This is a weekly blog that puts forward my thoughts, and my point of view.
You may agree with some. And probably disagree with most. And we can agree to disagree. After all, wouldn't life be boring if we all thought the same way.
This week its exactly 6 months since Reia and I moved to the US leaving Ivy and Freia in India. And in these 6 months I've learnt more about how much they mean to me than I did in the last 19 years.
Its strange how we never appreciate things that are close. And only realize their value when we don't have it. And this couldn't be more true in my case.
When the 4 of us were together we led an extremely happy and fulfilling life. But the one thing we didn't do was spend quality time. We did things together. But we never did nothing together.
Being away has brought all of us closer. We are away but spend more time with each other. Ironical that its on Skype and the telephone. The fact that these services are free or a low fee for unlimited usage helps.
Bottom-line, learn to appreciate what you have, whilst you have it. Else it might be too late. Would love to write more, but guess what. Have a call to make.
The most common reason given by politicians in the US for doing things, but more often for not doing things is the "Middle Class" and the impact on them. The irony is that the middle class in most cases does not have an opinion on these issues. And the reason is simple. They are too busy trying to earn a living and making ends meet.
It would be reasonable to therefore assume that all the laws that are passed or the majority that are not passed would positively impact the middle class or the majority of the American people. The fact is that in most cases there is zero to very little impact on their lives and on the rare occasion that they are impacted, more often than not, its a negative impact.
Lets take a few examples. The first is the fiscal cliff in January 2013. After major posturing by both parties, there was a marginal hike in the taxes for people earning over 400,000. An it wasn't really a hike. It was ending of the temporary tax deductions given by President Bush. The payroll taxes that impact most working Americans too went up. Whilst there is major hype about how most of the taxes are paid for by the rich, what's not obvious or discussed is the fact that in most cases by the use of innovative tax planning and hiring expensive accountants, most of the rich pay significantly less than most of the middles class in percentage terms. Yes, the middle class pays a larger percentage of their earnings than the rich.
What neither party is willing to look at is the various loopholes in the tax code. And the only ones who are able to use these effectively are the wealthy who have accountants saving them as many dollars as they can. No prizes for guessing which is the only group of tax payers who are able to benefit from these rules.
What is it that makes the middle class the most talked about, yet the least influential group. And what can they do to influence politicians to take them more seriously. Not just talk about them but influence decisions that impact them. The simple answer is "Vote".
Its the 2nd week of February and I was hoping that winter was over and spring was coming soon. The temperatures were getting warmer. Still in negative territory but in relatively less negative than over the last 2 months.
On Wednesday the weather forecast projected that a blizzard was going to hit the North East on Friday and in addition to high winds large amounts of snow that could be a much as 2 to 3 feet in certain areas.Extending the tradition of naming hurricanes, blizzards were also being given names and this one was named Nemo. With the memories of Hurricane Sandy and the devastation still fresh, the authorities as well as the general population were preparing for the blizzard. Shops were filled with people shoppping for weeks of essentials and some gas station even ran out of gas. Fortunately the supplies were sufficient to handle the demand and there were no real shortages.
Schools in Connecticut were given a holiday on Friday to avoid getting stuck in snow on the way home. Friday evening the wind started picking up and the it was snowing thick and hard. Roads including highways were declared closed, except for emergency vehicles. By Saturday afternoon, the precipitation and winds were beginning to abate. And looking out of the window, we could measure over 3 feet of snow.
In several parts of the State, snow removal and clearing of the roads was not complete even today and it was expected to take a couple of days more. Fortunately in Wilton, the primary roads were cleared and we were able to resume a normal life by Saturday evening.
The eternal optimist that I am, am hoping this was the goodbye snow for the season and spring will soon be here. Until the next snow this season.
The lead-up to the Superbowl is America at its best. The 2 weeks between the league finals and the Superbowl game gives time to everyone. Time for the advertising and marketing professionals to inundate the airwaves with Superbowl related programming and of course advertising.
This time the Superbowl which was the 47th Superbowl, was held in New Orleans. The 2 teams battling it out were the Ravens from Baltimore and the 49ers from San Francisco.
Interestingly the event most watched for and that also gets the highest ratings are the million dollar ads and the half time show. The million dollar ads cost 4 million per 30 seconds. The most expensive 30 seconds of advertising.
As in every football game, the event starts of with the rendition of the US national anthem. The bigger the game, the bigger the singer. And this time the anthem was sung by Alicia Keys.
At half time, the Ravens were ahead 21 - 6. And that's when Beyonce performed. And she performed as only a gifted performer like her could. It was electrifying. So much so that shortly thereafter there was a power outage that affected half the stadium. Which held up play for 34 minutes.
The power outage seemed to electrify the 49ers who were by then trailing 28 - 6 to come back. They managed to come back to 34 - 31 and were within 10 yards and 4 attempts to take the lead and the Superbowl. Just when it seemed like they had managed to pull off a miracle, they managed to do what they hadn't throughout the game. Allow a turnover in the red zone. Giving the Raven a little over a minute to play out to win the game and the Superbowl.
The game was a thriller, even for someone like me who understands little and is not a die hard fan. But the biggest disappointment were the much talked about ads. I was prepared to be blown away by the line up of widely talked about ads. Unfortunately not even 1 ad was good, leave alone exceptional. There were several which could be termed as bad. And ironically the only one that made the headlines the next day was the ad for godaddy which qualified as a bad ad, but the risqueness in it made it perfect for the media to highlight what was otherwise a dully and boring set of ads.
The Superbowl showed once again why the US is the worlds largest economy. And the world's biggest billboard.
