Behold, B. Hargette

A guy in the computer lab keeps repeating this (post title). You can imagine my sentiments/thoughts. Granted, I don’t want to be the lone black girl in the computer lab explaining who the hip-hop rapper (currently admitting to drug problems) is? Still, the flesh is weak. I take the bait.

His reply? “No, I know that. I mean this guy.” I look over to see he’s playing some type of web-based, interactive, sniper game. One of the snipers online, whose murdering him and all his friends, has named himself T.I. Hmph. Well… that’s original.

So, I still avoid the Sports section of the news. However, I’ve officially seen the first headline that pulled me in.

“Yes, you hate Lebron. But why?” I can only imagine what it’s actually going to say. I don’t even follow LBJ, but I know so many people (read: guys) who’d have something to contribute to this article. Boys: Can’t live with em’, can’t shoot em’.

:)

It makes you feel close to people who are oceans away. People who you’d, otherwise, never know… if only by keeping you abreast of what’s happening in their lives, on a daily basis.

I hadn’t posted any of the articles I read today (and possibly, even, yesterday… I can’t recall). Whatever the case, I had been keeping up with the story of 29 miners trapped in New Zealand. Today, I learned that they have officially been declared dead. No, I didn’t know those miners, but I been reading up on them daily and waiting to hear of their rescue. Hearing the exact opposite… not so appealing. I didn’t know how much I cared until I saw the headline and felt devastated. My heart goes out to their families. If I felt how I felt just from a headline, no names or pictures to show for it, I can’t even imagine what they’re feeling.

… but that was enough. Didn’t I say the news was depressing? On a happier note/piece of news: a jet bound for Moscow landed safely in NY after experiencing engine trouble. It was a Delta plane, and another one of their flights suffered engine trouble, as well. Yet and still, no one was hurt and the plane landed safely. 1 for the home team. I think :/

1. A Medal of Honor (for the war in Afghanistan) was given to a living recipeint for the first time since the war’s declaration. Prior to Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta (whose been in service since “the Vietnam era”), no one else has been alive to receive their’s in person. There is currently a debate regarding whether or not the requirements for receiving a Medal of Honor are too severe. It entails “great personal bravery or self-sacrifice”. Some might say that’s like racing to a cliff and calling the person who drove off of it the winner.

2. An adult and 3 children (ages 6 and under) were found dead in a Tallahassee home. The cause of death has yet to be discovered.

3. A more “enhanced” level of pat-downs are happening in the air port, should one set off the metal detector and refuse the visual screening which allows your body to be seen through your clothes. People are voicing objections about the pat down, because it requires security patting your breast, genitals, and butt(ocks)— to use proper grammar. However, the airports have taken this safety precaution due to the recent threats faced (unsuccessful attempt at bombing via explosives carried in underwear and explosives being detected in air cargo).

4. The park ranger in Utah (that was shot three times by someone he stopped in their car) is in stable condition, and police believe they have found items that belonged to the suspect near the crime scene.

5. An Iraqi journalist was murdered in his home, in front of his family by men pretending to be intelligence officers. Iraq is officially one of the “deadliest places in the world for journalist” since “230 journalist and media workers have been killed… since the U.S. led invasion began in 2003”.

Does the sustainability board (where you recommend different ways of maintaining a sustainable environment… aka “going green”) say pooping over the deck? Because we’re mature, college students… with a good (?) sense of humor, that’s why. (shaking my head but still laughing) O, how I’ll miss this ship.

I should have put the parenthetical portion in asterisks just to appease AG.

Jill Scott

Every now and then I probably mention having a revelation of how blessed I am. Though it’s good that I’m constantly reminded of such, I wish this way of thinking was a permanent fixture. Separating needs from desires leads to a lot of unnecessary frustration. However, my epiphany went up one step on the ladder sometime this week.

Not only am I blessed in abundance… my blessings are the result of various entities outside of myself. In other words, I am fortunate at the hands/expense of other people. I often lead myself to believe that I have a lot to do with my current positioning. As someone who hasn’t event graduated from college, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, I was the person taking my classes and doing (or not doing) the necessary work to receive the grade… however, the discipline instilled in me that enabled me to do the necessary work came from someone else…/was taught by my parents, grandparents, etc.

Naturally, God is the primary source of all of this. Outside of His work, I have immediate family to be in constant appreciation of. Things they did made me accessible to the opportunities I have …-which brings me to a story mentioned in The Autobiography of Malcolm X regarding Icarus….

