Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in August 2019
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates | Official Trailer | Netflix, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCv29JKmHNY&feature=youtu.be, 2 min. 32 secs.
I guess I will now have to get on to Netflix. This docuseries is a must see for me. A lot of my software industry career (Mar. 1984 to Aug. 2002), and even free service technical consultancy & teaching in Prasanthi Nilayam ashram system including the Sai university (Oct. 2002 to Mar. 2012), was linked to Microsoft software. And even today I am typing this post on a desktop computer running Microsoft Windows Operating System, even though the browser is Chrome (and not Microsoft Edge).
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Sometimes its worthwhile to read about how bad an all out nuclear war could be. This article is about what researchers predict will be the outcome of an all out USA - Russia nuclear war: https://www.futurity.org/nuclear-war-united-states-russia-2144632/
A small extract from the article:
Because a major nuclear war could erupt by accident or as a result of hacking, computer failure, or an unstable world leader, the only safe action that the world can take is to eliminate nuclear weapons, says Robock.
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UK Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn minces no words about what he thinks of PM Boris Johnson's move, viewed as suspending Parliament for 5 weeks before Brexit, and what he (Corbyn) is going to do about it in Parliament: Corbyn Says Johnson Is Doing a 'Smash and Grab' on Democracy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J04U376GmjY, 3 min. 26 secs. published by Bloomberg Politics on 28th Aug. 2019.
I have to say I love Corbyn's English diction - both the choice and use of words, and the pronunciation.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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UK government asks Queen to suspend Parliament, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D1xa4FFnQc, around 8 mins, published by CNN
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‘A very British coup’: Boris Johnson to suspend parliament in Brexit row, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/a-very-british-coup-boris-johnson-to-suspend-parliament-in-brexit-row/story-4zhRkSUfDgPLbVaME0ciaJ.html
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The cat is out of the bag – Boris Johnson’s shutdown is unconstitutional, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/28/cat-bag-boris-johnson-shutdown-unconsitutional-tories-brexit
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Alexander Conklin character in Robert Ludlum's books
Robert Ludlum's books had super-complex plots. I think I have read all 3 of his Bourne Trilogy books, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourne_(novel_series) - The Bourne Identity (1980), The Bourne Supremacy (1986) and The Bourne Ultimatum (1990).
Jason Bourne was just way too complex and way too unbelievable a character for me, though the books were gripping and I would read all of it. I mean, in contrast George Smiley of John Le Carre's books was far more believable.
The character that appealed to me, more than Bourne who I felt was too Rambo like a character to be a realistic figure, was Alexander Conklin (references to him are there in these wiki pages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Supremacy & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Ultimatum). Conklin seemed to be more like a real spymaster - somewhat comparable to George Smiley.
I had hoped to find a wiki page dedicated to the Alexander Conklin character like there is for the George Smiley character, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Smiley, but there does not seem to be such a page as of now. That's a pity. I think Ludlum's Conklin character - a retired CIA agent and spymaster - deserves a wiki page!
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Just wonderful to see a successful youtube farmer-vlogger from Punjab/Haryana! Video is around 2 mins.
https://www.facebook.com/bbcindia/videos/901674373543968/
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Celebrating black beauties! The script in the pic is in Tamil (I read it very haltingly and have not read this one fully). But I am quite sure that the message is that black is beautiful. Note that Tamil Nadu being in the deep south of India has to face a lot of the heat & light of the sun due to which many Tamils have a dark skin.
While I think the accompanying pic is of Africans or African-origin people (e.g. African-Americans (USA Americans)), there are many black beauties among Tamils in Tamil Nadu as well.
I am all for celebrating black beauties of Tamil Nadu and of India :-).
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1812967402254098/permalink/2388532524697580/ ]
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What it takes, workouts wise, to be a world badminton champ! Video is around a minute.
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/2648898975141967/
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To be honest, I simply do not know enough on the climate change stuff, to know whether these Amazon fires are very bad from climate change perspective or not.
But in this video clip, CNN's reporter and host raise very serious concerns about the damage that the ongoing Amazon fires could do, not only to Brazil but to the South American continent and even to the whole world.
Flying above the Amazon fires: 'All you can see is death', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_J4fW7_vME, 5 min. 24 secs, published on 26th Aug. 2019.
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Awesome fifer for Bumrah against the Windies in the 1st Test in the West Indies: (blocked video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3flRa56aQE, 1 min. 17 secs.
[The earlier video got blocked: This one is the official video for that day and has four of the Bumrah wickets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA-aN4ItCmI .]
3 of the wickets involved the stump cartwheeling! What a sight!
All 10 wickets of Windies 2nd innings of 100 all out were taken by Indian pacers with Ishant getting 2 and Shami 3. Scorecard: https://www.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scorecard/22859/wi-vs-ind-1st-test-india-tour-of-west-indies-2019.
What a reversal of roles from 70s/80s to now! Then India would be getting pounded by Windies quicks. Now Indian quicks are bundling up the Windies!
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Alfred E. Neuman & MAD comics and how they deflated the high & mighty and the pretentious
I have read and enjoyed my fair share of MAD comics in the latter part of my school days (late 70s) and, off & on in later years. I think my elder brother used to get it from a private library-cum-book-store (in Govt. Colony, Bandra (East), Mumbai - Student's Centre or Corner or something like that was its name) and later I too may have borrowed issues of it from there. It introduced contemporary satire in a big way to me. I could not follow some of the stuff in it, as the context was USA typically, but I got fair bit of it. I don't think I had come across satire of current day figures and themes of that kind in the Indian context then. Yes, there were cartoons in the newspapers (Laxman's common man being deservingly very famous) and Hindi film movies also had some satire, but it was limited stuff as compared to MAD comics. Nothing seemed to be sacrosanct to MAD and Alfred E. Neuman, its mascot, and they had a full magazine issue to be satiricial about various contemporary topics!
I enjoyed seeing this 1987 CBS video on it: September 20, 1987: MAD Magazine turns 60!, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIolzTpgfI, 12 min. 24 secs.
Around 7 mins 50 secs, one person from the MAD editorial team says, "I think MAD acts as a bridge between adolesence and adulthood and we sort of start to prime? into the fact that the world ain't such a hot place. And you are going to get burned a couple of times. And don't believe everything you read, what people say to you. You got to have a healthy suspicion about life."
Ravi: As I look back on my MAD reading years, I think MAD along with other sources of influence (like general discussions with friends & elders, Hindi film movies, newspapers, other magazines and books) did impart to me a healthy suspicion about life, and that I should not believe everything I read.
Alfred E. Neuman was an utterly fascinating figure! What a MAD look he had on his face!
Now I will make a small exception to my current policy of not publicly commenting on USA politics. Around 3 months ago, US President Donald Trump made a reference to Alfred E. Neuman, as a way to attack Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a candidate for Democratic Party nominee for President in 2020 election. Now I am not saying anything about whether that is right or wrong - I am just staying mum on that aspect.
But it was interesting to note that Mayor Buttigieg did not get the reference and had to Google it! He said that it was a generational thing. Hmm. I am feeling old but that's the truth, I guess. What I liked was the cool way in which Mayor Buttigieg handled it and hit back at President Trump. Many of the US politicians, including President Trump, have this great ability to handle verbal attacks on them well, and turn it around. I admire them for this cool they have.
Here's the video clip of the View discussing the matter (note that it is negative on Trump but I am sharing it for the Alfred E. Neuman part; I am publicly politically neutral on US politics): Trump Calls Mayor Pete “Alfred E. Neuman” | The View, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNHnAPFIWZE, 4 min. 4 secs.
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Common man star of the 70s & 80s Amol Palekar along with Tina Munim are the main stars in this popular song from 1979 Hindi film Baton Baton Mein: Uthe Sabke Kadam Tara Ram Pam Pam_ Baton Baton Mein, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtdo-AWSdk, 4 min. 21 secs.
The main singers are Lata Mangeshkar and Amit Kumar.
BTW in real life, Tina Munim married Anil Ambani, and is now known as Tina Ambani, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Ambani. She is the chairperson of Mumbai based Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.
Amol Palekar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amol_Palekar, is not much in the news nowadays. Maybe he is just enjoying his retired life now.
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Interesting; Has a short video (without audio of the actual mtg) of the flamboyant UK PM Boris Johnson meeting PM Narendra Modi: PM Narendra Modi broke news of England’s dramatic Ashes win to Boris Johnson: Report, https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/pm-narendra-modi-broke-news-of-england-s-dramatic-ashes-win-to-boris-johnson-report/story-S2bP8RO702lrsITV7yO1VN.html
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Has interesting parts; Is longish - around 15 mins.
https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/videos/3497077146972802/?t=0
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Good to see this. Hope PM Boris Johnson and PM Narendra Modi have a good working relationship.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/PMOIndia/photos/a.829324053864967/1658943404236357/?type=3&theater
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Absolutely unbelievable knock from England's Ben Stokes snatching victory for England from jaws of defeat against Australia: The Ashes Day 4 Highlights | Third Specsavers Ashes Test 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrIew7-4isI, 5 min. 18 secs.
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WBC 2019 : PV Sindhu VS Nozomi Okuhara Final Match Highlights || PV Sindhu Won Gold at WBC 2019 ||, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJmshOZ4_IE, 2 min. 13 secs.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az6cl4TdtrA - The earlier video got blocked.
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This is quite hilarious. I saw it yesterday on Twitter but as the twitter a/c was a political one, I decided not to share then.
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/2410172625898216/?t=0 [About Indian youth getting lifted along with the pole he is holding due to breeze]
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Finally! Over the past few years, a couple or so of female shuttlers from India were on the brink of winning a world championship title but could not do it, till P.V. Sindhu achieved it. Congratulations to her and a great feat for India.
Shared link: PV Sindhu’s victory puts India on top of the world, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/badminton/pv-sindhu-becomes-first-indian-to-win-world-championships-gold/articleshow/70829043.cms
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I don't think I had seen a John Wayne movie earlier. This was interesting: The Undefeated 1969 1080p John Wayne HD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5UxC2JGzC4, around 2 hrs.
I am sure the movie shows a romanticized view of immediate post civil war USA (mid nineteenth century). In particular, there is almost no coverage of the main issue that led to the USA civil war - slavery. Cotton was the big money earner for Southern USA with slaves being the cheap labour that did the hard agricultural work to grow (and pick) cotton. The rich slave owners led an aristocratic life on the backs of slaves. That, I think, is the undeniable reality of Southern USA prior to the American civil war. That part is glaring in its omission in the movie.
But the movie gives one some idea of how brutal that civil war was, especially for the confederates who lost the war. Their way of life was uprooted.
