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Saturday, December 20, 2008
The four-letter Word
“How dare you stomach such a woman If I were the one on the receiving end of the four-letter word, I would be in prison right now for murdering someone,” one of them told me.
Another one looked at me, and, with all the vehemence he could muster, said:
“I never knew I had a sissy for a friend. How dare you allow your wife to use the four-letter word – directed at you – to say the very least. You must show yourself a man and kick that woman out of your house.”
They ranted on until they were jaded to the bone, literally. I looked on silently and shook my head slowly as if considering all they were advising me.
I had to cut them short, for I was running late. I told them to calm down.
“Does any of you know what my wife told me? None of you asked me what she told me. My wife is a very loving woman and she always wishes the best for me,” I told them.
“She said ‘I love you’. Love is a four-letter word, is it not?”
Check out Bold statements of Yore
What’s it with these fundis?
These carpenters in my neighbourhood make very beautiful furniture for their clients. But one day I visited the house of one of them and I received the shock of my life. The vast room had only two wobbly stools. And there was one creaking bed at the corner. What’s it with this carpenter? I asked myself.
He caught my eyes roving from one corner of the room to the other, disapprovingly. He chuckled, cleared his throat and said:
“I know you are asking yourself why there is no good furniture here yet I make very good furniture for people. It’s not that I don’t have the money but that I take things for granted. I tell myself that I’ll do it tomorrow, but, as usual, my tomorrow never comes.”
He then drew me closer told me that all fundis are the same.
I decided to find out whether this was true. What I found out proved that my carpenter friend was right.
The tailor I visited does not have very good clothes for himself. Some of his trousers have patches. His children do not have good clothes. In fact one of them did not have the right school uniform. The dress was torn and tattered. The tailor could make a new dress for her but he hadn’t done so for two months!
I met another fundi the other day. This one came to my house. He was a computer repairer. I had asked him to come and check what was wrong with my computer and also to install new software.
As he was installing the software, selecting cds from his well-endowed, cd-laden bag, I quipped:
“Your personal computer must be a very lucky machine.”
“Why do you say so?” he asked.
“It must have the best programs that you install in other people’s machines. I believe it does not have problems with viruses, too. I believe it has the highest speed ever.”
He looked at me as I talked, and, when I was through, he said:
“If that is what you think about my computer then you must the most deluded man on earth. First of all, my computer is very slow. It also has problems with viruses. The only programs that it has are Microsoft Office and PowerDVD. The most basic of programs.”
I said nothing. When he had left, I was left wondering from which rock our fundis were hewn. What’s it with these fundis?
Do you have such people where you are?
Check out Bold statements of Yore
Friday, December 12, 2008
The Marks of Motivated People
1. They live disciplined lives. This is to mean they live Godly lives and put God first in everything they do.
2. They seek to succeed in everything they touch to do for God.
3. They are not lazy and do not tire or lose hope.
4. They do not neglect any area of their lives.
5. They do not sleep in their anger.
6. They do not let anger and bitterness bear the fruit of unforgiveness.
7. They do not let failure be a defeat. They know that they’ll stand once more.
8. They see obstacles/difficulties as opportunities of success.
9. They are creative in all that they do.
10. They are always alert to receive new ideas and knowledge.
11. They have a vision in life.
12. They can teach people new ideas that they have.
13. They look back to see the effects of the decisions they made in life.
14. They are practical and they know vision has to be translated into reality.
15. They are willing to stretch themselves, their bodies and their minds seeking to fulfill the will of God.
16. They are willing to step out and risk where necessary.
17. They are willing to change where necessary.
18. They are full of confidence in God knowing that He can do many things through them.
19. Their confidence in God gives them courage.
20. They are determined.
21. They know that God is with them
22. They are humble giving credit to God.
23. They don’t boast about their success.
24. They are patient.
25. They are good listeners and communicators.
26. They make important decisions after getting enough information.
27. They are trustworthy i.e. they are men of integrity.
28. They understand responsibility.
Do you know of any other marks of people who are motivated?
Monday, December 08, 2008
People who expect you to exclaim “Oh!” in Awe
There are some other people who are out to deflate even the small bubble of self-image, confidence and self-esteem that one has. They are pure joy killers. I dread talking with such people for a long time for I know the end result is not always good.
I have had my fair share of experience at the “hands” of such people. I have been thoroughly smothered and squashed in their hands. If you don’t know that words are a potent tool and that you can be thoroughly squashed, then, you should have a session with such people. Or better still, you should have such people for friends.
These are people who come and tell you of their achievements and what they are planning to do to achieve their other goals. They tell you how much money they have saved up. Staggering figures, so to speak!
They tell you that they are planning to sell all their “old furniture” and stock their houses with new furniture using money from “an account specifically set up for that purpose”.
