Farouk Gulsara's Blog, page 111
April 23, 2019
Pay or be paid?
There was a heated discussion recently about attending weddings and the appropriate gifts to be presented to the newlyweds.
Many questions were floating around and were argued but without reaching any consensus. For every point supporting attendance at weddings, there many against it. Are the attendees considered privileged to have been invited in the first place? Is it an honour to attend? Is the invitation a hindrance or a nuisance to one's smooth sailing of daily routines? Do relatives get offended if they were non-attendees to someone's most important day in their lives? It is the lovebirds' declaration, so they should be in gratitude.
There used to be a time when weddings were announced widespread as a form of approval and legitimisation. It also was a diversion from their otherwise mundane lives. Social interaction between relatives was far and between. Humans, being social animals, were leading an agrarian way of living that was so unfulfilling. Interacting with farm animals and breaking back serving Nature was not gratifying enough. Meeting people for potential matchmaking, merrymaking and unwinding became compulsory. With time, it also became ritual and life-changing. Somebody needed to be put on the dais to be held responsible for all the wild oats that he sowed. The groom also can lay claim or metaphorically brand his name on his 'property'.
Ok then. How much are you going to part with this indulgence? If your attendance alone does not suffice, how much of your hard-earned are you willing to part for the host to announce his own intentions? Enough to cover his wedding expenses or to get a head start in life? As the overindulgences in matrimonial lavishness hit insane levels, how much is enough?
Me, I sacrifice time and offer blessings. After that, you are on your own... Felicitations.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Many questions were floating around and were argued but without reaching any consensus. For every point supporting attendance at weddings, there many against it. Are the attendees considered privileged to have been invited in the first place? Is it an honour to attend? Is the invitation a hindrance or a nuisance to one's smooth sailing of daily routines? Do relatives get offended if they were non-attendees to someone's most important day in their lives? It is the lovebirds' declaration, so they should be in gratitude.
There used to be a time when weddings were announced widespread as a form of approval and legitimisation. It also was a diversion from their otherwise mundane lives. Social interaction between relatives was far and between. Humans, being social animals, were leading an agrarian way of living that was so unfulfilling. Interacting with farm animals and breaking back serving Nature was not gratifying enough. Meeting people for potential matchmaking, merrymaking and unwinding became compulsory. With time, it also became ritual and life-changing. Somebody needed to be put on the dais to be held responsible for all the wild oats that he sowed. The groom also can lay claim or metaphorically brand his name on his 'property'.
Ok then. How much are you going to part with this indulgence? If your attendance alone does not suffice, how much of your hard-earned are you willing to part for the host to announce his own intentions? Enough to cover his wedding expenses or to get a head start in life? As the overindulgences in matrimonial lavishness hit insane levels, how much is enough?
Me, I sacrifice time and offer blessings. After that, you are on your own... Felicitations.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 21, 2019
On the other side of the Iron Curtain...
The Mitrokhin Archive II (2005)
It all sounds like a plot of an espionage paperback set in the Cold War era. The only thing that makes it interesting is that it is said to have happened in the real world - that a KGB employee, disillusioned with the direction that Communist Russia was taking, should decide to painstakingly make short notes, via his handwriting, of secret documents as the KGB headquarters was relocated and the archives, in the pre-internet days, were transferred. Vasili Mitrokhin, the low-level official, after the collapse of Soviet Union, in 1992, decided to take his 10 years worth of handwritten documents and to defect to the West. He had apparently shown up at the American Embassy in Latvia with his papers but was turned down. At the British Embassy, however, he was cordially offered a cup of tea and the rest, as they say, is history.
The papers were a damning account of the clandestine activities of Soviet Russia in many countries of the world. In simple words, the archives were accusing Russia of spying many countries around the globe whilst influencing their leadership. From bugging of Henry Kissinger's office to forged documents in promoting false narratives to placing informants amongst leaders in South America and the Middle East, assassination plots of some world leaders and even literally putting heads of India in the KGB payroll.
Christopher Andrew, an MI5 historian, released two books based on the records- The Sword and the Shield (1999) and The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (2005). Almost immediately after the release of the first book, select committees were set up in many countries to investigate its allegations, namely the UK, Italy and India.
With the heat and adrenaline associated with the ongoing India Elections, one by one, KGB's involvement in the administration of newly independent Congress ruled India is coming to fore. Call it sensationalisation, call it political slandering. The documents are freely available on the public domain for scrutiny.
It was no secret that Nehru had reverence to the Soviet Union and the course of socialism. Maybe deep inside, he was a closet Communist. Russia took notice of him after the Bandung Conference in 1955 and his involvement in the Non-Alignment Movement. The largest democracy, India, became KGB's most concentrated operation. India was regarded as an imperialist puppet. At one time, the Soviet Union had such a free hand in running the country. Its money ran the Congress Party, and they had a firm grip on the succession of leaders. Indian Embassy in Moscow was infiltrated by the KGB. Even though the Communist Party of India was funded by Russia, it also had access to India's Intelligence Bureau's knowledge of the activities of the party.
