Wednesday, December 30, 2020

the vaccine does not categorically protect you from covid, admits WHO

there are ifs, thens, and buts. 

caveat emptor.

and no, it's not back to business as usual soon as you get a jab or two.

Quick notes: 2021 resolution | Permaculture...

  • 2021 resolution: replace foreign products with local ones: “Think of things manufactured abroad that have permeated into our lives unknowingly, in a way, shackling us down. Let us find out their substitutes made in India and decide that henceforth we shall use products made with the hard work and sweat of the people of India. ”


  • Amazon wins by ‘steamrolling’ smaller rivals: No competitor is too small to draw Amazon’s sights. It cloned a line of camera tripods that a small outside company sold on Amazon’s site, hurting the vendor’s sales so badly it is now a fraction of its original size, the little firm’s owner said. Amazon said it didn’t violate the company’s intellectual-property rights.

    Amazon set its sights on Allbirds Inc., the maker of popular shoes using natural and recycled materials, and last year launched a shoe called Galen that looks nearly identical to Allbirds’ bestseller—without the environmentally friendly materials and selling for less than half the price.

    Allbirds Co-CEO Joey Zwillinger commented on the situation stating: “You can’t help but look at a trillion-dollar company putting their muscle and their pockets and their machinations of their algorithms and reviewers and private-label machine all behind something that you’ve put your career against. You have this giant machine creating all these headwinds for us.”


  • No one bigger than the Party: China launches anti-monopoly investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba. “There is an underlying political message, that no company, and no individual, can grow so big in China to the point where they can potentially challenge the authority of the CCP”.


  • Joe Biden RAGE: EU goes around USA for China investment deal. “It’s just mind-boggling that the EU would even consider rushing to agree an investment pact with Beijing weeks before Biden takes office after claiming for several years that they wanted transatlantic cooperation on China.” . . . Any Chinese signature on human rights is not worth the paper it is written on.


  • Permaculture for Wastelands: Narsanna and Padma Koppula show the way



  • Drones in farm sector: Agriculture scientists recommend application of insecticide at rootzone, which is very difficult, when the crop has grown to a certain height. However using drones, it is possible to effectively apply the insecticide at the root level.

    “When the drone is hovering above the crop, just like a helicopter producing wind while landing, there will be wind, which results in spreading effect in the crops, making it convenient for application of the insecticide at the root-level”. Most importantly, the dosage of the pesticide or insecticide can be reduced by 35 to 40 per cent


  • Right To Breathe: Children are more affected by pollution than adults because their lungs are not fully developed. Compare lung sizes of Indian and US children, you’ll know who air pollution affects most. Asthma among children has become commonplace and most households need inhalers and nebulisers for the young and elderly to get through the highly polluted winter months in northern India.


  • The Meat Paradox: Do you think animal torture is evil? Many people who would strongly disagree, in principle, with animal cruelty also eat meat that has been raised in terrible conditions. When we say one thing but do another, or hold inconsistent beliefs, psychologists call it cognitive dissonance.


  • Sialkot, Pakistan: Almost 70% of the world's soccer balls are made here


Detailed program of Phase-II of WAVES 2020


sorry the attachments get lost, but most of the information is in this email body. 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: WAVES CONFERENCE <wavesconference2020@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 30, 2020 at 10:00 PM
Subject: Fwd: Press note on Phase-I & Detailed program of Phase-II of WAVES 2020
To:


Namaste!

The WAVES 2020 Conference is a joint conference between the World Association for Vedic Studies(WAVES International), Wider Association for Vedic Studies (WAVES India), Hindu Students Council of the USA, and SVYASA University of Bangalore.

This is the 14th in the series of bi-annual conferences for WAVES International, and the 24th in the series of annual conferences for WAVES India. The conference utilized a virtual online format, which was a first for WAVES. It was attended by over 600 remote attendees, which is quite a bit more than the in
person WAVES conferences. The main theme of this conference is 'Impact of Vedic Wisdom on the World Today'. The conference just concluded the first of its three phases. This first phase consisted of the following.

1. 34 academic papers presented by scholars from various disciplines. The papers were delivered in Sanskrit, Hindi and English. The scholars represented students working towards their Phd degrees, Professors and college teachers, and other Research scholars. The research papers had a common theme. They dove into the Vedas to extract learning in the areas of Hydrology, Plant biology, Health and wellbeing, Music therapy, education, astrology, morality, consciousness etc.

