America has Always Pussy Footed China

China and America are two powers but the relationship is complex. It is a fact that America never opposed China in any significant manner. In fact, it has kowtowed to the dragon at most times. A recent statement by the Philippine president Roberto Duterte is revealing. He said that America never opposed China. He pointedly asked why the Americans did not send 5 aircraft carriers into the South China sea early on and nip the trouble in the bud of Chinese occupation of the Spratly islands. Obviously, there is no answer,  for the Americans have given way to the Chinese.

This is not a new phenomenon and right from the time of Mao Tse Tung, the Americans have pussyfooted China. There has been a strange reluctance to engage China or confront it. In 1964 China went nuclear. It also announced that its nuclear arsenal would be a deterrent for the USA. It considered the USA an imperialist power. Donald and the company are shouting from the rooftops that the nuclear power of North Korea will be dealt with an iron hand. A carrier group the Carl Vinson is moving towards N Korea and making ominous noises. A bombing is on the cards.

A look back to 1964 will show that the Americans did nothing when China went nuclear in 1964. Other than some silly statements by Johnson, the then-president of the USA just sat on its haunches. There was no hysteria about China, like the one is built up against the regime of Kim Jong. Why? In my travels of the length and breadth of the USA, I have not met one American who asked why the USA never bombed China's nuclear facilities. Yes, I ask why China was not bombed and now a hue and cry are made about Korea which is 1/30 the size of the USA. Frankly, there is no logic.

Even now Donald Trump has played the poodle to President Xi in his resort in Florida. He has tried to placate the Chinese leader and asked for sanctions to bomb Korea. What a joke. A leader of a superpower asking for permission to bomb North Korea. Readers must remember that Donald will only bomb Korea in case he gets green light from President Xi. 

Donald also forgot all his earlier rants against China that he would get the occupation of the Spratly island rolled back as well as that China was a currency manipulator. What a far cry from a man who has changed colors overnight. Donald is not the first US president and one can recollect that Richard Nixon flew all the way to China to bow to the Chinese emperor Mao. It was like the old age when China was the center of the world. China has now engineered the coronavirus and is belligerent all over, what will the uS do?

 

Extra Marital Affair gets Indian Army Brigadier the Sack

The Indian Army has zero-tolerance for acts like extramarital affairs This is important as the army is a fighting force and any such act can undermine morale and fighting efficacy of the Army. A case has been reported by the Times of India that a General Court Martial assembled at HQs  33 Corps close to Siliguri in North Bengal to try a Brigadier who was alleged to have stolen the affections of a junior officer, a Lt Col's wife, who was part of his regiment. The Brigadier was commanding an important formation on the India -China border and thankfully he has been removed from command

has been removed from command.

The name of the Brigadier is withheld from Media but it's not important, as what is important is that acts of moral turpitude have no place in a fighting force. The case was brought out by the wife of the Brigadier who had got a whiff of the romance and sent a letter to the Army Chief General Rawat. After due inquiry aGCM assembled and the Brigadier had no choice but to plead guilty This saved him and he was given loss of seniority of 10 years as well as a "severe reprimand".

The Brigadiers army career is over and he has been removed from command.  But I will say he is lucky as others have been dismissed from service for such acts. The COAS may yet not confirm the findings and sentence and order the GCM to reconvene for enhancing the punishment. All credit to the wife of the Brigadier who blew the lid on this extramarital affair of her husband.

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A Single Malt to Relish from India ; Amrut Fusion

A whiskey is a refined form of alcohol. It has many layers of class but the classiest of the lot is single malt. What is single malt?  It is a whiskey that is first distilled and is the purest form of alcohol. It is supposed to have a special taste and connoisseurs who have savored a single malt whiskey will look for nothing further than this.

Single malt whiskey is normally the preserve of Scotland and some famous names like Glenlivet, Glen Morangie, and Glen Grant come to mind. Single malt was not made in India tough IMFL( Indian made foreign liquor) is manufactured with some good brands like Peter Scott, Antiquity and Indian made lower end scotch being the fare.