Krishna Menon, the Defence Minister, was earmarked to be Nehru's successor. Menon was instrumental in sourcing for Russian weapons to arm itself, instead of Westen ones. Unfortunately, his nonchalant outlook of the 1961 Chinese invasion of India brought him into disrepute. Lal Bahadur Shastri took the realm after Nehru's demise even though Gulzarilal Nanda was their man. Shastri mysteriously died one and a half years into the tenure in Tashkent. There is another conspiracy theory behind that one.
Vasili Mitrokhin
The KGB had their eyes all set on young Indira Gandhi even as a young girl. She was viewed as a possible popular figurehead whom they could manipulate. The last thing that the Russians wanted was for Morarji Desai, the right Hindu traditionalist to lead.
Indra, with her trusted advisor, Parameshwar Narain Haksar, was accused of selling of India to the Soviet Union. She, with her codename, Maimoona Begum was on KGB's payroll. Russia's involvement was there in 1971 war in defence of East Pakistan and throughout the Indian Government -intelligence, counter-intelligence, Defense and Foreign Ministries and police.
Mrs Gandhi became increasingly unpopular as an obscene amount of money started flowing into the politician's coffers. It seems that Mrs Gandhi did not care if the money to run her party came from the KGB. Neither did she care that in return the communists virtually made a coup of the entire nation and occupied every vital position in all political, academic, judicial, executive and media institutions of the country. The whole country was up for sale, and Indira Gandhi sold it to the communists.
KGB also had an influence on the Indian press. The published materials are often said to be favourable to Russia's image. Soviet active measures manufactured unfounded evidence against the CIA and the unsubstantiated Pakistani intelligence behind the Sikh separatism.
As the Gandhi dynasty came crumbling and the Soviet bloc was beginning to disintegrate, the Indo-Soviet relationship, to which the KGB had devoted much of its energies, came to an inglorious end.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/06/kgb_papers_kept_in_secret_since_1992_released_by_british_archive.html
https://mitrokhinarchiveii.blogspot.com/2005
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitrokhin_Archive
https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/52/mitrokhin-archive
http://indiafacts.org/indira-gandhi-soviet-agent/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
It all sounds like a plot of an espionage paperback set in the Cold War era. The only thing that makes it interesting is that it is said to have happened in the real world - that a KGB employee, disillusioned with the direction that Communist Russia was taking, should decide to painstakingly make short notes, via his handwriting, of secret documents as the KGB headquarters was relocated and the archives, in the pre-internet days, were transferred. Vasili Mitrokhin, the low-level official, after the collapse of Soviet Union, in 1992, decided to take his 10 years worth of handwritten documents and to defect to the West. He had apparently shown up at the American Embassy in Latvia with his papers but was turned down. At the British Embassy, however, he was cordially offered a cup of tea and the rest, as they say, is history.
The papers were a damning account of the clandestine activities of Soviet Russia in many countries of the world. In simple words, the archives were accusing Russia of spying many countries around the globe whilst influencing their leadership. From bugging of Henry Kissinger's office to forged documents in promoting false narratives to placing informants amongst leaders in South America and the Middle East, assassination plots of some world leaders and even literally putting heads of India in the KGB payroll.
Christopher Andrew, an MI5 historian, released two books based on the records- The Sword and the Shield (1999) and The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World (2005). Almost immediately after the release of the first book, select committees were set up in many countries to investigate its allegations, namely the UK, Italy and India.
With the heat and adrenaline associated with the ongoing India Elections, one by one, KGB's involvement in the administration of newly independent Congress ruled India is coming to fore. Call it sensationalisation, call it political slandering. The documents are freely available on the public domain for scrutiny.
It was no secret that Nehru had reverence to the Soviet Union and the course of socialism. Maybe deep inside, he was a closet Communist. Russia took notice of him after the Bandung Conference in 1955 and his involvement in the Non-Alignment Movement. The largest democracy, India, became KGB's most concentrated operation. India was regarded as an imperialist puppet. At one time, the Soviet Union had such a free hand in running the country. Its money ran the Congress Party, and they had a firm grip on the succession of leaders. Indian Embassy in Moscow was infiltrated by the KGB. Even though the Communist Party of India was funded by Russia, it also had access to India's Intelligence Bureau's knowledge of the activities of the party.
Krishna Menon, the Defence Minister, was earmarked to be Nehru's successor. Menon was instrumental in sourcing for Russian weapons to arm itself, instead of Westen ones. Unfortunately, his nonchalant outlook of the 1961 Chinese invasion of India brought him into disrepute. Lal Bahadur Shastri took the realm after Nehru's demise even though Gulzarilal Nanda was their man. Shastri mysteriously died one and a half years into the tenure in Tashkent. There is another conspiracy theory behind that one.
Vasili MitrokhinThe KGB had their eyes all set on young Indira Gandhi even as a young girl. She was viewed as a possible popular figurehead whom they could manipulate. The last thing that the Russians wanted was for Morarji Desai, the right Hindu traditionalist to lead.
