Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in Sept. 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.

Ek din bik jayega... Maati ke mol...

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessIndianMelodies/videos/387027225301843/

The on-screen version: Ek Din Bik Jaayega Mati Ke Mol | Dharam Karam (1975) Songs | Raj Kapoor | Evergreen Mukesh Song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGYjHQbV1KE, around 5 mins.
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I don't know what is the truth. But hats off to USA media and lot of members of USA Congress for the pressure they have maintained for the truth to be revealed about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman denies involvement, but says he takes "full responsibility" for the "heinous crime."

"60 Minutes" asks Saudi prince: Did you order Khashoggi murder?, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkYmEeKizgg, 36 seconds.

And I should also say that it is good that the Saudi Crown Prince participated in this TV interview with a major US network (CBS) mediaperson and answered this question.
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Former UK PM John Major of the Conservative (Tory) party does not mince his words about what he views as reckless behaviour by current UK government.

Boris Johnson might bypass Brexit extension law suggests John Major, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pippa-r90pU, 3 min. 16 secs, published by The Sun on 26th Sep. 2019.
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Nigel Farage and his Brexit party have a big voice in the EU parliament as its single largest party, but I don't think they have much of a say in the negotiation between the EU and UK on Brexit.

Farage also does not seem to have any voice in the current UK parliament.

This is a strange situation.

In this video which seems to be of an event held yesterday night (26th Sep.), Farage speaks about immigration into the UK. He speaks positively of role of commonwealth nations in fighting alongside UK against its enemies in World Wars I & II, and seems to be not critical of the immigration from Commonwealth nations into the UK in the past (around 30,000 per year from the late 1940s to 1990s as per his speech). But he seems to be critical of EU immigration later on (300,000 per year as per his speech), and now wants controlled immigration.

My personal view is that immigration has been a super-sensitive topic in most sovereign countries/kingdoms in history. So immigration must be left to the populace and leaders of a country to decide. However, what one expects is that legal immigrants who were accepted in the past, should be treated as citizens and treated with respect.

Farage is appreciative of the energy and optimism that UK PM Boris Johnson has brought to the job.

But in the last part of the speech, Farage says that if UK PM Boris Johnson goes ahead with former PM Theresa May's deal with only the backstop changed (Farage refers to it as reheating Mrs May's deal), Farage and his party will fight PM Johnson every inch of the way!

Hmm. This is really a tricky situation for UK PM Johnson. Farage seems to want a No-deal (clean-break) Brexit. Labour (main opposition in UK) seems to be divided between Brexit with some level of association with EU, and possibly holding another referendum to decide how to exit the EU (or even change the decision to Remain). The LibDems want to Remain. The Conservative Party (excluding the rebels who were suspended from the Party) seems to want to Brexit on Oct. 31st, with or without a deal.

All cannot be satisfied, no matter what decision is taken in this Brexit matter! What a quandary! It takes real guts to be ready to lead a country in such a tough situation. No matter what PM Johnson does, some significant leaders of UK will be unhappy with him and be strongly critical of him in public speeches to the citizens/electorate of UK.

Farage: I suspect this will get worse before it gets better, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0xZTOckceA, 10 min. 43 secs, published by The Sun.
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Sad to see very strong language being used in British Parliament by UK PM Johnson against opposition MPs. One can understand his frustration at not being able to have a general election and being a PM of a minority government. He seems to have lost faith in the current British Parliament referring to it as a "zombie" parliament.

But PM is PM. I don't think a PM should use language like zombie and betrayal against MPs in the most powerful elected body of the UK, which is the parliament, even if he feels that the words are accurate in describing the situation. PM's words carry weight among the people of the country. I am sure former PM Theresa May, as PM, would never have used such language in Parliament.

I mean the PM has the police under his command. If he feels somebody is a traitor he can ask the police to investigate the person, and if the police file charges then the person has to defend himself/herself in a court of law.

The PM simply using his megaphone ***in Parliament*** to refer to opposition MPs as traitors (even if he used the word 'betrayal' rather than traitor; I don't know whether he used the word 'traitor' in Parliament to target opp. MPs), knowing full well that the police will not find that the MPs betrayed the country as per UK law, is disingenuous (insincere when a person actually knows more but acts as if he does not) and dangerous. Here is an opposition MP verbally attacking the PM for this kind of language and raising concerns about abuse & death threats faced by them, which the PM then dismisses as humbug! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAxrPbaILT4

Even if the opposition MP could have toned down her language while verbally attacking the PM, I think the PM should have shown more sensitivity in his response. By just dismissing her remarks as humbug, he has shown that he is not willing to rise to the exalted level of PM where one has to show some restraint ***in Parliament*** when one is attacking the opposition. Perhaps the Brexit issue has got him into total attack mode against opposition in UK Parliament.

Note that my view in this post is about language used in Parliament. Language in political campaign speeches is a different matter. There, like it or not, it is a free-for-all verbal fight with all sorts of things being said about opponents, even under threat of defamation.

PM Johnson has, of course, condemned any such death threats, and seems to be willing to increase security for any such threatened MP.

Hopefully, in future, PM Johnson will not freak out with his language against the opposition in UK Parliament, like he did recently.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson in parliament language row- BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZhv2zilZnY, 7 min. 47 secs.
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A couple of Time-pass Hindi film oldie goldie songs.

Here's one of them: Tum Bhi Chalo Hum Bhi Chale Full Video Song | Zameer | Amitabh Bachchan, Saira Banu |, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZnFIjvgcI, around 3 mins.

The singers are Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. The song writer is Sahir Ludhianvi and music director is Sapan Chakraborty. The movie Zameer was released in 1975. The stars on screen are Amitabh and Saira Banu.
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Here's the 2nd of the time-pass Hindi film oldie goldies.

Dev Anand is an evergreen hero and Mumtaz, an absolute stunner of a beauty. They are the on-screen stars for this song: 'Kanchi Re Kanchi Re' from the 1971 Hare Rama Hare Krishna film. Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar are the singers. Anand Bakshi wrote the lyrics and R.D. Burman was the music director.

The song was a great hit and was popular even in the 80s, if I recall correctly.

Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOXkYrP3D2g, 4 min. 37 secs.
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Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: Government is failing people of Britain - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3eJqg9QBBU, 16 min. 55 secs.
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Boris Johnson says Supreme Court 'wrong' over Parliament suspension - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jreUGNuy7O4, 13 min. 45 secs.
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As an Indian who went through the despair of India's 1991 economic crisis with India's gold having to be sent to London in return for financial help from International Monetary Fund (IMF), I am, and will be, ever grateful to then Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and then Indian finance minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, for steering Indian economy towards liberalization and economic recovery and growth. I was 28 years old in May 1991 and the economic crisis made me wonder gloomily about what was in store for India, and so for me and my family & friends in India, in the future.

For readers who do not know of those dark days in India:

67 tons of India's gold reserves were sent to Bank of England and Union Bank of Switzerland in London in May 1991, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Indian_economic_crisis.

Later, in 2009, India bought 200 tons of gold from IMF, showing how India had turned the corner from the dark days of 1991: Full circle: India buys 200 tons gold from IMF, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Full-circle-India-buys-200-tons-gold-from-IMF/articleshow/5194338.cms, 4th Nov. 2009.

May God continue to shower His Grace on Dr. Manmohan Singh and his family.