It also shows how poor the soldiers who fought that terrible civil war, were. How they had to worry about life after the war with them having no money.
Land, horses, river streams (with part of the border between Mexico and USA then being just a river stream; cross the river to get across to the other country!) etc. - a very down-to-earth kind of life. And guns, of course. And that is just around 150 years ago!
The Mexican side of it is also interesting. An emperor was attempted to be imposed on Mexico from Europe! Some, maybe a majority, of the Mexicans wanted to have their own president and their own Republic. Eventually the Mexican president's side won. This is based on real history. For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico.
The main theme of the movie is how, after the civil war is over, the Yankee group of fighters eventually get along with the Confederate group of fighters, and fight together against a common bandit enemy. Perhaps that part also conveys a rather romanticized view. It would have been very difficult for the Yankees and the Confederates to get along after the Civil War.
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A song that captures the pain of the Southern USA folks at that time:
The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Youtube video description has the lyrics), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM, 4 min. 15 secs.
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Interesting 2 min. 16 secs. overview of global economy concerns from (USA) CBS Evening News as the G7 nations meet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCFifuP24bk, published 24th Aug. 2019
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I did not know much about Late Arun Jaitley's career prior to him becoming union minister in 2014 Narendra Modi government. This article in The Hindu about his political career gave me some background : Arun Jaitley: A man who played many roles, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/arun-jaitley-a-man-who-played-many-roles/article29241568.ece.
I had not known that he had started his political career as students' union leader in Delhi, and that he spent 19 months in jail during Emergency period.
I think he has rendered great service to the country in the various roles he played in his life. It is heart-warming to know that he was appreciated across the political spectrum. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have paid tribute to him.
May God shower His Grace on Late Arun Jaitley's soul/sukshma sharira!
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.
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I have heard this song so many times in the late 70s & 80s! I don't think I had seen the video earlier. From the 1958 (yes, a 1950s film) Madhumati, sung by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar, with on screen stars Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala, 3 min. 34 secs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o184v83-gkk
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A popular classy oldie Hindi film song about a poet/shayar (singer/actor himself): Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shair Hoon | Song HD | मैं पल दो पल का शायर हूँ | Kabhi Kabhie | Amitabh | Mukesh, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkGqpVYjLUw, 2 min. 20 secs. Film Kabhi Kabhie (1976), sung by Mukesh, on screen stars are Amitabh and Rakhee, lyrics - Sahir Ludhianvi, Music - Khayyam.
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Very interesting article showing that population growth in India will stabilize in the coming decades.
It also has other info. like fertility rate among different religious communities in India, and sex ratio variance across states. Note that 2.1 fertility rate is considered to be the replacement rate - i.e. rate at which population size remains stable across generations.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-worried-should-we-be-about-indias-population-explosion/articleshow/70711314.cms
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Hmm. The trade tariffs war between USA and China seems to be getting into pretty rough territory now.
Donald Trump presses US companies to close China operations, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/donald-trump-presses-us-companies-to-close-china-operations/articleshow/70809780.cms?
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I think US President Trump is being frank, from his perspective, on this matter. But I simply do not know whether his trade tariffs solution is the right one for the USA. I am on wait & watch mode on this.
But USA ****has to**** fix its trade imbalance and, I would add, its debt-to-GDP very high levels, which, after 2007-08 financial crisis, makes USA economy a serious concern for not only the USA but the whole world as USA is the biggest economy in the world and has the most powerful military force in the world.
https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/1164217774564159488, 21st Aug. 2019
Trump's key words in the video clip in above tweet: "Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one [Trump looks at the sky while saying this sentence]. Somebody had to do it. So I am taking on China. I am taking on China on trade. And you know what, we are winning."
Trump looking at the sky while saying chosen one implies that he is saying he is chosen by God to do the task of USA taking on China on trade.
I am not sure whether one can declare now that USA is winning the trade war with China. That game is not over yet, IMHO. The world is watching that game with bated breath!
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Trump cancels Denmark visit amid spat over sale of Greenland - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwQrDkkTh0Q, around 4 mins.
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A brutal reality of life!
Mediation between warring parties is not an easy thing to do!
Video is around a minute.
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/1213335798838812/?t=0
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Great oldie song!
Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi | Kishore Kumar | Khamoshi 1969 Songs | Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDXFi3avqo0, 5 min. 17 secs.
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Hadn't seen this one of the trilogy earlier; saw it recently: A Fistful of Dollars (HD) Full Movie - Clint Eastwood - Dollars Trilogy Part 1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPnr983684I, 1 hr. 40 mins. Quite a raw film as compared to the other two movies of the trilogy.
And here's Clint Eastwood talking about it in 2003 (the movie was made in 1964): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz37DHO937U, around 8 mins.
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Got the Jimmy Carter memoir (at ninety) book. Will surely read it in the near future, even though I have a few outstanding books on my reading list (FDR and Ramayana are what I am reading now, when I get a chance).
I am very interested to know about the life of this man: a man with rural roots, a believer in God, a man who preaches in Sunday school even now if I got that correctly, and a person who rose to be President of United States of America! Jimmy Carter is somebody whom I have always had a fondness for, though I don't really know much about his life and presidency. What I recall is that whatever little bit I had read about him in the media when he was president (and I was in my mid to late teens, in Bombay) was good. He came across as a nice guy who made it to the top!
Whatever bits of video interviews that I saw of him in the past few years and what I read about his charitable work, have reinforced that view I have of him.
So I am very eager to read this memoir of his at ninety years of age!
FB post (https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2569877596562135) has pics of the book
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The Godfather - Michael In Sicily (ENG Subtitles), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y64beE5yos, 9 mins.
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The challenge for (material) development powered by foreign investment, is to ensure that a majority of locals feel they have benefited. [It may be too much to expect that all locals feel they have benefited.]
If instead the locals perception of the foreign investment powered (material) development is that it has benefited only a small minority of locals, and that it has made life difficult/expensive as compared to earlier, then the locals can become sour at the foreign investors and the companies/businesses they run.
While in this case, it is the Chinese investors and workers/visitors who seem to not be that appreciated by this Cambodian Tuk-Tuk driver due to the changes that he has seen with Chinese investment and influx, I think it is the same situation in India with some cases of foreign country investments and businesses.
The majority of locals must be happy with the foreign investment and businesses, otherwise things may not work out well in the long run for such development powered by foreign investment and businesses.
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Prayers for well being of Vidya Sinha's soul/sukshma sharira, and gratitude to her for the joy she gave so many Indians through her films.
This very popular in those days song-video has Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha celebrate Bombay white-collar working class life (office desks, BEST buses, elevator queues, watching movies - Amol Palekar is shown watching a movie and then day-dreaming ... part of Bombay white-collar working class life of those days - late 70s and 80s). The song is from the 1975 movie Chhoti Si Baat
Janeman Janeman Tere Do Nayan...., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ats8Y1yzgPI, 5 min. 13 secs.
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In rural roads around Puttaparthi, I have quite often encountered a herd of sheep on the road being tended to by local shepherds, but this large group of ducks crossing the road under supervision of the persons tending to them, is something else altogether!
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/365152514161802/?t=0
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Sad after reading this article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49348072
I mean, any hopes of a majority of UK Parliament MPs rallying around new PM Johnson seem to have got dashed already. Some Tory party MPs, including former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, seem to be opposing PM Johnson on his Brexit plan!
Now the relevant question may be whether British Parliament will allow a no-deal Brexit to happen as that's what Boris Johnson's govt. seems to be heading towards.
And if it does get to no-deal Brexit, another question would be: how strongly will Scotland react as Scotland is opposed to no-deal Brexit.
It must be really, really tough to be in Boris Johnson's shoes now.
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Boris Johnson: Brexit opponents 'collaborating' with EU - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTcorZs3enk, around 5 min
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This Hon'ble MP from Ladakh has really catapulted to national fame with his joy at Ladakh being declared as a union territory (and so becoming what seems to be the first and only Buddhist majority union territory or state in India) expressed in Parliament (Lok Sabha; through a speech that got quite viral I think) as well as on the street (this dance): https://twitter.com/MPLadakh/status/1160630796350136320
The tweet has a short video of him dancing. Cool stuff :-). I loved it.
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[My comments slightly edited[
--Name-snipped-- Thought you would love it! And I am very happy and grateful to Lord Buddha that Tibetan Buddhists have a majority union territory in India now. Of course, Tibetan Buddhists in Ladakh could practice their faith freely in India earlier too, but now they get larger administrative powers too over Ladakh.
As an Indian Hindu, I have always had great reverence for Buddhists and for Lord Buddha (Gautama Siddhartha).
Buddham Sharanam Gacchami
Dhammam Sharanam Gacchami
Sangham Sharanam Gacchami
[I go to Lord Buddha for refuge.
I go to Dharma (ethical life) for refuge.
I go to the Sangha (community) for refuge.]
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BTW Tibetan Buddhists have lived in Ladakh for centuries perhaps. So the Tibetan Buddhists in Ladakh are NOT refugees. They are Indian citizens and residents.
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Hmm. I don't know what the Buddhists in Ladakh are referred to as: Ladakhi Buddhists or Tibetan Buddhists. Here's the Ladakh wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladakh
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And here's some info. about Buddhism in Ladakh: https://www.lehladakhindia.com/buddhism-in-ladakh/
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Hmm. That's a big deal!
$15 billion deal between Saudi Arabia's Aramco, the world's largest oil producer and Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries' chairman and largest shareholder, gives Aramco a stake in the world's biggest refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Aramco gets 20% stake in Reliance Industries' refining and petrochemicals business valued at $75 billion.
Reliance will purchase 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Aramco as part of the deal.
Shared link: Saudi Aramco has struck a $15 billion deal with Asia's richest man for a stake in the world's biggest refinery, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/saudi-aramco-buys-15-billion-stake-reliance-industries-mukesh-ambani-2019-8-1028437515
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For A Few Dollars More: The movie has bad racial stereotyping, and fantasy gun shooters, but bounty killers (rather bounty hunters, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounty_hunter) were a reality of the Wild West of the USA. The text at 3 min. 49 secs into the movie video may be exaggerated but seems to have a kernel of truth to it in the context of those Wild West times in the USA, "Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared."
The movie was well known in Bombay of my youth - late 70s & 80s, along with its sequel - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.
Saw 'For A Few Dollars More' again today on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8wB2clYl2U, 2 min. 11 secs.
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A reality bite in plain language that's easy to understand and communicates well, what seems to me at least to some extent to be, the reality.
My intent in sharing this post is not to indulge in fear-mongering. It is just to share the reality-bite. What I have seen over decades of my life is that once problems acquire a certain level of momentum, the ostrich-head-in-the-sand approach to simply go about one's life without paying attention to the problem, usually does not work. The problem has to be confronted and overcome.
