Farouk Gulsara's Blog, page 137
November 11, 2017
The hand that whacks, embraces too?
@AryamanBodhOne of the regular feature during my childhood days was the visits by lonely housewives to engage in a prolonged banter with my mother.In RRF, my childhood home, a new neighbour had just moved to our oft-emptied next door flat. In came a seemingly perfect family, the head of the family, a tall, lean man donning dark glasses in the midst of the dimly lit corridors of the neighbourhood. He would walk as if he had a severe case of cervical spondylosis, straight-backed, walking straight ahead without tilting his heads even for a moment as if he had a mission in life like a racing horse prancing on with blinkers. The wife, a slim lady with long wavy hair and polyester floral sari with a faced stained in turmeric powder, an Indian natural skin whitener and scar-blemisher, would follow suit, well aware of the roving eyes around her. To complement this seemingly perfect couple was a pair of children of every dream of a middle-class family of the 70s - a daughter and a son. Then some distant back trotted in a middle-aged lady, all dressed in white widow's saree and a matching short white blouse, and a chubby man in his thirties with eyes protruding out like a frog's and appearing not quite right in the head!
They went on their lives just as we did ours. There was not much communication between both families. Most of the time, they were left to their own devices.
Three months or so into their move into their flat, we would occasionally hear shouts, yelling, sounds of punches on raw skin and crying, sometimes interspersed with groans. Like what kind neighbours would do, my family would just mind our businesses and carried on life as if nothing happened.
One morning, after a night of yelling and screaming, the lady of the house made an appearance at the corner of our kitchen window. Like a drug peddler looking for clients, she whispered her problems to Amma. Occasionally, she would turn around and look sideways just to make easily volatile husband would suddenly reappear to make minced meat out of her. It would be a regular feature for the rest of stay in RRF.
Through inadvertent eaves-dropping, I managed to gather the going-on. She had a victim of abuse by her husband and her mother-in-law. Periodically, she would show her wounds and her racoon-eyed face like her badge of honour. Amma, in her own feministic stance, would suggest ways to set her life in order - how to go about making a police report, to get a medical report on her wounds.
Credit: Andy CappLike a broken record in the typical fashion of a battered wife, her actions are always predictable. She would be so gung-ho about 'letting it all behind', in 'starting it all over' and putting 'a full stop to all these' on the day after the whacking. And a few days later, it would be status quo. 'He is actually kind-hearted when he is sober', 'it is my fault, actually', 'I irritate him', 'I have to take it for children' were the usual replies.
In my naive mind, I could not understand why was it is so difficult for my stupid neighbour to make up her mind. When somebody is hostile to you, you retaliate!
Nothing much really happened. She continued her mid-morning rendezvous at the corner of the kitchen window, telling her inner feelings and inner ramblings whilst Amma would go on with her stirring of her meals on the stove. It would all come to an abrupt when either Amma finishes her cooking, or the neighbour's husband comes marching back during his lunch break.
http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
November 8, 2017
A taboo subject...
The Jew is not my Enemy
(Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism)
Tarek Fatah (2010)
Warning: Only for Mature Readers
It is often said it is good to forgive and forget. People also say that to err is human and to excuse is divine. We have seen nations fight in one generation, only to be allies in the next. But somehow, the Muslim-Jewish animosity seems to have last centuries.
The earliest record of Jewish betrayal happened during the Battle of Badr (Trench War) when Meccan pagans ambushed Prophet Mohamed's army in Medina. A group of Jews who were chased from Medina for breaking certain treaties joined forces with the Meccans. As the going was tough, and the mighty Meccan army could not infiltrate the Medinians, the renegade Jews tried to coax the Medinaian Jews to double cross. Here, the story turns cloudy. After the win, Mohamed is supposed to have personally killed about 900 Jews to be buried in trenches. The authenticity of such an event has been argued for ages now. On the one hand, opposers to this narration claim such an event is not even mentioned in the Quran. It is also not in keeping with His previous teachings of not punishing others for the crime of someone else and the Islamic law on the treatment of women and children.
There was also a time when Jews and Muslims had apparently lived in harmony, in Andalusia, for example. Under Islamic rule, many Jewish thinkers including Maimonides prospered.
The problem of justification of Jew bashing had started with the writing of Ibn Ishaq, in the 14th century, of the biography of Prophet Mohamad. In his writings, he described the killing of Jews by the Prophet. Somehow, this made its way to the Hadiths and newer prints of the Holy Book. Extremists groups, with leaders like Banna, Qutb and Maududi, were more than happy to continue the Prophet's unfinished work.