They say: “Do you know when I started saving for a new set of furniture? Ehe, you won’t believe it. I started saving the year before last.”
They proffer a piece of paper to you and say: “Here, have a look at this. This is the list of furniture that I am going to stock my house with.”
By the time they deliver their next “salvo”, your ears are numb. You realize that you have not spoken anything. You realize, too, that they have talked things that you had not asked details about.
Then, as a parting shot, they say: “Just give me two years and you’ll see how much I’ll have achieved by the end of that time. Just wait and see!”
Such kind of a “talk” (talk really! That’s a lecture. ) can deflate someone’s feeling of self-worth. Most of the people who boast in such a way, feel that they are better than other people. Thus they feel that they should be “noticed” because of their “remarkable achievements”.
These are the kind of people who don’t want to hear about your “achievements”. They feel that their “achievements” should excite all and sundry. They expect people to exclaim “Oh!” in awe as they tell of their “accomplishments”.
Phewt. What a world!
My Two Cents: Such people should realize that they are not the only people who inhabit the earth. They should also realize that they need other people to “achieve” what it is they expect to get at the end of the day.
They should temper their “boasting” with concern. They should be concerned what they are putting their listeners through. Sometimes I ask myself whether such people think that other people do not have goals and aspirations. Do they think that if you do not talk about what you have “accomplished”, you are worthless and have nothing to show for the time you have been on earth?
If three quarters of the people on the earth were such kind of people then our “collective orb” would be a mad place to live in. undesirable, even.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Tanzania should be “Sent Packing”
This dilly-dallying and “wariness” exhibited by Tanzania leaves more questions than answers. Will the East Africa Federation ever see the light of day with Tanzania in the picture? Is there the political will, on the Tanzania side, to see this dream (dream really! Whose dream?) come to fruition?
I read a certain article by Tom Mshindi sometime this week that says something to the effect that Tanzania’s self-interest must not derail integration.
I reproduce some sections of the said article to help us reflect even better on this issue.
1. “IT IS A GOOD THING THAT in Zanzibar last week, Tanzania finally came clean on its opposition to the desire to fast-track East Africa’s regional integration. Its position liberates the other four states from the burden of collegiality and allows them to pursue faster integration without the distraction of a partner that is clearly unwilling to commit to either a plan of action or key principles.”
2. “…Tanzania has decided to backtrack on decisions agreed by the Council of Ministers and now wants to renegotiate them.”
3. “This is what the Zanzibar meeting was intended to do, only for the Tanzania delegation to demur and submit instead that the pace should be slower.”
4. “On the contrary, there are numerous tales of frustration and distress that Kenyan companies in particular have to put up with when seeking work permits for staff who work in Tanzania.”
This brings to mind the issue of the Nation Media Company employees who were denied work permits but instead were ordered out of Tanzania some three years ago. They were declared prohibited immigrants. Prohibited immigrants?! Surely!
I honestly think that we should forget about Tanzania and go on with the fast tracking of the East Africa Federation without them. I believe this will be for the good of our people. The remaining four East African countries – Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi – will make East Africa an economic power house.
I like people of action (and vision) like Presidents Kagame (Rwanda) and Museveni (Uganda). Even before Rwanda was officially allowed into the East Africa Community, President Kagame made a very profound statement that astounded many. He said that professionals from Eastern African countries would not require work permits to take jobs in Rwanda.
As a bottom-line:
Genuine willingness to submit to the protocol is of the essence. Tanzania should not be arm twisted into committing to anything it is not ready to stand for.
* Tanzania’s self-interest must not derail integration
* Tanzania “importing” Albino body parts? – This is insane!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Holiday Glass Frames
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Car Angel
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Obama: A Dream come True
AFRICA
Africa,
Sleepy giant,
You’ve been resting awhile.
Now I see the thunder,
And the lightning,
In your smile.
Now I see the storm clouds,
In your waking eyes:
The thunder,
The wonder,
And the new surprise,
Your every step reveals,
The new stride,
In your thighs.
Elsewhere on the Web:
My Son, Take it Slow: Aids is a Rapacious Prowler
Tribalism: Kenya’s Oldest Skeleton in the Closet
Who are Albinos?
Are you as Good as your Word?
Facing Challenges Head-on: The Battle is not for the Self-effacing
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Zenni Optical
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The decline of US’s superpower status?
The BBC also asked if the US’s superpower status was shaken by this financial crisis: The financial crisis is likely to diminish the status of the United States as the world’s only superpower. On the practical level, the US is already stretched militarily, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is now stretched financially. On the philosophical level, it will be harder for it to argue in favor of its free market ideas, if its own markets have collapsed. Some see this as a pivotal moment.