[Shared FB post on Dr. Manmohan Singh's birthday: https://www.facebook.com/rahulgandhi/posts/794566884311035 ]
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(UK) Speaker welcomes MPs back to their 'place of work' - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV4EHkr4410, around 3 mins.
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Don't know whether the reported statistics in this video are accurate. But even if it is close to accurate, the achievements are stupendous. In a period from 2014 to 2019:

* 600,000 rural Indian villages are open defecation free in 2019
* 600 million (rural) Indians have stopped open defecation in 2019
* Rural sanitation coverage moved up from 39% in Oct. 2014 to 100% in (estimated) Oct. 2019
* 307,000 diarrhoeal deaths avoided
* 32% lower cases of low BMI in women in ODF (Open Defecation Free) villages
* $712 saved per year by each ODF village household
* 12.7 times less groundwater contamination traceable to humans in ODF villages

The Swacch Bharat Mission involved:
* 650,000 village motivators
* 1 million masons
* 1.5 million toilets built in a year by women masons
* 100 million toilets built and used

Here's the video: Bill Gates presents ‘Global Goalkeeper’s Goal’ award to PM Narendra Modi, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVq8D6VrZ9o, 7 min. 13 secs, published on 24th Sept. 2019.
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For a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy like me, this real-life drama of UK Supreme Court holding the Prime Minister and cabinet of UK to the constitution of the UK is utterly fascinating. I think what has happened is good for democracy in UK, even if it is yet another spanner being thrown in the works for Brexit.

This BBC report on the matter seems to be a well-balanced one: UK Supreme Court rules parliament suspension unlawful - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRM416HMDr0, 19 min 17 secs, published on 24th Sep. 2019.

No Prime Minister or cabinet minister, irrespective of how popular he/she may be, should be able to ride roughshod over Parliament, in a parliamentary democracy. Note that my country, India, also has a parliamentary democracy.

But if, due to pressure of unusual circumstances (e.g. Brexit), a PM and cabinet go too far and suspend parliament, the Supreme Court of the country should be able to judge whether that suspension was within the bounds of the constitution and law. The UK Supreme Court got a max bench of 11 justices to listen to this matter as it is such an important one. And all 11 justices judged that the UK PM and government had broken the law/gone against the constitution, in advising the UK monarch to suspend Parliament (which the monarch did). I think this is a triumph for parliamentary democracy and rule of law in UK.
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Boris Johnson: 'This is a verdict that we will respect' - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua5AHyenYlo, 4 min. 12 secs, published on 24th Sept. 2019
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(UK) Supreme Court: Speaker says Parliament must convene after ruling - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRfkyty1uKQ, 3 min. 17 secs, published on 24th Sept. 2019.

Speaker Bercow says (UK) Parliament meets tomorrow (25th Sept.) morning at 11.30!

My God! What a moment of triumph for UK Parliament, including Speaker Bercow!
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Wow! UK Supreme Court tosses out UK PM Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament!

Hmm. So now one expects UK Parliament to reconvene in the next few days! 11 Justices unanimously declared the prorogation unlawful.

Supreme Court: Suspending Parliament was unlawful, judges rule - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFJ7IEPUUAo, 13 min. 28 secs, published on 24th Sept. 2019.

From around 11 min. 40 secs, UK Supreme Court President Lady Hale says, "This court has already concluded that the Prime Minster's advice to Her Majesty was unlawful, void and of no effect. This means that the order in (council?) to which it led was also unlawful, void and of no effect, and should be quashed. This means that when the Royal Commission has walked into the House of Lords, it was as if they had walked in with a blank sheet of paper. The prorogation was also void and of no effect. Parliament has not been prorogued. This is the unanimous judgement of all eleven justices. It is for Parliament and in particular the Speaker and the Lord's Speaker to decide what to do next. Unless there is some parliamentary rule of which we are unaware, they can take immediate steps to enable each house to meet as soon as possible. It is not clear to us that any step is needed from the Prime Minister, but if it is, the court is pleased that his counsel have told the court that he will take all necessary steps to comply with the terms of any declaration made by this court."
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Firstly, please note that I have a PUBLICLY (POLITICALLY) NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about USA and India politics. In particular, I am publicly neutral when it comes to USA Republican party or USA Democratic party, or Indian Bharatiya Janata Party or Indian National Congress party. I am an Indian citizen living in India and as a citizen, I support India's duly elected Prime Minister (not dependent on his/her political party affiliation). I have great regard and affection for the USA (land of the free and home of the brave) and consider myself to be a well-wisher of the USA. So I have great respect for the position of President of USA (irrespective of his/her political party affiliation).

I have lived in the USA for a couple of years or so totally, and have done a lot of software work for USA companies through Indian companies that I was employed with or consulting with, while being based in India. And even on the spiritual side of things, I have had many interactions with Americans, and continue to do so now.

It was wonderful to see the President of the USA, along with some elected lawmakers of USA Congress and I think some state lawmakers, join in in this event of Indian Prime Minister Modi in Houston, Texas. President Trump spoke warmly about the contributions of Indian-Americans to the USA. I deeply appreciate President Trump saying that at this event. He also said that as President, he is a great friend of India in the White House. I deeply appreciate such a great statement of support to India from President Trump. He also invoked blessings of God on India and USA. I deeply appreciate that as well.

I also thank the various lawmakers (elected political leaders) at USA federal and state levels who attended this event, as well as USA ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster. In particular, it was wonderful to see the two Senators to USA Senate - Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz welcome Indian PM Narendra Modi at this event.

Prime Minister Modi and his team including current foreign minister S. Jaishankar, have to be congratulated on improving India's ties with the USA to this great level. I fully support better ties between India and the USA, at various levels like industry and national security, and at people-to-people levels. May these two great democracies of USA and India, and USA-India ties, flourish and prosper in the coming years and decades, and even further into the future.

[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy/posts/2586434078139272 "#USIndiaDosti🇺🇸🇮🇳 continues to get stronger with President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi! #Howdymodi"]
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Well, dynamite made Nobel tons of money, some from good construction work (like railroads) and some from wartime killing and injuring people.

How he decided to institute the Nobel prizes is very interesting but rather tragic. From The Dark Side of the Nobel Prizes: https://www.livescience.com/40188-dark-history-alfred-nobel-prizes.html :

Nonetheless, he [Alfred Nobel] found out what others thought of his invention when, in 1888, his brother Ludvig died. Though some journalistic error, Alfred's obituary was widely printed instead, and he was scorned for being the man who made millions through the deaths of others. Once French newspaper wrote "Le marchand de la mort est mort," or "the merchant of death is dead." The obituary went on to describe Nobel as a man "who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before."

Nobel was reportedly stunned by what he read, and as a result became determined to do something to improve his legacy. One year before he died in 1896, Nobel signed his last will and testament, which set aside the majority of his vast estate to establish the five Nobel Prizes, including one awarded for the pursuit of peace.

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Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/nobelprize/photos/a.164901829102/10156683740509103/?type=3&theater ]
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Hmm. Jean-Claude Juncker shows optimism about Brexit happening ***with a deal*** on 31st Oct. That's nice to hear. It seems the EU negotiators and UK PM Johnson led team are getting close to solving the Northern Ireland Backstop issue.

Exclusive: Jean-Claude Juncker says Brexit 'will happen', https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3uyjXJl2Fw, 3 min 28 secs, published by Sky News on 19th Sept. 2019.

I should also mention that Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party are against this possible deal as they think it is the same deal that former PM May had proposed but without the backstop. Farage wants a clean-break Brexit. I am not sharing the video of Farage's related recent speech in the EU as that has inappropriate words about an EU country's Prime Minister.
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Hmm. So some of these phenomena are unexplained. One view then is that "we may not be alone"!

US Navy confirms UFO videos are the real deal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60ZJQ4I7_3M, 2 min. 9 secs, published by CNN on 18th Sept. 2019.
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Great to know that Aussie star former cricketer Adam Gilchrist recently visited RDT ground at Anantapur (near Puttaparthi) and interacted with young sportsmen of Anantapur there.

