in August...

T.N.’s sudden release of water from Mullaperiyar caused floods, Kerala tells Supreme Court, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/tns-sudden-release-of-water-from-mullaperiyar-caused-floods-kerala-tells-supreme-court/article24762987.ece , 23rd Aug. 2018, updated 24th Aug. 2018 The article says that a top officer of Kerala government told the Supreme court that Kerala's water management related officials had requested Tamil Nadu Mullaperiyar dam water to be released gradually. The Kerala top officer told the Supreme Court, "The request was made to facilitate the district administration and State Disaster Management Authority to get sufficient time to evacuate people so that they would not be hit by the flash floods in their sleep in the stealth of the night". But (according to Kerala officer(s)) Mullaperiyar dam water was “suddenly discharged by opening all the 13 shutters to Idukki downstream at 2.40 a.m. on August 15. Around 9,000 cusecs of water was let o...

Firstly, just so that nobody misunderstands my stand on such matters, I unequivocally condemn attacks on Muslims and those who are mistakenly viewed as Muslims, in USA, simply because they are wearing a turban and have a longish beard. Secondly, this post deals with graphic violence and so readers who do not want to read such matters may please skip reading this post. I think the anti-Muslim feeling in the USA has grown now to a level that Indians in India (like me) come to know of it, through media reports on attacks on Sikhs in USA, who due to their turban and beard, seem to get mistaken to be Muslims. While I have not provided the links below, there are Indian mainstream media articles that I have seen on at least one of the two incidents mentioned below. This 2 minute video is graphic stuff, but this is the reality that people who outwardly look like Muslims (turban and beard) may face in some parts of USA today. Hate Crime Against 71 Year Old Sikh Man | Sahib Singh | Mant...

Weird but still fascinating article about a Sathyanarayana Iyer in Bangalore who officially changed his name to Regret Iyer. He got many rejections from print media outlets for his articles (and cartoons and photographs) which he collected and displayed, leading to an article being printed about his rejections, titled "Regret Iyer". The guy seems to have liked that and so changed his name officially to Regret Iyer! His journalistic ambitions got rewarded later on as his 'citizen journalist' style articles and photographs started getting accepted by some print media outlets. The Indian man who changed his name to Regret, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42091967 , 27th Nov. 2017

8th Aug. 2018 (some say 9th Aug.) was the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quit_India_Movement : The Quit India Movement, or the India August Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British Rule of India.[1] The Cripps Mission had failed, and on August 8th 1942, Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan. The All-India Congress Committee launched a mass protest demanding what Gandhi called "An Orderly British Withdrawal" from India. Even though it was wartime, the British were prepared to act. Almost the entire leadership of the Indian National Congress was imprisoned without trial within hours of Gandhi's speech. Most spent the rest of the war in prison and out of contact with the masses. The British had the support of the Viceroy...

This post is based on a recent comment I made on my Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2248130752070156 Delhi: Day after kanwarias vandalise car, police claim vehicle occupants slapped one of them, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/delhi-day-after-kanwarias-vandalise-car-police-claim-vehicle-occupants-slapped-one-of-them-5297763/ , 9th Aug. 2018 In India, car drivers have to fear the mob. This is the key Delhi police statement from above article - '“During enquiry by ACP/Punjabi Bagh, it revealed that one of the kanwarias was pushed by the said vehicle, which resulted in heated arguments between kanwarias and occupants of the car. It also came to notice that one of the kanwarias was slapped by the occupants of the car, which further agitated the kanwarias and they started damaging the car…,” said the Delhi Police statement released today.' Ravi: I think it was foolish of the occupant of the car to have slapped one of the group of people of ...

From my Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2247323095484255 The pits! I get furious/freak out when I read about child sex molesters. But this is the pits! And that it happened in a prosperous and materially well developed country and involved its citizens, really, really baffles me. German couple who sold son to paedophiles on darknet jailed, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/07/german-couple-who-sold-son-to-paedophiles-on-darknet-jailed .