WHO changes its definitions as it suits China

WHO changes its tune as it's convenient. typical chinese style. 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: V
Subject: Brilliant
To: Indic 


--

malayalam dance: uma-rama samvadam :-)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18gm5ECBlMJWjDO6bUJ5qQA-I4zc1tHTu/view?usp=sharing

Devis Parvati and Lakshmi quarrel by making sly comments about their husband-deities, and then make up and wish each other and all of us well on this important day: thiruvathira, the day celebrating Devi Parvati’s fast for Him. (Some say it celebrates their wedding day). 

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

that obscure object of desire: the 'i am vaccinated' QR code


Pushback on Xi’s Vision for China Spreads Beyond U.S. - The Wall Street Journal.

Pushback on Xi's Vision for China Spreads Beyond U.S. https://www.wsj.com/articles/pushback-xi-china-europe-germany-beyond-u-s-11609176287 

Cisco Systems Pulls Back From Smart City Push - The Wall Street Journal.

Beijing’s Bigger Honey Trap - The Wall Street Journal.

These Tech Companies Are Paying Workers the Same Rates Across U.S. - The Wall Street Journal.

India's wuhanvirus vaccine plans

forwarded as received. no guarantee of authenticity.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OsF2YQMIdJX4lmtjPnvFJFgNGN_cnq8K/view?usp=sharing

fortunately, no mRNA vaccines like pfizer and moderna. small mercies.

but clearly some vaccine is going to be rolled. i hope it is the dead-virus covaxin from bharat biotech, not the adenovirus vector astra zeneca. i read the lancet paper on the astra zeneca/oxford/serum institute of india vaccine and was underwhelmed. it was full of holes.

here's the lancet paper: apparently, the "academic authors retained editorial control". 

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32661-1/fulltext


The self-hating prophecy of Hindu elites

 https://theemissary.co/the-self-hating-prophecy-of-indian-elites/

Why don't Hindu Americans stand up for Hindus (though they will for everybody else)?

what is it, self-hate, empty tolerance, cowardice? or propaganda by the nehruvian stalinist state that has been deeply internalized?

https://theemissary.co/why-hindu-americans-dont-stand-up-for-hindus/

Nikkei Asia best of 2020



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Nikkei Asia <nikkeiasia-ot@noreturn.nikkei.info>
Date: Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 9:02 AM
Subject: Our best of 2020
To: 


Trouble viewing this email? View in a browser

Our most read articles in 2020

December 29, 2020

Date of the Mahabharata War. On the date of Kaliyuga -- Jayasree Saranathan



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: kalyan 
Date: Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 8:32 AM
Subject: Date of the Mahabharata War. On the date of Kaliyuga -- Jayasree Saranathan
To:


Friday, December 25, 2020

Validating the Traditional date of Mahabharata War: Determining the date of Kali Yuga (Part 1)

On this auspicious day of Vaikuntha Ekadasi when Vishnu, the Atman, as the Sun in his chariot in Margashira, instructs the self, in the nature of the Moon, having taken refuge at His feet, let Jayam springs up from this upavāsa.

nārāyaṇaṃ namaskṛtya naraṃ caiva narottamam
      devīṃ sarasvatīṃ caiva tato jayam udīrayet

 

The date of Mahabharata War is as contentious as the war itself!

The date, already embedded within the Itihāsa, is lost from sight due to various causes, the important one being our lack of knowledge of the features of the calendar system in vogue ever since Krishna left his mortal coils. The Kali Maha Yuga calendar started since then. Thirty five years before that, the Mahabharata war was fought. This offers the best hint to arrive at the year of the war which can be cross-checked with the astronomy references found in the text.

Here comes the next issue of locating the astronomy positions precisely. We are not able to locate the astronomy positions concurring with the date derived from the Kali date and we fail to understand the cause for it. The only external element being the simulator in use, we fail to probe that external element but instead start finding fault with the verses or manipulate the verses of Mahabharata.

These two issues are to be resolved– Kali Yuga date and the precise astronomy positions - before I begin decoding the verses to validate the Traditional date of the war.  

Kali Yuga date forms the basis for deriving the date of Mahabharata war.

The Threat of Authoritarianism in the U.S. is Very Real, and Has Nothing To Do With Trump



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Glenn Greenwald <greenwald@substack.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 28, 2020 at 9:34 PM
Subject: The Threat of Authoritarianism in the U.S. is Very Real, and Has Nothing To Do With Trump
To: 


The COVID-driven centralization of economic power and information control in the hands of a few corporate monopolies poses enduring threats to political freedom. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The Threat of Authoritarianism in the U.S. is Very Real, and Has Nothing To Do With Trump

The COVID-driven centralization of economic power and information control in the hands of a few corporate monopolies poses enduring threats to political freedom.

