Just an immigrant in US with a positive attitude towards life. Here thinking out loud about sex, Nigeria, love, friendship, religion, spritiuality, family, history, mistakes, DJing, gadgets, sports, credit, technology, hobbies, politics, Africa, jokes, relationships, gadgets, finances, money, investments, Nigerians in the diaspora and so on and so forth.
Some 2K10 Goals by God's special grace n power
Paint entire house
Set up entire downstairs including garage
Reduce credit card debt by at least $2k
Pay off any miscellaneous debt
Most definitely get into a committed relationship
Most definitely send money to mom for a new car
Take time to develop relationships
At least, 2 patents
Aggresively work on developing iPhone App dev skills
Create a webpage for DJing
Expand my career breadth
Visit London
Join Toastmasters
Create a will and a Power of Attorney 4 Healthcare
Take complete control of soda drinking
Work on taking a CPR class
SO, HELP ME GOD!
Some 2K7 Goals by God's special grace n power
Finally buy some Nyja stocks
Get a loaded Thinkpad or Sony Vaio
Join MentorPlace n consistently mentor
Put at least $2K in stocks apart from investment club contr. & 401k
Take complete control of coffee
SO, HELP ME GOD!
Some 2K6 Goals by God's grace
Have a white paper published
Work on increasing pay
Get to the next band at work
Help renovate mom's place
Give mom n bro at least $*K each for wedding
Finally visit Nyja!!!
Take a real estate class
My Videos
Go Getta. R. Kelly
Music I'm Feeling...
2Face
Ebenezer Obey
KWAM 1
Cassandra Wilson
Pharell
Ne-Yo
T.O.K
Don Moen
D4L
Teddy Pendergrass
ColdPlay
DMB
Notorious B.I.G
Delirious
Dem Franchise Boyz
Frank Sinatra
Evanescence
All-American Rejects
Billie Holiday
Seal
Obesere
KEM
Books I'm reading...
Zero Debt
The Millionaire Next Door
The Street Lawyer
African Women: Three Generations
Communication, Sex & Money
The J2EE Tutorial
Cities I Have Visited
ATL, GA
Austin,TX
Detroit, MI
Houston, TX
Charlotte, NC
Corning, NY
NYC, NY
Friday, March 31, 2006
National Player of the Year!
JJ Reddick topples Morrison of Gonzaga to make it as the National Player of the Year. He definitely deserves it. That guy broke too many records this season. 2,769 points and the 457 3-pointers among others. Wonder what happenned to the TarHeels....just kidding....
Guess who announced their seperation today. I can't believe it. The big dawg, Russell Simmons and his incredibly gorgeous wife (I guess not anymore), Kimora Lee Simmons. Geez! Just 7 yrs and that's it. I was dead jealous of them cos that girl is f%^&&g sexy to me. Damn! She is hmmmmmmmmph.....SEXY! Dammit! This celebrity life still is just nothing to write home about for real though. I mean...their marriages are like contracts. You sign the contract, it expires, you part ways. That's it! Na wa o! Damn! That woman is fiiiinnnneeeee, though. They claim they have been seperated for a while and will continue working as business partners. I wonder how that will work. It's definitely shocking to me, I got to say. I guess the saying, every good thing must come to an end, definitely has a home in Hollywood or celebrity marriages! Sad to say...
REIT (rhymes with treat) stands for Real Estate Investment Trust Fund. Wikipedia defines it as a tax designation for a corporation investing in real estate that reduces or eliminates corporate income taxes. The REIT structure was designed to provide a similar structure for investment in real estate as mutual funds provide for investment in stocks. These REITs could be publicly or privately held.
After hearing about REITs over a year ago, I chose the REIT fund as one of my 401k selections. This specific index fund represents ownership and operation of real estate investment trusts. They invest in publicly traded real estate equity properties in the United States. No regrets since then. In fact, I haven't had a loss in my 401k balance(something that was very normal for me my 1st 2yrs at work. I mean everytime I logged in back then, I saw the red text indicating loss). Thank God that changed since I listened to some financial planner that I got back then. Actually, I already had it before I talked to the guy but he helped me to have a better mix by mixng the right funds with my REITs. It's about 40% of my whole 401k just to lower my risk. This year alone, my returns on my REIT has been 16.5% so far. That's outstanding when compared to the other selections that I have.
I would advise anyone that has 401k and is having problems choosing the right mix of selections to try the REIT option if their portfolio manager has one. Though I got to say that, last yr's total return was much less than year before, so I might actually get out of it once I see that it's dropping in returns nonstop. Cos real estate seems to be going down slowly based on reports. However, for now, I am keeping it and riding till it starts going down nonstop. My advice to anyone, add a REIT to your 401k portfolio and for those that have mutual funds in the investment firms and do not have REITs on their portfolios, I really wonder why.
In an interview with Telis Demos of Fortune, Steve Ballmer, MS CEO said something that was just quite amusing to me. His kids have been brainwashed on using iPod and Google. They cannot use Google for anything and cannot own an iPod. That's just interestingly pathetic to me. That's the height of going on a battle with the rest of the IT world. My heart goes out to his kids. The Ballmers sure are missing out!
On my way to work today while getting my daily dose of NPR, I heard the BBC World newsanchor interview the spokesman for the president of Nigeria. As I listened to Femi Fanikayode answer questions regarding the whole Charles Taylor escape situation, I felt proud to be a Nigerian again. He spoke with clear-cut clarity and fervor. He answered the newsanchor with unprecendented unshakeable stance, giving him very solid though questionable answers. He talked about Nigerian government returning Charles Taylor back to Liberia which the newsanchor rebuffed saying asking why he should not be handed over directly to the UN War Crimes Tribunal presiding in Sierra Leone. Femi gave him a good but questionable answer - that was not the agreement we made with Liberia; our agreement was to return him back to Liberia once a democratically elected governement is in place and they ask for him. I find it hard to believe that was the true agreement they had with Liberia when they decided to give Charles Taylor assylum in Nigeria. Why not just send him directly to the tribunal in Sierra Leone. Why send him to Liberia where we all know he still has a substantial support base and could become a chaos or instability trigger for the country once again. I believe the Nigerian leader, like every other current African-leader-to-become-dictator, that is including the so-called 3rd-therm thirsty Obasanjo, is trying to avoid sending him directly to the tribunal for the fear that he might be called to justice some day too. Those fucking African leaders! They make me sick to the core. Those bastards just feel you have to rule forever. They make me ashamed to say that I am an African! The presidency is not a monarchy. Get out, bastards!!!! ok..I am digressing.
