minorities interests blog http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/ created for minorities interests readers en Copyright 2007 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:23:57 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2ysb5-20051201 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss WHY I STOPPED SMOKING MARIJUANA; A.K.A. " REEFER "
I recently saw a brother I used to smoke reefer with. His eyes were so bloodshot that I almost slammed on my brakes, thinking he was a traffic light that had turned red. He's just as smart and articulate (in a street kind of way, like I once was ) as he used to be. However, not a damn thing has changed about him, for better or worse. So if there is an argument for not smoking weed, aside from the carcinogens it contains, it ZAPS motivation.

I have to say that reefer is the greatest afrodesiac, ever. It contributes to the economy; who do you think buys up most potato chips, visine, and those meat things made out of cow tongues? And if you need a good laugh, oh boy.

I was once riding along a country road, and the group of guys I was riding with were smoking reefer. I held my breath until they finished. Then, we happened to see some cows that had broken out of a pasture. Guess what? Instead of running off into the wild, blue yonder, those big fools stood OUTSIDE the fence, and stuck their heads back into the damn pasture to eat.

I must have laughed at those dumb cows for a week straight. I made sure that every teacher in "get-high" school heard about that experience. All the teachers smoked weed, so telling them the full story was fun.

Anyway, oh, I just thought about something else. When I was in college, a weed-smoking, slack roomate, who successfully tempted me to smoke some "kind bud" on two occasions, left his bedroom door open. In the middle of the floor was the biggest damn pile of drawls (underwear) that I'd ever seen. It looked like one of those African termite mounds. When asked for an explanation, this fellow physics major explained that when he ran out of dirty underwear, instead of washing the dirty underwear, he'd just go out and buy new underwear. After a while, all of those drawrrls stacked up.

The first night I saw this, I thought I was going to have to go to the emergency room for laughing too hard. Even the damn dog and cat we kept looked like they were laughing at that big ass pile of underwear (or laughing at me).

Finally, dude put the dirty drawls in the washing machine. Problem was that dude didn't bother to get the wet drawers out of the washing machine for a couple of days. They molded the fuck up, and he ended up rewashing the underwear, TWICE.

Once again, I negotiated going to the hospital.

If you smoke weed, please, be wary of subtly becoming a person with low motivation. Luckily, we can learn from observation, rather than experience. Just look at the lack of motivation some weed smokers have. A real possibility exists that you MAY look back one day and wish you had used some incentive to do great things.

Thanks kindly for reading these few words,

George Malik al-Mahdi

http://undergroundrailroadtofreedom.blogspot.com/

]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/why_i_stopped_smoking_marijuan.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/why_i_stopped_smoking_marijuan.html Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:23:57 -0600 WE ARE WHAT WE EAT; PLEASE, LEAVE THAT DAMN SWINE FLESH
Most of the creatures that call Earth "home" have a diet that they have
a particular affinity towards. Exceptions are made during rare
instances where drought, sickness, or starvation threaten them with hunger
pains, and eventual death.There are two creatures, however, that seem to
go out of their way to sample, taste, and eat literally anything.

Because these two creatures eat filth, it should be no surprise that
they are two of the filthiest animals occupying the earth.Additionally,
animal number (1) LOVES to eat animal number (2). Animal number two is
the infamous swine, the filthy, prehistoric half rat, half possum that
we call "hogs." Now, if animal number two is so bad, and it is devoured
regularly by animal number one (which you all know refers to we
humans), then what does this say about us????????

Now, let's examine some of the things we humans sample, and eat, not
cause we need to, but because we're hogs, and we WANT to eat everything
that moves. If we could fly, we'd give buzzards good competition. If we
were two inches tall, we'd put the rats and roaches out of business.

Let's see, the rich white folks are fond of "escargo" (which negros
call "snails"), and "caviar", which we nigros call "fish eggs." During
slavery, white folks gave us what was left of the hogs they ate, and we
made all sorts of goodies out of them: hog balls (don't get you specs,
you read correctly). The white folks call them "mountain oysters." The
gave us the guts, and made us feel special by saying we were getting
"chitterlings." Then, there are scorpions, grasshoppers, get my drift?

Ohhhhh, I'd never eat any of those..................and soon as nobody
is looking, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp away we go, until our jaws are
sore, and our cheeks need a Ben-Gay rub.Science has recently proven that
our first cousin, the pig, has flesh that has a higher nitrite content
than other meats. I don't remember what nitrites do (I strongly expect
that they're bad for the heart and coronary arteries), but to all you
non-Muslims...................

Ahhhhhhh haaaaaaaaaa! We told you so.

Now, you may finish eating that hotdog in peace. I can hear it oinking
in your intestines.

George Malik al-Mahdi
http://undergroundrailroadtribalalliance.blogspot.com/
]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/we_are_what_we_eat_please_leav.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/we_are_what_we_eat_please_leav.html Thu, 11 Oct 2007 13:00:05 -0600 HOW AFGHANISTAN'S BOOMING OPIUM POPPY CROP PROVES U.S. "WAR" ON DRUGS TO BE ONE BIG JOKE Nancy Reagan's "Just say
no", dreamworld nonsense, a "War on drugs" has been declared by the
U.S. government; So says the U.S. government.

However, the so-called "War on drugs", surprisingly, turned out to be a
"War on impoverished, minority and poor white communities. The U.S.
borders are wide open, and BILLIONS of dollars admittedly being made by
"someone", yet the guy on the corner, with over $1,000 dollars worth of
crack cocaine are the ones going down the road for 30 years. I didn't
read this in some book; I have friends that are rotting in jail for
doing what C.I.A. officials do frequently at parties.

Oh, so you've already forgotten how C.I.A. operatives reportedly had
COCAINE and prostitutes at parties where high stakes poker games were
played, and business discussed. Do your research, and make me out to be a
liar. Liars get sued for slander, but since I'm telling the truth, as
always, I'm not losing ANY sleep tonight. By the way, where would C.I.A.
operatives get cocaine? From the Washington, D.C. ghetto? I don't
think so.

Anyway, there's more current, damning evidence that the so-called "War
on drugs" is a big joke. In Afghanistan, the opium poppy crop is
BOOMING. The troops in Afghanistan know EXACTLY where the poppies are.
Wouldn't a government, that's already supposedly fighting a "War on
terrorism" destroy the opium poppies, which are converted to heroin, and fuel
domestic terrorism by street gangs in Amerikkka?

Well, in case you wondered, George Bush hasn't dropped as much as a
firecracker on the opium poppies, much less bombs that would wipe out the
crops. Why? Because the criminals at the top, especially in police
departments, have too much to lose.

Police departments allow drug dealers to accumulate what they feel is
their full economic worth. Then a bust is made. A "nigger" is taken off
the streets, but more importantly, SEIZURES OF CASH AND PROPERTY WORTH
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ARE MADE. We've all seen the auctions of
cars "seized from drug dealers" being advertised in newspapers.

Additionally, the drug addict population remains constant, and their
arrest for petty crimes lands them in local, city jails. These jails
offer them reduced sentences in exchange for their free labor. The slave
master's children are making their ancestors proud. Free labor done by
inmates decreases the costs of city maintenance fees, and tax cuts for
the rich crackers can more easily be delivered by local politicians.

This is how the south works. Correction, this is how the victims of the
"War on drugs" work, and provide free labor for today's slave master.

So, let the poppies continue to grow, Mr. Bush.

We understand, dude. We understand.

George Malik al-Mahdi
Founder/International Representative
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TRIBAL ALLIANCE
http://undergroundrailroadtribalalliance.blogspot.com/
]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/how_afghanistans_booming_opium.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/how_afghanistans_booming_opium.html Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:59:50 -0600 HOW DRUGS DESTROY HUMAN LIFE Anna Nicole Smith, the
time is ripe to discuss how drugs slowly, but ALWAYS surely, destroy
the people who use them.

