Words....and the power therein!

There are some certain words that I find fascinating in the English Language… I have no logical explanation why other than they either sound nice or conjure up a funny image. Here are some of them;

Tomfoolery – “Silliness, silly behavior” – this conjures up an image of a pompous ceremonial person standing on a podium wagging a finger warning against such “Tomfoolery!” in a bombing voice (ok, ok I know I have watched too many Wild West Movies!)

Nincompoop – “an offensive term that deliberately insults somebody’s intelligence or competence”. This word just sounds like an insult….any word that has “poop” at the end of it, must not be a very endearing term. I wonder who came up with this one.

Numskull – “an offensive term that deliberately insults somebody’s intelligence or competence” – This word to me totally describes some people….it is a much better description than being thick headed or dim witted – it is someone with a Numb Skull! - one who cannot think! Has no common sense….I think the drivers at rush hour traffic in NJ who do not use their turn signals would fit this description.

Sniffer dog – “a dog trained to detect explosives, drugs, or other contraband by scent” – I have encountered this word in serious situations where the dogs are searching for people in collapsed building or landslides/earthquakes. However, this still conjures up a funny picture in my mind – thanks to the many years of watching cartoons and Scooby Doo!

Discombobulation – “the act of throwing somebody into a state of disconcerting confusion” - I still have a hard time believing that this is a legit word but it is! Maybe someone came up with this one for the spelling bee contest. My mental image here is a person whose body is all contorted and tied up in knots – kind of like the way the contortionists do.

But Speaking of words on a more serious note, How many times have we heard about the power of words? the Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]” Proverbs 18:20-22 (Amplified version)

The old child’s play rhyme says “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” - how wrong! Physical pain is soon forgotten but the psychological pain that words can cause, sometimes haunt us all our lives. How many people have lived a mediocre life because someone called them “Stupid” or “Idiot” and they believed that all their lives? How many great people have been brought down by words “You can’t do it”. How many great ideas have been shot down by the words “that will never work”?

The most unfortunate things is that spoken words cannot be erased or deleted. Have you ever said something and then immediately wished you could run after it and take it back or wished you could just push the delete button? ….you may apologize and even say nice things to counteract the bad words but the words will have gone out! How much pain has been caused by some hasty words spoken in anger. The worst thing about this is that most of the people who suffer from our words are our loved ones. I guess it is “the familiarity that breeds contempt” in a way but we are less careful with our words. When we meet stranger or make a new friend we are so careful with what we say. We make sure that they understand what we mean with the words that we use – leaving no room for misunderstanding, we do not want to hurt them. But somehow this gets worn down….

Watch your words - do not “discombobulate” and hurt others! Your words have power!

There are those who speak rashly, like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:17-19 (Amplified version)

Councilman

Ever been to a councilman's office? here, let me spare you the agony. If you do business in a big city then most likely your councilman's office is downtown. A few weeks ago I wanted some paper signed by a councilman. I drove to his office downtown. Between finding parking and finding the right door through metal detectors I was 5 minutes late to my appointment. So for the next 30 minutes I blogged in my head.

The secretary answered the councilman's calls with the usual " good morning, councilman's ... office, Ms J speaking, how can I help you?" And then she would go into how the councilman was not in but she would be glad to take a message. What amazed me is the number of calls from friends, acquaintances, neighbors etc. Someone wanted to know how to text from their new T-Mobile phone. (he was referred to the manual). You can easily decipher formal and informal calls by the tone of voice, facial expressions and gestures. Then there was visits by other secretaries, pod mates and courier. Being a Monday there was much catching up to do, I assumed. Some wanted to know how the weekend was, the Friday bash, upcoming charity walk...

I didn't expect the councilman to have much vested power until the secretary pulled Windex and a spray-on from a locked cabinet, walked into his office and made it a little merrier. Ha! could this be part of their job description? The boss-secretary relationship observed by Kanter is characterized by stereotypical gender roles. Kanter found that many bosses place a higher value on the personal services provided by the secretary, such as emotional support, than on professional skills. Secretaries are often used as ‘‘sounding-boards’’ to the boss’ daily business and personal woes.

I couldn't tell you how the office looked - I never got in. Because I had never met this councilman before I didn't know he had walked in until the secretary frantically asked me for the paper, whisked it over to him and handed it back to me signed. So much for the 45 minutes wait.

But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there." - Jeremiah 37:20

Why Kenya?

On Monday this week, there was a bomb explosion in the city center in Nairobi, Kenya. According to the scanty news coverage on it, one person was confirmed dead at the site and about 30 others injured, some of them badly. Terrorist activity is suspected. Now for most Kenyans this is a bad reminder of the 1998 American Embassy bomb blast that took the lives of an estimated 213 people and injured hundreds more - some of whom are now living with disability and pain.

I was alerted about this recent blast by a friend of mine as I was going to work – he said that he had seen some little information scrolling at the bottom of the screen during news and was wondering if I knew anything more. I had not even heard of it so I frantically went online when I got to work to look for more information. To my dismay, only the local Kenyan newspapers online and BBC Africa had any information. CNN had nothing and most of the other major American News Network did not have a mention of it.

This got me to asking myself…..why Kenya? Not that I would wish this or any other terrorist attack on any other county but it seems to me that there are bigger fish in the sea. If Kenya is not even worth a mention in the major news networks – is it because only (and I say ONLY with a cringe) 1 person died and 30 injured or is it that it is not as important as following the tiring stories of Paris Hilton’s jail escapades? Really why Kenya? I do not purport myself to be knowledgeable in the political playing field – international or otherwise, so these are just straws in the dark here. Could it be that Kenya is an easy target because of lax security? Could it be that Kenyans are so busy dealing with domestic problems that they have no time deal with perceived threats? Could it be because of American interests in Kenya or the fact that Kenya is Israel friendly? Could it be because of militant Islamic group presence or even that there may be an Al Qaeda cell….and if so I ask again why would they choose Kenya?