I am glad Charles Taylor was caught by the Nigerian government. This is the 1st time I can remember the Nigerian government making an urgent effectiveness in delivering a reality. His permanent escape would have been very embarassing for Obasanjo considering the fact that he is supposed to be here in US this week meeting with President Bush. I am really glad they caught that guy. I have to admit that Taylor did one good thing - killing Samule Doe [I will correct this since with the help of Paul :) it was brought to my knowledge (as I already knew but for a strange reason forgot all about Yormie Johnson and said it was Taylor) that Doe was killed by Prince Yormie Johnson]. That guy was a terror to his own country. I remember watching how he killed him too. It was definitely gruesome, but that's the price Doe gets for killing people too. He mutilated him one body part at a time. However, Taylor definitely needs to pay for everything else he did, though I disagree with US charging him for crimes related to housing the terrorists that bombed buildings in Kenya and was it Tanzania or so. That charge, I personally believe is just US looking for someone to pin the crime on by all means. He should not be charged with such unverifiable accusations.
Anywayz, the whole Taylor incident ended well and I am glad the assassin is going to be brough to justice. He is on his way to Sierra Leone to face the tribunal. Thank God!
I was listening to Clark Howard show earlier on today while working and the lady that filled in for him (Illyce Glink) mentioned a story about Chicago city workers being given incentives to subscribe to direct deposit. The Mayor offered incentives in order to persuade the workers to subscribe to having their paychecks directly deposited into their bank accounts. However, after much persuasion, most of the workers still refused to subscribe to it citing reasons such as possible security issues and their banks knowing how much they earn (puzzling, I know) among others. The most counfounding one to me among their reasons was that they didn't want their spouses to know how much they earn. You're kidding me, right? WTF?
That's just one thing I have never understood in my life so far. This is an issue that just puzzled me growing up. I knew a lot of married men that just believed it was a taboo for their wives to know their salaries and I couldn't comprehend why. This is actually very common among couples from what I have heard and seen. How won't your spouse know how much you earn! It just doesn't make sense to me. I understanding hiding it if you are just girlfriend/boyfriend, but as soon as you guys make up your minds to get married, he/she should know. I mean…as couples, I, personally, think you should truly be 1 like the Bible says. Actually, even if you take out the Bible factor, I just think the relationship will work better if both of you are totally open and share all. For God's sake, I have even told people that are not that close to me my salary before. How much more the person that I am supposed to be in love with and share each and everything with. WTH? It just really mystifies me how couples can hide their earnings from one another. I am guessing there could be several reasons, but for me, there is no justifiable reason for me to hide my salary from my wife. To me, I might as well not marry her then. My wife should be my best friend, sister and fully trusted partner, so why would I hide such from her. I know sharing personal information about yourself can always burn you big time later but I still cannot imagine my wife not knowing how much I earn. If she doesn't know how much I earn, then for God's sake, how can we even sit down and work on our financial plan together. WTF?
I know many people give various reasons for hiding their income from their spouses. From the guy's side: The woman might want to start overshopping et al. The woman might think because he is making all that money, she can choose to mismanage funds. So? From the women: They want to be able to stash some money in a secret account in case the marriage collapses. They just can't fully trust any man. What if the man leaves them hanging and leaves with another woman. Pls, that doesn't happen as often as it sounds without the necessary procedures. All these reasons might seem to make sense and I might actually understand some of them, especially the lack of trust of women by men, but I still think they are not good enough to hide your income from your spouse. Why be in a relationship if there is no trust. What's the point!!! It just defeats the purpose.
I am not married yet and have never been so far, so someone might argue and say that is why I feel the way I feel. However, I know, by God's grace, when I do get married, my wife will know my income. Why would I be married to her if I can't trust her! Don't get me wrong, I understand there might be times when maybe I am trying to get that nice gadget and she has been saying, but I decide to go buy it behind her back and come face the wrath later. : ) That's a different case entirely. She will still know my income, especially, my main income, from my spouse. As a couple, everything should be COMPLETELY open. If you can be open with someone that is a friend, moreso your own spouse. Hiding my income from my spouse will never make any damn sense to me!
That was a sad but almost expected loss. LSU defense was indubitably better than Duke's defense for the most part. I feel so bad for JJ. They made him so irrelevant in the game. I wanted that NCAA championships for him so bad. I could feel his pain to the core. But he will be aight! He will be making millions in few months as the highly probable #1 NBA draft!
What the h$%^ is Duke doing? They have had 8 turnovers in such a short time already. Dammit! I knew these LSU guys could pull up an upset. Those guys are just blocking like it's no big deal. Going all the way into Duke's blue "effortlessly"! I knew that Big Baby guy was going to be a major threat. Duke has allowed these guys to disorient them so bad. JJ 3 pts so far? Ok. 1 3-pter to make it 6. There is still more than enough hope for Duke for sure though.... It's just starting.
I am dead nervous right now. I just don't know if Duke can make it through tonight. Duke is a better team when it comes to most game stats: 81.9/74.4 pts/game, 49.4/47.2% field goal %, 76/70.4 Free Throw %, 39.4/33.6 3-pter %. However, the LSU team can play too. Their defense especially as indicated by the 41.4/34.0 rebounds/game stats when compared to Duke. And those guys' sizes, wheeeew!!! I have no idea how Shelden Williams, 6-foot-9 250 pounds, will stop the 6-foot-9 310 pounds Glen Davis. That Davis guy should be a football player, for real.
I just don't completely trust our trio (JJ, Williams & McRoberts with rebounds 2.0/9.4/4.8) when compared to theirs (Davis, Mitchell & Thomas with rebounds 8.8/3.1/7.4). And the 6-7 Tasmin Mitchell? I don't think Lee Melchionni has anything on him. They are the underdog to many but not to me. I just really hope Duke makes it tonight. I really do! They better do!!! JJ needs that NCAA championships as a sendoff!
The renowned online payment service, Paypal, will be offering a service that will let consumers make payments or transfer money by phone using text messages. This will bring money transactions to the palms of the hands of consumers. Since cell phones are pretty much ubiquitous, this will make it easy to send money from one person to the other. Actually, this is not a completely new service or idea. In places such as Japan and other European markets where there are much more advanced mobile services, they have been using cell phones as credit cards, swiping their cell phones to pay for services such as subway or vending machines. However, in the US this is relatively new with 2 startups that are already offering similar services - TextPayMe and OboPay. Paypal will be cutting into their share especially since they are more renowned for their service, albeit dismal services in a good number of cases.
It definitely takes mobile payments to a higher and highly beneficial level. It will definitely make life much easier and it is very simple.
It is as simple as typing in "SEND 1000000 to 5557878776" and for TextPayMe it is "PAY 1000000 5557878776" and bam you're done! Just like that! ok, I know some people might say, what the heck? That easy? Someone could steal your phone and send your money to themselves or some crap like that. Don't worry, Paypal and the rest of them got you! After you send the text, Paypal calls you back and you enter your PIN which authenticates your identity and transaction and bam, Paypal contacts your recipient and informs them about how to get the money. Love it!!!!