Warning: The video linked below refers to some threats of serious violence. Readers who do not like to see or read such stuff may please skip reading rest of this post. Threats made to two CNN journalists and some MSNBC journalists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJo7gje6vo , around 3 mins, published by CNN on 5th Aug. 2018. Investigative journalists do get threatened. I think it is an occupational hazard of that profession. But it seems to have gone up now in the USA, as compared to earlier. My considered view is that USA president Trump should issue a statement/tweet that he condemns such threats of violence made against USA media, even if such media write critically of him. I think that's what's expected of the top man in a democratic country, whether such a democracy is in North America, Europe or Asia (don't know enough about democracies in other continents to comment). President Trump is publicly critical of many sections of the USA media and I think he has...

Mrs Indira Gandhi’s eyes and ears, RK Dhawan knew too much but kept silent, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/mrs-indira-gandhis-eyes-and-ears-rk-dhawan-knew-too-much-but-kept-silent-5294967/ . In circles of power that tend to be authoritarian, the Personal Assistant (P.A.) and Personal Secretary (P.S.) to the main power figure, sometimes become major power centres themselves! A definition of authoritarianism is appropriate here. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism : Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms. Individual freedoms are subordinate to the state and there is no constitutional accountability under an authoritarian regime.[1] ... [Reference:] 1. Sekiguchi, Masashi. Government and Politics - Volume I. EOLSS Publications. p. 92. ISBN 9781905839698. Retrieved 26 December 2016. --- end wiki extract --- Ravi: But the power of the P.A. and P.S. is a reflected power. Once the ma...

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. I have been reading former USA FBI director James Comey's "A Higher Loyalty" book in fits and bursts. I just finished chapter 11, 'Speak or Conceal'. I had finished reading chapter 10, 'Roadkill', a few days ago. These two chapters deal with his actions as FBI director in the Hillary Clinton email investigation which played a significant role in the 2016 USA presidential campaign. If I recall correctly, Hillary Clinton even views James Comey's public announcements about the investigation as a key reason for her surprising defeat in the 2016 elections. Comey also covers other investigations related to the 2016 elections like the foreign interference and possibility (then in 2016) of one of Donald Trump...

Awesome combination of Size, Speed and Skill - LeBron James. Around 15 mins, LeBron James' BEST PLAY from EVERY GAME (2017-2018), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDC48eglYo , published by NBA on 25th Feb. 2018 LeBron James speaking at the opening of his (foundation's) 'I Promise' school in Akron, Ohio, USA. The school is a "a brand new Akron Public School for some of Akron's most challenged students and their families." Around 12 mins, published on 30th July 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpQoFL8R3vk . Ravi: Wonderful to see the spirit of giving back to the community, from this USA Basketball superstar. The I PROMISE School, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qxli4Df_Bc , around 4 mins, published in April 2017 by "the LeBron James Family Foundation". From the youtube video description: "The LeBron James Family Foundation and Akron Public Schools have partnered to design a brand new school for the public school students in Akr...

The CBS News article linked below covers 3D-printed AR-15 and other gun blueprints that this inventor wants to make freely accessible to anybody who wants to download them and then use a 3D printer and/or a metal milling machine (sold by the man's company) to make plastic or metal guns respectively! My first reaction is fear. But then I live in India and not the USA  and so am not exposed to life with easy and legal access to guns for almost all adult citizens who can afford them, which is the case with the USA. Man behind 3D-printed gun blueprints explains why he wants to post instructions online,  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/3d-printed-gun-maker-cody-wilson-explains-why-he-wants-to-post-blueprints-for-ar-15-style-rifles/ , 31st July 2018. The article quotes the man, Cody Wilson, as saying "I believe that I am championing the second amendment in the 21st century".."Unquestionably, it's good for the future — unquestionably. I think access to the firearm i...