COVID-19 related thoughts

A lockdown is not a good strategy to contain the pandemic.  Sooner or later, all of us have to get exposed to the virus.  Look at the data.  The virus has been especially bad for older people and for those who were already sick.  We need to isolate those vulnerable people, and NOT to put the whole country in a quarantine.
Protect the most vulnerable through isolation, and give rest of the society a gradual exposure to the virus. Here is what we needed to do in the first place. Keep it open for everybody between 20 and 30.  People below 20 and above 30 are asked to shelter in place.  Watch the results and two weeks later, open it up for people between 20 and 40.  Third stage: open it up for all between 20 and 50.  Next step: all between 20 and 60, and so on.
Asking ALL the people to shelter in place is not only bad for the economy, it is paving way for a plethora of mental health issues.  Stop this nonsense of complete lockdowns.

5 years later

February 6, 2015

Being days away from death

It was quite a show: he came out on a wheelchair, and had a mask on his face--it was a scene straight out of a movie.  It was heartbreaking for me; a man giving in to death, slowly; a man who I had once seen being very strong.  I went to get the car. Sabir too had parked the car in that lane, but after getting his parked car Sabir went the wrong way. I wanted to go the way the arrows pointed out for me to go, further down and then make a U turn.  When Sabir’s and my car crossed Sabir did not look happy that I was going the other way, but I kept driving; made a U turn into the other lane that had the one way traffic going up.  By the time I reached the passengers Sabir had not showed up; I wondered if someone had caught him going the wrong way and reprimanded him.  Will he realize after this that he faces all these problems because of his minimal education?  Chacha got in the car; we had pillows for him, he had asked for them.  He lay down with pillows under his head.  I asked him if I should put seat belt on him in case I brake hard and he rolls out.  He asked me not to brake hard.  Going home when Abba talked about buying dollars, Chacha suddenly got very excited.  All his life he had done that, he liked being around money and having something to do with it; that was a real pleasure for him: making money, accumulating wealth, and spending as little as possible. I wondered if he should keep doing this till the very end.  Why not die doing what you really want to do?  We reached Chacha’s house and sat there for some time before heading back home.

The CAA: Communal disharmony favors BJP

In a widely shared India-TV program, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad assured an apparently hostile group of Muslim opponents that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had nothing to do with them (Muslims) or any other current citizen of India. The program garnered support of CAA from Indian masses.  But did we see an honest debate, or was the program scripted?  For one, the bunch of people sitting across from the Law Minister were all Muslims--some were against the CAA and some favored the amendment.  The ones opposing the bill were caricature images of Muslim men: dressed in sherwani, sporting a dyed beard, a karakul on head, and stubborn in their views without much thought about the logic behind them.  By showcasing these opponents, the TV show cemented the general perception that only Muslims are opposed to the new legislation. And the only time the actual argument why the CAA must be challenged was brought up, the Law Minister laughed it out.  Why did he deride the argument?  Because that was the crux of the matter.
The amendment instead of showing India’s benevolent support to any person persecuted on the basis of their beliefs, goes on in naming the religious groups India will be welcoming--and Muslims are not in that list.  The insidious message is not lost on anyone what such a law enacted by a government supported by Hindu nationalists really means.  The message is loud and clear: the BJP’s India does not like the Muslims. 
But the CAA has achieved what it was meant to achieve: it further divided India on communal basis.  And through orchestrated TV debates, the general perception about the bill has deepened: to oppose the CAA is Muslim, communist, unpatriotic; to support the amendment is Hindu, nationalistic, patriotic. The bill has solidified Modi’s support among the Hindus who are now seen as the true guardians of the new India--one big step in a further transformation of a secular democracy into a majoritarian rule.

[Photo: courtesy of India-TV]

Doctors are your worst enemies; take charge of your health

As he entered his 60s, Urdu writer Khawaja Ashraf, had pains and aches all over his body.  Doctors told him he had arthritis; he was told he could not do much besides taking medications.  He ran away from the doctors and made twice a day regular exercise a part of his daily routine.  At 69, he is now completely free of arthritis and very happy that he did not listen to the 'sage medical advice.'  It is no secret that a large number of doctors are cohorts of the pharmaceutical industry; it is in their best interest to keep you sick and put you on a daily dose of various medications.

Practicing the near-extinct art of independent thinking, in Pakistan

Living in the west, listening to the cacophony of differing opinions on issues, it is hard to imagine places where the state narratives are so strong and overwhelming they stifle competing commentaries.  When such places still manage to produce independent thinkers and writers, a round of applause is in order.

Haroon Khalid and Anam Zakaria are two such independent researchers and writers from Pakistan.  They are currently touring the US.  Both Khalid and Zakaria talked about their recent books—‘Walking with Nanak’ (Haroon Khalid) and ‘Between the Great Divide’ (Anam Zakaria)—and engaged with the audience in Q&A sessions (session with Haroon Khalid moderated by Stanford history professor Priya Satia) in a program held at the Chandni Restaurant in Newark, California, on April 28.

The event was jointly organized by UMA (United Muslims of America) and the Sikh Foundation, an organization founded by the father of fiber-optics, Dr. Narinder Singh Kapani, to preserve artifacts and history of the Sikhs. The two main people behind the program were Urdu poet Tashie Zaheer, and Sonia Dhami, co-editor of the book ‘Sikh Art, from the Kapani Collection.’