Like TextPayMe has on its site, you can go to dinner, pay for a couple of people rather than waiting for individual checks and have everyone of your friends send their payments to you immediately through the text payment service. Your friend in college can call you to say he/she is broke and right there and then, you can send him/her money. Don't need to look for Western Union (those robbers!) Wow! Can't beat that! It will be so perfect if it allows you to send money to Nigeria some day too. Wheeeew!!! That will make my life so easy! Can't wait for that! Hopefully, in the future, stores will start accepting it and you can go to a store and if you forgot your wallet or something like that, you can just send a text payment to them. By the way, Paypal will also provide this service through phone calls.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for that "Pay 1000000 NyjaGuysPhoneNumber" text some day!
If I hear about the launch of PS3 being postponed again, I will.....I don't know I will punch someone in the face or something.... How could Sony do that! Don't they know they are giving MS one full yr to make some smart marketing strategies moving those XBox 360 consoles into the hands of game-hungry consumers, which could possibly cut into their undeniable market share value. I'm not a game person like that, but I just can't stand MS being too dominant in any market. They already have the OS market completely cornered and now, Sony is about to create a market share gain for them in the gaming industry by moving their launch from Spring to November. For God's sake, Sony needs to hold on to the game market dominance and release the PS3 this time around - November '06 - for sure, though I think it is already a potentially profit-biting move for them.
Subject: Collard Green Garden An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his yearly collard green garden, but it was always very hard work for him because the ground was hard. His only son, Junebug Jankins III, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.
Dear Junebugg Jankins, III,
I am feeling pretty bad because it look like I won't be able to plant my collard green garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love Dad
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
Dear Daddy Jankins, Whatever you do, don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.
Love Junbugg Jankins III
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day, The old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Daddy Jankins,
You can go ahead and plant the collard greens now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
I know many of us might have heard of or seen this before but for those that do not know, the government enacted a law that went into effect 9/1/2005 that states that all Americans (and I guess American inahbitants that have papers...ok maybe not...ok...all American inhabitants that have social :) you get the gist) are entitled to a free credit report from all three agencies once a year. Here is the website:
Over the years, I have tasted innumerable dishes indigenous to people from different parts of the world. I have tasted Indian, Ghanian, Gambian, Carribean, Brazillian, European, other Asian countries, etc, but none of the foods of all these different cultures is as spicy as one ethnic group. The Yorubas. It's an ethnic group from the Southwestern part of Nigeria in West Africa which I happen to be myself. Geez!!! Our foods are immeasurably hot and spicy when compared to any others. Like we call it in Nigeria, they are very pepperish. :) When it comes to pepper, we are the ones. Even here, it's funny, when I was in college, the Chinese joint near my school knew all the Yorubas in school. Everytime we called, they knew to make the foods very very very spicy like they said. For many of us, we can't help it. That's what we have always known. We just love it spicy. Our stews are usually the type that will get us sued if a white person tastes it. :) However, everytime I go days without the pepperish food, I begin to feel nauseous. I guess that's how addicted I am. I remember walking over miles to go get spicy sandwich when I was in college after weeks of eating the cafeteria food.
This love for spicy food might be beneficial to us in some ways - at least the guys. I read this article recently about how the active ingredient in peppers that makes it hot/spicy/pepperish (choose one), Capsaicin, could actually reduce the risk of prostrate cancer. According to research done by US and Japanese researchers, this compound, causes prostate cancer cells to kill themselves. Capsaicin caused 80% of prostrate cancer cells to commit suicide in mice in a process known as apoptosis. Prostrate cancer tumors in mice were about 1/5th the size of those in untreated mice. Hmmm! Interesting. Prostrate cancer is one of the leading cancer deaths among men both here in the US and a lot of other countries. This could be a way to curtail or at least reduce the prostrate cancer rates among men in the world.
So, the Yoruba men might be benefitting from this love for spicy foods afterall. It will be interesting to compare prostrate cancer rates among Yoruba men to that of other ethnic groups in Nigeria or just a group of people here in the US. I would love to see that happen based on this research. I guess, with this news, which is still a study anyway, I won't be halting my eating of very hot and spicy foods for sure....
Saw an entry written by Christopher Salazar on http://e-bizz.blogspot.com/ on how to be a successful intern. His list of advice is an excellent for not just interns but anyone else that wants to move far in the corporate world. Like someone said in his comments, he is light years ahead of his peers. I would advice anyone to read the article. Very useful.
Always knew about this site but found a really nice deal on the site earlier on today. It's a site that lists coupons and deals for all to take advantage of:
Everytime you get a phone call, what is the first thing you do? Before even picking up, you look at the caller id to see who is calling you. The number you see determines whether you pick up the phone or not. This is common to a high percentage of people, me being #1. However, do not fall for the number you see. There is a technique called caller id spoofing. It allows you to call people and have your number not blocked this time around which many of us know with *67, but instead have your call origin # show up as another number. If you google those words, you will find a lot of websites making this easier. For instance, there is a website where you can buy phonecards online - Spoofcard.com - and buy phone cards that allow you to call someone and have the person see any number you want them to see. For $10, you get a 60-minute card, key in destination # and the Caller ID # to display. So, you could be an ex calling to have a conversation with your ex knowing he/she won't pick up if he/she knows you are the one calling and have your ex see his/her mom's phone number on the caller id. Like spoofcard calls it, be who you want to be. :) So, guys, the person calling you might not be who you think it is...
All my life, if there is one thing I have seen that is common among guys, it is the quest for more. More of what? Hmmm! I was walking while on a date sometime ago and as we where walking, I saw this girl walking by but I couldn't really look cos my date was right beside me. The girl was a pretty girl with nice body et al. I tried to look at her stylishly in order to avoid my date catching me. This happenned a couple of times that day. I guess as usual, right? :) At a point as we were walking and I was trying to look at some other girl that passed by, I thought to myself, Why? Why do I have to keep looking? Why can't I just pass by her without having to take a more time-consuming look or stare? For God's sake, the girl I'm with is even 20x prettier than her. Hmm...maybe...Naa...it's because she has bigger boobs than the one I'm with... Naaa...it's because her ass is so nice I can actually see it from the front...All these excuses to look at her, regardless of the fact that the lady I am with is prettier than her and moreso, I can't even go and meet her anyway. Helloooo? you're with someone else. This incident got me thinking for a second.
