The Right Frame of Mind

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Chicago Cubs are in the American MLB World Series in 2016, and we are thru 5 games as this article is written.  Nothing beats the devotion that a cub fan has.  Although I was not born a “Cub Fan”, I have been devoted all my adult life to follow them, watch them and have the right frame of mind to say tomorrow is another day.  Always willing to wait for the next day and next win, and looking forward to the improbable World Series win, and perhaps this year.  Being an Indian with eternal optimism perhaps adds to the belief in a better tomorrow, but for the last couple of years the Cubs has been so good, it is time to look forward to buying the World Series winner’s shirt with the beloved Cubs logo on it.  Is it time yet? And we are 2 games away from just that.

Today is 31 October 2016.

The series is at with Cubs 2 wins and Cleveland Indians 3 wins, in a best of 7 series, and the last 2 games coming up in Cleveland and 3 days from now, it is now or next year.

There is probably no professional team in any sports that parallels the cubs in their fan following. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cubs.  Following them is really just being a part of Chicago, and also being an optimist.

The wonderful history of Chicago and the Chicago cubs is full of chapters of a storied sports franchise.  The Cubs have involved in a MLB World Series since 1945, and they have not one a World Series Championship since 1908.

Cleveland Indians are way behind in history compared to the Chicago Cubs, as they have not won a World Series Championship since 1948.  Rookies, really!

Chicago is full of great sports teams, with Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawk’s and Fire and huge fan following to every one of the sports teams.  We have storied superstars with all the teams leading with Michael Jordan and a galaxy of superstars who played in Chicago.  If we really look at the 2016 Cubs, most of these guys re really young and new to us fans.  They are definitely in a league of their own, and one World Series win, and we have a full team of super stars, probably unlike anything that we have seen in Chicago, since MJ was winning with the rest of the gang for the Chicago Bulls.  Although we are eternally optimistic, its time for the Cubs to bring in the championship to us fans and to the city of Chicago.

For those who listen and follow the Cubs on Radio and TV, you have to remember the late Harry Carry.  He was and will always be the voice of the Cubs.  I am sure Harry is looking down with his wide rimmed glasses and holding his crossed fingers, just saying, two more wins and 2016 is the year of the Cubs.

But you know what, there is really no team in baseball as good as the Cubs in 2016, and more so there are no fans in the world that even come close to being a Chicago Cubs fan.  I am one, and I know we are the best in the world.  Win or lose we love the Cubs, but a big “W” will not be a bad way to be a part of the 2016 journey. “GO CUBS GO”.  We deserve the World Series trophy and we would love to have it in Chicago in the beginning of November 2016.

The Right Frame of Mind

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Chicago Cubs are in the American MLB World Series in 2016, and we are thru 5 games as this article is written.  Nothing beats the devotion that a cub fan has.  Although I was not born a “Cub Fan”, I have been devoted all my adult life to follow them, watch them and have the right frame of mind to say tomorrow is another day.  Always willing to wait for the next day and next win, and looking forward to the improbable World Series win, and perhaps this year.  Being an Indian with eternal optimism perhaps adds to the belief in a better tomorrow, but for the last couple of years the Cubs has been so good, it is time to look forward to buying the World Series winner’s shirt with the beloved Cubs logo on it.  Is it time yet? And we are 2 games away from just that.

Today is 31 October 2016.

The series is at with Cubs 2 wins and Cleveland Indians 3 wins, in a best of 7 series, and the last 2 games coming up in Cleveland and 3 days from now, it is now or next year.

There is probably no professional team in any sports that parallels the cubs in their fan following. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cubs.  Following them is really just being a part of Chicago, and also being an optimist.

The wonderful history of Chicago and the Chicago cubs is full of chapters of a storied sports franchise.  The Cubs have involved in a MLB World Series since 1945, and they have not one a World Series Championship since 1908.

Cleveland Indians are way behind in history compared to the Chicago Cubs, as they have not won a World Series Championship since 1948.  Rookies, really!

Chicago is full of great sports teams, with Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawk’s and Fire and huge fan following to every one of the sports teams.  We have storied superstars with all the teams leading with Michael Jordan and a galaxy of superstars who played in Chicago.  If we really look at the 2016 Cubs, most of these guys re really young and new to us fans.  They are definitely in a league of their own, and one World Series win, and we have a full team of super stars, probably unlike anything that we have seen in Chicago, since MJ was winning with the rest of the gang for the Chicago Bulls.  Although we are eternally optimistic, its time for the Cubs to bring in the championship to us fans and to the city of Chicago.

For those who listen and follow the Cubs on Radio and TV, you have to remember the late Harry Carry.  He was and will always be the voice of the Cubs.  I am sure Harry is looking down with his wide rimmed glasses and holding his crossed fingers, just saying, two more wins and 2016 is the year of the Cubs.

But you know what, there is really no team in baseball as good as the Cubs in 2016, and more so there are no fans in the world that even come close to being a Chicago Cubs fan.  I am one, and I know we are the best in the world.  Win or lose we love the Cubs, but a big “W” will not be a bad way to be a part of the 2016 journey. “GO CUBS GO”.  We deserve the World Series trophy and we would love to have it in Chicago in October 2016.

Landslide Prediction

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Election Day for the United States is November 8, 2016 which is the final day to choose the next president of the USA along with a new congress and a third of the senate.  Many states have already in the process of pre-polling which is also on a brisk pace this year.  For those who are in the USA this day may not come soon enough.  The acrimony and bitterness will come to an end soon. And one of the two last standing candidates will become our president.  Its Clinton or Trump; one of them will be the leader of the free world for at least four years.

