World Speech Day Videos That Have Caught On

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been just over 3 months since I posted on the viewership of our World Speech Day speech videos in the YouTube channel “WSD with CV Plus”. 

 

[Note that we’re focusing on only the videos which have amassed at least one thousand views]. 

 

Here’s the latest update – as at 04:40 PM Malaysian time today: 

• Karyn Yadlyn – 4886 views (4502) 
• Sanjanaa Kanthan – 4629 views (4421) 
• Velleny Jivel Jinau – 3124 views (3001) 
• Christal Wong – 2552 views (2535) 
• Amirah – 2384 views (2055) 
• Vellvie Jivel Jinau – 2215 views (2032) 
• Simon Gibson – 2214 views (2138) 
• Karan Z’vyr – 2076 views (2031) 
• Santhy Dewi Pillai – 2023 views (1852) 
• Tashvein Jega Theesan – 1816 views (1772) 
• Yosshveina Jega Theesan – 1402 views (1341) 
• Rohijas Md Sharif – 1351 views (1108) 
• Ahmad Fakhri – 1334 views (1035) 
• Chin Hui Ling – 1260 views (1218) 
• Ni Putu Ayu Prabhasvari – 1205 views (1031) 
• Ooi Mei Ling – 1172 views (1028) 
• Smyra Z’ryn – 1154 views (1018) 
• Chong Kai Zhen – 1120 views (1013) 
• Abegail Lee Ann – 1116 views (1021) 
• Ilham Firdaus – 1109 views (1034) 
• Sumithra Devi – 1087 views (1043) 
• Chester Liam – 1063 views (1008) 
• Robyn Grace Leo – 1061 views (1015) 
• Haari Shamundiswary – 1034 views (1014) 
• Thanuja Kunasekaran – 1030 views (1016) 
• Kamalinee Gaayathri – 1017 views (827) 
• Suriya Selvam – 1013 views (825) 
  

[Note: The figures in parentheses indicate the number of views from my last report published March 12, 2023]. 

 

The following five videos deserve mention because they’re so close to reaching 1,000 views: 

• Nur 'Iffah Muhammad Izzad – 975 views (741) 
• Evelou Forbes Escosia – 856 views (826) 
• Lu Rong – 846 views (725) 
• Alexandra Chryzelle – 818 views (New entry) 
• Abigael Elisah – 816 views (New entry) 
  

#unexpectedvoices #worldspeechday

UK Households Withdraw Savings at Fastest Ever Rate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK households are pulling money out of their savings accounts at the fastest rate ever recorded, as they draw on rainy day funds to weather the cost of living storm. 

 

Figures from the Bank of England show households withdrew a net £4.6 billion from banks and building societies in May, the highest level of withdrawals since it started collecting the monthly data in October 1997. The figure suggests those able to do so are running down their funds to sustain living standards or to pay off mortgages or loans before needing to refinance at higher interest rates. 

 

Richard Lane, the director of external affairs at the debt charity StepChange, said: “This is the latest in a long line of warnings that more and more people are struggling to cope with the cost of living. Whether it’s a sky-high energy bill, a sudden jump in mortgage payments or the gradual increase of the price of the weekly food shop, cost pressures are everywhere and eroding people’s financial headroom, leaving them more vulnerable to harmful borrowing and problem debt”. 

 

It is pertinent to point out that households built up savings to record levels during the Covid pandemic, amassing an estimated £200 billion in extra deposits as lockdowns forced consumers to stay at home, while furlough supported the incomes of millions of workers. 

 

Daniel Mahoney, the UK economist at Handelsbanken, said: “This provides strong evidence that households are dipping into excess savings built up during the pandemic to sustain living standards during the current cost of living squeeze caused by the high inflation environment”. 

 

It was, however, mostly households in the top 40% of earners who experienced marked increases in saving, while the poorest fifth lost money. Many have no savings or little held in reserve, particularly among younger adults, those on lower incomes, and renters.

Bud Light Continues to Suffer

The latest on Bud Light, if you’re interested to know. 

 

The beer continues to suffer – its sales has dived a staggering 28.5 percent! 

 

And Brendan Whitworth (right) still doesn't get it! The tone deaf Anheuser-Busch’s US CEO won't rule out Bud Light working with Dylan Mulvaney AGAIN – and then says the company need to “appreciate” what the consumer wants – despite the debacle costing them $20 billion and counting in market cap. 

