[Goanet] North American Shopping Malls
The Malls - They Are A Hurtin’ Covid has shattered the traditional role of the malls in North American society recreation. They used to be public places where people gathered as an opportunity to get out of the house specially in winter. There was diverse shopping, food courts, bistros and cinema theatres which doubled up as auditoriums. Then several bombs dropped: Mall owners got greedy and increased rents stratospherically. Only stores selling high margin branded clothing could afford them. Like a one trick pony. People increasingly took to internet shopping and clothing stores were forced to roll down their shutters. In the US open robbery and theft became prevalent and in Canada the housing shorting tempted mall owners to use their large parking places to build high-rise, high-profit condominium units. Even some high traffic, once high profit Walmart stores are closing. That should give you an idea. https://youtu.be/IRiHBs62jfE?si=KncIQ-b_BpemiSkz Roland, Toronto.
[Goanet] Watch "Modi’s Failed Economic Policies: Conversation w/Jayant Bhandari! Part 2" on YouTube
Are you thinking that: India is the next China? India is on the way to superpower status? India’s economy rises while all others’ drops? India’s infrastructure development is envious? The standard of living is continuously rising? If your answer is yes, you are a victim of a false story created by the Western Media in America’s new battle against China. Jayant Bhandari advises western capital investors who need true assessments, not fairy tales. Therefore worth listening to every moment of this 90 minute discourse. https://www.youtube.com/live/AM52REUJt_M?si=w74etlBVkgEcd316 Roland.
[Goanet] Greta Dias of Toronto
https://www.thegoan.net/global-goenkar/greta-dias-toronto-goan-seniors%E2%80%99-sunshine/110687.html Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Saving Mel
This appeal has been sent to me by George Pinto of Goa Sudharop in California to distribute so that kind souls can do a simple test and decide to help this Singapore based Goan lady. VERY URGENT APPEAL- Mel, a Goan, has blood cancer. If you are between the ages of 18-40, you can possibly save her life by registering for with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). If you are a match, your donation can save her life. Text Cure to 61474 to register or scan the QR code on the attached flyer. Things to know before joining the registry: 1. You can join the donor registry from anywhere in the world (takes a couple of minutes to join). It costs nothing to join or donate. 2. You will be sent a cheek swab kit which you will send back to the registry. 3. If you are Goan/Asian, you are more likely to be a match. 4. If you are a match, you will be asked to donate blood or marrow, both options are very simple and straightforward. Most important you will be saving a life. Please register immediately and also forward to your contacts/friends/family/social media. Roland Francis Toronto.
[Goanet] Why 500 million Indians Openly Defecate Everyday
https://youtu.be/V35Vw29tay0?si=GP-RkCcbwDu626e0 Modi has far from solved the problem. He touches on problems, never solves them. Roland, Toronto.
[Goanet] Church Burning And Canadian Residential Schools
I was not aware of this Church burning. Indigenous youth are taking a long delayed revenge against the Catholic Church for the history of the Residential Schools. Perhaps some of that anger is directed because in long negotiations years ago, the Church agreed on a compensation amount but has not yet paid it. https://youtu.be/gxkX6NPpe14?si=ytYgb34h1gUBJ_fI Just to be fair, the Catholic Church is not entirely to blame for the Residential Schools mess. It started with the Government in those early days wanting to get young Indian children into the mainstream, educate them and bring them out of the poverty of the tribes and reservations. They did not want to take the trouble or spend the money to do it themselves so they invited the Catholic Church to do it for them. The Church at that time was all-powerful, probably had money and was tempted to come on board so that they could harvest souls and bring the heathens to the fold. Well, they did a bad job of it. They grabbed small children from their parents (with permission of the government) and put them in residential (boarding) schools. There the children had a hard life, were beaten like animals and put to work on church assets. I am not making any apologies for that church behaviour, but all of you who went through a Catholic school and religious education will testify to the sometimes ruthless control exercised over us. And we were not “heathens”. Part of that Church behaviour was probably because the Government didn’t provide the church with any money to do the job they wouldn’t do themselves. So the Indian children suffered, the Church was brought to shame for its unforgivable behaviour and the Canadian Government to this day has got its reputation tarnished internationally for the sordid historical miscarriage of justice. Everybody lost. Roland, Toronto.
[Goanet] The Global Goan Association
Let’s say you are willing to give a free pass to this attempt to bring Goan Overseas Associations together. Let’s say you are willing to give the organizers, specially the Convenor a free hand despite his reputation in Qatar. But I know that when Chief Minister a man of dubious distinction himself, plays a part in this, you will start asking questions and keep a watchful eye. Bear in mind the vague aim of starting an ambiguous project like this. https://youtu.be/KBjUb8xVTa4?si=Ws4WUVZiyfW_dCE0 Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Winter Creeping In
Northern US and Canada will be under a chilly spell this weekend and for the coming week. That means upto minus 20 C for Toronto. Our pleasant weather is now at an end and winter is telling us “Hey guys I missed you, but I’m back. That means crack open the Feni bottles for those who have them (nothing like cashew feni to heat your insides) or some Maciera as Plan B and some Goan comfort food. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Sawant Scams in Goa Exposed
https://youtu.be/EOWJ_E8wDUE?si=62S5lSqxgf15izFy Click on Settings to get English subtitles. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Coronary Disease and Goa
Written by a friend and Goanet member who wishes anonymity. Coronary heart disease. We have not recovered yet from the news of the passing of a much admired Margao resident member of our forum. Summer heat can stress the heart, a phenomenon that now engulfs the rest of the year, thanks to global warming. So to avoid the heat, it is advisable to spend afternoons indoors in a cool room. Cold water drinks are a big help with keeping temperatures down. Your doctor may suggest medications like statin drugs if blood cholesterol levels warrant it. We as a group opt for fish over meat which helps. Whole milk is best avoided, God created it for baby cows. I may skip my annual trips to tropical Goa in future. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] E-readers were supposed to kill printed books. Instead, they're booming
FN should be happy. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/costofliving/print-books-thrive-despite-e-readers-1.7056731 Roland Francis 416-453-3371
[Goanet] Cancel The Pope & The UNO
The Pope wants to make changes but either he is opposed tooth and nail at consultative time or a clique of cardinals and bishops with their own agenda, ignore those changes when implementation time comes. The UN is on a similar track. The majority of members vote to make the Body perform in line with charter ideals to force peace in violent situations, but a couple of countries veto common sense solutions, imagining they are still in victory flush of the WWII era. Some even have the temerity of making the UN do their bidding because they finance it. So why does the world need either of them? As for Gilbert’s suggestion to send no-nonsense Suella Braverman to Rwanda to set up a British Refugee Welcome Centre, I think she would be more effective cleaning up the drug addicts and homeless who have taken over many once-prosperous towns and cities in the US while Washington unlimited funds to Israel and Ukraine. The times they are a changing. Moody’s now rates the credit outlook for the US for the first time as negative, mentioning it can no longer rely on their Sovereign Currency strength to finance their bottomless expense pit. Roland. Toronto Roland Francis 416-453-3371
[Goanet] Mahua Moitra
What her troubles mean is that if you are not in the ruling party like that charlatan Smiti Irani, you have to be a shy, head covering Indian bahu keeping your eyes down and being no more than a shadow in the presence of powerful louts like some UP BJP minister or heaven forbid, the Prime Minister himself. Criticizing men like that, will lead you to be banished, in circumstances that Moitra finds herself. For all her intelligence and experience in Merrill Lynch she would have little anticipated that Modi and his gang can twist billionaires like Hiranandani like cloth puppets illegally using the might of the state to do their dirty jobs. It is possible that Moitra is actually guilty of what she is being accused, in which case she could well turn out be a bigger fool than one can imagine. Taking bribes, inducements and gratuities is one thing. Criticizing a powerful and vindictive politician while doing it, is quite another. Guilty or not, I have no doubt that the report of the investigation being done on her, will find her guilty as charged. India is not a place to see justice done, except in rare and unexpected circumstances. https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/from-parliament-to-scandal-mahua-moitras-resilience-amid-political-storm-1.98948224 Roland Toronto.
