Category: Random Draws

Civil War Inevitable: Musk

M31 The Andromeda Galaxy (Click to see full size)

I am generally not impressed by the many hugely popular media celebrities on YouTube and on social media. Many of them are, IMNSHO, overexposed midwits and in some cases they are positively harmful because their millions of followers don’t have the cognitive capacity to distinguish chalk from cheese.

I could be accused of being elitist and correctly so for observing that the masses are stupid. The wise and the intelligent have never been in the majority.

All opinions are not equally valid or justified. People (present company not exempted) are more often wrong than right. The saving grace is that most of us don’t have the enormous reach that celebrities have, and therefore our ability to mislead is severely limited. Continue reading “Civil War Inevitable: Musk”

Magic

I love anything that evokes a sense of childlike wonder in me. Magic does that to me.

I have loved magic shows ever since I was little. My father would take us to P. C. Sorcar’s magic “INDRAJAL” shows, which generally showed up in Nagpur every couple of years.[1]

Unfortunately, I did not get to watch any live magic shows since my childhood. Fortunately, these days I can watch the best of them on the internet. Granted that it’s not the same as a live performance but in some senses it is better — you get a much more intimate view of the show. Continue reading “Magic”

China and the US

Douglas Murray is arguably one of the sharpest observers of the contemporary world. He’s a worthy successor to the late Christopher Hitchens (whom he knew very well.)

Every piece that flows out of his pen is brilliant. He is a prolific writer and commentator. He wrote his first book at the tender age of 18; his recent books are “The Madness of Crowds,” “The Strange Death of Europe,” and “The War on the West.” He writes for the NY Post, the Spectator, and The Telegraph.

His April 7th piece for The Telegraph is  particularly worth noting. Here’s a slice: Continue reading “China and the US”

Doing Arithmetic

Humans are amazing in their variety. A dear friend of mine would sometimes call me for help figuring out some bit of arithmetic. “Hey Nu,” she’d say, “what’s 17 percent of 200?” That’s one end of the spectrum; at the other end is this Chinese kid. Prepare to be amazed.

I am sure that it would take me over an hour to do what the kid does in two minutes. What are those weird finger movements he does while doing the additions? Continue reading “Doing Arithmetic”

Not Guilty

I followed the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse very closely, particularly the closing arguments by the prosecutors and defense. It was riveting. I was convinced that Kyle acted in self-defense and hoped that the jury also came to the same conclusion. Just a couple of hours ago, the jury reached a verdict after four days of deliberations: Not guilty on all five counts. For a quick summary of the case, see Reason.com.

I am delighted and relieved. Continue reading “Not Guilty”

The San Francisco Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge – SF to Treasure Island part. Tanya Nevidoma at Unsplash.

A lovely picture of the SF Bay Bridge which connects San Francisco, CA in the west to Oakland, CA in the east across the San Francisco Bay. The bridge is in two parts. From SF the bridge stretches to Treasure Island, and then on to Oakland. The picture above is the part from SF to Treasure Island (seen in the far left.) Continue reading “The San Francisco Bay Bridge”

Train driver’s view

Probably because I associate trains with holidays when we were growing up I love trains. One time many years ago I even got to ride a diesel-electric locomotive hauling a passenger train in India — a rare treat. Thanks to YouTube, these days you can get a virtual ride in a locomotive. My favorite train-driver’s view channel is one that goes by the handle HinduCowGirl.

The driver is a Norwegian lady, who I believe is also a sky-diving instructor. She has heaps of videos of the trains she drives. I confess that I spend an inordinate amount of time watching them. All of them are pre-recorded since they don’t have the internet connectivity to live-stream the videos but many are streamed with live chat. It’s fun to hang out with others who share the love of trains. OK, so here’s one of those videos.
Continue reading “Train driver’s view”

A Misplaced Sense of Pride

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, polymath, inventor, scientist, writer, diplomat, etc., etc., Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790) observed that “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” An analogous statement about nations could be that all nations are born poor but it requires hard work to keep it in poverty. Not surprisingly that hard work is properly done by the politicians of poor countries. What’s surprising is the evident pride they appear to take in their dismal accomplishment. They obviously revel in the fact that the country is poor and proclaim it loudly for all to marvel at. A recent statement on twitter (image below) by the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, retweeted over 1500 time no doubt approvingly by Indians, brought this to mind.
Continue reading “A Misplaced Sense of Pride”