 

Let's see if Bud Light's sales can become even worse.

 

Malaria is common in large areas of Africa, Asia and Central and South America – but not the US. 

 

It is caused by the Plasmodium parasite. Four Plasmodium species (Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae) give disease in humans, and humans are their only relevant reservoir. Once the Plasmodia multiply inside the red blood cells, fever and multi-organ disease may ensue, which can be life-threatening when P. falciparum is involved. 

 

The parasite is spread to humans through the bites of an infected female Anopheles mosquito (right).

 

It is known as a 'night-biting' mosquito because it most commonly bites between sunset and sunrise. When a mosquito bites a person already infected with malaria, it becomes infected and spreads the parasite to the next person it bites. FYI, malaria can't be spread directly from person to person. 

 

People who get malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. 

 

And now, malaria has returned to the shores of the US. Florida and Texas are seeing locally acquired cases of malaria – the first spread of the mosquito-transmitted disease inside the country in 20 years, officials warn in a health alert. 

 

All five patients – four in Florida, one in Texas – have now had treatment.

 

Active surveillance for more cases is continuing, the Centres for Disease Control say. And they are confident the risk of catching malaria in the US remains extremely low. That's what they say.

A Living, Breathing Fish from Supermarket Caviar

This is interesting!

London-based content creator Max Fosh embarked on an unusual months-long journey in the name of science and curiosity. He endeavored to turn commercially sold caviar (left) into a living, breathing fish. 

Fosh first bought a can of caviar from the supermarket and then embarked on a mission to fertilize the eggs. This venture involved the arduous task of finding fish sperm and carrying out an experimental cross-species fertilization. 

Amazingly, against all odds, Fosh's experiment worked, some of the fish eggs turned into tiny, newly-hatched fish. One among the lot, endearingly named Max Fish, thrived under his attentive care, growing at an impressive pace. He fed Max Fish plankton, soon realizing he had outgrown his humble Tupperware abode and upgraded him to a more spacious habitat. 

The climax of this fishy tale was a heartwarming send-off as Fosh released Max Fish into a friend's pond.

The Yellowhammer Cookie

Did you know that the US state of Alabama now has an official state cookie – the Yellowhammer Cookie? 

 

Governor Kay Ivey on Friday signed legislation naming the confection created by a Montgomery fourth-grader as the official state cookie. 

 

Students at Montgomery’s Trinity Presbyterian School came up with the idea of a state cookie. Fourth-grader Mary Claire Cook submitted the winning recipe, which includes pecans, peanut butter and honey, WSFA-TV reported. 

 

Cook brought a batch of the cookies to Ivey for the bill-signing ceremony. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if you don’t already know, Alabama has a long list of official state emblems and symbols, including: 

 

State agricultural insect – Queen Honeybee. Actually, Italian honey bee (Apis mellifera ligustica), a subspecies of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State amphibian – Red Hills Salamander (Scientific Name: Phaeognathus hubrichti)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State crustacean – Brown Shrimp  (Family Penaeidea, order Descapoda, species Peneaus aztecus)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State dessert – Lane Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State flower – Camellia (Scientific name: Camellia japonica)

 

 

 

  

 

State fossil – Basilosaurus Cetoides

State game bird – Wild Turkey (Scientific name: Meleagris gallopavo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State gemstone – Star Blue Quartz

 

 

 

 

 

State mineral – Hematite

 

 

 

 

 

State nut – Pecan (Scientific name: Carya illinoinensis)

 

 

 

 

 

 

State quilt – Pine-Burr Quilt 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State reptile – Alabama Red-bellied Turtle (Scientific name: Pseudemys alabamensis)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State shell – Johnstone’s Junonia (Scientific name: Scaphella junonia johnstoneae)

 

 

 

 

 

 

State spirit – Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

State vegetable – Sweet Potato (Scientific name: Ipomoea batatas)

 

Broken America Vis-a-vis China's Success Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broken America. The truth the world already knows!

To be honest, I don't give a rat's ass about the US but I'm always amazed that instead of fixing its many problems, it loves to engage in China-bashing. 

And I came across this piece of writing from Professor Dennis Etler (1947-2021), an American political analyst with a doctorate in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley who offered an excellent explanation as to why the West (read, the US) readily succumbs to compulsive bouts of China-bashing.