Re: [Goanet] This is another Iraqi WMD moment. We're being gaslit
Never believed Israel anyway. These are guys who supply friendly third world governments like India with spy software like Pegasus to snoop on their citizens so why would we believe what the Master Spies themselves say. Roland Francis Toronto. > On Oct 18, 2023, at 1:33 PM, Eddie D'Sa wrote: > > > Some 500 or more Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike but > the Israelis won't even acknowledge the barbarous crime. > No response from the West and the Church remains silent. > Not a word by way of apology or comment from the Catholic top clerics. > The pompous Pope must be strutting about in his shiny robes, arm in arm with > the Holy Ghost, quite unconcerned with the carnage around. > Christianity has surely gone to the dogs and is no longer relevant. > Support for Israel remains the supreme need for the West and it's time for > the rest of us to abandon this thing called Christianity. > > Eddie > > > > -- Original Message -- > From: "Jonathan Cook" > To: gdig...@btinternet.com > Sent: Wednesday, 18 Oct, 23 At 11:11 > Subject: This is another Iraqi WMD moment. We're being gaslit > > > View in browser > This is another Iraqi WMD moment. We're being gaslit > It's not just unlikely that a Palestinian rocket destroyed the Gaza hospital. > It's impossible. The media know this, they just don't dare say it > > Jonathan Cook > Oct 18 > > > > > > READ IN APP > > Let's say it again: The BIGGEST fake news comes from the establishment media. > When the stakes are high, it barely bothers to hide its role as mouthpiece > for Western propaganda. > > This is another Iraqi WMD moment. We are being gaslit. Believe your eyes and > ears, and the laws of physics, not the lies being peddled by our leaders and > media about last night's missile strike on the Baptist hospital in Gaza: > > 1. No Palestinian group has a rocket that can flatten a hospital. What they > have are glorified fireworks that can cause minor damage and the occasional > death or two. If Hamas or Islamic Jihad could blow up a building, killing > hundreds, as happened last night, you would hear about it happening in Tel > Aviv or Ashkelon too. You don't because they can't. > > 2. Israel's apologists (and there are lots of them) are sharing all sorts of > videos unrelated to the hospital strike. But the video of the strike itself > shows that an incredibly large and powerful weapon is used. Listen to the > noise the missile makes just before the hit – that whooshing noise is caused > by its phenomenal velocity as it cuts through the air. That is *not* the > noise of a falling Palestinian rocket. > > If you watch videos being shared of Palestinian rockets being fired, notice > how slowly they travel. Almost at a snail's pace. If they fail, they drop at > free fall speed, not the near-supersonic speed of the missile that hit the > hospital. To think otherwise is to misunderstand the laws of physics. > > Subscribed > > 3. Israel's apologists are trying to further muddy the waters by suggesting > that either a Palestinian rocket fell, or was intercepted, and the rocket or > fragments of it hit a very large ammo dump in the hospital. Let's just accept > the racist premise that hundreds of families were quite happy to seek safety > next to a huge stash of explosives in the middle of a relentless Israeli > bombing campaign. Let's also accept the fantastical idea that a falling > glorified firework or fragment of it could penetrate the hospital's strong > walls and set off such an explosion. If all this was true, you would still > see a series of secondary explosions as the arms were detonated by the > initial explosion. You don't because there is only one explosion – from an > enormous missile. > > 4. It's a desperate psyop, so Israel has now released a recording of two > Hamas militants conveniently having a chat after the missile strike, > discussing whether they or Islamic Jihad did it. This is the same Israel that > did not detect months of planning by Hamas that was needed to organise its > breakout 10 days ago. But Israel got lucky this time, it seems, and just > happened to be listening in when Huey and Louie decided to self-incriminate. > > Remember Israel has a whole unit of 'mistaravim', Israeli Jewish undercover > agents trained to pose as Palestinians and secretly operate among > Palestinians. Israel produced a highly popular TV series about such people in > Gaza called Fauda. You have to be beyond credulous to think that Israel > couldn't, and wouldn't, rig up a call like this to fool us, just as it > regularly fools Palestinians in Gaza. > > Most of the people spreading
[Goanet] How Clean Is Air Travel?
Air travel is becoming more and more un-hygienic as flights are filled with people who are unfit to travel either due to medical reasons or due to their personal unsanitary habits. Add to that airlines’ cost cutting cabin cleaning measures and you will discover that every space or item that you use or that surrounds you is suspect. Cleaning staff getting no more than 10 seconds to go over each seating area should be worrisome and then you have incidents like these. How many happen without you as a passenger knowing? https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/easyjet-flight-canceled-defecation-incident/index.html Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Madness At Miramar (V M)
V M goes into the depth of whatever subject he pursues, which is why I have been forever and unfailingly reading his posts on Goanet and elsewhere. However on this one I was so disgusted on reading the first few paragraphs that I was tempted to just stop reading. Only because it was V M writing it that I persevered to the end. Perhaps it does not pain Goans resident in Goa so much. They see incremental deterioration of the land and are more or less inured to it. It takes a V M to see it differently. As a member of the Dispora though, I have no right to feel disgust, only pain. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Valmiki Faleiro
A real gentleman. Used to be pleased that I bought each of his books as soon as they were published and was equally pleased with my reviews of them. My reviews were simply an appreciation of his research, his background knowledge and his style. His book on the Holy Spirit Church and on Margao was as interesting as it was thorough, presenting facts which I’m sure even the locals didn’t know. He used his knowledge of Goa’s past to make assumptions of its future which he shared with me at a tête-à-tête at his palatial Margao house adjoining the Holy Spirit in the Largo de Igreja. Those predictions were very unpleasant to hear but they have been playing out over the years. His conclusion: the break in the peace and prosperity of Goa, the influx of population, has played out many times in the past via both domestic and foreign invaders and what is happening after the Indians took over is just like any other scenario that followed any other past invader. When I asked him why he was so fascinated with Catholic Goan stars in the Indian Armed Forces (his dad was in the Medical Corps), the Generals, the Admirals, the Air Marshalls and other officer elites, I came to know of his deep determination to disabuse his Hindu friends and critics that Catholics in Goa were mere Portuguese fellow travellers. That they showed little patriotism to India much less risk their lives for it. We all benefited from that grudge he harboured. His various books and articles on Goan officers which was quite comprehensive in details included Goan Hindu officers too. Pointedly, they comprised no more than about 5% of Goan Catholics. He must have spend a ginormous amount of time talking to living brass, searching for information from the Defence Ministry records as well as poring over old newspaper reports. Rarely did anyone get an opportunity to call out Valmiki on his facts, but on rare exception, he would humbly and readily admit to an error. Valmiki was a true Goan, par excellence. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Is Canada The New Pakistan In India’s View?
From a respected India TV news anchor, not given to exaggeration like most of them. https://youtu.be/RV9hpNEilP0?si=Y7T7vJWtgMnnPa9o Roland, Toronto.
[Goanet] Goans in Canada on Edge?
An article in The Goan by Aldona’s Melvyn Misquita. https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/goans-in-canada-on-edge-hopeful-of-quick-solution/104014.html Roland Francis Toronto.
[Goanet] Why Sikhs are so powerful in Canadian politics
Goans in Canada have always marvelled at how the Silks among all minorities, have captured politics and power at the national level, in Ontario and in BC. Here are some answers none of us would have guessed and it has to do with their places of worship. https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-why-sikhs-are-so-powerful-in-canadian-politics Roland Francis 416-453-3371
[Goanet] One Day, Almost 22 Years Ago
A brand new gripping but chilling account at close quarters of the South Tower incident as best done as only National Geographic can do it. https://youtu.be/wmweNhFtHQY?si=O10eJlFJ5iU1Sv1D Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] How The Portuguese Took The Malacca Sultanate
A very interesting YT video on the intrigues and circumstances involved in the Portuguese conquest of Malacca. Very interesting to Goans who have fleetingly come across the Malacca Straits name in Portuguese history, St Francis Xavier’s travels and the string of jewels that decorated the Empire of old that included Goa, Hormuz, Aden and their African territories. https://youtu.be/dtrSqo0Giqg?si=4I9Fl1cI2wYrdfKp Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Louis Ramos - Man With The Golden Smile
Louis Ramos of Saligão, Bombay and Toronto, was the quintessential jolly spirit. If you were a happy person and humour an important part of your life, he was the person to be with. He loved his family, his friends the country he made home and most of all each new day he met. > > Going to school in St Xaviers, a Jesuit educational institution in Bombay, he > turned out to be an avid sportsman in a school that was well known not only > for its academics and all round development, but its sports achievements as > well. > > Gifted with an entrepreneurial spirit, he helped run his father’s successful > uniform contracting business out of the Crawford Market business area, but > instead of making an easy living of it, he left it to his brother and moved > on to building a wholesale liquor enterprise while still studying at St > Xaviers College Mapusa. > > Bitten by the emigration bug that hovered around the young Goan Christian men > of Bombay at the time, Louis came to Toronto to start a family and entered > government service. While there is no doubt he could have done business for > himself in this city too, he decided on a family work-life balance. He would > settle down, marry Pamela Pinto also of Saligão and have two young energetic > and bright children Darryll and Rosetta, all three the love of his life. > > He gave his all to his job with the Govt of Ontario, completing 30 years of > loyal service to the Ministry of the Attorney General, visiting various towns > and cities to audit public program implementation. Living out of a suitcase, > eating whatever was available, while sleeping in the rudimentary hotel beds > of small municipalities of the time, Louis worked carefree and hard. He made > lots of friends with town officials being kind to them in the errors they > made and showing them how to set it right. This was a time Pamela stood right > beside him, in a full-time job herself, having to care for two small children > while Louis was often away on work. > > But as the hard times passed and the family settled down to the life he > wished to have, Louis really shone. Always considerate of others and always > generous not only to his family and his siblings, he dove into the Goan > social life of Toronto and showed his kindness wherever he could. He was The > Goan, a man common and easy to come by in another age but who has disappeared > in the times we live. > > You had only to visit a downtown festival, head out to an evening dinner and > movie or spend a weekend at a cottage town with Louis to realize the happy > side of life and be energized with his personality. Having encountered major > problems himself, he would inspire you to make light of yours. If you had to > choose someone with whom to celebrate a happy event or even to drive away > your blues, you would do well to have been with him. > > Rest easy Louis, our hearts are heavy but your job is done. You leave behind > children in a life you would have wished them to have and a wife with happy > and pleasant memories to carry. > > https://www.dignitymemorial.com/en-ca/obituaries/thornhill-on/louis-ramos-11416733 > > Roland Francis > Toronto.
[Goanet] LOOK AT THE OTHERS - WHY AT ME ALONE?