Indra, with her trusted advisor, Parameshwar Narain Haksar, was accused of selling of India to the Soviet Union. She, with her codename, Maimoona Begum was on KGB's payroll. Russia's involvement was there in 1971 war in defence of East Pakistan and throughout the Indian Government -intelligence, counter-intelligence, Defense and Foreign Ministries and police.
Mrs Gandhi became increasingly unpopular as an obscene amount of money started flowing into the politician's coffers. It seems that Mrs Gandhi did not care if the money to run her party came from the KGB. Neither did she care that in return the communists virtually made a coup of the entire nation and occupied every vital position in all political, academic, judicial, executive and media institutions of the country. The whole country was up for sale, and Indira Gandhi sold it to the communists.
KGB also had an influence on the Indian press. The published materials are often said to be favourable to Russia's image. Soviet active measures manufactured unfounded evidence against the CIA and the unsubstantiated Pakistani intelligence behind the Sikh separatism.
As the Gandhi dynasty came crumbling and the Soviet bloc was beginning to disintegrate, the Indo-Soviet relationship, to which the KGB had devoted much of its energies, came to an inglorious end.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/06/kgb_papers_kept_in_secret_since_1992_released_by_british_archive.html
https://mitrokhinarchiveii.blogspot.com/2005
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitrokhin_Archive
https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/52/mitrokhin-archive
http://indiafacts.org/indira-gandhi-soviet-agent/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 19, 2019
The many worlds of Captain Marvel?
Captain Marvel (2019)
The ancient Greeks believed in re-births. They used to think that before birth, the memory of the yet-to-be-born infant is erased clean. All old thoughts of their last birth are wiped out, like a white sheet of cloth. After birth, the young mind observes, learns and re-'minds' itself of 'new' things. In a way, nothing is new but are old tricks, packaged to be re-programmed.
This is what that went through my mind as Carol Danvers struggle to find herself. With so many recurring thoughts, dreams and nightmares tormenting her all the time, the search for self-discovery proved to be a Herculean task. It is made worse with the multitude of contradictory inputs that are channelled through her senses. For Carol Danvers to come to terms that she is indeed Captain Marvel, it must be pretty confusing. For ardent followers of Marvel comics, they must surely be knowing that before this, many other characters have been trying to claim their stakes on being the real Captain Marvel. As we recalled in another post, Shazam! used to Captain Marvel at one stage but he had to relinquish his title after a legal tussle. Danvers was once Ms Marvel, and another Captain Marvel was there who died. Even Yon-Ragg was the Captain in one edition of the comic!
Most of the newly churned movies, be it superheroes' movies or any other regular ones, there is a concerted effort to subtly change the fabric of society. If members of Gen-X and Babyboomer generations were used to have blockbuster movies with white male actors taking lead roles in them, now they have to familiarise themselves with members of the minority class and the previously unempowered to lead. Of late, many box-office films have a lead female cast; male characters are portrayed as redundant, shallow and can be disposed of. Not all viewers are receptive to this deliberate shoving of current agendas down their throats by the big establishments.
Nevertheless, the radical social reforms by the Trotskyite are being recognised at the grassroots level. There is massive pushback. Recently it was shown that @RottenTomatoes was 'mass nuking' audience reviews of the abysmally rated 'Captain Marvel' in order to juice its audience rating. It apparently nuked up 47,000 reviews over the weekend to bump the score by 6%.
Capt. America & Capt. Marvel
Maybe it was portraying Captain Marvel a big no-no with comic fans. As it is, of late, members of the 'subaltern' sect of the community have been represented as superheroes (Wonder Woman and Black Panther). Do we need another? And to have Gwen Stefani's 'I'm just a girl' playing in the music score to drive home the point?
I also could not help but entertain the thought that Captain Marvel's fatigue has an uncanny resemblance to that of Captain America. It is no brainer to guess the choice of colour as this Hollywood blockbuster stream rolls through to the four corners of the world. Perhaps, now that Thanos had virtually crippled the Avengers team and put the Universe in limbo in his quest for the Infinity Stones, the Marvel Comic Universe has to respond. Guess who will save the day in the 'Endgame'?
Only the hardcore would understand!
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
/div> http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The ancient Greeks believed in re-births. They used to think that before birth, the memory of the yet-to-be-born infant is erased clean. All old thoughts of their last birth are wiped out, like a white sheet of cloth. After birth, the young mind observes, learns and re-'minds' itself of 'new' things. In a way, nothing is new but are old tricks, packaged to be re-programmed. This is what that went through my mind as Carol Danvers struggle to find herself. With so many recurring thoughts, dreams and nightmares tormenting her all the time, the search for self-discovery proved to be a Herculean task. It is made worse with the multitude of contradictory inputs that are channelled through her senses. For Carol Danvers to come to terms that she is indeed Captain Marvel, it must be pretty confusing. For ardent followers of Marvel comics, they must surely be knowing that before this, many other characters have been trying to claim their stakes on being the real Captain Marvel. As we recalled in another post, Shazam! used to Captain Marvel at one stage but he had to relinquish his title after a legal tussle. Danvers was once Ms Marvel, and another Captain Marvel was there who died. Even Yon-Ragg was the Captain in one edition of the comic!