Videos:

1-Sonia Dhami opening remarks at Anam Zakaria and Haroon Khalid event  April 28 2019

2-Haroon Khalid- 'Walking with Nanak' discussion

3-Haroon Khalid Q and A session

4-Anam Zakaria--discussion on 'The Great Divide'

5-Anam Zakaria Q and A session

Stop the Election War--India Pakistan War 2019

It is the third day of the Indian Election War--war between India and Pakistan.  Every day, I wonder how long this stupidity can continue without reaching the nuclear threshold.
As if the two nations have already fed their masses and have provided basic services to people they rule.  Disappointing!

Is it OK to drink tap water in Malta?

Yes, tap water in Malta is as good to drink as water in any other civilized country.
I needed to write this post because searching for an answer to the above question, you find an article that makes you believe Malta tap water would be hard on your stomach.  No, it is not.  I found Malta tap water to be very agreeable.

If you find California tap water OK to drink, your stomach will happily accept Malta tap water.

Search strings:
Should you drink from the tap in Malta?
Is Malta water OK to drink?
Will I get sick if I drink from the tap in Malta?
Should I buy mineral water bottles in Malta?

Balboa Park BART Station

Oct. 31, 2015
Balboa Park BART Station advertisements

Does Pervez Musharraf have AIDS?

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has been sick.  Someone suggested that the nature of the disease cannot be disclosed.  Since then the social media is buzzing with the rumor that Pervez Musharraf has Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).  People are even circulating photos showing Pervez Musharraf with young busty women--the insinuation being that with so many different sex partners the ex-General was bound to get AIDS.

No, General (retired) Pervez Musharraf does not have AIDS.

He is suffering from Amyloidosis, a rare disease that progressively gets worse.

According to the Mayo Clinic

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/amyloidosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353178

"Amyloidosis (am-uh-loi-DO-sis) is a rare disease that occurs when a substance called amyloid builds up in your organs. Amyloid is an abnormal protein that is produced in your bone marrow and can be deposited in any tissue or organ.

Amyloidosis can affect different organs in different people, and there are different types of amyloid. Amyloidosis frequently affects the heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, nervous system and digestive tract. Severe amyloidosis can lead to life-threatening organ failure.

There's no cure for amyloidosis. But treatments can help you manage your symptoms and limit the production of amyloid protein."

[ Photo, courtesy of Pervez Musharraf twitter account.]

How to solve Mo Dewji's kidnapping case?

How to solve Tanzanian billionaire Mohammad Dewji's kidnapping case?

Tanzania's youngest dollar billionaire--since one US dollar gets you around 2300 Tanzanian shillings, it is important to distinguish between a dollar billionaire and a Shilling billionaire--Mohammad (Mo) Dewji regularly used the gym at Colosseum Hotel & Fitness Club in Dar.  That was a problem.
If you are a high net worth individual, you should not keep a routine that involves appearance in public--and especially so in a third world country.  On top of that Mo Dewji's Range Rover had a personalized license plate
with his name on it.  Huge problem!  In short, Mo Dewji seemed to be asking for trouble and he got it the morning of Thursday, October 11 when armed men waiting in a car outside Colosseum Hotel & Fitness Club quickly whisked him away as soon as he came out of the gym after his morning workout.
No demand for ransom has come yet, but it should be on its way.
Tanzanian police has rounded up over 30 people including the security guards at Colosseum Hotel & Fitness Club.

How to solve this case?
Hotel surveillance camera footage is not very clear since the kidnapping took place outside the
hotel.  Now police should be looking at cameras installed at other locations around Colosseum Hotel and especially towards Masaki.
The Uber driver who saw the kidnapping taking place should be inquired about the make, model, and color of car and databases should be checked to narrow down on the car that took away Mo.
What phone did Mo use?  Can its location be tracked?

And as soon as a family member gets the call for ransom, the source of the call needs to be identified.


Photos, courtesy of Expedia.com

Did Barkha Dutt plagiarize a comparison?

Back in 2012, I Khan visited the Bay Area and held a fundraiser for his political party.  Yours truly wrote a blog post on that event.
https://cemendtaur.blogspot.com/2012_10_28_archive.html
One sentence of the write-up being: “The Mick Jagger look alike Pakistani politician dyes his hair regularly and does daily workout to maintain his fashion-model appearance.”

More recently this article appeared in the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/07/14/barkha-dutt-as-pakistans-nawaz-sharif-is-sent-to-jail-his-rival-imran-khan-should-not-celebrate/?utm_term=.ce7483bb4863

The author writes: “Khan is a glamorous, Mick Jagger-lookalike cricketer turned politician, who opponents say has the blessings of the shadowy deep state that controls the country.”

What do you say about the comparison?  Plagiarism or mere coincidence?

What is Civilization?

After traveling through a few places in the world I have come to believe that the following are all related to each other:
1.    Discipline in masses
2.    Respect for women—at par with men
3.    Potable water in tap
4.    Consideration for the needs of the blind, the deaf, and others who are physically challenged
5.    Waste disposal (of all kinds)
For example, when you go to a new country, just take a look at the traffic.  With what you find there—an indicator of one aspect of #1 above—you can draw conclusions about what to expect in the other four categories described above.