(L-R): Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY,TOBIAS SCHWARZ,ANGELA WEISS,MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Asserting that Donald Trump is a fascist-like dictator threatening the previously sturdy foundations of U.S. democracy has been a virtual requirement over the last four years to obtain entrance to cable news Green Rooms, sinecures as mainstream newspaper columnists, and popularity in faculty lounges. Yet it has proven to be a preposterous farce.

In 2020 alone, Trump had two perfectly crafted opportunities to seize authoritarian power — a global health pandemic and sprawling protests and sustained riots throughout American cities — and yet did virtually nothing to exploit those opportunities. Actual would-be despots such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán quickly seized on the virus to declare martial law, while even prior U.S. presidents, to say nothing of foreign tyrants, have used the pretext of much less civil unrest than what we saw this summer to deploy the military in the streets to pacify their own citizenry.

Monday, December 28, 2020

Fwd: The Contributions of Hindus to Humanity



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'Vishal Agarwal' via
Below is the link to the video of the 5th talk that I did for HHFA: "The Contributions of Hindus to Humanity".


Vishal Agarwal

--

Fwd: The Feminine in Hindu Traditions



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'Vishal Agarwal' via INDICA <IndicAcademy@googlegroups.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 28, 2020 at 8:56 AM
Subject: The Feminine in Hindu Traditions
To: INDICA <indicacademy@googlegroups.com>


Below is the link to my video presentation on "The Feminine in Hindu Tradition" delivered on 26th December 20' for the Hindu Heritage Foundation of America.



Vishal Agarwal

--

Friday, December 25, 2020

E-souvenir and Final Detailed Program WAVES 2020 Conference from 25 Dec. 2020 to 3 Jan. 2021



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: kalyan
Date: Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 1:02 PM
Subject: E-souvenir and Final Detailed Program WAVES 2020 Conference from 25 Dec. 2020 to 3 Jan. 2021
To:


Namaste! Enjoy some talks on Indian history, chronology of Mahabharata and the Vedas, treatment of women in Hindu dharma etc. Please browse the schedule. 

Free to join. Links to join are provided.

 

Please receive FINAL detailed schedule (click on this link) https://drive.google.com/file/d/11CYr00Vc1fk1SZxVmEXHJlzOTx6pBcek/view?usp=sharing of sessions of the program of WAVES 2020 with ZOOM link for all the six days and also attached is E- Souvenir ( with Messages and Abstracts) which will be formally released during the Inauguration on 25th Dec., first day of conference.

 

Kindly join with this Zoom link - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85868554031

 

Also, please note –

 

Watch Nadi, the Pulse of Ayurveda



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Soft power <info@indica.org.in>
Date: Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 5:55 PM
Subject: Watch Nadi, the Pulse of Ayurveda
To: 


View this email in your browser
 
 
   
 
 
 

Softpowermag
                                                         Friday, December 25, 2020
____________________________________________________

From The Editor

Aparna M Sridhar
____________________________________________________
The best of Softpowermag
____________________________________________________

Watch

Dear readers
 
The year 2020 came very close to resembling a Samudra Manthana, churning the whole world out of its senses. It remains to be seen if out of this churning we can capture the essence of Ayurveda, the Science of Life.
 
On  December 20th, at the outset of the Winter Solstice, Ayushman 2020 ended with a short film - Nadi: The Balance of the Elements. Dr Ramkumar of AVP Research Foundation, co-organisers of Ayushman, spoke (https://youtu.be/yPH6o5XsTpU) about the significance of Lord Dhanvantari emerging from the ocean. The devas represent Bhakti, the universal unconditional love or the element of positivity in humans. The asuras represent our emotions and all the negative aspects of the mind. The ocean represents our mind and the mountain used to churn this ocean is buddhi. The snake Vasuki used as a rope represents relentless practice.
 
 "When the mind is continuously churned by the discerning intellect through continuous practice, all the visha of ahamkara, of ego, comes out," says Dr Ramkumar. When the ego is discarded, Dhanvantri emerges with the elixir of life. This theme is a continuation of Rukmini Vijayakumar's last film Namami Yoga Vidye where she slays the Ego, to unite with the Devi within. 
 
Nadi: The Balance of the Elements began with these ideas but were taken to another realm by Smt Rukmini Vijayakumar, in whom CSP has found a like-minded ally and performer par excellence.
Do read more on the background of the film, a review by Sowmya  Ayyar. and absolutely do not miss the film.
 
Here are Rukmini's thoughts on balance in Art and Life:
 
We wish all our readers on an auspicious Vaikunta Ekadasi and Gita Jayanti.
 