The political philosopher John Gray, who recently retired as a professor at the London School of Economics, wrote in the London paper The Observer: “Here is a historic geopolitical shift, in which the balance of power in the world is being altered irrevocably.“ The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War, is over… The American free-market creed has self-destructed while countries that retained overall control of markets have been vindicated.” “How symbolic that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury Secretary is on his knees.”
Paul Reynolds, US superpower status is shaken, BBC, October 1, 2008 Yet, others argue that it may be too early to write of the US: The director of a leading British think-tank Chatham House, Dr Robin Niblett … argues that we should wait a bit before coming to a judgment and that structurally the United States is still strong. “America is still immensely attractive to skilled immigrants and is still capable of producing a Microsoft or a Google,” he went on. “Even its debt can be overcome. It has enormous resilience economically at a local and entrepreneurial level.“ And one must ask, decline relative to who? China is in a desperate race for growth to feed its population and avert unrest in 15 to 20 years. Russia is not exactly a paper tiger but it is stretching its own limits with a new strategy built on a flimsy base. India has huge internal contradictions. Europe has usually proved unable to jump out of the doldrums as dynamically as the US.“But the US must regain its financial footing and the extent to which it does so will also determine its military capacity. If it has less money, it will have fewer forces.”
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Father takes Son to Court for Idleness
The piece of news reads:
A father took his 20-year old son to an Islamic court in northern Nigeria for idleness, asking that he be sent to prison for refusing to engage in productive activities.
“He is not listening to my words and he is bringing shame to my family. I am tired of his nefarious deeds, please put this boy in prison so that I can be free,” Sama’ila Tahir, a market trader in the North Eastern town of Bauchi, was quoted as saying.
Tahir told the court that his son had refused to go to school and accused him of belonging to a criminal gang.
The court sentenced the son to six months in prison and 30 strokes of the cane – which were immediately administered on the premises – for being disobedient to his parents.
I wish and hope that the parents of “lazybones” in Kenya can take the cue. Maybe the situation would change. There are so many young people in this country who think life is smooth sailing.
Young people out there just know that nothing comes on a silver plate. You have to work hard to get whatever it is you think you deserve. Another thing, being disobedient to parents is being very unfair to them.
What thinkest thou?
God is not Mocked…
Here are some men and women who mocked God:
JOHN LENNON: Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said: 'Christianity will end, it will disappear. I do not have to argue about that. I am certain. Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him'. Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.
TANCREDO NEVES (President of Brazil): During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency. Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.
CAZUZA (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet): During a show in Canecïo (Rio de Janeiro), whilst smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said: 'God, that's for you.' He died of AIDS in a horrible manner at the age of 32.
THE MAN WHO BUILT THE TITANIC: After the construction of the Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone, he said: 'Not even God can sink it'. The Titanic hit an ice berg on its maiden voyage and sank. This led to the deaths of 1,517 people out of the 2,223 on board.
MARILYN MONROE: She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said: 'I don't need your Jesus'. A week later, she was found dead in her apartment.
BON SCOTT: The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: 'Don't stop me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'. On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead. He had been choked by his own vomit.
CAMPINAS in 2005: In Campinas, Brazil, a group of drunken friends went to pick up a friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and
She said to her daughter - holding her hand, who was already seated in the car: 'My daughter, go with God and may He protect you.'
She responded: 'Only if God travels in the trunk, cause inside here it's already full'.
Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died, and the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been. But surprisingly, the trunk was intact. The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs. None was broken!
CHRISTINE HEWITT: A Jamaican Journalist and entertainer said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written. In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.
Quick quip for today: Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - Part 3
There is the argument that when the larger banks show signs of crisis, it is not just the wealthy that will suffer, but potentially everyone. With an increasingly inter-connected world, things like a credit crunch can ripple through the entire economy.
For example, people may find their mortgages harder to pay, or remortgaging could become expensive. For any recent home buyers the value of their homes are likely fall in value leaving them in negative equity, and many sectors may find the credit crunch and higher costs of borrowing will lead to job cuts. As people will cut back on consumption to try and weather this economic storm, yet other businesses will struggle to survive leading to further fears of job losses.
The real economy in many countries are already feeling the effects. Many industrialized nations are sliding into recession if they are not already there.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - Part 2
Some governments have moved to make it harder to manipulate the markets by shorting during the financial crisis blaming them for worsening an already bad situation. (It should be noted that during the debilitating Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, Asian nations affected by short-selling complained, without success that currency speculators—operating through hedge funds or through the currency operations of commercial banks and other financial institutions—were attacking their currencies through short selling and in doing so, bringing the rates of the local currencies far below their real economic levels.