Why do we guys look elsewhere all the time? Why do we have to look at the fine girl at our place of work walking by and already strategize how to approach her. Apart from the seldom reason of not liking the one we are with enough, I could only come to one conclusion that I thought was deeply embedded in guys. There is only one reason I could be looking at that other girl regardless of the fact that a miillion other guys are looking at my own girlfriend and saying to themselves, "Damn....this guy is lucky. Check out his girl." There had to be this deeply embedded reason for me to have girl envy (like my friend calls a love for the food on someone else's plate food envy :)). There always has to be a reason like the psychologists theorize, a theory which I am higly objected to. I don't think there is a reason for every action we take. But this time, I had to agree there had to be a reason. My reason? The thirst for what you don't have. The quest to conquer. The quest to pursue and catch. That's just our problems as guys. We look at a lady and we are there saying to ourselves, if this girl can only say yes to me, I will never look at another woman again. We hustle after her like that statement is actually true. But what do we do once she says yes and the hanky panky is done? Oooooh, I like that one..she is so beautiful...if I can only have her, I will never look at another woman again. The cycle continues. The only reason (ok..yeah, there are others, but one of the main reasons) I am looking at the other pretty girl at the gas station while one is in my car is because I already got the one in my car in my palms so to speak. The one at the gas station? I am yet to conquer. It's a pathetic situation, but I have come to realize that it's an unfair, saddenning and demoralizing reality especially knowing that committed guys and moreso, married men go through the same. The quest to conquer....
My black woman She truly makes God look great Her body defines His indubitable "omniartistic" prowess It is truly like the work of a potter Perfectly molded and carved with no tinge of defect The unmatchable face of distinct beauty The picturesqueness The fairness The curves The firmness The tenderness The smoothness The talking eyes Uuummmmmmmpph! Those eyes... Uuuummmmmmmpph!!! The beautiful nose that sits I wish she knew how it fits And the shades The dark hue The slight caramel tint The bright tone And then the size The skinny The slim The thick The one that some talk shit about But they don't know jack The big-boned Uuummmmmmmpph! And those hips Damn! Need I say more The grace The elegance The sophistitcation The side silhouette The unmistakable powerfully intoxicating protusion from behind and ... in front Holy Smoke!!! The vibration and gyration in movement The unspeakable yet visibly loud swing That sway that you hear and see miles and miles away That perfectly incredible figure Her pulchritude is obvious to all Uuummmmmmmpph!!!! Damn, I love me a black women!!!!!
I saw some black women and couldn't help but create these quick random words. lol!
This was a conversation a couple of people had through email. I just thought it was interesting.
From: Annonymous Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 12:48 PM To: Annonymouses Cc: bc Subject: RE: Friday's thoughts
I know a woman who loves a man. This man does not love her. He is using her, because she has financial assets over which she gives him control. He is using her, for her money and because he wants someone to raise his children. But this man loves a different woman, and he is at her place every weekend. The first woman is in love, and it looks like it is "unconditional."
I also have a relative who was in love with a married man. This relationship went on for years. When the man divorced his wife, he then married another woman (not my relative). My relative is still in love with him, and it looks like it is "unconditional."
The poets and songwriters say that "love is blind", and that we are "fools for love." And I think that they have a point.
But it doesn't sound very healthy...
From: Annonymous Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 5:22 PM To: Annonymouses Cc: bc (mailer list) Subject: RE: Friday's thoughts
Hmmm... I would argue against foolish and blind. More like free and beautiful, and the ultimate kind of love
I'm beginning to see and learn that to be able to forgive as a sign of unconditional love is one of the most powerful things about love. But it's also the most difficult because it's not something that's innate in us as human beings. Our instinct is to love with "conditions" that satisfy ourselves. As long as you love me, I'll love you. As long as you don't hurt me, I'll love you, etc. It's hard to reason in our minds to love someone when we feel they don't deserve it. But that is what unconditional love is. It doesn't mean you're being blind to what may have been done, or whatever seriousness the situation holds. It's just being able to separate the action from the person. In Christian terms, "hate the sin, not the sinner".
Lack of forgiveness is more detrimental to the one who doesn't forgive, moreso than the one who's not forgiven because as Deb's thought says below, an unforgiving heart carries "baggage" and "bitterness", which doesn't allow us to be free. I see my dad still bitter and holding onto something his own sister did to him seven years ago. This affects his relationship with her, and its evident that it affects him by the comments that he'll make concerning her and the situation (7 years ago). I see this and it's pretty sad to me… so I don't want to be like that, and I try to challenge myself and pray to GOD to rid me of bitterness that I may have and be able to forgive when it hurts and I feel I shouldn't have to.
Anywayz, this is something that's been on my mind. I imagine the closest thing we'll get to truly unconditional love is for our children. I just have a feeling that no matter what I do concerning my parents, they'll still love me unconditionally. And I'm sure I'll feel the same way whenever I have kids.
From: Annonymous Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 4:11 PM To: Annonymouses Cc: bc (mailer list) Subject: RE: Friday's thoughts
"Unconditional love" ... isn't this synonymous with being "foolish" and "blind"?
There are things that can't (and shouldn't) be forgiven. Aren't there?
Well, that's the way I see it...
From: Annonymous Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 3:43 PM To: Annonymous Cc: bc (mailer list) Subject: Deb's Friday's thoughts
Isn't a forgiving heart an integral part of unconditionally loving someone?
From: Annonymous Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 11:44 To: Annonymouses Cc: bc (mailer list) Subject: Friday's thoughts
Love is unconditional! It does not seek to please self but protects, trusts, and preserves. It is difficult for us to have patience and to be kind when we have been done wrong. Our human nature desires to seek revenge, to make them pay for the hurt and pain they have inflicted upon us. Sure, we can obtain a moment's gratification from revenge, but we will also gain the baggage of bitterness that accompanies it. It is up to us to make a choice to forgive and to love regardless of whom, when, and how. Seems a difficult task, but one that can be accomplished, with the power that dwells within each of us.
Congratulations to the #1 team for making the ACC Championships. BC tried but they couldn't, regardless of Hinnant's fits and 3 pointers. I got to admit. This team is one team that always gives you heart attack as a fan. They always have to make the game so close. Why? I guess that's why their games usually have more viewers than any of the other games. The adrenaline! The tension! The passion! The precision! The fierceness! The last second 3-pointers from the man, JJ Reddick!!! Mehn, that guy is unmatchable for real. With all the 3-man marking, he still always finds a way out. Always!!! Ok, maybe the last 3 games before the last 2. But, he is a player on fire for shizee! Duke is definitely #1. What!!!!
Did I hear any Carolina fan say something.....Ok. I thought so!!! Better recognize or else....:) Duke rocks!
A coworker told me about this email concerning the greatest CTU agent ever and forever - Jack Bauer. Enjoy!
If everyone on "24" followed Jack Bauer's instructions, it would be called "12".
If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
When Kim Bauer lost her virginity, Jack Bauer found it and put it back.