It is devious human nature that causes us to point to others when we are in a tight spot. It’s a kind of manoeuvre as on the dance floor when a dainty lady deftly shifts her foot to avoid getting it trampled by a not so agile partner. Here are some examples: When you are stopped for speeding, one’s first reaction is “there were others who were speeding, why only catch me?” Indira Gandhi during her term when confronted by massive scams by Congress men and women infamously retorted with “which other country is not corrupt?” As if that absolved her government of everything. So now our very own Goa minister Govind Gaude is merely following in those footsteps. When asked about the scandalous crashing of a slab of the under-construction Kala Academy, he countered by plaintively telling the accusers “why only me? No one focuses on other scams. Not even on the scandal of Atal Setu.” Wah re wah Gaude Bab, you could have been a little more clever and original too, by saying instead that never mind the Tender File for the Academy was closed to everyone else but more importantly it was passed by the CM himself. Does it not happen that in Goa, as elsewhere in India, commissions are spread from the bottom all the way to the very top and every level in between. So you would indeed have been telling the truth! Roland Francis 416-453-3371
[Goanet] Appreciation Is A Gift
Closely related to Nelson Lopes’ post on the “Wonders Of Appreciation”, I just read this on how it is best to respond to being appreciated. https://www.insidehalton.com/opinion-story/10954097-appreciation-is-a-gift-respond-accordingly/ Roland Toronto
[Goanet] A Tale Of Two Bottles (Johnnie Walker, Black Label)
A little background to the tale. In Ontario, unlike in most states in the US and some provinces in Canada as well, the distribution of liquor is solely by the government. The agency is called The Liquor Control Board of Ontario and its retail stores are called LCBO outlets. The LCBO is a hugely profitable enterprise whose profits are in the billion dollar range and most of it is turned over to the Ontario government to chip in for health care funding and other public purses. The stores are spacious, clean and offer varieties of wine, beer and spirits from all over the world. Prices are on the high side but knowing about the destination of their profits, few complain. Their ordering systems are well organized and if they don’t stock a particular king of alcoholic beverage, you are allowed to order it from a source country with personal quantity limitations and LCBO fees attached so that you don’t get it at dirt cheap levels. Of late there have been a few robbery incidents late night in remote store locations, which had caused the LCBO to ask all its employees to let those customers who steal, even blatantly, to walk away without confronting them. Now to get to the Toronto Police Services. The force is well paid, overpaid many think. The lowest rank constables pull in about $80K annually and a 20 year service Constable assuming no promotions in between, earns at least 150K+. Detectives and Sergeants of course earn much more. They can retire after 20 years if they want to, at which point they are entitled to a pension of about 60%, of a figure based on the best 5 years average of their salaries plus all health and other benefits. In a word, to say they are overpaid could be an understatement. Here begins the story: A few days ago, two customers enter a store, steal two bottles of black label and walk away. Store cameras record them and the police arrive after they are long gone. Our jokers probably have a record, so police have no problem apprehending them. The police find the two bottles and take them off the perpetrators. Instead of booking the stolen liquor at the police station, they take it to their homes to have a celebration. The LCBO had geo tagged the two boxes and exactly located where they were. The Ontario Provincial Police which has jurisdiction on highways and outside the metro area were called in. They obtained search warrants, raided the two homes of the constables and found the bottles. This geotagging is a new thing. Almost nobody knew about it until now that it is news. One of the two officers had 27 years of service and the other 5. Repercussions are now in the works. Reminds me closely of a Tolstoy story we learnt in middle school about a man in Russia, greedy for land who went to moan and complain to the king about his lack of it. OK says the king, tomorrow you set out and all the land you will cover from and back to your house until the sun sets, is yours. At day break so as not to miss a minute, he sets out and walks a considerable distance by noon. He covered all the land he could possibly need. It was a blistering hot day, but he thought to himself, I’ll walk a little more, after all it is fertile and precious land and I’ll still reach back home by dusk. He took a short break and set out again, walking and walking until it was sunset. As the last rays of the sun went down and he was back, he collapsed from fatigue. His family buried him in a six by two hole in the ground. That was all he needed. How much land does a man need? Tolstoy asks. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Effects Of The Great Resignation
The Great Resignation is the phrase created to describe many phenomena in the workforce. It came into being while Covid was seeing the end of its damaging spell and continues to this day in a big city like Toronto. Toronto as I see it, has two big problems as far as the office workforce is concerned. One, is working remotely. Employers now want office workers to return to company offices which are on long lease and remaining vacant unnecessarily. They long to return to their old days of close and personal supervision and exerting their personalities. Employees on the other hand are finding it personally convenient to work remotely and all that it entails like freedom of dress, no need for long and sometimes arduous commutes in traffic, and better family balance. The next effect is that of mass job shifts. Many didn’t like their jobs, often due to long hours, poor pay and unpleasant supervisors whose attitude was: if you don’t like this job, go elsewhere. Covid provided such unhappy employees the opportunity to do just that. Suddenly, a huge vacuum emerged. Many important sectors like public health, retail and logistics and travel - both business and leisure, found huge gaps in their ranks. Nurses who were stressed out during the Covid nightmare, grocery, restaurant and warehouse workers, truck drivers, airline pilots and ground staff left in droves for better positions or for retirement, often taking retaining courses for their new fit. Employers woke up from their slumber. It became time to reassess their focus from the constant bottom-line mantra to realizing that if they didn’t remedy their old fashioned slave drive mentality, there would be no bottom-line at all. Some try to solve the problem with better pay, pampering their current workforce and more heed to their needs while others found a way out by pressuring the authorities to bring in more foreign workers. Not high level ones, since these are already available in the country, but the grunt work people who would be glad to get a shot at living far above their current circumstances in less fortunate countries. This created another problem in the form of a shortage of housing and the driving up of home purchase and even rental prices never seen before. This will drive a circle of house building that itself will drive the wheel of positive spillover into the economy and create a further labour shortage. Canada has always had a moderately low unemployment level except perhaps in recessions but these after effects of the epidemic had driven joblessness almost into the ground. No one knows what’s the immediate future. Will the half million new immigrants and students per year coming into the country fill in the labour need and boost the economy, or will the housing shortage create its own suite of headaches. Time will tell. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] India’s Demographic Advantage
Interesting Question, Interesting Answer From Al Jazeera So could India’s population and potential labour force make it the next big economic story — one capable of capitalizing on China’s economic struggles? Or does the world’s largest democracy have an Achilles heel that could derail those dreams? Al Jazeera asked leading economists and analysts these questions. The short answer: India’s youth bulge is a double-edged sword. To gain from it, India will need to create enough jobs for the millions who enter its workforce every year — a challenge at which it is currently failing. For that, India needs to attract global investments. The window of opportunity is shrinking, and unless India moves quickly, its demographic dividend could easily turn into an unemployment nightmare. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Goan Society - By Chatbot
Very good assessment by Chatbot except for omission of the overwhelming role played by religion. Never mind, in the coming years CB will get better though some of us are vainly hoping it will never reach the level of human intelligence. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] You Are the Bearer Of Memories
Done stray thoughts: As you get older, as your siblings die or forget, those close to you depend on you for important family dates. When your extended family cannot be expected to know more about your immediate family than you do, you realize that the memory buck stops with you. On a quiet and cold Toronto evening I was listening to some classical music when my son who occasionally perfects the family tree he has created pops a question; Dad, when did your father die? My brain quickly whirs into motion trying to piece the puzzle from various related events, because I don’t remember the date, just the month and year. I have no one to ask. My wife who has a memory the sharpest of anyone I know, won’t know because it was before we were married. My mother has passed, so that route is out. All my uncles and aunts have passed, the only one living has dementia. I have no siblings. His death certificate, unlike his birth certificate was not needed over the years, so it got misplaced somewhere. What can I say to my son? I give him a date but tell him that it may not be accurate. Understandingly, he tells me: No problem there. If you don’t know it, I don’t think anyone does. I have suddenly discovered I am the sole repository for some of my family memories. Me and no one else. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] ChatGPT and Goanet
Good poem Frederick, written by AI. Please don’t use the Chatbot to write posts on Goanet when submissions get a bit thin! Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] The Secret World of Hasidic Jews in New York
A great video of how Hasidic Jews live in New York City if you wanted to know about this little known community. How they live, what they eat, their pretty liberal outlook given their religious conservatism. Here they are part of the city’s ethos. In Israel people dislike them because they have large families, don’t work and live only on government benefits. Their sole occupation is studying the Torah all week long. https://youtu.be/FpuE_ZZCo3s Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] A Few Words About Thinking
One of the biggest mistakes we can make in life is to ignore or reject the possibility that we might be dead wrong about something that is very important to us. Don't do this! Question everything. Embrace doubt. Revisit and second guess your conclusions. Remember that humility is a pillar of good thinking. Sure, you might be the first perfect person in all of history and prehistory who is incapable of being fooled by all the mistakes, lies and delusions swarming around you every second—but I doubt it. I suppose you could be the first one ever to rise above the many deceptive quirks, traps, and biases that come standard with every human brain—but I doubt it. Understand that your brain instinctually fights hard to defend the beliefs it hosts, no matter how unjustified or irrational. That’s just what brains do. Know this and resist that impulse. Use your amazing, powerful brain to keep a check on your bizarre, flawed brain. The goal should not be to avoid changing your mind at all costs. The goal is to be correct, or at least as close to correct as possible. Wisdom is recognizing that you don't know everything (you don’t) and you can be fooled by your own thoughts (you can). Wise people change their minds when evidence and logic demand it. Honest people don't pretend to know things that they don't know. None of us will achieve perfection, but we all can expand our awareness, grow intellectually, and do our best to keep moving in the general direction of truth and reality. Contemporary Anthropologist, Historian and Teacher Guy Harrison who wrote a book titled: 50 Reasons People Believe In A God. Worth reading. Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] Bombay The City Of Love And Delicious Food - Goya
Delicious food certainly. Love - Depends on what kind. https://www.goya.in/blog/mumbai-meri-jaan-finding-love-food-in-bombay Roland Toronto
[Goanet] The Real Adani-Hindenburg Story
An absolutely brilliant and balanced discussion of the problem by an Indian-origin prof of NYU. The experienced interviewer brings out the best facets of this topic and allows Prof Damodaran to wander not only into the most interesting nooks and crannies of the cave but also to shine a light on some unknown ones. https://www.youtube.com/live/QURrVv6r0sc?feature=share Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Goanet Index
No criticism of Nelson Lopes. Heard he is an extremely nice individual, but something must be done to the system to prevent the body of a long message creeping into the the title. The result is a sorry look for the Goanet Archive Index. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] India - Brink Of Substance Abuse
Given India’s location in proximity to drug source countries like Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan and the country’s chronic high youth unemployment, it’s not a surprise that this phenomenon is taking place there. Rather that it has happened so much later than it could. On balance though, it is not only an India problem. From DW Germany: https://www.dw.com/en/is-india-on-the-brink-of-a-drug-and-alcohol-abuse-crisis/a-64217066 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] England And Wales No Longer Christian
The results of the 2021 census were released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), revealing a historically sharp decline in the number of people identifying as Christian in England and Wales (other regions of the United Kingdom, such as Northern Ireland and Scotland report their census data separately). According to the census, the number of people identifying as Christian in England and Wales fell from 33.3 million (59.3%) in 2011 to 27.5 million (46.2%) in 2021, a shocking 17% decrease. On the other hand, those who identify as Muslim rose from 4.9% in 2011 to 6.5% in 2021, making it the fastest-growing religion in England and Wales. Meanwhile, the number of non-religious people increased from 25.2% to 37.2%. Reacting to the latest data from the 2021 census, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said that both regions "left behind the era when many people almost automatically identified as Christian." Stephen Evans, Head of the National Secular Society said, "It's official - we are no longer a Christian country.” Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Happy Birthday
A happy birthday to tireless Frederick, godfather of Goan cyberspace. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Dirty Coal Billionaire
How Gautam Adani's coal empire made him one of the world's richest men - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/09/india-coal-gautam-adani-godda/ Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] A Racist Conversation
An interesting conversation showing overt racism by a British Royal Householder when taking to a born-in-Britain black woman (as reported by the BBC). If you think it compares to a teeth pulling dental session, you wouldn’t be wrong. Here is the full conversation, as recounted by Ms Fulani: Lady SH: Where are you from? Me: Sistah Space. SH: No, where do you come from? Me: We're based in Hackney. SH: No, what part of Africa are you from? Me: I don't know, they didn't leave any records. SH: Well, you must know where you're from, I spent time in France. Where are you from? Me: Here, the UK. SH: No, but what nationality are you? Me: I am born here and am British. SH: No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from? Me: 'My people', lady, what is this? SH: Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from. When did you first come here? Me: Lady! I am a British national, my parents came here in the 50s when... SH: Oh, I knew we'd get there in the end, you're Caribbean! Me: No lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent and British nationality. SH: Oh so you're from... Roland. Toronto.