However, when they complained to the Western governments and IMF, they dismissed the claims of the Asian governments, blaming it on their own economic mismanagement instead.) Other governments have moved to try and reassure investors and savers that their money is safe. In a number of European countries, for example, governments have tried to increase or fully guarantee depositors’ savings.
In other cases, banks have been nationalized (socializing profits as well as costs, potentially.) In the meanwhile, smaller businesses and poorer people rarely have such options for bail out and rescue when they find themselves in crisis. There seems to be little sympathy—and even growing resentment—for workers in the financial sector, as they are seen as having gambled with other people’s money, and hence lives, while getting fat bonuses and pay rises for it in the past. Although in raw dollar terms the huge pay rises and bonuses are small compared to the magnitude of the problem, the encouragement such practices have given in the past, as well as the type of culture it creates, is what has angered so many people.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Overview of Global Financial Crisis - Part 1
On the one hand many people are concerned that those responsible for the financial problems are the ones being bailed out, while on the other hand, a global financial meltdown will affect the livelihoods of almost everyone in an increasingly inter-connected world. The problem could have been avoided, if ideologues supporting the current economics models weren’t so vocal, influential and inconsiderate of others’ viewpoints and concerns.
Following a period of economic boom, a financial bubble—global in scope—has now burst.
A collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market and the reversal of the housing boom in other industrialized economies have had a ripple effect around the world. Furthermore, other weaknesses in the global financial system have surfaced. Some financial products and instruments have become so complex and twisted, that as things start to unravel, trust in the whole system started to fail.
The extent of this problem has been so severe that some of the world’s largest financial institutions have collapsed. Others have been bought out by their competition at low prices and in other cases, the governments of the wealthiest nations in the world have resorted to extensive bail-out and rescue packages for the remaining large banks and financial institutions.
Monday, October 06, 2008
15 financial problems
- Not planning: The single biggest problem for most people is that they just do not plan their finances. It just keeps coming and going. Even if they are not happy about the results of what they have done so far, they do not change the way things are done.
- Overspending: Many people with not very high incomes have very high ambitions. This is likely to get them to grief. Most of this problem is because the salesmen in most shops do not tell you the price of a product, they only tell you the EMI -- so anything from a plasma TV to a luxury home on the outskirts of the city are made to look cheap! After all at Rs 2,899 a month does a plasma TV not look cheap?
- Not talking finance at home: Children are kept away from the finance topics at the dining table. Finance is perhaps the second most taboo topic at home! So many children grow up without knowing how much of sacrifice their parents have gone through to educate them.
- Parents spending on education and marriage: There are just too many kids out there who believe that they need to worry about savings, investment and life insurance only at the age of 32 plus. This means your father, father-in-law or a bank loan has funded your education and marriage. Kids should take on financial responsibility at a much younger age than what is happening currently.
- Marriage between financially incompatible people: Most marriages under stress are actually under financial stress. Either the husband or the wife is from a rich background and the other partner cannot understand or cope with the spending pattern. It is necessary to match people financially before marriage.
- Delaying saving for retirement: "I am only 27 years old why should I think of retirement" seems to be a very valid refrain for many 32 year olds! Every year that you delay in investing the greater the amount that you will have to save later in your life. Till the age of 32 it might be feasible for you to catch up, but after some time the amount that you need to save for retirement just flies away.
- Very little life insurance: With all the risks of life styles, travel, etc. illness and premature death are common. We all have classmates who had heart attack at the age of 32 but still pretend that we do not need life or medical insurance. We buy car insurance because it is forced upon us, but we ignore life insurance! Imagine insuring an Rs 10 lacs car, but not insuring (or under insuring) the person who is using the car -- and paying for it, that is, you!
- Not prepared for medical emergencies: Normally big emergencies -- financially speaking -- are medical emergencies. Being unprepared for them -- by not having an emergency fund is quite common. Emergency fund has now come to mean the credit card -- which is good news for the bank, not for the borrower.
- Lack of asset allocation: Risk is not a new concept. However, it is a difficult concept to understand. For example when the Sensex was 3k there was much less risk in the equity markets than there is today. However at 3k index people were afraid of the market. Now everybody and his aunt want to be in the equity market -- and there are enough advisors who keep saying, "Equity returns are superior to debt returns." This is true with a rider -- in the long run. It is convenient for the relationship manager to forget the rider. So there could be a much larger allocation to equity at higher prices -- to make for the time missed out earlier.
- Falling prey to financial pitches: The quality of pitches has improved! Aggressive young kids are recruited by brokerage houses, banks, mutual funds, life insurance companies, etc. and all these kids are selling mutual funds, life insurance, portfolio management schemes, structured products, et al. Selling to their kith and kin helps these kids keep their jobs, and there is happiness all around! These kids, themselves prey to financial pitches, have now made it an art when they are selling to their own natural 'circle of friends' and relatives.