Shared link: I Felt Safe in America. Until El Paso., https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/opinion/sunday/el-paso-shooting-immigrants.html
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Tragically, I think there is at least some truth to the cartoon when viewed in the context of many countries of the world including India. USA seems to have this problem as well with the Oxycontin over-prescription matter resulting in court cases.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/pharmacyknowledge123/photos/a.566556410488403/645478182596225/
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Interesting!
Bear Grylls Speaks To The Media About His Experience With PM Modi On Man Vs Wild, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdqU7G84F8, 6 min. 26 secs, published by Republic World on 10th Aug. 2019.
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers will have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates | Official Trailer | Netflix, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCv29JKmHNY&feature=youtu.be, 2 min. 32 secs.
I guess I will now have to get on to Netflix. This docuseries is a must see for me. A lot of my software industry career (Mar. 1984 to Aug. 2002), and even free service technical consultancy & teaching in Prasanthi Nilayam ashram system including the Sai university (Oct. 2002 to Mar. 2012), was linked to Microsoft software. And even today I am typing this post on a desktop computer running Microsoft Windows Operating System, even though the browser is Chrome (and not Microsoft Edge).
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Sometimes its worthwhile to read about how bad an all out nuclear war could be. This article is about what researchers predict will be the outcome of an all out USA - Russia nuclear war: https://www.futurity.org/nuclear-war-united-states-russia-2144632/
A small extract from the article:
Because a major nuclear war could erupt by accident or as a result of hacking, computer failure, or an unstable world leader, the only safe action that the world can take is to eliminate nuclear weapons, says Robock.
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UK Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn minces no words about what he thinks of PM Boris Johnson's move, viewed as suspending Parliament for 5 weeks before Brexit, and what he (Corbyn) is going to do about it in Parliament: Corbyn Says Johnson Is Doing a 'Smash and Grab' on Democracy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J04U376GmjY, 3 min. 26 secs. published by Bloomberg Politics on 28th Aug. 2019.
I have to say I love Corbyn's English diction - both the choice and use of words, and the pronunciation.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about UK politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in UK elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the UK.
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UK government asks Queen to suspend Parliament, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D1xa4FFnQc, around 8 mins, published by CNN
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‘A very British coup’: Boris Johnson to suspend parliament in Brexit row, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/a-very-british-coup-boris-johnson-to-suspend-parliament-in-brexit-row/story-4zhRkSUfDgPLbVaME0ciaJ.html
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The cat is out of the bag – Boris Johnson’s shutdown is unconstitutional, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/28/cat-bag-boris-johnson-shutdown-unconsitutional-tories-brexit
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Alexander Conklin character in Robert Ludlum's books
Robert Ludlum's books had super-complex plots. I think I have read all 3 of his Bourne Trilogy books, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourne_(novel_series) - The Bourne Identity (1980), The Bourne Supremacy (1986) and The Bourne Ultimatum (1990).
Jason Bourne was just way too complex and way too unbelievable a character for me, though the books were gripping and I would read all of it. I mean, in contrast George Smiley of John Le Carre's books was far more believable.
The character that appealed to me, more than Bourne who I felt was too Rambo like a character to be a realistic figure, was Alexander Conklin (references to him are there in these wiki pages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Supremacy & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Ultimatum). Conklin seemed to be more like a real spymaster - somewhat comparable to George Smiley.
I had hoped to find a wiki page dedicated to the Alexander Conklin character like there is for the George Smiley character, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Smiley, but there does not seem to be such a page as of now. That's a pity. I think Ludlum's Conklin character - a retired CIA agent and spymaster - deserves a wiki page!
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Just wonderful to see a successful youtube farmer-vlogger from Punjab/Haryana! Video is around 2 mins.
https://www.facebook.com/bbcindia/videos/901674373543968/
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Celebrating black beauties! The script in the pic is in Tamil (I read it very haltingly and have not read this one fully). But I am quite sure that the message is that black is beautiful. Note that Tamil Nadu being in the deep south of India has to face a lot of the heat & light of the sun due to which many Tamils have a dark skin.
While I think the accompanying pic is of Africans or African-origin people (e.g. African-Americans (USA Americans)), there are many black beauties among Tamils in Tamil Nadu as well.
I am all for celebrating black beauties of Tamil Nadu and of India :-).
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1812967402254098/permalink/2388532524697580/ ]
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What it takes, workouts wise, to be a world badminton champ! Video is around a minute.
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/2648898975141967/
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To be honest, I simply do not know enough on the climate change stuff, to know whether these Amazon fires are very bad from climate change perspective or not.
But in this video clip, CNN's reporter and host raise very serious concerns about the damage that the ongoing Amazon fires could do, not only to Brazil but to the South American continent and even to the whole world.
Flying above the Amazon fires: 'All you can see is death', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_J4fW7_vME, 5 min. 24 secs, published on 26th Aug. 2019.
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Awesome fifer for Bumrah against the Windies in the 1st Test in the West Indies: (blocked video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3flRa56aQE, 1 min. 17 secs.
[The earlier video got blocked: This one is the official video for that day and has four of the Bumrah wickets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA-aN4ItCmI .]
3 of the wickets involved the stump cartwheeling! What a sight!
All 10 wickets of Windies 2nd innings of 100 all out were taken by Indian pacers with Ishant getting 2 and Shami 3. Scorecard: https://www.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scorecard/22859/wi-vs-ind-1st-test-india-tour-of-west-indies-2019.
What a reversal of roles from 70s/80s to now! Then India would be getting pounded by Windies quicks. Now Indian quicks are bundling up the Windies!
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Alfred E. Neuman & MAD comics and how they deflated the high & mighty and the pretentious
I have read and enjoyed my fair share of MAD comics in the latter part of my school days (late 70s) and, off & on in later years. I think my elder brother used to get it from a private library-cum-book-store (in Govt. Colony, Bandra (East), Mumbai - Student's Centre or Corner or something like that was its name) and later I too may have borrowed issues of it from there. It introduced contemporary satire in a big way to me. I could not follow some of the stuff in it, as the context was USA typically, but I got fair bit of it. I don't think I had come across satire of current day figures and themes of that kind in the Indian context then. Yes, there were cartoons in the newspapers (Laxman's common man being deservingly very famous) and Hindi film movies also had some satire, but it was limited stuff as compared to MAD comics. Nothing seemed to be sacrosanct to MAD and Alfred E. Neuman, its mascot, and they had a full magazine issue to be satiricial about various contemporary topics!
I enjoyed seeing this 1987 CBS video on it: September 20, 1987: MAD Magazine turns 60!, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIolzTpgfI, 12 min. 24 secs.
Around 7 mins 50 secs, one person from the MAD editorial team says, "I think MAD acts as a bridge between adolesence and adulthood and we sort of start to prime? into the fact that the world ain't such a hot place. And you are going to get burned a couple of times. And don't believe everything you read, what people say to you. You got to have a healthy suspicion about life."
Ravi: As I look back on my MAD reading years, I think MAD along with other sources of influence (like general discussions with friends & elders, Hindi film movies, newspapers, other magazines and books) did impart to me a healthy suspicion about life, and that I should not believe everything I read.
Alfred E. Neuman was an utterly fascinating figure! What a MAD look he had on his face!
Now I will make a small exception to my current policy of not publicly commenting on USA politics. Around 3 months ago, US President Donald Trump made a reference to Alfred E. Neuman, as a way to attack Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a candidate for Democratic Party nominee for President in 2020 election. Now I am not saying anything about whether that is right or wrong - I am just staying mum on that aspect.
But it was interesting to note that Mayor Buttigieg did not get the reference and had to Google it! He said that it was a generational thing. Hmm. I am feeling old but that's the truth, I guess. What I liked was the cool way in which Mayor Buttigieg handled it and hit back at President Trump. Many of the US politicians, including President Trump, have this great ability to handle verbal attacks on them well, and turn it around. I admire them for this cool they have.
Here's the video clip of the View discussing the matter (note that it is negative on Trump but I am sharing it for the Alfred E. Neuman part; I am publicly politically neutral on US politics): Trump Calls Mayor Pete “Alfred E. Neuman” | The View, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNHnAPFIWZE, 4 min. 4 secs.
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Common man star of the 70s & 80s Amol Palekar along with Tina Munim are the main stars in this popular song from 1979 Hindi film Baton Baton Mein: Uthe Sabke Kadam Tara Ram Pam Pam_ Baton Baton Mein, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtdo-AWSdk, 4 min. 21 secs.
The main singers are Lata Mangeshkar and Amit Kumar.
BTW in real life, Tina Munim married Anil Ambani, and is now known as Tina Ambani, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Ambani. She is the chairperson of Mumbai based Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.
Amol Palekar, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amol_Palekar, is not much in the news nowadays. Maybe he is just enjoying his retired life now.
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Interesting; Has a short video (without audio of the actual mtg) of the flamboyant UK PM Boris Johnson meeting PM Narendra Modi: PM Narendra Modi broke news of England’s dramatic Ashes win to Boris Johnson: Report, https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/pm-narendra-modi-broke-news-of-england-s-dramatic-ashes-win-to-boris-johnson-report/story-S2bP8RO702lrsITV7yO1VN.html
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Has interesting parts; Is longish - around 15 mins.
https://www.facebook.com/quintillion/videos/3497077146972802/?t=0
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Good to see this. Hope PM Boris Johnson and PM Narendra Modi have a good working relationship.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/PMOIndia/photos/a.829324053864967/1658943404236357/?type=3&theater
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Absolutely unbelievable knock from England's Ben Stokes snatching victory for England from jaws of defeat against Australia: The Ashes Day 4 Highlights | Third Specsavers Ashes Test 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrIew7-4isI, 5 min. 18 secs.
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WBC 2019 : PV Sindhu VS Nozomi Okuhara Final Match Highlights || PV Sindhu Won Gold at WBC 2019 ||, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJmshOZ4_IE, 2 min. 13 secs.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az6cl4TdtrA - The earlier video got blocked.
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This is quite hilarious. I saw it yesterday on Twitter but as the twitter a/c was a political one, I decided not to share then.
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/2410172625898216/?t=0 [About Indian youth getting lifted along with the pole he is holding due to breeze]
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Finally! Over the past few years, a couple or so of female shuttlers from India were on the brink of winning a world championship title but could not do it, till P.V. Sindhu achieved it. Congratulations to her and a great feat for India.
