Evangelists try to conquer Silicon Valley: Many in the tech-Christian nexus are vocal Trump supporters – or at least sceptical of the more excessive liberal tendencies of Silicon Valley.
Christianity Was “Borderline Illegal” in Silicon Valley: To have two of the world’s richest technologists, worth a recently estimated $400 billion (Elon Musk) and $14 billion (Peter Thiel), speak admiringly about biblical teachings challenges the view that Christianity is anti-capitalist or even anti-intellectual.
Antichrist, who knew! Peter Thiel, the gay billionaire Christian evangelist CEO of Palantir is spreading the word about the rise of the Antichrist. This week, Thiel launched the first of a four-part lecture series about the Dark Lord.
"Moral crisis in tech industry": The Silicon Valley Christians Who Want to Build ‘Heaven on Earth’
Meanwhile...: AI Startup Founders Tout a Winning Formula—No Booze, No Sleep, No Fun... going San Francisco-sober to 'lock in' for 'grind mode'
Trump is seduced by Asim Munir ;) "We have a great leader coming, the prime minister of Pakistan and the field marshal. Field marshal is a very great guy, and so is the prime minister, both, and they're coming, and they may be in this room right now," Trump said. . . . Why Is The US So Fond Of Asim Munir?
The Stupidity of GDP per Capita: What does GDP NOT tell us?
Ye nahi sudhrega: India seeks people access in US trade talks after H-1B visa row. . . . . "the less Modi talks of the H1B visa the better. Everybody and his proverbial uncle in the leadership circles in the US and the West has about had it with the Indian PM’s pleadings to let in more Indian engineers and science grads as a way of pleasing his middle class voter base".
Lobbyists win: Govt does U-turn on e-commerce policy after aggressive lobbying by MNCs. The sharp reversal comes barely a week after the govt had explicitly restricted private labels being sold by e-marketplaces.
Unsafe nuns of India: The Associated Press blows the lid off decades-long sexual abuse of nuns by Catholic priests in India. The nuns AP interviewed—some decades younger than their abusers—described the fear of retribution and being isolated or even expelled from their community, which forced them to avoid making official complaints. “It’s a fear of being isolated if I speak the truth. If you do that, you have to go against your own community, your own religious superiors.”
English is the albatross that's strangling India. It's making us think of ourselves as second hand imitations of the west. For heaven's sake, our journos talk of 'blue-eyed boy' (a freak in India!) or 'christened' (we just name kids) https://t.co/xlTRg5RHh5
The Keto Diet, Explained: We are fueled primarily by glucose, or blood sugar, much of which we derive from carbohydrates in foods like bread, fruit, potatoes, and sweets. If glucose levels in the blood drop to really low levels, we’d pass out and die. But, interestingly, the body can’t store much glucose — only enough to last a couple of days. So if we forgo eating carbs for a few days, we need other ways to keep going. One of those is a process called ketogenesis. In ketogenesis, our livers start to break down fat into a usable energy source called ketones bodies, or ketones for short. “Organs like the brain that normally rely primarily on glucose for fuel can begin to use a substantial amount of ketones. So ketones can stand in for glucose as fuel for the body when there’s a glucose shortage. It’s an amazing physiological adaption to starvation that allows tissues like the brain to survive”.
Chang'e-4 rover now exploring Moon: The far side could be an excellent place to perform low-frequency radio astronomy, because it is shielded from the radio noise of Earth.
Church planting: All Nations, the group that backed a missionary’s trip to Andaman, claims that every year, its representatives train around 3,500 missionaries in 35 cities to learn “church planting,” so that “churches rapidly multiply through people groups” across the world.
Why haven't Indian authorities filed criminal charges as yet against the U.S.-based All Nations missionary agency that broke Indian laws in sending evangelist John Allen Chau to his death? His exploits may have imperiled a highly endangered tribe's future. https://t.co/o4GMU4wSBa
S Gurumurthy shaking up RBI: "Shift the West-centric narrative into a world-centric and Asia-inclusive one".
