Found in my home town of Taiping in Malaysia.
1. Gives you the wrong impression!
Found in my home town of Taiping in Malaysia.
1. Gives you the wrong impression!
Indeed, what a cruel and merciless pandemic Covid- 19 disease is. As I had mentioned in my earlier posts, it almost looks like it IS The Almighty who sent this curse of a disease, to test the humans! To be fair to India, it did take immediate and early precautional steps to prevent and control the covid- 19 virus. If I am not wrong, I remember India was the first nation in the world to impose nationwide lockdown, at the very first indication of the advent of the virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed it on March 24, 2020.
India, it seemed, was so comfortable, then, that it
started to provide vaccines and other aids to other countries. In sincerity, at
that time, I, too, actually, thought the PM was overdoing it. I thought India, being such a giant in the
medical world, it can overcome the Covid- 19 disease gradually, at its own
space. But, unfortunate India is now struggling with all sorts of problems and the resultant
complications; not enough oxygen for the dying patients, not enough beds, not
enough test kits, PPEs, and many other
medical accessories and facilities.
Added to that, the tragic consequence of dead bodies, piteously, piling up is also
giving a big perplexing headache to a strictly, ritualistic India.
The only glimmer of good news is, several countries, whether friends or foes, have, immediately, come forward, in the name of humanity, to help India, in this seemingly uncontrollable crisis. We hope the scourge of covid- 19 virus has found its match in the unified armoury of human actions.
Coming back to the withdrawal, it sounds, as
though, Joe Biden has taken the initiative to do so, to withdraw the American
troops. Actually, that is not the case. The planning and The Agreement had been
done by the then, President Trump with the Taliban on February 2020. The
Taliban, in turn, were not to support the already ‘defeated’ Al-Qaeda, and not
to attack the America troops. The Taliban had insisted the American troops be
withdrawn by May 1, 2021. Now, there is a nervous and silent hope that no acts of violence, by the Taliban, occur when the May 1 deadline passes!
By the way,
the withdrawal of the troops, is by no means, a half-finished business, like
that of the Vietnam War withdrawal, when the Americans lost the war, and the
then, President Nixon said they were ‘withdrawing with honor’! This time, the
Americans say that Al-Qaeda had been defeated and a strong Afghanistan
government had been put into place, and there is no reason for Americans troops
to be in Afghanistan any more. Hope it is, exactly, that.
“That’s one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, said Neil Armstrong, upon
setting foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, in the Apollo 11 mission.
Well, there
is another similar saying that I want to say here, “One small foot for a man, a
thousand tasty feet for mankind!” Ha! Ha! Are you wondering what I am talking about?
It’s about the service of the chickens to mankind, to us! Say what you may, but
all along chickens have been satisfying the tasty buds of humans, since time
immemorial! Let us give a thought to them.
Fried
chicken, roasted chicken, steamed chicken, barbeque chicken, garlic chicken,
lemon chicken, chicken breast, drumstick, chicken chop, grilled chicken on
ginger wine chicken….. phew!... there are hundreds of names for the cooked
chicken throughout the world! All the nations have their own favorite chicken
recipes! Why, companies and millions, if not, billions of workers earn their
living because of these chickens. In Malaysia, we are familiar with KFC,
Macdonald, Mary Brown’s, Nando’s, Kenny Rogers Roasters, The Chicken Rice Shop
and so on.
How nice and apt, if, to appreciate the roles
that chickens have been and are playing to the tummies of humans, we can have a
world’s Chicken Day, when we don’t touch even a dot of chicken! Oops, and Wow! Looks
like there is one ‘World Chicken Day’ on second Thursday of November, according
to Wikipedia! Good! But no good! Because no one knows about it and will continue
wallop chickens like nobody’s business on that day!