Before discussing how drugs destroy human life, a brief summary about
what constitutes a living thing is due. We'd all agree that living
things have bodies, but sometimes we fall short of recognizing that not
every living thing lives in a body that is its own. Some things, such as
viruses, do not become "real" living entities until they find a host.
Once they've entered a host, they take on some of the characteristics of
the host (to the detriment of the host).

Viruses have individual biochemicals properties, therefore, they
displace different characteristics within a living host, like any other
population. Some are stronger than others. Some live longer than others.
Some are messy. Some are quite clean, quiet, and their presence is hardly
noticed, at first. However, regardless of origen, they all have the
same agenda; to steal, kill, and destroy the host, so that they may live.

There's no such a partition in existence that gives rise to a "living"
vs. "non-living" world. Life goes in cycles. This rule applies to
drugs, also. They are cyclical in that they go through active and dormant
stages. They're dormant in plastic baggy's, and they spring to life
inside a body.

Another notable thing about drugs is that they are notoriously jealous
personalities. What are they jealous of? Anything that gives you joy in
life. If something gives you enough joy in life, you'll ignore drugs,
because you don't need them to make your life interesting. If a drug
has to compete with your spouse, or family member, or children, or your
own health, it will do so until it destroys them. After it destroys
them, destroying you is a downhill task.

In truth, a drug wan'ts more than your undivided attention; it wants to
be loved by you. It wants you to sacrifice EVERYTHING for it,
including your soul. If someone ever says something about vampires being "make
believe" in your presence, say b###@@@@....beeswax!

Here's another perspective. If someone were to roll a wheelchair up to
you, and in that wheelchair was one who'd taught many people to be
wise, but now they lacked arms, legs, sight, hearing, or the ability to
talk, what would you call this person?

A book.

Life=Information. Period. The vessels through which information travels
differ, but living things share some common characteristics, many of
which are evil. Have you ever met a drug addicted person that was NOT
also a great liar? Once in a person, drugs constantly tell a user so many
lies that, over time, the user begins to believe that the lie being
told is the truth. Then, they begin to tell others what drugs have
convinced them to be the truth. "Man, I'm not a big-enough fool to let this
stuff ruin my life." "I have a family, this, that, and the other."

The sad thing is that they really mean what they say, but drugs are the
ultimate deceivers. No drug addict is as smart as the drug they're
addicted to; the drugs just allow addicts to think they're the horse
pulling the cart, when, in reality, things are the other way around.

Drugs cannot live within a culture without destroying a sizable number
of people within the culture. You don't have to use drugs to be
destroyed by them. The users are not the ones, usually, who go "down the road"
for 10, 15, 25 years.......................to life. For every user who
physically hurts someone, at least twice as many dealers hurt (or have
someone hurt) a person who owes them money.

Drugs corrupt police departments. Remember how the authorities said
(regarding poor Anna), "at this time, the investigation is still ongoing."
What you have to realize is that all of these small islands are
nothing but fronts for foreign millionares caught-up in the drug trade. The
police are just giving the shadowy characters time to get their stories
together, and enough time to approach them with "hush money."

This is what really happened in the Natalie Holloway case. I'm one of
the few people who thinks she's still alive. By now, however, she's so
drugged out that she wouldn't return if she had the chance. It's called
sex slavery. If you think is easy smuggling Mexicans INTO the U.S.,
think about how easy it would be for someone to smuggle a couple of
blondes OUT of the U.S., inside of someone's trunk. Blondes sell for about
$10,000.00 each in Africa and the Middle East.

So, my friends, if you want to ruin you life, it's not hard. It's fun
in the beginning, whether you're a user or a dealer. You'll both find
yourself constantly "flying" to new destinations, mental destinations for
some; physical destinations for others. You'll meet some of the most
evil people you'll ever wan't to come close to. The trade-off for all
the fun, however, is early death.

Leave drugs alone. You never will be more clever than they are, but
they cannot use you like a dirty mop unless YOU choose to let them do so.

The greatest high is clean living, and the acquisition of REAL
knowledge. Pursue those things, and you'll have more than the drug user, or
dealer, EVER will.

George Malik al-Mahdi
http://undergroundrailroadtribalalliance.blogspot.com/
]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/how_drugs_destroy_human_life.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/how_drugs_destroy_human_life.html Mon, 08 Oct 2007 10:55:34 -0600 CHILD DISCIPLINE VS CHILD ABUSE
 I can only remember my dad beating me twice and both times, in my opinion, undeservedly. One was when he thought I messed up his TV the other was when he thought I lied, something he detested so much.
There must have been some minor beatings in between but those are the two heavy ones I can remember. Maybe they are not heavy; I probably retain both incidents in my mind because of the injustice.
What I do remember quite clearly is the fact that he would make us spread our hands, just like when Jesus was crucified, and would be watching to make sure they didn’t come down too low for some relief. Anytime the hands dropped we were sternly instructed to take them back up.

My mom did not really have time to give us extended discipline like Dad did; she would slap you with her palm, hit you with some objects she could readily lay her hands on and stuff like that. She hit on us, not as intense as dad did but more often than dad

We were beaten for various offences ranging from lying to leaving the house without informing them of where we were going, which sometimes was to play football, table tennis or just to hang out with our friends. For the benefit of American readers football in this case is what you call soccer and table tennis is ping pong, I just feel more comfortable calling them what I did because I believe those terms are more appropriate, that is a topic for another day.
Another thing that was big on the “don’t do” lists of my parents is disrespect. Something that I still have going today. If someone is older than you where I come from you don’t call them names without a prefix such as “brother” “sister” sounds like broda and sista.
Naturally, having gone through life trained by my parents I am big on respect too and I have no qualms addressing anyone as broda or sista or saying sir to anyone and I personally do not see that as a big deal.
I witnessed a lot of guys who would fight with their older brothers or sisters, using bottles in some instances, that never happened in my house, not one incident that I can remember. The one that I follow in terms of hierarchy is a female and once I fought with her, I was beaten and made to call her sista Funke from thereon, I still call her that and I enjoy doing so and I feel some sense of pride that I respect my sister that much. There’s nothing wrong in being humble.
My dad had 11 children, one died before I was born so there were ten of us left. Now if you ask me if that discipline made us richer or more successful than other children, the answer is no, did it make us better individuals in the sense of not having trouble with the law and not doing anything that will bring shame to our parents’ name, I will say yes.
I am not saying we turned out to be angels, some of us smoked, some of us had kids before graduating from high school and some of us had one or two stints with the law, but over all I can tell you categorically that we did fine.
Now am I saying corporal punishment is the only answer to making your children turn out to be good citizens? The answer is no, it is not the only way to make children better adults. Is the absence of corporal punishment in the best interest of the child? My answer to that question will also be no. Should state interfere in the upbringing of children by their parents? My answer will be to some extent.
You may call me an animal or a brute or uncivilized, whatever name catches your fancy will be ok with me but I want to make a categorical statement here, I support, 100%, disciplining your kids when it is obvious a very strong statement needed to be made and I believe the state has no right whatsoever to interfere where the punishment is not over the board.
I believe in it so much that I started dated the mother of my children simply because she believed in it too and her predecessors, in terms of my affection that is, seem pretty easy, I didn’t want anyone that feels like slightly touching the kids to punish them is wrong. That is how big it is with me.
Why do I believe in punishing the kids? Because it is natural, so natural the bible endorses it:

Proverbs 13:24 (King James Version)

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Proverbs 19:18 (King James Version)
Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
Proverbs 22:15 (King James Version)
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Proverbs 23:13 (King James Version)
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Proverbs 23:14 (King James Version)
14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Proverbs 29:15 (King James Version)
The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Hebrews 12:6-7 (King James Version)
6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