Jack Bauers calender goes from March 31st to April 2nd, no one fools Jack Bauer.
Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
If it tastes like chicken, looks like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Jack Bauer says its beef. Then it's ****ing beef.
1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer ****ing hates lemonade.
Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
Jack Bauer once double teamed a girl.. by himself.
Finding Nemo would have been vastly more exciting had Jack Bauer been looking for him.
Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.
When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.
Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
There are no such thing as lesbians, just women who never met Jack Bauer. 193
Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
Simon Says should be renamed to Jack Bauer Says because if Jack Bauer says something then you better fukking do it.
Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.
Your attraction to Jack Bauer in no way affects your sexual orientation.
Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.
You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
When President Palmer quit to start doing Allstate commercials, it took him 43 takes before he could stop saying, "You're in good hands with Jack Bauer".
Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.
Jesus died and rose from the dead in 3 days. It took Jack Bauer less than an hour. And he's done it twice.
In 96 hours, Jack Bauer has killed 93 people and saved the world 4 times. What the fukk have you done with your life?
Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.
Every mathematical inequality officially ends with "<>"
A friend of mine got free tickets to MEAC tournament game yesterday and asked me if I was interested in going. Hey..it's free. Why not? And for God's sake, it's my school playing against Hampton. I love my alma mater and all, but knowing them, I thought they would have lost, so I didn't bother attempting to go watch them play. But hey...this was a free ticket and moreso, it was free tickets to the NC State's Chancellor's booth at the RBC Center. Can't beat that! Wore my one and only school's throwback that I bought last homecoming to work in order to get to the game on time. Everyone at work thought I was crazy. I went from wearing dress shirts and dress pants to wearing throwbacks. Variety is the spice of life, I told one of them. Anywayz, we got to the stadium few minutes after the game started. That was my first time of being in a VIP booth at a stadium. It was really nice, I got to say. They had nice black leather bar stools and sofas with glass center tables. There was a kitchen there with waiters to serve us if needed though when I needed to eat my ghetto self walked out to get the food myself from the concession stand rahter than ask one of the waiters. We sat there with glass in the front and walls by the side seperating us from the rest of the peasants like my friend says. lol! But it was a nice feeling, just chilling watching the game from a VIP booth.
The place was barely filled with people. Men, the difference was so clear from the championships/tournaments of other leagues that I have seen on TV (ACC et al). Those ones are always crowded, but this place didn't have too many people. However, there was this aura of nostalgia that I felt in the place. It reminded me of the homecoming games that I never missed for anything when I was in school. Seeing all the old alumnis with their kids and gradkids playing all over the place. Watching the bands go against each other one at a time. The cheerleaders. It was very refreshing and it was the same here at RBC Center in Raleigh.
One of my reasons for going to the game was the band. If you haven't heard a black school's band play, you haven't heard sh^t! Straight up! You are missing out BIG TYME! They are the best. It's amazing what those guys can do. Damn! Any song. Just name it! Any!!!! But to my disappointment, my school's band was not there, but they had the cheerleaders there. Damn! Those cheerleaders were uummmmph! Damn! Slim and thick ass ladies!!! Lord!!! UMMMMMMPHH! Oluwa o! lol! They were hot! But got to admit, the Hampton cheerleaders were on fire. They were finer! Those girls were fiiiinneeee! Mehn, black women are gorgeous, I got to say. What!!! The thing I liked about both cheerleading teams is each team had the spectrum - skinny, slim, thick, short, tall, dark, light, name it! Just the way, it should be! It was nice. And at a point, I had to tell my friend that I went with, were these girls screened for asses? I mean, everyone of them had the badunkadum!!! :) Even the skinny ones! The Hampton band did a good job, but definitely not like my school's band would have done. Never! :) I wonder why they didn't make it. That's really odd!
The game started with both teams competing well against each other. 17-15;17-17;19-17; etc something of that nature. But by the 2nd half, my school was leading. Coming here, I didn't expect them to win, but with their competitive plays and lead, they gave me hope, so I got into the game. But about 8 minutes to the end of the game, my school started f^&*&^% up really bad - turnovers, fouls, faulty offensive plays, bad offensive finishes, etc. It was like my school's players had amnesia all of a sudden; they suddenly forgot there was something called rebound. Their rebounds went to 0, zuch, lieterally. Next thing, Hampton was leading by 10. It was very annoying to say the least. My school tried and tried,playing a very aggressive game, but Hampton replied them with a much more aggresive and impenetrable defense. We lost! They actually gave me hope that I didn't have in them and next thing, they dashed the hope against the wall. But it's all good! The whole experience took me back to the good ol' days. Loved every second of the experience for sure!
Now, can't wait for the weekend. Several events going on in the area. Here are some links to events going on in the area:
Cigarette sales hit its lowest in 55 years last yr. 378 billion cigarettes sold in the United States last year marked the lowest number sold since 1951, a time period in which the U.S. population more than doubled. The sales declined 4.2% from 2004. Those things are so addictive. I mean...I have a friend that we were once travelling and I told him he couldn't smoke in my car. He kept on trying to convince him but I insisted that we were just like 20 mins from our destinations. He didn't find it funny but I insisted. At a point he now claimed he had to pick up something from the trunk of the car to give someone over the phone. Of course, I knew he was lying. I stopped and the speed at which he literally jumped out of the car and lighted the cigarette was incredible. I just thought to myself, "Wow, what an addiction?" He couldn't wait for just 40 more mins! Damn!!! The habit just doesn't make sense. I take smoke into my body and puff some out. WTF? Isn't that an indication that it's a hazardous habit? Tobacco causes over 400,000 deaths in the US alone every year making it the largest preventable cause of death. It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I guess I can't really talk cos I have done it only once but the statistics say it all.
Anywayz, I really thank God Almighty for this sales decline cos that is one habit I can never understand. Could this be a sign that the fight against cigarette is being won slowly ? Could this be a sign that the smoking-related diseases are going down?I really pray so cos those things are definitely some addictive killer sticks!!!! The fight is being fought from all sides. Kentucky state employers have to pay at $30 extra for their health insurance for smoking. Many other companies are doing the same thing too. They are charging smokers extra for health insurance cos smokers' health issues are costing them extra. I guess all these measures are beginning to help. Cigarette makers better start looking for alternative revenue generator like Phillip Morris did!
I had an entry about a month or so ago about ING Direct. Thank God for competition and the curbing of monopoly in the United States, there are some other online savings bank offering comparable or even better rates. Capital One is currently offering 4.25% and HSBC Direct is offering 4.80%. These are very great rates if you comapre and contrast here.
No fees to open or maintain your account.
No minimum Balance.