The three presidential debates are done, and little has changed in the direction of the election.  People who watched the debates must wonder 70 years of life and no grace, especially between a man and women.  There is little policy discussion amongst the candidates (they have little time to discuss policy), and nothing to present to the citizens on future direction.  At this time and until the election, only winning the undecided is what is left.  The American electoral process is fairly easy to forecast; blue states will be blue (Democrat) and red states will be red (Republican) and the swing states will drive the winner with the battle ground state’s Electoral College.  Now the final push is on for the swing (battle ground) states, and the exit polls are pointing to a landslide.

Unless something gets really screwed up with the process, we can predict a landslide.

Some of the battleground states have population dynamics change in the last few years, and could play well for democrats.  This is not just pushing the politics of the population groups, but also the antagonized groups of population.  If the daily polling is to be believed, very little can change for the current predictors in the next couple of weeks.

Trump has continued to project himself as the greatest jobs president.  Although the president gets credit for employment, it’s really a whole lot of intermingled dynamics that foster continued employment, although the president has a great degree of influence on the direction of the jobs market.  The trouble with Trump is he constantly and continuously takes swipes at the media (dishonest) and at minorities and just about every group of citizens (probably barring the white men who support his candidacy).  The free publicity Trump was accorded all his life by the media, has now become a dishonest media.  As it is after watching him for a little over a year, it is difficult to imagine why he is only 12 points down in some polls.

Perhaps the American way of bullying still gets you far enough even these days and even for 70 year olds.  He did knock out a bunch of Republicans while winning the nomination.

Trump has left very little to be degraded.  He has antagonized the media (which still covers him), democrats (no one from this group will vote for him), all of Washington (still has some support from here), women (some still support him), minorities (nothing from these folks), immigrants (very little from these folks), and throw in all trade agreements signed by past presidents, and all alliances made by the past presidents.  I might not be able to list everything Trump has antagonized.  This should have been about 90% of the population, but for some reason he is not down by that mush.  It’s really hard to figure out the human thinking.  In 2016, Hillary is the opponent and that’s probably the only reason that Trump is still in the race.

One can’t blame the party affiliation of the Republicans.  You subscribe to the party manifesto and who is representing might not be important, even is Trump is the party’s main man.

If one tales into account that his wife calls his discussion on Women’s anatomy and what he can do with any women as “Boy Talk”, she probably needs to get out of the tower a little more to be with the Americans.  The irony with the episode is that neither Trump nor his wife really cares about the man who lost his job, while Trump and his cohorts dismiss this as locker room talk.  A dozen women have come forward with the instances of Trump’s unwanted advances and abuses against them (its likely there are more), and Trump dismisses them as liars and he has just said he will sue all of them after the elections.

Going back to the title of the column, landslide prediction; if democrats, women, immigrants, politicians, Washington and media; all of which are useless to Trump, they simply have not endorsed him.  But still his poll numbers are down only by 12%.

The reason for Trump to be still standing is Hillary.  Hillary is no saint.  She has her own excess baggage, and her being in politics and public eye for so long adds to the baggage.  One thing she is right about is that there is give and take in politics and diplomacy.  But everyone who opposes her point to as her failure, rather than politics.  You can’t define politics without compromise, except when it applies to Hillary.  For anyone in politics as long as she has been, it is unavoidable to compromise.  Hillary is on the verge of making history and become the first women president of the USA.  There are no more debates, only looking forward to Election Day.  All she has to do is hold her ground and not do or say anything detrimental.  Simply put if all democrats and everyone that was antagonized by Trump show-up and vote it will be the largest electoral victory for Hillary in USA history.  It should be.  2016 looks like a landslide and going forward we will also begin civility in presidential politics.

Teflon Trump

Vasu Reddy from Chicago

vasureddy@aol.com

In a country where the majority of the population is concerned about the state of the economy, finding meaningful jobs, threat of terror and combining the broad socio-political issues, the status quo politics; all combined 2016 has become the year of the Teflon candidate.  Not too long ago the Americans went thru Gary Hart and John Edwards; both very attractive and seasoned politicians running for the office of the president, both burned to oblivion because of the affairs of the heart.  Mitt Romney was sidelined for simply delayed tax returns.  We have had a history of a single mishap by a candidate which destroyed the bid for the presidential office.  The failed presidential bids of the most promising candidates running for office really pale in comparison to Trump and his well documented career and life choices.

Nothing seems to deter the support base Trump has in the current election cycle.  His comments on race, women, immigrants and everything under the sun would have put anyone else to political oblivion.  But for some reason that is unexplained Trump was nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate for president.  Since his nomination and whatever comes out into to public domain as Trump’s back ground, has not affected his support base.

When Trump started to address and display President Bill Clinton’s women’s woes and attaching Hillary Clinton as the enabler every republican in the country said it was a fair game to bring back the old stories and attribute them to Hillary as the enabler.  Since then many women (more in number than Bill’s) have come to name Trump as the abuser, but the Candidate himself, his political supporters and the public who supports him want to deny everyone of them as phony, made-up and total fabrication.

In 2016 when information is readily available and easy to access, Trump’s taxes, scandals, policies and conduct have not affected the voter block that continues to support him.  Have we turned into a polarized nation rather than a melting pot of cultures and traditions?

What is stunning to watch on TV is that the really old politicians (idiots) keep coming on with support statements on Trump denying the allegations (whatever that might be) despite the clear evidence to the contrary.  The 30% or so public that supports Trump seems to brush off anything that comes out about the candidate as something that is acceptable and everyone just deny and deny until the moderator’s get frustrated and moves on.  Incredible bigotry is displayed publicly.  Every word Trump can imagine (not positive) at president Clinton is supported with glee by the old geezers who are supporting him, and they keep doubling down on their analogies for a couple of days with each.  The electorate is also divided. Once again about 30% or so who back Trump don’t really care about truth or fiction, and their candidate just throwing everything at them from under the sun, all of innuendo.  For most of the people who want to think, the real story is that President Clinton was the president some 16 years ago, when his term ended and he was not only a successful two term president (just like the current President Obama), and more so he is not the one running for president in 2016, his wife Hillary Clinton is.  So, throwing the past president under the bus now and attributing his wife as an enabler is something that is appealing to Trump’s followers.  In fact until the 2016 elections, Trump had nothing but good things to say about the Clinton’s.

