Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in January 2019
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2400068523543044, 26th Jan. 2019
I don't know enough to comment on the "from China" part but drug addiction (Fentanyl in this case), is such a curse. The world should be freed from this horrifying curse.
[Shared video link: https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/722944421433852/ ]
In response to a comment on the post, I (Ravi) wrote:
Thanks for your view. But the opioid addiction problem in USA and other narcotic drugs addition in parts of India (especially Punjab) is horrifying, and a major, major social problem. The lives of the people who get addicted get wasted and their family and friends become utterly miserable seeing that. I think it is one of the worst things that can happen not only to a person but also to that person's family and friends.
Whether fentanyl and other opioids and narcotics are manufactured in China or in India, their illegal distribution is the big problem which should be stopped with all the resources countries and international narcotics-control agencies have.
----
In response to a comment, I wrote:
Hmm. Surely there are some in the science and technology (industrialization) fields who have acted irresponsibly and brought about huge damage to communities. But then there are others in the same fields who have contributed to improving lives of people, in a big way.
Greed surely is a big problem. Fanaticism is another problem. My considered view is that like religious fanaticism is bad, science fanaticism too is bad. Ethics should be the vital guideline in the practice of both religion and science.
...
I would add industrialization fanaticism to the above bad list. Industrialization without ethics has done, and will continue to do if not stopped, great damage to communities, and perhaps the entire world.
----
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
I don't know how widespread these issues are. I think regulators (usually government bodies) are able to stem the rot in some situations. ... I think regulators are the key here. The idea that we can rely on powerful companies/institutions in finance and in industry, to regulate themselves, does not seem to be a good one, in our times. Companies need to know that they will be hauled up when they cross the line.
I see that USA hauls up companies on a regular basis for doing bad stuff e.g. promoting opioid drugs that end up making addicts of those who were prescribed that by Doctors due to companies promoting the opioids beyond what is viewed as medically safe.
In India, I think on the finance side, some company bosses are getting hauled up for taking financial institutions on a ride.
I repeat that regulation is the key to keeping these bad things under some sort of control, IMHO.
----
================================================================
FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2400698053480091, 26th Jan. 2019
Another popular kids song about patriotism - more focused on Hindu patriotism - which has been very popular over decades.
The original Aao Bacchon Tumhe Dikhayein song from 1954 film Jagriti, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiiBsKU4z6c, 4 min. 21 secs.
An animation version of it perhaps done in 2010s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-UMsDIbJTM, 4 min. 27 secs.
A choreographed dance by kids to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va9OgBq8ZUE, 4 min. 30 secs published in 2017.
...
FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2400672053482691, 26th Jan. 2019
A popular Republic Day kids song
Nanna munna rahi hu - the 1962 original song from the movie Son of India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-liLE7v5Kdc, 4 min. 46 secs.
An animation take of the same song done perhaps in the 2010s (a half-century later): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKYjUOwAk38, 5 min. 21 secs.
==============================================================
On FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2401453823404514, dated 27th Jan. 2019, I wrote (slightly edited):
I had no idea of this but it makes perfect economic sense as India too gets some "medical tourist" Western visitors.
Of course, I consider it to be a great tragedy that so many American citizens have to struggle so much for getting decent medical care. I think it is one of the big failures of USA society today, even if it has scored great victories on many other fronts. I hope and pray that medical care in the USA becomes more affordable and serves hopefully all, or at least the vast majority, of USA citizens.
I came across this post courtesy --Name-snipped--.
[The post shared this article: Millions of Americans Flood Into Mexico for Health Care — the Human Caravan You Haven’t Heard About, https://truthout.org/articles/millions-of-americans-flood-into-mexico-for-health-care/, 23rd Jan. 2019.]
==============================================================
On an FB post somewhere I (Ravi) wrote (slightly edited) and then deleted the comments (but have retained it on this blog post):
Don't mean to dampen the spirits here. But I could not help sharing that I got my proper understanding of one of the famous lines of Shakespeare's plays "Now is the winter of our discontent" when I would be waiting for a bus in the outskirts of Brussels in a bus stop which was open on two sides. When the wind blew it seemed to be like a knife cutting through me! And yes, I too had all the gear then - long johns, thick overcoat, scarf, even a woolen cap. But it was still quite a big challenge to face for a Tropical climate Mumbai youngster who had never been out of India till then (this was in mid 80s with me in my early twenties)! BTW Brussels is 50 degrees North and so 5 degrees more North than Montreal which is 45 degrees North, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal.
Earlier I could not really understand why Shakespeare was talking of winter of discontent and all that. In Mumbai winter would be chill all right but just a sweater would do to handle it. And snow looked so pretty in the pictures!
Brussels made North European winters real for me and made me appreciate not only Shakespeare's above line but also some other aspects of North West European culture including shots of you-know-what (drink) to keep you warm in that chill :-).
Stay warm --name-snipped--! All the best!
...
I should also add that later on I was able to handle the cold winter of Brussels well and was fine with it. I mean, I learned how to deal with that cold even though I was using public transport and had no car. After that, it was no problem. I really enjoyed my 15 months stay in Brussels.
----
From my FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2389663437916886, 12th Jan. 2019 (slightly edited):
Above 45 Indian ladies dancing their way to fitness with a famous Bollywood song - Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqP5J9BCHFs, around 4 mins.
Great to see Indians explore various ways to stay fit.
----
Two young Indian ladies dancing to the same song (longer version) for fitness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ux0AgVxkLI, 6 min. 17 secs.