Shared link: PV Sindhu’s victory puts India on top of the world, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/badminton/pv-sindhu-becomes-first-indian-to-win-world-championships-gold/articleshow/70829043.cms
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I don't think I had seen a John Wayne movie earlier. This was interesting: The Undefeated 1969 1080p John Wayne HD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5UxC2JGzC4, around 2 hrs.
I am sure the movie shows a romanticized view of immediate post civil war USA (mid nineteenth century). In particular, there is almost no coverage of the main issue that led to the USA civil war - slavery. Cotton was the big money earner for Southern USA with slaves being the cheap labour that did the hard agricultural work to grow (and pick) cotton. The rich slave owners led an aristocratic life on the backs of slaves. That, I think, is the undeniable reality of Southern USA prior to the American civil war. That part is glaring in its omission in the movie.
But the movie gives one some idea of how brutal that civil war was, especially for the confederates who lost the war. Their way of life was uprooted.
It also shows how poor the soldiers who fought that terrible civil war, were. How they had to worry about life after the war with them having no money.
Land, horses, river streams (with part of the border between Mexico and USA then being just a river stream; cross the river to get across to the other country!) etc. - a very down-to-earth kind of life. And guns, of course. And that is just around 150 years ago!
The Mexican side of it is also interesting. An emperor was attempted to be imposed on Mexico from Europe! Some, maybe a majority, of the Mexicans wanted to have their own president and their own Republic. Eventually the Mexican president's side won. This is based on real history. For more see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico.
The main theme of the movie is how, after the civil war is over, the Yankee group of fighters eventually get along with the Confederate group of fighters, and fight together against a common bandit enemy. Perhaps that part also conveys a rather romanticized view. It would have been very difficult for the Yankees and the Confederates to get along after the Civil War.
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A song that captures the pain of the Southern USA folks at that time:
The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Youtube video description has the lyrics), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM, 4 min. 15 secs.
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Interesting 2 min. 16 secs. overview of global economy concerns from (USA) CBS Evening News as the G7 nations meet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCFifuP24bk, published 24th Aug. 2019
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I did not know much about Late Arun Jaitley's career prior to him becoming union minister in 2014 Narendra Modi government. This article in The Hindu about his political career gave me some background : Arun Jaitley: A man who played many roles, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/arun-jaitley-a-man-who-played-many-roles/article29241568.ece.
I had not known that he had started his political career as students' union leader in Delhi, and that he spent 19 months in jail during Emergency period.
I think he has rendered great service to the country in the various roles he played in his life. It is heart-warming to know that he was appreciated across the political spectrum. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have paid tribute to him.
May God shower His Grace on Late Arun Jaitley's soul/sukshma sharira!
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.
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I have heard this song so many times in the late 70s & 80s! I don't think I had seen the video earlier. From the 1958 (yes, a 1950s film) Madhumati, sung by Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar, with on screen stars Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala, 3 min. 34 secs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o184v83-gkk
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A popular classy oldie Hindi film song about a poet/shayar (singer/actor himself): Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shair Hoon | Song HD | मैं पल दो पल का शायर हूँ | Kabhi Kabhie | Amitabh | Mukesh, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkGqpVYjLUw, 2 min. 20 secs. Film Kabhi Kabhie (1976), sung by Mukesh, on screen stars are Amitabh and Rakhee, lyrics - Sahir Ludhianvi, Music - Khayyam.
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Very interesting article showing that population growth in India will stabilize in the coming decades.
It also has other info. like fertility rate among different religious communities in India, and sex ratio variance across states. Note that 2.1 fertility rate is considered to be the replacement rate - i.e. rate at which population size remains stable across generations.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/how-worried-should-we-be-about-indias-population-explosion/articleshow/70711314.cms
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Hmm. The trade tariffs war between USA and China seems to be getting into pretty rough territory now.
Donald Trump presses US companies to close China operations, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/donald-trump-presses-us-companies-to-close-china-operations/articleshow/70809780.cms?
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I think US President Trump is being frank, from his perspective, on this matter. But I simply do not know whether his trade tariffs solution is the right one for the USA. I am on wait & watch mode on this.
But USA ****has to**** fix its trade imbalance and, I would add, its debt-to-GDP very high levels, which, after 2007-08 financial crisis, makes USA economy a serious concern for not only the USA but the whole world as USA is the biggest economy in the world and has the most powerful military force in the world.
https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/1164217774564159488, 21st Aug. 2019
Trump's key words in the video clip in above tweet: "Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one [Trump looks at the sky while saying this sentence]. Somebody had to do it. So I am taking on China. I am taking on China on trade. And you know what, we are winning."
Trump looking at the sky while saying chosen one implies that he is saying he is chosen by God to do the task of USA taking on China on trade.
I am not sure whether one can declare now that USA is winning the trade war with China. That game is not over yet, IMHO. The world is watching that game with bated breath!
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Trump cancels Denmark visit amid spat over sale of Greenland - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwQrDkkTh0Q, around 4 mins.
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A brutal reality of life!
Mediation between warring parties is not an easy thing to do!
Video is around a minute.
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/1213335798838812/?t=0
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Great oldie song!
Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi | Kishore Kumar | Khamoshi 1969 Songs | Waheeda Rehman, Rajesh Khanna, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDXFi3avqo0, 5 min. 17 secs.
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Hadn't seen this one of the trilogy earlier; saw it recently: A Fistful of Dollars (HD) Full Movie - Clint Eastwood - Dollars Trilogy Part 1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPnr983684I, 1 hr. 40 mins. Quite a raw film as compared to the other two movies of the trilogy.
And here's Clint Eastwood talking about it in 2003 (the movie was made in 1964): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz37DHO937U, around 8 mins.
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Got the Jimmy Carter memoir (at ninety) book. Will surely read it in the near future, even though I have a few outstanding books on my reading list (FDR and Ramayana are what I am reading now, when I get a chance).
I am very interested to know about the life of this man: a man with rural roots, a believer in God, a man who preaches in Sunday school even now if I got that correctly, and a person who rose to be President of United States of America! Jimmy Carter is somebody whom I have always had a fondness for, though I don't really know much about his life and presidency. What I recall is that whatever little bit I had read about him in the media when he was president (and I was in my mid to late teens, in Bombay) was good. He came across as a nice guy who made it to the top!
Whatever bits of video interviews that I saw of him in the past few years and what I read about his charitable work, have reinforced that view I have of him.
So I am very eager to read this memoir of his at ninety years of age!
FB post (https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2569877596562135) has pics of the book
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The Godfather - Michael In Sicily (ENG Subtitles), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y64beE5yos, 9 mins.
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The challenge for (material) development powered by foreign investment, is to ensure that a majority of locals feel they have benefited. [It may be too much to expect that all locals feel they have benefited.]
If instead the locals perception of the foreign investment powered (material) development is that it has benefited only a small minority of locals, and that it has made life difficult/expensive as compared to earlier, then the locals can become sour at the foreign investors and the companies/businesses they run.
While in this case, it is the Chinese investors and workers/visitors who seem to not be that appreciated by this Cambodian Tuk-Tuk driver due to the changes that he has seen with Chinese investment and influx, I think it is the same situation in India with some cases of foreign country investments and businesses.
The majority of locals must be happy with the foreign investment and businesses, otherwise things may not work out well in the long run for such development powered by foreign investment and businesses.
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Prayers for well being of Vidya Sinha's soul/sukshma sharira, and gratitude to her for the joy she gave so many Indians through her films.
This very popular in those days song-video has Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha celebrate Bombay white-collar working class life (office desks, BEST buses, elevator queues, watching movies - Amol Palekar is shown watching a movie and then day-dreaming ... part of Bombay white-collar working class life of those days - late 70s and 80s). The song is from the 1975 movie Chhoti Si Baat
Janeman Janeman Tere Do Nayan...., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ats8Y1yzgPI, 5 min. 13 secs.
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In rural roads around Puttaparthi, I have quite often encountered a herd of sheep on the road being tended to by local shepherds, but this large group of ducks crossing the road under supervision of the persons tending to them, is something else altogether!
https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/videos/365152514161802/?t=0
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Sad after reading this article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49348072
I mean, any hopes of a majority of UK Parliament MPs rallying around new PM Johnson seem to have got dashed already. Some Tory party MPs, including former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, seem to be opposing PM Johnson on his Brexit plan!
Now the relevant question may be whether British Parliament will allow a no-deal Brexit to happen as that's what Boris Johnson's govt. seems to be heading towards.
And if it does get to no-deal Brexit, another question would be: how strongly will Scotland react as Scotland is opposed to no-deal Brexit.
It must be really, really tough to be in Boris Johnson's shoes now.
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Boris Johnson: Brexit opponents 'collaborating' with EU - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTcorZs3enk, around 5 min
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This Hon'ble MP from Ladakh has really catapulted to national fame with his joy at Ladakh being declared as a union territory (and so becoming what seems to be the first and only Buddhist majority union territory or state in India) expressed in Parliament (Lok Sabha; through a speech that got quite viral I think) as well as on the street (this dance): https://twitter.com/MPLadakh/status/1160630796350136320
The tweet has a short video of him dancing. Cool stuff :-). I loved it.
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[My comments slightly edited[
--Name-snipped-- Thought you would love it! And I am very happy and grateful to Lord Buddha that Tibetan Buddhists have a majority union territory in India now. Of course, Tibetan Buddhists in Ladakh could practice their faith freely in India earlier too, but now they get larger administrative powers too over Ladakh.
As an Indian Hindu, I have always had great reverence for Buddhists and for Lord Buddha (Gautama Siddhartha).
Buddham Sharanam Gacchami
Dhammam Sharanam Gacchami
Sangham Sharanam Gacchami
[I go to Lord Buddha for refuge.
I go to Dharma (ethical life) for refuge.
I go to the Sangha (community) for refuge.]
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BTW Tibetan Buddhists have lived in Ladakh for centuries perhaps. So the Tibetan Buddhists in Ladakh are NOT refugees. They are Indian citizens and residents.
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Hmm. I don't know what the Buddhists in Ladakh are referred to as: Ladakhi Buddhists or Tibetan Buddhists. Here's the Ladakh wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladakh
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And here's some info. about Buddhism in Ladakh: https://www.lehladakhindia.com/buddhism-in-ladakh/
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Hmm. That's a big deal!
$15 billion deal between Saudi Arabia's Aramco, the world's largest oil producer and Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries' chairman and largest shareholder, gives Aramco a stake in the world's biggest refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Aramco gets 20% stake in Reliance Industries' refining and petrochemicals business valued at $75 billion.
Reliance will purchase 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Aramco as part of the deal.