Re: [Goanet] Eddie Fernandes in Goa
He deserves the best of even the simple. Roland. Toronto. > On Nov 25, 2022, at 8:59 AM, eric pinto wrote: > > > Lira and Ed are visiting Goa. We have thrived on his postings over the years. > A little fish curry will be in order. And a peg. Or two. > He is at 77 4409 4961.Eric.
[Goanet] Why Do Engineers Do Finance?
Read the following on Nelson Lopes’ post: Eng.ShriKrishna Balaji Muthu Pillai scored 90.73% and stood First in B.E (E) Dept, at GEC , Farmagudi ,Ponda Past student of GAHS Curchorem and Chandrabhaga H Sec. He receives Eng Francis Bomdin Lopes memorial founded award of Rs 10.000=and citation under PCTrust .He intends to pursue MBA in finance. I asked myself why it was common for Engineers to do Finance studies. I got a partial answer from a Google search but I am not entirely satisfied with it. Could someone provide a better explanation? I can answer this because I often ask them same question about how I got into engineering. Here is the flawed reasoning I used to get into a STEM career: "Engineering is really hard. If I'm good at it, and I work hard, I should be able to eventually earn a lot of money, right?" WRONG. I am comfortable saying that if I had chosen a finance career over engineering, I would be making 10X or more of my current salary, and I would be enjoying it a hell of a lot more. Let me elaborate. I went to a very prestigious undergrad university. I had always planned to be an engineer, an inventor. After school, I took the engineering job, and the moment I did, I flushed 95% of the value of my prestigious degree down the toilet. Because once you've taken an engineering job, you're forever seen as an engineer and will never be able to get into anything else. I'm not an expert on all things finance, but I do know enough people in the industry to know this: finance pays a lot. Really a lot. Like 10X more than other college educated, fully employed people. Several people have answered "STEM is fun. You have to love what you do, and STEM is interesting." Well, STEM jobs are interesting - for the first 9 months or so. Then, you're pigeonholed into doing pretty much the exact same thing you've been doing, forever. If you work your butt off and you're really crushing it, you can maybe be promoted to engineering manager. Meanwhile the company brings in former investment bankers and management consultants with a couple years of experience into jobs 5 levels higher than you on the org chart. To a level you couldn't get to if you literally invented gold for your company. And so, you're in your 30's, you're working as an engineering manager in your industry, doing the same very difficult stuff that you've been doing the last 5 years. The former consultants and bankers hired by the company are getting paid multiples of your salary to do much more interesting and varied work - product strategy, marketing strategy, M strategy. How did that "interesting STEM work" work out for you, when you realize you're stuck in the same Honda Accord you've been driving for the last 7 years and you won't be able to provide your kids with the same standard of living that your parents provided for you growing up? Money matters. Finance pays. By taking that first engineering job, I'm forever locked out of the fast track, despite my MBA. My kids might decide to pursue a STEM major in college, but when they graduate, they'll be going to Wall Street, Management Consulting, or Med School. That's my rule for them. I wish it weren't this way. I don't totally understand why it is. But it is. It has been for the last 100 years, and will be for 100 more. I wish careers that made things paid better. Please note: this is written from the perspective of someone who attended a top 20 school in the US and had a lot of other things going for me that I could have leveraged. Not everyone can just go get a high powered finance job. But, if you're fortunate enough to be able to get that, please do. Roland. Toronto.
Re: [Goanet] Rajan and Frederic, Goa patriots.
Denmark had the highest notification rate of chlamydia in 2019 with 614 cases per 100,000 population, followed by Norway with a notification rate of approximately 533. Apart from Greenland, Iceland has the highest incidence rate, and the rate has increased significantly in later years. Iceland has three times the incidence rates of Norway and Sweden. Most cases are detected among young men.Feb 10, 2020 Roland. > On Nov 15, 2022, at 1:58 PM, eric pinto wrote: > > Your indignant voices reverberate on parallel tracks, but echo the sounds of > hurt that > rustle with our breaths. Hope for our land is now drifting away, evidenced > by a drop in messages posted here by what once was enthusiastic audience. >Frederick's co-homeland of Brazil went down the tube, courtesy of super > Christian > and maha patriot Bolsonaro. > Rajan and I share a co-homeland known as the USA. A series of > 'Christians' starting > with the huckster Reagan and on to Trump have sold us out to the financial > interests > of charlatan billionaires. > And finally to our beloved Bharat, richly endowed by nature but haunted > by 'socialism'. > Newly enriched by the likes of the Tatas and our software titans, we woke up > to discover > that Laxmi's baniya children had exported one half of our bank deposits to > Zurich and > London. > The remedy may lie in thrashing impoverished Muslims, but I am not so > sure it will work. > The Icelanders are just too smitten with venereal bacteria to come to our > rescue.
[Goanet] The Come To Jesus Moment of Rajan Parrikar
What is it that causes the Come To Jesus moments? In hardened criminals serving serious jail time in the US Bible Belt region, it is either 1) A persuasive prison chaplain bringing true contrition or 2) An act designed to touch the heartstrings of an upcoming parole board. But what is it in Rajan Bab’s case? Here is an engineer-intellect one could mistake for a liberal personality who loves taking artful pictures of the icy ridges and snowy plains of Iceland and the lively warm grassy field photos of the land and people of Goa he unabashedly loves. Then slowly before your unbelieving eyes like a rainbow forming in the disappearing rain, Rajan rises from a raging sea storm like a Phoenix of an avenging Apocalypse Horseman slashing all seemingly anti-Hindu forces that include dead conquering Portuguese Christians who apparently slaughtered innocent Hindus, conveniently forgetting that their future progeny liberally bestowed the scion of those same slaughtered Hindus with mining licences, trading permits and financial largesse that made them sit as overlords of all they surveyed, Portuguese rule or not. Is Rajan caught up with some Modi brand hypnotic mantra of India is Hindu and secularism is a bad word, a curse, a Woke thing, or it is something else I know nothing about. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Naming Mopa
This guy makes eminent sense. https://youtu.be/cmpdzXolLmw Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] A Night In Naples - Cover By Burçin
The original is by Pink Martini an American band worth listening. Burçin is a Turkish street singer and performer who sings in several languages. Her Italian is flawless. A Saturday Soother. Una Notta di Napoli https://youtu.be/PcV2g-kW-xo Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Yesterday When I Was Young
Today when i celebrate my wedding anniversary, years too many to count, what better way to remember than hear a pretty young Filipina do a beautiful rendition of an oldie, a Glen Campbell number. https://youtu.be/JRNe9jyL6E8 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Clean and Shining Goa.
In a land of utter corruption, CBI says there is not not a single corruption complaint, either by the press or the people. But there must be the other side to the story. Surely legal activists like Aires Rodrigues of Ribandar who are constantly railing against and providing almost daily examples of fraud and corruption, are not sitting idle. So what gives? Sitting idle in Goa, great tolerance to corruption here: CBI https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/cbi-sitting-idle-in-goa-great-tolerance-to-corruption-here/articleshow/95263392.cms Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Emma Ryan
Young and lovely Emma is of Goan heritage on her mother’s side. This link also gives a brief self-description preceding her interview with student Gillian Gracias. Next, Mervyn Maciel. https://yesterdayscurry.substack.com/p/the-goan-diaspora-1-gillian-gracias Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Irreversible Climate Breakdown
On Thursday, Shell and TotalEnergies both doubled their quarterly profits to about $10bn. Oil and gas giants have enjoyed soaring profits as post-Covid demand jumps and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sector is expected to amass $4tn in 2022, strengthening calls for heavy windfall taxes to address the cost of living crisis and fund the clean energy transition. Comment: Can you imagine the money power we are putting in the hands of Saudi Arabia to serve their interests and manipulate people, institutions and countries like putty. The full article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/world-close-to-irreversible-climate-breakdown-warn-major-studies Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] WJP Rule of Law Index
India ranks a pathetic 77 out of 140 in the World Justice Project’s latest index. https://worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/global Roland. Toronto.