What followed the second presidential debate, and Trump displaying president Clinton’s women; who were sexually harassed and in Trump and his surrogates words, enabled by Hillary Clinton.  All of a sudden we have a multitude of women who have come forward to say the same of Trump, and each day the number of women keeps adding up, accusing Trump of improprieties. Now we have the same old geezers putting President Clinton under the bus, justifying that Trump is innocent of all charges and there is nothing there to discuss.  Trump has repeatedly apologized for his now available video which shows him bragging about how he wants to handle women.  Granted that Trump was a rich and was not into politics and a dozen or so women have come out to speak about his past behavior, his supporters seem to simply say he has apologized for his actions, or he never did it.  It is amazing that the standards that are displayed are so different for Clinton and Trump.

The worst defense s offered by Pence who is Trump’s running mate.  Mike Pence defends Trump by simply saying that he has apologized or there is no evidence of Trump’s escapades.  Really how many women can produce evidence of harassment?  Just the fact that this many women have come forward and tell their stories is not good enough for Trump’s stooges.  Mike Pence is the same guy who was opposing Trump until he was nominated as VP candidate, and the man looks more squirming than confident when ever he is asked a question.

A number of republicans have rescinded their support for Trump since his tapes (bragging about how he treats women has become public), but Trump’s candidacy remain as vocal and as divisive as it was from the beginning.  President Obama aptly said those walking away from Trump now is a little too late for those who supported and retracted from Trump.

The biggest Joke in the whole Trump candidacy is perhaps the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.  He preaches a great amount of worthless words and pretends to object to Trump’s every action but continues to endorse Trump.  It’s the worst political theater that the nation has seen. Republicans either are with their party or they vote cross party.  All the clowning down by Republicans saying they don’t agree with Trump but they support him against Hillary Clinton is just pure hog wash.  Whenever Trump comes up, they will immediately start to deflect to Bill Clinton.

Trump’s core supporters don’t really care about who he is.  They continue to folk to his campaign.  There is a decent percentage of now dissatisfied electorate and they want changes to the political system as it is now, and Trump is one of the alternatives.  The electorate should really throw our all the congressmen and senators and focus on making laws that the president can sign, and not just focus on the presidential candidate.

The public scrutiny that is accorded to presidential candidates has never been accorded to Trump.  Only in the last few weeks he is being asked the question of any presidential candidate and things are tumbling in.  Each of the two presidential debates (third pending) have brought out the issues of professional and personal issues out into the open, with something popping up daily.  We also see the brash responses from Trump and his surrogates, simply doubling down on their problems.  His core group supporters also don’t seem to care, at least publicly.

There is no policy discussion, no room for negotiations, nothing positive, and nothing good in Trump’s pitches.  It’s all “trust me” and there is no one else to solve the countries owes.  And I am sure we have heard all this before.  Everyone who can and should, just go and vote, and let us see what the country does in November.

Electoral College

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

The presidential election is a system of each state with specific number of delegates, who eventually electing the president of the United States is simply referred to as Electoral College. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States).

The USA Electoral College (EC) was framed to keep the average voter from being able to elect the president directly. They probably had people like Donald Trump in mind when they created the EC and the rules that govern it.  It is doubtful that EC will elect Donald Trump as the next president.  The states that control EC votes are probably 80% to 90% decided on they will vote democrat or republican.  The state wise electoral maps assure the candidates of a GPS on what is assured and what they really need to work on.  There is no blaming the preconceived notions of people.  We are by birth prejudiced to something or the other, and politics are a major part of prejudices in a democratic life.

Donald Trump has his supporters and those supporters will translate into voters.  To start with he is running as a candidate representing the Republican Party.  There will be a fair share of registered Republicans who will vote for the Republican Party ticket, irrespective of the candidate.  This is no different for Democrats.  First and foremost a voter is aligned to the party’s agenda and not the candidate.  For sure we have not had a candidate with Trump’s profile in the USA presidential campaigns, but this is of no consequence to the voter that is beholding to the party.

Personally I am one of those voters who believe the allegiance to the party and its long-term manifesto is a way leading in to an election booth.  First priority is for every person who has the right to vote must exercise the democratic right, and then choose the party that best promotes the principles and philosophy every voter prefers.

The Electoral College has theirs too.  The system is not really complicated.  Each state has a set number of delegates (set number of EC that will vote to elect the president).  At the end of the night the EC votes matter and how the states have voted and the total votes and all other election matrices will not be of any consequence.  On the Election Day, whichever candidate gets 270 Electoral Votes, that’s our next president.

The nation's well being, future and its place in the world are driven by the larger scheme of what was done by prior administrations.  The new administration will set its priorities in motion, provided it has the overall support of Congress, which again has its own Electoral College, and local demographics driving the agenda.

Trump's supporters in this election are primarily republicans, and perhaps people who simply say he is just like me.  They are willing to accept Trump for what he is.  Their reasoning to vote for Trump is that everyone makes mistakes and every makes absurd comments and he is no different.  He is not a politician.

Every dangerous and disgusting thing Trump says proves he's not fit -- and that's the point. He's not fit for the current "system." And that is exactly his appeal. When he opened his apology by saying, "I've never said I'm a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I'm not," he was making it clear:

I'm not "pretending to be perfect," like "Hillary Clinton and her kind."

