12/22/2014

Winding Down 2014: A "Newsflash" from India & Thoughts 4 the Day.....

We here throughout #Outsiders have been working to wind down 2014 and gearing up for 2015 as we have been sharing ideas, remembering a rather challenging World before us.   As we work to wind down thoughts on the BRICS, Iran, Rosewater, Daesh and other areas of focus, the one country that has continued to be fascinating is India as epitomized by its' latest round of State Elections.

As we write this, major Indian News outlets including +NDTV & +The Times of India are sending lives feeds of the latest from Jammu and Kashmir and the State of Jharkhand.    The Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the +Bharatiya Janata Party will form governments in both Indian States.    It is of profound significance especially as the +congress party continues to be beaten in States almost 4 months after the elections.   It will be fascinating to see what the Indian Prime Mninister will continue to do with the Regional Strength--although Congress continues to control the Upper House at the "Centre" in Delhi.

As part of our on-going review of the year, we have also been on the prowl to remember and reflect & reaffirm.    On our Facebook Page, these we ran across underscore what will continue to drive us to create, engage and serve as we bid farewell to 2014 and welcome 2015:


    
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12/21/2014

Holidays Are Upon Us: Thoughts 4 the Week-End

Holidays are upon us.    It is a time, be merry and thankful for all our blessings.    It has been ever so a challenging year as well as we have been witness to so much carnage around the World.   The horrific reports of death and destruction we have noted here in the #Outsiders network gives us all a moment of pause.    Yet, a sense of hope and optimism was captured by the distinguished Scholar Professor Dabashi of Columbia as he reminded us all of the beauty of this time:


Post by Hamid Dabashi.


We have to remain hopeful as we celebrate all that is good amongst us as all our brothers and sisters embrace the Winter Solstice, celebrate Hanukkah and celebrate Christmas: 





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12/20/2014

Notations For the Week-End: A Very Challenging Day On the Eve of a New Year....

It is with a heavy heart as we saw reports of two New York City Cops being gunned down while sitting down in their Patrol Car in Brooklyn as we initially saw this on i24News and subsequently by key New York news outlets and beyond:




The Mayor was absolutely right when he noted that when police officers die, it tears at the heart of Society in General.    BBC is reporting that one of the fallen had just gotten married and the other fallen had just turned 40 with his son having turned 14.    The assassin took his own life shortly thereafter.  

 Emotions continue to run high which also came out in what the President of the Police Union noted on how people had blood in their hands--and directly accused the Mayor of New York of being responsible.   Although the emotion is understandable, the need to temper the ram emotions is ever so crucial.    We here at Outsiders extend our profound condolences to the men and women of the New York Police Department and the City of New York. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the fallen on this dark hour.

As we were privy to this grim news, we also saw this image of a Kurdish Peshmerga Fighter kissing the ground as these brave fighters break the siege that the Daesh Merchants of Death had imposed which had forced Yazidis into the mountains: 




But as this is to be celebrated, it was also a further heavy heart as we saw reports of fresh bombings in Baghdad that saw a further 12 people lose their lives.    The UN has reported that a staggering 12,000 people have lost their lives.    We could not help but wonder when, if ever, the peoples of Iraq will see peace:





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