“Why is it that the West is so preoccupied with China? The usual answer is that China's economic growth is challenging Western global hegemony which has held sway for at least 250 years. The Chinese military has also reached parity with that of the West, so it is no longer subject to Western intimidation and bullying. All that is true and reason for the West to want to savage China and portray it as the root of all evil. 

But there is one other consideration that must be taken into account. It's not only China's economic prowess and military might that frightens the West, it is also China's success as a nation versus the West's failure. 

Moreover, China has forged a society in which there is harmony between its different ethnicities in contrast to the systemic racism that characterizes Western society. 

Western ruling elites and their media mouthpieces do not want to acknowledge the fact that China has eliminated extreme poverty while more and more of their own people descend into poverty. They do not want to admit that China has constructed a 21st century infrastructure while they lag far behind. They do not want to confront the fact that the Chinese people overwhelmingly support their government while people in the West have lost confidence in their own, they do not want to accept that China beat Covid-19 while they haven't, and finally they are loathe to accept the fact that a non-white nation has outperformed them and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. 

In order to deflect attention away from these truths the West has concocted a series of lies and slanders that allow them to deny reality. Instead of poverty alleviation the West imagines 'genocide'. Instead of the advances in HSR, EVs, alt-energy and e-commerce they focus on 'IP theft'; instead of a socioeconomic system that serves the people, they accuse China of forced labor and forced sterilizations. Instead of seeing China as defending its national sovereignty in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it's called an aggressor. 

All the China-bashing serves multiple purposes but ONE of the main reasons is to make sure that people in the West do not get to hear nor see what the real China is all about because if they did they may get ideas that the Western elites don't want then to have, such as socialism works for the betterment of the 99% while capitalism works primarily to enrich the 1%”. 

Now, you know why China-bashing has become an American fixation. And it must be said it helps the US to cover up the fact that it is very much a broken country!

The Shark in the Bathtub

A shark may be lurking in the bathtub too! So, please exercise extreme caution!

 

Warning! Don't let small children near a Robo Alive Junior Baby Shark Sing & Swim Bath Toy. This alert comes from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

 

They say the manufacturer recalled 7.5 million of the deceptively cute toys after receiving 12 reports of children, falling or sitting on the toys, sharp, dorsal, fin, resulting in impairment, injuries, lacerations, and puncture wounds, to "genital, anorectal and facial areas. Nine of the incidents required stitches or medical attention". 

 

From CPSC: “Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled bath toys and contact Zuru for a full refund of $14 for each full-size bath toy or $6 for each mini-size bath toy, in the form of a prepaid virtual Mastercard. 

 

Consumers should disable the tail fin (by cutting it on the full-size bath toy or by bending it on the mini-size bath toy), mark the body of the shark bath toy with the word ‘recalled’ and the unique code provided during registration for the recall, then upload a photo of the product, showing it is disabled and marked, at https://www.recallrtr.com/bathshark. 

 

Upon receipt of the photo, Zuru will issue a refund to purchasers”.

Elwood's Organic Dog Meat

An advertisement was spotted on UK’s London Underground that appears to be touting tasty, juicy dog meat, "local, free-range and humanely harvested". 

 

Check out the ad here:

The ad on the London Underground

“ELWOOD'S IS AHEAD OF THE PACK 

Set the table with man's best meat. 

Elwood's Organic Dog Meat has been family-owned and operated for over two generations. We're dedicated to offering our friends and neighbors the best, sustainably raised dog meat available. 

Unlike some farms, our pups never receive antibiotics and spend little time cooped up. They have access to green pastures during the summer months and are fed only organic, soy-free feed. 

​ Our dogs are: 

• Free-range 
• Local 
• Organic Fresh, never frozen 
• Free from antibiotics 
• Sustainably raised 
• Humanely slaughtered! 
• Loved 

Pups and dogs are available by the cut, quarter, half, or whole animal. Broth bones are available on a limited basis. Please contact us for breed availability".

Unfortunately for connoisseurs of canines, a close look at the small print reveals that it's a cunning ploy: "If a fake ad for a fake farm bothers you, maybe go vegan?" 

As their website explains: “The truth is, most of the animals you consume are just like dogs in all the ways that matter: 

• Cows are social and complex. 
• Pigs are gentle with surprising intelligence. 
• Chickens are intelligent and sensitive to the welfare of their peers. 
• Sheep are peaceful and can pick up emotional cues in humans. 