Obama won his first election thanks to the emotions of hope and enthusiasm. Trump could win this election on the emotions of frustration and resentment. Feelings are powerful. According to research, 95% of our decisions are based on subconscious factors -- like how we feel. Not logic. Not what you "know" is right. We make decisions based on what we feel in the moment.

This election is by far going to be any more civil (from what we have already gone thru), but the voter will have preconceived notions dictating the final decision to cast a vote.  What will dictate the outcome of this or any election is primarily the allegiance to the political party and to a small group of voters aligning with the subtle and unconscious human attachment to personality and traits.

While we all crave for change in politics, we simply like our life to be the same.  It is the true Irony of human beings, always looking for something outside of what we already have.

The math for 2016 elections is quite simple.  Focus on swing states and get your voters to the voting booth.  The already decided states need simple advertisement but the swing states need voter participation.  The candidate that gets most voters to show up at a polling place in swing sates, have this job for the next four years.  Rest of the rhetoric and fist fighting, is simply to convince a small potion of the electorate and demeaning the election process.

Aversion to Peace

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Historically peace has always been the hallmark of prosperity and human development.  Whatever world history we can trace, the correlation to human excellence and peace is direct and irrefutable.  Perhaps the most sought after word in human life is peace.  “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men.”  While our history of thousands of years clearly correlates living in peace with living in harmony, the last 100 hundred years have really become human beings becoming more and more averse to peace.

A major portion of our documented history points to illegal or forced occupation, pillage, looting and things that typically are associated with the strong throwing their weight around the weak or disorganized.  Then came religious conversion as a by product of occupation and after effects of war.  The British along with the French, Portuguese and Spanish largely exploited with trade and divide and for a good three hundred years, along with throwing religious conversions, the 1900 century and beyond has become increasing more violent with intolerance.  When you even interject a small group of people with religious intolerance, the room for peace becomes non-existent.  Although religion is a new phenomenon with most of the religions on earth, the affinity to religion is paramount to most humans.

1900’s and on have had communism, dictatorship, fundamental societies, religious bigotry, fanaticism and all variations of influences on religious and regional groups have made it impossible for societies to live in peace.  There is some propaganda or diversion to life that infuriates that particular section of the society by simply injecting religion into it.  For some reason or the other religion gets the color of violence and the aspect of coexistence and peace get relegated to the past.

In the name of god there is more killing, there is more destruction and more suffering that any other earthly factor.  Volcanoes, typhoons, earth quakes, floods and natural disasters used to be major factors in loss of life, but they no longer major contributors to loss of life.  The technology and science is helping to deal with these issues and constantly improve the means to stave off natural disasters.

But religious fanatics has been growing by leaps and bounds and has over taken societies and countries and destroying the entire nation, its people, its infrastructure, and simply their way of life.  There are dozens of nations that have been devastated just because of factional and religious fanatics.  The very people that are of the same religion pay the heaviest price with life and their way of living.  It has become normal way of life to destroy everything around the world in the name of religion and comes with no ideological or historical logic.    The human life and its value have very little meaning in religious fanatics, in whatever form it exists.  At birth and at death, all are equal and choosing to live in peace is also something everyone strives for, and injecting any forced aspect of life simply doesn’t allow for the entire society to live the way it should.

It is simple to destroy civilization.  The vast majority of human civilization is in the open and unprotected.  These important parts of human existence and their past are every where on earth, and are of great significance in imparting the value of history and the past.  The religions that have constantly sprung into existence really don’t have to appreciate the significance of the history and past, but making them targets of destruction is simply destroying who we were and who we came from.  It has nothing to do with religion and propagating something specific.  Its vandalism and showing force against the history and people who are defenseless.

Somehow the very definition of societies and peace has become a distant concept for many parts of the world.  It is not that the propagation of violence and religion is bringing any kind of response from the rest of the society.  Outside of war, destruction and killing nothing good has come from these areas of conflict.  The only byproduct is that the spilling of the fanatics into disrupting the rest of the society that lives in peace, while gaining nothing in respect from the world.

Commoners as Barbarians

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Now a days anyone with an opinion and a mobile or internet connection can automatically express, share and voice opinions (all most all of them unsolicited) online.  Online platforms allow for immediate access to a fairly wide spectrum of audience, who intern also have a great deal of variety opinions.  All most of these opinions are unsolicited, and often absurd and unintelligible.  It is not to disagree with every opinion counts, but the WWW has made irrelevance a common thing.  Your friends (and family if they care), their friends, and their friends and essentially everyone else on the planet (for those who use www.linkedin.com have the experience of million of connected people to you though it could be nth factor on how they are connected) who have access to the internet can see, forward, comment and also use some kind of emoticon to add graphical expressionism to the commentary.  Only the WWW knows where something begins and where something ends.  There is equal space for the good, the bad and the ugly, and add a huge dose of unreal.

With the WWW, freedom of expression has been given a new meaning.  Let us not forget the radical extremism which has been a key talking point in the 2016 USA presidential elections.  As the WWW reach expands exponentially, so is the use (abuse) of the internet as a medium to reach people.  Let us not forget the advent of selfie. Troll and live stream.  The communications that are supposed to connect the world has all of a sudden become a medium to really express radical (whatever that word means) thoughts.

Absurd and abusive trolling is common place.  There is no escape to anyone.  Hacking anyone and anything that’s on the internet and leaking information has become common place.  There is demand for trash and more trash, and WWW is a grand platform for simply trashing everyone and everything.  The business that use the net for customer care and ease, is a place for fear and exploitation for hackers, who steal and steal from banks, companies and stores and whatever that can access (which has become easier than normal) and even the government and election systems are all of a sudden hacked and exploited.  All this while the hackers stay anonymous and keep demanding money from everyone, and passing threats out to everyone.  The famous WiKi leaks are a great example of WWW exploiting everything in the world.  There is no rime or reason, simply hack and hack until someone is abused.  In reality accessing information without permission is simply cheating and exploitation.  Only the internet is giving them a new term; hack.

