Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

Last updated on 1st Sept. 2017 The first post that I put up on this matter is: Houston and some other parts of Texas, USA, reel under flooding impact of Hurricane/Storm Harvey, http://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.in/2017/08/houston-and-some-other-parts-of-texas.html , 28th Aug. 2017 After the above mentioned post, over the past few days I put up or shared a lot of short posts on my Facebook Timeline: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7 , related to the severe flooding in Houston and some other parts of Southeastern Texas, as well as a few posts on heavy rains in Mumbai. I have given below the contents of those posts (slightly edited). 4 min. 24 secs, Sen. Ted Cruz on the devastation in southeastern Texas, https://youtu.be/VZc6VoBnacU Note that Senator Cruz represents Texas in the Senate, and that Houston is his home city. He speaks to the media from the Convention Center in Houston where rescued people are being given shelter. ----- Harvey Cattle Drive: Herding 400 head o...

Last updated on 4th Sept. 2017 Given below is a list of my recent posts on another blog of mine, on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's conviction for rape, and his spiritual group, the Dera Sacha Sauda. 1) Some articles and my thoughts about Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh being judged guilty of sexual assault, and violence that followed, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.in/2017/08/some-articles-and-my-thoughts-about.html , 27th Aug. 2017 2) Clear condemnation of violence indulged in by Ram Rahim Singh's followers by President Kovind and PM Modi, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.in/2017/08/clear-condemnation-of-violence-indulged.html , 27th Aug. 2017 3) 27th Aug. 2017 update on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh matter, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.in/2017/08/27th-aug-2017-update-on-dera-sacha.html , 27th Aug. 2017 4) Spiritual group leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh sentenced to 20 years jail and fined Rs. 30 Lakh (3 million); More on Dera Sacha Sauda, http://ravisiyer.blogspot.in/2017/08/...

My prayers to Almighty God and best wishes for the people of Houston and other parts of Texas, USA, reeling under floods from torrential rain that some say has not been seen before by them (not seen in Houston in living memory). Full extent of Harvey’s aftermath starts to come into chilling focus, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/full-extent-of-harveys-aftermath-starts-to-come-into-chilling-focus/2017/08/27/1b2b184a-8b56-11e7-8df5-c2e5cf46c1e2_story.html A small extract from above article, 'The full extent of Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath started to come into chilling focus Sunday in Houston and across much of Central Texas, as rain measured in feet, not inches, overwhelmed lakes, rivers and bayous, leaving several people dead and thousands displaced in a weather disaster described as “beyond anything experienced.”' Note that Houston is USA's 4th largest city. The damage is being talked in terms of billions of dollars and the recovery period being some years...

As the flurry of posts I put up on the Charlottesville, Virginia, USA tragic rally which was mainly dominated by white supremacists and neo Nazis, came to a close, I was reminded of an attractive but haunting melody song that I used to listen quite often on car FM radio during my stints in New England, USA in the second half of the 1980s, on a Boston "Easy Listening" - hope I got that correctly - FM station. The song was about the USA 1860s civil war from the South perspective. The song also mentions the name of Robert E. Lee, whose statue removal plans in Charlottesville were the ostensible reason for the rally! I have to say that I loved listening to that song though I did not know that much about how deep the wounds were of the USA civil war even in the 1980s then! Note that in my stay in New England, USA I was living in and consulting/working in places which had very few non-whites, and almost no African-Americans. I think what is clear to me is that even today in 2017...

Less than 2 minutes. A classy video from New York Times on the solar eclipse in USA,  https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/1906511316233048/ . Jackson Hole, Wyoming turning dark as the solar eclipse reaches totality,  https://www.facebook.com/Q2News/videos/10150826561039982/ , slightly over 1 min. "At the speed of darkness...watch as #SolarEclipse2017 shadow moves across our beautiful planet at <1 mile/second; as seen from GIII aircraft", 42 secs. video, https://twitter.com/Dr_ThomasZ/status/899788647041388544 . Alaska Airlines catches the eclipse from the air: Alaska Airlines Great America Escape flight #9671, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FwF1DvksIQ , around 1 min. Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook post having 3 pics from a Data center of Facebook in Prineville, Oregon that was in the path of the total solar eclipse, https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10103981850246981 . Has a video and an awesome set of 52 pics: ‘We are all just mind-boggled:’ scenes from...

I think those USA media outlets that are critical of USA President's family's minor children for stuff like the dress they wear, must be advised to stop doing that. I mean, let the kid enjoy his childhood like any other kid. So long as he is not doing anything harmful to himself or others, I think the USA media should respect Barron Trump's privacy. Note that Barron Trump is eleven years old - not yet a teenager. The details of the matter are that a media outlet called "Daily Caller" ran a story attacking Barron Trump's dress with the headline, "It’s High Time Barron Trump Starts Dressing Like He’s In the White House." The White House responded by the USA First Lady, Melania Trump's, spokesperson saying, "As with all previous administrations, we ask that the media give Barron his privacy".."He is a minor child and deserves every opportunity to have a private childhood." Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former USA president ...

Last updated on 24-Aug-2017 24th Aug. 2017 Update-Note: I had made a mistake in my reading of small excerpts of the judgement in presuming that the Indian Supreme Court Chief Justice's words about injuncting triple talaq for six months during which he instructed Indian parliament to enact law on it, was part of an overall judgement. It was not so, according to The Hindu reports I read today. It was part of the minority (2 judges) judgement which got overruled by the majority (3 judges) judgement! The majority judgement struck down triple talaq way of divorce for Muslim men in India as unconstitutional! ... My apologies to readers who may have got misled with previous contents of this post. Note that I have changed the post title as well.  The Hindu, a mainstream South Indian newspaper, stated in an article on 23rd Aug. 2017, "The Centre is all set to send an advisory to the states, asking them to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court order declaring triple talaq void...