““Icarus’ father made some wings that he fastened with wax. “Never fly but so high with these wings,” the father said. But soaring around, this way, that way, Icarus’ flying pleased him so that he began thinking he was flying on his own merit. Higher, he flew-higher-until the heat of the sun melted the wax holding those wings. And down came Icarus- tumbling.””

(If you’re reading this on the East Coast of the States, know that we have a 14hr time difference. Hence the date difference.)

-There’s been an outbreak of cholera in Haiti. Local Haitians attribute this to the UN Peacekeepers that came from Nepal. As a result, they have been protesting the arrival of foreign medics tending to the outbreak. Their protest is believed to worsen the situation by keeping the citizens from reaching the medical staff and vice versa.

-A (female) Chinese citizen was sentenced to a yearin a labor camp for retweeting a post of her husband’s and adding a statement they believed to be anti-Chinese, instead of satirical (her husband’s intent). Though, her husband was also jailed, he was later released. Her case is currently being appealed.

-Tanks are being sent into Afghanistan, by the U.S., for the first time. They are believed to be a necessary military force and aid in the deterrence of attacks. I also read that Biden was aiming to pull all military assistance out of Afghanistan by 2014, so this confused me. If anyone has a deeper understanding than my first day of in-depth article reading entails… leave me a comment and let me know, please?

-Federal judge () resigned after being accused of giving a stripper money to purchase drugs (with the intention of using them together) and a government funded laptop. There was also some allegation regarding a firearm, but I’m no longer internet accessible and can only deliver what I remember. Don’t hate me. I’m trying. This post alone is proof of growth.

-A documentary on the rescuers of the Chile coal mine rescue is set to air on Thanksgiving. Miners are attributing the rescuers as the “real” heroes.

-2,000+ illegally aborted fetuses were founded at a temple in Thailand. Abortions are illegal there unless the pregnancy is a result of rape or proposes health risk for the carrier. The fetuses are believed to be the sum of a year’s accumulation.

Read that in Malcolm X’’s autobiography and felt like it was very much descriptive of me. Beyond that, this book is changing my life. As Beans put it, this book is a life pre-requisite. Legitimately. My eyes are opened up as often as I am reading it, and I am always learning. For that matter…—

Did you know that Kanye’’s ““No one man should have all that power”” line is a Malcolm X reference? He stopped the incitement of a riot during his prime by telling a massive group of rowdy people to stop and disperse. In response, an NY deputy chief said, “No one man should have that much power.” Years later… it’s been taken out of context and blended into pop culture.

Mind you, this quote was placed in a parenthetical statement and hardly mentioned within the actual biography. I don’t think the man was being modest. The situation, itself, was of more importance than the quote. It’s just ironic that I stumbled upon that part of the book at a time where Kanye’’s G.O.O.D. Friday tracks are getting heavy rotation on my iTunes. And I’’m not sure how I feel about Kanye using the reference in midst of his Illuminati allegations. Powerful source. Poor timing.

Anywho, “onto the next”. Reading this book has also lead to the desire in becoming well-read, in a general (book) sense and in global affairs. I’’ve always (silently) shamed myself for being a journalism major who avoided the news, simply because it was too depressing. I’m typically an optimist, and I’’m learning that things presented in the news (as well as certain trips I’’ve taken part in while traveling the world… love how that sounds) help keep me balanced and stop my shades from becoming too rose tinted.

In his autobiography, Malcolm X referred to a Muslim man of great influence by saying, “”He was as current on world affairs as some people are to what’s going on in their living room”.” In my opinion, that’s saying something. I don’’t know if I’’d ever aspire to be this well read, but I would love to be a portion of the way there. Thus, I have given myself, Grammy (though she has yet to reply to my email), and a friend the project of reading up on current events and sharing them with each other daily. I started my search this morning on CNN and was impressed by how interesting I found everything… by how much I actually wanted to read.

With that being said, I’’ll try to share news with ya’ll as I read it… on a daily basis. I’’m sure I’’m not the only person who isn’’t up to date or hasn’’t read into the news much beyond the headlines they get emailed to them (granted, that’’s a start/better than nothing). When I’’m back in the States and blogging isn’’t as much of a task, I’’ll try to give links along with the stories. For now, you’’ll get what you get and can Google it if you’re interested. Deal?

…And so it is.