- Buying financial products from 'obligated persons': This is perhaps one of the worst things you can do in your financial life. A friend, relative, neighbor, colleague who has been doing something else suddenly becomes a financial guru because they have become an agent! They, in great enthusiasm, sell you a financial product and promptly in 2 years time give up this 'business' because it is too difficult. You are saddled with a dud product for life! What a pity. Charity begins at home, not financial planning.
- Financial illiteracy: Most people do not wish to know or learn about financial products. They simply ask, "Where do I have to sign" -- so buying a mutual fund is easier than buying life insurance! Selecting products based on the ease and simplicity of buying is a shocking but true real life experience in the financial behavior of the rational human being!
- Ignoring small numbers for too long: What difference will it make if I save Rs 1,000 a month? Well over a long period it could make you a millionaire! So start early and invest wisely. It will make you rich. That is the power of compounding.
- Urgent vs important: Most expenses, which look urgent, are perhaps not so important -- the shirt or shoe at a sale. That luxury item which was being offered at 30 per cent discount is such an example. These small leakages are all reducing the amount of money you will have for the bigger things like education or retirement.
- Focusing too much on money: Money is no longer a commodity to buy things. It is a scorecard of one's life. That will cause stress, and yoga might help. However if you will seek a branded yoga teacher -- so that your friends think you have arrived, yoga itself could cause financial stress!
Friday, October 03, 2008
The Cut...even for Old Women
This 35 year-old mother of three was at her home in Meru District (in Kenya) when she was informed of an impromptu visit from some female members of her village. She was shaken a bit for this was a strange visit. There had to be something the matter.
When she got to the door to let them in, she nearly fainted when she beheld the numbers. They were more than she had “bargained” for.
They cut to the chase and informed her that they had come to “transform” her to a “real” woman. Before she could digest the gist of that statement, they continued to say that she, Consolata, was not a real woman for she was not “circumcised”.
This hit her like a thunderbolt. She tried to piece this information together in her mind, but it did not add up. Her husband had accepted her as she was, so what were these women here to do? This whole thing just did not make sense.
Even then, female circumcision, in her community, is not for old women but for girls (up to a certain age group).
Things went so fast for her comprehension. Before she could shout Jack Robinson, she was being dragged across the compound. She could not see where they were taking her for she was blindfolded. Her shouting and kicking did not help matters.
Her hands and legs were held firmly. When they got to the “opportune” place, they stopped and tied her hands securely. Next, her legs were spread wide apart. They were not bluffing, they meant serious business.
She was circumcised by this mob of ‘fire and brimstone breathers’. She experienced something that she had all along hoped and believed that she had escaped. But then, tribal edicts had caught up with her and she was stripped to the last piece of clothing.
My Two Cents: Female circumcision is cruel to women and we should do everything in our power to do away with it. More and more people should join in this war (of terror!)
Related Links:
• Female Genital Cutting (FGC) and the Woman
• An Inglorious Cut for Sure
• The Female Genital Cut and its many Faces
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Costumes
Thursday, September 25, 2008
CERN : Is it going to affect us?
Recently the big bag enacting is conducted, it the biggest scientific experiment in this world. The main aim of this experiment is to know about the evolution of universe, mass, particles and so on. But unfortunately this experiment is not going in the way as like expected. It is started to work in some other way, in turn it's causing so many changes in the earth. Because of this they temporarily stopped the experiment. What you people think about this? Is it going to affect us?
Custom Essay Writing
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Orphan Donations
We all are living in the world which is comprised of rich people and poor people. But the sad thing is even though this type of separation is there between them, it is really no possible to see the orphan kids and so on. The people who are having some kind of stuff with them should surely help the orphan children's in order to bring them up in their life. If we not help them means then it is really not possible for them to come up in their life. Now day's the percentage of orphans and the kids who are living there is increasing a lot. Here we will see about the sites Boatangel.org and Carangel.org, which accepts the donations such as Boat Donations, Car Donations etc,. and so that it will be very helpful for the orphans and for the orphan too. The orphan is doing so many good things like creating anti-drug documentary films, animation films and so on. Through the earnings that they get from these kind of things, is helping the orphanage to give salaries o the workers. We can help the orphanage through doing Donate Boat and so many donations like this. They are working very hard to bring up the life of the orphanage kids. For this they all need the donations from the people like us. In order to help them we all just need to give them all some boat donations which is possible for us and so that they can help the orphanage kids using that. We all have to take care of these kids, if we itself leave them alone means then not possible for them to live their life. So let us all help them and try to bring them up in their life. Have a joyful life through the blessings that you get from God.