Most of the video just shows Gilchrist meeting various groups of people, mostly youngsters, and touring the facilities. Towards the end of the video, there is a short interview exchange with Gilchrist, where he says he loves India and that it was inspiring to come and see this well maintained sports facility in rural India away from the cities.

I very much appreciate this nice gesture of Adam Gilchrist towards sports facilities and community in Anantapur. Even when I have watched him (on TV) during his cricketing days, he came across as a nice guy, though he was a great fighter and great performer as a cricketer.

Adam Gilchrist Visited RDT Ground at Anantapur | NTV Sports, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2zT9KcIsrM, 9 min. 10 secs, published on 12th Sept. 2019

RDT (Rural Development Trust), https://rdtfvf.org/rdt-at-a-glance/, is associated with a former Spanish Jesuit missionary, Vincente Ferrer Moncho, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Ferrer_Moncho, who later quit the Jesuits and married an English former journalist, Anne Perry, continuing his service work in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. He passed away in 2009. RDT continues to be a well known rural service organization in Anantapur district, even after his passing away.
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India exemplar in using sanitation, digital tech to improve lives: Bill Gates, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-exemplar-in-using-sanitation-digital-tech-to-improve-lives-bill-gates/story-IWYgINAy6LWGTvo31NiRNN.html

Good to hear this positive affirmation about good work done in improving lives in India through sanitation and digital tech.

While I don't know the details, the impression I have is that these areas in India have improved over period of earlier UPA government (under former PM Manmohan Singh) and NDA government (under current PM Narendra Modi). So I view this recognition as a result of good governance in these areas of Indian governments of the past decade or two, spanning major political parties.
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CCTV footage tells us the reality of life. Earlier we had to see movies which dramatically enact such scenes. The CCTV footage shows us the reality of such evil and how ordinary it looks.

This happened in Punjab (North India) in the early hours of yesterday,17th Sept. The 1 min. 32 sec. video loads a little slowly on the linked page but it eventually does load and play.

Kidnapping babies and small children is a reality of India. Like in this video capturing real life, the first line of defence for the baby/child is typically the mother or close female relative like aunt. What an awesome nurturing and protecting force such mothers and aunts are! As an unmarried man (and without any children), I am truly awed to see such service and I bow down to such mothers and aunts for this great service they do for their children and/or close relative's children, and through that to society at large.

[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/TimesofIndia/posts/10157871270197139 ]
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Satire (not true). Enjoyed it as I think it captures very well how iconic figures of the past sometimes get easily hijacked for causes unrelated to them, in posts on the Internet.
[Associated FB post https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2597219793827915  shares a pic of a quote (falsely) attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "Don't believe everything you read on the Internet just because there's a picture with a quote next to it."]
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For those interested in knowing about current developmental challenges in the world, I strongly recommend reading this report from Bill & Melinda Gates. At first look itself, I found it to be very informative about key developmental challenges, communities in various parts of the world face. I plan to re-read it later, and read the other parts of the report too.

THE GOALKEEPERS REPORT 2019
EXAMINING INEQUALITY
HOW GEOGRAPHY AND GENDER STACK THE DECK FOR (OR AGAINST) YOU
Co-chairs Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates

https://www.gatesfoundation.org/goalkeepers/report/2019-report/#ExaminingInequality
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Around 6 mins. 30 secs into the video, UK PM Johnson says: "We will obey the law. But we will come out - AND we will come out, I should say, on October the 31st!" - Boris Johnson insists UK will leave EU on 31 October- BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWc0JHOeq6E, 15 min. 50 secs.

Hmm. This guy is incredible! What does he have up his sleeve? What drama!

I have to say that I love Boris Johnson's optimism and energy. And I think optimism and energy are two vital attributes of a successful leader of a country.
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Good to see this from Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Congress party president.

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.

[Associated FB post https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2596437787239449 shares article: Sonia Gandhi wishes healthy, happy and long life to PM Modi on his birthday,  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sonia-gandhi-wishes-healthy-happy-and-long-life-to-pm-modi-on-his-birthday/articleshow/71162153.cms ]
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I personally prefer not to comment publicly on some of the matters raised in comment above (now deleted). But I will try to address the more general issues.
I am sure many of my Facebook friends would have very different views from the view espoused above (in comment now deleted). But I think it will be best for political arguments in favour of one party and against another party, on these matters to be held elsewhere on Facebook, rather than my posts as that could result in a lot of anger.
I support Indian democracy. The current PM Shri Narendra Modi and his political party, the BJP, is democratically elected with a strong mandate. I respect the position of PM of India. I also respect the main opposition leaders in India, like Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Dr. Manmohan Singh (former PM) and Shri Rahul Gandhi from the Congress party as well as leaders from other national/regional parties. Both the elected government and opposition have roles to play in ensuring smooth functioning of Indian democracy.
And I think most of India is still a functioning democracy. Kashmir is a super-sensitive matter with lots of lives lost and so I don't want to comment on its status as of now. Barring Kashmir, I don't think one can say that there is autocracy in the country. We have democratically elected governments both at the centre and in the states & union territories. Newly enacted laws may not be to the liking of some but if the law is passed in the legislature and the courts do not strike it down as unconstitutional, then that's fine from a democratic system of governance point of view.
Democracy does not mean that everybody is happy. That is the reality of democracy, everywhere in the world I think. Surely that's the case in USA and UK today. Democracy does involve majoritarian rule within the bounds of the constitution, and some people may not like it. That may be viewed as a weakness of democracy. But the alternatives to democracy, as seen in some of our neighbouring countries, is far worse, in my considered opinion.
Therefore I am a big supporter of democracy in India and do not think that that democracy has turned into an autocracy. I repeat, Kashmir is a special case - I don't want to comment on it as it is just too, too sensitive with many lives having been lost there in the past years & decades.
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George Strait - Somewhere down in Texas

I got told about this song and some others by George Strait, a country singer from the USA, when I was offering free service in the Sai university (Jan. 2003 to Mar. 2012), by one of the university/institute band guys who was a junior colleague in the Maths & Comp. Science department I was serving in. I loved it right from the first time I heard it.

Its from an album released in 2005 with the same name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np0UxbsBNJU, around 4 mins. The audio is silent after 4 mins - the video with the still pic goes on for 5 min. 53 secs and that part can be skipped.
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From the same Somewhere Down In Texas album (2005) of George Strait

If The Whole World Was A Honky Tonk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJJR6pR-qOI, 4 min. 7 secs.

The lyrics can be seen here: https://genius.com/George-strait-if-the-whole-world-was-a-h…

What's a honky-tonk? From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honky-tonk: "A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. Bars of this kind are common in the South and Southwest United States."
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In response to a question in a comment whether I like country music, I (Ravi) wrote: Yes, I do. I think I like almost all kinds of music, except perhaps the heavy metal kind and the computer generated kind. This goes from folk music to pop music to classical music across cultures - Indian (many cultures within it), Western (I have been exposed to few cultures within it - e.g. European and East Coast (more of New England & New York state) USA), and to a lesser extent, African.
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Yun Hasrato Ke Daag --Adalat-Madan Mohan-Lataji - Suvarna Mategaonkar - Humlog, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GB-kSUovQw
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Hmm. The video description says it is George Harrison (in 1976) singing the famous oldie song with Paul Simon. If true, he does look quite different in this video to me. But he sings so well.

Paul Simon & George Harrison - Homeward Bound, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UODI6JmUnMA, 2 min. 39 secs.

