Ravi S. Iyer: Worldly

Last updated on 10th Mar. 2019 Chapter 3 of James Comey's book, 'A Higher Loyalty' is on the bully and bullying. Now James Comey was born in Dec. 1960,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Comey , and so is only around 2 years older to me (I was born in 1962). So I have found accounts of his growing up in a small city called Yonkers in New York which is very close to New York city, and later in New Jersey, Allendale, to be very interesting, and I compared it mentally with my growing up in few parts of Bombay/Mumbai (Dadar and Bandra(East) with fair bit of holidays spent in Chembur/Ghatkopar) and later a town close to Mumbai called Dombivli from where I would commute to Mumbai by (usually crowded) suburban trains for college and later work. Comey who now is a well built six foot eight inches and so has an imposing physical figure, writes that as a kid he was "anything but imposing"! He studied in Yonkers till he was in fourth or fifth grade and was a well acc...

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/news/harvey-weinstein-charged-with-rape-sex-crimes-involving-two-women/articleshow/64321255.cms It quotes the NYPD (New York Police Department) that Weinstein was "arrested, processed and charged with rape, criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct for incidents involving two separate women." ... "The NYPD thanks these brave survivors for their courage to come forward and seek justice". One of his alleged victims, Rose MacGowan said, "I have to admit I didn't think I would see the day that he would have handcuffs on him" ... "I have a visceral need for him to have handcuffs on." The investigation has been done by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the police. Hats off to the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the New York police department for upholding the awesome principle of 'Equal justice for all' in the USA by charging Wei...

As expected, the Karnataka chief minister Shri Kumaraswamy (from Janata Dal (Secular) in 3rd place in number of seats won) sailed through the vote of confidence as the 2nd placed Congress party supported him with Deputy Chief Minister being from the Congress. This vote of confidence was done one day after he was sworn in as CM. The BJP (1st place in seats won) walked out. For more details, please see Live: Karnataka Assembly floor test | Kumaraswamy wins trust vote with 116 votes; BJP walks out, http://www.thehindu.com/elections/karnataka-2018/karnataka-assembly-floor-test-live-updates/article23985735.ece , 25th May 2018. As per my understanding, now the government led by Shri Kumaraswamy as chief minister, has earned the constitutional authority to rule for the term of 5 years, so long as he does not lose any vote of confidence (no-confidence) motion put up against him in future (or early elections are called by the CM). I think that is a legal outcome going by the Indian constit...

Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL role in these social media posts that I put up related to Indian political leaders which 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. Saw this youtube video in Kannada, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r64FZ6t9Mw , 6 min. 5 secs, which captures today's (25th May 2018) unopposed election (as the BJP withdrew its candidate for speaker) of Shri K.R. Rameshkumar (of Congress) as speaker. His nomination seems to have been made by former Chief Minister (CM) Shri Siddaramaiah (Congress) and seconded by current Dy. Chief Minister, G Parameshwara (Congress). The video shows Shri Rameshkumar being congratulated by current Chief Minister, Shri Kumaraswamy (Janata Dal (Secular)) and by former CM and current ...

Good to read about this non-partisan action of Hon'ble Chief Justice of India on the Karnataka govt. formation matter which paved the way for a fair Vote of Confidence test on the floor of the Karnataka assembly. In my considered opinion, CJI Dipak Misra has done a great service to democracy in the country (India) by rising up to the occasion, arranging for a 3 judge bench of the SC to hear the petition in early hours of the night, just a few hours after the petition was made, and ensuring that the Supreme Court of India acted justly, quickly and decisively in the matter. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/cji-turned-tables-on-congress-by-granting-urgent-karnataka-hearing/articleshow/64264889.cms And I think the SC should continue to act in this manner when it comes to Vote of Confidence for the currently invited CM of Karnataka, Shri Kumaraswamy. As one of the SC judges said, the floor test is the vital decider (I think he used the term 'proof of the pudding'...

Last updated on 23rd May 2018 Please note that this article has two parts as reflected by the semicolon separation of two parts of the title of this post. The second part of the article is "My view" on living within one's means which refers to one point in Krugman's article. But my view is independent of Krugman's view on living within one's means. America’s Dismal Turning Point by Paul Krugman, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/opinion/americas-dismal-turning-point.html , 16th May 2018 A small extract from it: Meanwhile, circa 1980 financial leverage began its huge climb, with household debt relative to income soaring (and setting the stage for the 2008 financial crisis): [Ravi: article has a graph supporting the statement] --- end extract --- Ravi: When I first stayed in the USA for around 7 months in my first USA trip around 1986/87, I was astonished to see how people (many people) in the USA splurged on borrowed money. I got acquainted with t...

Here's a relevant billboard advertisement: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-large-billboard-advertising-machine-gun-america-seen-on-international-79207927.html . Here's the website of one firm based in Orlando (Florida, USA) which seems to have the name, 'Machine Gun America': https://machinegunamericaorlando.com/ . Ravi: Given the mass shooting incidents in the USA where so many innocent people, including school kids, are being killed by crazies with some such crazies being school kids themselves, I find such advertisements about machine guns aimed at USA civilians, to be very frightening. Now guns for protecting oneself and for hunting etc. are another thing. But machine guns, at least to my mind, brings up images of war movies with the machine gun being used to slaughter human beings. And, very, very unfortunately, it brings back horrendous memories of videos of the recent past slaughter in Las Vegas, USA where machine guns were used from a higher floor hotel...