Shared link: Saudi Aramco has struck a $15 billion deal with Asia's richest man for a stake in the world's biggest refinery, https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/saudi-aramco-buys-15-billion-stake-reliance-industries-mukesh-ambani-2019-8-1028437515
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For A Few Dollars More: The movie has bad racial stereotyping, and fantasy gun shooters, but bounty killers (rather bounty hunters, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounty_hunter) were a reality of the Wild West of the USA. The text at 3 min. 49 secs into the movie video may be exaggerated but seems to have a kernel of truth to it in the context of those Wild West times in the USA, "Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared."
The movie was well known in Bombay of my youth - late 70s & 80s, along with its sequel - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.
Saw 'For A Few Dollars More' again today on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8wB2clYl2U, 2 min. 11 secs.
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A reality bite in plain language that's easy to understand and communicates well, what seems to me at least to some extent to be, the reality.
My intent in sharing this post is not to indulge in fear-mongering. It is just to share the reality-bite. What I have seen over decades of my life is that once problems acquire a certain level of momentum, the ostrich-head-in-the-sand approach to simply go about one's life without paying attention to the problem, usually does not work. The problem has to be confronted and overcome.
Shared link: I Felt Safe in America. Until El Paso., https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/opinion/sunday/el-paso-shooting-immigrants.html
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Tragically, I think there is at least some truth to the cartoon when viewed in the context of many countries of the world including India. USA seems to have this problem as well with the Oxycontin over-prescription matter resulting in court cases.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/pharmacyknowledge123/photos/a.566556410488403/645478182596225/
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Interesting!
Bear Grylls Speaks To The Media About His Experience With PM Modi On Man Vs Wild, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdqU7G84F8, 6 min. 26 secs, published by Republic World on 10th Aug. 2019.
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Hats off to the (lady) train conductor in New Zealand for letting the 16 year old racist (girl) know that such behaviour is not acceptable and that she has to get down from the train.
May God shower His Grace on the train conductor. May God teach wisdom and good behaviour to the racist girl.
Shared link: 16-YO In New Zealand Abuses Passenger For Speaking In Hindi, Conductor Kicks Her Off The Train, https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/human-interest/16-yo-in-new-zealand-abuses-passenger-for-speaking-in-hindi-conductor-kicks-her-off-the-train-373243.html
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Reality bite about the world we live in: Brazilian gang leader who dressed as daughter in prison break attempt found dead, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8soMvHIqDgI, 1 min. 9 secs.
Here's the associated text article: https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/world/2019-08-07-brazil-inmate-who-attempted-to-escape-prison-disguised-as-his-daughter-found-dead/, dated 7th Aug. 2019.
The attempt to escape, as per the above report was on last Saturday (3rd Aug.). He died in what seems to be suicide, on Tuesday (6th Aug).
Guards had stopped him as he (she) attempted to escape as he (she) looked "suspicious".
Perhaps the silicone mask was not realistic enough.
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Even in those days (when USA President Carter visited India in 1978 at which time I was 15 years old), I had formed a good opinion about the very likeable person that Jimmy Carter then was, going by the little I read on media (newspaper mainly) coverage of him. I continue to have a very favourable opinion about President Carter even today. I hope to read his memoirs some day.
Update: I decided to look for and purchase his memoir now itself even though I have to finish some books that I am reading now. I think that if the book is around me, I will get to reading it some time in the future.
I saw that he has multiple memoirs. I bought his latest one: A full life: https://www.amazon.in/Full-Life-Reflections-Ninety/dp/1501115642/
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/photos/a.190766654372705/2485654761550538/?type=3&theater
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I loved listening to this song in the 1980s in my USA stints (and sometimes while back in India), usually on car radio or on music player at home. It was released in 1968. But I had not seen Simon & Garfunkel perform this live.
I love these lines of the song:
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
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I used to wonder who Mrs. Robinson is and whether there is some story-background to these lines. According to the wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Robinson, the name was a random name that suited the lyrics. There does not seem to be any real background to these lines.
The other lines in this song that I recall well, are:
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Wu wu wu
----
The wiki page gives some background for these lines. Joe DiMaggio, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DiMaggio, was a New York Yankees baseball hero who played from mid 1930s to early 1950s, and seems to have been a good guy in real life too. These lines simply were a reference to, what the composer(s) perceived as, a lack of (USA) national heroes like Joe DiMaggio at the time the song was composed (in 1968).
Here's the live performance video:
Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson (from The Concert in Central Park), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JVPdb6Urhw, 3 min. 16 secs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_in_Central_Park tells us, "The Concert in Central Park, released in February 1982 on Warner Bros. Records, is the first live album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. It was recorded in September 1981 at a free benefit concert in Central Park, New York City, where the pair performed in front of more than 500,000 people. Proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding."
So it seems that this live performance was in 1982.
...
Paul Simon sings "Mrs. Robinson" on DiMaggio Day in 1999, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07b-WtWT2BA, 3 min. 27 secs.
============
A popular Hindi film oldie song: Jaane Ja Dhoondta Phir Raha | Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle | Jawani Diwani 1972 Songs | Randhir Kapoor, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKnlkHt5LC4, around 6 mins.
...
Superb live orchestra rendition with Asha Bhosale herself being one of the singers! In 1988, I guess: Jaane Jaan - Asha Bhosle & Babul Supriyo Live, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfYAGZD9xOk, 5 min. 13 secs.
...
A remix version - 5 mins, rest of video seems to be ads for other songs: Jaane Jaan Dhoondta I The Unwind Mix I Abhijeet Sawant I Sumedha Karmahe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2oPV_j22LE
...
Superb live orchestra rendition in 2017, Abhijeet Live In Sriganganagar - Jaane Jaan Dhoondhta Fir Raha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6RMaNSxQhM, around 5 mins.
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Time-pass oldie Hindi film song that had become quite popular in the late 70s & 80s
Sabse Bada Rupaiya - Mehmood, Moushmi Chatterji & Vinod Mehra, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlniHtzFgb0, around 4 mins.
The song is sung by Mehmood. The movie has the same name - Sabse Baba Rupaiya, and was released in 1976.
Its punch line goes: The whole thing is that ke bhaya sabse bada rupaiya
[English: The whole thing is that the biggest thing is the Rupee (money).
=================
Great to see South Korean company KIA Motors's India branch roll out its first commercial production car from its Penukonda (near Puttaparthi) factory
First KIA Seltos rolls out from its stable, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/first-kia-seltos-rolls-out-from-its-stable/article28918142.ece, 9th Aug. 2019
Some points from the above article:
* The car was rolled out in presence of AP Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and KIA Motors India MD & CEO Kookhyun Shim at the manufacturing plant of the company in village Erramanchi near Penukonda, on 8th Aug. 2019 afternoon.
* Mr. Shim is quoted as saying, "India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world and it was the excellent cooperation of State Government, which had enabled them to set up the plant in record time of two years and commenced commercial production within six months of launching trial production in January 2019."
* The ambassador of South Korea to India Mr. Shin Bong-kil was present at the event. The report states that he was happy about 23,311 cars being booked in advance.
Ravi: Penukonda is quite close to Puttaparthi (perhaps half an hour or so by road). I am given to understand that quite a few South Korean employees who work at KIA Motors' Penukonda plant, live in Puttaparthi.
Puttaparthi, Penukonda and other places in this Anantapur district desperately need job-creating industries for youth in this area. So I am very happy that this KIA Motors plant is successfully operating in this area. There are reports of some complaints about not enough locals being hired by the KIA Motors plant. But even if that's the case, the indirect benefit to people of this area through providing products and services to KIA Motors employees in this area, is a very good thing, IMHO.
I wish KIA Motors India's Penukonda car manufacturing plant all the very best!
Here's a Telugu News channel video of the car roll out event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoMLmrFO8QA, around 5 mins. published by NTV Telugu on 8th Aug. 2019
============
I think this cartoon reflects the truth. At least most of us, including me for sure, if not all of us, have our comfort zones where we operate freely and happily. Once we are out of our comfort zones, we got hobbled down, if not worse.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157502426627920&set=a.10150092302737920&type=3&theater
========
Ravi: I am very thankful to Smt. Sushma Swaraj for her dedicated service to the nation. I read a news report (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/take-your-fee-of-re-1-tomorrow-for-defending-kulbhushan-jadhav-sushma-swaraj-in-last-call-to-harish-salve/story-XR8iTZdfe0gNeNfNBMC83O.html) that an hour before she passed away she spoke to leading lawyer Harish Salve about his service (for Rs.1) in fighting former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in the International Court of Justice. She asked Salve to collect his Rs. 1 charge! The report said that she was very emotionally involved in fighting to save Kulbhushan Jadhav. Smt. Swaraj seems to have worked for India's cause right to her last day!
My prayers to God to shower His Grace on her soul/sukshma sharira, and give strength and courage to her family and friends to bear the loss.
=========
Don't want to share Dr. Farooq Abdullah's (former CM of J&K and now MP representing a part of Kashmir) media interaction short video clips as J&K is just too super-sensitive a topic for me to get into, given my many limitations.
But I am glad to see that Dr. Farooq Abdullah's voice is now being heard in India, giving his views of the matter. I think that is very necessary for democracy. I hope that his son and former CM Omar Abdullah's voice as well as former CM Mehbooba Mufti's voice are also freely heard in the very near future.
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.
==========
Moment police fatally shot Dayton gunman, (readers who don't want to see such violence may please skip seeing the video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28adKNe3OJA, 41 secs.
These policemen who shot the attacker are the heroes who prevented further deaths & injuries of innocent (and unarmed mostly, I guess) people. Hats off to these policemen!
...
Video shows Dayton gunman in bar hours before shooting, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwvdYycXgws, published by CNN, 2 min. 46 secs.
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Dayton shooter's ex-girlfriend: "I'm not shocked he did something horrific", 3 min. 7 secs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPqc_DMSUM, published by CBS This Morning.
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Dayton PD release footage of moment cops took down shooter, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba9PXe-O8K8, 3 min. 16 secs.
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Dayton Gunman Kept a Hit List, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fahtEG13n0w, 2 min. 4 secs, published by Inside Edition.