In the modern era, every malady faced by humankind is often pinpointed at the Jews and their secret agenda. Let there an earthquake, a flu epidemic, the communist insurgency, tsunami or even Sunni-Shia divide; the Jews are almost always blamed. What started as a secret meeting in 1895 to decide the fate of the displaced Jews culminate to Balfour declaration and eventually the creation of the state of Israel. This formation invoked the ire of the jihadists for losing part of their land, as the second most sacred mosque where the Prophet is said to have ascended to heaven is situated. What the jihadists fail to realise is that the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Mufti were supporting the losing side of the World Wars, Germany and Hitler respectively.
Paradoxically, the Quran does not condemn the non-believers. If at all, it is the Hadith that does. In one verse, it is said that Judgement Day would only come after the last Jew is slain!
The author goes on to condemn the Muslims themselves for fighting amongst themselves and practising race politics where Arabs perch on the highest branch. Many Muslims societies, long ago, used to live in harmony with other communities. Now, with the new brand of militant Islam practised by believers gives the impression the religion is a hostile one. Many non-Islamic countries who obtained Independence around their Islamic counterparts have reached great heights in term of economic, scientific, social and living standards. Sadly, the Muslim countries still struggle to get their act together. They dream of turning back the clock to Golden Era of Islamic Civilisation.
In the concluding chapter, Fatah takes a swipe at Holocaust deniers. He reiterates that many Muslim fighters too died fighting against the cruel Nazi regime. This includes the Turkestan Army, the many Muslim soldiers buried in Majdanek, Poland, just outskirts of Auschwitz, the Muslim soldiers of the British Empire and Princess Nor Inayat Khan @ Nora Baker who was a British secret agent who died in a concentration camp. Interestingly, the Princess is the great-granddaughter of Tipu Sultan of India who fought to defend his land against the British. She gave her life protecting for the course of the British, fighting tyranny.
Author with Holocaust survivor Max Eisen
Auschwitz, March 2010 http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
Warning: Only for Mature Readers
It is often said it is good to forgive and forget. People also say that to err is human and to excuse is divine. We have seen nations fight in one generation, only to be allies in the next. But somehow, the Muslim-Jewish animosity seems to have last centuries.
The earliest record of Jewish betrayal happened during the Battle of Badr (Trench War) when Meccan pagans ambushed Prophet Mohamed's army in Medina. A group of Jews who were chased from Medina for breaking certain treaties joined forces with the Meccans. As the going was tough, and the mighty Meccan army could not infiltrate the Medinians, the renegade Jews tried to coax the Medinaian Jews to double cross. Here, the story turns cloudy. After the win, Mohamed is supposed to have personally killed about 900 Jews to be buried in trenches. The authenticity of such an event has been argued for ages now. On the one hand, opposers to this narration claim such an event is not even mentioned in the Quran. It is also not in keeping with His previous teachings of not punishing others for the crime of someone else and the Islamic law on the treatment of women and children.There was also a time when Jews and Muslims had apparently lived in harmony, in Andalusia, for example. Under Islamic rule, many Jewish thinkers including Maimonides prospered.
The problem of justification of Jew bashing had started with the writing of Ibn Ishaq, in the 14th century, of the biography of Prophet Mohamad. In his writings, he described the killing of Jews by the Prophet. Somehow, this made its way to the Hadiths and newer prints of the Holy Book. Extremists groups, with leaders like Banna, Qutb and Maududi, were more than happy to continue the Prophet's unfinished work.
In the modern era, every malady faced by humankind is often pinpointed at the Jews and their secret agenda. Let there an earthquake, a flu epidemic, the communist insurgency, tsunami or even Sunni-Shia divide; the Jews are almost always blamed. What started as a secret meeting in 1895 to decide the fate of the displaced Jews culminate to Balfour declaration and eventually the creation of the state of Israel. This formation invoked the ire of the jihadists for losing part of their land, as the second most sacred mosque where the Prophet is said to have ascended to heaven is situated. What the jihadists fail to realise is that the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Mufti were supporting the losing side of the World Wars, Germany and Hitler respectively.
Paradoxically, the Quran does not condemn the non-believers. If at all, it is the Hadith that does. In one verse, it is said that Judgement Day would only come after the last Jew is slain!
The author goes on to condemn the Muslims themselves for fighting amongst themselves and practising race politics where Arabs perch on the highest branch. Many Muslims societies, long ago, used to live in harmony with other communities. Now, with the new brand of militant Islam practised by believers gives the impression the religion is a hostile one. Many non-Islamic countries who obtained Independence around their Islamic counterparts have reached great heights in term of economic, scientific, social and living standards. Sadly, the Muslim countries still struggle to get their act together. They dream of turning back the clock to Golden Era of Islamic Civilisation.