I have come up with some reasons why NOT to attack Kenya. I would like to present this to whoever who would even think of it…..
1. If publicity is your aim, you will not get the media coverage that you desire – case in point, the last attack.
2. The average Kenyan is a hard working person whose main concern is to get their basic needs. Most Kenyans are trying to eke out a living….let’s not even talk of the poverty levels. The suffering of these poor people will not cause any international outcry and therefore will be of no aid to you or your evil cause in anyway.
3. There are no resources to fight for or gain. The best resource that Kenya has is its people…..and for that I will refer you to #2 above.
4. Kenya has enough political issues of its own- what with Mungiki killings and political campaign issues. Yours will only be one more pain and suffering but not of beneficial consequence to you.
5. Kenya politicians only understand the rules of personal gain. Right now they are busy trying to get back into the arena of “who can tell the best lies to get the peoples’ vote” - they will not be of help to you.

My advice to you - If you have a statement to make, then find another way to make it and leave Kenya alone!

How Guys Die

This caught my attention today and so in the mood of not being selfish, am passing along to you:

The 10 most deadly health threats to men.

No. 10: Alzheimer’s Disease

No. 9: Kidney Disease

No. 8: Suicide

No. 7: Pneumonia and Flu

No. 6: Diabetes

No. 5: COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)

No. 4: Stroke

No. 3: Accidents

No. 2: Cancer

No. 1: Heart Diseases

I didn't mean to scare you but not that I have your attention you may want to gather more info about each threat. In that case follow this thread. The No. 1 threat reminded me of John's friend demise.

Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died. Gen 5:5

Driving in Silence

The other day I did the unthinkable – I drove to work with my car radio/CD off! Now, for me that is a rare occurrence if I am alone in the car. There was no blaring music - however good it is at other times - there was no radio station surfing, no having to listen to radio DJs trying to lure people to play some dumb on-air games or pranks, and no having to listen to people showing their total ignorance on matters that should be general knowledge. Like I really think one should not call in to answer a Bible Question if you have no clue about some basic Bible verses like John 3:16. I must warn you here though that this my sour grapes rant since I never seem to get through for the “Bible or Not” game on Star99.1 every morning and most of those times the person who goes through seems to have no clues of even the basic Sunday School Bible stories. I feel like yelling at the person “You should have let someone make use of that opportunity!" Ok enough of my ranting.

Anyway, I digress ….so back to the silent ride – I was actually able to notice more things as I drove even the foliage! I took active notice of other cars and motorists. My mind began to wander in the direction of driving in this season. I got the chance to be reminded of Jersey drivers “what’s-a-turn-signal” attitude by a few fools who do not seem to realize that those turn signals are to be used. I remembered that for the last few days and week, I have seen more stalled cars on the roadside than I have in a long while. On one occasion I saw more than 3 stalled vehicles on a short stretch of one highway. Then I started wondering where this has to do with the high gas prices or just the fact that the road trip season has begun. I remembered one “expert” on NPR radio saying that this season we will be seeing more stalled cars on the roads, having run out of gas. Her advice was that if you own a car, you are obligated to gas it up. But after having paid $3.33 per gallon yesterday I am obliged to tell her that I am obligated to nothing but getting to where I need to go whether it means walking or even hitchhiking. I decided that by dire need, I will wean myself from the Jersey habit of driving to a store on next block….

So after the peace and quiet of the ride, and the loud riot of my thoughts on motorists, I turned on my radio deciding that listening to one of those experts giving unsolicited and sometimes unnecessary advice was better for me as it made driving a mind-numbing exercise…of course until some fool cuts me off….!

The Millionaire Inside (Again)

Chris had asked about my post for the Millionaire Inside. It is re-aring now. For those who missed this show here is the current schedule on CNBC (you'll need cable):

"Retiring Rich"

Saturday, 9 June 2007 - 9:00 PM & 12:00 (ET)

Monday, 11 June 2007 - 10:00 PM & 1:00 AM (ET)

Sunday, 17 June 2007 - 9:00 PM & 12:00 AM (ET)

Alaska

I visited with a friend over the weekend, last week. It doesn't cease to amaze me that you learn something new everyday - if you want to! So apart from the many topics we discussed including business ventures, Kenyan politics and tribalism, dowry and marriage, housing bubble and sub-prime mortgages; it occurred to me that I didn't know much about Alaska. See while many of us were coming to America he was going to Alaska. You don't hear much about Kenyans wanting to go to Alaska. In fact it was just him and his brother from Kenya in Alaska. Amazingly, as a student he could save as much as $10,000 in a season. How? I asked. See when a Kenyan goes to a foreign land, he/she tends to copy what those others that came earlier are doing. If he finds them working as security guards most likely his first job will be a security guard. When my friend landed in Alaska he didn't find any Kenyans so he did what other Alaskans did. Employment is primarily in government and industries such as natural resource extraction, shipping, and transportation. And that's how he managed to save the mooolah.

Speaking of natural resource extraction he went into great detail about the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System a major U.S. oil pipeline connecting oil fields in northern Alaska to a sea port where the oil can be shipped to the Lower 48 states for refining. The single diameter pipeline was built between 1974 to 1977 at a cost of around US$8 billion. You can read all about it here.

I drove home thinking of opportunities, time and tide. Consider this: The area that became Alaska was purchased from Russian interests on October 18, 1867 for $7.2 million. Try selling it now!

"It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase. Prov 20:14