Thank God, I already opened account with each one of these 3 online savings vehicles. I have always thought of having savings accounts for different reasons - General savings, Nyja biz, Biz here in the US, Future Home, Future Children (which a friend of mine told me about years ago concerning hmiself. He didn't even have a girlfriend then when we used to hang out, but he was putting at least $30 in an account for his future kids every month. I thought that was outstandingly prudent) and Future Wedding (lol! funny can't even commit yet, right? But, hey.. I will one day for sure). That is, in additon to 401k and other investment accounts (stocks, money market, bonds, futures, etc) which are I think are very important. Those accounts don't cover all, but hey... :)
These online savings account have finally made these accounts very possible for me. Thank God! I have always thought that in order for me to have the aforementioned accounts, I would have to have a way for it to be automatically deducted from my main account or paycheck and an easy way for me to manage it online or else I will be fooling my a$%. These online accounts make it very easy to do that. I realized that since I opened the ING account over 3 months ago. Now, with these accounts that make auto deduction and deposit so easy, I have been able to open 3 of the accounts I have always planned to have but never did or even came close. For people like me that have always known nothing but spending, open these accounts and deposit something weekly, biweekly, monthly or something. Even if it is $50 biweekly. It really does add up!!! I know that from very personal experience. Unlike before when I thought I had to clear all debts before savings, now I truly know that it is possible to pay yourself before anyone else. I always knew that saying but never did it, but pls, JUST TRY!!! Even if you are in college, that weekly $10 could add up for 4 years. And it won't stop the clubbing, partying, Aldo, Footaction, Victoria Secret, Journeys, Banana, Gap, etc in any way. lol! Think about it! And even if it does, it is worth it!
I know a lot of people are very paranoid about such online accounts, but they are FDIC insured. And for instance, Capital One and HSBC are very reputable firms that we all already know. Your money is not going anywhere. With the existence of these high yield savings accounts, I think having one's savings account with any of the brick-and-mortar banks is just very dumb. Just a personal opinion. It just doesn't make any finanical prudence sense to me. These accounts are FDIC insured and one thing they have that I was afraid they wouldn't have is ability to move the money back to the source account with a mouse click. These even applies to people in Europe - ING Direct operates in Europe too. Not sure about the rest, though. My own thing is enjoy this rates while it lasts and at the worst, if things begin to change,you move your well-earned money somewhere else at no cost. So, there is nothing to lose. I might sound like resounding cymbals, but pls, IF YOU HAVE SAVINGS ACCOUNT WITH ANY OF THESE BRICK-AND-MORTAR BANKS, CLOSE THEM AND MOVE THEM TO ANY OF THESE HIGH YIELD SAVINGS ACOUNT ONLINE. Why earn less when you can still save and earn more!!!
A friend of mine (my news junkie "sister" :) ) just sent me a link with the news of Dana Reeves death of lung cancer at the age of 44. This is so sad. Her husband just died in 2004. This is just not fair at all! I can't believe she's dead too. Leaving behind their teenage son! Wow! Dammit! That woman was a very very rare gem. She stood behind her husband like an unshakeable rock until the end. It was like her saying, "Let anyone or anything bring it on; I will take it with you, Chris." Her fortitude, grace, charm and uncanny strength was indubitable. That's the type of wife I pray for - someone that we will stand by each other like a mountain of ROCK regardless of all.
I just can't believe this! Why does death always have to take the best people? At such a young age too. WHHHYYYYYYYY? It's not fair. It's just not fair! I mean...there are no women like this woman in Hollywood and even in the world generally, they are rare (Guys are more rare, I know). I loved that woman mehn. It's just wrong! It's not fair at all. Her memories bring tears to my eyes. I mean, she was just always there... It's so sad to say goodbye to you for sure, Dana Reeves! You will always be remembered for your undeniable courage and character. Adieu, DANA REEVES!!!
Under normal circumstances, the deadline for applying to INROADS has already passed however, we are in dire need of minority students in the above fields.
What to do:
If you know of any minority student that has at least 2 summers left of college and is majoring in any of the above areas, please have them apply on-line at http://www.inroads.org and also send an email to Vinny Beatty at vbeatty@INROADS.org indicating their major, so that he can process their application.
We need students to apply ASAP because we would like to complete the admitting process in time for them to attend a 2/25/06 training Please note that all of this internships are in the Puget Sound (Seattle) area.
If you have questions, please feel free to email me or Vinny Beatty.
Please forward this message to schools, churches, professional organizations, friends, etc.
Stephanie Whitfield, MBA, Contract Manager Division of Program Development Consultation and Contracts Lewis Cass Bldg., 5th Floor Lansing, MI 48913 517/335-0260 whitfields@michigan.gov
Tell me that show is not the best show ever. I will forever give it to the writers of that show. They are the best ever! Though I have a friend that believes there is a real life show better than that. I will leave the name of that out .... :) Meanwhile 24 cannot be beaten on screen!!!
"You! You! With all the help I have rendered to you? Now, I need your help and you can't help me?" "You know I have never done anything but the opposite of what you did to me. Why would you do it to me?" "I can't believe you would do that to me!" "Every time she has needed my help, I have helped her. Now, all I am asking from her is this one favor, but guess what she won't help me."
These are very familiar statements that we have probably said or heard someone say at one point of our life or the other. These statements all have, at least, one thing in common. They all exude an undeniable stench of disappointment. They all tell the listeners that the speakers are very hurt. They are hurt by the fact that someone they, once, helped has backed out on them in time of need. They clearly say that the speakers are disappointed, most especially, due to the fact that they have been there for the subjects many a times. As a result, they feel like the subjects should or have an obligation to help them. If I helped you out or did you any form of favor, you have an obligation to do the same for me when I am in need of the same. Help you, you got to help me too!!!
In my very short time here on earth, I have seen this thinking pattern hurt innumerable people including me. I have seen it bring many close to tears and many others to tears. I have seen it chase many into a shell of distrust. I have seen people move from the barely inhabited I-can't-watch-these-people-suffer street to a very occupied, but less fulfilling None-of-my-Buziness street; people have gone from being very generous to it's none of business, I can't help you, making them become who they are not. I have seen very affectionate and altruistic people become very cold and seemingly heartless. I have seen very giving people become almost ruthless.
About 6 years ago or so, I found a way out of being in this crowd of misery. I, suddenly, got a deeper or should say different understanding of a principle which I had always known. It was a principle that I always knew about but never had this newfound perspective of the principle. It was the principle of doing unto others as you want others to do unto you. Like many of us, I had always seen this law as do unto A as you want A to do unto you, but like never before I discovered that a more healthy version of it is do unto other people as you want other people, and not necessarily the same persons you do to, to do unto you. Do unto A as you want B and C to do unto you without expecting A to do the same to you. Since I got this perspective I have been pretty much set free (I won't say completely cos of my fallibility) from any feeling of disappointment when friends and loved ones seem to let me down. By deciding to stop helping people, you are robbing your own self, and not them, of a whole lot of good. The liberation that this new perspective of life gave me cannot be put in words and it truly helped me to reaffirm that perspective is definitely everything like people say.
