My Takes - 17.1.26 -

 

1)  Enigma of Trump - I am sure every morning people interested in world goings-on, quickly, search the news portals to see foremost what Trump is up to. Everyday, something  ridiculous  from him! Ha ha ha!

2) Now that their common enemy Israel is lying low, other Middle-east countries are beginning  to fight among themselves. They have the time now. 

3) I have noticed that the health portals in the browsers are always contradicting with each other. One will say coffee  is good for you. Another will say coffee is bad for you. It is the same with the other edible  products, too. For me, coming to a decision is no small matter. Phew! 

4) Trump has little respect for NATO, EU and even UN. That is why he is doing what he is doing. His exploits on Greenland and Venezuela are good examples.

5) On January 15 2026, Venezuelan  opposition party leader, Maria Corina Machado presented her Nobel peace prize medal to President  Trump. Unsurprisingly, Trump was very pleased indeed. Now, finally, he had in his hand the medal he was so infatuated with, and who cares from where it came from! So friends, if you have power,  you do not need to go out, searching for an object that you so desire. It will come to you!.

Hello 2026!

Just when everyone thought and hoped the year 2026 will bring peace and calmness  to the world, all hell broke loose. USA stunned the world by sending its military to  Venezuela and forcefully capturing its president and his wife and taking them back to USA. 

And in the middle-east, unexpectedly, Saudi Arabia and UAE began their skirmishes involving Yemen. This too looked strange to the world as all the these countries together with the other nations in their zone, were, unitedly, concentrating on the Israel-Hamas war. Now to everyone's astonishment Iran is in turbulence within, with large protests and rallies. There is fighting in Syria between the Syrian army and the Turkish  backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with mostly the Kurdish people being displaced elsewhere. And God knows what else to come in this area.

Greenland and Colombia are waiting expectantly on what will the Americans next do to them. The other superpowers Russia and China are watching and watching. It is frightening! Hopefully, nothing comes out from their watchfullhess. May the conscience, if there is any now,  for the wellbeing of humanity prevail.

Nature, too has not been patient! Floods and landslides occurred in Indonesia and  killed over 1200 people. Philippines and Malaysia  also experienced these catastrophes. Australia was hit by bushfires and heatwaves. Major wildfires continued in parts of South Africa and forest fires were reported in Portugal. Earthquakes, though not devastating, occurred in parts of Philippines, Japan and Mexico.

Not to be outdone, human arrogance or carelessness caused another painful tragedy on New Year's  Day itself, in a bar in Switzerland  when a fire  which they said was caused by sparkling candles atop champagne  bottles, killed around 40 people and injured many.

Looks like it will be the same  old, same old. Good bye 2025. Hello 2026!

You do not play with America!

No, you do not play with America, not as long as Trump is the President! See what he had done recently. On the 3rd January  2026. his military  had entered the South American country of Venezuela and captured the Venezuelan  President  Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores and flew them to USA, the reason  being said was that they were responsible  for the continuous influx of tonnes of cocaine into USA, putting the citizens into all sorts of turmoil, and that Maduro had already  been  found guilty  of it since five years ago in a Manhattan federal court of New York City, USA. Maduro is aso accused of heading an illegitimate government full of corruption. 

Trump, whether  wantonly  or otherwise, is forcing the world to see that his nation is 'the policeman' of the world. And by 'arresting' Maduro he has created a legacy of his own. As we all know earlier Presidents, President George W Bush and Barack Obama have legacies of terminating the lives of Egyptian President Saddam Hussein in 2006 and the Taliban and al=Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in 2011, respectively. So now  President Trump has got his own legacy, a legacy of ending the reign of leaders who were presumed to be being thorns in his flesh. 

Now, the whole world is silently afraid that Trump won't stop here, as he is often babbling of Greenland and Canada in frightening terms! Surely, the leaders of Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Iran and the more often mentioned Greenland will also be somewhat in jitters as Trump has also warned them. The only silver lining is, Trump is so unpredictable that suddenly, out of the blue, he may start praising them!

Resolution for a longer life

 

It is next year again. How time flies! And why not? After all, one year is only 31,536,,000 seconds. Seconds move fast,  er..well, with only one exception, that is, when you sit in front of your pc! There, the passing of 5 seconds seems so slow! 

It is time to make resolutions for the oncoming year. Resolutions are made to follow, to make you a better person, or at least make you feel a better person, 

Well, I did not make a resolution last year because of the very sad occurrence in the month of September 2024 of the passing away of my beloved mentally challenged, Down Syndrome son. It had affected me greatly, me, being so attached to him,  always sitting beside him when I am at home, and he, even at the age of 33 years, cruelly not given the ability to talk, and adding to it, having a mental age of 3 years, so innocent, so unknowing of the things of the world. The poor 'child', being unable to talk, sufferied  silently and pitifully of a stomach ailment (the doctors said it was a chronic colonic tb) for the last several weeks before his departure, My only consolation was being told that Down Syndrome people were fated to depart at a young age.

Okay,  let us come back to the resolutions matter. I realize that I am a bit behind in  observing strictly the traffic rules and regulations. A few bad moments on the roads have  brought me to this realization. Also, my observations of others' unfortunate traffic incidents that I think can also occur to me has convinced me that if I want to live a little longer unscathed, then t must make this resolution of subjecting myself to the disciplines, rules, and regulations of the Malaysian traffic system. Here, I am enclosing a few of the traffic rules that I have been taking for granted. 

Firstly, I, sometimes being a restless person,  have been conveniently presuming that yellow lights of the traffic signals are for speeding before the red light comes on! Ha ha! And, the flickering red lights are there to urge  me to move on before the green lights emerge! Well, I am now sure that if I keep on doing this, then one day, I will be obliged to see one more light; the blue of police beside me! 

Secondly,  I must not drive too close to a car,  especially at a roundabout, as it will stop suddenly when you least expect it, and then there will be a C.R.A.S.H...B.A.N.G!...and subsequently a free stage show for the mysteriously sudden congregation of human beings, and the unwanted time-wastage and financial inclinations. 

Finally, it is regarding the motorbikes at a junction. When you have stopped at a junction and when you see a motorbike about 200 metres away on the left or on the right of the road in front of you, don't ever think it is still far away and cross the road. Boy! Many times, have I seen a bike passing by at the tail of my car when I was just getting close to the other side! That's how fast some of them ride nowadays,  the motorbike riders! 'The timeless proverb 'patience is virtue'' fits me nicely here. 

By the way, talking about resolutions, our Malaysian Communication Ministry has made a resolution of sorts. From  next year, it has resolved to make it safe for the youngsters of Malaysia to use their mobiles or other Internet devices. The Ministry requires  social media  platforms like tiktok, x, YouTube, Facebook, and the likes, not to allow the usage of their portals to  children under 16 years of age. So account registration will be a must.

Jocularly, my mobile also has a resolution of its own! It is 1080x2400. And I am comfortable with it. Ha ha ha! Happy New Year!