Have a heart for these chickens. Not the tummy...eh? Just for a day! In respect and appreciation of the self-sacrificers! Care a thought. Popularize and promote the World Chicken Day, so that, we, humans, really, appreciate their roles in human lives, and treat the chickens like kings and queens on that day!
Cluck!
Cluck! Cluck! Kokkara-ko-ko! (Tamil) Cock-a-doodle-doo! (English) Kuku-kookoo!(Arabic) Kikeriki! (German); in all
the languages of the world you cluck and crow. And in various ways, cooked and
uncooked, you serve mankind. For all that, we salute you! And thank you for allowing us to ‘Cook’-a-doodle-doo!
All their
parts seem to have some sort of understanding among each other! Then, why, after
I had changed the starter but paid little attention to the cleanliness of the
car, the car’s radiator, immediately, began giving problems by overheating the
engine? After all, I had fully checked the cooling system, just one month
earlier!
I drive a Malaysian assembled Hyundai Atos car; a sixteen years old one. You may argue that it is an old car and, naturally, the parts will have to be changed one by one. Fair enough. But why must it stop at a busy signal light and let passersby look at me; some pitifully, some worriedly and some with struggles of joy on their faces? The last rejoicing group, definitely, could have gone through some similar situation!
The reason for the breakdown, that day - no oil in the gear box. But I had filled that up two days ago! I, actually, now know the suspected reason; I did not clean up the car for several weeks, then! A tow-car towed my car to the foreman and he repaired a surprising leak, and filled up the gear box with the relevant oil.
You may have
your doubts, of course, and say cleanliness is not the cause of engine failures.
Then why must my car fail to start at a petrol station? The pump attendants
helped me push my unclean car out of the petrol station. And after some
sweating and gasping for breath, I had to phone a battery shop for help.
Luckily, it was open on that Sunday and the battery got changed and the car was
started. The first thing I did was to, immediately, drive the car to an auto
car-wash center, nearby, to have it cleaned!
Just to
inform you, due to my ignorance and, perhaps, some laziness in not sending the car to a wash center, regularly, to have it
cleaned and groomed up, and make it smug and happy, l had lost quite a fortune. So far, I had been forced
to change the car engine water pump, radiator, fuel tank meter, car rims, fog
lamps, air-conditioning fan, lower control arm (left side) and
even the steering wheel! More parts to follow? No way! I am keeping the car
clean, nowadays!
My, cars do
have souls! A new car don’t give problems because we will wipe-clean the whole
car if we detect even a small speck of dirt on it! Furthermore, we admire and
kiss the new car before we go to bed! The car, of course, will be conceited and
pleased! Get it? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Already,
there has been news about employers asking for proof of vaccination from future
employees, along with their cvs.
Shopping
malls may soon only allow vaccinated persons to enter their places. Their
security personnel may prevent anyone without the 'vaccinated' cards from
entering their premises. It is going to be, “Your vaccination card, please.
Thank you, madam. Have a good day!” Or, “Sorry, sir. No vaccination card - no entry!"
Trains and
other public transport vehicles may require persons to show vaccine-cards
before they can embark. Travelers and tourists can’t go anywhere without the
vaccine-cards!
Time to rush
for the vaccination!
Let’s face
it. And say it, as what it is. Whenever, there are serious protests and rallies
in a country and civilians are killed by
the people whom the protests are against, the first question that one asks in one’s mind
is ‘What is United States is going to do about it'. Not what UN, EU or even Russia or any other political or regional group is going to do about it? Such is the complexion
of superiority that the US’s past, self-justified, responsive actions have been
embedded into one’s mind. The launching of missiles, bombardments in the Middle
East countries and the killing of the well known political personalities like Sadat Hussein and
Gaddafi are just simple examples. Imposition of sanctions on countries that the
US considers as rogues, and the inclination of other countries to follow that
imposition is another one. Actually, to me, its clout began after the second world war, after the devastating, disastrous bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki!