Here's the original song audio - by Simon and Garfunkel (1965 seems to be the release year), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z9wd9bS1FM, 2 min. 30 secs. I have enjoyed it so much in the 1980s especially while I was in the USA. I enjoy it even now, every time I hear it. A classic nice and beautiful song!
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Thought-provoking! But I have very poor knowledge of economic theory and so am not in a position to critically assess his talk. Perhaps some who are knowledgeable in economic theory may disagree with some of his views. ... But he has good style and throws in some great one-liners. So it is worth sparing time to watch the around 17 mins video if you are interested in ways to improve capitalism and make it more compassionate with lesser inequality among people. ... The speaker, Nick Hanauer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Hanauer, says that he is part of the 0.01% in financial wealth. So the guy made tons of money using the capitalist system and is qualified to talk about it and its flaws.

[Shares video link:  https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_hanauer_the_dirty_secret_of_capitalism_and_a_new_way_forward ]
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FB post https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2594932974056597 shared this saying of Ramana Maharishi, "I cannot show you God or enable you to see God because God is not an object than can be seen. God is the subject. He is the seer." - Face to Face, 90.
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Warning: Folks who don't want to read about nuclear war disaster scenarios should skip reading this post.

Some USA - Russia nuclear treaty/treaties (e.g. INF treaty) are no longer in force now. So there seems to be some prospect of a nuclear arms race between USA and Russia. This article cannot be dismissed away as fear-mongering about an impossible scenario.

The article links to a 4 min 18 secs video reportedly put up by Science and Global Security lab at Princeton University (USA). The article has some screenshots of the video and explains the contents of the video.

Prayers to Almighty God that such scenarios never happen.

Shared FB post:  https://www.facebook.com/techinsider/posts/1408667042664981 with intro. text "More than 91 million people in Russia, the US, and NATO-allied countries might be killed or injured within three hours following a single "nuclear warning shot," according to a terrifying new simulation."
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Interesting! I liked what I saw of David Cameron as a world leader when he was UK PM. I think he was a responsible world leader though I don't know what exactly his record as UK PM was, at the UK domestic policy and implementation level.

I don't know enough about what led to him deciding to hold the Brexit referendum, to know whether it was a personal blunder by him OR whether it was just the force of the will of the people of UK that forced him to take that decision.

The biggest thing that he will be remembered in history now is for his fateful decision to hold the Brexit referendum which he thought he will win, but was stunned to see his Conservative Party and cabinet (if I recall correctly) colleagues Boris Johnson and Michael Gove join the Leave camp and propel it to victory. That stunned the world along with the perhaps unavoidable step of Cameron stepping down as UK PM.

He has largely remained silent as the Brexit saga has unfolded before the world. Now his memoir is close to publication. That will be something!

Here's the related video clip: David Cameron criticises Johnson and Gove in new book, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_0bY3hQh-0, 3 min. 23 secs, published by Sky News on 13th Sept. 2019.
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As a social media writer and reader, of course, for quite a few years now, I think this seems to be a good move by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.

"Asking whether the Centre plans to put in place a mechanism to trace the origin of objectionable messages on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube and others which have led to mob violence and law and order problems, a bench of Justices Deepal Gupta and Aniruddha Bose said the issue needs to be examined and if the Centre does not take any measures, the judiciary has to step in to pass appropriate order.", https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/if-govt-fails-to-curb-social-media-misuse-well-step-in-sc/articleshow/71120662.cms

The article states that Facebook and Whatsapp, represented by Mukul Rohtagi and Kapil Sibal, sought transfer of cases related to regulation of social media profiles being heard in different high courts, to the apex court.

The court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to get the govt.'s views on the matter and inform the apex court about it on Sept. 24th.

Let's see how it plays out in India. But, overall, I think fake news on social media that instigates riots and causes damage must be countered. Those who create the fake news must be held accountable by law enforcement agencies. That's the way to combat this menace.

I myself have been a target of anonymous profiles viciously slandering me on Facebook as a way to try to silence me on exposing Muddenahalli group spiritual fraud Madhusudan Naidu. The evidence that I have captured points to some, if not all, of the perpetrators being based in Melbourne, Australia. Facebook did NOT help me at all when I reported the matter to them. I think Facebook got away with that neglect as the law in India and other countries (including Australia, I guess) seems to be such that Facebook can simply say that they are not responsible for the content its users put up.

That's not acceptable. That has to change so that Facebook platform and other social media platforms do NOT become platforms for crooks and criminals to target law-abiding citizens, with fake news & false accusations, and get away scot-free with it.
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What gun ownership including AR-15 and AK-47 type of guns, means to significant number of Americans is clearly brought out by the tweet exchange between a contender for Democratic Party nomination for President who hails from Texas, and a state representative of Texas: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/beto-orourke-death-threat-debate-pledge-take-assault-style-weapons.html.

USA is different! Different from Europe, Canada, Australia ... different from the rest of the whole world. And USA is so big that there is wide variation between various regions of the USA.

I have never lived in Texas during my USA stints. I was up on the East Coast in Massachusetts and New Hampshire (New England), and also spent a little time in California. A correspondent who had spent many years in Texas, and also had lived in the East Coast (New York State) had written me sometime back that life in Texas is very different from life in New England. I think this exchange between two political representatives from Texas (one of them is a former Texas Congressman who is now running for President) illustrates that point. I could be very wrong as my info. is based on what I get from the Internet and not from the ground but I find it hard to imagine such an exchange between two New England political representatives in this time & age.
----

I should add that in the mid 1990s or late 1990s, I was involved as a consultant in Bombay with a project being done by a Bombay software company for a Texas company. The owner/partner of that Texas company came to Bombay for a visit. My Bombay customer company hosted him in a famous 5 star hotel (Leela Kempinski) near the Bombay international airport (Sahar airport if I recall correctly). He was so big that he did not fit in the bed. I think they then moved him to some room with a really king size bed (or moved that bed to his room) and that was OK for him :-). I and another person had to visit him in his hotel room and I think that's when he told us about it, if I recall correctly. He was really big in height and size. I have forgotten his name now but he was a nice guy to get along with once you got used to some of his big Texan ways :-).

At that time I was not so much into reading about USA's gun culture and so I did not even think of asking whether he owned some big gun suited to his big body.
--------------------------

I think I need to add that I fully support solutions to reduce mass shooting-killings in USA. I do not know enough to be sure whether buying back AR-15s and AK-47s is the solution for it.

The somewhat recent mass killing in El Paso, Texas was a horrific killing and I condemn it unequivocally.

So I would be very happy if these mass killings in USA reduce drastically to figures comparable to some other countries in the world where there is a lot of gun ownership.

I put up this post as I think that one has to come to terms with the reality of significant number of Americans being very passionate about owning guns like AR-15 and AK-47. Such realities have to be faced. That may help in arriving at approaches with higher chances to succeed in solving the epidemic of mass shooting-killings in the USA.
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The Brexit matter is getting really heated at the topmost level of UK democracy.

John Bercow: I’ll stop Boris Johnson breaking the law on Brexit, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/12/bercow-warns-pm-not-to-defy-law-on-no-deal-brexit, 12th Sep. 2019

The article quotes UK Speaker of Commons as saying, "Not obeying the law must surely be a non-starter. Period. Surely. In 2019, in modern Britain, in a parliamentary democracy, we parliamentarians, legislators, cannot in all conscience be conducting a debate as to whether adherence to the law is or is not required"
...
"What conceivable moral force do the public’s representatives have in seeking to tackle antisocial behaviour, in seeking to prosecute the fight against knife crime and seeking to argue the state should protect itself against all sorts of nefarious illegality if we are to treat for a moment the proposition it might be in order in the name of some higher cause to disregard … It is astonishing that anyone has even tried to entertain the notion. It would be the most terrible example to set to the rest of society."

Ravi: 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.

