The former President of India, Dr. Kalam, has passed on. He was known as the People's President and Thousands have been pouring in to pay their honors including members of the Indian Parliament and Chief Ministers. The +NDTV said it best: his work was larger than life but his simplicity and love for the people. Our team sent out the live link earlier that +NDTV as live coverage of the State Funeral for him is being held. As we went to press, the Indian Flag was taken off by the Armed Forces Guard of Honor.
We here @ #Outsiders salute him as we say #RIPKalam, the People's President and extend our condoloscenes to the People of India. We leave you with this in tribute to this great man:
The fast and furious nature of the #IranDeal is continuing in the all of the US Congress. On Tuesday, The US Secretary of the State and the US Secretary of the Treasury testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and received a scolding from members of Congress. One Congressman went as far as to question the Secretary of State's commitment to US Security. Secretary Kerry reminded him that he did not need a lecture from him because he's fought and served the United States ever since he got out of College. It must be noted that the Chairman of the Committee, Congressman Royce of California, is one of the staunchest critics of the deal in Congress. The rhetoric that has arisen from the right in the United States has been heartbreaking. A leading Presidential Candidate, Mike Huckabee, said that the deal marched Israel close to the Oven--invoking the Holocaust. He claimed that Jewish Organizations supported this. Yet, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States called the comments inappropriate and others including an Israeli Minister reminded him that the State of Israel was established specifically to insure that such does not happen again. It was also quite interesting how Senator Cruz of Texas noted that this deal will mean that the Obama Administrationwill turn into the biggest sponsor of State Terrorism. Senator Rubio was aggressive in his stance in that the agreement will not be honored by the next US President. Part of the dialogue is fueled by a very aggressive campaign led by AIPAC and others to scuttle the deal. AIPAC, for instance, is sponsoring a trip to Israel during the US Congressional Recess in order to help dissuade Members of Congress from a resolution of approval. What is also lost in all of this is the sentiment on the streets of Iran. Iran truly needs a sense of healing and this was beautifully underscored by an article in the New York Times recently. Iran is still trying to recover from the trauma of the 8-year war with Iraq. Just in July, a mass grave of 175 Divers were discovered who apparently were buried alive with their diving suits on during Operation Karbala in 1986 during an offensive to capture Basra. The funeral in Tehran was attended by thousands. Yet, there continues to be a concerted effort to clamour for war--as epitomized by Governor Walker's declaration that he would initiative military action on Day 1 of his Presidency. In the meantime, though, the World is marching onward. The headline on +i24news EN read "Europe Goes to Iran":
The European Union Foreign Policy Chief's Trip to Tehran underscored this. The French Foreign Minister is also in Tehran and as we went to Press, he noted that President Rouhani has been invited to France in November for a State Visit. As the debate over the #IranDeal continues, +Global Zero produced this clip on the stark choices:
Our team could not help but wonder if reason will prevail.
Cecil was a 13 Year Old Lion who was an icon in Zimbabwe. He was killed by an American Hunter who apparently hired a crew to lure him out of the protected preserve and then killed him with a bow and arrow and finished him off with a Gun. Cecil's beheaded body was then found. The reports we have reviewed talk about this hunter having paid $ 54,000 for the local crew to help with this. This hunter is a practicing Dentist in Minnesota. He apparently does this as a hobby. He said in a statement that he did this legally and he did not know that Cecil was an icon. He says he will cooperate with any investigation that is launched. What our team found ironic was that no investigation was going to bring Cecil back. We here at #Outsiders welcome the aggressive stance taken by authorities in Zimbabwe. They have detained the local crew, suspended the operations of the Safari and are continuing their investigation. We will continue to monitor this over the ensuing weeks and months.