Right now, mass
rallies, protests and killings of civilians are going on in many countries of
the world. And the world is watching what USA is going to do about it. Yes,
what the newly elected President Biden is going to do about it! That is the
burden that comes along for being the superpower! And, for being the President of USA!
A few months ago, I
was made aware by a TV Channel that not only in India that
women are looked down but also in other parts of the world. As for India, yes
we know; their ancient and somewhat strange (but convenient to the male segment) traditions and customs required the parents of
women to pay dowries to the men’s side for taking the women as their wives. Don’t
misunderstand. One man one wife! Mind you, dowries didn’t come cheap then. Acres
of land, cattle to plough the field, currency notes, gold…help me, my brain is
going mayhem! No wonder the men, no not only the men; whole families in India
were afraid to have girls to be born to the families. What a regrettable situation.
If the
dowries given were not satisfactory, the poor wives would wretchedly bear the
painful outcome from the in-laws. In-laws, my foot! Outlaws they were! Come on
you people; pick someone your own size! May be you can pick the father-in-laws.
In various
countries of the world where Indians live, that senseless dowry giving system is
still being continued by many brainless, lazy bumpkins, shamelessly trying to
live on women. Nowadays, it is cars, motorcycles, houses and of course money,
gold, etc. Must give them honey to drink, and deeply poisoned ones at that. Then,
maybe others will learn. Sorry, God.
Well. That
was India. Well, as I had said that TV channel enlightened me that Columbia, a
country in Latin America, also has the prevalence of violence on women. No, dowry
is not the problem here. They do not positively
pinpoint the reason. The most likelihood of a reason is deduced as this; the men
over there seem to think they are all machos and the women are weaklings and should
do everything as bidden by them. Should the women refuse, then they had it.
Poor earthlings of the weaker kind! And what a cowardly and spineless way for a
man to show he is macho. He is not macho. He is plain stupid and gutless.
I was very
sure not only women from these two countries are downtrodden. I checked. Yes, in
Wikipedia it was mentioned that there were several nations in the world with
untold violence on women, even in this modern age. Percentages were given
against the countries, like Turkey 42%, Barbados 30%, Canada 29%, Egypt 34%, New
Zealand 35%, Switzerland 35%, United States 33% and India 70%. It was stated
that South Africa had the highest. Devastating, is it not? But of course, as we
know, Wikipedia did not do the survey directly and is not responsible for it. It
was done by persons who had their own actions and techniques of analysis and
surveys. To me, almost all the countries have their own percentages.
Anyway, to
the men of those countries, what a shame! You came from a woman. A woman bears
your burden right from the start when you are a fetus in her stomach and right to
when you are a grown up man and you, you scoundrel, demean her unashamedly,
ungratefully! Have a heart. Oh, even that was given by her! Repay back, man.
Repay. And repent. Thank you, God, for allowing me that advice. I request you,
earnestly, to look into this matter and put an end to the violence on the world’s
mothers daughters and sisters. Human beings
are not doing much to attempt a complete stop to this. That is why I am
appealing to you.
You may be
wondering why with all the other atrocities and turmoil in the world, like
people killing each other, bombing themselves and others to pieces under the
names of battles and wars and even with the presence of covid -19 pandemic, I
particularly brought the matter of sufferings of women up to you. Well, for the
other carnages and massacres, thousands and thousands of people are praying to
you every day. I have a feeling that women are not praying for themselves, for
their own well being. May you bless their souls.
The whole world finally saw the ugly side of America, since the old, lawless cowboy and western days, if you will. I think there has never been more of a disturbing and bewildering incident like that of which happened on the 6th January 2021. The world stood with its mouth open! They were wondering is this really the great USA, with its highly modern and civilized citizens who, generally, had open arms for the outsiders seeking a fortune in their beautiful and exciting cosmopolitan land called USA.
Former
President Trump won the American Election in 2016 with the campaign slogan of
‘Make America Great Again’. Awkwardly, looks like it is now President
Biden’s mission to do that!
