Essay – LM Expressions

Viewpoint: Thoughts on Personal Finance

After reading about the collapse in the highly ambiguous industry of digital currency, I thought I would share my two cents on personal finance that comes from the middle-class lay-person’s point of view:

Rule for Risky or Experimental investment:

Do not invest more than what you can afford to lose.

This means after paying for monthly expenses, paying off your credit card, loan repayments, mortgage etc., after setting aside savings for retirement and for a rainy day, whatever remains is the money for risky ventures.

If that amount is a thousand dollars, then that is the amount you can afford to lose without affecting your present or future financial security. If what remains is zero dollars then that is the amount available for risky ventures.

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Essay

Bill Gates — The Nostradamus of Pandemics

The Hypocrisy of Philanthropy

It is all over the news how Bill Gates predicted the current pandemic some years ago. The man is not an epidemiologist or a doctor, but one of his many charities focuses on pandemics. Therefore, he has become a Nostradamus for predicting this pandemic and the ones in the future.

I wonder if he foresaw how the Trump presidency would turn the greatest democracy on earth into a banana republic, because the federal government’s efficiency does play a critical role in controlling the epidemic.

Continue reading “Bill Gates — The Nostradamus of Pandemics” →

Essay

Flower-heads — Hard Lesson in Gravity

Small Town to Big City Experiences

Monochrome image of a train at a station, with a mother and son on a platform bench. — Image by Shelly Paul

I grew up in small communities, where everything was within walking distance, where most faces were familiar even if they were unacquainted. Moving from one such small town to the neighboring Chennai city was a new, unexpected experience.

To go from an idyllic life to the noise, the traffic, the crowd and the sheer size of the city took a little getting used to. One curious scene that held my attention were the public buses during the morning rush hour.

Continue reading “Flower-heads — Hard Lesson in Gravity” →

Essay

Word Makeover — Polyamorous Relationship

Promiscuity gets a Glamorous Makeover

The word ‘promiscuity’ seems to have gotten yet another makeover. Last time it was called ‘open relationship’. This time, it got glammed up as ‘polyamorous relationship’. I do think this sounds way glamorous than ‘open relationship’, which frankly sounds a little on the nose.

Let us try to understand the term. The word ‘poly’ means many or multiple and the word ‘amorous’ means horny or lustful. Therefore, the word ‘polyamorous’ could mean ‘multiple-horniness’, which I am hoping would be the next new word for promiscuity. If horniness multiplies itself constantly, then there is no time to commit to an earnest relationship. So, let’s drop the word relationship, because that word seems redundant. So the word is polyamorous.

Continue reading “Word Makeover — Polyamorous Relationship” →

Essay

My Little World

A Tribute to my Friends

Silhouette of two children frolicking on a beach.

My little world is populated with friends — spanning continents, religion, age, ethnicity and other social fragmentation that exists. They give me strength to soar to the skies, because I know they will catch me, should I fall.

My friends also come from a large extended family of uncles, aunts, cousins and second cousins Continue reading “My Little World” →

Essay

Climate Change — A Consequence of Colonialism

Urban landscape juxtaposition of rich high-rises against poor dwellings. — Image by Shelly Paul, Flickr

How History Seeps into the Present

It was inspiring to see the young people take to the streets on behalf of Mother Earth, demanding that their governments act swiftly to remedy the situation, so that they can have a future.

A lot of these governments especially in the impoverished countries are corrupt, greedy and violent. How can anyone expect these government to properly formulate and implement the right reforms? Most importantly, how did these governments get to be this way?

Most of Africa, Asia and Americas were colonized by Europeans for several centuries. These colonizations came at a cost of bottomless cruelty and bloodshed of the native population. These natives were not just plundered and killed for their material wealth, but most significantly, they were robbed off the priceless knowledge of their heritage and culture, through decimation of their languages, religions and customs. Continue reading “Climate Change — A Consequence of Colonialism” →

Essay

Soul Weary

return to innocence — Image by Shelly Paul

It is a sad chapter in our nation’s history when our young children, the future of this great country, have to rally for one essential need – the need to stay alive, to not be shot or maimed by somebody armed with a weapon. They are pleading for the most elemental right of every life form on this planet – just to stay alive and well.

As I listened to the videos and read the outpouring of the young people from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, it occurred to me that while we live in the United States of America, we send our children to school in war zones. They might as well walk out of picture perfect communities and well go to school in war-torn regions such as Syria or Afghanisthan. Continue reading “Soul Weary” →

Essay

What does Google share with India’s Communist Party?

Few months ago I moved my blog from Blogger to WordPress. The reason being my old blog disappeared from Google search altogether. For no particular reason it simply vanished.

So I did some research and I was asked to verify the website using Google webmaster tools. I followed all the instructions, but the site simply could not be verified. It was quite vexing because Blogger is Google’s own product and I simply assumed, that it would measure up their own standards.

Somehow that was not the case and my blog could not be verified as a legitimate website. After a few frustrating days, I made the decision I have been putting off for a while and moved the blog to WordPress, where I should say it is doing pretty well. The site has been verified by Google, Bing and other social networking sites. Of course Twitter doesn’t verify you until you are a VIP (‘commoners, peasants, shoo, shoo, away’). Continue reading “What does Google share with India’s Communist Party?” →

Essay

Viewpoint – “Father of the Nation”

When I saw the statue of Mr.Gandhi being unveiled in London’s parliament square; Mr.Cameroon giving a speech to mark the occasion while sharing the stage with India’s number one celebrity Mr.Amithab Bachchan, the ludicrousness of it all became unbearable. So I thought it was time I explained to the younger generation why Mr.Gandhi is the father of India.

Mr.Gandhi is the father our nation because he was the only leader who went through untold suffering while leading the masses to freedom.

Being one to shun the spotlight, he decided that he would leave politics as soon as his beloved nation was granted freedom by the Colonial British. In comparison, Mr. Nelson Mandela Continue reading “Viewpoint – “Father of the Nation”” →

Rule for Risky or Experimental investment:

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Satire — When Religion meets Reason

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The Hypocrisy of Philanthropy

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Small Town to Big City Experiences

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Promiscuity gets a Glamorous Makeover

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A Tribute to my Friends

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How History Seeps into the Present

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