I need to add here that as a beneficiary, a lover and an open supporter of democracy in India, and other democratic countries in Western Europe & USA (I have lived in these places and so I am mentioning them), the above words of UK Speaker John Bercow seem correct to me.

In UK democracy like in Indian democracy, the power to legislate lies with the elected representatives of the people who sit in Parliament. The lower house (Commons) and upper house (Lords) of UK Parliament passed a bill that blocked no-deal Brexit, and which became law on UK Queen's assent to the bill. That is how new laws get created and old laws get modified or rejected in a representative democracy, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representative_democracy.

If the people don't like what the representatives did, they need to vote in other representatives in the next election who campaign on repealing the enacted law and introducing another law if needed or executing no-deal Brexit (e.g. representatives of Nigel Farage's (No-deal/Clean-Break) Brexit Party). I think that's how democracy is supposed to function.

A Prime Minister and cabinet which attempts to thwart a newly enacted law by Parliament like the law that blocks No-Deal Brexit is behaving in a dangerous to democracy manner, in my considered opinion. And then one does not know how such things will be repeated in future, as a precedent would be set.

I think all lovers of representative democracy will hope (and some theists like me might also pray) that UK PM Boris Johnson and his cabinet will not create a horrific constitutional crisis in the UK by attempting to thwart the newly enacted law of preventing No-Deal Brexit on 31st Oct.
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Donald Trump rode into power in USA in the 2016 election campaign by ruthlessly attacking both the mainstream political parties (Republican and Democrat). UK's Nigel Farage seems to be doing something similar here: Farage: ‘We are DISGUSTED by MPs in Westminster’, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZb7CkJqiA, 7 min. 45 secs, published on 12th Sept. 2019.

Is that going to deliver big for Farage and his Brexit Party? Maybe! The crowd at this meeting were just loving him tearing into both the Conservatives (and former PM May and current PM Johnson) and Labour (and current Oppn. Leader Corbyn).

Nigel Farage is the man to watch in the upcoming UK elections presuming UK does not exit the EU on 31st Oct. or earlier.
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Brexit: Nigel Farage election pact proposal rejected by No 10, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49665789.

Ravi: The article gives the impression that the UK Conservative Party under current leader Boris Johnson does not want to have Nigel Farage in government.

Hmm. The polls are predicting a hung parliament if elections are held in the near future.

Farage and his Brexit party are surely popular among certain sections of the British populace as shown by their impressive performance in the EU elections held in the recent past. How will the Brexit party do in a future general election in the UK (if Britain is not out of the EU by then)? That is the million Pound question.

If his party is able to bag significant number of seats, Farage could hold the key to who forms the new government in a hung Parliament!
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Hmm. Life has become so complex nowadays that even creation of new human life is involving new complexities not known earlier. The shared Insider.com article is about a USA (New Jersey) fertility clinic.

A few days ago The Hindu newspaper carried a report about a 73/74 year old hitherto childless woman giving birth to twins using IVF in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/73-year-old-woman-gives-birth-to-twins-in-guntur/article29340729.ece. That seems to have created a rush to fertility doctors in that area by overaged couples seeking children through IVF - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/doctors-in-a-dilemma-as-enquiries-for-ivf-by-overaged-couples-increase/article29363665.ece. The doctors are in a dilemma as the law/rules for IVF in India supposedly bars women above 45 years of age from being provided IVF. ... Apparently IVF when used with overaged women puts not only the women at risk but there are concerns about health of babies born to them.

The desire of some childless couples to have a child can be extraordinarily powerful in India. But IVF at over 70 years of age! That gets into pretty dicey territory. I mean, raising children in educated class India is a two and a half to three decades affair nowadays! How can a 70+ couple do that, even if they are moneyed! I mean, if they attempted to adopt a child, perhaps no adoption agency in the country would have entertained them as prospective parents.

[Shared article: A white couple is suing their fertility clinic after giving birth to an Asian daughter, https://www.insider.com/white-couple-gives-birth-to-asian-daughter-lawsuit-fertility-clinic-2019-9]
...
And then there are gay (men) couples becoming parents using a surrogate mother! https://www.facebook.com/dw.stories/videos/698583827232218/
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UK PM Boris Johnson and Opp. leader Jeremy Corbyn attack each other in this supposed debate but actually more of a slanging match, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLATapjHCNY, around 23 mins.

I think this was the introduction of the motion for holding an election, which later got defeated as it did not get the required number of votes.
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Good to see plain unvarnished truths about early 1900s America (USA) life: These Insane Facts About Life In Early 1900s America Will Make You Thankful You’re Alive Today, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYF7kZtP7NQ, 5 min. 19 secs.

My mind boggles at imagining how life would have been for the average Indian (I mean, South Asia Indian NOT Native American) peasant in early 1900s. I am quite sure it would have been worse from a material living standards perspective.
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Some time pass oldie Hindi film songs ...

This one is a haunting emotional song and such songs tend to acquire more longevity than the fun and frolic songs. Oldie Hindi film songs were just superlative in emotional tear-jerker kind of area. Talk of pathos!

Main Tulsi Tere Aanganki from the film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978) sung by the great Lata Mangeshkar - 11 million views - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyjI8d0USpk, 4 min. 52 secs.
...
Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se Title Song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NIFoqfSO6E, 6 min. 44 secs, from the movie of the same name, released in 1978. I recall quite well that this movie and this song were bit hits then. It is sung by Hemlata and the stars are Sachin and Ranjeeta. This video has touched 59 million views! Goes to show how this song remains popular even today, perhaps among oldies like me :-).
...
A very popular song sung by the great Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh from the 1982 movie, Saath Saath.

Tum Ko Dekha Toh Ye Khayal Aaya Zindagi Dhup Tum Ghana Saya, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRqHkV9Bls, 4 min. 3 secs. (41 million views).

The onscreen stars are Farooq Shaikh and Deepti Naval. Along with the likes of Amol Palekar, these stars popularized films set around middle class urban life which guys & gals like me (middle class urban Bombay/Dombivli guy) could relate to, and were distinct from the superhero and evil villain masala movies.
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I think Sadhguru Vasudev may be quite right on this.

"The most destructive human idea has been that all creatures on the planet have been created to serve human beings. This has been the basis of all ecological destructions . -Sg @moefcc @UNCCD #COP14 #CauveryCalling @India4Land", https://twitter.com/SadhguruJV/status/1171386072653160449, 10th Sep. 2019

Ravi: The region where I live - Anantapur district (Puttaparthi is part of Anantapur district) - falls in a rain shadow area and so is drought-prone. Desertification is a major threat to this area. Here's an article about it: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/desertification-in-india-ananthapuramu-in-andhra-is-so-sandy-it-draws-filmmakers-to-shoot-66457.

I think efforts like that taken up by Sadhguru Vasudev would be good for Anantapur district. I should add that I don't know whether Sadhguru Vasudev's team is doing work in this regard in Anantapur district.
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Encouraging to see this 7 min or so talk of President Kovind in the University of Iceland (last 1 min of the video seems to be frozen) on India-Iceland working together for a greener planet. President Kovind talks about Iceland facing melting glaciers problem due to climate change and that India too faces the same issue in the Himalayas. He talks about Iceland having moved away from fossil fuels to a 100% renewable energy position over the past few decades.

I think it will be great to have a real India-Iceland partnership on greener planet. I think India may benefit by learning from Iceland's achievements in moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Ecologically sustainable development should be the vital mantra now worldwide.

