Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in February 2021
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.
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Interesting straight talk in end 1980 from Singapore's then leader Lee Kuan Yew about capitalist model & profit versus planned & controlled economy of communist countries then - China and Soviet Union, with China under Deng Xiaoping exploring changing its economic model to bring in capitalism (but not name it as capitalism and name it as 'Communism with Chinese characteristics'). Yew talks about China learning from Hong Kong, and experimenting with Shenzen then. Of course, 4 decades later, Shenzen is a major financial success story, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen, and so is Chinese capitalism (officially called, as mentioned earlier, 'Communism with Chinese characteristics').
Lee Kuan Yew talks about China and Deng, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM1f6xNfwZw, 4 min. 35 secs.
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In response to a comment about Yew's book "From third world to first", I wrote:
Thanks for mentioning his book. My reading list is overloaded now. But perhaps I will procure and read it later on.
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This movie is reported to be historically inaccurate. So it should be viewed as a fictional movie. However, it may convey some aspects of the reality of life in some parts of the USA that sided with the confederacy in its civil war, in the immediate years after the civil war.
The movie portrays Frank James as an honourable character who did not steal from honest people and who did not kill any of the good guys. But the wikipedia page of Frank James tells us a different story.
The lady reporter part in the movie seems to be 'masala' (spice) addition to make the movie more appealing to the audience.
The characters seem to be too well dressed to match what would have been the reality of those days. Note that the US civil war in many of the states that joined the confederacy, seems to have been very destructive of the economy there. So people may not have had opportunities to earn decent money honestly leading some to take to crime.
I guess that the portrayal of African-Americans in the movie seems to be historically inaccurate as well but I am not sure. In any case, I must say here that I am so glad that the civil war was won by the anti-slavery side and that today African-Americans in USA are in a position to lead far more dignified lives than when enslaved in slave states of USA prior to US civil war.
The Return Of Frank James 1940 Western Henry Fonda Gene Tierney Jackie Cooper John Carradine, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=933J_41_Ehw, around 1 hr. 30 mins (after 1 hr. 33 mins, the remaining part of the video can be ignored).
Movie wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Frank_James
Frank James wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_James
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Forced To Disengage, China Releases Propaganda Video With Visuals Of Galwan Valley Clash |CNN News18 (Indian TV network), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-73zVd2xEE, 5 min. 35 secs, published on 20th Feb. 2021.
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[USA] Utterly unbelievable that some Texans who did not lose power, now have to pay huge electricity bills! Related extracts from the article: "The huge bill increases have impacted Texans whose electricity bills aren't at a fixed rate but hitched to market prices vulnerable to fluctuations in value. With the huge increase in electricity demand during the storm, wholesale electricity prices have been pushed up to more than $9,000 per megawatt-hour. They're normally around $50 per megawatt-hour, reported NBC News."
Texas state govt. is exploring ways to help customers hit by such big electricity bills.
I would freak out if my electricity bill had variable cost (per unit) based on market prices. Prior to reading this article, I had no idea that some places in the world have such variable cost (per unit) for electricity supplied to home consumers, based on market prices!
[Shared article: Texas army veteran faces $16,000 bill due to rocketing energy prices as billionaire gas producer and Dallas Cowboys owner stands to profit from it, https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/texas-army-veteran-faces-16000-bill-due-to-rocketing-energy-prices-as-billionaire-gas-producer-and-dallas-cowboys-owner-stands-to-profit-from-it/articleshow/81139829.cms , 22nd Feb. 2021]
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In response to a comment, "... winner takes all", I wrote:
Sad but I think it is the truth in some fields in USA.
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As I have shared positive posts about the vaccine, I felt I should also share this article: Coronavirus | Vaccine trial volunteer moves Madras High Court to declare Covishield unsafe, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/coronavirus-covishield-trial-volunteer-moves-madras-high-court-to-declare-vaccine-unsafe/article33883156.ece, 19th Feb. 2021.
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Unbelievable and very sad to see the impact of the electric power crisis in Texas, USA brought on by very cold weather. Prayers for the well being of those suffering from lack of electric power, lack of water and shivering in the cold.
Millions in Texas left powerless and without water after winter storms l GMA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEfLP8ThE7w, 4 min. 5 secs.
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Update: Things have improved now but still seems to be a long way to go before things return to normalcy. Over 13M without water in Texas amid winter weather crisis l GMA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wreM06xPi-k, 3 min. 50 secs.
