Gil Scott Heron - Black Wax

We are Because of Others-Nana Okyere was a good Man

We are all who we are because of the incredible contributions and sacrifices from other people in our lives. I find it so hard to swallow when I see people talk about their individual accomplishments and how nobody was ever there for them. And “I did it all by myself nonsense”. FYI, that is not true. People might behave as though they don’t care about you and what you are doing but somehow they do care and will support you in various ways that you yourself might not even know about. 

To all my Valentine's out there

So today is Valentine’s Day and I wish to write not only on the subject of love but about one particular individual who once gave me opportunities and opened his house for me regardless of who I was and who he thought I could be.

All I said on this day, thus today Valentine’s Day is that, love is often defined differently by people of different divides and if yours is tight to chocolate, go for it, if it is to other people in your life, why not?, and if it’s for the sake of love and how others perceive the subject, so be it. But for me it is considering what other people needs are, considering the fact that love has no boundaries, it is universal and that all human beings deserve love and affection from other people. Of course I will be disagreed upon on this but again, that is my perception and opinion of love. Here is what I wrote on my Facebook page this morning:

               “Greed is a reality and that is why we always tend to think that there is scarcity. In fact there is enough for everyone what is not enough is LOVE. May we all starve our greeds and the quest for more on this day, Valentine’s Day and feed our love for one another. Please make a difference in somebody's life today. OH!, Happy Valentine's day everyone”-Ronnie Law.

Is it that true? Of course it is not because I wrote it, but because it is true and love should be 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year and 365 days per annum business. But we don’t have the ability to do so, do we?

                The second part of my message today as states earlier is a tribute to honor a great man I once met and got to know in Ghana. His name? Nana Okyere Darko. He was a wonderful man and he was the man who opened his house to me and introduced to me his children of whom I am friends with some on Facebook. He passed away on this date in 2013 without my knowledge. I never knew of his demise until I was told by a son of his, Nana Agyemang just last year. It hurts to lose a lot of dear ones when you are overseas like I am and that I understood is part of life. You make sacrifices to get what you need for your own survival. Nana was a wonderful man full of love and compassion for others. The name Nana by the way in the Akan tradition, which is the largest ethnicity in Ghana means, royal, emperor, but in some cultures it means elderly. 

Nana Okyere in his traditional Kente Clothes

             Flashback:  I met and got to knew Nana when I was in Sunyani and while there, one day I was seriously doing job-hunt in town as usual. As I passed by his house I saw that they were buying and bagging cocoa and I thought to myself why don’t I stop by and find out if they needed help? So I did just as my conscience told me to but they didn’t need a hand, and there Nana said to me, "you are a nice young man". But I am sorry these days the cocoa market is not good else you would have been hired to help us. Having said that he gave me some pocket money and asked that any time I was in town without much to do I should stop by the house and maybe he will have something for me to do.

Lo and behold, I did just that and most of the times I wouldn't get to do much and most of the time I would and with time I got to meet his wife, kids, and grand-kids and he also got to brought me to his cocoa farms a couple of times in his car and the rest is history. I lost touch with Nana when I had to travel to the United States and just last year I heard he passed away while inquiring about him. I was very saddened by this news and decided I was going to write a piece in his honor on Valentine’s Day for the rest of my pals across the world. So this is it, people.

He liked to smile and laugh, you are forever missed Nana Okyere

           Do you still think about your successes as your own efforts? I don’t think so and remember, we are all who we are because somebody looked after us as though we were somebody and that we are worthy of love and compassion as human beings. On that note, I intend to be a prisoner of love for the rest of my life. Whatever I get I will give to the good of the least fortunate of us knowing that I am who I am because of the love and sacrifices and compassion of people I know and doesn't know as well. The least of these, the 25^th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. I have nothing yet I always feel as though I have everything on the surface of this planet. I feel rich, energetic, and powerful. I take back my words on I have nothing, actually I have everything.

I look forward a long wonderful relationship with his kids who are like brothers to me. The story of my life and we will be expounding on that someday.

          Happy Valentines to you all and don’t forget to share you love with everyone, we all need love and care.

Yours Pal,

Ron

Bushonomics

MIT Video - Paul A. Samuelson Memorial Service

Here is a link to the memorial mass of one of my favorite Economist, Paul Samuelson who actually went on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. He taught at MIT until his demise. The video is his memorial service at MIT.

http://video.mit.edu/watch/paul-a-samuelson-memorial-service-5391/

MIT Video - Paul A. Samuelson Memorial Service

I hope you watch and learn something and hopefully grab one of his wonderful books on economics  for yourself.



Pal, Ron

Miguel Nicolelis: Brain-to-brain communication has arrived. How we did it

Shashi Tharoor - Reporting the United Nations

Cornel West: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

President Obama's State of the Union Speech 2015

For some reasons I am always looking forward the President's Annual State of the Union Address also abbreviated most of the times as SOTU. In this speech the President get to reflect a lot about all the things that went well, and didn't go well in the past year and then make new proposals he intend to work with Congress to bring to light. It does coveres everthing from the economy, healthcare, wars, education, foreign policies, homeland security etc. The speech usually last for about or a little over an hour mostly because of the applause and standing ovations during the speech.

I wasn't in good spirit last night but I made sure I was on time on my TV at 9pm to watch the speech but something interesting happened for the first time ever. The entire speech the President prepared and was about to deliver to the American people and the whole world was up and running on the Washington Post website.

Here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-state-of-the-union-address-2015-remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery/2015/01/20/fd803c4c-a0ef-11e4-b146-577832eafcb4_story.html

I was hoping that it wasn't true but lo and behold as the President began his speech I watched for it word for word as he delivers. So I was wondering where that was from and why?

Any way a country like America is dynamic and operates on an entirely different scale all together. It could be something new or something up for a test who knows?.

It was clear in the speech that the President got few agendas in the pipeline coming and will work with Congress to execute them. He made it clear that he has no more campaigns which of course was true unless somebody change the 200 year old rules in the middle of the game. That will be "aluta".

By and large I enjoyed and learned a couple of things last night. No country on earth understands the true meaning and pragmatic nature of democracy at work than the United States and that is why I admire the system regardless of all its flaws.

God bless!

Pal, Ron!

YOU CAN LIVE YOUR DREAM - The Most Powerful Motivational Video EVER!

Feeling generous in 2015 and wants to do good for yourself and others?

Please help us help others.

It amazes me how much I receive in return when I devote my time, talent, and resources for the good of others. If you have never experienced what that feels like, then you are truly missing something special in this life. Please give, and you will be overwhelmed by how much you receive in return. The Bible says it clearly — it is in giving that we receive. I hold that truth wholeheartedly.

This project was launched to raise funds to help provide clean water for a struggling population in Dazuuri, located in the Upper West Region of Ghana.

Unfortunately, fundraising efforts have not gone as well as hoped. That is why we are reaching out to you, to invite you to be part of this exciting, life changing experience.

Be a part of it. Why not? We need you, and the people in that community need you too.

Here is the link. It is simple and easy to follow. Thank you:

http://www.gofundme.com/lawron-blogspot

May God bless you and multiply your generous donation fourfold.

Sincerely,
Pal Ron