Remembering UPA: The Praful Patel Guide to destroying Air India
OK to have spiders at home: Spiders regularly capture nuisance pests and even disease-carrying insects. If you truly can’t stand that spider, instead of smashing it, try to capture it and release it outside.
Murder??? Wait, what?! Christian Colonizers Demand Justice for Christian Who Attempted to Colonize an Indigenous Tribe
Leave the Sentinelese alone: The quality of life among the Sentinelese and others is not “primitive” and is very refined. When a tribal Jarawa gives a gift to anothers, something like a bow and arrow or a shell-necklace or some food, the gift-giver presents the gift with great reverence. The other man does not take it straightaway. He takes his own time. Are we like this? Social mores are such that an individual knows that when he commits a wrong, he has to punish himself. There is no tribal chief, council or panchayat to enforce anything. Such an individual isolates himself. The community indicates its disapproval by not looking at him, not talking to him. If food is in short supply, they will share. Nobody starves. If there is plenty, they will feast. Those who bring a hunted turtle, wild boar or honey, do not advertise their claims over it. Selfishness is unknown. The clans follow monogamy. There are no free-for-all sexual orgies. Close relatives do not marry each other. The absence of attire does not mean anything to them. They believe that the body is nature’s gift and should be treated with respect.
There's been a lot of talk about the missionary killed by the natives of North Sentinel Island. They're probably so aggressive because of this weirdo, Maurice Vidal Portman. So here's a big thread about this creep and some facts from my decade-long obsession with the island. pic.twitter.com/rfOVjfU2ZY
Remembering Swami Lakshmananda on the 10th anniversary of his martyrdom..
The day was Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord
Krishna; a day celebrated across India. A group of
armed men had descended upon the girls school, lobbing grenades and
firing machine guns into the air. The headmistress of the school was
gunned down as she attempted to shield the life of her mentor, the 82
year old monk and founder of the school, Swami Lakshmananda . A visiting
parent along with two junior monks were also killed as the young
students fled for their lives.
Brannon Parker's investigation into the nefarious designs of Maoists and Missionaries in tribal areas:
"A true renaissance man, the late 82 year old Swami Lakshmananda taught
the Tribals organic farming and proper animal care. He opened free day
& night schools for children and adults. He opened free clinics and
accompanied frightened Tribals fighting for their lands to court
hearings and Govt offices. He turned the people from alcoholism towards
productivity. However he was assassinated as he prepared to celebrate
Krishna's Birthday at one of the many free schools he had built.
Kandhamal exploded into violence as the Kandha people reeled under the
shock and terror of the assault.
After my first investigation into the Kandhamal crisis I wrote a 450
page report entitled 'Orissa in the Crossfire-Kandhamal Burning' Read
online here http://www.scribd.com/doc/34732553/OR...
I went back for a follow up investigation in 2011. What follows is Part 1
of over 13 HOURS OF INTERVIEWS, unedited and raw. These are not
interviews with merely the experts alone but are first-hand accounts
from the native tribal people themselves. Hear them share their direct
testimony and recollections of events as they actually happened. Learn
of the ongoing efforts to dis-inherent them from their lands, their
cultures and in many cases their very lives.
This investigation includes a 3 hr interview with the late Justice S C
Mohapatra, who headed the Commission probing the 2008 Kandhamal
violence, interviews with Orissa Govt Minister and KandhaTribal Manoj
Pradhan and Kandha Tribal Chief Lambodar Kanhar among other community
leaders.
Odisha, Commonly known as Orissa, has a history going back thousands of
years, Odisha was once an ancient maritime power that conducted trade
from Rome to Japan. To this day festivals like Bali Yatra and Japan's
Ulumbana Festival remain as testaments to Odisha's ancient and broad cultural influence.
Odisha is home to a majority of India's Tribal people. The Kandha people
of Odisha are one of India's major tribal groups and they are centered
in the Kandhamal District. This region of Kandhamal was once home to
some of the most ancient Shiva and Buddhist temples and monasteries in
the world. The famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Huen Tsang traversed the
Kandhamal trail on his way to the Buddhist sites of Bihar in the year
436 AD.
Regrettably Orissa's indigenous cultures have long been the target of
various vested interests. In recent times foreign funded Maoists terror
groups and foreign religious groups have ravaged the social fabric of
the region. Recognizing the ongoing threats to the tribal people various
Hindu groups and leaders have dedicated their resources towards the
upliftment of India's Tribal communities.
