Mr. Obama is cool

Once in a while, when you frequently hang around hiphop websites, you get chanelled to some morally good stuff as well. That's a big find when you're talking about the present state of the culture of hiphop - moral guidance does not fit in there. Parental Advisary sticker does.

So, when I was hopsurfing yesterday, Friday evening, I dropped by a popular hiphop website and found a video of Barack Obama's recent speech (2 days ago) at the annual NAACP convention in the US - the title was "Obama Urges Black Youth To Be Scientists & Engineers Not Ballers & Rappers!".

This under-2 minute clipping to me had, by far, the best statements I've heard from a man from a community where the youth seek guidance - the long ignored African American community. Obama's expectations were heartfelt - yet not to be considered pleaful, they were earnest - yet put in a touch of tongue-in-cheek way inviting the community to take a chuckle at themselves.

I found the video posted on Youtube - the 2 cheerful minutes on youth are the 28th & 29th minutes.

But I urge you to watch the whole video...I'd never seen Obama speak before but this poignant speech from a man about his community moved me. He's a strong character...and cool... by any measure of the word.

Dichotomy of Eternity and Instance

What's there to choose between an instance and eternity -- an eternity can be gone in an instance just as an instance can be experienced to eternity. Can eternity be experienced physically? Someone once said "Imagine a housefly orbiting the galaxy at its normal speed and once in a million years, it brushes past a metallic ball the size of the Earth. By the time the fly's repeated contact the metallic ball polishes the ball to nothingness, eternity would have not even begun." But with all the appreciation of our lack of grasp on eternity, we fail to take notice of all that happens in a whisker of a mere instance around us. If we cannot fathom all that happens in an instance, how can we treat Instance with disregard when compared to its daunting sibling, the Eternity?