There is no longer polite conversation; respectful addressing of each other and understandable narrative that was common place with communications.  Even with letters and telephone there was a sense of respect in addressing one another, which the internet has completely erased.

The world has all of a sudden has become empowered with the internet and an expert on trash talk and abbreviated (also unintelligible) but exaggerated abuse.  The impoliteness and expertise is directed at the www, thus at everyone on it.  You really don’t know the person, have never met the person nor spoken to the person, but you freely comment, degrade and abuse, and a lot of times express expert opinion on something totally foreign and irrelevant.

The individual opinions have become so absurd, that as if the rest of the world is getting it wrong (on everything), and personal biases have become expert commentary.  The audience is so broad on the internet, and the audacious comments do get a like or two, and all of a sudden become a talking point, and all of a sudden the chat boxes become infinite loops.

The impunity and ignorance that is constantly expressed with quick strokes on the computer feeding the internet really has become atrocious.  It is probably time for filters to every social media to distance and disrupt the antagonism and absurdity of what is being thrown out there.

Man Made

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

This was shared in Telugu from our friend’s group.  I took the liberty of translating this into English, as it is quite relevant to where we are today.  This is really food for thought, and also reflection of who we are.

Who invented the paper?

Man

Who invented the fire?

Man

Who invented the wheel?

Man

Who invented the agriculture?

Man

Who invented the big buildings?

Man

Who invented the ships?

Man

Who invented the Airplane?

Man

Who invented the computer?

Man

Who invented the phone, mobile?

Man

Who invented the car and other vehicles?

Man

Who invented things in the house which we use to relax and enjoy?

Man

Who invented things such as Face Book, What Sapp, and Linked in, Email and many other social media and communications tools on a mass scale?

Man

Who built this society as it behaves?

Man

Who created the religion, caste, sections and divisions in humanity?

Man

Who created the Temple, Church, and Masjid, Gurudwara or any other place of worship?

Man

Who put god in these places of worship?

Man

Who created history and has written it?

Man

The most fascinating thing here is that man has created each and everything on earth.  But in the name of god we keep referring to the miracles and glory, while having created everything on earth.

To demonstrate that man has created the almighty on a need only philosophy;

1. No human being but man prays to god for things.
2. The places of worship are only collocated where man lives.
3. Man has created the almighty to suit the local needs, environment, nature, architecture and conditions.  Simply picking and choosing the local nuances added to god as they see it.
4. Everyone says its one god, but every country, religion, sect or whatever human reference we have for people, criticize every other god.  As long as religion has been prevalent, criticizing, conversion to other religions continue to be the practice of normalcy for man.
5. Everyday there is a new practice, new god, new custom, and then propagation that their god is the greatest.
6. If anyone questions this they are automatically called an atheist or someone who is against god, religion or community.
7. To make peace god the world has so many methods, practices and customs.
8. So far there is no man who has really seen god.  Even Buddha and Vivekananda have asked to serve the mankind.  We have to remember that even service without any reward itself brings recognition, which itself is a reward and feeds the human ego.
9. A man who believes in god and a man who doesn’t believe in god are both living the same life on earth.
10. God has not done any bad to anyone or any good to anyone.    
11. God has not stopped murders, rapes, robberies, bribery, killings and or any other human’s bad behavior.
12. Humans are killing innocent children, and god has not stopped this despite people doing this on his name.
13. Temples, churches, Mosques or any other places of worship are not safe for women, and children.
14. When man is destroying temples, churches and Masjids god did not come and intervene.
15. Has any student passed any exam without studying?
16. The things that did not exist 25 years ago, have already become famous and the act of god, simply because of man, and the continued use of name of god to enforce things on other men.
17. Many people who claimed to be god are in jail.
18. There are many atheists in the world, who continue to live a normal life and be happy.
19. Religions don’t accept each other’s god, customs, traditions, habits, but there is no where god has asked people to dislike each other.  There is not a single instance when god asked people to stop the hatred, killing, fighting or simply dislike of each other.

So, being happy is being with god.  Respecting other humans, being kind and generous is greater than doing business in millions.  The response one receives to kindness is unparalleled emotion only humans can experience.  God’s word is really to be happy and be kind to other, and walk the path of peace and love.

State without Status

Vasu Reddy from Chicago

vasureddy@aol.com

This past week is a very hard week to comprehend for all citizens of AP.  For more than two years after procrastination and postponement, the BJP government at the center declared they will not grant special status to AP, but will provide a package to build the infrastructure to help meet the requirements of the newly formed (now more than 2 years) state.  The center announced at midnight just on the eve of the weekend, that there is no way that it can announce the special status for AP.  Modi has been in office for 2 years and this parliament under the INC rule had declared the grant of special status to AP, and (once again while Modi is somewhere else in the world) the announcement for all to hear, nothing for AP.

In October 2015, I had written on the same issue and aptly named my weekly column, “Orphan State”.

The current AP political leadership, and its opposition parties and for a fact all people of AP; all did not believe the words “special status being considered by the center”.  It was a known fact that AP had no consideration and the so called “special status” was nothing but a whitewash.  But the state’s current CM and the minister’s at the center kept the discussion alive with the simply consideration in their vocabulary.

Now we have the word that the center will not be granting a special status, what do we do?  With every aspect of the bifurcation of the state into Telangana and AP (it is really residual AP) already implemented, there is little room for reversing the two year old decision of the INC to split the state.  And as far as the farce of the “special status” has come to an end, now the reality of having nothing has set in for the people of AP.  The politicians knew about it, but all of a sudden the have become vocal, but none too harsh on Modi in raising their minimal voice.