God created all living things of the world. And Hinduism, being an ancient and mythological religion, also gives importance to the creation and the existence of animals. Hindus believe some animals are also sacred and some are more revered than others, and also believe that the animals were created by God (for Hindus, it is Brahma or Shiva) for a purpose, that is, to serve Him and the other Gods and Goddesses as well as humans. They also believe that the souls of their ancestors, or that of their demised good friends or of that of their family members could be reincarnated into these animals. Therefore, in reality, animals are not to be abused. But you will note that not every Hindu follows this! Animals like dogs, cats are ill-treated by some. Rats are killed for reasons known to us, of course! In this present world it is very difficult to find a really pious Hindu. Unfortunately, it also goes for the other religions.
The most common animals that we are familiar with, and which are deemed to be sacred are mentioned in the Indian religious scriptures, such as the Vedas. Those are the elephant, cow, peacock, monkey, dog, snake, tiger, lion, mouse, eagle and horse. Many more are revealed. To know all about those animals and their consortium and service to the Hindu Gods and Goddesses please go The Sacred Animals in Hinduism. You will notice that many of those animals were used as transportation vehicles for the Gods and Goddesses. Before the ‘Animal Rights' groups spring into action (wink!), note that those animals were under the bonds of affinity and blessings of the Gods and Goddesses, and being blessed by them, the animals were not the ordinary ones that we see today! Those creatures, as said before, were closely allied to the Almighties and had super strength and mystical powers, like enabling them to become huge or small, as the situation warrants, and they were only too eager to assist the Supreme beings. For example, there is the tale about the monkey God, Hanuman, becoming a huge giant to break up and carry a large part of a mountain to another place!
The supreme strength, mystical powers and their eagerness to protect their creators and the humans, had evolved in the passage of time, and many of those sacred animals were being looked upon as deities by most Hindus, for their pious service to the Gods and Goddesses and to humans, So, there is no chance of any talk about animal abuse here! Maybe animal loyalty and enthusiasm, yes! My, what a complicated religion Hinduism is!
There is an untold feeling like the whole world is heaving a great sigh of relief of Trump having left the office of the Presidency of USA, the reason being, many of his decisions have been very controversial and hurting to many nations. I am sure many of the posts in the blogs and the media would have covered that.
That aside, talking
on a slightly different aspect, but quite relevant to the subject, the fact is, money really talks. See. It made the multi-billionaire Trump the most powerful
man in the world - the President of America! Being fair to the man, it is very
certain Trump made shrewd use of his money to achieve the thing that he so
desired. He got power and fame. Fame and popularity, he already had, when his television
reality show, The Apprentice was ardently followed by eager viewers, serial
after serial, on most parts of the world, including my Malaysia. Ironically, his
reality show phrase “You are fired”, used in The Apprentice, continued to be
used in his real life as President and many of his staff were the victims. In a
way, quite sadly, on January 20, 2021 it catapulted back to him.
He, Donald
John Trump, had been a man of determination all right - determination to win
anything, by hook or crook and fought tooth and nail to get it. His life showed
it. It seems to be not in his blood to go down tamely. Yes, he fought to the
bitter end. The end of his Presidency.
I think many
men and women will follow his in-built good traits – determination; that you
will finally succeed if you really put your heart into it. And strength. And
the capability to withstand and absorb the whiplash!
Pros;
Prevents covid-19 virus loitering in the air from entering the body through nose and mouth.
Covers up any scars, warts and other skin marks on bottom half of face. One's feeling of shamefulness is thus avoided!
Covers up the face without your macho moustache that was newly shaved off. And, thus, avoid being asked about it by your friends wherever you go!
Prevents your bad breath from reaching the other person when you are talking. Phew!
People cannot see all the red spots and bumps on your face during the occurrence of measles. Get well soon!