Most of the newly churned movies, be it superheroes' movies or any other regular ones, there is a concerted effort to subtly change the fabric of society. If members of Gen-X and Babyboomer generations were used to have blockbuster movies with white male actors taking lead roles in them, now they have to familiarise themselves with members of the minority class and the previously unempowered to lead. Of late, many box-office films have a lead female cast; male characters are portrayed as redundant, shallow and can be disposed of. Not all viewers are receptive to this deliberate shoving of current agendas down their throats by the big establishments.
Nevertheless, the radical social reforms by the Trotskyite are being recognised at the grassroots level. There is massive pushback. Recently it was shown that @RottenTomatoes was 'mass nuking' audience reviews of the abysmally rated 'Captain Marvel' in order to juice its audience rating. It apparently nuked up 47,000 reviews over the weekend to bump the score by 6%.
Capt. America & Capt. MarvelMaybe it was portraying Captain Marvel a big no-no with comic fans. As it is, of late, members of the 'subaltern' sect of the community have been represented as superheroes (Wonder Woman and Black Panther). Do we need another? And to have Gwen Stefani's 'I'm just a girl' playing in the music score to drive home the point?
I also could not help but entertain the thought that Captain Marvel's fatigue has an uncanny resemblance to that of Captain America. It is no brainer to guess the choice of colour as this Hollywood blockbuster stream rolls through to the four corners of the world. Perhaps, now that Thanos had virtually crippled the Avengers team and put the Universe in limbo in his quest for the Infinity Stones, the Marvel Comic Universe has to respond. Guess who will save the day in the 'Endgame'?
Only the hardcore would understand!https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
/div> http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 17, 2019
Speak for the sake of it?
We say a lot of things that we do not mean and do many things that we do not say. What we say may not be relevant in just two years, what more a lifetime. It is ironic that since most of the human interaction is based on verbal communications, we still cannot trust what we say. Are they just smokescreens for us to achieve our desires at all cost? Do we promise the moon and the stars, without mentioning the fine prints, just to get things our way?The direction of society and our lives is guided by our art of persuasion in debates and speech, but yet verbal communications are just fillers to decorate our lives; an exercise in creative writing to trigger the limbic system to immerse the brain in euphoria. One wonders if speech is relevant anymore.
Maybe it is time for us to periodically reassess our promises. Like at the end of a rotation duty of a security officer who plays back the closed-circuit recordings of the night before, perhaps we should be doing the same. We should put an interval upon which we should assess and re-assess what we had set out to do in our lives. Sometimes, we would look back at the promises of the past, laugh it off as a jest of the spring of youth which mellowed down with the lessons of the School of Hard Knocks. Unfortunately, sometimes the whole spectre of our existence may have stemmed from our earlier rhetoric. Could we be punished for our blabber during our innocence?
Like an episode in Black Mirror where computer chips are implanted at the back of the neck for people to rewind and reanalyse all their memories, do we need retrieval facilities to make culpable to whatever we say?
The best thing to do is strap our belts, avoid those potholes, keep our eyes on the road whilst at the same time enjoy the landscape, keep the hands tight on the steering wheel, follow the rules, enjoy the journey and re-live the trip every now and then even if we do not reach the intended destination.
So, speak for the sake of it. You would probably do not mean any of it, anyway!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 14, 2019
Social awareness or agitation?
Period. End of a Sentence (Documentary; 2018)
Arunachalam Muruganantham was seen in a TedTalk a few years ago with his low-cost locally made sanitary napkins and how he tried to make a change in the life of the average Indian woman. This is some kind of a showcase of what actually happens at the ground level - getting the ladies to express their issues about this social taboo, making them feel comfortable discussing this physiological phenomenon, to remove the stigma associated with its discussion, discussing the health risks related to their current unsanitary menstrual practices and promoting their homegrown self-generating pad making simple machine with local produce.
At the end of this 20-minute documentary, the women are happy. The promoters are satisfied to have infiltrated into the sanitary business, creating a demand for something not there before. The users feel empowered for being able to control their body, to avoid embarrassment associated with menstruation. For the first time in their life, they had their voices being heard. This could the start of many steps towards woman empowerment. After all, society has long accepted that women maketh society.
Economist Muhamad Yunus, the Nobel Prize winner from Bangladesh, understood the role of women in the community when he came up with the idea of setting up his successful village-centric Grameen Bank.
But wait!
Isn't it funny that, at the time when the Supreme Court decision and the palpable public dissatisfaction over the lifting of the ban of the entrance of women of reproductive age to Sabarimala Temple, that a documentary about menstruation and ladies of India receives an Academy award? Is it a smear campaign to put the ruling party (which is pro-Hindu in its stand) and Hinduism in a bad light? Is it an anarchist or the leftist agenda to create mayhem and irreligiosity?
