Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the President of now embattled Ukraine. (2 y at the end of his name is not a spelling mistake. That is how his name spells) His becoming President of Ukraine will something happen only in movies. Actually, he was a full-time comedy actor.  The Tamil speaking readers will certainly remember Vadivelu.*

Zelenskyy produced a TV series called Servant of the People in which he played the role of a President of Ukraine. His show was very popular and therefore he started a political party and announced his candidacy for the President of Ukraine. He scored a landslide victory.

To the surprise of many, this comedian started to bring about lot of changes and improvements to his country. He became very popular with the Ukrainian people. 

Putin always had an eye on Ukraine. He wanted to annex Ukraine and thought this was the right time to send his army to take over Ukraine. Western experts think that Putin wants to bring back the old Soviet Union. Russia thought Zelenskyy would run away from the country. However, he stood firm and leading his country courageously. 

USA offered an escape route for him from Ukraine. He immediately rejected the notion and demonstrated selfless leadership and a portrait of courage generally reserved for Hollywood (per Yahoo News). 

Ukraine claims 3 assassination attempts on him were thwarted in the last 2 weeks. 

Russia thought this would be an easy take over. But Zelenskyy and his army and people volunteers are fighting bravely. USA and EU nations are helping Ukraine. They have imposed severe economic and financial sanctions on Russia and Putin personally. 

Will see how the war ends. 

Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine)

* As I write this, I read in papers Mr. Bhagwant Singh Mann, AAP Party's Punjab Chief Minister Elect was also a comedian.

Looks like Vadivelu is the only comedian who did not succeed in politics.

To Laugh or not to Laugh

North Korea banned laughing by its citizens for 11 days to mark death anniversary of Kim Jong Un’s father. During this period, they are not allowed to laugh, consume alcohol, and engage in leisure activities. 

Kim Jong Un cannot monitor the entire population whether they laugh or not. But he can, at least, check on his ministers and military generals if they laugh or not. 

I was thinking how to help Kim Jong Un in this matter. I found a solution. 

(There was a TV series in USA titled Make Me Laugh. It was a comedy game show in which the object was not to laugh at the comedians. Various comedians would have one minute each to make the contestant laugh. If the contestant was able to keep a straight face, he or she would win prize money and go on to face another comedian, and so on until at last they met a joke they couldn’t resist.) 

Taking a clue from the above TV series, Kim Jong Un can hire a few comedians and ask them to tell jokes to his ministers and military generals. If they keep a straight face and don’t laugh, they can be promoted to higher rank and their lives will be spared. Or give some awards like North Korea Unlaugh Medal.

What will happen if any of these ministers or military generals could not keep a straight face and laugh?  There is always the usual punishments like execution with anti-aircraft gun or feeding them to starving dogs. 

I am not making up these punishments. They are already published news items. I mean the punishments.

PS: A dear friend of mine suggested for North Korea to put up following signs all over the country:

LAUGHTER IS NOT THE BEST MEDICINE.

LAUGH AT YOUR RISK.

State of the Union

State of the Union is an address by the U.S. President, usually once a year, giving the administration’s view of the state of the nation and future plans. 

President Biden gave his State of the Union today to the joint session of Congress. 

He is not an electrifying speaker like President John F. Kennedy. 

He is not a great orator like President Ronald Reagan. 

Biden’s speech was mundane. 

He began his speech with a strong support for Ukraine and calling Putin as an aggressor. He announced US will close their air space to Russian aircrafts. 

Biden said the U.S. plans to release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a global effort to protect consumers and businesses from rising fuel prices as the U.S. and allies target Russia's economy. (Credit: Teaganne Finn of NBC News) 

He asked both parties to work together and contain the pandemic virus and reopen businesses and schools. 

He talked about southern border and immigration problem. 

Biden asked the Senate to pass the voting rights bill. 

He plans to focus heavily on the economy and inflation. 

Biden never said anything about the confusing withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Iowa’s  Republican Governor Kim Reynolds will give the Republican rebuttal to Biden’s speech. 

I wanted to write this long long time ago. Now is the opportunity. Whenever the US President address the nation equal opportunity is given to the opposition party to reply (rebut) him/her. All TV and radio broadcasting stations must carry that live by law. 

Why don’t other countries follow that? For example, when an Indian Prime Minister address the nation, why not give an equal opportunity to any of the opposition leader to speak or rebut.