I have come to terms with the fact that everything I do comes back to me (I really don't like thinking the bad things included, but hey…you sow corn, corn grows. Harsh reality of life. : ) ) through people, not necessarily through that same person that I did it to. In fact, I tell people sometimes when I do them favors, "Don't ever feel obligated to help me because I once helped you. DON'T! I will always find the help I need somehow as long as I have helped you before. It doesn't have to be you." Don't get me wrong. I don't think it's an excuse for people not to help you out knowing you were once there for them too. I just think one will have more peace of mind and will rarely get hurt or angry with this perspective of life. My doing you a favor is doing myself a favor. It's an investment for my own good. It has ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING to do with you. If you help me out when I need you, I will be very happy and if you don't, I will still be very happy cos I will find the help that I need regardless cos I already sowed a seed before. That's why I like what Horace Mann said when he said, "Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves." And don't get me wrong either. My doing good is for the sake of making the world a better place cos someone might say, "So, I guess you don't do good for the sake of the world then." Not the case. Whatever good I do, I do it for many reasons. Doing it expecting the same back from the person I am doing it to or for is just not one of them. I just don't.
This is one principle that has made me lack anger or resentment towards anyone ( :) ok, maybe 1 or 2 people). But for real, I do favors for my own good. I don't necessarily do it to expect it back from the "favoree." :) It can be painful but it's just better for me. Expecting it back from the favoree will make me a very disappointed person if the person ever does otherwise when I need his/her help, so I guard my own heart knowing, anyway, that, regardless of all, the help will come to me from somewhere somehow anyway. And so far, for me, it always does come from somewhere somehow. You cannot give and lack when you need. I just don't think it's possible. You will have what you need when you need it, regardless of whether your favorees are there for you or not. That's a truth I have seen for myself, at least. I got to say, though, it's a different dimension of selfishness. EVERYTHING I do for/to anyone, I do it for ME.
The makers of the hit show, The Simpsons, have created a real life character version of the show's opening title. The promo which was shot in Britain in a space of 18 months features real life characters of Homer, Marg, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. It's a very precise rendition of the cartoon's opening title if you've seen the cartoon version. Really good.
Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have only come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not Him. ~ Father Cavanaugh in Rudy (the movie)
Seems like everyone is trying to beat Google - Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, CNET, ask.com and now Oracle? Wassup with this Ellison guy? He is joining the fight against Google too - Oracle vs Google. These companies just won't let Google rest for a second. So far, Google is fighting a great fight growing 92% in a yr in revenue. With Oracle in the ring now, we shall see....
Found out about this site where you can find missing money. This site contains information about money owed to people but have not been claimed by the owners of the money. You can enter your name and state or that of a friend or relative and it will show you money that needs to be claimed by the person. You never know. Your parents or known associate might have money that can be claimed. ;)
The need for great adaptability skills in the Corporate world
In elementary school back in Nigeria, I remember Mr Opata (my great Ghanaian teacher. For a strange reason, my school had only Ghanaian teachers) teaching us the characteristics of humans in our elementary science class. One of the characteristics among others was the ability of humans to adapt. Human beings are supposed to be very adaptive creatures. We, naturally, adapt to our environments. In my few years in the corporate world, especially with my current company, I have come to discover that there is nowhere where this characteristic is put to use as much as in the corporate world.
Moving from one department (or organization) to the other, either voluntarily or due to business needs, is so much of a norm that being in the same organization for years makes you an oddity except you're working with the government. Actually, another way to put this is to say that having the same manager for years is a rarity. I have been with my company for 3yrs and in those 3yrs I have had about 5 different managers - I am currently on my 5th one now.
This requires a lot of adaptive power. I must say that this can make it difficult for you to get what you are due – promotion, pay raise, etc. Just as soon as you are proving your abilities and skill prowess to one manager, you get moved to another one and everything you did while you were under one manager cannot be adequately communicated to your new manager when it is time for appraisals. When you are under one manager throughout the year and the same manager that got to see your work first-hand throughout the year is the one that does your appraisal, it makes it easier for you to receive your work's due. That is one not-so-good experience I have had in the corporate world. It was especially painful with my last manager (4TH one) when as soon as he sat me down to tell me about how he thinks I deserve more and he will work on getting me a pay increase, guess what? I was moved to another manager immediately. Thank God my new manager (5th one) had seen some of my work under my last manager, if not, I would not have gotten the pay-raise that I ended up getting.
One thing this has taught me is that, as a corporate employee (I am not sure if this is the case with government workers too), one must learn to adapt very rapidly. One must learn to do one's work with all diligence and perfection ALWAYS. One must learn to get to know one's new manager and colleagues very quickly or in other words, suck up to your managers and colleagues very quickly. I know some people argue that you don't have to be your colleagues' friends to move far in the coroporate world. True that, but I believe you have to have a very cordial relationship with them at least. Anyway, adapting the afore-mentioned ways could keep your appraisals up always no matter how much you are moved around.
That's just one of many ways among several others. Great adaptive skills is needed especially when it comes to learning new skills also. In order to keep yourself abreast in most parts of the corporate world, you have to always update your skills. Otherwise, you will find yourself in the fields alone after everyone has left for war. Sometimes, the immeasurable need for the ability to adapt very quickly makes me want to work with the government or something, but hey I think it's definitely a skill worth developing.
Just when the big automakers of Detroit thought they were making a headway (or so), Japanese autos came to drag them right back into the mire of consumers' disdain for their cars. Consumer Reports came out with the Top 10 autos for 2006 yesterday or so and not one of the cars on the list was American. Whow! Not even one! Everyone of the cars on the list was Japanese-made. This report is definitely a major blow for Detroit automakers, moreso, at a time like this when they are going through lots of restructuring in order to balance their books and rise from the sea of loss they have been in. One of my advice to GM and Ford is to look for more foreign automakers to buy major stake in. Actually, they have tried so far (Ford has Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Volvo, etc; GM has SAAB and maybe one other foreign auto maker), but it's still not working. They need more than that then...
It's interesting to see that Honda had 5 out of the top 10 picks of the year. Wow! No wonder those cars just never lose value especially that annoying Accord (D%&^it! Just hating! I couldn't get it 3 yrs ago when I wanted one :) ). The Accord, Civic, Odyssey, Ridgeline all made it in their classes. The wonderful Infiniti M35 made it in its class too (love that car with an unspeakable passion). Even Subaru made it too - the Impreza WRX STi.