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On post: https://www.facebook.com/raj.vedam.1/posts/10224906188746474 , I wrote:
Thanks for sharing this informative view of the cause of this sad situation.
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Good to see this!
China Withdraws 140 Tanks, 60 Artillery Guns, 7,000 Troops In Ladakh Deescalation, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/in-new-ladakh-videos-chinese-troops-remove-tents-walk-to-waiting-trucks-2371661
Let us hope that China does not try any military land-grab stunt against India in future, and uses peaceful negotiation as the way to sort out India-China border dispute.
Hats off to Indian army for showing Indian military resolve to counter Chinese military land-grab in India. Jai Hind! Jai Jawan!
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'Deep concerns' about WHO Covid-19 report from China: White House ; White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it is imperative that the report be independent and free from "alteration by the Chinese government". https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/deep-concerns-about-who-covid-19-report-from-china-white-house-101613229491913.html , 13th Feb. 2021.
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1952 Hindi film song that has remained alive for well over half a century. I had heard it on the radio I think, quite a few times in the 1970s & early 1980s, but had not seen the video. Enjoyed seeing it with Meena Kumari playing the lead female role.
Sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Shamshad Begum and chorus - Door Koi Gaye Dhun Ye (HD) - Baiju Bawra Songs - Meena Kumari - Bharat Bhushan - Naushad Hits, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lKqQW66pKo, 3 min . 32 secs.
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Interesting orchestra rendition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUOzgySGc8c, 3 min. 47 secs, published Dec. 2017
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Possibly sung during COVID lockdown 😃by a young girl as a karaoke song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqIwwrSf5po, 3 min. 37 secs, published in July 2020.
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For Big Breakthrough In China Standoff, Government Says Nothing Conceded, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/rajnath-singh-in-parliament-says-agreement-with-china-arrived-at-on-disengagement-at-pangong-lake-2368054, 11th Feb. 2021.
Seems like good news. I am all for good China - India relations based on mutual respect without any land-grabbing. I should add that China respects only military and economic power and so Indian military should be given all support to enable it to defend India against any Chinese military aggression.
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Nice to read this tweet of "Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica", Roosevelt Skerrit:
"Even though I trust every word of the bible, I must confess that I did not imagine that the prayers of my country would have been answered so swiftly. Thank You India.
@narendramodi", https://twitter.com/SkerritR/status/1359550097315434496, 10th Feb. 2021.
The tweet has a video in which PM Skerrit not only thanks the Indian govt. but also the citizens of India.
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Good to see Indian govt. facilitate supply of, manufactured in India, COVID vaccines to Canada.
"Was happy to receive a call from my friend @JustinTrudeau . Assured him that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada. We also agreed to continue collaborating on other important issues like Climate Change and the global economic recovery.", https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1359546935586287619 , 10th Feb. 2021
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CNNi: WHO investigator reveals what he found in Wuhan, China, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnbU_ISKHIk, 12 min. 16 secs, published on 9th Feb. 2021.
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IAS officer for Anantapur district (within which Puttaparthi falls) takes COVID vaccine, encouraging others to also take COVID vaccine. At this stage, I think the vaccination is being done only for frontline workers against COVID like health care workers.
[Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/raja.chowdary.180/posts/1831117753704444 ]
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Very interesting article covering a topic that I was really wondering about: The Mystery Of India's Plummeting COVID-19 Cases, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/01/962821038/the-mystery-of-indias-plummeting-covid-19-cases, 1st Feb. 2021.
Thanks to --name-snipped-- for sharing it with me.
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HD Western Russell Hayden & Bob Wills, "Tornado in the Saddle" 1942, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc-J-6DKWR8, around an hour.
The good guys win in the end. The movie has some country music songs with the actors singing it.
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The Bounty Man 1972 Western Clint Walker Richard Basehart Margot Kidder, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sbIC8s3--E, around 1 hr 14 minutes (rest of video can be ignored).
The wiki page for this movie says it was a Western movie made for TV. I found the plot to be rather fanciful with soap opera type of touches, with a female playing a key role. The movie has a nice twist in the end but too fanciful to be close to reality, IMHO.
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Great contribution of sweat, blood and tears from Russian soldiers that turned the tide and saved the world, including India, from fascist dictatorship. My salutations to those great fighters of Russia against Nazi fascists.
Shared FB post: https://www.facebook.com/RusEmbassyIndia/posts/3939009112802502 about "#OTD, 78 years ago, the bloodiest battle in the history of mankind - the Battle of Stalingrad - has ended. It changed the course of #WWII and resigned Nazi Germany to defeat." ]
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