[N.B. Interesting title. Period as full stop which ends a sentence and the ending the sentencing of social restrictions imposed upon menstruating women]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Arunachalam Muruganantham was seen in a TedTalk a few years ago with his low-cost locally made sanitary napkins and how he tried to make a change in the life of the average Indian woman. This is some kind of a showcase of what actually happens at the ground level - getting the ladies to express their issues about this social taboo, making them feel comfortable discussing this physiological phenomenon, to remove the stigma associated with its discussion, discussing the health risks related to their current unsanitary menstrual practices and promoting their homegrown self-generating pad making simple machine with local produce. At the end of this 20-minute documentary, the women are happy. The promoters are satisfied to have infiltrated into the sanitary business, creating a demand for something not there before. The users feel empowered for being able to control their body, to avoid embarrassment associated with menstruation. For the first time in their life, they had their voices being heard. This could the start of many steps towards woman empowerment. After all, society has long accepted that women maketh society.
Economist Muhamad Yunus, the Nobel Prize winner from Bangladesh, understood the role of women in the community when he came up with the idea of setting up his successful village-centric Grameen Bank.
But wait!
Isn't it funny that, at the time when the Supreme Court decision and the palpable public dissatisfaction over the lifting of the ban of the entrance of women of reproductive age to Sabarimala Temple, that a documentary about menstruation and ladies of India receives an Academy award? Is it a smear campaign to put the ruling party (which is pro-Hindu in its stand) and Hinduism in a bad light? Is it an anarchist or the leftist agenda to create mayhem and irreligiosity?
[N.B. Interesting title. Period as full stop which ends a sentence and the ending the sentencing of social restrictions imposed upon menstruating women]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 12, 2019
Damn statistics
Freakonomics (2005) Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner
A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything
The conventional thinking is that economists are nerds who fancy numbers, statistics and balancing GDPs and expenditures. Now, we have come to realise that economics is more than statistics. Statistics are the greatest lies invented by mankind. It can be made to work for either side of the fence if you know how. The same numbers can be used to assert both sides of the argument if you know how. That is the reason for the frenzy of data in the 21st century. Information is knowledge.
The authors try to freak us out with numbers that baffle us with information that actually questions whether our supposedly scientific approach to solving our day to day problem is indeed appropriate. For a starter, they suggest that the reason for the reduction in crime in the 1990s is not because of great policing, increasing prisons or use of resources to curb crime but instead due to the legislation of allowing termination of pregnancy.
Morality represents the way we want the world to work, to create a utopia but economics is how it actually works. Business lies at the very intersection of morality and economics. People have always been assumed to have goodness in them. Even without expecting anything in return, they would do what is best for a fellow human being. But then, could anyone resist the temptation of evil if his acts would not be undetected. The numbers do not.
Capitalism thrives on the disparity of information. Information is a double-edged sword. It gives empowerment, but at the same time, it creates fear for uncertainty. We say one thing and do another. We associate truth with convenience, self-interest and personal wellbeing. We make promises best to avoid awkward situations or unwelcome dislocation of life.
How does the termination of pregnancy reduce crime? People who are least capable of being good or exemplary parents are the ones who have the most number of children. These children do not complete school, get into gangs and get in crimes. The world would be a better place without their existence.
Is it not interesting that parenting rules always change with time? Anyway, parenting has nothing to do with the outcome of the future of the child. The book also brings up many salient interesting points about naming children and that swimming pools kill more children than guns in the US. Are we going to ban swimming pools or increase security there?
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything
The conventional thinking is that economists are nerds who fancy numbers, statistics and balancing GDPs and expenditures. Now, we have come to realise that economics is more than statistics. Statistics are the greatest lies invented by mankind. It can be made to work for either side of the fence if you know how. The same numbers can be used to assert both sides of the argument if you know how. That is the reason for the frenzy of data in the 21st century. Information is knowledge.The authors try to freak us out with numbers that baffle us with information that actually questions whether our supposedly scientific approach to solving our day to day problem is indeed appropriate. For a starter, they suggest that the reason for the reduction in crime in the 1990s is not because of great policing, increasing prisons or use of resources to curb crime but instead due to the legislation of allowing termination of pregnancy.
Morality represents the way we want the world to work, to create a utopia but economics is how it actually works. Business lies at the very intersection of morality and economics. People have always been assumed to have goodness in them. Even without expecting anything in return, they would do what is best for a fellow human being. But then, could anyone resist the temptation of evil if his acts would not be undetected. The numbers do not.
Capitalism thrives on the disparity of information. Information is a double-edged sword. It gives empowerment, but at the same time, it creates fear for uncertainty. We say one thing and do another. We associate truth with convenience, self-interest and personal wellbeing. We make promises best to avoid awkward situations or unwelcome dislocation of life.
How does the termination of pregnancy reduce crime? People who are least capable of being good or exemplary parents are the ones who have the most number of children. These children do not complete school, get into gangs and get in crimes. The world would be a better place without their existence.
Is it not interesting that parenting rules always change with time? Anyway, parenting has nothing to do with the outcome of the future of the child. The book also brings up many salient interesting points about naming children and that swimming pools kill more children than guns in the US. Are we going to ban swimming pools or increase security there?
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 10, 2019
Justice done?
Phantom (2015)
Of late, if one were to notice, Bollywood seems to be churning out movies which are patriotic in nature. At a time when nationalism spirit in all countries is at a record high, and when India-Pakistan border tensions are equally high, this genre of movies appear to be topping the box office.