Debt Consolidation
Thursday, September 04, 2008
What do you all think about Homosexuality?
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Damn Toothache: My Experience
But I have since learnt that crying is a very healthy way of releasing pent up emotion – at least it does deflate the almost-bursting bubble. I have learnt, too, that crying is also very healthy for adults. It has worked wonders for the women and men (yeah, men!) who have used it time and again to release and unfurl those knots in their hearts.
Well, recently I ‘found’ myself crying and it was not to release any pent-up emotion. Far from it.
A pain that emanated from deep within my mouth forced tears to freely course down the side of my face. It was such an excruciating pain and for once I thought I had been to hell and back. I tried to scream but checked myself just in time as a bolt of “murderous” pain shot from the base of my jaw up a molar and touched the side of my sour tongue with such a force that I reeled back.
I shook my head, hoping against hope that I would manage to shake off the assailant that was in my mouth. That made things even worse. Bolts of fork lightning threatened to fry my palate! As if that was not enough, claps of thunder in the form of groans announced in no uncertain terms that I was on the verge of insanity. Something inside my head told me that I was going through what lunatics have to contend with each passing day.
The ‘sweetest’ part of the whole set up is that all this was happening at night. And I was alone in my room. Just when I needed everyone in the world, there was no one in sight. Being at night, I could not decide to take a “forced” walk to make peace with “my stubborn assailant”. So I was left with little else to do than to walk from one corner of my room to the other.
As I paced the room, in an attempt to ‘persuade’ the pain in my mouth (a damn toothache) to stop harassing me, I felt like a famished toothless lion that had felled a mighty deer with one swipe of the paw. The lion could not feast on the prey – it was toothless! The pacing, accompanied by an occasional impromptu opening of the mouth to suck in air, was like literally chasing the wind.
Another very ‘sweet’ thing about that night was that I did not have any pain killer in my room. My world was crumbling before my very eyes. I increased the speed of my paces as the pain jumped from the lower jaw to the upper one and back. There is a time I jumped as I felt my teeth being pulled from their positions in the jaws.
In the madness that characterized that night, I can’t explain how I fell asleep, on the couch. I found myself waking up in the morning and tried to figure where I was as a shaft of sunlight hit my sleepy eyes. Seconds later, memories of the previous night’s ordeal came tearing through the peace in my mind like an angry avalanche.
I decided that I was not ready to endure another “painful experience”. A dentist had to come to my rescue.
The dentist listened as I recounted my ordeal the previous night. I saw a smile break on his lips. I wondered how anyone would dare smile when a person told them of the problems they’d encountered. “This is a sadistic fellow,” I thought.
Minutes later, the dentist handed me “the thing” he’d extracted from my mouth. I held in my hand the tooth which had a very dark centre – where the hole was!
I almost laughed when I thought how that small thing had made me cry the night before. I felt the “cave” where the tooth had been with my tongue. It felt good to be rid of an enemy. I almost exulted at that very sobering thought.
Michael Phelps - The Man of Gold
Micheal Phelps rocked the whole sporting world, by winning eight Gold medals at Beijing Olympics 2008 in Swimming. Just made history today in the Water Cube at the Beijing Olympics! The 23-year-old swimming champion is the only person ever to win eight gold medals at a single Olympics (surpassing Mark Spitz).
Moments ago, with the help of his team mates in the 4×100 meter medley relay, Phelps secured his eighth medal. He has now also won 14 Gold Medals in the Olympics, the most by any athlete in the history of the games. He has won a total of 16 medals overall in two Olympics which is the second most all-time behind Larissa Latyina, who has won 18 medals in gymnastics, including 9 Gold Medals.Team USA won in a world record time of 3 minutes 29.34 seconds. Australia finished in 3:30.04 and Japan took bronze in 3:31.18.
Congratulations to Phelps and the United States men’s swim team!
Business Loans
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Does Barack Obama’s Skin Colour Matter, Really?
He said that Americans are not foolish and are, therefore, not going to elect a black man as their president. “Etiquette alone dictates that we don’t allow a black man to move into a house which is itself called the White House,” He said, quite forcefully.
He distastefully went on to say: “If Barack Obama had a White wife, Americans would have tolerated him. But there is no way Americans will have a black woman masquerading in their White House!”
If this one American (white American, I presume) voices the prejudices of millions others out there, then Barack should brace himself for “an extremely tight and asphyxiating” fight for the White House.
But Barack sounded his answer to anyone who might try to use such tactics (such as using his “skin colour” to sway the voters) when he made his exemplary speech during the Democratic National Convention.
He said:
“If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.”
My two cents: Please guys, look not at the colour of the skin but at the content of character (among so many other things – competence, effective promise-delivering strategies etc).