In the concluding chapter, Fatah takes a swipe at Holocaust deniers. He reiterates that many Muslim fighters too died fighting against the cruel Nazi regime. This includes the Turkestan Army, the many Muslim soldiers buried in Majdanek, Poland, just outskirts of Auschwitz, the Muslim soldiers of the British Empire and Princess Nor Inayat Khan @ Nora Baker who was a British secret agent who died in a concentration camp. Interestingly, the Princess is the great-granddaughter of Tipu Sultan of India who fought to defend his land against the British. She gave her life protecting for the course of the British, fighting tyranny.
Author with Holocaust survivor Max EisenAuschwitz, March 2010 http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
November 7, 2017
The dark shadows beneath
Ozark (Miniseries, 2017)
The art of storytelling is the primary skill that keeps our human race going ahead with the passing of time. With narration, we are able to impart values and messages that help to carry through hardship. This skill also helps the leaders keep his flock together. When the herd is convinced with a precise narrative, its members would willingly crane their neck to the slaughter when the time is ripe. Traditionally, stories are laced with ethical values, and poetic justice would always prevail.
Over time, this type of set-up, somehow, seem not to excite the general public anymore. They thought they heard it all. They wanted more.
That is where our current stories seem to head. The main character of our tales are no more heroes but rather anti-heroes. They come with a dark past, involved in a subversive activity, and the whole premise of the storyline is get away scot-free from whatever crime that the protagonist is up to. The excitement is all about evading apprehension.
Purists may say that these guilty pleasures are actually stirrings of our primal desires that we have suppressed so long. For most of the time in our lives, we were expected to live our lives to the moral codes set by the society. Our every action was supposed to be exemplary for the generation next to emulate. Every member of the community had the sovereign right to criticise each others' seemingly wayward action. Now, every man is for himself. In the century of self, it all about self-gratification, self-exploration, self-discovery and self-development. Nobody lives for anybody else anymore. We are talking about individual rights, not doing the 'right' thing. In this post-truth era, there is more the 'right' thing to do. For every action which looks noble, we can just come up with a thousand and one reasons, why it can be damaging instead.
'Ozark' is a miniseries which just triggers these thoughts in its viewers. Marty Byrde, a financial advisor, has to sanitise a Mexican drug lord's laundered money in a record time to avoid repercussions. The excitement of seeing Marty using his wit, quick thinking and rhetorics to save his life and his family. Also hot on his trail are FBI agents who can sense that he is up to something no good.
http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
The art of storytelling is the primary skill that keeps our human race going ahead with the passing of time. With narration, we are able to impart values and messages that help to carry through hardship. This skill also helps the leaders keep his flock together. When the herd is convinced with a precise narrative, its members would willingly crane their neck to the slaughter when the time is ripe. Traditionally, stories are laced with ethical values, and poetic justice would always prevail.Over time, this type of set-up, somehow, seem not to excite the general public anymore. They thought they heard it all. They wanted more.
That is where our current stories seem to head. The main character of our tales are no more heroes but rather anti-heroes. They come with a dark past, involved in a subversive activity, and the whole premise of the storyline is get away scot-free from whatever crime that the protagonist is up to. The excitement is all about evading apprehension.
Purists may say that these guilty pleasures are actually stirrings of our primal desires that we have suppressed so long. For most of the time in our lives, we were expected to live our lives to the moral codes set by the society. Our every action was supposed to be exemplary for the generation next to emulate. Every member of the community had the sovereign right to criticise each others' seemingly wayward action. Now, every man is for himself. In the century of self, it all about self-gratification, self-exploration, self-discovery and self-development. Nobody lives for anybody else anymore. We are talking about individual rights, not doing the 'right' thing. In this post-truth era, there is more the 'right' thing to do. For every action which looks noble, we can just come up with a thousand and one reasons, why it can be damaging instead.
'Ozark' is a miniseries which just triggers these thoughts in its viewers. Marty Byrde, a financial advisor, has to sanitise a Mexican drug lord's laundered money in a record time to avoid repercussions. The excitement of seeing Marty using his wit, quick thinking and rhetorics to save his life and his family. Also hot on his trail are FBI agents who can sense that he is up to something no good.
http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
November 6, 2017
Some sacrifices are mandatory?
Tokyo Twilight (Tōkyō Boshoku, Japanese; 1957)
Written and Directed by Yasujirō Ozu.
Parents usually try to sugar-coat the family environment and cushion their every fall so as not to ensure their childhood era is normal. They try to shield them from bad news and hide unsavoury situations from their views.
The children still find out, and if they do not perform well, they blame it all on their far-from-perfect childhood. Sometimes the single parent tries to fulfil the missing parent's role and mostly fail miserably.