Re: [Goanet] The site is near moribund
Indeed! Roland. > On Oct 16, 2022, at 2:01 AM, eric pinto wrote: > > > Reduced to a masthead for the wacky church TV broadcaster, Roland has > probably been antagonized, > and now someone conjures up a label of 'implicit destination' to describe a > message.
[Goanet] BJP or Congress - Hobson’s Choice
Welcome back to the Board, JBP. Don’t know why you’re surprised that the Congress is considering welcoming a political traitor to its fold. Perhaps in the excitement of the common anger against the BJP and all its misdeeds, you have forgotten the era of massive corruption and stink of scandals during Congress government rule. I don’t think the BJP has reached that level yet. Short indeed are public memories when focused on the current buffoons. You may tell me that the Congress was as corrupt as the BJP but it was not that communal. Of course you will be right, but then to an outsider like me it involves pathetic choices. The only hope will be a decent person to head the Congress but in a party like that even a decent man soon becomes indecent. Sorry to say JBP but with the corruption of the level prevalent in India, meeting with doom is only a matter of time. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] In The Arab Imagination - An Affinity For Britain
This AP article well describes the relationship of Arab potentiates with the late Queen. To those of us who have lived for years in Arab countries, we have seen that relationship goes much deeper than history or a long gone colonial reign. British rule in the Persian Gulf countries has a huge psychological connection that cannot be easily described. The nearest comparison you can make to it is that of an educated Dalit in northern India still bowing down to a passing Brahmin even after years of abuse and of newfound equality that the Dalit should have found after more than 70 years of Indian independence and the declaration of a republic that saw all its citizens as equal. Queen's reign saw British leave Mideast with a mixed legacy | AP News https://apnews.com/article/queen-elizabeth-ii-middle-east-africa-london-dubai-d0a09d795291d752cafd8099c1694673 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] On the Sunny Side of the Street
Can’t close out the Sunday without this warm but racy rendition with the famous bebop saxophonist Sonny Stitt in the lead. Sonny played with the greats. https://youtu.be/s8UEGmAvWfM Roland Toronto.
Re: [Goanet] UNACCEPTABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS
Eddie try sending your Goanet emails to goanet@goanet .com Roland Francis 416-453-3371 > On Sep 11, 2022, at 11:36 AM, Roland Francis wrote: > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Eddie D'Sa >> Date: September 11, 2022 at 8:40:53 AM EDT >> To: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com >> >> Subject: Re: UNACCEPTABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS >> >> Dear Aires, >> You forget this is Modi's India where anything goes. >> >> The BJP Hindus must be busy minding their cows and punishing the Muslims. >> >> May be rules made in the British days have not changed. >> >> And what's the point of quoting large sums of money paid out to dodgy >> officials? >> >> >> >> Eddie Ray >> >> >> >> -- Original Message -- >> From: "Aires Rodrigues" >> To: "goanet" >> Sent: Saturday, 10 Sep, 22 At 19:37 >> Subject: [Goanet] UNACCEPTABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS >> >> Goa Government has incurred a whopping expenditure of Rest 4, 69, 53, 922 >> by way of fees of advocates engaged to defend the State in the High Court >> from Jan 2020 to March 2022. >> >> There are 23 Government advocates plus one Public Prosecutor and five >> Additional Public Prosecutors. Four of these 23 Government advocates have >> since resigned while one Additional Public Prosecutor has also put in his >> papers. >> >> Rs 3, 02 45, 590 was paid to Government Advocates while Rs 1, 67, 08, 332 >> was paid to the Prosecutors. Does the government need such a huge fleet of >> advocates and such a huge legal fees. At our High Court we have only two >> Courts and at the most sometimes a third one, so why >> such a vast battalion? >> Experienced advocates are not allotted cases, while some rookies have >> pocketed lakhs. >> Incompetent advocates should be axed and a more knowledgeable panel >> constituted. >> >> Adv. Aires Rodrigues >>
[Goanet] Fwd: UNACCEPTABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS
Begin forwarded message: > From: Eddie D'Sa > Date: September 11, 2022 at 8:40:53 AM EDT > To: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com > > Subject: Re: UNACCEPTABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS > > Dear Aires, > You forget this is Modi's India where anything goes. > > The BJP Hindus must be busy minding their cows and punishing the Muslims. > > May be rules made in the British days have not changed. > > And what's the point of quoting large sums of money paid out to dodgy > officials? > > > > Eddie Ray > > > > -- Original Message -- > From: "Aires Rodrigues" > To: "goanet" > Sent: Saturday, 10 Sep, 22 At 19:37 > Subject: [Goanet] UNACCEPTABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS > > Goa Government has incurred a whopping expenditure of Rest 4, 69, 53, 922 > by way of fees of advocates engaged to defend the State in the High Court > from Jan 2020 to March 2022. > > There are 23 Government advocates plus one Public Prosecutor and five > Additional Public Prosecutors. Four of these 23 Government advocates have > since resigned while one Additional Public Prosecutor has also put in his > papers. > > Rs 3, 02 45, 590 was paid to Government Advocates while Rs 1, 67, 08, 332 was > paid to the Prosecutors. Does the government need such a huge fleet of > advocates and such a huge legal fees. At our High Court we have only two > Courts and at the most sometimes a third one, so why > such a vast battalion? > Experienced advocates are not allotted cases, while some rookies have > pocketed lakhs. > Incompetent advocates should be axed and a more knowledgeable panel > constituted. > > Adv. Aires Rodrigues >
[Goanet] What Next After Goanet?
Are there any plans to sustain the idea of Goanet after it collapses, a possibility that looks likely. Goanet served an excellent purpose - to use FN’s phrase: Creating Social Capital - but now as Gabe Menezes says “It is going kaput”. I have greatly benefited from Goanet. I made contacts with people from the Goan Diaspora and for those beyond Canada, without meeting them a single time, they have become good friends. Like a train journey seeing people alighting, some of those friends have left. A few this life, others just the bulletin board. I miss them all. In the 25 odd years I have kept a presence here, I have been actively posting. It started out with FN encouraging me to post on Goanet Reader which led me to discover that writing helped me in many ways. It organized my thoughts, it revived my memories and it aided me in walking back to my lanes and roads through which I might have never walked again. Surprisingly writing did some other thing for me: it allowed me to use words and phrases dwelling in the recesses of my mind that I hesitated to access. It helped me in my work where I was able to counter hesitation and objection with a thought or turn of the phrase that suddenly became facile but to the deal, effective. It taught me that even with full disclosure, there are certain things that must not be said. It taught me to ponder before I write else I would place Sabre Toothed Tigers in Siberia. The mind like everything else, is a muscle or a machine that performs best when oiled and used often. Will I mourn Goanet when she is gone? Despite younger more vigorous and active channels that are now accessible, of course I will. How do you not cherish an old song or an old friendship? But I mourn too soon. Maybe Goanet like the late Queen will rule for many more years even after her ‘mobility issues’ creep up. Roland. Toronto. Gabe Menezes writes: Your posts reach moderation and are released. The system is kaput, as your posts are rejected by the system. If you wish please send the posts directly to me and I shall forward it for you. Incidentally I can post but do not receive any posts from Goanet.