Check out some Snapshots of Michelle Obama’s Speech this Week.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Snapshots of Michelle Obama’s Speech this Week
I have reproduced here some sections of her thought provoking, heart tugging speech.
1. “I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.”
2. “I come here as a mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world — they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future — and all our children's future — is my stake in this election.”
3. “And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.”
4. “And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”
5. “Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is — even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves — to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?”
6. “All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do — that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”
7. “It's a belief Barack shares — a belief at the heart of his life's work.”
8. “That's why he's running — to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make health care available for every American, and to make sure every child in this nation gets a world class education all the way from preschool to college. That's what Barack Obama will do as president of the United States of America.”
9. “And in the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago.”
10. “And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they — and your sons and daughters — will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming.”
11. “So tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future — out of gratitude to those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment — let us devote ourselves to finishing their work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America.”
Thursday, August 28, 2008
How to overcome Ego?
The main problem that we all have in our daily life is "Ego". We used to have this thing in all of us and it secured a bad name for us in many places especially in working places. This is one of the bad thing that we all have in ourselves, if we overcome it then no can beat us. If we feel that this work can be done by all of us then it is welcome everywhere, at the same time if we feel that this work can be done only by us then it won't be nice, right? In our respective working places if we have this mentality, then no one will have the interest to cooperate with us and we will get separated from all the others. Because we all should feel that everyone are same and no is superior to others. If we all have this mindset within us, then you people see the difference.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Laptops
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Using Virtual Credit Cards in PayPal. Is it safe?
Hi friends as we all know many people are earning from blogs and for that PayPal is really helping them to get the amount that they earned from the blogs. All are fine, but in PayPal we need to verify our account using Credit Cards to get our account verified, otherwise our account will have some sending and withdrawing limits. In another case can use Virtual Credit Cards in PayPal, to get account verification. But i need to know how far this is safe as per to PayPal? Any way i am not going to try this, because for me those limits are enough to get paid. I read many forums, in that they are saying using of Virtual Credit Cards in PayPal is not that much safe and in some other forums they are saying it is safe. I don't know in based on what i should go.
Personal Loans
How far drinking habit affects our life?
Here we will see some notable things about the drinking habit. In this world many people are got affected through this habit. There are so many things are happening to the humans life because of this habit, but no one realizing it. I don't know the exact reason why people are getting into this kind of habits. Drinking is that much bad, if we get addicted into it then no one can save us. Ya it is that much tough to come out of it. What you people think about this stuff? Do you like this habit? Why many like this, for what reason? It is not possible to answer all these questions.
Unsecured Business Loans
Nigerian Man to kick “82 of his women” out in the Cold
Phew!
It occurred to me that for an 84-year-old man to keep such a vast number of women together and close to him then he must have loads of “strength”. Loads of that very vital energy that most men would give their eye teeth to have half of! (Kwani ni uongo!)
When asked to comment about his “strength”, the man, Mohamed Bello Abubakar, said: “A man with ten wives would collapse and die but my own power comes from Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them.”
Fathering 170 plus children is no mean feat. The energy and expenses involved are overly enormous, to say the least. It is said that they take 36 kilos of rice in a single meal. This, quite apparently, costs a lot of money (and quite a fortune to this man who has no job to rely on).
But Mohamed faces death as per Sharia Law for having wives that are more than four. {According to the Muslim faith, men are allowed to have up to four wives and not more than that.}
Despite imminent death due to his “offence”, Mohamed feels it up to him to challenge the Sharia Law. He says that Prophet Muhammad made the retribution for sins such as adultery and fornication clear but he did not say what punishment a man who has more than four wives should go through. So, this 84-year-old man does not see anything wrong with having as many wives as he has (though he discourages other men not to go his way and have as many wives as he has).
The good thing is that he has a choice. He can divorce a whopping 82 “wives” and remain with only 4.
My heart goes out to this man who is faced with a very tough decision. This is a perfect example of a dilemma (one that literature teachers can cite in their explanation of this stylistic device!)
I wonder what criteria he’ll use to drive 82 women out of his life (that’s if he still wants to live and not be on Sharia “Death Row”). Will the children go with the women too? I reckon there are so many questions going through his mind. His 84-year-old brain is having its fair share of trouble!
So many people have reacted to this story in different kinds of ways. I like the comment of one man on BBC yesterday. He said: “Where was the Sharia Law when this man was accumulating his women? Why didn’t the custodians of Sharia not move swiftly when he (Mohamed) crossed the 4 wives mark?”
Food for thought, this.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Fix Auto
Fastest man in the world
Olympis fear is rocking every where, each and every sports are reaching the final stages.. Usain Bolt of Jamaica has smashed the world record in the 200 metres final on Wednesday, to take the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Bolt, who is about to turn 22, left his competitors in his wake as he blitzed the field to finish in just 19.30 seconds.