Perhaps for the sake of the children, most parents bite the bullet, try the sort out their differences and make their family stay intact.
Yasujirō Ozu is widely touted as the most Japanese of Japanese film directors of his era. In this flick, he tells the story of a middle-aged bank officer and his two daughters (Takako and Akiko). The mother is not in the picture, whom we later discover had eloped with her lover. She left with the father three children, the son was killed in a hiking accident. The elder daughter, Takako, with her daughter, had left her alcoholic husband. The younger sister, Akiko, grows up a troubled girl, described by the town folks as a wild girl. Akiko is stuck with an unwanted pregnancy and an uncommitted boyfriend and no one to share her predicament.
The pleasant-faced Setsuko Hara who
had appeared in many of Ozu's films.
Along the way, the two girls discover that their estranged mother had somehow landed in the same town. Akiko was only three when her mother left. Hence, she has no recollection of her mother. Both the girls are sore with their mother for abandoning them to grow up alone. The father, on his part, had tried to play his role by being an adequate provider and a disciplinarian.
Akiko goes for a termination of pregnancy. After a row with her mother and her aloof boyfriend, she storms out of a shop to be hit by a moving train either accidentally or in an apparent bid to suicide. She succumbs to her injuries.
After seeing how Akiko turned out as a troubled growing without a parent, Takako takes the bold step to go back to her husband to give their marriage another chance for the sake of her daughter.
Despite the differences the adults may face, perhaps for the sake of the children, some parents sacrifice the worldly pleasures of their youth for the sake of their young. They tell themselves that it is their God-given duty to ensure only the best for their offspring. Just like how the world only favours the young!
http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
Written and Directed by Yasujirō Ozu.
Parents usually try to sugar-coat the family environment and cushion their every fall so as not to ensure their childhood era is normal. They try to shield them from bad news and hide unsavoury situations from their views.
The children still find out, and if they do not perform well, they blame it all on their far-from-perfect childhood. Sometimes the single parent tries to fulfil the missing parent's role and mostly fail miserably.
Perhaps for the sake of the children, most parents bite the bullet, try the sort out their differences and make their family stay intact.
Yasujirō Ozu is widely touted as the most Japanese of Japanese film directors of his era. In this flick, he tells the story of a middle-aged bank officer and his two daughters (Takako and Akiko). The mother is not in the picture, whom we later discover had eloped with her lover. She left with the father three children, the son was killed in a hiking accident. The elder daughter, Takako, with her daughter, had left her alcoholic husband. The younger sister, Akiko, grows up a troubled girl, described by the town folks as a wild girl. Akiko is stuck with an unwanted pregnancy and an uncommitted boyfriend and no one to share her predicament.
The pleasant-faced Setsuko Hara whohad appeared in many of Ozu's films.
Along the way, the two girls discover that their estranged mother had somehow landed in the same town. Akiko was only three when her mother left. Hence, she has no recollection of her mother. Both the girls are sore with their mother for abandoning them to grow up alone. The father, on his part, had tried to play his role by being an adequate provider and a disciplinarian.
Akiko goes for a termination of pregnancy. After a row with her mother and her aloof boyfriend, she storms out of a shop to be hit by a moving train either accidentally or in an apparent bid to suicide. She succumbs to her injuries.
After seeing how Akiko turned out as a troubled growing without a parent, Takako takes the bold step to go back to her husband to give their marriage another chance for the sake of her daughter.
Despite the differences the adults may face, perhaps for the sake of the children, some parents sacrifice the worldly pleasures of their youth for the sake of their young. They tell themselves that it is their God-given duty to ensure only the best for their offspring. Just like how the world only favours the young!
http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
November 3, 2017
At the end, there is only love...
Odd Man Out (1947)
Produced and Directed: Carol Reed
This film, the first of Carol Reed's trilogy (the other two being 'The Fallen Idol' of 1948 and 'The Third Man' of 1949), is described by Roman Polanski as being his favourite film of all time, even better than 'The Third Man'.
This movie has been praised to high heavens for many reasons, mainly for its cinematography and narration. I thought its story was highly symbolic of life itself. That, people come and go in our lives, some join in merriment, some to achieve some kind of endeavour and some motivate. There would be people who would promise to stay through thick and thin but scoot off at first sight of trouble. There would be some who would betray or make a buck or two out of you. At the end of the day, only a couple of people would be with you until the end. In this flick, the loyal souls who stay till the end seem the love of the protagonist's life and the man of God.