Throughout history, we humans had to learn to overlook who an animal is – and their capacity to suffer – in order to survive. But we don't have to eat animals anymore”. 

And then it informs us that “CHANGE IS PAWS-IBLE” and that “you can live without causing intentional harm to animals”. 

“Elwood’s Organic Dog Meat isn’t real, but we hope you’ll think about any anger it caused. Consider what it'd mean to open your heart to the idea that so-called ‘food animals’ are just as worthy of love and kindness – and maybe that there is no such thing as an ‘animal meant for food’. 

At the very least, no animal deserves the cruel, short lives we create for them”.

To get the full version, read it at their website ElwoodDogMeat.com.

 

The Diamond's 2nd PWP Promo

On July 13, 2022, I put up a post featuring our Purchase-with-Purchase promotion with regard to “The Diamond in Your Speech” book. That was in partnership with Andreas Domingo and NALE – The Nasi Lemak Company. 

 

And FYI, they’ve sold 25 copies todate. 

 

Now, we’re pleased to introduce our second partnership – this time with Selina Chong and JDV Joie De Vivre Cafe @ 8G, Jalan USJ 10/1E, USJ Taipan, Subang Jaya. 

 

Same deal. Patronise this artisan café and you’re entitled to a second purchase – in this case, it’s our book “The Diamond in Your Speech” that rewards you with a RM6 saving. So, instead of forking out RM56 which is our official selling price, you need to pay only RM50! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m happy to vouch for “The Diamond in Your Speech”. It’s a gem of a book on public speaking. Educative. Engaging. Easy-to-read.

Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Is Not Meeting Expectations

Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive against Russian forces is “not meeting expectations on any front”, Western and US officials admitted to CNN on Thursday. 

 

Ukrainian troops and armor are proving “vulnerable” to Russian minefields, missiles, and air power, they added. And paraphrasing the unidentified officials, CNN reported “Russian lines of defense have been proving well-fortified, making it difficult for Ukrainian forces to breach them”.

 

Methinks, US-NATO should put troops in Ukraine and see if they do any better! After all, they have been itching to fight Russia. 

 

On the same day, Russian Security Council chief Nikolay Patrushev stated that over 13,000 Ukrainian troops had been sacrificed and many Western-supplied vehicles were among the 246 tanks, 152 infantry fighting vehicles, and 443 armored vehicles Ukraine had lost between June 04 and 21. 

 

Already, Ukrainian President [V]ladimir [Z]elensky (right) is reportedly under pressure to score battlefield successes for his Western patrons, and CNN wrote that the counteroffensive “is seen as crucial to determining who ultimately wins the war”. 

 

CNN stupid, kah? The fact of the matter is, Ukraine cannot win.

The Global Liveability Index 2023 Shows KL Ranked 94th

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city was among the 10 cities globally that saw the largest rise in rank in a list of cities ranked by their “liveability” compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit. 

 

“The Global Liveability Index 2023” released today showed Kuala Lumpur ranked 94th, having moved up 19 places since 2022. It was the 7th biggest mover up the ranking and had an index rating of 74.3 out of a 100 points. 

 

Maybe so but the fact is, we’re ranked 94th.

 

And what about Penang, I wonder.

A Second Wind

Indeed, we’re smack in the middle of our second wind – and our book sales have shown strong bursts of demand! 

Since my last TDIYS post eight days ago, we’ve offloaded another 43 copies of “The Diamond in Your Speech”, bringing the total books sold to 891. That leaves us with a balance of one hundred and nine books. 

Let’s see how fast we can offload the 9 books – to reach the next milestone. C'mon, we can do it!

 

 

Busy Gravediggers

Ukrainian gravediggers are as busy as cats on a hot tin roof. Better believe it – on Monday, the New York Times reported that cemeteries there are filling up with the bodies of soldiers killed on the frontline. 

 

So much so that the people in charge have to "exhume old graves" to make room for new burials amid the “seemingly countless funerals”. 

 

The need is urgent because Ukraine is suffering heavy losses in its counteroffensive against Russia. 

 

And yet, President [V]olodymyr [Z]elensky (right) said on Tuesday that Ukraine’s forces were “actively destroying the enemy, physically cleansing Ukraine” in the east and south of the country. 

 

He is still stubbornly insisting that Ukraine is winning! Delusional. Demented. Deranged.