I really feel sorry for the Detroit automakers for this is a major setback for them. I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of their executives right now. I just can't imagine what they are going through right now. They really need some magic in their business strategy. I say they start by making durable cars not cans especially those Chevy cars. Those cars are moving junk of metals for real.
Anyway, if this makes the Detroit automakers feel better, there was no European car on the list too.
KFC just came out with an ad that has some secret code in it that allows you to get a free KFC Snacker at any KFC. The code can only be seen clearly with Tivo or DVR in slow motion. The secret code is "Buffalo", so if you want to get a free Snacker, go to any KFC with that secret code and you got it. Good luck. ;)
I read this article on CNN and tears welled up in my eyes. Even the freed captor said, "I have no animosity toward them at all. "I've seen their little villages, they're dirt poor, poor as field mice." WHYYY? Why do our leaders have to push the citizens to the wall. In Yourba land, they say, "If you chase a goat all day nonstop and you finally chase the goat to a wall, guess what? The goat will turn back, face you and probably chase you." That's the case for this Niger Delta indigenes.
I have been to Warri, one of the main cities in the Niger Delta area, before and the state of the city was immeasurably deplorable. It was a demoralizing site - organized chaos. The ironic part is there are areas where the oil workers lived. These areas were extreme contrasts of the remaining parts of the city. As execrable as Warri is, it is the sweetest taste of what these oil producing areas are going through cos if you go deeper into the Niger Delta, it is a billion times worse. These people were originally fishermen before oil was discovered in their area in the 70's but now their only means of livelihood is gone. The oil fields have destroyed their aquatic habitats through oil spillage, for those that were farmers, the lands cannot be tilled for jack and they have been totally ignored by the government that makes about 70% or more of its income from their land. The state of their villages is inexcusable for the amount of money that is made from their lands and seas.
Nigeria just really makes me extremely sad and depressed. So much money, so much poverty? How? Can't we see oil states in the Middle East? Poverty is a rarity in those states. I once met a pair of twins from some Arab state (I forgot. I believe it was UAE, but not sure) in GWU. Dead gorgeous ladies! Their tuition and all their living expenses were being paid for by their government. It's amazing. And we produce more oil than most of them! Where is all the oil money going to? To the private accounts of several leaders in European banks, building houses which deisgns cannot even be seen anywhere in the Western world, having Hummers, BMWs, Audis, Rolls Royce and all sorts of luxury cars delievered directly to their doorsteps. That country's situation is too appalling. And it really doesn't have to be so. The wealth can easily go round if was well distributed.
The rise of these Nigerian militants is an inidcation of revolutionary acts to come. I am in complete support of these guys as long as they do not hurt the innocent foreign captives which they have not so far. I hope Nigerian leaders will learn from this now and rectify the harm they have caused that country cos if they don't, just like these Niger Delta folks have been pushed to the wall for so long and have now decided to fight, millions of other young people with no jobs will get tired and fight too. We will see what Martin Luther King said come to pass in Nigeria - Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
I went to this new reggae club in the area on Friday with a friend of mine that I had not hung out with in God-knows-how-long. I had told myself I was no longer going to a club that I couldn't get in for free for a while since some of my coworkers now hold nice parties that I have been getting in for free. But hey, this reggae club was not on me, so why not? Got there at about 12, place had few people and everyone stood on opposite sides of the wall looking at themselves. Kind of reminded me of parties back home in Nyja - stand and look at one another with all the guys on one side and the females on the other side giggling and crap. But the music was great - great music and they had some thangs! Some nice perfect-looking ladies. Some with the artsy look with nice dreads and all. Good stuff. :)
We got our drinks and chilled. The music was great. They had all the hip-hop/r&b-like reggae (TOK, Elephant Man, Sean Paul, Beenie Man) and the classics (Buju Banton and all these reggae songs that I have always known but never knew the perfomers' names). By 12.30/1.00, everyone was on the dance floor. The bumping and grinding wasn't as much some other reggae clubs that I have been to, but it was aight. They had some guys that kind of choreographed the reggae style throughout. Where was I when those guys were pratcising? They were throwing it down big time and as usual, the ladies were all over them. I mean.. what do you expect. :) But all in all the music was flowing big time apart from the playing of songs for like 15 seconds and switching it to another one - that was when it became jumpy. That pissed of especially when they played TOK's Footprints - my #1 right now.
At about 2.20 pm, the party was still jumping and all that and they switched to my Dirty South jams - Lil Wayne's new one, Dem Franchise Boys, D4L, etc. The house went crazy!! I can't believe I actually dance to those songs these days. I used to diss my ex-roommate for dancing to those songs, now, I'm feeling them like crazy. That's what North Cackalacky will do to you. The beats are just very simple and rythmic. Very few instruments but they just flow perfectly. Anywayz, next thing, I saw, the bouncer was holding one guy and about 4 bouncers were holding another guy that held a knife in his hands. WTF? It was like a movie trick. It was so quick and unexpected that if that was a gun, he was holding, he would have shot a lot of people before anyone had a chance to move. I pulled my friend, who was almost peeing in her pants, out of the area to the back of the club while I watched, at least 4 bouncers, try to contain the guy holding a knife. It took them a minute for real. Damn! It was an incredible sight. I've seen a whole lot of fights in my lifetime but I have never seen 4 bouncers try to get a knife from one guy with so much difficulty. Hmmh..., maybe, I have - New Year's day 2005 when it took about 4 bouncers too to get me out of the club. I will leave that story. It wasn't for fighting though - it was the Diesel. After the guy was finally outwitted, I went to the back to pull my friend and we left immediately. It was an interesting sight. She ran like never before to her car and I was there yelling, calm down, I got to watch some more. lol! I had no choice but to follow her, made sure she was ok and she got into her car and I got into mine and left for home. I had to call her the next day to make sure she was ok cos she was in such a undeniable frenzy. lol!
I really don't know why black people always have to mess things up. We just always have to. I don't get it. The annoying thing is fights don't occur at clubs when the club is boring and not jumping; it's when people are having mad fun that they just mess it up. I just feel we do things that make the guy in Crash justified for saying what he said - fucking black people. Why? Why? To deviate a little but in the same line of us as black people messing up, I was reading about Lionel Tate - a guy that killed a 6 yr old when he was 12 while playing wrestling game with her. He was sentenced to life and his conviction later thrown by appeals court and then given a 10 yr probation or so after pleading to a lesser charge but guess what? It was later increased to 15 yrs probation after he was caught carrying a knife with a 4-inch blade. You will think that's enough for him to learn, but naaa. Last yr, he ws caught robbing a pizza delivery man. I mean, WTF? WHYY? Now, he is going to have to go to jail for at least 10 years. The sentencing is in the near future. Why do many of us as black people choose the self-destructing path? I don't get it. I guess there are different reasons.