One such Hindu leader was Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati. He Created an
Indigenous Cultural Renaissance in Orissa's Kandhamal District. He
restored many ancient tribal holy places and schools. Swamiji
established Radha Krishna temples throughout the region along with over
380 Kirtan groups.
Swami Lakshmananda stated in a 2008 interview. "I was attacked on
January 26, 1970. I had to hide myself in a school for over three hours.
Nobody came to my rescue. Then I thought that so many Hindus were there
as I was attacked but no one came forward at the time of the attack. It
was then that I vowed to reignite the light of conviction in the hearts
of the Hindus. I established Srimad Bhagavat classes, Radha Krishna
deities and opened evening prayer and choir centers. I taught the people
how to farm properly, how to worship Mother Cow and how to protect the
forests."
He was later assassinated as he prepared for Janmashtami celebrations in
August 2008 by Maoists and Christian Terrorists at a Girl's School he
founded.The day chosen for his assassination was also seen as an
intentional provocation. The day was Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord
Krishna; a day celebrated across India. The location of the
assassination also caused great anguish to the tribes people. A group of
armed men had descended upon the girls school, lobbing grenades and
firing machine guns into the air. The headmistress of the school was
gunned down as she attempted to shield the life of her mentor, the 82
year old monk and founder of the school, Swami Lakshmananda . A visiting
parent along with two junior monks were also killed as the young
students fled for their lives. Orissa was stunned and the entire State
went into mourning.
The World Remained Silent and instead focused on the predictable
response of his enraged followers-The Kandha Tribals-the most warlike
tribe in Indian history. I was able to expose the false narrative that
had been developed by the media. The US State Dept revised its take on
the crisis in conjunction with my report stating, 'The underlying causes
that led to the violence have complex ethnic, economic, religious, and
political roots related to land ownership and government-reserved
employment and educational benefits.'
Never say ”rape”; say “inappropriate contact”: The Catholic Church’s way of covering up abuse... If a predator’s conduct becomes known to the community, transfer him to a new location where no one will know he is a child abuser.
Turkey today, India tomorrow..? Seeking Brunson’s release has been a major cause for the powerful
evangelical community in America and Trump needs all the help he can get
from the Christian right.
Anti-Gadgil campaign proved disastrous for Kerala: “The church was spreading rumours and was engaged in fear mongering during the anti-Gadgil campaign. The MP who took a bold stand in favor of the report had to face the ire of the church and did not contest again. Joice George of the anti-Gadgil campaign contested and won the elections in 2014 from Idukki.. Pick all the operative parts of the Gadgil report and implement them in toto. Or else disaster is round the corner.”
Countries that have implemented environment protection projects have developed economically- this nonsense argument that environment protection hampers development has to stop. Kerala flood havoc was called for: Madhav Gadgil https://t.co/ZivRb2foOD
Turning blessing into curse: Kerala had lost 906,440 hectares of forest land between 1973 and 2016. This was more than 50% of the present forest area. The Modi govt is yet to take a call on the reports of the two committees.
Silent Valley -- testimony of an ecological triumph:
When the Kerala govt sent its minister to Delhi in
1976 to get clearance for the hydel project that would submerge 240 sq
km of area along the Western Ghats that formed one of the most
ecologically diverse forests on the planet, one man's telegram saved the
copious forest. Dr V.S. Vijayan, then a scientist at Kerala Forest
Research Institute, sent a telegram to the Union Power Ministry to put
on hold the sanction till the KFRI ecological impact report was
received. The ministry consented and the rest is history.
When Vajpayee ji lost in 2004, many of us cried a little ...when PM Modi was fighting elections many of us were reminded of mistake made by not working hard enough to get second term for Atal ji. This is what Atal's tenure meant for all of us.