The conventional wisdom is to love one other, embrace your brother, love thy name and do unto others as you would do unto them. And that 'an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind'. Unfortunately, the world is not a kind place. Experiences in 1962, lethargic after fighting two world wars, Nehru, in his great wisdom, must have thought hard about his country's relationship with China. With his 'Chini Chini Bhai Bhai' slogan, he probably told China, "let's all be together and feel alright!" Unfortunately, China construed this holding hands and singing kumbayah gesture as a weakness. They cooly walked in and occupied Tibet.
India, with that humiliation, managed to salvage some pride a decade later (1971). Parties in West Pakistan had failed to win a majority to rule the whole of Pakistan. So, when the Bengalis of East Pakistan retaliated, the West Pakistani army moved in to quell the resistance and initiate a genocide. Refugees in millions started pouring into India. Pleas by India to the international community fell into deaf ears. India thought it would be cheaper to go to war with Pakistan. Pakistan, gung-ho with their nationalistic jingoism gave the first salvo by attacking Agra. In a blitz, the Indian Army forced the Pakistan Army to get on their knees to sign a public Instrument of Surrender. A Jew, Major General JFR Jacob, managed to hoodwink the Pakistani Army to lay down their arms.
Like to brotherly squabble between Ishmael and Isaac which has gone on for aeons to win their fatherly love, the clash of brothers of the same genetic makeup across the Indo-Pakistan border took a different dimension with the spread of Saudi-sponsored Wahabbism. Now, Islamic terrorists make it their life mission to conquer and spread their perverted form of violent Islam.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one such organisation. They have been identified as a terrorist group based in Pakistan with the primary mission to 'liberate' Kashmir' from India. They have been implicated in the 2001 Indian Parliament bombing, the 2005 Mumbai attacks and recently the Pulwama attack on Indian Armed Forces.
This film is based on a fiction which centres around the 26/11 Mumbai terror. In keeping with Bollywood's style, a lone-wolf (but with the blessings of RAW), disgraced and court-marshalled Indian soldier singlehandedly (with a little help from a pretty informant) infiltrates into an American prison, Syria and Pakistan to track down the planners of the attack and mete appropriate justice to them.
[N.B. A recent addition to the growing list of patriotic Indian films would be 'Kesari'. The movie is based on the greatest battle in the world history, the Battle of Saragarhi, in which 21 Sikh soldiers of the British India Army fought valiantly against a massive force of 10,000 Afghan tribal warriors.
Great Britain had halted their parliament during proceedings to give a standing ovation to those 21 fallen Sikh soldiers for their courage and bravery. In fact, none other than Queen Victoria herself had said at the time: “It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war. 21 vs 10,000.”
The only reason that the world today knows about the details of the Battle of Saragarhi is because of heliographic messages, which were communicated between the Sikh troops and Lt Col John Haughton at Fort Lockhart and Major Charles Des Voeux in Gulistan. The heliographed details of the heroism of those 21 Sikh souls had been telegraphed to London by a journalist, which led every newspaper in Britain to report it on the front page. In 2017, a group of 12 senior Army officials from England visited Saragarhi memorial to pay tributes to the brave souls. Saragarhi memorial day is observed in Britain as well.]
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Of late, if one were to notice, Bollywood seems to be churning out movies which are patriotic in nature. At a time when nationalism spirit in all countries is at a record high, and when India-Pakistan border tensions are equally high, this genre of movies appear to be topping the box office. The conventional wisdom is to love one other, embrace your brother, love thy name and do unto others as you would do unto them. And that 'an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind'. Unfortunately, the world is not a kind place. Experiences in 1962, lethargic after fighting two world wars, Nehru, in his great wisdom, must have thought hard about his country's relationship with China. With his 'Chini Chini Bhai Bhai' slogan, he probably told China, "let's all be together and feel alright!" Unfortunately, China construed this holding hands and singing kumbayah gesture as a weakness. They cooly walked in and occupied Tibet.
India, with that humiliation, managed to salvage some pride a decade later (1971). Parties in West Pakistan had failed to win a majority to rule the whole of Pakistan. So, when the Bengalis of East Pakistan retaliated, the West Pakistani army moved in to quell the resistance and initiate a genocide. Refugees in millions started pouring into India. Pleas by India to the international community fell into deaf ears. India thought it would be cheaper to go to war with Pakistan. Pakistan, gung-ho with their nationalistic jingoism gave the first salvo by attacking Agra. In a blitz, the Indian Army forced the Pakistan Army to get on their knees to sign a public Instrument of Surrender. A Jew, Major General JFR Jacob, managed to hoodwink the Pakistani Army to lay down their arms.
Like to brotherly squabble between Ishmael and Isaac which has gone on for aeons to win their fatherly love, the clash of brothers of the same genetic makeup across the Indo-Pakistan border took a different dimension with the spread of Saudi-sponsored Wahabbism. Now, Islamic terrorists make it their life mission to conquer and spread their perverted form of violent Islam.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one such organisation. They have been identified as a terrorist group based in Pakistan with the primary mission to 'liberate' Kashmir' from India. They have been implicated in the 2001 Indian Parliament bombing, the 2005 Mumbai attacks and recently the Pulwama attack on Indian Armed Forces.