Hides your shyness and nervousness when you are facing or addressing a big group of people in a meeting. What an opportune time to get yourself trained up!
When you have a running nose the mask will soak up the water. Ha! Ha! Ha! Time to change onto another mask!
Cons;
People cannot see your beautiful or macho face! What a waste of makeup or moustache styling!
Some lipstick always sticks on the mask. Also some black Artline ink, used as temporary dye on moustache (unfortunately, applies to me! ), sticks on the mask! Another mask please!
Your specs always get blurred up by the vapour from the nose, as it is blocked by the mask from spreading out. Hold on a minute. Let me wipe clean my specs first!
Robbers are indistinguishable when they wear the face masks and dark glasses. One could be near you! Get help ready!
Some do feel uneasy and get the feeling of shortness in breath if worn the mask for long periods. Remove the mask, turn your face away from people near you, take a deep breath, and put the mask on. Don't forget to turn back to face the people near you!
When you smile seducingly at your girl/boy friend, she/he goes on, indifferently. Your smile can't be seen. Sob!
Do you have any other pros or cons? Please feel free to add in!
In
these times of Covid- 19 virus explosion and the devastating, unending deaths,
some countries have started injecting vaccines onto their citizens, the
earliest nations being UK and US. The American/German Company, Pfizer- BioNTech’s
vaccine seemed to have received or earned their trust for now. Even though, in
some way, the actions of these nations seem to have been done in desperation,
to me this is the correct step and action, in view of the persistent and sorrowful departure of human lives. Yes, all the nations should not dilly-dally anymore. They
should try to stop the deaths.
Speaking
of pots of gold, several other companies, of different sort, have already made
and are making, and will continue to make them, the pots of gold! Yes, you
guessed right; the companies producing the ppe products (especially, the
producers of gloves and face masks should be laughing all the way to the bank, though it was not their own doing),
swabs, hand sanitizers, body temperature scanners, red tapes (I mean the
out-of-bound tapes!), record books pens, desks, injection needles and other
medical equipments, etc, etc.
One can’t be surprised if, inwardly, these companies, unwillingly and, perhaps, unwittingly thank the Covid- 19 virus for their great fortune! Remember, after everything said and done, this is still a materialistic world!
Everyone knows when seen from outer space the world is round and there are human beings on it. We call the human beings, who are us, the people of the world. Yes, it belongs to every one of us because we are the people of the world, right? Wrong! There is a huge group of human beings who cannot call themselves ‘people’ of the world because they do not have a place in it. Do you know whom I am talking about? Yes, I am talking about the Rohingya populace. If you got it right the first time then my congratulations to you!
The Rohingya masses do not have a permanent land anywhere in this world, a place where they can settle down and call home. Once upon a time, they thought the Rakhine state in Myanmar, where they had been living for decades, was their home. But not anymore. In the year 1982, the Myanmar government outlawed them, saying that they were not citizens of Myanmar and that they had been staying illegally, all the while. They had said and are still saying that Bangladesh has the full rights on them as they had emigrated from that region originally, and that they were Muslims, the official religion of Bangladesh. They asserted that the mostly Muslim Rohingya populace have got no rights to be the citizens of the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
The Myanmar
military has been forcing them to leave for Bangladesh for several years now. It
is still going on. However, Bangladesh does not recognize and accept them as
its own. Even the several thousands of Rohingya community that Bangladesh took
in under refugee-status have been forced to be transported to some remote
islands, the latest being Bhasan Char, in Bay of Bengal. To Bangladesh, the Rohingya
do not belong to the mainland as they are the people of Myanmar.
So this is
the complicating issue; Bangladesh says the Rohingya are not its citizens. Myanmar also says likewise. Other countries
are also not welcoming them with open arms. And they can’t wait to see their
backs of. Even the British, once the colonial rulers of Myanmar, then called Burma,
seem to have washed their hands off them. Who are the Rohingya then, without
any part of the world to call their own? Aliens in human forms? That the world looks upon suspiciously?