Avoiding Debt Trap: Nepal scraps hydropower deal with Chinese firm... India begins construction of a 900 MW hydro-power project in east Nepal.... Nations beginning to realize the futility of taking loans from China
How Japan dealt with the Christian Threat: When Christians were captured they would be made to renounce their faith and live their lives as Buddhists. The state “wants not martyrs, but apostates. Apostates, better than martyrs, attest the impotence of a religion, especially when those apostates had been apostles of the faith and priests.” After they renounced their faith, priests were forced to take wives as part of their new lives and were constantly monitored by the authorities.
Silverpuram: In a village 3 Km from Sterlite plant, every other house has a cancer patient... From the archives of this blog: Taking away good, fertile, agricultural land for industrial gas-belchers is a bad idea
A brutal Paki reply to Trump: “This is Pakistan giving a small taste of what it’s capable of”... The military-grade explosives, not widely available, used in recent Taliban and ISIS attacks in Afghanistan point to a state sponsor, likely Pak.
India needs more researchers: We need more public funding for research including the creation of a National Foundation for Research in Science, Technology, and Humanities with an annual non-lapsable grant of at least Rs 5000 crore to give research grants on a competitive non-discriminatory basis.
Teenagers no longer use Facebook: Less than half of American internet users between ages 12 and 17 will be using Facebook this year
Free transport: Germany considers plan for free public transport in polluted cities... Environmentalists brought court cases aimed at banning diesels from parts of some city centres. And fears millions of drivers could be affected spurred Merkel into action.
3,000 NGOs get over Rs. 22,000 cr in 2014-15: The highest foreign contribution in 2011-12 was received by the World Vision of India, Tamil Nadu, (Rs. 233 cr), followed by the Believers Church India, Kerala (Rs. 190 cr), Rural Development Trust, Andhra Pradesh (Rs. 144 cr), Indian Society Of Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, Delhi (Rs. 131 cr). Granular data with details of funders and recipients is not available after 2011-12.
Dhanraj Pillay: "During 1994 Asian Games, one minister questioned me about the way I was playing. Those who never held a hockey stick in their life, tried to teach me about the sport. Why is there a need for 40 officials to go for the Olympic Games."
Diverting forest land: Just in the last one month (July, 2016), 240 sq km of forest land is proposed for diversion, based on proposals submitted by state governments.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 34 US lawmakers have expressed “grave concerns” over “increasing intolerance and violence” against members of minority communities in India.
It refers to a June 2014 ban on “non-Hindu religious propaganda,
prayers, and speeches” in their communities imposed by 50 village
councils in Bastar, Chattisgarh, which it says has effectively
“criminalized the practice of Christianity for an estimated 300
Christian families in the region”.
The letter then said the “nearly country-wide beef ban is increasing
tensions and encouraging vigilante violence against the Indian Muslim
community”.
It went on to cite the death of two Sikh men in October during
protests over the desecration of the religion’s holy book, Sri Guru
Granth Sahib.
..Really? How many Sikhs died due to hate crime in the US in recent years.
Concerted campaign by Breaking India forces.
Christian missionaries ideology is based on colonial expansionism
They never gave up dream of ruling the world through religion
Pope Francis on Trump: "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel"
Raagam:
All India Radio launches 24hr audio broadcast channel for classical
music. The channel will be available through Internet and 'free dish'
providing easy accessibility for connoisseurs of art.
Guess who India's largest landowners are: The Catholic Church owns the largest portion of India's non-agricultural land. ... We need a movement to recover some of this.
For India’s middle class, the car is the star: Bureaucrats need to think about how to make public transport attractive to the emerging middle class. That, and not rising car sales, would be a genuine indicator of development and progress.
Diesel engines: Cheating was an 'open secret' at VW.... South Korea to file criminal charges against VW exec.... New Mexico sues Volkswagen over emissions scandal.... No Diesel cars in Paris by 2020. London might ban them too.
"As latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes".
What India needs -- Make-in-India for Dals: Landed prices of imported arhar are now around $ 2,100 per tonne, as against $ 700-800 a year ago. Urad similarly soared from $ 900 to $ 1,850-1,900. This, in an otherwise bearish global market for agri-commodities.