Aparna

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
Our mailing address is:
501, Pooja Pride, 75 Srinagar Colony, Hyderabad - 500 073


Andaman & Nicobar Islands: Our Gibraltar

China Seeks 'Loan Guarantee' from Pakistan

Canada's Govt Covers Up ISI Assassination of Baloch Activist

Baloch independence activist Karima Baloch has died under mysterious circumstances, with her body being found floating in a lake. These are very similar circumstances to the death of another Baloch activist in Sweden, Sajid Hussain, whose body was found floating in a river. In contrast to going out of their way to intervene on the issue of protesting farmers in India, Canadian authorities including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said there was no wrongdoing associated with Karima Baloch's death. How did they come to rule out wrongdoing so quickly?




Thursday, December 24, 2020

Quick notes: Export zones | Neo-pagans...

  • A case for e-commerce export zones: Making Indian products available to the international customer at the click of a button would be an effective push to ‘Make in India’ as ECEZs become the gateway to ‘Make for the World’.


  • Modern-Day Pagans Celebrate Ancient Gods: Many are reacting to a childhood religion they found inadequate or oppressive.. They avoid “churchy” language as much as possible because it “can be a very big turnoff for people who were angry at their past religious affiliation... “As the Millennial generation enters adulthood, its members display much lower levels of religious affiliation, including less connection with Christian churches, than older generations.”


  • Islam cannot bind: Millions of Muslim migrants in Pakistan hope for path to citizenship


  • Karima Mehrab Baloch: Missing human rights activist who had fled Pakistan found dead in Toronto. She was a vocal critic of human rights abuses in Pakistan and a supporter of autonomy for Balochistan. Earlier this year, Sajid Hussain, founder and chief editor of The Balochistan Post, was found dead in the Fyris River near Uppsala, Sweden.


  • US Congress passes landmark bill in support of Tibet: It will pave the way for the U.S. to issue economic and visa sanctions against any Chinese officials who interfere with the succession of the Dalai Lama, and will require China to allow Washington to establish a consulate in Lhasa — the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region – before Beijing can open any more consulates in the U.S.


  • VerSe: Indian TikTok copycat gets Google, Microsoft backing in $100 million fund raise. VerSe also owns news and content platform Dailyhunt, which offers content in multiple Indian languages.


  • Castor Oil Benefits, Side Effects, Dose: It acts as tonic, laxative and helps in rejuvenation. It is also useful in relieving worm infestation, Abdominal colic, intermittent fever, skin diseases, Rheumatoid arthritis, hemorrhoids with hard stool problem and constipation.


WAVES 2020 from dec 25th


Wednesday, December 23, 2020

the coming water wars

17 countries, of which india is one, face water stress

manushi on the judicial system: a satire or an expose, as you wish

abhaya case sentences

1. 'father' kottoor
2. 'sister' seffi 

both life imprisonment for murder. 

why is the secular BBC celebrating a sectarian festival?

you see, it's ok if whites or christians celebrate their religious festivals. it's only not ok if browns or hindus celebrate theirs. got it?

vatican says vaccine morally acceptable even if it uses aborted foetuses

this is called expediency.


malayalam poet, activist smt sugathakumari passes away

om shantih: shantih: shantih:🙏🙏🙏 may she attain sadgati

respected poet and activist smt sugathakumari passed away from COVID.

she was well known for her poetry, environmental and womens' rights activism.  

she was 86. my family knew hers quite well. she lived in trivandrum/

$600 per head in US stimulus: demand-generation

though i think the earlier $1200 was mostly saved by people rathetr than spent, iirc.

reminded of the old song, "money for nothing, and the chicks for free" from dire straits (1985).


pulse oximeters don't work well on darker skin. affects us also


today sentencing in sister abhaya case

yesterday, after 28 years, special CBI court found padre godman kottoor and nun seffi guilty in the murder of then 19 year old sister abhaya in a kerala convent 1992. she was found in a well. the local police destroyed evidence with a hasty cremation of her viscera. crime branch ruled it a suicide. a christian HC judge interfered with the forensic lab in bangalore but an activist joemon, a passerby who was the only witness (raju), persevered; and several CBI investigations later, kottoor, seffi and another padre puthrakkayil confessed under sodium pentathol that they were in flagrante delicto (3-way) in the kitchen at 3am and poor abhaya witnessed it. so seffi beat her over the head with an axe handle and dumped her in the well. but CJI balakrishnan ruled that narco analysis was unconstitutional, so it became a mistrial. now yet another CBI case has convicted them (puthrakkayil got off as the case against him was considered inadequate). sensational case: justice delayed. abhaya's parents died waiting for justice for her. 