Set in Northern Ireland and at a time of civil unrest, Johnny McQueen (James Mason) robs a bank to support his political party activities. As Johnny had been completely homebound six months before this event, the excitement of the whole exercise and the outdoors made him lose balance. In the scuffle after the robbery, he shoots a man, gets shot himself and falls off the escape vehicle. The rest of the story deals with his escape on foot around town as the police are hot on his trail. There are complete strangers who would go all out to help him whilst there are others who would rather keep clear at the sight of his gunshot wound. Johnny drags himself around town to safety; his fellow accomplices abandon him, strangers are after him for the reward, a mad painter wants to capture the look of a dying man on canvas and so on. A pastor wants to pray with him for salvation, and his girlfriend wants to start a new life together away from all the fiasco. If only life could be so simple.
Interestingly, the film was given an adult rating by the British censors for its violent ending which was just suggested, not shown. It is surprising that even the gunshot wound is not shown and neither is the brutal end. http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
Produced and Directed: Carol Reed
This film, the first of Carol Reed's trilogy (the other two being 'The Fallen Idol' of 1948 and 'The Third Man' of 1949), is described by Roman Polanski as being his favourite film of all time, even better than 'The Third Man'.This movie has been praised to high heavens for many reasons, mainly for its cinematography and narration. I thought its story was highly symbolic of life itself. That, people come and go in our lives, some join in merriment, some to achieve some kind of endeavour and some motivate. There would be people who would promise to stay through thick and thin but scoot off at first sight of trouble. There would be some who would betray or make a buck or two out of you. At the end of the day, only a couple of people would be with you until the end. In this flick, the loyal souls who stay till the end seem the love of the protagonist's life and the man of God.
Set in Northern Ireland and at a time of civil unrest, Johnny McQueen (James Mason) robs a bank to support his political party activities. As Johnny had been completely homebound six months before this event, the excitement of the whole exercise and the outdoors made him lose balance. In the scuffle after the robbery, he shoots a man, gets shot himself and falls off the escape vehicle. The rest of the story deals with his escape on foot around town as the police are hot on his trail. There are complete strangers who would go all out to help him whilst there are others who would rather keep clear at the sight of his gunshot wound. Johnny drags himself around town to safety; his fellow accomplices abandon him, strangers are after him for the reward, a mad painter wants to capture the look of a dying man on canvas and so on. A pastor wants to pray with him for salvation, and his girlfriend wants to start a new life together away from all the fiasco. If only life could be so simple.
Interestingly, the film was given an adult rating by the British censors for its violent ending which was just suggested, not shown. It is surprising that even the gunshot wound is not shown and neither is the brutal end. http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
November 1, 2017
Shanthi by Ashanthi?
The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives
Zbigniew Brzezinski (1997)
Everybody wants peace on Earth. The political leaders wish for peace in their land. Believers of all faiths, without fail, include in their daily prayers call for eternal peace on Earth. We all know this type of bliss, smiling from ear to ear without an iota of worry in their minds, stays only as a figment of our imaginations.
Like in the narration of Kali and the state of the world, life is a constant battle without the weak and the mighty. It is a continual flux of turn of tides of the interplay between the powerful crumbling down to become weak and the downtrodden rising from the ashes. Empires may crumble, and slaves may turn emperors.
This book is the perspective of President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor. Written in 1997, when the USA was the lone superpower, Russia and China were weak, and Islamic Jihadism was unheard of, some of the strategies that made a lot of sense then seem inappropriate now. Even Brzezinski seem to change his viewpoint.
From time immemorial, big kingdoms underwent the same fait accomplis. The Persians, Romans, Chinese, Russian all grew too big, immersed in imperial power and subsequently break apart due to internal fatigue, decay, hedonism, loss of central control and military creativity.
After the WW2, it was basically a power play between the Communist and the Capitalists. The Soviet Union was on one side, together with the Eastern Block of Europe and China, who had issues with Big Brother Russia, versus America as the leader of the free world. Strategic partnerships were built by America with countries in the so-called 'buffer zones' to curtail each others' advancement and their spread of influence. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, China, which all the while been the underdeveloped poor communist cousin of the Soviet Union had awoken from its slumber. There was a need to monitor their prowess and keep them under the US radar. Germany and France help to maintain equilibrium in Europe. The Japanese, whose wings were clipped after their WW2 fiasco, is now at the mercy of the US and the world at large. The newly liberated East European countries ranging from Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic nations make another wall of defence just in case the mighty Russians, under the leadership of Putin, who yearn for the glory days of Soviet Union decide to dominate the world. At the back of these, the main agenda is the control of oil lines across the middle of Eurasia.
Eurasia which makes up more than two-thirds of the land mass of Earth draws the attention of all world power as most of the world population, economic and natural resources are found. In the author's opinion, for the USA to stay as the lone super-power of the world, it is crucial no other challenger dominates Eurasia.