[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/PresidentOfIndia/videos/433844227229041/]
...
Lovely instrumental rendition of the Indian national anthem by a musical team of Iceland as part of President Johannesson of Iceland's ceremonial welcome to President Kovind of India. Video is around a minute.
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/PresidentOfIndia/videos/434529537164886]
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Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn give speeches as parliament suspends, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86NVJXYQpNY, around 7 mins, published by Channel 4 News.
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The moment parliament was suspended for five weeks amid Brexit crisis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pARdsvV1Qdg, around 6 mins.

Ravi: UK Speaker obeys the prorogation/suspension order but makes his disagreement with it clear.
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Hmm. India surely has its fair share of tricksters, some of whom get caught like this 32 year old guy trying to look like an 81 year old and trying to board a flight to USA on a (possibly fake) passport of somebody who is listed as 81 years old.
[Shared article: 32-year-old turns up as 81-year-old to take flight to New York, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/32-year-old-turns-up-as-81-yr-old-to-take-flight-to-ny/articleshow/71056508.cms]
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No-deal Brexit officially blocked in law, https://metro.co.uk/2019/09/09/no-deal-brexit-officially-blocked-law-10711993/

Ravi: Wow! UK Parliament successfully pushed through a new law forcing PM Boris Johnson to "extend the Brexit deadline until 31 January 2020 if no deal is agreed with the EU by 19 October."

A few weeks ago, I would not have thought this is possible. It was made possible by a section of MPs from the Conservative Party getting together with the Opposition to block no-deal Brexit.

PM Johnson wanted to force a mid-term election to decide the issue. But the support of the opposition is needed to call a mid-term election and the opposition don't want it right now. See 'Brexit: Boris Johnson's second attempt to trigger election fails', https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49630094.

PM Johnson still refuses to entertain the idea of seeking another extension to Brexit. But now his hands seem to be tied on this unless he gets a new deal with the EU by 19th Oct. ..... Or is there some legal escape route for PM Johnson to push through Brexit even without a new deal on 31st Oct.? Time will tell.
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Brexit: Parliament prepares to shutdown as government suffers new defeat – BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgyPwfZvgsQ, 17 min. 39 secs.
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UK Speaker says he will resign on Oct. 31st or if & when general election is called (and current Commons dissolved), and makes a nice speech about upholding power of Parliament.

BREAKING NEWS: John Bercow to resign as Commons speaker, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmYDLhawMT4, 6 min. 37 secs.
...
Johnson tells Varadkar no-deal Brexit 'would be a failure' - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ifMUANGGTg, 11 mins. 44 secs.

Interesting! Let's hope they get some compromise which results in a new deal between EU and Britain on Brexit.
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UK PM Boris Johnson is raising great controversy now in the UK, including in his own Conservative Party. I saw a Channel 4 video clip with an interview of "Lord" Heseltine (Conservative Party), who I think is a member of the Lords chamber of Parliament, who was very critical of Johnson and says that there is a battle going on for the soul of the Conservative Party. Some of the words said by the interviewer in the video (not "Lord" Heseltine) were a little extreme and so I am not sharing that video here.

But I must say that I admire Boris Johnson for the ***guts*** and ability to handle criticism, that he demonstrated in facing the heckler in the video mentioned below, and trying to have a conversation with him. I use the word 'guts' as I think it takes a lot of courage for a top politician to engage with a heckler in this fashion, given the damage it could cause to his political stature. I don't mean 'guts' in the physical courage context as his security people would surely be nearby to tackle any physical attack possibility.

He could have easily shut him down and walked away as British PM (but perhaps lost the man and his pals' votes). I must say also that this is an indication of the maturity of British democracy (and West European democracies in general) that a PM was willing to converse with this heckler.

The town where it happened is Morley in West Yorkshire which would be in England, I guess.

Boris Johnson heckled: 'You should be in Brussels; you're in Morley' - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSygWN-qMfY, 2 min. 25 secs.

I don't think such conversations can happen between a heckler and a sitting PM in India. Neither do I think it can happen with the President of USA. The heckler would be just brushed away!

Democracy in Western Europe gives the citizen status vis-a-vis elected political leaders including prime ministers and presidents, of a kind that I think is not available anywhere else in the world, including, arguably, the USA.
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Like many in India, and perhaps beyond, I watched most of the ISRO telecast live in the very early morning hours. I also made a cup of coffee to keep me alert :-).

ISRO and PM Modi made a particular point about involving young school students, with some of them sitting in the mission control centre. PM Modi also spoke to the students then.

I think ISRO & the govt. made the event a big event for the whole country including young students by telecasting the whole thing live and not hiding anything. I was carefully watching the faces and body language of some bigshots in Indian space exploration who were present there and were being shown openly in the telecast. Kasturirangan, A.S. Kiran Kumar, K. Radhakrishnan and of course, current ISRO chairman K. Sivan.

A.S. Kiran Kumar was among the mission control team monitoring the event while Kasturirangan and Radhakrishnan were with PM Modi in the viewing gallery. If I recall correctly, Kasturirangan was shown in conversation with PM Modi as the situation became tense with the ground station losing communication with the lander.

I mean, this was really powerful stuff! Like in some movie, except that this was no movie but the real stuff!

It is wonderful to read how all this seems to have inspired the interest of many young Indian students (and perhaps from other countries too) in space exploration! Perhaps that may be one of the biggest achievements of ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 mission due to its very high level of transparency, involvement with the Indian public in general and young students in particular, and live (public) telecasts.

[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/Scoopwhoop/posts/1218710378338053 ]
...
Good to see this encouraging tweet from NASA about ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 mission where the orbiter part is successful but the lander part seems to have failed in the last few minutes of attempt to soft-land on the moon.

"Space is hard. We commend @ISRO’s attempt to land their #Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon’s South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together.", https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1170385925077131264, 10.48 PM on Sep. 7th 2019

This NASA tweet referenced the following ISRO tweet:
"#Chandrayaan2 mission was a highly complex mission, which represented a significant technological leap compared to the previous missions of #ISRO to explore the unexplored south pole of the Moon.

For more updates please visit https://bit.ly/2m5ihAM",
https://twitter.com/isro/status/1170331318132957184, 7.11 PM on Sep. 7th 2019.

As an Indian citizen and resident, I fully support ISRO working together with NASA for future solar system missions. NASA has an awesome track record and reputation in space missions and it is a matter of great credit to ISRO that NASA says that it was inspired by ISRO's "journey".

Of course, it goes without saying but perhaps it is better to say it: As an Indian citizen and resident, I wish ISRO all the very best. I am quite sure ISRO will learn from the failure of Vikram lander to soft-land on the moon, and will succeed in future soft-landing attempts on the moon as well as other planets of our solar system like Mars.
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Top UK minister quits, dealing Johnson new Brexit blow, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/top-uk-minister-quits-dealing-johnson-new-brexit-blow/article29364722.ece

Small extract from above article [She refers to Amber Rudd]:

“I cannot stand by as good, loyal moderate Conservatives are expelled,” she said referring to Johnson's decision to expel 21 MPs from the Conservative party for voting against the government.
---- end small extract ---

UK PM Boris Johnson may have gone just too far in expelling 21 MPs of his party for voting against the government. Will the Conservative (Tory) party stay together or split?

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.

One of the reasons why I am following this matter closely, posting about it and learning from it, is that such issues are there in all significantly sized communities/groups of people, including spiritual movements. Democratic political systems have ways of dealing with such situations where there are major differences in policy and execution of policy, in a more transparent and accountable way.

Large spiritual movements too face similar issues of differences in policy and execution of policy. However, most spiritual movements are authoritarian type where the top management is judged largely by results rather than through a mix of results as well as transparency and accountability via media (including social media) as is the case with democratic governments. And this authoritarian type of management does have its advantages in terms of good speed of implementation of policy and avoiding policy & management paralysis, which sometimes does afflict democratic governments and political parties (including in India). But it also has to be said that authoritarian type of management has the great danger of abuse of power and reduced ability for correction of course when the movement goes off course under a particular management.
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Very sad to see the horrific damage done by hurricane Dorian in parts of the Bahamas

Warning: Readers who don't want to see such death & destruction stuff should not view the video whose link is given below.