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

2nd generation theme for the blog

what do you guys think, pagan and san? is this better than the previous template? this one is very sparse, but all the stories get only the same amount of real estate on the landing page. leave your comments and then we'll decide on whether to go with (a) the old them, or (b) this new theme.

--
sent from xiaomi redmi note 5, so please excuse brevity and typos

mckinsey report on india aug 2020

dec 22nd is srinivasa ramanujan's birthday

extraordinary results, doubtless the result of divine inspiration:


--
sent from xiaomi redmi note 5, so please excuse brevity and typos

Bannon Outlines China's Game, Wants Independent Investigation of Biden's China Ties

Bannon outlines China's strategy and game in establishing hegemony over the world.

Bannon wants an independent special prosecutor appointed to investigate corrupt dealings between the Biden family and the Chinese govt. He also wants a separate special prosecutor appointed to separately investigate possible election fraud in the 2020 US elections.


Bannon wants Trump to appoint these investigators before he leaves office, to put in place the means to expose Biden and have him thrown out of office. Biden could just as easily fire such investigators once he's in the Whitehouse, but that could provide grounds for an impeachment vote against him, if the Republicans control the US Senate. And that's part of the reason why the election races for 2 US Senate seats going on in Georgia right now are occupying so much attention, with both US parties spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Those 2 US Senate seats hold the balance of power, making the difference between a Republican-controlled Senate vs a Democrat-controlled one. Since Democrats would already be controlling the lower house of Congress as well as the Whitehouse, then victory in Georgia would give Democrats control over all 3 branches of govt. At that point, the China lobby would be able to do anything they want, while side-lining the US military and security establishments. This could leave India very vulnerable and exposed to China's predations.

india police foundation is not an official body but an NGO with dicey connections

Monday, December 21, 2020

US Congressional Leaders All Have China Ties

Never knew how extensively and systematically China has targeted the US political establishment for infiltration:


They don't bother with lobbying firms - they're operating on a whole different level.

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Quick notes: iPhone assembly | Solid-state battery...

  • 12-hour shifts, no overtime: Wistron's labor law violations in Indian iPhone assembly plant

    > "Wistron, Foxconn and Pegatron all have huge rounds of employee loss during Chinese new year as people go home and never come back due to dissatisfaction and my guess is they expected the same outside China instead of workers actually protesting"

     > "Amazing how much profit *doesn't* go to the actual employees"

    > Deniability: “It’s not our business; they’re not our employees. We will investigate.”

    > It’s bad enough that Apple is using slave labor in China, that will not be tolerated in a freer country like India. Beyond that the wages highlight just how low Apple will go to enhance margins.


  • Jagdeep Singh, founder and CEO at QuantumScape: Electric car battery startup is on the cusp of changing the industry.


  • Energy bonus: Tiny nuclear reactors yield a huge amount of clean hydrogen


  • Kalmane Kamegowda: Indian shepherd combats water scarcity by building ponds. He spent at least $14,000 from his and his son’s earnings to dig a chain of 16 ponds on a picturesque hill near his village in Karnataka. During rainy season, these tanks get filled with water and serve as reservoirs for birds and other forest animals during the summer.


  • A story of inappropriate technology: Excellent thread.


  • Death by fertilizers: India is the top urea producer in the world, accounts for 44.42% of the world's urea production.


  • E-commerce scams: Chinese hackers targeted Indians with e-shopping scams. They created bogus links and asked internet users to click on them to participate in online contests and win prizes


  • Bilateral swaps’ further China’s global footprint: The swap line encourages partners to increase reliance on Chinese goods and RMB loans to buy them, enhancing thereby its economic influence. It also furthers the goal of internationalising the RMB and establishing it as an alternative reserve currency.


  • The Power of Now: The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present.


Fwd: Big blow to Make-in-India: Apple puts riot-hit supplier Wistron on probation


pretty sad. 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: ETtech News Alert <newsletter@ettech.com>
Date: Sat, Dec 19, 2020 at 4:21 PM
Subject: Big blow to Make-in-India: Apple puts riot-hit supplier Wistron on probation
To: <travancore@gmail.com>


View in Browser
/ Alert

Hello everyone,

In a major development, Apple has put one of its key supplier Wistron on probation, dealing a severe blow to the government's Make-in-India plans.


Apple

This comes on the back of the violence last Saturday when thousands of employees created unrest in Wistron's facility in Kolar district over unpaid dues.


Holding the company's vice-president who oversees the business in India responsible, Wistron said, the person has been removed from the job.


The rapid expansion stretched the company's systems and sapped the bandwidth of its management team, one of the people said.
Thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

© 2020 Times Internet Limited



--
thanks
rajeev

sent from xiaomi redmi note 5 phone, so please excuse brevity and typos