Like a Chess Master, American places all the pieces in essential places, all with vital reasons with the ultimate goal of winning the board game. In that process, necessary sacrifices had to be made./http://www.hangthebankers.com/zbigniew-brzezinskis-grand-chessboard-plan-failing/http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
Everybody wants peace on Earth. The political leaders wish for peace in their land. Believers of all faiths, without fail, include in their daily prayers call for eternal peace on Earth. We all know this type of bliss, smiling from ear to ear without an iota of worry in their minds, stays only as a figment of our imaginations.
Like in the narration of Kali and the state of the world, life is a constant battle without the weak and the mighty. It is a continual flux of turn of tides of the interplay between the powerful crumbling down to become weak and the downtrodden rising from the ashes. Empires may crumble, and slaves may turn emperors.
This book is the perspective of President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor. Written in 1997, when the USA was the lone superpower, Russia and China were weak, and Islamic Jihadism was unheard of, some of the strategies that made a lot of sense then seem inappropriate now. Even Brzezinski seem to change his viewpoint.
From time immemorial, big kingdoms underwent the same fait accomplis. The Persians, Romans, Chinese, Russian all grew too big, immersed in imperial power and subsequently break apart due to internal fatigue, decay, hedonism, loss of central control and military creativity.
After the WW2, it was basically a power play between the Communist and the Capitalists. The Soviet Union was on one side, together with the Eastern Block of Europe and China, who had issues with Big Brother Russia, versus America as the leader of the free world. Strategic partnerships were built by America with countries in the so-called 'buffer zones' to curtail each others' advancement and their spread of influence. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, China, which all the while been the underdeveloped poor communist cousin of the Soviet Union had awoken from its slumber. There was a need to monitor their prowess and keep them under the US radar. Germany and France help to maintain equilibrium in Europe. The Japanese, whose wings were clipped after their WW2 fiasco, is now at the mercy of the US and the world at large. The newly liberated East European countries ranging from Ukraine, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic nations make another wall of defence just in case the mighty Russians, under the leadership of Putin, who yearn for the glory days of Soviet Union decide to dominate the world. At the back of these, the main agenda is the control of oil lines across the middle of Eurasia.
Eurasia which makes up more than two-thirds of the land mass of Earth draws the attention of all world power as most of the world population, economic and natural resources are found. In the author's opinion, for the USA to stay as the lone super-power of the world, it is crucial no other challenger dominates Eurasia.
Like a Chess Master, American places all the pieces in essential places, all with vital reasons with the ultimate goal of winning the board game. In that process, necessary sacrifices had to be made./http://www.hangthebankers.com/zbigniew-brzezinskis-grand-chessboard-plan-failing/http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
October 30, 2017
Is it that easy?
Billions in Change (Documentary 2015)
My brother from another womb sent me a teaser which introduced me to this Indian American millionaire, Manoj Bhargava. He moved to the USA as a teenager with his family. He dropped out of Princeton University after freshman year to live amongst monks in India for twelve years. He made his money through his caffeine-plus-vitamin elixir, '5-hour Energy' drink. His nett wealth worth is said to be USD 1.5 billion and was Forbes' listed. In 2015, he pledged 99% of his wealth to the half of the world population who are immersed in poverty.
Billionaire Philanthropist Manoj Bhargava
He recruited a group of same-minded scientists to invent simple, cheap and long-lasting simple devices to pay to society. The primary target of his selfless endeavour is the rural poor of India. Through his company, Billions in Change, he and his team have come up with simple devices which could potentially be the game changer in their lives. It is intriguing and may be sceptical how something so simple was not thought of by others before. It makes one question whether his endeavour will eventually be fruitful in ending rural poverty.
His primary areas of concern are generating electricity and providing usable water to the poorest segment of the world which in his projection, comprise half of the world's population. His team has also introduced a cheap clean form of fertiliser and a medical device named 'External Counter Pulsation' to clear impurities from the body to ensure wellness.
His power-generating bikes which can generate electricity to an average rural household for 24 hours by merely pedalling for 2 hours. He hopes that this device which will provide half of the world population which has no electricity with clean energy with no CO2 emissions.
Another one of his novel inventions is the suggestion of using graphene wires drilled to the centre of the tap the massive heat under the Earth surface to transmit heat. To solve safe drinking water of the world, his team has proposed a very affordable way of desalination of seawater.
Another pet project of his company is the production of environmentally safe fertilisers which do not upset the nitrogen cycle of the soil. They claim that their ideas help farmers get higher yield and healthier plants.
If a single man with a small team of a handful men can come out with so many new innovations, imagine what would happen would put their thinking caps towards this end? A positive outlook towards the future.