Outflow of high-networth individuals: 61,000 millionaires left India for foreign shores in the past 14 years... Another reason why we should reject "development" that ignores quality of life.
Unconventional President: Here was the son of a devout Muslim who could quote most of the verses from the Tamil classic Tirukurral, played the veena, prayed at temples and was a vegetarian.
Secularism to go from Nepal constitution: The political parties were forced to take a U-turn after millions of people, in their suggestions and feedback on the new constitution, called for the removal of the word "secularism".
From the land of Graham Staines: Church in Australia hid 1000 child sex abusers. Notes relating to abuse claims were destroyed so they would not be discovered.
Return 'Koh-i-Noor' to India: "Pursuing monetary reparations is complex, time consuming and potentially fruitless, but there is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond".
India-Iran gas pipeline: Ultra-deepwater pipelines have only become possible in the last decade or so, with the development of new seafloor mapping technologies, huge deep-sea pipe-laying vessels, and undersea robots or autonomous underwater vehicles that can carry out construction, repair, and maintenance tasks at tremendous depths.
Reversing cataract:Scientists create eye drop that dissolves cataracts with naturally occurring chemical
Will Jaitley succeed in stone-walling this: The court-appointed Special Investigation Team on black money has suggested measures to check inflows through Participatory Notes, which are derivative instruments issued in foreign jurisdictions by an FII against underlying Indian securities.
Are night shifts killing me? There has been a steady stream of studies over recent years that suggests long-term night-working is extremely bad for your health.
Govt against consent of tribals for displacement: The NDA govt is on the verge of passing executive orders that would do away with the veto powers of tribals that protect their fores tlands in most cases.
New Malibu Hybrid with Volt drive train: : Unlike her predecessors, who brought mainly financial backgrounds to the job, Mary Barra, the current CEO of GM, is a qualified engineer and a car geek, fully cognizant of the qualities that Malibu must possess to compete effectively.
Diesel fouls up Delhi air: In 1995, suspended particulate matter in Delhi had hit a high of 409 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre).
In 2000, two years after the CNG verdict, scientists measured the tinier and virtually invisible RSPM for the first time and found the level at 191 µg/m3 — it fell to 161 µg/m3 in 2007.
Then, as sharply as a sudden gasp, from 2008 to be precise, the levels begin to rise and rise. And rise to the current 316 µg/m3, nearly 16 times what is considered healthy by the WHO, and nearly twice that of Beijing, the next most-polluted city in the world.
“Pollutant levels increased for 3 reasons — increase in diesel vehicles, mobile towers which had diesel generating sets, and small scale industries”.
Cancer in the air: The govt has yet to announce any major moves to tackle the issue, although policymakers have suggested restrictions on private vehicles and higher pollution-related taxes.
What Mahabharata Says About Pollution: For a country where rivers have been venerated as goddesses, the levels of pollution in our rivers is alarming.
This is how we deal with potential hardcore terrorists: Hyderabad police foiled the bid by nearly six youth to join IS. In September, cops detained four engineering students from the Old City in Kolkata before they could travel to Syria via Bangladesh to join IS. The youth were handed over to their parents after counselling. Police, however, did not register a case against them. Later, a former Google employee was held for having connections with the terrorist group. Police also claimed that 15 other youth were discouraged from being attracted towards IS.
Conversion to Christianity is a low-key affair, ghar wapsi is shrill and blunt:
At every home with an ailing member, a “father” would magically appear and promise a full recovery. In return, he would want the family to surrender to Jesus Christ. Medicines would be supplied and once the said recovery was achieved and the family converted, the charity visits would cease. Many converts said they got no help from the “father” during subsequent illnesses. Many other tribals converted through children studying in missionary schools.
Five Layers of Fencing: Saudi Arabia Is Building A 600-Mile 'Great Wall' To Shield Itself From ISIS
How will India respond? China’s earlier-than-expected test flight of the fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter has caught the world defence establishment napping.
Advanced jammers to help Tejas evade enemy radars. The standard Tejas aircraft is equipped with an EW suite produced by Israeli firm Elisra, a unit of Elbit Systems.