 

Now someone who claimed to be a Christian and who do not see wisdom in these verses needs to examine his or her faith.
I read an article by someone who said when his dad was beating him, at a stage he held the belt he was being beaten with and told his dad “there is a limit to my endurance” then he walked away. I wonder what would have happened if his dad had gone after him and give him more beatings, would he have fought his dad? I guess that would have been so very civilized.
Having said that, I am not saying that cutting the child with razor and putting peppers on his/her skin like a Nigerian lecturer was alleged to have done is proper, if you ask me that was absolutely crazy, but normal spanking for an obvious wrong, in my book, can never be wrong.
I should like to say that the state itself is hypocritical in the sense that the state recognizes the fact that an offensive act must be punished, including something that is as harmless as not obeying speed limit. Just ask yourself, how many people will desist from breaking the law if the offensive conduct is not sanctioned either by a fine or some time in prison?
If corporal punishment is wrong what makes locking a human being in a cage like an animal right?
In conclusion, I will leave you with the video of Dr. Julia Hare. I do not agree with her conclusion in the sense that she says not punishing the kids was aimed against blacks and should be resisted. The law affects anyone that breaks it, be he/she black, white or yellow. Unless it is apparently excessive, I don’t think punishing one’s child should be the government’s business because when that child turns out bad the government will not hesitate to put him/her in prison.

 

]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/child_discipline_vs_child_abus.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/10/child_discipline_vs_child_abus.html Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:36:10 -0600 CRIMES, COURTS AND THE MEDIA The legal profession started as a profession that brings relief to the people, it started as a profession that edifies the rule of law, it is a profession that is supposed to lend voice to the voiceless, defend the defenseless and contrary to what we have today, where money rather than justice is what matters, the profession started on a charitable note. Perhaps the guilt is why various bar associations in America make it compulsory for lawyers to undertake pro bono hours, an idea that I do not agree with. You don’t force people to do good, they must desire it, and they must really feel like it and put their all into it.

The legal profession being a profession that defends the helpless therefore enjoins lawyers to take cases even if they feel like their clients are wrong. This is in consonant with the principle that an accused person is innocent until his guilt is proven. Proving his guilt is the job of the government, via its prosecutors, deciding his fate vis-à-vis the alleged crime is that of the judge, not anyone else’s especially not that of the lawyers.

 

The state is a very big institution and have readily available at its disposal instruments that it could use for the good of the society or for the oppression of the downtrodden. It is the job of the society at large to see to it that people who wield state powers are held accountable to the society that gave them the powers which it (society) gave for one purpose and one purpose only, for the good of all.

 

 The saying that it is better for 10 guilty men to go free than for one innocent man to be incarcerated is just to make sure that no one is wrongly judged and jailed. Society owes it to itself that the proper procedures of determining a man’s guilt are followed.

 

 In some countries, the media is referred to as the 4th estate of the realm in the sense that there’s the executive, the legislature and of course the judiciary, those are the 3 arms of government, the media, which is not part of the official governmental structures in anyway is thus viewed to be objective and credible. Society depends on the media to keep the governments on their toes, which is why the media is referred to as the watchdog.

 

The media developed in some countries as a matter of necessity especially in the colonial period in some parts of the former British Commonwealth. The media was the official opposition parties to the colonialists, keeping them on their toes and informing the general population of unfair governments’ policies. Those of us from Africa take the media so very serious and where any member of the media misinforms, for whatever reasons, we see that as a direct stab in the back.

 

Due to its development, especially in those countries where there was need to counter governments’ propaganda, the media has a lot of influence on the people and since most of the things reported are things that we cannot find out ourselves nor verify, we trust and rely on the media to keep us honestly informed. In the guise of reporting, the media started shaping opinions which was necessary in most cases in some countries. It is only a fool that will not recognize how influential the media is in the opinion court.

 

his article is written to examine the role of the media in dispensing justice.

 

Legal issues, like every other issue, are reported in the media. The media sometimes get overzealous in reporting legal issues, constituting itself into the judge and jury. Whenever there’s a high profile case, in other words cases involving celebrities, newspapers and TV stations go to work trying to outdo themselves in dissecting the cases by inviting the so called experts to analyze and give their opinions about the cases. A lawyer, in response to a question on this issue, puts it succinctly when he said

“The lawyers who are put on television to explain the cases, who nobody would ever hire to be a real lawyer, these are only pretty faces and gentle voices, but they don't know anything about the law. And a lot of the cable television shows are distorting the legal system terribly by not having standards for who they allow to describe the law and analyze the law.”

In the case of Nigeria, and some other countries that do not allow lawyers to advertise, the lawyers uses these sort of television analysis as a form of advert to the disadvantage of other lawyers who do not have friends in the media. Watch the TV in Nigeria on issues bordering on legal matters and you can count the number of lawyers that will be on television “enlightening the general public” on your fingers.

 

This kind of attitude, to my mind deprives the accused of the benefit of innocence before his guilt is proven, especially in a system that makes use of jury such as we have here in the USA. How do you want a jury to vote when people who are close to him/her have been informed by the media that the defendant is guilty?

 

Apart from  the fact that some of these reports could be prejudicial to the accused persons and could lead to miscarriage of justice, it could also mess up the case for the prosecution in the sense that juries might acquit defendants even in the face of overwhelming evidence against him just to assert their independence.

 

There are more to proving someone’s innocence or guilt than whatever information the media have sometimes and the fact that all the facts might not be available should be enough to put the media on notice that the guilt or innocence of a man should be determined by those whose duty it is to make that decision.

 

It is the duty of the prosecutor to not only bring the charges but prove the elements of whatever crime an accused person is being accused of, “beyond reasonable doubt”. It is the duty of the Jury, in the case of America, the judge in the case of Nigeria and other jurisdiction that do not utilize the jury system, to find that the facts proved are sufficient to sustain the charges as defined. It is the duty of the court to sentence after conviction. The duty of the press is to report the incident.

 

Preempting the court is a practice that is seriously frowned at in some jurisdictions. Cases may be reported but the guilt or innocence of the accused depends on whether or not the case against him was made out satisfactorily. When a charge is preferred against an accused person such issue is supposed to be sub judiced, the media may report the case they may not constitute themselves into a separate judiciary trying the case. Where someone does that, such an individual or organization is in contempt of the presiding court.

 

When the media goes after the accused person, everyone in the defense team becomes the devil’s advocate, they are taunted by the public and forsaken by their friends and their families are made to carry a bag of guilt for their “misbehavior” simply because they did what is required of them as professionals. A soldier for example does not question the rationale behind a war he fights in; a lawyer defending a party in a case is more or less in the same situation.

 

I believe the various bar associations as well as ABA need to embark on an educational campaign so that people will appreciate the role of lawyers in dispensation of justice, if someone like Cully Stimson, a lawyer and deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs, does not understand it then ordinary man on the street deserves some form of education in that regard.

 

  In conclusion, I believe the way the media report high profile cases could make citizens to lose confidence in the judiciary in the sense that if an accused has been tried and found guilty by the media, acquittal in the court may give the impression that the court is not to be trusted and the stain resulting from such adverse opinion might not be easy to wash off. The court is therefore perceived, sometimes, as either intellectually deficient or materially corrupt.

 

 

I think it is the job of all and sundry to raise people’s hope in the judiciary, an institution that is regarded traditionally as the last hope of the common man. The judiciary needs to be given the chance to play its role in a democratic society. The system is set up in such a way that any party to a matter who feels aggrieved by a court’s decision in a case can appeal such a decision. This is the system, it has been working, we should allow it to work and if we feel like it is deficient there are proper means of channeling our reservation, if we feel like there are ways to better the system we can always make the suggestion.

If we gang up against the judicial institution and it fails the common man will be the one to suffer for it.