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/billions-change/#comments http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
My brother from another womb sent me a teaser which introduced me to this Indian American millionaire, Manoj Bhargava. He moved to the USA as a teenager with his family. He dropped out of Princeton University after freshman year to live amongst monks in India for twelve years. He made his money through his caffeine-plus-vitamin elixir, '5-hour Energy' drink. His nett wealth worth is said to be USD 1.5 billion and was Forbes' listed. In 2015, he pledged 99% of his wealth to the half of the world population who are immersed in poverty.
Billionaire Philanthropist Manoj BhargavaHe recruited a group of same-minded scientists to invent simple, cheap and long-lasting simple devices to pay to society. The primary target of his selfless endeavour is the rural poor of India. Through his company, Billions in Change, he and his team have come up with simple devices which could potentially be the game changer in their lives. It is intriguing and may be sceptical how something so simple was not thought of by others before. It makes one question whether his endeavour will eventually be fruitful in ending rural poverty.
His primary areas of concern are generating electricity and providing usable water to the poorest segment of the world which in his projection, comprise half of the world's population. His team has also introduced a cheap clean form of fertiliser and a medical device named 'External Counter Pulsation' to clear impurities from the body to ensure wellness.
His power-generating bikes which can generate electricity to an average rural household for 24 hours by merely pedalling for 2 hours. He hopes that this device which will provide half of the world population which has no electricity with clean energy with no CO2 emissions.
Another one of his novel inventions is the suggestion of using graphene wires drilled to the centre of the tap the massive heat under the Earth surface to transmit heat. To solve safe drinking water of the world, his team has proposed a very affordable way of desalination of seawater.
Another pet project of his company is the production of environmentally safe fertilisers which do not upset the nitrogen cycle of the soil. They claim that their ideas help farmers get higher yield and healthier plants.
If a single man with a small team of a handful men can come out with so many new innovations, imagine what would happen would put their thinking caps towards this end? A positive outlook towards the future.
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/billions-change/#comments http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
As it that easy?
Billions in Change (Documentary 2015)
My brother from another womb sent me a teaser which introduced me to this Indian American millionaire, Manoj Bhargava. He moved to the USA as a teenager with his family. He dropped out of Princeton University after freshman year to live amongst monks in India for twelve years. He made his money through his caffeine-plus-vitamin elixir, '5-hour Energy' drink. His nett wealth worth is said to be USD 1.5 billion and was Forbes' listed. In 2015, he pledged 99% of his wealth to the half of the world population who are immersed in poverty.
Billionaire Philanthropist Manoj Bhargava
He recruited a group of same-minded scientists to invent simple, cheap and long-lasting simple devices to pay to society. The primary target of his selfless endeavour is the rural poor of India. Through his company, Billions in Change, he and his team have come up with simple devices which could potentially be the game changer in their lives. It is intriguing and may be sceptical how something so simple was not thought of by others before. It makes one question whether his endeavour will eventually be fruitful in ending rural poverty.
His primary areas of concern are generating electricity and providing usable water to the poorest segment of the world which in his projection, comprise half of the world's population. His team has also introduced a cheap clean form of fertiliser and a medical device named 'External Counter Pulsation' to clear impurities from the body to ensure wellness.
His power-generating bikes which can generate electricity to an average rural household for 24 hours by merely pedalling for 2 hours. He hopes that this device which will provide half of the world population which has no electricity with clean energy with no CO2 emissions.
Another one of his novel inventions is the suggestion of using graphene wires drilled to the centre of the tap the massive heat under the Earth surface to transmit heat. To solve safe drinking water of the world, his team has proposed a very affordable way of desalination of seawater.
Another pet project of his company is the production of environmentally safe fertilisers which do not upset the nitrogen cycle of the soil. They claim that their ideas help farmers get higher yield and healthier plants.
If a single man with a small team of a handful men can come out with so many new innovations, imagine what would happen would put their thinking caps towards this end? A positive outlook towards the future.
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/billions-change/#comments http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
My brother from another womb sent me a teaser which introduced me to this Indian American millionaire, Manoj Bhargava. He moved to the USA as a teenager with his family. He dropped out of Princeton University after freshman year to live amongst monks in India for twelve years. He made his money through his caffeine-plus-vitamin elixir, '5-hour Energy' drink. His nett wealth worth is said to be USD 1.5 billion and was Forbes' listed. In 2015, he pledged 99% of his wealth to the half of the world population who are immersed in poverty.
Billionaire Philanthropist Manoj BhargavaHe recruited a group of same-minded scientists to invent simple, cheap and long-lasting simple devices to pay to society. The primary target of his selfless endeavour is the rural poor of India. Through his company, Billions in Change, he and his team have come up with simple devices which could potentially be the game changer in their lives. It is intriguing and may be sceptical how something so simple was not thought of by others before. It makes one question whether his endeavour will eventually be fruitful in ending rural poverty.