All of a sudden the politicians in power have to find a way to weasel out of their promise of the special status.  Those who did not support the government all of a sudden have found voice to harp about the obvious, and pin down the backtracking by TDP/BJP.  In reality outside of bickering and mud slinging there is little that the state can do to change anything.

We as Indians have notorious attitude about stalling public life (much to destroy whatever we can find), and throw the government and public services into a protest (bandh).  Since the time of Mahatma, protesting (everything) has become a way of life for Indians.  But the problem is that seldom in recent times the blockades and hunger strikes have been successful in yielding anything, except create inconvenience to the public.  The government never gets inconvenienced, but public suffers the blockades and destruction that has become a part of it.

What options do people of AP have to protest the decision not to grant the special status to their state?  Politically nothing as the current state government supports the center, and it is toothless.

As the local and central elections are almost 3 years away, and the ruling party has a majority to govern, very little political pressure is on the parties in power to change anything.  Students, workers, and personnel will simply loose their opportunities that are already limited in the Indian economy.  Voting the current government out in the next election is definitely an option, but it is three years away.  What will happen to the state until then?  Even if people vote the current parties out of power, what is the guarantee that the state will be granted a special status, and if it takes five or ten years, what is the benefit that is derived?

While the situation is a political opportunity for the opposition in the next election (and to create ruckus until then), it is the people of the state who have lost the opportunity of development in their new state.

The current government and the opposition parties can certainly follow the path of Mahatma in civil disobedience and hunger strike.  The recent efforts by Anna Hazare, with various efforts, only got him the Gandhian tag, but very little tangible results.  The major issue the people of AP have is the current leader Naidu seems incapable of taking a stance against the center.

The irony of the current state is that AP was created with the sacrifice of many, and mainly associates with Potti Sriramulu and his self sacrifice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potti_Sreeramulu.  Since the formation of AP in 1953 until it was split in 2014, the state has had a remarkable and fractured history with its capital in Hyderabad, it people and politics.  With the current government and its toothless attitude, it is hard to imagine the new AP will see anything but hardship.

Perspective

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Your two eyes are always working together but never see eye to eye.  In reality they function well independent of each other, while essentially doing the same thing.  For those with not so perfect 20/20 vision, they have a slightly different variation in sight, but still the eyes “don’t see eye to eye.”

The whole world and life is full of perspective.  We simply have our own way of looking at things, and can be seeing the same thing and see things so differently as black and white.

From day and night, mother Teresa, Clinton and Trump and religion and interpretation; each person’s perspective can be as different as day and night.  There is no right or wrong, simply different.  The logic behind perspective can be self beliefs, ability to comprehend, upbringing, constant reinforcement, and choosing sides and any number of life’s teaching that every individual chooses to side with, simply forms the perspective.

Mother Teresa “Saint Teresa of Calcutta” canonized Sep 4, 2016 by Pope Francis.  Even Mother Teresa has not been without controversies on her mission and work.  However one would like to visualize her, you will be reminded of a frail and a very small lady mostly without any expression, who worked in the most difficult conditions in helping and caring for the neediest.  Most of her 87 years on earth were spent in caring for the neediest.  While the critics point to accountability with her mission and her role with converting people to Christianity.  Irrespective of how you would like to look at Mother Teresa’s life and legacy, her efforts in caring for the neediest will continue to stand out.  Her life and times have made human compassion an ear mark for 5,000 other who continue her work in all points of the earth.  She simply was a model for doing god’s work, and even years after her death her mission continues to care for the neediest.  Whatever her methods were, there was one simple reason for what she did; she cared for human beings.

There is not a single person or a single instance that all human beings agree on, and we constantly form our own opinion on good or bad, or sometimes indifference.  The matter of perspective comes into common sense analogy of any/every instance.  As in day and night it is constant as the rotation of earth and going around the sun, remains constant and the difference is really as good as day and night.  Why we have adapted to each of the 24 hours and how our life style has changed with electricity and travel, once again it is simply a matter of time and perspective.  How did people live, survive and communicate a generation head of us, and the continuous advancements in life, technology and science, we continue to evolve and now a days have a better way to document our achievements (for a fact anything we do).

The 2016 USA presidential election has given us Clinton verses Trump as our primary candidates to choose from.  One a career politician and public servant and Trump a real estate businessman whose dealing by and large remain private (as I write) except for gossip magazines.  Their parties are of 100% different perspective of world, life, management and government.  Most of the voters are also aligned with the philosophy (perspective) of either democrats or republicans.  A few of the citizens remain undecided but by and large the nation’s population sides with the perspective of democrats or republicans.  There is really not a whole lot of presidential policy making outside of party’s perspective.

The current election is not as interesting as the Regan/Carter, Kennedy/Nixon and some of the old duels of yesteryears.  The start contrast in policy and politics no longer have any bearing.  The 24/7/365 news and internet coverage focuses on only the negatives.  How unpopular each candidate is explored to the ninth degree?  The candidates themselves are both pushing 70, so there is very little left to imagination of the electorate.  They are both with plenty of well documented personal and professional background.  Now one of them will be the leader of the free world (at least for the next 4 years or may be 8 years).  So the surrogates, news channels and pundits who are taking extreme steps to project the other candidate as worthless, is simply a matter of political perspective.  The nation is and will be equally divided on Clinton/Trump as their party’s standard bearer and the next president.  At this time, irrespective of how the country feels about them that’s it, there is no other choice to send to the white house.

Why are people donating hundreds of millions to the most unpopular candidates, and why is the electorate that has already sided with their choice of candidate being subjected to the constant barrage of negative perspective on the two standing candidates?  It’s really the small percentage of the population that is undecided, and who will swing the election one way or the other.  That is perhaps 1 or 2 percent of the nation that is undecided will swing the election, and the billions spent and more than a year of public bashing of the candidate/s in unimaginable language, and subjecting the entire world to  the public dissection.  All is still not forgotten even when the election is over and the next president is chosen.  This goes on every election cycle and only getting nastier with each party’s political perspective.

