Groupthink: "That Just Isn't Right..."

This world can be so limiting sometimes. We are so capable of so much more. Just recently I have begun my new mantra and repeat to myself, "Today I wake up with the possibility of GREATNESS." Everyone in this world would be on a whole other plane, if from their entry into this world they were told that they had the power to move mountains or the will to overcome death. To often individuals or groups seek to hinder creativity, curiosity, and open dialogue.

I respect Erykah Badu for using guerrilla tactics when it came to filming her most recent video for her latest track, "Window Seat", off her upcoming album. I'm not going to front at first I was mesmerized by her vivacious curves, but I took a few minutes...collected myself and paid close attention to what she was saying and thought to myself why would she use the Dallas, TX and the location of JFK's assassination for her video? There was news coverage about how people were disgusted and outraged, but I don't see anything wrong with what she did. Some people just don't want to be walking around naked, but a child doesn't come into this world knowing that he/she is naked. We put that that thought within their mind as soon as we cover them. They don't reach to cover their genitalia. They bask in the glory of their new birth (even though they're crying after being purged from the mother's womb).

We are better than this. We have to change how we raise the next generation, which is also a good reason why I'm waiting to have children. Each and every day I'm learning more and more, not only about myself, of others, of my relationship with the Divine Creator, but of the responsibility that I have--that WE all have--for the future.

"They who play it safe are quick to assassinate what they do not understand...They move in acts ingesting fear with every act of hate against one another...afraid to respect the individual...to love oneself...to EVOLVE!" -Erykah Badu "Window Seat"

To the sTochAstiC rhythm...

I'm a little tempered with it being 7:21pm on Friday evening and I find myself still in the lab. I have a pair of gloves on my hand typing these random thoughts on a contaminated computer that might have infectious particles festering all over it...while allowing my cells to incubate with the proper antibodies to fluorescently label the proper cellular markers that give me the answer to the questions we ask for the plethora of patients in our cohort. I haven't written in a long time, and I felt compelled to write during this 15 minute period. February 11th will be the two year anniversary for me being employed with the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center. I'm surrounded by intelligent, supportive, and inquisitive scientists, physicians, and technicians. I'm very appreciative, but know that I need to go back to school and embark upon a journey on my own accord--translation; I need to conduct my own research, design and carry out my own project from start to finish, and more. I need more...I wish I could divulge even more, but my timer just when off. Back to the lab.

Scams

I'm getting really frustrated.

People are really evil. Here I am looking for 1-Bedroom apartments, and I happen to use "Craig's List" for a few listings. A good amount of them have come as being absolutely steals. Then I speak to the owner, who clarifies that due to job obligations they are now working overseas. If I want to move-in (Note: this is without even getting a glimpse of the apartment) I would deposit anywhere between $500-$1,000 in an account and they would send me the keys. I could THEN view the apt and if I like it I can move in. In the word's of Ed Lova, "C'mon Son?!" LOL.

Watch out for the scammers...

And the winner is...President Barack Obama

They voted him winner two months after he was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America. A little premature? I cannot disagree with that opinion, but does it tarnish the name of the award? By no means at all.

To keep it short and sweet, Obama was the perfect individual to receive this honor. He is the figurehead of a movement of change in one of the most popular and unpopular nations of our time. There is a love-hate perception that comes with the mentioning of the USA. That started to change as soon as Obama was elected as President. It was seen all over the world. Obama is well-spoken, charismatic, and an archetypal component of hope/change as his successful campaign for presidency was labeled. He is worthy. He may not have the track record, but it's what is to come. The NPP committee are putting a lot of eggs in Obama's basket of hope/change/peace, but it is up to Obama to live up to this honor. He's shown that he is humble, and undeserving, which help in supporting my confidence in his ability to lead this country while at the same time promoting peace, bringing about change and fulfilling his duty as the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. I can't wait to hear his official acceptance speech in Oslo. Until then I will share a bit of what Dr. King said when he accepted his prize...

"I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when twenty-two million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award in behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice...Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who's Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live -- men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization -- because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake."


-Martin Luther King, Jr. (December 10, 1964 in Oslo, Norway)

Stochasticity

Al Sharpton was on WWE (formerly known as WWF in my day)...smh...what is the world coming to...

President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize...hmmmm...I'm sold, but a smorgasbord of people aren't...(see next post)

They're creating a "suspended animation solution" that could be given intravenously in order to resuscitate a patient later...

Results from AIDS Vaccine trial in Thailand involving more than 16,000 participants show that combination of two vaccine candidates administered sequentially lowered the rate of HIV infection by about 31%...Note, that this is the first time an AIDS vaccine candidate has shown any efficacy in preventing HIV infection...

The US Men's Soccer Team is on to the World Cup 2010...

People still believe that when individuals listen to rap that it somehow promotes acts of violence...

What if we all loved beyond our prejudices...better yet, what if we imagined how God [or whatever higher being you believe in] loved and tried to mimic his actions...

Cowards

This world is full of scared little boys posing as grown men. I'm sick and tired of it! The way I was raised, if two men had a dispute with each other words would be exchanged, and if nothing was resolved after that you settled it with your fists. The most precious thing in this world is the gift of life, and people feel as if they have the authority, and right, to take another person's gift from them. That is not your decision, but God's.

Early Sunday morning I lost an older cousin, who was but a year older than my quarter-century mark. During an argument with either acquaintance or foe--I do not know--the opposing person felt the need to end their quarrel by pulling out a gun and shooting my flesh and blood relative in his heart. He left behind a son a mourning family left with many unanswered questions as to who had taken his life and why?

I would never wish this upon any family, and my aunt and his immediate siblings are in my thoughts and prayers.

(R.I.P. Darnell)
*Shout out to my cousin Dawn for putting together the collage of photos of my cousin

Fastest Mammal on Land

Usain may be the fastest man on the planet, but a cheetah from somewhere Cincinnati, OH has recently claimed the crown of being the fastest mammal on land...

...The cheetah completed 100 feet in 6.13 seconds, which in turn also means (relatively); 1 mile in 98.08 seconds (1 minute 38 seconds) flat! That is if the speed is maintained the entire time.

Amazing! I wish I was that fast...