[Goanet] Dilip D’Souza
We are privileged to have him post on this site. Most of you probably don’t know who he is or who his father was, so here’s some Wiki information. Dilip D'Souza was born to Neela, a former Indian Administrative Service officer and Maharashtra Chief Secretary and activist J.B. D'Souza.[3][4][5] D'Souza did a BE in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BITS Pilani (1976–81) and an MS in Computer Science from Brown University(1984).[6] He married French language teacher Vibha Kamat in 1993, and they have two children, son Sahir, born 1999 and daughter Surabhi, born 2004.[7] He studied and worked as a software engineer in United States from 1981 to 1992 when he returned to India to write full-time.[8] He speaks Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, English, French and Spanish. As an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, he is dedicated to alumni activities and has come over many times to his alma mater. He was there in February 2010 to promote his new book Roadrunner.[9] He is currently on the editorial board of the BITS Alumni magazine Sandpaper.[10] D'Souza also maintains a blog "Death Ends Fun".[11] About J. B (Bain) D’Souza The visionary creator of CIDCO New Bombay and his many other top positions in the public life of Bombay City and of Maharastra State. A man so simple and unassuming that the Guardian of London felt it necessary to write about him on his death. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/oct/08/guardianobituaries.india Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Naming And Shaming
It is praiseworthy but not enough for Aires Rodrigues to point out the shameful state of Goa public facilities and monumental government administrative lapses and intentional abuses. It would help to name and thus shame the derelict officials and politicians involved who are responsible for the mis-governance and willful neglect. For example his latest exposé of the filthy Kadamba bus stands and depots fall under the purview of people whom he could have named. There is no liability attached to naming such persons since he is not accusing them of any offence, just pointing to their neglect of responsibilities in matters to which the public can attest. Any citizen should have the right to question wayward authorities.In any case as a practicing advocate he would know how to frame his words. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Queen Elizabeth Obituary
An excellent piece of writing and remembrance by Stephen Bates in The Guardian. Of all the news reporting and articles on her death, this one excels not only because the language is facile yet perfect, but also because it is a time machine. You sit in it and see her birth and you continue sitting until you are transported to her death, looking out of the window of the Time Machine and witnessing all the events as they unfold right before your eyes. If you have patience and focus you will get to the end of this long obituary in seemingly no time at all. If you lack those virtues you will have difficulty getting to the end of it https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/08/queen-elizabeth-ii-obituary?utm_term=631a5991f8c242b357c4eea32117800f_campaign=MorningMailAUS_source=esp_medium=Email=morningmailau_email Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Naming And Shaming
It is praiseworthy but not enough for Aires Rodrigues to point out the shameful state of Goa public facilities and monumental government administrative lapses and intentional abuses. It would help to name and thus shame the derelict officials and politicians involved who are responsible for the mis-governance and willful neglect. For example his latest exposé of the filthy Kadamba bus stands and depots fall under the purview of people whom he could have named. There is no liability attached to naming such persons since he is not accusing them of any offence, just pointing to their neglect of responsibilities in matters to which the public can attest. Any citizen should have the right to question wayward authorities.In any case as a practicing advocate he would know how to frame his words. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] WGD - Honour A Diaspora Goan
Every annual World Goa Day would be enhanced with an award and recognition for an outstanding person from the Diaspora not for their personal achievements but for their service to the World Goan Community. To avoid unnecessary criticism for which we Goans are noted, there could be a panel of jurors selecting the awardee from a list compiled by a revolving large group of voters around the world. There are many possible candidates who have been working (and paying) for Goan causes for many years quietly and without recognition but with pride and determination, for the sole benefit for their local or more widespread community. It could be a single person, a small or large partnership or group and could even be posthumously awarded. Without naming names I could think of certain individuals in California who have been espousing the causes of José Vaz, an individual and his team who have established the first clubhouse in Toronto, one person who for many years has given freely from his pocket to help individuals and associations, a person who living in Goa, has single-handedly established digital channels for Diaspora communications. Examples like these are many and successive World Goa Days will run out before the nominees will. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Naming And Shaming
It is praiseworthy but not enough for Aires Rodrigues to point out the shameful state of Goa public facilities and monumental government administrative lapses and intentional abuses. It would help to name and thus shame the derelict officials and politicians involved who are responsible for the mis-governance and willful neglect. For example his latest exposé of the filthy Kadamba bus stands and depots fall under the purview of people whom he could have named. There is no liability attached to naming such persons since he is not accusing them of any offence, just pointing to their neglect of responsibilities in matters to which the public can attest. Any citizen should have the right to question wayward authorities.In any case as a practicing advocate he would know how to frame his words. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Goa Drivers Ignorant Of Safety
Most drivers in Goa are both stubborn and ignorant of the safety provided by both front and rear seat belt use, even for the shortest distances (where statistically most accidents occur). There could be more than one reason for it. 1. Laissez faire susegad attitude. 2. Ignorance of the issue probably due to lack of information disseminated. 3. Some cars not fitted with enough belts. 4. More passengers seated in the car than seat belts. Take this lack of use, factor in the utterly poor condition of Goa roads - potholes, bad traffic engineering and all, and you will understand why the state has such a high incidence of road accidents and fatalities. I was particularly shocked that in a recent accident at Palghar on the Bombay Ahmedabad highway two riders died in a collision involving a premium Mercedes Benz SUV. One of the dead was a 54 year old well known and top Indian industrialist who like the other dead rider, was not wearing a seatbelt. Cyrus Mistry death: The evolution of the seat belt, and why it is literally a matter of life and death https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/the-evolution-of-the-seat-belt-and-why-it-is-literally-a-matter-of-life-and-death-8133115/ Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Why Is There Homelessness in Oakland California?
The Oakland, California Homeless Problem is Beyond Belief https://youtu.be/yRWmKh13b50 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Goa In Disrepute Again
Most Chilling Details from Sonali Phogat's Murder https://youtu.be/FJcE0hR3Otw Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Gautam Adani
Came out of nowhere. 10th richest man in the world. Richest man in Asia. One of only two non-Americans in the Centibillionaire Club, other being a Frenchman. Many thanks for his financial status are due to Narendra Modi. India's Gautam Adani joins Elon Musk and Warren Buffett in the centibillionaires club - CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/04/business/india-gautam-adani-wealth-centibillionaire/index.html Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Is The IAS Still Relevant
A brilliant IAS officer (and that tribe is decreasing, says Raghunandan), is interviewed about the Indian Civil Service. He makes excellent points worth pondering about. The interviewer is low key, no frills Sanya Dhingra who asks the right questions without interrupting Raghu’s train of thought or answer. Difficult to come across a good interview such as this that has not only substance, but form as well. The biggest myth about IAS officers is they're all-powerful https://youtu.be/reTwgRzFD7o Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Goan Woman Longing For Portuguese In Public Harangue
MustWatch! Fiery speech by this lady on migrants! https://youtu.be/oaFha_HRvek Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] 'Pakistan isn't Collapsing, India Should Focus on Silver Linings. Boycot...
Interesting interview. https://youtu.be/GNapL0APNUY Roland Francis 416-453-3371
[Goanet] An Alleged Abuser Missed The Papacy.
Note the last paragraph. Cardinal Ouellet is the head of an advisory body that recommends to the Pope on appointing bishops. From a BBC news item. The Vatican has said it will not probe accusations of sexual misconduct against one of its top cardinals due to insufficient evidence. Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet was named in a class-action lawsuit accusing 80 clergy members of sexual assault in his home province of Quebec. A former diocesan intern alleged the Cardinal inappropriately touched her at public events between 2008 and 2010. Cardinal Ouellet has not commented on the accusations. The allegations surfaced in a statement of claim filed on Tuesday in Canada against the Quebec Catholic diocese. The civil lawsuit represents more than 101 people in total who allege they were sexually assaulted by members of the clergy in Quebec. Cardinal Ouellet is the most prominent Roman Catholic Church member named in the lawsuit. He is one of the most powerful cardinals in the Vatican and was a contender for pontiff during the last papal election. Since 2010, he has served as head of the Congregation for Bishops, which advises the Pope in appointing bishops globally. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Peterborough Profanity
Pretty Diane Therrien is the mayor of Peterborough. The picturesque commercial and tourist town of 82 thousand souls is situated in the Kawartha lakes region of south central Ontario, a couple of hours drive from Toronto. Among the Goans of Toronto, the town is known for being the home of The Persian Empire, an Iranian-Canadian owned distillery that among other spirits, distills Cashew Feni. Bruce Khabbazi the owner who studied in Poona and Goa, has been known to me for several years. He is a totally nice person and I have on more than one occasion, taken a group of friends whom Bruce walked around the plant, describing the big stainless steel vats and the processes to make the unique liqueurs, wines and spirits. He will not however explain the provenance of his Cashew Feni but at the end he will give everyone a taste of each of the products he makes (the Turkish coffee liqueur is outstanding) in small shot glasses. Coming back to Therrien. She has made waves with sending a tweet to the annoying protestors of Peterborough telling them to “f**k off you f**kwads”. A situation that not only tickled the funny-bone of CBC viewers, but also caught the attention of other media audiences as well. When questioned about this, the feisty young woman replied to questions in an interview that would interest you. Peterborough mayor defends her use of the f-word in response to weekend protest | CBC Radio https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.6553693/peterborough-mayor-defends-her-use-of-the-f-word-in-response-to-weekend-protest-1.6553815 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Business Of War
Pretty as a picture Palki Sharma-Upadhyay of Gravitas, explains George Pinto’s famous dictum “Follow The Money” as it refers to the Russia-Ukraine war and America’s supply of expensive armaments to Ukraine. 1. Only 30% of weapons sent to Ukraine reach Ukraine. 2. For the US, war is profitable business. 3. The missing arms reach criminals, terrorists and separatists. 4. America becomes richer with every war. So do corrupt officials all over. Gravitas LIVE | America's business of war | Western weapons smuggled by ... https://youtu.be/JJjTGsSH_8s Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] A Matter Of Shame
Now that the hoop-la of India’s 75th Anniversary of Independence is over, those in power will forget all the promises they made, which were without any sincerity in the first place. There was even a hint of working on the problem of corruption. Nothing direct of course, just hints that ED, NIA and other anti corruption bodies were energized with Modi’s stirring words on the subject. That is the sum total of the BJP’s strategy against India’s biggest malady. I would call the PM the biggest rogue of them all, were it not for the fact that he is a mere puppet Pope whose strings are pulled by the powerful Cardinals in the RSS. Our Property Sawant is one such, albeit a much watered down version of the PM. Instead of constantly blowing trumpets about how India’s GDP is the 5th or 6th largest in the world, if I took the macro view I would be working on India’s Per Capita Income being one of the lowest in the world. If you want to take the micro view instead, do less glorifying about 6 of the largest global corporations in the world being headed by Indians (none of them technically Indians, except by birth or ancestry), I would concentrate on removing the blemish of India being the host country of 85% of phone and computer scams in the world. In case some of you don’t know, nothing in India happens without the nod of someone in power and without some grease on their palms and on the palms of everyone below, to ground level. If those in power up to the PM had an ounce of shame about tarnishing the country’s name, assiduously built, though in fits and starts, since 1947 they would taken measures to rectify the most visually offensive and insulting acts that would be the easiest to fix. As the Singapore PM in his speech to his parliament which video I posted on Goanet a few days ago said: “It is easy to get rid of a corrupt official however powerful he or she is, but once corruption takes hold in a country, it has already become endemic, a part of its being and therefore even surgically difficult to remove”. Sadly, India has become one such example. Only an effort like the one exercised by Indians leading up to freedom from the British may turn the tide against such a metastatic cancer. India's Thriving Scam Industry: Before You Call Tech Support | Undercove... https://youtu.be/7CZReZ24-to Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Actively Dying