Michael Ewetuga

http://minoritiesinterests.com

 

 

]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/09/crimes_courts_and_the_media.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/09/crimes_courts_and_the_media.html Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:09:31 -0600 THE STONE THE BUILDERS REFUSED


 

“And the stone that the builders refused shall be the head cornerstone, and no matter what game they play, we got something they could never take away..”

 

Bob Nasta Marley in “Ride Natty Ride

 

Sometimes an individual is blessed with some qualities that is overshadowed by his outward appearance and at such times the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” becomes apposite.

 

The world can be a lonely and cruel place to be at times and there are individuals in the world who are in the business of killing dreams because they think they know better than the rest of us. While these people who enjoy killing dreams are going about making sure that dreams are not realized simply because of their own assessments of the dreamers, there are also people who believe in giving others a chance no matter how hopeless others may perceived them or their dreams to be.

 

When God makes someone a shining star there’s no force in heaven or on earth that can dim this star. People have been known to shine against all odds encouraged often times by people who are dedicated to good works, people who rejoices in other people’s achievements or their abilities to achieve great things despite perceived handicaps.

 

Some people love to pretend that they can see with eyes closed. Their minds are closed to any kind of reasoning that does not conform to their prejudices and these prejudices make them attempt to kick against and try to destroy a flower that has been destined to blossom.

 

In the end our stories will be told and condemnation shall not be far from the lips of those who are opportune to see perpetrators of evil as they really are, stumbling blocks in the way of other people’s progresses and their failure to effectively block will be hailed as observers will see them turning into stepping stones, helping rather than barring men of destinies from reaching their goals.

 

 Someone we regard to as a nonentity, an imbecile, a handicap or even a social miscreant might turn out to be a shining star that brings the best out of others.

 

It is not often that a movie moves me to tears; I like to see myself as a man, one whose heart is rigid, perhaps a man whose heart is made of stone. Those are my defenses, my armor against the world’s wickedness. I was taught not to show weaknesses, a man is not supposed to do that, I in turn preach the same sermon to my kids, as boys, they are told to hold firm to their emotions. Weaknesses are not virtues when you are a man lest your enemies get to know what melts your heart and use that against you.

 

I, however, am always fascinated by good deeds; my heroes are people who, to their own detriment, stood up for those who are incapable of standing up for themselves. I appreciate people who gave voices to the voiceless, people who carried on their backs the burden of others without complaints, the real heroes, people we ought to point out to our children as examples of good souls so they would see the good in making others feel loved.

 

Sometimes we hasten to judge and at those times we commit sins because we judge without having all the facts, even if we have all the facts, who made us a judge over others? There are a thousand and one reasons why people turn out the way they do and without sufficient information we usually end up committing grave injustice, perhaps that is the reason why the bible enjoined us not to judge.

 

James Robert “Radio” Kennedy is one man whose story will make you cry and laugh at the same time. If you don’t know this man then I enjoined you to watch the movie “Radio” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as James Robert “Radio” Kennedy and Ed Harris as Harold Jones the Coach.

 

So much has been written about “Radio” as he is fondly called in Anderson SC. It is a thing of joy to know that South Carolina General Assembly in its 116th Session, 2005-2006 honor and recognize the lives of James Robert "Radio" Kennedy and former T. L. Hanna Football Coach Harold Jones, both of Anderson County, for their lives of service to T. L. Hanna High School and for being an inspiration to their community, the State, and the nation. http://scstatehouse.net/sess116_2005-2006/bills/4267.htm

 

This world will be a better place if we honor people who had and are having such a tremendous positive effects on individuals and communities all over the world instead of honoring those who will not bat an eyelid in stealing from the people and then turn around asking for honors. The South Carolina General Assembly also deserves commendation and emulation with regard to the part they took in honoring these heroes.

 

 

*Jim Mathis, an international speaking professional and Trainer wrote about Radio thus:

 

LIVING WITH SPIRIT!

 

James Robert "Radio" Kennedy

How could a man who never officially attended a high school become the spirit of that school for over 35 years, no less of an entire community? That is the story of James Robert "Radio" Kennedy, of Anderson, South Carolina. Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays the 57 year old Radio in the current movie of the same name. What is his story? How did he become so famous? What role have others played in his notoriet?

At age 5 James suffered irreversible brain damage in an auto collision. When the coaches at T.L. Hanna High School, in Anderson, first found him he was hanging around the practice field with a transistor radio (his constant companion) in his pocket. They would ask his name and other information, but the only noise they heard at the time was coming from the radio. "He always had that transistor," said Hanna head football coach Harold Jones, who then coached the junior varsity. "That's why we gave him the nickname - Radio."

Radio burst into Jones's world when he wandered onto the athletic field during practice in 1963 and began mimicking the coach. Jones took up time with him and he soon got Radio to talk through a rewards system. Harold wanted to keep Radio coming around, so he adopted him as team manager. Little did he realize that Radio was there to stay. Radio showed up for all practices and games. One time a coach tried to lie to him about the time the team would leave for lack of room. Radio showed up an hour earlier than the scheduled departure time. Another time the team bus was so crowded that he was forced to stay behind. Hanna lost the game that night. After that he was with the team for the next 13 games and they won all 13. Ever since, Radio has had a spot on the bus to all games.

The coaches adopted Radio and he became a T.L .Hanna fixture. He began attending track meets, basketball games and even greeting fans at the gate. He never would have dreamed how much Kennedy would have blossomed, and how much the students would accept him. Nor did he realize at the time what an effect he had on the players and students at the school. At Hanna, he has been accepted as a regular student. He reports first thing each day to the school nurse. Radio spends the school day mopping and running errands for teachers. He gets grades just like the students do. (Usually all "A's" in mopping, but an occasional "C" for good measure). At one time they tried to make him a "Senior," which would have meant graduation and departure, but Radio claimed he was a "Junior" and remains one to this day.

The community has adopted Radio, as well. Numerous articles have been written about him in the local paper. There is even a section devoted to him online called, appropriately, "Radio, The Heart of Anderson." He has his own song, played on local stations, "Everyone knows Radio," the lyrics say. But Radio's pride and joy remains his "Wall of Fame," the numerous articles and awards displayed at Hanna High School. He understands that he has won a place in the hearts of the people at the school - and he is proud.

On Saturday, November 1, 2003, fire ravaged Radio's home. He lived there with other family members. Radio was up before the smoke detector went off in time to warn everyone. No one was injured and the fire was put out in ten minutes, but almost all of his memorabilia was destroyed. The community came together to put the family up in a motel temporarily. Jones said, "The community will help find another residence for them." "They got wiped out," he said. "It's kind of sad, but I believe the community will rally."

You can believe they will rally for "The Heart of Anderson," James Robert "Radio" Kennedy.