Election Manifesto

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Elections all over the world have become very expensive (not forgetting offensive).  Be it in India or the USA, or everywhere else where democratic elections are held, the cost of getting elected (just running) has become astronomical.  With each election cycle the cost of competing has been increasing by so much, it is difficult to comprehend the value of the elected office.  We constantly hear that the latest election is the most expensive in history of the nation.  It only keeps getting more and more expensive.

The reality with the USA presidential elections in 2016 are not only the most expensive but also the most absurd in the history of democratic elections.  One candidate has nothing to say to the public but insult everyone in the nation, nothing positive to say about the country or its global stature and knit pick the opposing candidates and paint a picture of anyone who opposes as unqualified, demented and unfit for holding any responsibility, let along lead the nation.  Especially when it comes to general elections the public (if anyone is listening) gets a belly full of negative barbs on a 24/7 basis, and this will continue until the Election Day.

After the Election Day only one of these candidates will become the leader of the nation for next 4 years.  The loser will have to call the winner at the end of the Election Day and congratulate the winner, and only god knows what transpires in that phone call from the loser to the winner after the Election Day?  The conceding conversation can be anti-climactic for the loser, especially considering the unparliamentarily language that has been hurled at each other for more than a year.  There can be little grace between two candidates at 70 years of age, who have used up just about every abuse on earth in describing each other.   Accepting defeat and humiliation at the end of the Election Day when you have spent close to a Billion dollars running someone down, and screaming at the top of your voice in depicting the person as unqualified.  It must the most difficult telephone call to make, and perhaps even to receive.  There is nothing civil left between the candidates and their supporters.

Each party announces the lection manifesto, essentially publishing a list of things that their party (the one that wins the election) will implement, support and promise to deliver to the voting public.  Election manifestos are a part and parcel of the political process and often align with the political party affiliation.  Each party makes every effort to reach out to their core supporters and also reach out to the independents that might be willing to appreciate the specifics of the election manifesto and its face value to vote for a particular candidate.

To start with the majority of the electorate has party affiliation, and unless and until a political party can’t place an acceptable candidate to lead them, people simply vote according to their party affiliation.  It is difficult to have people vote for someone other than their individual party affiliation.  By and large the democracies vote based on what is expected of the government in the next electoral cycle, and how effective the party in rallying people to get out and vote.  Politics are really an emotional sermon, and people are really serious about their party and its manifesto.  Only a very small fraction of the electorate is undecided or independent until the Election Day, and they certainly can swing the lection one way or the other.

Outside of the party affiliation and an election manifesto, the newly elected leader and the party in majority make up for an organization that can deliver to the often repeated election promises.  The parties have distinct differences in major initiatives, and they are hardly any common ground when it comes to guidance on what each party believes as their basic agenda.  If the leader has a majority required to pass through the legislation then the process of governance and delivery to an election manifesto becomes a reality and the promises of the election manifesto start to become a reality.  There should be no reason to forget the budgets and deficits, while pushing thru the political manifesto.  At the end of the day the country and its population can only live on borrowed money for so long.

Leaning on non-existent Legacy

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

Pre-independence India (prior to 1947) did boast of a long legacy of kings, kingdoms and a fairly large history of civilization and accomplishments.  There is no question about the contribution of Indian civilization/s to the world’s accomplishments and advancements.  Indians have a great hangover of their family legacy, albeit much of it is hearsay.  Very rarely a family has any legacy that is properly documented.  It there was ever any real legacy, the nation and its current population has made every effort to decimate whatever that can be claimed.  Indians have a habit of referring to someone or something to profess family lineage and legacy.  Much of these claims have no back-up, but just by constantly repeating something people start to place importance to the fibs and even start believing in their own fibs.  By and large it is a normal Indian thing to speak of legacy, weather or not it is fact based.

India’s performance in the modern Olympics is really dismal.  As of 2016 there has been no individual gold medal winner in any category.  India does have a few individual silver ad bronze medals and that’s about it.  For a fact India never had a golf #1 (Vijay Singh is from Fiji), no one from India ever won a grand slam tournament (Sania Mirza only doubles), and we can go on and on about the non-accomplishments of Indian athletes in the global arena.  Outside of Indian cricket team’s recent accomplishments, the country never produces a winner (not including Chess) on a global stage.

As India accounts for more than 1/6 of the global population, we should expect a bit more of global competition, better yet a better performance from the athletes.  The last couple of decades only cricket team has been making noises, but cricket is a sport mainly limited to colonial legacy.  The Americas, much of Europe and Asia doesn’t even encourage cricket as a sport.  So, Indians can’t really claim sporadic dominance in Cricket as a global dominance in sports.  There is absolutely no question about the ability and commitment of the Indian cricket team, just that most of the world doesn’t compete in the sport.

Although Indians make a lot of noise about even a single medal at the Olympics, India has no legacy of the modern games.  If we leave behind the early success of Indian hockey team (much of the success was in the time of British India) there is little to show for India’s participation in Olympics.  India is no longer a competitive hockey nation, a legacy of a sport Indians can no longer refer to.

India is a nation that still speaks of the old Milka Singh (although a great athlete) who never won a medal at the Olympics.  A big movie was made as a tribute to him.  Such is our legacy system.  With TV and social media making sure of covering the most mundane things in Earth, the Indians participation gets a lot more ink than the pre mobile and internet age.  Mainly the social media makes a mess of covering the athletes prior to the games establishing a very high level of expectations, which has no basis and a complete backlash about the results which are inline with expectations.  Indians do celebrate every medal irrespective of the sport and type, and rightfully so.  Olympics are not a place of incompetence, ignorance or impunity.  It is competition between 100% best of the best in all games/sports.  Even winning a single medal at the Olympics is an accomplishment to cherish.  The athletes, their families and friends, their coaches, their training facilities, their sponsors and specially the people who cheer them on and the public at large; all of them deserve the appreciation  for the effort behind every competing athlete.