==========================================================
FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2400068523543044, 26th Jan. 2019
I don't know enough to comment on the "from China" part but drug addiction (Fentanyl in this case), is such a curse. The world should be freed from this horrifying curse.
[Shared video link: https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/722944421433852/ ]
In response to a comment on the post, I (Ravi) wrote:
Thanks for your view. But the opioid addiction problem in USA and other narcotic drugs addition in parts of India (especially Punjab) is horrifying, and a major, major social problem. The lives of the people who get addicted get wasted and their family and friends become utterly miserable seeing that. I think it is one of the worst things that can happen not only to a person but also to that person's family and friends.
Whether fentanyl and other opioids and narcotics are manufactured in China or in India, their illegal distribution is the big problem which should be stopped with all the resources countries and international narcotics-control agencies have.
----
In response to a comment, I wrote:
Hmm. Surely there are some in the science and technology (industrialization) fields who have acted irresponsibly and brought about huge damage to communities. But then there are others in the same fields who have contributed to improving lives of people, in a big way.
Greed surely is a big problem. Fanaticism is another problem. My considered view is that like religious fanaticism is bad, science fanaticism too is bad. Ethics should be the vital guideline in the practice of both religion and science.
...
I would add industrialization fanaticism to the above bad list. Industrialization without ethics has done, and will continue to do if not stopped, great damage to communities, and perhaps the entire world.
----
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
I don't know how widespread these issues are. I think regulators (usually government bodies) are able to stem the rot in some situations. ... I think regulators are the key here. The idea that we can rely on powerful companies/institutions in finance and in industry, to regulate themselves, does not seem to be a good one, in our times. Companies need to know that they will be hauled up when they cross the line.
I see that USA hauls up companies on a regular basis for doing bad stuff e.g. promoting opioid drugs that end up making addicts of those who were prescribed that by Doctors due to companies promoting the opioids beyond what is viewed as medically safe.
In India, I think on the finance side, some company bosses are getting hauled up for taking financial institutions on a ride.
I repeat that regulation is the key to keeping these bad things under some sort of control, IMHO.
----
================================================================
FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2400698053480091, 26th Jan. 2019
Another popular kids song about patriotism - more focused on Hindu patriotism - which has been very popular over decades.
The original Aao Bacchon Tumhe Dikhayein song from 1954 film Jagriti, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiiBsKU4z6c, 4 min. 21 secs.
An animation version of it perhaps done in 2010s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-UMsDIbJTM, 4 min. 27 secs.
A choreographed dance by kids to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va9OgBq8ZUE, 4 min. 30 secs published in 2017.
...
FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2400672053482691, 26th Jan. 2019
A popular Republic Day kids song
Nanna munna rahi hu - the 1962 original song from the movie Son of India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-liLE7v5Kdc, 4 min. 46 secs.
An animation take of the same song done perhaps in the 2010s (a half-century later): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKYjUOwAk38, 5 min. 21 secs.
==============================================================
On FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2401453823404514, dated 27th Jan. 2019, I wrote (slightly edited):
I had no idea of this but it makes perfect economic sense as India too gets some "medical tourist" Western visitors.
Of course, I consider it to be a great tragedy that so many American citizens have to struggle so much for getting decent medical care. I think it is one of the big failures of USA society today, even if it has scored great victories on many other fronts. I hope and pray that medical care in the USA becomes more affordable and serves hopefully all, or at least the vast majority, of USA citizens.
I came across this post courtesy --Name-snipped--.
[The post shared this article: Millions of Americans Flood Into Mexico for Health Care — the Human Caravan You Haven’t Heard About, https://truthout.org/articles/millions-of-americans-flood-into-mexico-for-health-care/, 23rd Jan. 2019.]
==============================================================
On an FB post somewhere I (Ravi) wrote (slightly edited) and then deleted the comments (but have retained it on this blog post):
Don't mean to dampen the spirits here. But I could not help sharing that I got my proper understanding of one of the famous lines of Shakespeare's plays "Now is the winter of our discontent" when I would be waiting for a bus in the outskirts of Brussels in a bus stop which was open on two sides. When the wind blew it seemed to be like a knife cutting through me! And yes, I too had all the gear then - long johns, thick overcoat, scarf, even a woolen cap. But it was still quite a big challenge to face for a Tropical climate Mumbai youngster who had never been out of India till then (this was in mid 80s with me in my early twenties)! BTW Brussels is 50 degrees North and so 5 degrees more North than Montreal which is 45 degrees North, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal.
Earlier I could not really understand why Shakespeare was talking of winter of discontent and all that. In Mumbai winter would be chill all right but just a sweater would do to handle it. And snow looked so pretty in the pictures!
Brussels made North European winters real for me and made me appreciate not only Shakespeare's above line but also some other aspects of North West European culture including shots of you-know-what (drink) to keep you warm in that chill :-).
Stay warm --name-snipped--! All the best!
...
I should also add that later on I was able to handle the cold winter of Brussels well and was fine with it. I mean, I learned how to deal with that cold even though I was using public transport and had no car. After that, it was no problem. I really enjoyed my 15 months stay in Brussels.
----
=========================================================
From my FB post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2389663437916886, 12th Jan. 2019 (slightly edited):
Above 45 Indian ladies dancing their way to fitness with a famous Bollywood song - Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqP5J9BCHFs, around 4 mins.
Great to see Indians explore various ways to stay fit.
----
Two young Indian ladies dancing to the same song (longer version) for fitness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ux0AgVxkLI, 6 min. 17 secs.
==========================================================
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