 

 

Read also (http://www.chasingthefrog.com/Reviews/03/radio_review.htm)

 

 

*JIM MATHIS is an International Speaking Professional and Trainer. To subscribe to his FREE personal and professional development newsletter, please send an email to subscribe@jimmathis.com with the word SUBSCRIBE. An electronic copy will be sent out to you every month. For more information on how JIM and his programs can benefit your organization or group, please call 888-688-0220, or visit his website: www.jimmathis.com

 

 

 

 

 

]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/09/the_stone_the_builders_refused.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/09/the_stone_the_builders_refused.html Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:58:03 -0600 Why I'm fleeing South Africa Nigerian Guardian Mon. Aug. 27

By Anne Paton
I AM leaving South Africa. I have lived here for 35 years, and I shall leave with anguish. My home and my friends are here, but I am terrified. I know I shall be in trouble for saying so, because I am the widow of Alan Paton. Fifty years ago he wrote Cry, The Beloved Country. He was an unknown schoolmaster and it was his first book, but it became a bestseller overnight. It was eventually translated into more than 20 languages and became a set book in schools all over the world. It has sold more than 15 million copies and still sells 100,000 copies a year.
As a result of the startling success of this book, my husband became famous for his impassioned speeches and writings, which brought to the notice of the world the suffering of the black man under apartheid. He campaigned for Nelson Mandela's release from prison and he worked all his life for black majority rule. He was incredibly hopeful about the new South Africa that would follow the end of apartheid, but he died in 1988, aged 85. I was so sorry he did not witness the euphoria and love at the time of the election in 1994. But I am glad he is not alive now. He would have been so distressed to see what has happened to his beloved country.
I love this country with a passion, but I cannot live here any more. I can no longer live slung about with panic buttons and gear locks. I am tired of driving with my car windows closed and the doors locked, tired of being
afraid of stopping at red lights. I am tired of being constantly on the alert, having that sudden frisson of fear at the sight of a shadow by the gate, of a group of youths approaching - although nine times out of 10
they are innocent of harmful intent. Such is the suspicion that dogs us all.
Among my friends and the friends of my friends, I know of nine people who have been murdered in the past four years. An old friend, an elderly lady, was raped and murdered by someone who broke into her home for no reason at all; another was shot at a garage. We have a saying, "Don't fire the gardener", because of the belief that it is so often an inside job - the gardener who comes back and does you in.
All this may sound like paranoia, but it is not without reason. I have been hijacked, mugged and terrorised. A few years ago my car was taken from me at gunpoint. I was forced into the passenger seat. I sat there frozen. But
just as one man jumped into the back and the other fumbled with the starter I opened the door and ran away. To this day I do not know how I did this.
But I got away, still clutching my handbag.
On May 1 this year I was mugged in my home at three in the afternoon. I used to live in a community of big houses with big grounds in the countryside. It's still beautiful and green, but the big houses have been knocked down and people have moved into fenced complexes like the one in which I now live. Mine is in the suburbs of Durban, but they're springing up everywhere. That afternoon I came home and omitted to close the security door. I went upstairs to lie down. After a while I thought I'd heard a noise, perhaps a bird or something. Without a qualm I got up and went to the landing; outside was a man. I screamed and two other men appeared. I was seized by the throat and almost throttled; I could feel myself losing consciousness.
My mouth was bound with Sellotape and I was threatened with my own knife (Girl Guide issue from long ago) and told: "If you make a sound, you die." My hands were tied tightly behind my back and I was thrown into the guest room and the door was shut. They took all the electronic equipment they could find, except the computer. They also, of course, took the car. A few weeks later my new car was locked up in my fenced carport when I was woken by its alarm in the early hours of the morning. The thieves had removed the radio, having cut through the padlocks in order to bypass the electric control on the gates. The last straw came a few weeks ago, shortly before my 71st birthday. I returned home in the middle of the afternoon and walked into my sitting room. Outside the window two men were breaking in. I retreated to the hall
and pressed the panic alarm.
This time I had shut the front door on entering. By now I had become more cautious. Yet one of the men ran around the house, jumped over the fence and tried to batter down the front door. Meanwhile, his accomplice was breaking my sitting- room window with a hammer. This took place while the sirens were shrieking, which was the frightening part. They kept coming, in broad daylight, while the alarm was going. They knew that there had to be a time lag of a few minutes before help arrived - enough time to dash off with the television and video recorder. In fact, the front-door assailant was caught and taken off to the cells.
Recently I telephoned to ask the magistrate when I would be called as a witness. She told me she had let him off for lack of evidence. She said that banging on my door was not an offence, and how could I prove that his intent was hostile? I have been careless in the past - razor wire and electric gates give one a feeling of security. Or at least, they did. But I am careless no longer. No fence - be it electric or not - no wall, no razor wire is really a deterrent to the determined intruder. Now my alarm is on all the time and my panic button hung round my neck. While some people say I have been unlucky, others say: "You are lucky not to have been raped or murdered." What kind of a society is this where one is considered "lucky" not to have been raped or murdered - yet?
A character in Cry, The Beloved Country says: "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving they will find we are turned to hating." And so it has come to pass. There is now more racial tension in this country than I have ever known. But it is not just about black-on-white crime. It is about general lawlessness. Black people suffer more than the whites. They do not have access to private security firms, and there are no police stations near them in the townships and rural areas. They are the victims of most of the hijackings, rapes and murders. They cannot run away like the whites, who are streaming out of this country in their thousands.
President Mandela has referred to us who leave as "cowards" and says the country can do without us. So be it. But it takes a great deal of courage to uproot and start again. We are leaving because crime is rampaging through
the land. The evils that beset this country now are blamed on the legacy of apartheid. One of the worst legacies of that time is that of the Bantu Education Act, which deliberately gave black people an inferior education.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that criminals know that their chances of being caught are negligible; and if they are caught they will be free almost at once. So what is the answer? The government needs to get its priorities right. We need a powerful, well-trained and well-equipped
police force. Recently there was a robbery at a shopping centre in the afternoon. A call to the police station elicited the reply: "We have no transport." "Just walk then," said the caller; the police station is about a two-minute sprint from the shop in question. "We have no transport," came the reply again. Nobody arrived.
There is a quote from my husband's book:"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much." What has changed in half a century? A lot of people who were convinced that everything would be all right are disillusioned, though they don't want to admit it.
The government has many excellent schemes for improving the lot of the black man, who has been disadvantaged for so long. A great deal of money is
spent in this direction. However, nothing can succeed while people live in such fear. Last week, about 10km from my home, an old couple were taken out and murdered in the garden. The wife had only one leg and was in a wheelchair. Yet they were stabbed and strangled - for very little money. They were thesecond old couple to be killed last week. It goes on and on, all the time;
we have become a killing society.
As I prepare to return to England, a young man asked me the other day, in all innocence, if things were more peaceful there. "You see," he said, "I know of no other way of life than this. I cannot imagine anything different." What a tragic statement on the beloved country today. "Because the white man has power, we too want power," says Msimangu. "But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money.
Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man's liquor. I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it. I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating.
  • This article by widow of famous South African author, Alan Paton,was first published in the London Sunday Times.
]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/why_im_fleeing_south_africa.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/why_im_fleeing_south_africa.html Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:49:02 -0600 I NEED A BAD GIRL I have seen on TV and read in some newspapers some people thinking some words should be banned while others think banning words would offend the provisions of the constitution that guarantees freedom of speech. I have expressed my view in another article as to whether or not banning the “N” word would offer any kind of solution to the black people’s problems or should I say self esteem.
 
Just when I was getting done with the article a council woman in NY started advocating for a ban of the “B” word. I saw this on television and she was asked what I regarded a very appropriate question, “if you ban the word “bitch” what would you call a female dog?”
 
Shakespeare wondered in Romeo and Juliet “what’s in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” in case this doesn’t make sense, I think it does, then let’s turn it around “what’s in a  name? that which we call shit a rose would smell as bad. No matter what you choose to call something sweet or bad such things will retain their real essence.

 

This issue of names together with the philosophy of positive thinking is the reason why some people claim you are what you call yourself, some people believe so much in the positive thinking philosophy as well as power in spoken words. I am a realist and naturally do not believe in either of these two concepts and I will tell you why:
 
Let’s take the “you are what you call yourself” example. Let us assume someone wants to take up a nickname and he decided to call himself Gorilla, would that make him or make him act like a Gorilla, essentially do all Gorillas act the same way, what makes a Gorilla a Gorilla?
 
Now to the power in the word philosophy: assuming someone has been diagnosed with a terminal disease for which there’s no cure, would saying he would live to be old make the person get to an old age, assuming such an individual is a teenager?
 