There has been a change and an Indian single malt has been marketed. I first saw a bottle in a wine shop in Abu Dhabi and the shop owner told me to try it, as it was good whiskey.
It is manufactured by Amrut distilleries of Bangalore and is the priciest Indian brand. Titled "Amrut Fusion" the whiskey is certainly a rival to single malt brands from Scotland. Not many in India have as yet savored the brand as it was first exported. Now, this brand is available and the top end bars and shops will stock it. This brand is also available at the elite "rays bar" in Abu Dhabi and many foreigners have liked the taste of the whiskey, which is mild and does not rush to the head. Its a whiskey to be savored in good company preferably with a young woman.

However, one thing going against the brand is that production is very less and that can be a bit of a dampener. The whiskey is now also introduced in the defense canteen service and soldiers have liked the taste. Maybe it does not match Glenmorangie but I would place it a close second. 

MAN to Rival Nostradamus- Shah Wali Naimamatullah

The rival of Nostradamus

Image Source - Photo screenshot from Youtube( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpsEev9hCj4)

Naimamatullah Wali is not so well known as Nostradamus, who has been greatly overrated by Western scholars. But a rival with greater accuracy is Naimatullah Than Nostradamus lived 300 years earlier and has proved to be more accurate.

Nostradamus is supposed to be the last word in Astrology. He was born in 1503 and wrote certain verses called quatrains which are open to interpretation. He is credited with many forecasts but the fact is that his quatrains can have different interpretations.

Not many are aware of an Islamic astrologer cum Sufi saint called Naimatullah who lived almost 300 years earlier to Nostradamus and is reported to have visited Persia and Multan now in Pakistan. He reportedly lived to the age of 105. Like Nostradamus Naimatullah also has made many forecasts. Much of his works have been destroyed but a few are still available that show that this Islamic scholar and Astrologer was something out of the ordinary.

The son of Naimatallah came to Bidar in India and died there.   Coming to Naimatullah one can see that he was a very gifted man.

Many among the Shia sect consider him a Sufi saint. His tomb is in Iran.

There is a book of 805 verses titled "predictions by Naimatullah" and this is published in Pakistan. The Sufi saint made many forecasts and one of them forecast the victory of Babur and defeat of Ibrahim Lodhi.  This happened after Babur won the battle of Panipat in 1526  The saint also forecast the breakup of Pakistan which duly happened after the 1971 war. He has said that great tribulations will come on the Muslim world and this is happening with the rise of terror groups like the Islamic State.

One of the forecasts which I suggest one takes with a pinch of salt is a global war which will lead to the destruction of America and the victory of the Islamic world. In other words, he is predicting a nuclear exchange.

The forecasts of the Muslim Sufi have not been read or interpreted much in the West, where Nostradamus is greatly lionized.  The West and the USA must be made aware of the last forecast by Naimatullah of the destruction of America. It is better to be forearmed and forewarned of a great catastrophe

Remembering Jake La Motte the boxer who inspired the film"RAGING BULL"

Jake LaMotte the man who inspired the film 'Raging Bull' is no more

Boxing is a macho sport and it dominates the world of sport. It is also as old as history, maybe the oldest sport known to man and boxers have for centuries fired the imagination of the artist and the painter. America has been home to boxing legends for the last 200 years where men like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammed Ali, Joe Louis, and Jake LaMotte became legends.

 Jake was perhaps a shade below some of the greats of boxing but a film on his life starring the Hollywood actor Robert DeNiro catapulted him into the limelight. Yes, he was a great boxer, but a lot of credit must go to Robert De Nitro who portrayed the pugilist in the movie; Raging Bull;. 

De Niro won an Oscar for the best actor for his portrayal of the boxer. The World Middleweight champ died in bed in a hospital in Miami. It was a sad end to a great boxing career, which saw him fight 106 bouts with 30 clean knockouts. He was a man who could take a lot of punishment in the ring and never gave up. His bouts with Sugar Ray Robinson, another boxing great are now legendary. They met 6 times and LaMotte won only once but he always fought with tenacity and never gave up. He first defeated sugar Ray in 1942 to bag the world title. By all accounts, he was the most celebrated boxer of his era.