President Trump has still not admitted he lost the
election to Biden even though the courts and other election authorities
proclaimed that there has been no foul play.
Knowing Trump’s adamancy, even if after Biden has taken over the
Presidential office, Trump will continue to say that he won the election and
that they had made it to look like Biden won. Unfortunately, this is going to
put the US in bad light to the world in later times”.
Also, I had seen one of his press conferences, after the election results, in an American TV Channel allowed in Malaysia. He was putting
forward his arguments regarding the outcome of the election and why he was saying that he was the one who won.
And he did have a point! He sarcastically said that
‘super’ machineries were involved in counting the ballots and machineries could be set up to say Trump votes
as Biden votes! Wow! Could it be done? Well, we know that in the electronic and
machinery world anything is possible. We have seen money being scooped off,
computers being hacked and important information being compromised, and so on.
As to the postal voting he alleged that a person could have received more than one absentee ballot to vote, even four or five! This is because postal votes seemed to have supported Biden! He said he had been against postal votes from the beginning.
There you are. My, there is also some
logic in there. I am also being swayed! Swayed, that's all.
Amongst the headlines of today’s news media was the foot of President-elect Joe Biden that got fractured while playing with his dog, Major. Some big news! It concerns the whole world! Later I got to know that it was his right foot and he got another dog named Champ. And both are German Shepherds. Now let us focus on the main dog in the news, Major. The news media are full at it because Major is a major news!(smirk). So far we know Major has been in Biden’s custody since 2018.
Later we
will know;
How old
Major is
From where
was Major was acquired
What food
does Major it and how often
The
complexion of Major
The likes of
Major
Where will
Major normally go to play.
How is
Major’s relationship with Champ
Did Major
get ill before
Hahahahahahaha! Don’t be surprised if some reporters stalk Major! But, seriously, I don't have anything against news on the President-elect. But to treat this as a headline news is what I can't stand. And to give details of the dog....!
An anchor of a news program of an American TV Channel that I was watching, smilingly, said that China had
sent a rocket to space to collect rocks from the moon, 40 years
after the Americans and Russians had done so, with their Apollo and Luna
expeditions, respectively. I could not help noticing a hint of sarcasm from her
tone, and her grinning face. She was trying to emphasize that China was 40
years late. Ha ha! Your jealousy showed ma'am!
That sarcasm
aside, China indeed seems to be moving stride for stride to catch up with the
Europeans and western nations in every aspect, be it economy, weapons,
agriculture, electrical and electronic products, all sorts of modern and
state-of-the-art vehicles, even in sports and anything else that comes into your mind. You name it they
have it. They have moved away from the stigma of being known as a nation of
backwardness and protectionism. I, when young, had been an avid fan of old cowboy
and western movies, and had watched and enjoyed many of those types of films. And in some of those films I had seen old Chinese men portrayed in shamble
clothes slaving out for the horse-riding cowboys and outlaws in the saloons. Boy, in those old days the Americans really looked down on the Chinese!
Wow! How China and the Chinese have changed, progressed! Skyscrapers and other modern amenities are everywhere. China is now a
nation with ultra-modernism and having somewhat some openness and accessibility, unlike before. The Chinese are everywhere in this world. Even the football jerseys of some European clubs have Chinese writings on them, advertising some products They are imposing their presence, their culture in many parts of the world. 'China towns' had sprung out in many places outside China. Maybe,
rightly so, as it is known to be the oldest surviving civilization in the world,
commonly being said to be about 3500 years old. And it spreads.
Speaking of oldest existing ancient civilization, India is next in line. Now, this is a nation worth watching, too.
Looking at
China, now, its motto seems to be ‘what you can do, I can do better'. I hope China just doesn’t overdo it. Better, maybe, but not overdo. You can ponder that one. Ha
ha!
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— US Department of the Interior (@Interior) May 5, 2014