An explanatory video by a hospice doctor on what this phrase means and the disengagement process that occurs when the end of life approaches for a loved one. Much to learn from this interview and wish I knew about what it teaches, 15 years ago when my mother was dying in a nun managed Catholic hospice in Bombay. The nuns had told me on the phone that my mom had insisted I come to meet her and I flew there as soon as I could. I arrived in time for her “actively dying” process that was already underway when I reached there. The nuns seeing my agitated demeanour at their annoyingly slow responses at her bedside, had told me that she was getting ready for her end and there was no urgency but I refused to believe them. I wish I was aware of all this at that time. I would have been much more at peace and spent the last 4 or 5 days that I had with her in a more meaningful way then panic or agitation or detachment. I post this with a hope that some of you will benefit from the video so that you can, if you find yourself in the position I once faced, deal with it in a much better way than I did. 5 Things You Should Know When Someone is Actively Dying https://youtu.be/ANxpqyIzs10 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Declassifying Documents
There seems to be more than the usual quota of unintended humour in the news these days. I am referring to Donald Trump being raided at his Mar-a-Lago residential estate by the FBI who found 27 boxes of various classes of classified documents in the storage rooms. This is in contravention of the Espionage Act which has serious penalties including jail time, ex-President or not. Quick but stupid as ever, Trump’s lawyers advised him to say that he had ‘declassified’ those sensitive documents while he was still President. Not so stupid though, since apparently the United States has no procedure to prove that documents have been properly declassified. As always, there is a practical application to such new and creative inspired ideas. Let’s say parishioners complain to the Cardinal about a Bishop being fond of watching pornography since some of them saw old Playboy magazines lying around during their visits. Although unlikely, the Cardinal sends a party of priests to the Diocese residence (better if some of them are the bishop’s critics) to see the truth in the accusations. These priests do find the said magazines lying around His Grace’s living quarters, but in a Donald Trump-like manoeuvre, the offending Bishop quickly tells the priests that all these materials have been blessed by him and are therefore not sinful any more. Remember in some Catholic countries you could buy a Papal Bull that exempted you from not eating meat on Fridays during Lent in the days when this was rigorously enforced? The word Bull comes from the world bulla or seal that would be attached to a papal decree. The decree could be of any content. Who knows, Trump’s lawyers could have got their inspiration from Papal Bulls. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Dayanand Bandodcar
We tend to praise long dead political notables not because they did anything good but for the sole merit that they were succeeded by politicians worse than them. Aires Viegas’ post glorifying Bandodkar is one such. Bandodcar would have wiped Goa off the Indian map if the Opinion Poll, Goa’s Hindus and Jack Sequeira had not stopped him. He is the rogue that gave away other people’s lands (not his own) through the ill thought-out Land To The Tiller Act. One can understand giving the Tiller rights to ensure the land owner did not take advantage of him. In any case there was a harmonious albeit unequal relationship between the two during the colonial era. So the Tiller now owned the land with a stroke of the unlettered mine owner CM’s pen and he could then turn around and sell it off to anyone he wished. No safeguards were put in, no compensation to the owner was mandated. No giving back the land once the Tiller stops tilling was legislated. An educated CM would definitely had done better. But worse things were to follow. The example was shown and succeeding Goan politicians felt they could play around, nay openly steal others people’s lands - whether that of the Communidades, or that of non-resident owners, or that where titles were unclear. Bandodkar started this trend of plunder and loot of Goan real estate which continues to this day. And Aires says we have to honour and remember this man. Who shall we honour next, Agente Monteiro the notorious Portuguese third degree artist, because he put a fear of the law in the soul of law breaking and freedom seeking Goans? Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Let It Be Kosher
It’s my personal opinion that the kosher and halal practices belong to at least fourteen centuries before the one in which we live. An item such as this, reinforces that opinion. Recently, many smartphone stores in Israel have been attacked by the Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, the "Haredi," because they are angered that non-"Kosher" smartphones are now readily available in the country. In Bnei Brak, the epicenter of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and the economic power hub of the nation, riots occurred, and many cell phone stores were vandalized. In April, Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel announced that smartphone companies must allow full accessibility on the so-called "kosher" lines. These "kosher" devices are devoid of most of the necessary features that a smartphone has, including access to the internet, social media, and even domestic violence hotlines. These devices can only make or receive calls from similar devices. According to 39-year-old Uriel Diament, an owner of a small cellphone store, "The strategy is to go shop to shop and intimidate the sellers. The [demonstrators] are lied to, they tell them I'm selling iPhones with internet access to 13-year-olds, but that's not true. It's not about serving God; they're a mafia." Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Rich And The Poor In Bombay
I’ll let these requests that appeared on my FB feed one next to the other, speak for themselves. Both are from the same affluent Bombay suburb. “Is there anyone who could help a poor family. With medical and some food. They are 3 sisters. Out of which one passed away today.. other 2 sisters are helpless as they are having medical problems. And unable to cook and eat. I can't help a lot . So need some more who could help.. Even their house has a lot of leakage and gets flooded at times. Location Khar.” “Available on sale duplex flat. 6 bhk (bedroom hall kitchen) converted to 4 bhk plus dining. Carpet area 2546 sq ft. Mt Mary Bandra West. @26 crores negotiable. 2 open parking” (My comment: 26 crore Indian Rupees is equivalent to C$4.16 million or US$3.26 million or €3.16 million). Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Intimacy Co-ordinators
Ah, the world is no longer a simple place. For example ‘salgado’ the minor gratification that was used for officials during the Portuguese era in Goa, often consisting of some fresh river catch or a bottle of Port perhaps, has completely morphed into something else. By the way, Salgado means something salty, a roadside snack in Brazil and therefore tasty, a treat. It was never a substitute for one’s government salary. Now that Salgado has turned into huge amounts, 10 times to a hundred times that official’s salary, depending on the nature of the ‘favour’. From no cash, it has turned into a sophisticated no tax paid money laundering process often involving offshore protection. So, is it any surprise that movie sex scenes have undergone a similar metamorphosis. From an unsupervised, spontaneous let it go where it goes kind of thing, calls are now being made to have the whole scene supervised. This might not work. Male actors were probably being drawn to this kind of role for its obvious perks. You love what you’re doing and you get paid for it. Not only that, with constant supervision and direction for the action, the male spirit may not be able to rise up to the occasion making the whole crowd-pulling shoot into a B grade flop film. But methinks this whole intimacy coordinator idea may have other useful practical applications. For example for one or both parties of those newlyweds who have come into the relationship without testing the waters so to say, or have been brought up in a strict Goan religious conservative environment where one is taught that every action is bound to be a sin, would certainly need this type of tutored coordination. In any case, this new kind of lifeskill motivation is probably here to stay. At worst it may turn out to be a minor distraction in a torrid no holds barred film scene or honeymoon exercise and at best, it can provide ideas that the two parties in action never contemplated, not to mention gig employment for one or more ‘event coordinators’. Who wants to say cheers to Dame Emma Thompson who has the stern bearing of someone who may find good use of her own idea. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-62502506 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Vex Money - A Little Bit Of Cash For Your Dignity
A lovely little essay in the New York Times by Naomi Jackson about how the vulnerabilities of women can sometimes be protected by a little cash at hand. Not all women might think this necessary. Such women are either overly dependent on the men in their lives or have never been exposed to fend off life on their own. But to the independent Afro Caribbean women who are used to having to manage alone, for whatever reason, this Vex Money is a lifebuoy. Opinion | What Does ‘Vex Money’ Do to Love? - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/opinion/vex-money-afro-caribbean-women.html Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Indian Supreme Court Has Crossed All Lines
No matter what other branches of the State fell from grace, the people of India knew that the judiciary was their last safe and steady resort. Justice in India was anything but timely but in the end it was there. British fairness in law ingrained in the Indian practice of it after independence, stood the test for over six decades, but it has been crumbling before our eyes. That’s the view of the man on the street. But now, leading advocates of the Supreme Court themselves are confirming this. The case ending in the death of Fr Stan Swamy brought it into focus. A frail, sick and elderly priest, who could do no harm was incarcerated in the most painful and humiliating manner and even when his death was impending, he got no relief. Here is this morning’s excerpt from The India Cable: Kapil Sibal isn’t alone: senior members of the Bar are hitting out at the Supreme Court for ensuring the prosecution and jailing of activists. In an explosive interview senior advocate Dushyant Dave took on the Supreme Court’s judgement in the Zakia Jafri case, the PMLA case, issues concerning the Master of the Roster system, and opaqueness of listing of cases by the Supreme Court registry. He says the Supreme Court has crossed all lines of propriety in ordering the prosecution of activists. Mansvani Ranganathan writes that the judiciary cannot become a hollow hope, as in Just Mercy and Jai Bhim. The Dushyant Dave interview: https://youtu.be/-w0LPq9ik0I Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Fwd: Not Totally Corrupt
Begin forwarded message: > From: George Pinto > Date: August 9, 2022 at 9:33:53 PM EDT > To: Roland Francis > Subject: Re: Not Totally Corrupt > Reply-To: George Pinto > > Roland: please post my comments to your email. > > 1. There are no women in the current Cabinet, although that might change in > the future. > 2. The Shiv Sena government under Uddhav Thackeray collapsed since the party > did not support the core Hindu Nationalist agenda and partnered with centrist > parties. It is interesting since the late Bal Thackeray vigorously promoted > Hindutva. > 3. Christians have no hope in India. The Muslim community, although a > minority has some strength in larger numbers. > > George > > > On Tuesday, August 9, 2022 at 05:13:45 PM PDT, Roland Francis > wrote: > > If you have been following the political events in Maharashtra State over the > past few weeks, it’s inevitable that you would have had more than a few > laughs. The state legislators not just crossed the floor (as in Goa and > elsewhere), they hijacked an entire political party. > > There’s one more laugh you can have with the latest news that happened today > related to that same set of events. > > The Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena party or should I say the new Shiv Sena > party that tore itself away from the Uddhav Thackeray faction, formed its > first cabinet, with 18 ministers. > > While several quarters grumbled about corrupt politicians inducted into that > cabinet, the NCP (one of the parties who formed the previous government which > Shinde brought down with the help of the BJP, put an actual number to it. > > They said 17 of the 18 cabinet ministers are corrupt. Not unbelievable, given > their declared assets published in the media. The notorious builder Lodha, > one of India’s richest developers is in the cabinet too. It’s like putting > Nirav Modi, a crook, in charge of a government bank. > > If that doesn’t get you laughing and crying, nothing else will. > > Roland. > Toronto. >
Re: [Goanet] Don’t Mistake Auctions For Elections (Correction)
Sorry the previous video link seems to be defective. Here is the full speech but what is relevant is 20:00 to 28:00. https://youtu.be/Q6Gce5wEue0 Roland.
