RIFLE RANGE BOY

The Death of Stalin (2017) The difference between Capitalism in the West and Communism in the East of Europe arose because Capitalist societies retained philosophical persuasions and political pluralism as expressed in a parliamentary democracy, a free press and free trade unions. Communist societies, on the other hand, froze Marxist philosophy into a closed system of orthodoxy. This led to heresy-hunting, which in due course reduced Marxism to the status of a Semitic creed like Christianity and Islam. Bertrand Russell was not far wrong when he identified Communism as a Christian heresy. It has acquired all the characteristic features of the Christian Church such as the only saviour, the only Revelation, the only Pope, the only priesthood, the only baptism, and the only sacraments. Communist regimes could not help becoming totalitarian enemies of human freedom. The initial success of the Bolshevik Revolution is evidenced by the advancements in living conditions and headway in scienc...

Landscape with Figures" by George Tooker (1992 ) Trapped in pigeon holes? I have known Uncle K7 for more than thirty-over years. Ever ready with a gleaming smile, he enjoys having long banter with me every now and then, I think. Periodically, during draggy family functions, we would often be nooked at a corner to discuss his life and times as a young technician in the world of espionage. Working in the Malaysian Field Force as a sergeant, he was in the frontline trying to intercept communist's radio communication using the then avant-garde British and German technology .  These family gatherings were nothing more than marking of attendance akin to a Mafia family meetings where the same crowd meets, again and again, to reinforce who is who in the family's hierarchal ladder.  My interactions with Uncle K7 over the years opened up my understanding of mortality, immortality and the purpose of life. Through him, I realised the need to discover, re-discover and continue learn...

Population Control: How Corporate Owners Are Killing Us Jim Marrs (2015) It may have sounded like rumblings of an old man who had lived too long to be amiable to the wranglings of the modern world, or it may scream of the rebel yell of a conspiracy theorist who is explaining about that is wrong with the world today. In America and in the world as a whole, entire populations have been culled for profit and control. Elites have used the so-called GOD syndicate—Guns, Oil, and Drugs—as well as toxic air, water, food, and medicines, and of course, the unhealthy financial system on which the whole master plan depends—to reduce the world’s population. This is due to the belief of the global elite that the basis of all the world’s problems is overpopulation—just too many people using the Earth’s limited resources. The conspiracy theory angle starts with the story of the American Stonehenge, which was unveiled in 1980, in the state of Georgia by anonymous donors. The inscription grac...

In the late 1970s, as my future laid bare before me, I found no time in anything but my books. I looked  at watching movies as three hours of wasted time that could otherwise be spent on something more worthwhile, so I thought. At that age, everything was either black or white, factual and goal orientated. Watching the then Tamil movie which showcased hirsute stars in unkempt hair and their un-touched up face narrating mind-stupefying cheesy village stories was a turn-off. Its songs, despite be blared incessantly by my neighbours on their music devices, were just white noise.  Actually, it was an annoyance, as something I had to run away from to find solace at the quiet corner of the cemetery or empty classroom in the school to jam-pack precious information into my grey cells. That was the time when SP Bala and Illayaraja were churning out hits after hit that just passed me by. Occasionally a song or two would come to my attention clamouring from my father rickety radio. I did...

Cuties (Mignonnes, French; 2020) Back in secondary school, my friend AK, and I were engaged in an in-depth discussion on the topic of American situational comedies which later became to be  abbreviated as sitcoms. AK was adamant that the depictions of teenagers, then in family dramas, were detrimental to the behaviours of people. The fighting back, the rudeness, the promiscuity of teenagers, the docile nature of parents were bound to have change on the local society. This would happen even though the storyline would indicate poetic justice at the end. Even though good virtues would prevail over bad, viewers tend to remember the bank heist rather than how the robbers suffered for their feat - their unsettling life whilst being on the run and the incarceration later on. The same thing happened in this film. Even though the movie's storyline is genuine in highlighting the current societal obsession in adultification of preteens, the cinematography and wardrobe departm...

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra - - from Rig Veda 7.59.12 (1500-1200 BCE) https://greenmesg.org/stotras/shiva/mahamrityunjaya_mantra.php Om Try-Ambakam Yajaamahe Sugandhim Pusstti-Vardhanam Urvaarukam-Iva Bandhanaan Mrtyor-Mukssiiya Maa- [A] mrtaat || Meaning: 1:  Om,  We Worship  the  Tryambaka  (the  Three-Eyed  One), 2:  Who is  Fragrant  (as the Spiritual Essence),  Increasing  the  Nourishment  (of our Spiritual Core); 3:   From  these many  Bondages  (of Samsara)  similar to Cucumbers  (tied to their Creepers), 4:   May I be Liberated from Death  (Attachment to Perishable Things), So that I am  not  separated  from  the perception of  Immortality  (Immortal Essence pervading everywhere). http://mk.skycoded.com/watch/DIrvM1gcnPU# Squirting of cucumber seeds Ecballium elaterium We have been reciting this mantra since young without ac...

Tenet (2020) This is another movie in which one may go in and come out of the theatre asking, "what was that all about?" It is about time travel and would make sense if one has a little background about time, space and bending time. Viewers of Interstellar should be at a better place understanding the flow and the plot of the story. They would not find it too confusing. Time and space have fascinated man since the beginning from the Hindu tradition to the Greeks right down to modern thinkers. Time is just an arbitrary human construct to keep track of earth's rotation around the sun as to plan seasonal preparation of agricultural activities. It went on to permeate all over our day to day activities. Our mass occupies space and seems to move together with time. Somewhere interspersed in all these is life. And it is all moving forward in an ever-expanding universe, or is it? In an alternative universe, time could be moving backwards as seen here in Tenet, the movie....