His primary areas of concern are generating electricity and providing usable water to the poorest segment of the world which in his projection, comprise half of the world's population. His team has also introduced a cheap clean form of fertiliser and a medical device named 'External Counter Pulsation' to clear impurities from the body to ensure wellness.
His power-generating bikes which can generate electricity to an average rural household for 24 hours by merely pedalling for 2 hours. He hopes that this device which will provide half of the world population which has no electricity with clean energy with no CO2 emissions.
Another one of his novel inventions is the suggestion of using graphene wires drilled to the centre of the tap the massive heat under the Earth surface to transmit heat. To solve safe drinking water of the world, his team has proposed a very affordable way of desalination of seawater.
Another pet project of his company is the production of environmentally safe fertilisers which do not upset the nitrogen cycle of the soil. They claim that their ideas help farmers get higher yield and healthier plants.
If a single man with a small team of a handful men can come out with so many new innovations, imagine what would happen would put their thinking caps towards this end? A positive outlook towards the future.
https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/billions-change/#comments http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
October 29, 2017
October 28, 2017
A new colonialism tactic?
Clinton Cash (2016)
Another Hilary Clinton bashing documentary made just before the last US electionS, written and produced by Trump's former White House chief strategist. It is based on Peter Schweizer's New York Times best-selling book by the same name. The contents of the film are so highly damaging that, if real, Hilary and the Clinton Foundation can be charged with high treason.
When Bill Clinton left the White House after his second term, the Clintons were broke with legal bills involving Monica Lewinsky. Through the Clinton Foundation, also known as Clinton Group Initiative (CGI), Bill started a fund to finance charity works. Bill gave lectures and was paid through CGI.
Pretty soon CGI was embroiled in brokering deals. They were intermediaries to mediate international oil drilling and mining contracts deals involving dictators in places like Rwanda and Nigeria. The tyrants are feted in the international arena and in return they offer deals to businessmen who in return pay the Clintons handsomely. The arrangement was made easier when Hillary became the State Secretary.
In Haiti, CGI collected funds after the devastating 2010 earthquake. The victims were not helped, but instead, a textile mill deal went through. The Clintons also have the feet immersed in a cesspool of corruption in the Keystone XL Pipeline, an ambitious project to build an oil line from Canada to Louisiana and Texas despite the environmental damages. They helped in securing mining and timber deals in Columbia, oil contracts to the then enemy of the State, Iran. Then there is the Indo-US nuclear deal. Their biggest treason must be brokering uranium deal in Kazakhstan. Because of their wrangling, through a company set up through this exercise, Russia has come to own 20% of the uranium mines in the USA. That is deemed as a threat to national security. Uranium may go to the hands of rogue nations or individuals who may go on to develop nuclear menace around the world or worse still, on their soil.http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
Another Hilary Clinton bashing documentary made just before the last US electionS, written and produced by Trump's former White House chief strategist. It is based on Peter Schweizer's New York Times best-selling book by the same name. The contents of the film are so highly damaging that, if real, Hilary and the Clinton Foundation can be charged with high treason.
When Bill Clinton left the White House after his second term, the Clintons were broke with legal bills involving Monica Lewinsky. Through the Clinton Foundation, also known as Clinton Group Initiative (CGI), Bill started a fund to finance charity works. Bill gave lectures and was paid through CGI.
Pretty soon CGI was embroiled in brokering deals. They were intermediaries to mediate international oil drilling and mining contracts deals involving dictators in places like Rwanda and Nigeria. The tyrants are feted in the international arena and in return they offer deals to businessmen who in return pay the Clintons handsomely. The arrangement was made easier when Hillary became the State Secretary.
In Haiti, CGI collected funds after the devastating 2010 earthquake. The victims were not helped, but instead, a textile mill deal went through. The Clintons also have the feet immersed in a cesspool of corruption in the Keystone XL Pipeline, an ambitious project to build an oil line from Canada to Louisiana and Texas despite the environmental damages. They helped in securing mining and timber deals in Columbia, oil contracts to the then enemy of the State, Iran. Then there is the Indo-US nuclear deal. Their biggest treason must be brokering uranium deal in Kazakhstan. Because of their wrangling, through a company set up through this exercise, Russia has come to own 20% of the uranium mines in the USA. That is deemed as a threat to national security. Uranium may go to the hands of rogue nations or individuals who may go on to develop nuclear menace around the world or worse still, on their soil.http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
http://.facebook.com/farouk.gulsara
www.riflerangeboy.com