============
Enjoyed this live orchestra rendition of Hindi film oldie-goldie: Aasman se aya farishta pyar ka sabak sikhlane By Vishwanath Batunge, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol1K2wsl7KM, around 4 mins, published in July 2017
=============
Wiki on History of Gun Culture in USA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_culture_in_the_United_States#History :
American attitudes on gun ownership date back to the American Revolutionary War, and find an origin also in the hunting/sporting ethos, and the militia/frontier ethos that draw from the country's early history.[2]
The American hunting/sporting passion comes from a time when the United States was an agrarian, subsistence nation where hunting was a profession for some, an auxiliary source of food for some settlers, and also a deterrence to animal predators. A connection between shooting skills and survival among rural American men was in many cases a necessity and a 'rite of passage' for those entering manhood. Today, hunting survives as a central sentimental component of a gun culture as a way to control animal populations across the country, regardless of modern trends away from subsistence hunting and rural living.[2]
The militia/frontiersman spirit derives from an early American dependence on arms to protect themselves from foreign armies and hostile Native Americans. Survival depended upon everyone being capable of using a weapon. Prior to the American Revolution there was neither budget nor manpower nor government desire to maintain a full-time army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried the responsibility. Service in militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men— [Ravi: the next part of this sentence may be inaccurate] just as registering for military service upon turning eighteen is today. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty gave way to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a regular army. Throughout the 19th century the institution of the civilian militia began to decline.[2]
Closely related to the militia tradition was the frontier tradition with the need for a means of self-protection closely associated with the nineteenth century westward expansion and the American frontier. There remains a powerful central elevation of the gun associated with the hunting/sporting and militia/frontier ethos among the American Gun Culture.[2] Though it has not been a necessary part of daily survival for over a century, generations of Americans have continued to embrace and glorify it as a living inheritance—a permanent element of the nation's style and culture.[3] In popular literature, frontier adventure was most famously told by James Fenimore Cooper, who is credited by Petri Liukkonen with creating the archetype of an 18th-century frontiersman through such novels as The Last of the Mohicans (1826) and The Deerslayer (1840).[4]
[Wiki References]
2. Spitzer, Robert J. (1995). The Politics of Gun Control. Chatham House. ISBN 9781566430227.
3. JERVIS ANDERSON, GUNS IN AMERICA 10 (1984), page 21
4. Liukkonen, Petri. "James Fenimore Cooper". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: "The American hunting/sporting passion comes from a time when the United States was an agrarian, subsistence nation where hunting was a profession for some, an auxiliary source of food for some settlers, and also a deterrence to animal predators. A connection between shooting skills and survival among rural American men was in many cases a necessity and a 'rite of passage' for those entering manhood." I think that seems to be the plain truth of the matter. If a man (and his dependents e.g. wife and children) wanted to survive in rural America of those days, he had to be a good shooter!
And then there was the protection of the village/town community (of those days) angle: "The militia/frontiersman spirit derives from an early American dependence on arms to protect themselves from foreign armies and hostile Native Americans. Survival depended upon everyone being capable of using a weapon. Prior to the American Revolution there was neither budget nor manpower nor government desire to maintain a full-time army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried the responsibility."
In my college days of late 70s and early 80s I have read quite a few novels about the Wild West of the USA during the past. Louis L'Amour was a famous writer in this genre.
Gun fight at the O.K. Corral seems to be viewed as the most famous gunfight (real event) of the US Wild West, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral.
1st part of movie somewhat loosely based on it: Gunfight At The O.K. Corral part1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpGBhpJ72BI . The real-life gunfight was only for 30 seconds whereas the film gunfight is a comparatively long one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral_(film)#Historical_inaccuracies captures the movie's historical inaccuracies.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
...
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral part2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_9WKEmowxI, close to an hour.
=============
Indian Express article that digs quite deep into the matter: Explained: What happened in El Paso and Dayton and what it shows about history of gun culture in US, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-happened-in-el-paso-and-dayton-and-what-it-shows-about-history-of-gun-culture-in-us-5880506/, 5th Aug. 2019
==========
In the early 90s I had to change a flight at Hong Kong and had a few hours to spare. So I decided to get out of the airport (the immigration guys permitted me to do so), move around the city a little, and then get back to the airport to catch the connecting flight (back to India, if I recall correctly).
While I spent only a few hours or so in Hong Kong city, I enjoyed the time I spent and liked the city. I felt quite comfy walking around.
Sad to see Hong Kong land into such violent unrest. I guess some of the people of Hong Kong are fighting to have the freedoms they enjoyed earlier (under British rule of some sort and which was the case when I spent the above mentioned few hours there), and retain the somewhat lesser freedoms they enjoy now. I think the current protests are officially against an extradition bill but in general, I think one can view it as pro-democracy/pro-freedom protests. I think some of the people of Hong Kong are afraid that they will come under complete Chinese mainland control, with associated limits to their freedom.
But the reality of Asia, including India, is that group muscle power matters when one gets into such serious political conflicts.
Chinese history of the 20th century has lots & lots of terrible fighting and war and killings. No wonder some of the Chinese people are very tough. I mean, that seems to have been a key survival trait in 20th century China which seems to have got handed down into the 21st century.
The New York Times video shared below, gives us a clear view of how group muscle power matters in China, and is playing a significant role in combating the protests in Hong Kong (which sometimes, tragically, have descended into violence).
This is where I think Gandhi and Martin Luther King's non-violence approach may be more effective. Once the protests get violent, the opponents' group muscle power can come into play and simply snuff out the protests. I mean, that's the brutal reality of Asia, even today!
Note that the video has some violent scenes. Readers who prefer to avoid such stuff, may please skip seeing the video.
When a Mob Attacked Protesters in Hong Kong, the Police Walked Away | Visual Investigations, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDtM3dEJdHo, 7 min. 43 secs, published by the New York Times on 30th July 2019.
BTW I should mention that I have taken a deliberate decision not to say anything about the latest developments vis-a-vis the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir as I view it as a super-sensitive topic with lots of lives lost among people of different communities (Hindu, Muslim etc) of the state and of Indian security forces, over the past decades.
==========
10 second clip of earth as seen by camera on ISRO's Chandrayaan2
https://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/li054bl4chl0001705008119215184408583_00_framerate1_logo.mp4.mp4
And here's a tweet with a pic which seems to be from the above clip: https://twitter.com/isro/status/1157903612862844928
...
The pic seems to be of Mexico's Gulf of California (NOT USA California), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_California.
===========
Interesting!
The curious story of Dadi Balsara, the Parsi billionaire who stayed at Taj Mansingh Hotel for 36 years, https://www.businessinsider.in/meet-dadi-balsara-the-parsi-billionaire-who-stayed-at-taj-mansingh-hotel-for-36-years/articleshow/53549314.cms
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Good to know that the Mexican government is going to put pressure on USA to ensure proper protection of its citizens in USA, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mexico-vows-take-legal-action-against-u-s-wake-deadly-n1039096.
At least six of the 20 dead in the El Paso, Texas, USA massacre were Mexican citizens.
The report states, "The shooter appears to have been targeting Hispanics and authorities are investigating it as a hate crime. A 21-year-old Texas man was in custody."
The world must put pressure on USA to ensure that adequate protection is provided to non-white residents in the USA, whether they are USA citizens or not.
============
I decided to share the article as I have learned in life that, for some problems that persist, the ostrich head in sand approach where one simply ignores unpleasant realities out there, many times, though not at all times, leads to unpleasant outcome for those with their head in the sand. Some of these problems don't go away by pretending that they are not there, and that it will impact only others and not oneself and one's friends & family.
Update: The madman mass murderer's rant is against immigrants and calls for racial segregation. But he does not seem to be a white supremacist.
The evil ideology of white supremacy or murderous racism has become a significant danger to communities living in some white majority countries. I think that is the plain truth.
People, especially non-white people living in white majority countries, should contribute their efforts to combating this evil white supremacist or murderous racism ideology by supporting those public figures and those organizations who combat it. and shunning public figures and organizations that promote or support white supremacy or murderous racism.
As a social media writer, the act of putting up this ***public*** post is my tiny contribution towards combating the evil ideology of white supremacy or murderous racism.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role about USA politics. I am not making any accusation or allegation against any political party in the USA or any of its top leaders. My criticism is directed at those who publicly support white supremacists and or murderous racists.
I request that readers who comment on this post do NOT make any negative references to USA top political leaders in this regard, unless those top political leaders have publicly expressed support for this mass shooter in this El Paso, Texas tragedy or other such white supremacist or murderous racist mass shooters.
Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in USA elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the USA.
Shared article: Minutes Before El Paso Killing, Hate-Filled Manifesto Appears Online, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/patrick-crusius-el-paso-shooter-manifesto.html
==================
Fascinating! The author of the article, Zhou Xin, is a lecturer in the Tamil department of Beijing Foreign Studies University.
I confess that I did not know about Tamils having such extensive connections with China going back two millennia, though I knew of Tamils' long interactions with East Asian countries like Malaya (Malaysia), Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.
Very interesting to know these interactions between Tamils and Chinese going back two millennia, and based on maritime trade and visits of Tamil and Chinese scholars to each other's countries/kingdoms.
The very suggestion that Kung Fu may have originated from a Tamil Buddhist monk who settled down in China, blows me away.
Shared link via FB post: Tamils and Tamizhakam in Chinese eyes, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/tamils-and-tamizhakam-in-chinese-eyes-5871413/
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KR Ramesh Kumar Reveals Inside Story Of All The Drama In The Karnataka Assembly | The Quint, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhLhRGrK6Fg, 28 min. 15 secs, published by The Quint on 31st July 2019
==================
VG Siddhartha’s total debt may have touched Rs 11,000 crore. See graphics, https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/cafe-coffee-day-founder-vg-siddhartha-total-debt-touched-rs-11-000-crore-explained-in-graphics-1576317-2019-08-02
The report breaks up the debt as of Mar. 31st 2019 (which came down by a few thousands of crores after he partially repaid debt by selling Mindtree shares):
[1 crore is 10 million.]
Coffee Day: Rs.6547 crores
Siddhartha's group's four private holding companies: Rs.3522 crores
Siddhartha and 2 other Coffee Day directors personal guarantee towards loans worth: Rs.1028 crores.
Total: Rs.11,097 crores
In May 2019, Coffee Day debt was brought down by Rs.2100 crores using proceeds from sale of Mindtree shares. making Coffee Day debt as Rs.4447 crores (and so the above total figure perhaps became around Rs.9000 crores unless additional debt had got added in April & May 2019).
Siddhartha, in his last letter, is reported to have listed assets worth Rs.18000 crores which would be enough to repay debt.
One general comment I have, based on my observation of businesses in India over the past few decades, is that many MBA and finance masters types in India tend to get carried away with their business ambitions without having a proper sense of ground business and financial realities. Perhaps in their MBA and finance masters education they are taught about spectacular business and financial success stories in the USA, and they want to do the same in India.
India has a very different business environment from that of the USA. I can say that based on my experience in software export industry based in India in senior management position and later as a senior tech. consultant, from around 1990 to 2002. What may have worked wonders in business and financial sectors of USA, may end up in disaster in India, unless Indian ground realities are factored in.
Serious cash flow problems and unsustainable debt were very dangerous issues in Indian business environment, in my industry senior position days in the 90s and early 2000s. They could just force a company to shut down! Perhaps that is the reality in Indian business environment, even today.