'Bodies everywhere': Harrowing account of Bahamas after Dorian, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AJQqt_fEnI, 10 min. 26 secs, published by Fox News on 6th Sept. 2019.
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Seems to be an unbiased article based on whatever scientific & tech. analysis they could get about the matter.
[Shared article: India lost contact with its moon lander, and an astronomer thinks the spacecraft crashed into the lunar surface, https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/india-lost-contact-with-its-moon-lander-and-an-astronomer-thinks-the-spacecraft-crashed-into-the-lunar-surface/articleshow/71018454.cms]
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PM Modi gives a small speech to lift up spirits of ISRO team focusing on the achievements so far of the mission. And PM Modi is now speaking to the students gathered there. .. Still no signal from Vikram lander!

https://www.firstpost.com/tech/science/chandrayaan-2-live-updates-isro-moon-mission-2019-india-land-on-lunar-surface-landing-date-time-schedule-latest-news-today-gslv-mk3-mk-3-satellite-7294631.html states:
"Vikram lander's descent was planned and decsent was normal till 2.1 km. After this, communication link between the lander and ground station was lost. ISRO is currently analysing the data," announced the ISRO chairman.
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Well, tense moments as no signal is being received from the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-2 (moon) mission. No announcement yet but ....
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UK PM Boris Johnson's election motion needed 434 votes to pass. As Labour abstained, even though the motion got more Aye (yes) votes (298) as against the No votes (56), it was far less than the 434 votes needed for the motion to pass.

https://edition.cnn.com/uk/live-news/boris-johnson-brexit-wednesday-dle-gbr-intl/index.html

Hmm. So all the first three votes that PM Johnson had to face in Parliament went against him! And now his party no longer has the majority, and has expelled 21 of its MPs which includes former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance minister equivalent) Philip Hammond!

Labour has said that till the prevent no-deal Brexit bill becomes law, they will not support the call for a mid-term election.

Hmm. UK Parliament sure has shown its power to PM Boris Johnson.

While it is sad to see this limbo that UK Parliament has got into, it is great to see how Parliament is able to demonstrate is checks-and-balances power vis-a-vis the Prime Minister. In contrast, I don't think such a thing would be possible in USA where USA Congress' checks-and-balances power vis-a-vis the President of the USA, seems to far more limited, in these times (early 21st century).

Overall, as a lover of democracy, I prefer a system where one single elected person does not get so much power that he/she cannot be held accountable and be forced to negotiate with other elected representatives, on key executive decisions and policy affecting the country. So, for me, this demonstration of power by UK Parliament against a UK PM who seems to have sought to ride roughshod over them, is vital evidence that (functioning) parliamentary democracy has more effective checks-and-balances than (functioning) presidential systems democracy.
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Former UK Cabinet minister Rory Stewart and 20 other MPs who voted against the current Conservative government in a recent Brexit related vote, have been expelled from the Conservative Party! This is perhaps the lowest point of it all. Sad to see such a level of intolerance to dissent in UK's Conservative Party under the new leadership of Boris Johnson (Theresa May seemed to permit such dissent).

Rory Stewart comes across as a decent guy. I wonder what he will do now. I mean, if I understood the matter correctly, he will not be able to contest the expected general election as a Conservative Party candidate. Will he join another party? Or will he contest as an Independent? Or will he just quit politics? ... Really sad to see an articulate speaker and a seemingly decent guy land in such a spot.

Former UK Cabinet minister says he was expelled from Conservative Party by text, https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/459894-former-uk-international-development-secretary-says-he-was-fired.

But I think that's how democracies seem to be tending to, the world over, including, I am afraid, my own country, India. [I should also say that I have the impression that historically, the major Indian political parties have had much lesser tolerance of dissent as compared to UK or USA political parties.]

Inner-party democracy seems to be going down with political parties having supremos whose views have to be agreed with or else the dissenters may be shunted out of the party! That's sad to see. But c'est la vie! One has to adapt to survive in changing times.
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UK PM Johnson loses vote on Brexit delay bill by significant margin; Now he calls for an election on Oct. 15th and introduces a motion for it, urging opposition leader Corbyn to support it.

Boris Johnson calls on MPs to back October general election - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgb2_RiGGVo, around 6 mins.

What will the opposition do now? In particular, what will Opp. Leader Jeremy Corbyn do now?
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Pics that tell us about life of working classes and poor in late nineteenth century London: Street Life in London, 1876-1877, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YPeSADoBV0, 7 min. 42 secs.

Hmm. The British Raj, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj, was quite well established in India by 1876 (it was established in 1858). And these pics are of the capital of Britain at that time!

Just goes to show that what one British lady had said some time back in a Facebook exchange that the riches of colonialism went to a few in Britain and that life of the poor and working classes in Britain was still tough (or something on those lines), is true.
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Good to see the warmth between leaders of India and Russia.

As an Indian citizen and resident, I am very much in support of good and warm relations between India and our time-tested friend, Russia.
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/narendramodi/photos/a.10150164299700165/10162309043560165/?type=3&theater, "Delighted to meet my friend, President Putin."]
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Utterly fascinating showdown between British parliament and British PM! The first round was won by the British parliament handing PM Johnson his first defeat in Parliament as PM.

Boris Johnson defeated as Tory rebels move against a no-deal Brexit - BBC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnAMLOCY5WE, 17 min. 48 secs.

I would like to study this video in detail and perhaps document parts of it, as I think it is an extraordinary case study of Parliament attempting to force a British PM to stop no-deal Brexit.

Yes, this same parliament had defeated previous PM Theresa May's deals. But that was only a rejection of a deal.

As new PM Johnson wants to play hard ball and get Britain to exit out of EU on current deadline of October 31st, which is the default as per ***current*** law, UK Parliament is attempting to change that law to prevent Johnson from doing that! Parliament has won the first round but they are a long way yet from accomplishing their objective.

PM Johnson's response seems to be that he will push for a mid-term general election. But even for that, he needs to get his motion passed in Parliament!

While some may view this as a terrible weakness of democracy in that there is so much confusion about the way ahead, I find it to be a good thing in terms of limiting the power of any single person, even that of the PM, in normal conditions (excluding emergencies like war at which time one needs speedy decision making).

PM Johnson was not elected by the British people but by a minority of voters in the Conservative Party. Perhaps a general election to decide who and which party (or set of parties - an alliance) will lead Britain in getting out of the EU, with or without a deal, OR even perhaps reverse the Brexit referendum and remain in the EU, may be the best democratic way to decide the matter now.
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I debated with myself whether I should share this video. I was worried about contributing to fear-mongering.

As I thought about it, I felt I should share it with some warnings.

1. I think this is the first time I am seeing a video talk of his - I mean, I don't think I have heard of Donald Amstad earlier. But I have heard of Standard Life Aberdeen (investment company), which seems to own/run Aberdeen Standard Investments, the company that Amstad is associated with.

2. Perhaps he is a doom-and-gloom guy. Note that there are some noted investment analysts who are into talking doom-and-gloom, and make money that way.

3. But he speaks well, and seems to have some logic to back his statements.

I think for those guys who are willing to hear some doom-and-gloom stuff but not get overwhelmed with it, it may be worthwhile to listen to this guy's views in this video. I felt it worthwhile to hear him but I am not believing everything he says. At least, it will make us alert.

