Father, Forgive Them for They Know Not What They are Doing!

Times Now and Republic in a “Who Wants to be the BJP’s Biggest Stooge” Game show!

Well, I have not suddenly become an evangelist, attempting to interpret the Biblical words of forgiveness from Jesus when he was mocked at by criminals while he was dying on the Cross.

It just crossed my mind when I was watching Times Now go bonkers tonight over the Congress snooping of well-known Muslims around 2008 when terrorism was at its peak in India.

Being alert to any threat to a nation’s security does not mean a compromise on secularism. You cannot expect such reasoning with the Indian media out on a “Hail BJP, Kill Opposition” Mission.

Times Now Under Pressure from Republic TV

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Times Now is facing enormous pressure from Arnab Goswami and his Republic TV channel. It’s a TV-style game show which can possibly be named, “Who wants to be the biggest stooge of the BJP”.

These are embarrassing times for the Indian media!

G Joslin Vethakumar 

The Fall and Fall of IIT

All the respect I had for the IIT started dissipating when admissions became predictably easy, thanks to hand-holding by schools that had sprung up a decade or so ago to help aspirants ace the entrance exams.

Over the years, the IITs have seen an infusion of political trivia hampering academics.

Today’s incident involving the beating up of a PhD student at the Madras IIT over beef is just another instance of how political idiocy has invaded the institution’s campuses.

Students participating in a beef fest is to me farcical. But getting smashed for it is barbarity.

G Joslin Vethakumar 

Chaos in London Airports — IT Systems the Culprit, Not Terror Panic

BA cancels all flights in London- but over IT systems outage and not out of any terror panic!

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/27/world/british-airways-computer-failure/index.html

Fair Media Assessment on Trump, Finally!

After persistent media witch-hunting, there is some respite for the American President, Mr Donald Trump, with a CNN report declaring he passed his first test on the global stage.

To me, the highlight of Mr Trump’s recent visits was his emphatic message that both Israel and Palestine must strike a compromise for peace and progress.

Calling terrorists “evil losers” and some plain-speaking with NATO were characteristic of Mr Trump, consistent with his earlier stand on the issues.

But whether his first international visit as President was a reassertion of American leadership is debatable. He is presiding over a fading superpower, handing the status out on a platter to China amid challenges within the U.S. over his  suspect equations with Russia.

G Joslin Vethakumar

Whither Civilisation!

Civilisation is yet to catch up with some…

Strangely, these killings in Egypt of Coptic Christians don’t seem to bother the Western English channels much. The coverage was limited and condemnation muted.

G Joslin Vethakumar

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-40059307

Messi, the Convict! A Self-Goal!

It is plain and simple – it does not pay to evade taxes! Fighting the case in court, Lionel Messi perhaps paid lawyers more than what he saved through tax evasion. Now it is double the loss for him.

While he is able to avoid jail by serving out his term on probation, the football superstar will still remain a convict. That stain will never go away, notwithstanding the billions of dollars in his kitty!

If he had thought pleading ignorance would make him fend off conviction, that’s naïveté, at best!

G Joslin Vethakumar 

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40026827

Evil Losers – Trump Gets it Right!

Evil Losers! Oratory is not something U.S. President Donald Trump can rely on to sway the world.

With his often bumbling, impulsive talk supporting his populist gimmickry, he is a loser himself in the dignity stakes.

But here he has nailed it right! It is difficult to think of a better expression to describe the monsters. Evil losers!

G Joslin Vethakumar 

Peace at Work in Concert with Ariana?

Liberal voices will only fall on deaf ears, what reverberates more around the world are insane acts of terror than sounds of music.

Security getting into action after the blasts for “peace” amid a pop night of harmony with singer Ariana Grande bears a grim message: terrorists just hate fun, celebration, joy and peace.

They won’t have it, they won’t allow others to have it! Fools? Who?

G Joslin Vethakumar 

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http://dailym.ai/2rMlliA

Fareed Zakaria Raises Interesting Questions on Marginalising Iran

Trump in Israel, a Nation That Stirs Interest for Different Faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – with Jerusalem at its Centre

Mr Donald Trump is on an exciting tour of countries cutting across religions in conflict zones and the Western media are on a roll. He arrived in Israel earlier today after winding up his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Making it more stirring is a senior Indian American editor, Fareed Zakaria, turning clairvoyant with his brilliant analyses.

Last month he had, with precision, written about how the U.S. President was ceding global leadership to China, which is becoming real.

Today, on CNN, dissecting Mr Trump’s decisions that verge on marginalising Iran, he brought up the inherent irony in them.

He recalled that 15 of the 19 bombers involved in 9/11 came from the Sunni world, Saudi Arabia, to be more precise. It is the birthplace of Osama bin Laden. Yet, Mr Trump is bent on crippling Iran, which is beginning to present a moderate face to the world, while keeping the U.S. equation with Riyadh strong.

Both Iran and Iraq subscribe to the Shi’a denomination of Islam. The Sunni population is the most dominant worldwide. Is the U. S. inclined towards the Sunni regime because of this? Pakistan, too, is made up of a very large Sunni population.

I have no knowledge of Islamic history (in fact, of any history – reliance on the past to shape the future), so let me not dig deep and expose my ignorance.

G Joslin Vethakumar

Unintended, Interesting Learning – Thanks to Trump!

Tweet, Anguish and English!

A simple Google search can at times open the path to unintended, interesting learning. For some crazy reason, I thought it would be nice to know the etymology of the expression, dead meat.

A search took me to Merriam-Webster and, voila, I figured witch-hunt was among the top-trending words and the reason: because US President Donald Trump used it in a tweet, expressing his anguish at being targeted.

The flak he was getting over the Comey saga had made him say that it was “the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”

The word that came top of the lookups is Nutjob, a derisory term Mr Trump had used to describe the FBI chief he fired, Mr James Comey.

Coincidentally, it has relevance to Mr Trump’s lament as the witch-hunt was of his own making, the result of his actions verging on what could fit the nutjob definition.

A Language That Defies Logic

Beyond politics, there was another revelation for me – nutjob is listed as one word while dead meat and witch hunt are two. This is another instance presenting English as a language that defies logic.

Therein lies its beauty! English gives us the leeway to use words based on context. In effect, there are words such as the above that can be hyphenated, merged or split into two depending on usage requirements – as a noun or a verb. That kind of flexibility gives the language a certain simplicity, too! The finicky can call it complex.

Inescapably, I have also contributed to the lookup, something I could have avoided had the Microsoft Office dictionary been 100% dependable. It is a handy tool, nonetheless!

• An Earlier Post: Trump Fires Comey who Tripped Hillary

G Joslin Vethakumar