I am one of those who believe that you are what you are regardless of what people call you or you call yourself, nothing and no one can change your essence. I therefore have no problem with words and some of the bad words are just a mere distraction, at any rate who decides when a word is bad or good, words that are bad in one culture may mean direct opposite in another culture. If you are a Nigerian or close to one perhaps you have heard of the story of two friends, one visited the other’s village and it was time for introduction.

 

In the normal Yoruba language a friend is “ore”, a cutlass is “ada” and one’s mom could be “iya” or “mama” etc. In the friend’s village a friend is “ota” which in normal Yoruba means “enemy and mom is “ada” which, like I said earlier, in normal Yoruba is “cutlass” You can imagine the friend’s horror when his friend said “ota mi de, ada mi da?” which in his own dialect means “my friend is here, where’s my mom” but which in normal Yoruba would translate to “my enemy is here, where’s my cutlass?”

 

I read about the power of the word in old Egyptian culture where it was claimed that a curse, which consist of spoken words, could remain potent for thousand of years. I am not approving or disapproving this assertion. To my mind intention is what matters most, and to me the most important thing is for one to keep one’s eyes on one’s goal and work tirelessly to achieve it or them, if you have goals that is.
 
And talking of goal, life is not a roller coaster, that is one thing that we all will realize at one time or the other. Making it in life is most times not a matter of planning; just when you think you have everything wrapped up something jumps out of no where and mess up one’s plans, therefore not all goals will be realized.
 
I have seen people plan for old age only to die young and I have heard young girls dream of a family only for their hands not to be asked for in marriage. People talk of how many children they want to have ending up having none or more than envisaged. Life blows the whistle on us sometime or the other.
 
Human beings must play God, we want to have situations under our control we love that role despite the fact that we are quick to concede it to God, we proclaim leaving everything to God yet checkmating him every opportunity we have. When things are not going our ways we turn to God in prayer, submitting to his wills yet bending him to ours, thy will be done is a very strange concept when humans want something that they want God to help them with.
 
So with the concept of positive word and leaving everything to God in sight I go to the main focus of this article, what people call us, what we call ourselves and what we are, that being the first part, the second part is how we end up despite what we are called or what we call ourselves.
 
I love music, I have said that several times that some people must be bored hearing me say it, the reason why I’m saying it is because I know most music but do not really care that much about who sang them. Sometimes you are at the club and the DJ is playing all sort of music with view of getting people on the dance floor and no one is dancing, then he plays a music like “I want a bad bitch, yes, if you’re a bad bitch” and the dance floor suddenly become over populated. You see people, especially the women, jump on the dance floor in a jiffy, you then wonder if most women regard themselves as bad bitches.
 
Our parents, especially in Africa, for whatever reason failed and are still failing to educate children in terms of relationship and sex. As a matter of fact children are brought up to look at sex as a taboo, something that cannot be discussed and something that one must not indulge in. if your parents are religious, especially Christians and Muslims, then sex is a sure vehicle and direct highway to hell.

 

These teachings are responsible for dismal performance of some women in the bedroom, labeling some sexual activities as being dirty, failing to get their partners to the desirable height. To some people, no matter how good you are, when you fail in that department you are expendable. Some people grow up to overcome this and of course they are the “bad girls”
 

 

The good girls are brought up to follow a certain pertain, they are expected to desist from certain things that are sure to mess up their lives. Good girls don’t drink, smoke or use drugs. Good girls don’t have sex until a man comes around and properly ask for their hands in marriage. Good girls don’t go running after men nor are they dressed like hookers or prostitutes or whores or whatever name you want to give to a profession that is said to be the oldest profession in the world.
 
When a good girl gets married, she is supposed to obey her husband, take whatever he dishes out and recognize him as the lord and master of the house even when he isn’t man enough to deserve that position. She is expected to keep her composure when her husband is talking to or should I say talking at her. Worse case scenario, even when she is abused she is supposed to take whatever injuries she is afflicted with, be it physical, mental and if you believe in the spiritual then that one too.
 
Good girl is supposed to make sure, at whatever cost, that her marriage stands the test of time, even when the husband is a drunkard, a womanizer, adulterer; I guess you have to womanize to commit adultery, maybe we should treat that as one and the same. On top of that she is supposed to hold on even if he’s an abuser.
 
What is the rationale behind staying in a relationship that is not only killing you physically, mentally and if you are spiritual, spiritually too? The children, the golden children, children who must be shielded from the bad things that seem to be inherent in life, so they could turn out to be better people in future, after all, they are our future, leaders of tomorrow and we must bring them up to be leaders of tomorrow, not just leaders but worthy leaders.
 
If any of those children are female, they are to be brought up to be like their moms, accepting whatever their husbands  dish out and the boys of course are supposed to take after daddies, the head of the family behaving as if the head is cut off.
 
Bad girls are girls that don’t really give a damn about conventional things. When they want a man they go after him, sometimes regardless of the fact that such men are married.
 
Bad girls are dressed to kill, showing off essential parts of the body, leaving little to the imagination. Bad girls drink, smoke and party like there’s no tomorrow, they are example of what a girl is not supposed to be.
 
Sexually, bad girls are well versed in the act and would do a whole lot of things with the man’s body that will make the good girls puke. Some bad girls are so bad that they have kids even before they are out of high school; they are not the kind of girls you would ask your daughter to look at as role models.
 
Ordinarily, the good girls having conducted themselves in a way that society dictates, by conforming to the rules as laid down by moral experts, are supposed to reap the fruits of their obedience by netting the best husbands in the market. But is that always the case?
 
I have seen bad girls have children that turned out to be every mom’s dream despite their mom’s short comings and I have seen the good girls give birth to the worst kind of specie that makes you wonder where they got them.
 
I have seen a bad girl net the most eligible bachelor in the market while the good girl clutch her bible and go to every service available at the church praying for a good husband. I have seen a good girl get married only to lose her man to the bad girl.
 
We fail to realize that we must live our lives according to what has been predestined regardless of how we turn out and definitely regardless of what we or other people perceive us to be, if you believe in destiny you could say there’s no changing it.

 

Regardless of what we are called the ultimate decision maker is God and who is good and who is bad is according to his definition, not ours. He has written the book of our lives in conformity of which we just play our role as written, which is probably why Shakespeare said in “As You Like It”:

 

“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts, …”
 
We sure love to leave everything to God but we intend to get it all back through prayers. I am not advocating for girls to be bad but then that depends on what you term bad. If you term being able to satisfy a man bad, if you term being confident about yourself and being sexual and erotic as bad then of course I would rather be with a bad girl. I am not also saying a bad girl gets it all or that she would make heaven but the decision as to who does and who doesn’t rest with God who I believe gave us all the organs that we possess for a reason and using it to the dictate of nature to me can not be bad. A little imagination in the bedroom won’t hurt anyone either.
If being bad is satisfying your partner, then I say be as bad as you can!

 

]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/i_need_a_bad_girl_1.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/i_need_a_bad_girl_1.html Thu, 23 Aug 2007 10:30:01 -0600 Open Letter to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 14, 2007 Nigerians for Super Energy a grassroots campaign for energy sends an open letter to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of Nigeria.

 

 

Open Letter to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua

 

 

Dear Mr. President:

 

We are writing in support of your Energy goals for Nigeria. We believe that Nigeria should become a “Super Energy Power”. You rightly said so on June 11, 2007 and we quote “As I keep saying, we cannot begin to address, in a fundamental manner, the problems of the economy, until we successfully tackle the power and energy issue. It is critical to all my plans. So I am more interested in how much gas we can tap for domestic use than what we can get for export. We must power this economy,” Mr. President as you know, we have a very sick patient, "Nigerian Energy"; we need world class surgeons to lead this effort no more nurses. No disrespect to my mom she was a nurse for over 40 years!! And when you sign the FOI (Freedom of Information) bill you will have about 100m + eyes helping to monitor the progress of the projects. Mr. President below is our humble suggestions for radically changing our energy strategy.