Here's the video: The developed world is on the brink of a financial, economic, social and political crisis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WclYu5l4G0, 18 min. 41 secs., published on 27th Aug. 2019.
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UK PM energetically makes his case against the prevent no-deal motion in UK House of Commons. PM Johnson, to use words I heard elsewhere about him, has "vim and vigour, dash and splash"! Boris Johnson: I will never surrender, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlsGGq4p0wM, 10 min 21 secs, published by The Sun.
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Presuming the report is accurate, things have got messier for UK PM Johnson.

UK PM loses majority after MP defects to Liberal Democrats amid Brexit crisis, https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/uk-pm-boris-johnson-loses-majority-after-conservative-lawmaker-defects-amid-brexit-crisis/story-yPKfm0sonMcNMIlRDUJstJ.html
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Brexit: PM hints at snap election if MPs block no deal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv8T408CF_4, around 14 mins., Channel 4 News.

Hmm. What a showdown this is developing into! The last part of the clip has former UK PM Tony Blair answering a few questions very bluntly.

Tony Blair has been arguing for holding a 2nd referendum on exactly what type of Brexit is desired by the people of the UK. He is dead against no-deal Brexit. He does not like the idea of a snap election as elections are meant for much more broader and general issues than just Brexit.

Other parts of the clip describe how some Conservative (Tory) party MPs may be willing to vote for the proposed bill to prevent no-deal Brexit, despite any disciplinary proceedings threat from the current Tory party bosses.

What a complex and confusing maze of Parliamentary rules, motions, votes, bills and laws this has become!
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Interesting. Around 3 mins
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/bbcindia/videos/2440506292888246, "This is the pensioner village. A place where everything is designed for old people."]
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Hmm. That's what was predicted by some political pundits.

Brexit: 'Election in October' if MPs block no deal, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49558596

And if it is election in October, then Brexit would get postponed to a few months beyond Oct. 31st.

Tory MPs have to join opposition MPs to block no deal. Will they do it in the numbers needed to block no deal? That's the big question!
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He lost his job and so he seems to have lost his mind! Utterly frustrating! https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/02/us/west-texas-shooting-monday/index.html

Losing a job can be a very scary thing if one is dependent on it and cannot easily find another job.

But why kill innocents? Why kill at all? Just to release pent-up fury?

How about karma? Will he not suffer bad karmic consequences for killing innocent people even if he got killed by the police? I am quite sure he will, in a future life.

Belief in reincarnation and karma is so fundamental to practicing/believing Hindus (as against nominal Hindus who don't have belief in core Hindu doctrine), which is what, I think, stops most of them from doing such maniacal acts like killing innocents.

People of other faiths like Christianity & Islam also believe in a divine accounting of their acts once they die (even if they don't believe in Karma and reincarnation).

I have to say that I think faith in God as taught by mainstream religions is something that may help prevent such madness from gripping a person when he/she gets fired from a job.

A person with no faith who faces such great challenges, I think, may more easily get just overwhelmed by it, and sometimes get into such murderous madness.

My prayers to God for the victims who died in this mass shooting and prayers for strength and courage for the injured victims and the families and friends of all victims.
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Positive news. However, I don't know how accurate the report is.
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/AppreciateENG/videos/2127303414236126, "16 years ago, two ecologists dump thousands of tons of orange peels - today, the area has completely transformed"]
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Enjoyed seeing this documentary on Viv Richards which seems to be made in 1985 but perhaps released in 1987: VIV RICHARDS - KING OF CRICKET - 1987 Documentary, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmP4S-cmR9k, around 55 mins.

Note that 1985 is 15 + 19 = 34 years ago! That was a different age in cricket with the West Indies ruling the cricketing world then.

Here is an article on this video: https://www.cricketcountry.com/news/viv-richards-king-of-cricket-498324
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Great! The lander has separated and is orbiting (separately) around the moon. Two de-orbit maneuvers are scheduled on Sept. 3rd and 4th to get the lander closer in orbit to the moon. Sept. 7th is the scheduled day for the lander to have a powered descent and to land on the moon!

[Shared FB post:  https://www.facebook.com/ISRO/photos/a.1448404935382864/2373265119563503/?type=3&theater]
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Viv Richards: "I didn’t imagine I would live to see Indian fast bowlers ruling the world"

The great cricketing legend Viv Richards says what I feel about Bumrah and company's performance, so well. India vs West Indies: Viv Richards pays ultimate tribute to Jasprit Bumrah, https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/india-vs-west-indies-viv-richards-pays-ultimate-tribute-to-jasprit-bumrah/story-mkW6avysbsoKoSLteGkALL.html, 1st Sept. 2019

The article quotes Viv Richards as saying on air, "I didn’t imagine I would live to see Indian fast bowlers ruling the world".

Of course, Richards means the cricketing world.

Viv Richards says it perfectly. As a young cricket fan in the 70s & 80s, I have seen how West Indies fast bowlers as well as fast bowlers from other countries like Australia and England, dominated the fast bowling scene. India had nobody in that category. Kapil Dev who emerged and rose to stardom in the late 70s and 80s was wonderful for India, but he was a medium pace (fast-medium I think is the official category) bowler. Kapil surely made India's pace attack far better than earlier where we relied almost entirely on spin bowlers to take wickets. Really! Chandra, Bedi, Prasanna and Venkat were the bowlers - all spin bowlers - who would win Test matches for India prior to Kapil Dev entering the scene.

Viv Richards was one of the top batsmen in the world in those days (70s & 80s). My God! He sauntered onto the cricket field like a king, and batted like a king! No helmet for him, no matter which fearsome fast bowler was bowling mean bouncers at him. Of course, he would get out, and at times, for paltry scores. But while he was at the crease, he batted like a king. King Viv! I think nobody in the international cricket Tests arena could match him in terms of that saunter and that arrogance as a batsman. And he would also be chewing gum :-). What a king-size character!

Like Viv Richards, I did not imagine that I would live to see Indian fast bowlers dominate international cricket Test arena. Hats off to the current pack of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami, and also to those who paved the way for them in the previous years & decades like Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan.
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Bumrah is just in awesome form. What bowling! This video clip does not have the commentator audio which is a pity as the commentators were utterly awed by Bumrah's performance. This man is doing something that a guy like me finds it very hard to believe and is thrilled watching. An Indian fast bowler ripping through the West Indies in West Indies! Wow!

This clip has the hat-trick too. But the lack of audio makes it difficult to understand. This is the official bite-size video.

The initial part of the video covers the Indian innings on Day 2 of 2nd Test. The video caption incorrectly says 1st Test - it should be 2nd Test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjYfItOK2o4, 2 min. 19 secs.

Update: From around 28 mins in this longer official video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SPDcVfQTLE, we have the West Indies innings with commentator audio. Bumrah's five wickets including the hat-trick are shown from this point till around 34 mins. 30 secs, at which time West Indies have been reduced to 22 for 5! All these 5 wickets went to Bumrah!

I think one of the commentators is the great West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding. What an absolutely beautiful fast bowling action he had, in his days, besides being a great wicket taker! One of the other commentators is Indian cricketing great, Sunil Gavaskar.

Around 32 mins. we have the Bumrah hat-trick with the umpire first ruling not-out but the review declaring the batsman out.

Gavaskar says that the bowling was marvellous but that the ball was going down the legside, and that the hat-trick possibility led to Indian captain Virat Kohli seek a review.

The review declares the batsman out. Then Holding says, "(Third) hat-trick for an Indian in Test match cricket and it could not go to a more special bowler."

That's some praise for the current Indian fast bowling sensation from the West Indies fast bowling legend! I thoroughly enjoyed Michael Holding's comments - icing on the cake of Bumrah's performance.
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