This film is based on a fiction which centres around the 26/11 Mumbai terror. In keeping with Bollywood's style, a lone-wolf (but with the blessings of RAW), disgraced and court-marshalled Indian soldier singlehandedly (with a little help from a pretty informant) infiltrates into an American prison, Syria and Pakistan to track down the planners of the attack and mete appropriate justice to them.
[N.B. A recent addition to the growing list of patriotic Indian films would be 'Kesari'. The movie is based on the greatest battle in the world history, the Battle of Saragarhi, in which 21 Sikh soldiers of the British India Army fought valiantly against a massive force of 10,000 Afghan tribal warriors. Great Britain had halted their parliament during proceedings to give a standing ovation to those 21 fallen Sikh soldiers for their courage and bravery. In fact, none other than Queen Victoria herself had said at the time: “It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war. 21 vs 10,000.”
The only reason that the world today knows about the details of the Battle of Saragarhi is because of heliographic messages, which were communicated between the Sikh troops and Lt Col John Haughton at Fort Lockhart and Major Charles Des Voeux in Gulistan. The heliographed details of the heroism of those 21 Sikh souls had been telegraphed to London by a journalist, which led every newspaper in Britain to report it on the front page. In 2017, a group of 12 senior Army officials from England visited Saragarhi memorial to pay tributes to the brave souls. Saragarhi memorial day is observed in Britain as well.]
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 7, 2019
Who is to say?
Everybody has their own whims and fancies. We all have their idiosyncrasies. Somehow deep inside, we feel that we got to where we are because of what and how we did it. We must have done something right.
That gives us the assurance that all things in life would turn out the way we want if it were done that particular way. And it would definitely turn sour if it were not done so. We all have our superstitions, and it gives us the conviction that everything will be alright if performed in such ritualistic manner. Nobody knows or can explain the sciences behind such an endeavour, but we do it anyway. What if something goes wrong? The stakes are too high to risk to engage in such a gamble.
I was in the company of some friends. We had decided to finally meet up after numerous failed attempts to get together due to pressing work engagements. What better time and place to meet than at a local sports’ restaurant with a giant screen display of the week’s big English League football game. The scene was set, and the game commenced. I noticed that my friend, M, had his back facing the TV screen. To the amusement of everyone in the group, he insisted on sitting that way!
Over the years, he had noticed that whenever his favourite team was playing, the team would win if he was not watching the game. The team fared poorly every time he viewed. The excitement of wanting to be in the thick of things when his team was playing was too overwhelming that he had to compromise - be at the game but not view it directly. Hence, he had resorted to such an arrangement. The rule has certain exceptions, of course. It is okay for him to see instant replays and pre-recorded games as these are not in real time.
His belief was further reinforced in that outing. After having his back face his screen throughout the two halves of the game, his team did indeed win the match. Deep inside, he must be glad that, in his own small way, he contributed to the success of his team, albeit his small butterfly fluttering way. This, against the variable biorhythms of the players, off/on forms of footballers, dirty tactics of the opponents, the invisible hands of the bookies, the state of non-level playing fields and many more unknown scientific and un-scientific factors. If it makes him entertained, who is to say?
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
/div> http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 5, 2019
Knowledge is everywhere, not just books
Shazam! (2019)
I remember watching a cartoon series on Malaysian TV in the 70s of a character who would shout something like 'Shazam!' for the person to gain magical powers. It involved the Arabic landscape, camels and all. So, when I agreed to watch this movie, I thought it was that one. Hold behold, I was totally wrong on that account. My memory had played tricks on me. It was Shazzan, not Shazam!
Apparently, there is a DC hero who has been around since the 1940s and initially came with the name Captain Marvel. His franchise was doing so well that even a feature film came out. Then came the copyright infringement suits and everything went south.
Captain Marvel was rebranded as 'Shazam!'. 'Shazam' is the acronym of mythical figures - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury. Shazam is said to embody the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus to initiate the lightning, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.
Shazzan
Cartoon series in the 70s, setin a mysterious Arabic land.Of late, many superheroes have been the broody and contemplative type. There was Batman with the burden of his checkered past above his head all the time. Then, there was Spiderman whose grandfather's death and his relationship with Mary Jane forever plagued his every decision of his life. For a change, this superhero, Shazam, is a light-hearted chap with a mind and wit of a 14-year-old boy who is more interested in showing off his superpowers than thinking about the problems of the world.
The film is a guided express course in learning about Greek Gods and an introduction to Christian theology, particularly, the seven cardinal - pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
So who says, cartoons and superhero are for children and does not stimulate the mind. Knowledge is everywhere, and it is for us to scoop.
The 14-year-old protagonist, Bill Batson, a troubled teenager who has been going from one foster home to another is one day jostled into a strange world. He is suddenly given great powers by a wizard and is tasked to save the realm from a madman, Dr Thad Sivanna. In the course of his duty, Bill discovers some unsavoury truths about his biological mother and learns that family is where one shares love and goes through the thick and thin with you.