 

Fuel Plan
24 Refineries in a National/Publicly traded oil company with global reach is what we need!!!
They say imitation is a form of flattery. If so, Nigeria needs to look to Venezuelans to reform its fuel sector. Due to the policies of Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA, the Venezuelans are able to enjoy $0.19 per gallon or N6.12. The Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA, had decided that it was not the crude oil export business but in the global petroleum and chemical business. So they invested in refining and retail business in Venezuela and almost all their export markets. Today PDVSA processes 3.3m barrels per day through 24 refineries: six complexes in Venezuela, one in the Caribbean, eight in the United States and nine in Europe. The Brazilian Oil company, Petrobras is another example. This company is renowned for its leadership in development of advanced technology from deep-water and ultra-deep water oil production. With 55.7% of Petrobras' Common Shares (with vote right) is owned by the Brazilian government, however privately held portions are traded on Bovespa stock market .On April 21st of 2006, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva  announced Brazil's self-sufficiency in petroleum. Mr. President please seek counsel of the architects of PDVSA, Mr. Putin and/or Silva to see what they are doing.  We recommend three strategic steps to revolutionize our oil sector.
1. NNPC should be come a government/public firm with part of it shares allocated for Nigerians. This will provide the company with a new direction and ownership need for the global challenges.
2. NNPC should go on a buying spree with the aid of government funds to buy (outright or major) shares in refineries in Africa, China and United States. This will provide us with immediate source of refined products, opportunities to train our people and hard currency. Best of all this does not need the 18 to 24 months to build a refinery. This will also provide us a stop gag measure until we build more refineries. It is all about add value and we need to start doing that.
3. Start building 4 refineries and retail outlets to take care of the local demand as estimated for 2010. This will help put to rest the fuel challenges that we face as a Nation.

 

Electrical Plan
50,000 megawatts in a well planned power grid is what we need!!!
Why 50,000 Megawatts? Given our population, the goals (15,000MW, 20,000MW, and 30,000MW) currently proposed in different political and business circles does not take care of latent electrical demand. In 1999 we estimated a goal of 4,000mw and 5,600mw, we have reached those goals but still not able to survive disruptions to the power grid. South Africa with a population of 47M generates 36,000MW, Brazil population 188M generates 90,000MW and South Korea population 49M generates 43,833MW. Nigeria with a population of 140M would need to generate 67,021MW to be at par with Brazil the lowest per capita among the three countries. Based on the current estimates of 10,000mw in current or in progress, we will need 40, 000mw to complete our goal. This translates in 1,100mw per state and Abuja. Yes we know some states may not be able to generate this amount due to logistic or cost can join with other states to meet their goal. Some states like Lagos will need double or triple that amount. Using current estimates we believe that we need $29 billion for completion of the goal which about $15 billion should come from the Federal government.
1. The plan would call for part of excess revenue funds to be invested in power generation and transmission.
2. All sates, Abuja and Local governments must contribute a percentage of their net worth to the projects. Land for projects will be provided by state and local governments.
3. All banks must invest a percentage of their net worth. Corporations and individual investors will be encouraged to invest in the projects with a strong push for public stock participation.
4. All companies must provide free electricity and cooking gas to local communities.
5. Alternate sources must be encouraged,  At least one coal power station in Enugu with similar capacity of Tutuka, South Africa 6x609 MW. This should be part of the sale of 13 mining titles belonging to the Nigerian Mining Corporation.
6. Gas and oil pipeline should have backup points. We must be able to ship gas or oil to Lagos; after all we ship it to the ends of the world. Our pipe line should be like a Hydra (multi-head monster) that will allow for maintenance without totally shorting down the country.
7. Implement widespread adoption of CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights) and other energy saving programs. CFLs save about four times more energy compare to regular lights.
8. Last but not least, industries using gas for energy will be given gas for free or token price.

We are calling on all Nigerians to wear copper colored ribbon (similar to the AIDS ribbon) and March for a Global NNPC with 24 refineries and a 50,000 megawatts power grid. Mr. President since you understand the challenge, we are ready to give you 100% support to make these changes. If the energy issues in Nigeria are solved, a lot of Nigerian lives will be astronomically improved. We call upon all religious, traditional and civic leaders to join Mr. President for 40 days of prayer and fasting for success.

 

God Bless Nigeria!!!!

 

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Nigerians for Super Energy is a grassroots campaign aimed at supporting the need for energy in Nigeria and the sub region. 35% of all black people in the world need energy to improve their daily lives.
]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/open_letter_to_president_umaru.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/open_letter_to_president_umaru.html Wed, 15 Aug 2007 09:27:43 -0600 A GENTLEMAN OR A THUG, A LADY OR A FREAK

Growing up in Lagos, I saw a whole lot of relationships that beat my imagination. You expect girls to want to be with the gentle guys, you know, guys that are always doing the right thing. Guys who are obedient to their parents, ones who are interested in education and that always stay out of trouble, but is it always that way? No.

 
There was this chap that was always at KINGS CINEMA on Lewis Street, that was the street I grew up on. We loved going to the movies even when we had no money, all you had to do was wait till the movies were half way, then the guard’s go ahead to go in provided you were willing to carry the posters in, the posters were on some sort of boards usually placed in front of the theater.
 
There were always people around even when the movies have started playing. Someone tapped into that situation by putting a soccer game machine in front of the theater. The game was such that four people can play it, two on each side. So you have a situation where some of us got really good at it and didn’t have to pay because someone was always willing to learn and will insert the coins to free the balls. Usually guys like this will solicit expertise of some of us that had gotten really good to man their defense so they can enjoy their game.
 
The were some other guys who weren’t really good but were always down for trouble regardless of the end result, they were not afraid to shed blood nor did they care if theirs were shed, those guys get to play whether or not you wanted them on your side. Once the balls roll out they were ready to play, your feeling or opinion did not count. One of such guys was TETE, a guy that will not think twice before putting a broken bottle part in your system. He never put any money in the machine but you can be sure he will play all night, you better chose him to be your partner or you weren’t playing.
 
This guy had a girlfriend that was absolutely gorgeous. This girl was the kind of girl you want to be seen with, the kind of girl that makes you walk a foot taller with swollen head. She was not too dark and that is not to say dark skin girls are not beautiful, some of the ebony sisters are dark and shinny, just like a well prepared chocolate and some taste as sweet. She had almost a perfect figure, not too fat not too thin, somewhere in between with a great smile that highlighted almost perfect set of teeth.
 
She had the kind of buttocks that makes you want to grab them and just hold them all night long and when you see her coming from a distance, watching the rise and fall of her bosoms you are likely to go on your knees praying for such a lady in your life. If you think you have seen it all wait till she starts speaking, she had the kind of voice that can keep you on the phone all night long not minding the fact that you had to be up early the following day. She was almost a perfect damsel.
 
The guy on the other hand did not really have anything going for him, seldom dressed right, hair un-kept and you don’t have to look too hard to see the dirt underneath his nails. He had all sort of marks on his body, evidence of numerous bottle and knife fights. He was short about 5’2, if not shorter, and as dark as a black paint, he was as mean if not meaner than the devil and that was this beautiful girl’s boyfriend.
 
I don’t know what such a girl would do to anyone that will make you want to beat the living day light out of her but that precisely was what she got on a particular Sunday evening.
 
Her boyfriend was busy playing the soccer game as usual when the lady showed up. I saw her coming from a distance and naturally got distracted. I had the ball and was trying to figure out how to go around my opponent who was very good with the game too. I looked up and there she was walking majestically across the street towards us. Her boyfriend, whose back was towards the direction she was coming from, must have wondered what was holding my attention because his hard emotionless voice brought me to the task at hard “are you going to play or look at a piece of p..sy all night?” he asked. I shamefully redirected my attention to the game at hand flustered.
 