[Goanet] Don't mistake auctions for elections
Part of the PM of Singapore’s speech in his Parliament that has relevance to corrupt politicians everywhere. What he warned that corruption does, has already been happening in India. https://youtube.com/shorts/69C3Qj5_W2g?feature=share Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Sex tourism: When conscience takes a vacation
It’s a growing problem all over the world but everybody’s turning a blind eye to it. Count Goa as part of the problem. Without a doubt Covid-19 has contributed to poverty around the globe and changed the way the world works, like 9/11 also did. From Deutsche Welle: https://www.dw.com/en/sex-tourism-when-conscience-takes-a-vacation/a-62710636 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Not Totally Corrupt
If you have been following the political events in Maharashtra State over the past few weeks, it’s inevitable that you would have had more than a few laughs. The state legislators not just crossed the floor (as in Goa and elsewhere), they hijacked an entire political party. There’s one more laugh you can have with the latest news that happened today related to that same set of events. The Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena party or should I say the new Shiv Sena party that tore itself away from the Uddhav Thackeray faction, formed its first cabinet, with 18 ministers. While several quarters grumbled about corrupt politicians inducted into that cabinet, the NCP (one of the parties who formed the previous government which Shinde brought down with the help of the BJP, put an actual number to it. They said 17 of the 18 cabinet ministers are corrupt. Not unbelievable, given their declared assets published in the media. The notorious builder Lodha, one of India’s richest developers is in the cabinet too. It’s like putting Nirav Modi, a crook, in charge of a government bank. If that doesn’t get you laughing and crying, nothing else will. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] A Tip For Goanetters
As the once shining bulletin board continues to deteriorate with delivery of posts, note that you can still go to the Goanet Archives and get the latest postings just as soon as they are moderated and sometimes even before (when set to automatic in the absence of moderators). But there seems to be no solution to certain posters not having their posts appear at all. George Pinto and Eric Pinto are two examples. Could it be that all Bardez Pintos are blacklisted? Hope not. One of them creates saints and the other monetarily supports many causes. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Olivia Newton-John R.I.P.
Singer and entertainer to more than one generation passed away from a third-time breast cancer episode after beating it two previous times. https://www.tmz.com/2022/08/08/olivia-newton-john-dead-dies/ Have You Never Been Mellow https://youtu.be/4IFQZyxxyyM If Not For You https://youtu.be/HlZjRvLLgnM Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Saudi Girls In Apt 115
This ABC news item reads like an absorbing thriller story except that it involves an investigation of two young Saudi girls found dead in a Sydney, Australia rented apartment. From time to time news of young Saudi girls found missing or dead appear all over the world. Governments involved seem to do little about it. Is it that dirty Saudi money cleans all the blood that flows before it. Saudi sisters Asra and Amaal Alsehli died mysteriously in Canterbury. Here's what we've found - ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-06/saudi-deaths-canterbury-amaal-asra-alsehli/101304490 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] A Ticket To Ride
Old Music can transport you back in time to the sights, smells, sounds and events of the years in your life that you cherish to this day. Mostly carefree, happy times when you did things and make friends like you could never do today. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation makes podcasts and programmes giving you a view of the world that daily news is unable to provide. As the commentator says: Music is a pipeline. Music and Memories are indelibly interwoven. You will enjoy this ride. CBC Radio Specials - Aug. 1, 2022: Music to my Ears https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-141/clip/15927860 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] The Silly Souls Café Affair
What began as an Aires Rodrigues exposé published by the Herald newspaper in Panjim, has blown up into a nation wide scandal thanks to the national media and has exploded in the embarrassed face of the BJP whose high profile minister is the main actor (she was also once an actual actor in Bollywood). Aires’ usual exposés follow a pattern. He does an investigative job (not exactly detailed or thorough), that brings up wrongdoing on the part of the Govt or its agents. People are shocked, the Govt curses Aires under its breath and then moves on until he blows up the cover of the next hidden scandal. Public opinion in Goa being what it is - susegado and inactive - the Govt changes nothing. No harm, no foul so to say. The Silly Souls Café would have been one like that. Sometimes when he wants to, Aires does a good lawyer-detective’s job, dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s. In those cases he will file a case in the court, win and get an order to overturn the wrong. Of course again nothing is usually done about it by the authority involved. The Govt knows it can wear out Aires. No one really knows why Aires does what he does in the public arena. He declares that he does it for Goa (as well he might), but many possible motives present themselves. Falling out being the most frequent of them. It is reported that he once worked closely with the Central Minister involved in Silly Souls. Be that as it may, there is no denying, motives or not, that Aires does a sterling job using his time, effort and money, that others fear to do. He is after all a practising lawyer with his own clients and could well have avoided all this. It is not his fault that the people of Goa do not follow up to get rectified, the ills that he lays bare. Coming back to Silly Souls. It would, like all other Goa exposés, go nowhere, had it not been for the Congress Party. Smarting under the rival party’s pressure on the Enforcement Directorate to harass the top Congress Brass and humiliate them with constant and long summoning and interrogation, they were looking for sweet revenge. What better than a Central Loudmouth Minister using undue influence in a lawless state ruled by utterly greedy people in charge. They say that in every situation, cover up involves more cover up. See Watergate. See the Senate Enquiry of the assault on the American Capitol. So what happens with Silly Souls? Magically a Delhi Court (instead of the Bombay High Court that has jurisdiction over Goa) takes up the matter and rules that prima facie the Minister in question is not involved. Question for the judge: why was he satisfied with ‘prima facie’ (a first view) and not the entire view? If you believe in miracles, two or more besides the court venue, happened here. The matter was taken up in record time. If such speed was the norm there would not have been millions (yes millions) of cases backlogged in Indian courts. Secondly, the matter went to court without proper investigation taking place. If you view the video from The Wire you will see the investigative reporter being interviewed had done his digging and if one goes by the facts uncovered, The Silly Souls matter smells rotten and the tentacles of the Minister’s family covers the case tighter than an Octopus does its prey. Not by a long shot hopefully, will National Media let go of a tasty morsel like this, unless once again the Govt at Delhi chokes them like Putin has been trying to do with Ukraine. The Wire Exclusive: Goa Bar Row- वो 5 सवाल जिनसे नहीं बच सकतीं Smriti Ir... https://youtu.be/IPIn08kurkU Roland Toronto.
[Goanet] The US Backs Down
We knew there was a changed reality occurring in the world after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The US has indicated after long last that it is no longer donning the mantle of the World’s Policeman. There was a To and Fro in the US about Nancy Pelosi making the trip to Taiwan. Feisty though she is and unsurprisingly though she received the backing of Republican hawks, it was a wait and see situation i.e. waiting to see whether she would go ahead or be shut down. Either action would have implications for US policy. Letting her go ahead would mean facing up to China. Pulling the rug on her would mean the US takes China and its military power seriously and is not willing to confront it. This is what happens when countries have nuclear weapons. Their deterrence works. It’s only a matter of time before Pakistan, India and whoever else possesses such weapons, hold peace and sanity (and the US) at bay. Taiwan not on Nancy Pelosi′s Asia itinerary https://www.dw.com/en/taiwan-not-on-us-house-speaker-nancy-pelosis-asia-itinerary/a-62661426 Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Seven Spanish Angels
Recognized Norwegian country singer Heidi Hauge does this Willie Nelson and Ray Charles number with great audience appreciation. https://youtu.be/FNMkeMRCaKE Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Priscilla Cruz R.I.P.
Many Goanet readers may have heard of the horrific accident on early Thursday morning that resulted in the deaths of four occupants in a speeding SUV at the site of the Cortalim-Agaçaim Zuari Bridge that plunged 100 feet into the river after losing control and smashing through the guard rail. This made all-Goa news but if you hadn’t heard of it, just google the incident which received wide coverage All four were residents of Loutulim and it was reported that having just celebrated the birthday of one of the 3 males, had got into the car at that unearthly hour probably to continue the celebration in Panjim since restaurants in the area were closed due to the local panchayat election period regulations. The only female occupant of the vehicle was our late Goanetter from Sweden Alfred Tavares’ niece - his sister Libby’s daughter. Besides her other family, she leaves behind her father José Cruz a well known PWD contractor from the village. Priscilla was active in politics and a member of the Goa Congress (a Block President). She had a bit role in Nachom Ya Kumpasar and was known as the GoTo person for logistics arrangement for films and documentaries set in Goa. She was 53. Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Always on My Mind
A solo cover by Naudo, one of the world’s best classical guitar pluckers. https://youtu.be/R04QEnRr1XM This song has been recorded in 300 different versions but Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson have always topped the charts. Elvis with the Royal Philharmonic. https://youtu.be/n1YKv_Pl8PU Willie Nelson. https://youtu.be/R7f189Z0v0Y Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] When A Prophylactic Is Key To Consent
A new ruling from Canada’s Supreme Court that says when you don’t use a condom after being requested by your sexual partner to do so, it is Sexual Assault. Badly required in the well documented circumstances of prostitutes in India who have their requests completely ignored by Indian johns who feel they hold the upper hand. Supreme Court rules condom use can be a condition of sexual consent in assault cases | CityNews Toronto https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/07/29/supreme-court-to-make-ruling-in-b-c-case-on-sexual-consent-and-use-of-protection/ Roland. Toronto.
[Goanet] Notable Goan Firsts
From today’s TOI newsletter. Goa. The state became the first in India to stop providing subsidies to electric vehicles (EV) with effect from July 31. Spread over an area of 3,702 sq km, the state was home to the country’s first printing press — which was established in September, 1556 by Jesuit Missionaries and it functioned in the colegio de Sao Paulo at Old Goa — as also the first medical college, the Escola Médica-Cirúrgica de Nova Goa, now known as the Goa Medical College and Hospital, which was set up in 1842. It was also Asia’s first modern allopathic medical teaching institute. Roland. Toronto.