Bolt has now won the coveted 100 metres and 200 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games, as well as holding the title of fastest man in the world.
'It is a dream that comes true,' Bolt said after the race. 'I have been aspiring for the world record for so long.'
Many Jamaicans in the crowd burst into tears as news came that the world record had been broken.
Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles won the silver, and Wallace Spearmon of the United States the bronze.
Amos Tamam
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Does Racism play a major role?
We should learn from you <<<<<<<
I think these things are happening because of our sixth sense. Is it?
I'm Black, I'm White, I'm Brown - So what?
Kindly pen down your views about racism and also try to share the information regarding this, about the things that you have experienced so far in your life time (as far as racism is concerned)..
Stouffer’s Panini Contest
Rural Poverty in Kenya
In this post we will see about the rural poverty in Kenya,
Over the past 30 years, poverty has been on the rise in Kenya. Poverty seems to be a paradox in a country that has the best-developed economy in eastern Africa, with relatively advanced agricultural and industrial sectors and substantial foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports and tourism. Yet Kenya is a low-income country, with per capita income averaging about US$360. It ranks 148th among 177 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s human development index, which measures a country’s development in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and standard of living.
More than half of the country’s 31.3 million people are poor, and 7.5 million of the poor live in extreme poverty. About 80 per cent of the population, including three out of four poor people, live in rural zones. Most Kenyans live in areas having a medium to high potential for agriculture, which comprise about 18 per cent of the country’s territory. Population density in high-potential areas is more than six times the country’s average of 55 persons per km2. While the poorest of the poor are found in the sparsely populated arid zones of the country, mainly in the north, over 80 per cent of rural poor people live in higher-potential areas surrounding Lake Victoria and in the Mount Kenya region.
Since 1979, IFAD has invested a total of US$115.0 million in 12 loan-financed projects/programmes and three grant-financed programmes supporting the Government’s efforts to reduce rural poverty. Investments include US$18.0 million in grants under the Belgian Survival Fund Joint Programme (BSF.JP). IFAD has also mobilized additional cofinancing of about US$68.0 million from other donors. The Government of Kenya and project beneficiaries have contributed about US$56.0 million and US$11.0 million respectively.
What is the Government doing?
Grandfather Clock
F.R.I.E.N.D.S
Click here to get entire series .torrent file.
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Tuesday, August 19, 2008
How far blogging helps you?
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Grandfather Clocks
Monday, August 18, 2008
India : Are foreigners safe??????
Now days, molestation activities against the foreign people are increasing day by day in India. For ex. Goa murder case. So many foreigners are visiting our country each and every year to see many interesting places and cool spots in our country. But because of some people, they get molested and suffering a lot in India. I don’t know how much security level is given to these people in our country. If these activities continued in our country then it will surely affect our country name through worldwide and in turn it will affect the Indian tourism. So Indian govt. should try to get a solution for this major problem as soon as possible. At the same time foreigners should be aware of these kinds of things in India before reaching here.
Bloggerwave
Are Indian Students safe?
In the previous post we discussed about the safety of foreigners in India. Now in this post we will discuss about the topic How far the Indian students are safe in abroad?.
Recently so many similar incidents are happening in foreign countries against the Indian students, especially in America. The incident that i am talking here is "Killing of Indian students in Foreign countries". Now a days it become too worse. Here from India so many students are going to abroad countries in order to acquire so much knowledge, with lots and lots of dreams. But these type of incidents are just destroyed and keep on destroying those dreams. Do you people know how many students have lost their lives through these type of incidents??? It's countless...... Here i will list out some incidents. Please check it out,
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
I don't know when we will get the solution for this. The Governing bodies of other respective countries should take some steps to get rid of these things in future.
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World : Nude Beach
Watch this video. See what they are saying...
Carolina Colours, 8.18.08
Women - Is it possible to live independently in this world?
In this modernized world every thing has been changed, mainly the life style. At the same time here no one worrying about the past things and just living their life as per their desire, it is correct only nothing wrong in that. Each and every one is having full rights to live the life as per their interests and so on. But the thing is how far this society allows them to live like that. The answer is No. Leave about the men, let us discuss about Women. Is it possible for a women to live independently in this world, without the support of others? Even though if she tries to live, my question is will this society allow her to live peacefully. Here too the answer is No.
MALENA
Last week only I watched this movie. Here I am going to relate this movie to this post. In this movie they showed the kind of problems that a women will face if she lives independently in this world. This movie really attracted me a lot, especially the screen play. I felt like 12 years old boy while i watched this movie. If you people get free time try to watch this movie and then comment in this post.