What happened next ended the game. The girl had come up to him and demanded to have a word with him. “Can’t you see I’m busy or have you added blindness to your stupidity?” he replied by way of answer to her request to see him. “I just want to talk to you for a few minutes” she pleaded. “You need to get your stupid as. away from me” he warned menacingly.
 
When she would not go, and him feeling that she was distracting him from the game at hand, pushed her away after a big slap that sounded like gunfire. She got angry too and said something insulting to him while she was walking away, maybe she shouldn’t have done that knowing the kind of boyfriend she had. He ran after her, jerked her around and proceeded to beat the living daylight out of her. As if he had not had enough he tore her dress and gave everyone present and passers bye an eyeful, which I am sure they were shamelessly grateful for.
 
I had thought after that incident that that was the end of that relationship, how wrong. About 3 or 4 days after I saw them together with his arm around her shoulder as if they were the best lovers in the world. It made me wonder why a girl that beautiful will allow any man, no matter how much love she has for him , treat her like that.
 
There’s this other guy that I went to high school with, he was like 1 or 2 years ahead of me. This guy was from a much respected family, he was dating this girl who was really beautiful and soft spoken.
 
This guy was a real player with tons of women jostling for his attention. Aside the fact that he was a real playboy, he was on drugs and will, sometimes steal from his beautiful gentle girlfriend. It was obvious that the guy was going nowhere but down, yet this girl stuck to him like her life depended on it. They dated at least to my knowledge for about 8 years if not more.
 
He eventually dropped her as he did his several women one time or the other. I had wondered then why a lady will stay with a guy like that when it was obvious even to the blind that he had no ambition and was neither going to be useful to himself nor the society.
 
I have seen girls date guys who by any standard were not worthy of them or who we thought were unworthy of them and turn down guys we considered great guys because they are real gentlemen. This makes me wonder what a woman wants in a guy
 
I read in a magazine long time ago where a woman was recounting what happened between her and her husband at a salon. She said her husband asked her to do something that she didn’t do. She said he slapped her so hard that it threw her out of the chair she was sitting on watching TV at that time. She recounted the story with glee concluding that that was what she liked in her man, that he was a real man and not those softy that call themselves gentlemen.
 
Some said women take this kind of treatment from their guys because of the love they have for them others contend that women might take this from a guy if the sex is great, why would anyone want to be treated worse than an animal or is it that some women are so freaky they enjoy the beatings?

 

 

]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/a_gentleman_or_a_thug_a_lady_o.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/08/a_gentleman_or_a_thug_a_lady_o.html Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:14:50 -0600 UNCONDITIONAL LOVE you, no doubt, remember THE MUSICAL YOUTH you probably remember their chart buster “Pass the Dutchie”, that
certainly made some waves.

If you are familiar with music at about the same period also you definitely remember DONNA SUMMER, she was a big
star at that time, if you remember the group earlier mentioned and Donna, you may have heard their collaboration
“Unconditional Love” and if you, like me, love that song you most certainly will remember the lyrics:

“Give me your unconditional love, kind of love I deserve and kind I want to return”

The question is, is there such a thing as unconditional love?

Relevant definitions of the word unconditional by dictionary.com are as follows:

not limited by conditions; absolute: an unconditional promise.

Synonyms 1. complete, unqualified, categorical

not modified or restricted by reservations; "a categorical denial"; "a flat refusal" [syn:

not contingent; not determined or influenced by someone or something else
complete and absolute, and not dependent on certain terms or conditions

I am assuming we know what love is, but for the avoidance of doubt I should put the definitions of love, it’s only fair isn’t
it, just so we are on the same page as to what we are about to look at.
According to the same website love is:

a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person
a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

sexual passion or desire.
a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.

a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
There are so many definitions of love, so much so that if I continue we might end up with a thesis on that subject, suffice
it to say unconditional love is a love that is freely given by one individual to another regardless of exterior consideration
and here, I am talking about love as between two people who wishes to obtain each other’s love forever and solidifying
same via the institution of marriage.

Some people are in love with love itself, it makes one’s heart beat quicker when you receive a phone call from the
person you have that kind of feeling for, a feeling that could turn an otherwise sane and rational person to insane and
irrational by an interested party an uninterested observant might be intrigued by the drama of love. Interested parties of
course are those who will feel insulted, alienated or humiliated by an act of love if they feel that it is directed towards
someone that they view as being undeserving of that feeling.
Take for example a rich man, he sure will feel insulted, humiliated and alienated if his only daughter falls in love with a
pauper. He also will feel that his daughter deserves better if he spends his hard earned money or not so hard earned in
educating his daughter and she chooses to marry someone who had never seen the four wall of an elementary school
more less a university.

Some fathers here in America for example do not see any good in a guy from a foreign country, regardless of his
qualifications, to them messing around with a foreigner means you are stupid or more appropriately crazy, so you have
a situation where a child comes to the world through these “incompatible” pair and that child ended up in the middle of a
war based on prejudice. To give that child a better life it might be better to just stay out of his life if that will ameliorate
the kind of hatred that some people will feel because his dad is a foreigner, I wonder what the situation will be if the dad
were to be an alien as portrayed on television. Is the action going to hurt the dad or the child? After all it is the child that
is being stripped of his heritage, his identity, something some individuals ended up paying thousands of dollars for just
to find out on ancestry.com and other such services.
I usually go to a particular dating site to send notes to ladies to adorn my website by being the queen of the week; I saw
one profile, one day that made me conclude that there could be nothing like unconditional love. Granted all the ladies
there require some qualities from you should you be interested in them.

I never really read their pages, since my intention is sending them a note to be queen of the week, but one did catch my
attention.
Have you ever ordered pizza on the phone, online or in person? What I saw on some of the profiles is not better than
ordering a pizza, especially when you need some specific toppings.

The particular profile that caught my eyes reads, roughly like this:

“if you are in Africa, or your parents are Africans, or you are originally from Africa please do not send me a note”

Does this look like something from a white lady, you probably jumped to that conclusion. The lady is not white, she is as
black as you and I, if you are black, if you are white or some other color as dictated by those who deemed it fit to color
human beings, then she is not like you. She is what is referred to as an African American and in your employment form
she will tick the same place as an African since most employment forms I have seen grouped black people thus:
“Black/African/African-American” or something of that nature.

Some African Americans whose daughters had children for Africans were also instructed not to give their children
African names, as if that will take anything away from the dad, the children, of course will be brought up as African
Americans or just Americans and that is because I once overheard a black American telling someone not to call her
African American, she is American period. Don’t be surprised if an African American refers to Africans as you people,
sounds like a white man to a black man? Well no, this is a black American referring to his supposedly brother in a
derogative manner.

Most of us are guilty of this kind of hate anyway so there’s no reason to blame others while cunningly exonerating
ourselves. I remember back home, guys see nothing wrong in a guy dating a girl from another part of the country but let
a girl from their own part of the country date a guy from outside that class and you see all sort of condemnations. If
guys are generous to overlook a relationship between a guy from another part of the country and a girl from their own
part of the country they sure will find it not only ridiculous but absolutely insane if the guy is not only from another part
of the country but also uneducated and the girl is, then of course she must be the most stupid person on the face of the
universe.

Is a matter of the heart not supposed to be private and are the parties involved not the best candidates to determine
what is best for them? Are we going to live other people’s lives for them? Is happiness not the main issue in a
relationship? If someone got married to another because of financial consideration would such relationship not end the
moment the financial security disappears? What is the essence of an educated abuser for example?

Take a look around you and tell me if indeed love reigns and if it does is there such thing as unconditional love?
]]> http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/07/unconditional_love.html http://minoritiesinterests.com/blog/2007/07/unconditional_love.html Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:52:00 -0600