And that is the final learning point of this film. We need not have DNA similarities to call ourselves siblings or relatives. We do not require the sharing of a common gene pool to feel for one another. We are all connected by the common goal of survival and traversing the same journey of life. Biological connexions are mere freak accidents of Nature. If not for that one in the billionth chance of hope, we would have been existing in the first place. Let us look at all as brothers and sisters and come together right now.
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
/div>http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
I remember watching a cartoon series on Malaysian TV in the 70s of a character who would shout something like 'Shazam!' for the person to gain magical powers. It involved the Arabic landscape, camels and all. So, when I agreed to watch this movie, I thought it was that one. Hold behold, I was totally wrong on that account. My memory had played tricks on me. It was Shazzan, not Shazam!
Apparently, there is a DC hero who has been around since the 1940s and initially came with the name Captain Marvel. His franchise was doing so well that even a feature film came out. Then came the copyright infringement suits and everything went south.
Captain Marvel was rebranded as 'Shazam!'. 'Shazam' is the acronym of mythical figures - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury. Shazam is said to embody the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus to initiate the lightning, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.
ShazzanCartoon series in the 70s, setin a mysterious Arabic land.Of late, many superheroes have been the broody and contemplative type. There was Batman with the burden of his checkered past above his head all the time. Then, there was Spiderman whose grandfather's death and his relationship with Mary Jane forever plagued his every decision of his life. For a change, this superhero, Shazam, is a light-hearted chap with a mind and wit of a 14-year-old boy who is more interested in showing off his superpowers than thinking about the problems of the world.
The film is a guided express course in learning about Greek Gods and an introduction to Christian theology, particularly, the seven cardinal - pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
So who says, cartoons and superhero are for children and does not stimulate the mind. Knowledge is everywhere, and it is for us to scoop.
The 14-year-old protagonist, Bill Batson, a troubled teenager who has been going from one foster home to another is one day jostled into a strange world. He is suddenly given great powers by a wizard and is tasked to save the realm from a madman, Dr Thad Sivanna. In the course of his duty, Bill discovers some unsavoury truths about his biological mother and learns that family is where one shares love and goes through the thick and thin with you.
And that is the final learning point of this film. We need not have DNA similarities to call ourselves siblings or relatives. We do not require the sharing of a common gene pool to feel for one another. We are all connected by the common goal of survival and traversing the same journey of life. Biological connexions are mere freak accidents of Nature. If not for that one in the billionth chance of hope, we would have been existing in the first place. Let us look at all as brothers and sisters and come together right now.
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
/div>http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
April 4, 2019
Numbers for Offence and Defence
The BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Director: Spike Lee
About a year ago, I heard on a podcast called 'Snap Judgement' about a black undercover cop in the late 70s masquerading as a white guy wanting to join the KKK. The police wanted to investigate the involvement of the clan members in the defence ministry. The policeman, Ron Stallworth, was so convincing that he managed to become a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan. Of course, he did most of the talking via the telephone and his colleague, whose identity is hidden for security reasons, was the one who appeared in person when the need arose.
With artistic licence in hand to spice up the suspense, the screenplay must have been rewritten to be set in the early seventies. The fictitious duel between the revolutionaries Black Panther and the KKK was created. The cop who appeared in person was chosen to be Jewish to further spruce sweet revenge. A black and a Jewish cop defeating the self-professed members of a superior race sounds more dramatic.
There was a time in our civilisation that we needed to leave in tribes for strength and protection. It was a time when might and sword did all the talking. Even though we are supposed to have evolved to have moral standards and social mores, deep inside the tribal spirit lives on like a caged animal waiting to be unleashed. When things are working our favour, we maintain harmony with our surroundings. When our personal space is invaded and is threatened, we recoil into our shell, invoke race, religion or any common trait that binds us into greater numbers for offence and defence.
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Director: Spike Lee
About a year ago, I heard on a podcast called 'Snap Judgement' about a black undercover cop in the late 70s masquerading as a white guy wanting to join the KKK. The police wanted to investigate the involvement of the clan members in the defence ministry. The policeman, Ron Stallworth, was so convincing that he managed to become a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan. Of course, he did most of the talking via the telephone and his colleague, whose identity is hidden for security reasons, was the one who appeared in person when the need arose. With artistic licence in hand to spice up the suspense, the screenplay must have been rewritten to be set in the early seventies. The fictitious duel between the revolutionaries Black Panther and the KKK was created. The cop who appeared in person was chosen to be Jewish to further spruce sweet revenge. A black and a Jewish cop defeating the self-professed members of a superior race sounds more dramatic.
There was a time in our civilisation that we needed to leave in tribes for strength and protection. It was a time when might and sword did all the talking. Even though we are supposed to have evolved to have moral standards and social mores, deep inside the tribal spirit lives on like a caged animal waiting to be unleashed. When things are working our favour, we maintain harmony with our surroundings. When our personal space is invaded and is threatened, we recoil into our shell, invoke race, religion or any common trait that binds us into greater numbers for offence and defence.
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
http://asok22.wix.com/real-lesson
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