And then I think India has MBA and finance masters types creating NGO organizations funded by individual and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) donors. I think the same issues may apply to those that are very ambitious in their NGO plans. Like in Indian business sector, NGOs that have serious cash flow problems and unsustainable debt, may collapse.
I think the path to sustained growth or even survival for Indian business organizations and NGOs, is having manageable debt levels, even if that means that growth is slow or even stagnant, at times.
The current international trade tariff wars and threat of global economic downturn, makes the need for such caution even more than earlier.
==============
Hats off to the (lady) train conductor in New Zealand for letting the 16 year old racist (girl) know that such behaviour is not acceptable and that she has to get down from the train.
May God shower His Grace on the train conductor. May God teach wisdom and good behaviour to the racist girl.
Shared link: 16-YO In New Zealand Abuses Passenger For Speaking In Hindi, Conductor Kicks Her Off The Train, https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/human-interest/16-yo-in-new-zealand-abuses-passenger-for-speaking-in-hindi-conductor-kicks-her-off-the-train-373243.html
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Reality bite about the world we live in: Brazilian gang leader who dressed as daughter in prison break attempt found dead, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8soMvHIqDgI, 1 min. 9 secs.
Here's the associated text article: https://www.heraldlive.co.za/news/world/2019-08-07-brazil-inmate-who-attempted-to-escape-prison-disguised-as-his-daughter-found-dead/, dated 7th Aug. 2019.
The attempt to escape, as per the above report was on last Saturday (3rd Aug.). He died in what seems to be suicide, on Tuesday (6th Aug).
Guards had stopped him as he (she) attempted to escape as he (she) looked "suspicious".
Perhaps the silicone mask was not realistic enough.
==========
Even in those days (when USA President Carter visited India in 1978 at which time I was 15 years old), I had formed a good opinion about the very likeable person that Jimmy Carter then was, going by the little I read on media (newspaper mainly) coverage of him. I continue to have a very favourable opinion about President Carter even today. I hope to read his memoirs some day.
Update: I decided to look for and purchase his memoir now itself even though I have to finish some books that I am reading now. I think that if the book is around me, I will get to reading it some time in the future.
I saw that he has multiple memoirs. I bought his latest one: A full life: https://www.amazon.in/Full-Life-Reflections-Ninety/dp/1501115642/
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/photos/a.190766654372705/2485654761550538/?type=3&theater
==========
I loved listening to this song in the 1980s in my USA stints (and sometimes while back in India), usually on car radio or on music player at home. It was released in 1968. But I had not seen Simon & Garfunkel perform this live.
I love these lines of the song:
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey hey hey, hey hey hey
----
I used to wonder who Mrs. Robinson is and whether there is some story-background to these lines. According to the wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Robinson, the name was a random name that suited the lyrics. There does not seem to be any real background to these lines.
The other lines in this song that I recall well, are:
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Wu wu wu
----
The wiki page gives some background for these lines. Joe DiMaggio, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DiMaggio, was a New York Yankees baseball hero who played from mid 1930s to early 1950s, and seems to have been a good guy in real life too. These lines simply were a reference to, what the composer(s) perceived as, a lack of (USA) national heroes like Joe DiMaggio at the time the song was composed (in 1968).
Here's the live performance video:
Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson (from The Concert in Central Park), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JVPdb6Urhw, 3 min. 16 secs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_in_Central_Park tells us, "The Concert in Central Park, released in February 1982 on Warner Bros. Records, is the first live album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. It was recorded in September 1981 at a free benefit concert in Central Park, New York City, where the pair performed in front of more than 500,000 people. Proceeds went toward the redevelopment and maintenance of the park, which had deteriorated due to lack of municipal funding."
So it seems that this live performance was in 1982.
...
Paul Simon sings "Mrs. Robinson" on DiMaggio Day in 1999, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07b-WtWT2BA, 3 min. 27 secs.
============
A popular Hindi film oldie song: Jaane Ja Dhoondta Phir Raha | Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle | Jawani Diwani 1972 Songs | Randhir Kapoor, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKnlkHt5LC4, around 6 mins.
...
Superb live orchestra rendition with Asha Bhosale herself being one of the singers! In 1988, I guess: Jaane Jaan - Asha Bhosle & Babul Supriyo Live, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfYAGZD9xOk, 5 min. 13 secs.
...
A remix version - 5 mins, rest of video seems to be ads for other songs: Jaane Jaan Dhoondta I The Unwind Mix I Abhijeet Sawant I Sumedha Karmahe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2oPV_j22LE
...
Superb live orchestra rendition in 2017, Abhijeet Live In Sriganganagar - Jaane Jaan Dhoondhta Fir Raha, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6RMaNSxQhM, around 5 mins.
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Time-pass oldie Hindi film song that had become quite popular in the late 70s & 80s
Sabse Bada Rupaiya - Mehmood, Moushmi Chatterji & Vinod Mehra, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlniHtzFgb0, around 4 mins.
The song is sung by Mehmood. The movie has the same name - Sabse Baba Rupaiya, and was released in 1976.
Its punch line goes: The whole thing is that ke bhaya sabse bada rupaiya
[English: The whole thing is that the biggest thing is the Rupee (money).
=================
Great to see South Korean company KIA Motors's India branch roll out its first commercial production car from its Penukonda (near Puttaparthi) factory
First KIA Seltos rolls out from its stable, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/first-kia-seltos-rolls-out-from-its-stable/article28918142.ece, 9th Aug. 2019
Some points from the above article:
* The car was rolled out in presence of AP Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and KIA Motors India MD & CEO Kookhyun Shim at the manufacturing plant of the company in village Erramanchi near Penukonda, on 8th Aug. 2019 afternoon.
* Mr. Shim is quoted as saying, "India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world and it was the excellent cooperation of State Government, which had enabled them to set up the plant in record time of two years and commenced commercial production within six months of launching trial production in January 2019."
* The ambassador of South Korea to India Mr. Shin Bong-kil was present at the event. The report states that he was happy about 23,311 cars being booked in advance.
Ravi: Penukonda is quite close to Puttaparthi (perhaps half an hour or so by road). I am given to understand that quite a few South Korean employees who work at KIA Motors' Penukonda plant, live in Puttaparthi.
Puttaparthi, Penukonda and other places in this Anantapur district desperately need job-creating industries for youth in this area. So I am very happy that this KIA Motors plant is successfully operating in this area. There are reports of some complaints about not enough locals being hired by the KIA Motors plant. But even if that's the case, the indirect benefit to people of this area through providing products and services to KIA Motors employees in this area, is a very good thing, IMHO.
I wish KIA Motors India's Penukonda car manufacturing plant all the very best!
Here's a Telugu News channel video of the car roll out event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoMLmrFO8QA, around 5 mins. published by NTV Telugu on 8th Aug. 2019
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I think this cartoon reflects the truth. At least most of us, including me for sure, if not all of us, have our comfort zones where we operate freely and happily. Once we are out of our comfort zones, we got hobbled down, if not worse.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157502426627920&set=a.10150092302737920&type=3&theater
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Ravi: I am very thankful to Smt. Sushma Swaraj for her dedicated service to the nation. I read a news report (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/take-your-fee-of-re-1-tomorrow-for-defending-kulbhushan-jadhav-sushma-swaraj-in-last-call-to-harish-salve/story-XR8iTZdfe0gNeNfNBMC83O.html) that an hour before she passed away she spoke to leading lawyer Harish Salve about his service (for Rs.1) in fighting former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's case in the International Court of Justice. She asked Salve to collect his Rs. 1 charge! The report said that she was very emotionally involved in fighting to save Kulbhushan Jadhav. Smt. Swaraj seems to have worked for India's cause right to her last day!
My prayers to God to shower His Grace on her soul/sukshma sharira, and give strength and courage to her family and friends to bear the loss.
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Don't want to share Dr. Farooq Abdullah's (former CM of J&K and now MP representing a part of Kashmir) media interaction short video clips as J&K is just too super-sensitive a topic for me to get into, given my many limitations.
But I am glad to see that Dr. Farooq Abdullah's voice is now being heard in India, giving his views of the matter. I think that is very necessary for democracy. I hope that his son and former CM Omar Abdullah's voice as well as former CM Mehbooba Mufti's voice are also freely heard in the very near future.
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.
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Moment police fatally shot Dayton gunman, (readers who don't want to see such violence may please skip seeing the video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28adKNe3OJA, 41 secs.
These policemen who shot the attacker are the heroes who prevented further deaths & injuries of innocent (and unarmed mostly, I guess) people. Hats off to these policemen!
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Video shows Dayton gunman in bar hours before shooting, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwvdYycXgws, published by CNN, 2 min. 46 secs.
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Dayton shooter's ex-girlfriend: "I'm not shocked he did something horrific", 3 min. 7 secs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPqc_DMSUM, published by CBS This Morning.
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Dayton PD release footage of moment cops took down shooter, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba9PXe-O8K8, 3 min. 16 secs.
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Dayton Gunman Kept a Hit List, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fahtEG13n0w, 2 min. 4 secs, published by Inside Edition.
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Enjoyed this live orchestra rendition of Hindi film oldie-goldie: Aasman se aya farishta pyar ka sabak sikhlane By Vishwanath Batunge, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol1K2wsl7KM, around 4 mins, published in July 2017
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Wiki on History of Gun Culture in USA
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_culture_in_the_United_States#History :
American attitudes on gun ownership date back to the American Revolutionary War, and find an origin also in the hunting/sporting ethos, and the militia/frontier ethos that draw from the country's early history.[2]
The American hunting/sporting passion comes from a time when the United States was an agrarian, subsistence nation where hunting was a profession for some, an auxiliary source of food for some settlers, and also a deterrence to animal predators. A connection between shooting skills and survival among rural American men was in many cases a necessity and a 'rite of passage' for those entering manhood. Today, hunting survives as a central sentimental component of a gun culture as a way to control animal populations across the country, regardless of modern trends away from subsistence hunting and rural living.[2]
The militia/frontiersman spirit derives from an early American dependence on arms to protect themselves from foreign armies and hostile Native Americans. Survival depended upon everyone being capable of using a weapon. Prior to the American Revolution there was neither budget nor manpower nor government desire to maintain a full-time army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried the responsibility. Service in militia, including providing one's own ammunition and weapons, was mandatory for all men— [Ravi: the next part of this sentence may be inaccurate] just as registering for military service upon turning eighteen is today. Yet, as early as the 1790s, the mandatory universal militia duty gave way to voluntary militia units and a reliance on a regular army. Throughout the 19th century the institution of the civilian militia began to decline.[2]
Closely related to the militia tradition was the frontier tradition with the need for a means of self-protection closely associated with the nineteenth century westward expansion and the American frontier. There remains a powerful central elevation of the gun associated with the hunting/sporting and militia/frontier ethos among the American Gun Culture.[2] Though it has not been a necessary part of daily survival for over a century, generations of Americans have continued to embrace and glorify it as a living inheritance—a permanent element of the nation's style and culture.[3] In popular literature, frontier adventure was most famously told by James Fenimore Cooper, who is credited by Petri Liukkonen with creating the archetype of an 18th-century frontiersman through such novels as The Last of the Mohicans (1826) and The Deerslayer (1840).[4]
[Wiki References]
2. Spitzer, Robert J. (1995). The Politics of Gun Control. Chatham House. ISBN 9781566430227.
3. JERVIS ANDERSON, GUNS IN AMERICA 10 (1984), page 21
4. Liukkonen, Petri. "James Fenimore Cooper". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: "The American hunting/sporting passion comes from a time when the United States was an agrarian, subsistence nation where hunting was a profession for some, an auxiliary source of food for some settlers, and also a deterrence to animal predators. A connection between shooting skills and survival among rural American men was in many cases a necessity and a 'rite of passage' for those entering manhood." I think that seems to be the plain truth of the matter. If a man (and his dependents e.g. wife and children) wanted to survive in rural America of those days, he had to be a good shooter!