But, what is happening here?  Why don’t we have a single gold medal? Why do we keep being placed at the bottom of the medal tally?  Why don’t we become a nation that competes and wins?  We can keep asking questions every four years but we have no answers.

Let us not for a minute believe that India as a nation that doesn’t like to win.  If the nation wants to win, then do the athletes have the spirit and mind to compete at the highest level and win?  Are the athletes conditioned for a global audience and performance that is conditioned only to win?  The facilities, sponsors and conditions are available and easily accessible for every athlete that shows the promise to compete.  But, we keep asking the same question/s every time, but so far we have no gold medal winner to welcome home.

Clean India and Girl Power

Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com

August 7, 2016

The Honorable Prime Minister of India

Mr. Narendra Modi
New Delhi, India

My Dear Sir;

“Namaskaram”

It has been 35 years since I went to study in USA, and after completion of my education I have made a life of hope and promise.  Everyday my wife, my children and myself speak, talk, behave and feel Indian, although we are 10,000 miles away.  We are proud of our Indian heritage and we try and represent the hard work of our nation.  Our classification as NRI’s doesn’t really make any difference in our life away from our India as the nation will always remain “MOTHER INDIA”.

Prior to and after your election, and your term as PM for the past two years, to me provide the promise of what our India should be on read in our history books and listening to the fables from our elders.  Although we no longer participate in daily routine in India, we do follow your every word and have high regard for your every speech and look forward to actions as follow-up to your pronouncements.  In the recent times there is no political parallel to your oratory and none in the world who present their nation to the world in the great light you do.

Your initiatives on Girl Child and Clean India are 100% close to my heart and I am sure to every person who listens to you.  Every opportunity I get I proudly speak of these initiatives that you constantly speak of.

Sir; we are simple people and live a simple life.  Our families in India and the USA represent the middle class of both of our nations.  We are what you and President Obama address as common man.  Our aspirations are for the well being of our children, our love for our families and friends, concern for our parents and our nations.

During the initial time of our current trip (end of July 2016) to our native state of AP, each of the four of us were in the greatest of spirit walking out of the Airport in Hyderabad.  Our children with their widest smile seeing their grand father, my wife and myself happy to see her father and also one of my best friend’s waiting outside the gate to bring us home.  Every time we travel to India, our people embrace us with affection with is certainly native.  It is after all our India.

Sir; if we listen to your Clean India and constant media and internet coverage, the clean part is confined to the international airport.  I must admit that the efficiencies in handling incoming passengers as one of the best in the world.  This is our first trip to India since your stewardship.  Since the time we stepped out of the airport and for about a week, there is absolutely not a single place I can find for the common man to feel clean.  The only place that has remained without trash is far from human habitation.  My overnight journey in pouring rain from Hyderabad to my home town was only comfortable inside the bus.  The call of nature was absolute in the middle of the trip, and along with other men I had no choice but to relive myself in the middle of nowhere in the rain, and pitch dark.  The women and the little girls on the bus, none of them were able to do what men could do.  Sir; this is the most cruel and most primitive way of life bestowed upon the people we love and cherish.  During the course of the week in India my nine year old girl and my wife had to endure the same discomfort again and again.  There is no choice of words that will comfort them from the indignity.  A simple call of nature in private is not possible and India is shining?

This was the same in 1981 and perhaps much more crude and uncomfortable in 2016.  You sir have chosen a life to be single, and perhaps with your stature will never experience this demeaning and unfathomable life experience of a husband and father.  You are very fortunate.

Irrespective of the experience, our love for family, friends and county will never be diminished, but your constant pronouncements on what you tell the world and the real India today don’t even come close to each other.  Although my experience has been limited to my small family, I am sure that except for people who travel in luxury, the humiliation endured by common man is for the vast majority of our nation.  Your words constantly reflect a positive approach to the most basic need in a human being, but there is nothing that shows that India has even taken a single step to allow our women the dignity with basic need.  Why do you want to promote GIRL CHILD, when the girl can’t attend a call of nature?

You should seriously stop lecturing, promoting and speaking of women’s empowerment.  You should start demanding every level of government to make sure no women must wait to go home to attend to the call of nature.  Forget your international diplomacy, forget your military spending, forget your infrastructure plans, and forget your politics, all of which have done nothing new with your administration.  Just focus on our women and dignity they deserve.  If you simply put our women’s dignity first in all your politics, you will become the best head of state to represent a democracy in this century.

Your clean India initiative and the enormous media coverage with fancy names posing with brooms has been just that.  The effort to clean has not reached anywhere, and the nation has become a huge garbage dump.

Your party has volunteers around the nation, and their primary mission at your direction can be to foster a Clean India that will translate to Girl Power.  You can do it.  Let this not be limited to inside the international terminal.

There is not one positive comment I have on your clean India drive.  Outside of your impeccable attire and your constant advertising there is no clean India.  Please direct every state and local politician and official, all BJP volunteers to deliver a clean India.  Make this your only mission for the rest of your time in power.  Allow my children, all children enjoy their neighborhood.  Let women travel without embarrassment and discomfort.

You will see that there will be no greater political power than that of the nation’s women supporting you for making sure of their basic need becoming priority of the nation.  After all these years of independence, its time to put our women first, and you Sir, work on it now and make sure everyone of our women the dignity.  I am 100% sure you will never be voted out of office, if women’s dignity is on the top of your politicking.  I urge you to make it your government’s only initiative, which will lead our great country into the greatest prosperity.  Just remember our women are our Lakshmi.  Jai Hind.