And then there was the protection of the village/town community (of those days) angle: "The militia/frontiersman spirit derives from an early American dependence on arms to protect themselves from foreign armies and hostile Native Americans. Survival depended upon everyone being capable of using a weapon. Prior to the American Revolution there was neither budget nor manpower nor government desire to maintain a full-time army. Therefore, the armed citizen-soldier carried the responsibility."
In my college days of late 70s and early 80s I have read quite a few novels about the Wild West of the USA during the past. Louis L'Amour was a famous writer in this genre.
Gun fight at the O.K. Corral seems to be viewed as the most famous gunfight (real event) of the US Wild West, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral.
1st part of movie somewhat loosely based on it: Gunfight At The O.K. Corral part1, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpGBhpJ72BI . The real-life gunfight was only for 30 seconds whereas the film gunfight is a comparatively long one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral_(film)#Historical_inaccuracies captures the movie's historical inaccuracies.
[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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Gunfight at the O.K. Corral part2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_9WKEmowxI, close to an hour.
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Indian Express article that digs quite deep into the matter: Explained: What happened in El Paso and Dayton and what it shows about history of gun culture in US, https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-happened-in-el-paso-and-dayton-and-what-it-shows-about-history-of-gun-culture-in-us-5880506/, 5th Aug. 2019
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In the early 90s I had to change a flight at Hong Kong and had a few hours to spare. So I decided to get out of the airport (the immigration guys permitted me to do so), move around the city a little, and then get back to the airport to catch the connecting flight (back to India, if I recall correctly).
While I spent only a few hours or so in Hong Kong city, I enjoyed the time I spent and liked the city. I felt quite comfy walking around.
Sad to see Hong Kong land into such violent unrest. I guess some of the people of Hong Kong are fighting to have the freedoms they enjoyed earlier (under British rule of some sort and which was the case when I spent the above mentioned few hours there), and retain the somewhat lesser freedoms they enjoy now. I think the current protests are officially against an extradition bill but in general, I think one can view it as pro-democracy/pro-freedom protests. I think some of the people of Hong Kong are afraid that they will come under complete Chinese mainland control, with associated limits to their freedom.
But the reality of Asia, including India, is that group muscle power matters when one gets into such serious political conflicts.
Chinese history of the 20th century has lots & lots of terrible fighting and war and killings. No wonder some of the Chinese people are very tough. I mean, that seems to have been a key survival trait in 20th century China which seems to have got handed down into the 21st century.
The New York Times video shared below, gives us a clear view of how group muscle power matters in China, and is playing a significant role in combating the protests in Hong Kong (which sometimes, tragically, have descended into violence).
This is where I think Gandhi and Martin Luther King's non-violence approach may be more effective. Once the protests get violent, the opponents' group muscle power can come into play and simply snuff out the protests. I mean, that's the brutal reality of Asia, even today!
Note that the video has some violent scenes. Readers who prefer to avoid such stuff, may please skip seeing the video.
When a Mob Attacked Protesters in Hong Kong, the Police Walked Away | Visual Investigations, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDtM3dEJdHo, 7 min. 43 secs, published by the New York Times on 30th July 2019.
BTW I should mention that I have taken a deliberate decision not to say anything about the latest developments vis-a-vis the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir as I view it as a super-sensitive topic with lots of lives lost among people of different communities (Hindu, Muslim etc) of the state and of Indian security forces, over the past decades.
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10 second clip of earth as seen by camera on ISRO's Chandrayaan2
https://www.isro.gov.in/sites/default/files/li054bl4chl0001705008119215184408583_00_framerate1_logo.mp4.mp4
And here's a tweet with a pic which seems to be from the above clip: https://twitter.com/isro/status/1157903612862844928
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The pic seems to be of Mexico's Gulf of California (NOT USA California), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_California.
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Interesting!
The curious story of Dadi Balsara, the Parsi billionaire who stayed at Taj Mansingh Hotel for 36 years, https://www.businessinsider.in/meet-dadi-balsara-the-parsi-billionaire-who-stayed-at-taj-mansingh-hotel-for-36-years/articleshow/53549314.cms
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Good to know that the Mexican government is going to put pressure on USA to ensure proper protection of its citizens in USA, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mexico-vows-take-legal-action-against-u-s-wake-deadly-n1039096.
At least six of the 20 dead in the El Paso, Texas, USA massacre were Mexican citizens.
The report states, "The shooter appears to have been targeting Hispanics and authorities are investigating it as a hate crime. A 21-year-old Texas man was in custody."
The world must put pressure on USA to ensure that adequate protection is provided to non-white residents in the USA, whether they are USA citizens or not.
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I decided to share the article as I have learned in life that, for some problems that persist, the ostrich head in sand approach where one simply ignores unpleasant realities out there, many times, though not at all times, leads to unpleasant outcome for those with their head in the sand. Some of these problems don't go away by pretending that they are not there, and that it will impact only others and not oneself and one's friends & family.
Update: The madman mass murderer's rant is against immigrants and calls for racial segregation. But he does not seem to be a white supremacist.
The evil ideology of white supremacy or murderous racism has become a significant danger to communities living in some white majority countries. I think that is the plain truth.
People, especially non-white people living in white majority countries, should contribute their efforts to combating this evil white supremacist or murderous racism ideology by supporting those public figures and those organizations who combat it. and shunning public figures and organizations that promote or support white supremacy or murderous racism.
As a social media writer, the act of putting up this ***public*** post is my tiny contribution towards combating the evil ideology of white supremacy or murderous racism.
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role about USA politics. I am not making any accusation or allegation against any political party in the USA or any of its top leaders. My criticism is directed at those who publicly support white supremacists and or murderous racists.
I request that readers who comment on this post do NOT make any negative references to USA top political leaders in this regard, unless those top political leaders have publicly expressed support for this mass shooter in this El Paso, Texas tragedy or other such white supremacist or murderous racist mass shooters.
Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in USA elections. I am a well-wisher of the people of the USA.
Shared article: Minutes Before El Paso Killing, Hate-Filled Manifesto Appears Online, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/patrick-crusius-el-paso-shooter-manifesto.html
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Fascinating! The author of the article, Zhou Xin, is a lecturer in the Tamil department of Beijing Foreign Studies University.
I confess that I did not know about Tamils having such extensive connections with China going back two millennia, though I knew of Tamils' long interactions with East Asian countries like Malaya (Malaysia), Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.
Very interesting to know these interactions between Tamils and Chinese going back two millennia, and based on maritime trade and visits of Tamil and Chinese scholars to each other's countries/kingdoms.
The very suggestion that Kung Fu may have originated from a Tamil Buddhist monk who settled down in China, blows me away.
Shared link via FB post: Tamils and Tamizhakam in Chinese eyes, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/tamils-and-tamizhakam-in-chinese-eyes-5871413/
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KR Ramesh Kumar Reveals Inside Story Of All The Drama In The Karnataka Assembly | The Quint, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhLhRGrK6Fg, 28 min. 15 secs, published by The Quint on 31st July 2019
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VG Siddhartha’s total debt may have touched Rs 11,000 crore. See graphics, https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/cafe-coffee-day-founder-vg-siddhartha-total-debt-touched-rs-11-000-crore-explained-in-graphics-1576317-2019-08-02
The report breaks up the debt as of Mar. 31st 2019 (which came down by a few thousands of crores after he partially repaid debt by selling Mindtree shares):
[1 crore is 10 million.]
Coffee Day: Rs.6547 crores
Siddhartha's group's four private holding companies: Rs.3522 crores
Siddhartha and 2 other Coffee Day directors personal guarantee towards loans worth: Rs.1028 crores.
Total: Rs.11,097 crores
In May 2019, Coffee Day debt was brought down by Rs.2100 crores using proceeds from sale of Mindtree shares. making Coffee Day debt as Rs.4447 crores (and so the above total figure perhaps became around Rs.9000 crores unless additional debt had got added in April & May 2019).
Siddhartha, in his last letter, is reported to have listed assets worth Rs.18000 crores which would be enough to repay debt.
One general comment I have, based on my observation of businesses in India over the past few decades, is that many MBA and finance masters types in India tend to get carried away with their business ambitions without having a proper sense of ground business and financial realities. Perhaps in their MBA and finance masters education they are taught about spectacular business and financial success stories in the USA, and they want to do the same in India.
India has a very different business environment from that of the USA. I can say that based on my experience in software export industry based in India in senior management position and later as a senior tech. consultant, from around 1990 to 2002. What may have worked wonders in business and financial sectors of USA, may end up in disaster in India, unless Indian ground realities are factored in.
Serious cash flow problems and unsustainable debt were very dangerous issues in Indian business environment, in my industry senior position days in the 90s and early 2000s. They could just force a company to shut down! Perhaps that is the reality in Indian business environment, even today.
And then I think India has MBA and finance masters types creating NGO organizations funded by individual and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) donors. I think the same issues may apply to those that are very ambitious in their NGO plans. Like in Indian business sector, NGOs that have serious cash flow problems and unsustainable debt, may collapse.
I think the path to sustained growth or even survival for Indian business organizations and NGOs, is having manageable debt levels, even if that means that growth is slow or even stagnant, at times.
The current international trade tariff wars and threat of global economic downturn, makes the need for such caution even more than earlier.
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