Love Swap

God gave us people to love and things to use. Do not join the world in reversing this principle, using people and loving things.

Its an error of our generation the way people treat each other. Sometimes like animals. Not having any iota of compassion towards them. People rather give the lives of others than give up their material things. These things should not be so.
Let us correct the love swap and get back to the way God created us to be.
It is well!

What's your thought on this? Leave a comment!

DESTRUCTIVE CRITICIZERS

This world is really a deceitful one. Many do not care so much about who you are, what your mission or intention is, or even how you feel. All they want to do is castigate you, condemn you and do all sorts of evil against you (well, some people are good any way).

If they see you talking to someone who was known to be a thief, they conclude already; “You are a thief”. They care less whether you were preaching to him or if he gave his life to Christ at that encounter. They already mark you BAD. Because of this reason, many have resorted to becoming ‘men pleasers’ rather than pleasers of God. When they want to go out on evangelism or a likely function, they carry big bibles, so that they would not be condemned for entering a particular area known to be for ‘sinners’, they wear fine suits with bishop tags so all can see, and stop the castigation…Oh! What a stigma.

Meanwhile, the eyes of these critical criticizers hover around like a hunter’s range rover, looking for whom to kill with the bullets of their words. It’s a pity many of them don’t know the power of the tongue. No wonder James likens it to fire, that devours far and wide. They are so eager to talk evil about the ‘stranger’, not moving themselves with a finger, without even knowing that a word is enough to practically break the sixth of the Ten Commandments.

How awful; destructive criticizers, paralyzing the morale of the weak, 7 days a week, weakening the spirits of the saints, without being sent, conceiving mischief against the meek. What they seek, I know not.

But I tell you the truth; we must care less about these despisers of reality, whose mouths are open sepulchres. Their minds are filled with deceit.

“It’s not fair!” “It’s not fair!” But they move on to the next year, seeking for an ear to deposit these words of theirs that can wear the gears of the soul if it were a machine, loosen its hem if it were a cloth, create pot holes on its road if it were a car, pluck away 60 feathers if it were a bird. But we are none of these, so please STOP! the tease.

Let us encourage each other, for only then can we be relevant forever.

God Bless you.

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Hi there! I'm still Ikpa Onwuka and just want to seize this opportunity to apologize for the very long silence... *wasn't intentional though*....Anyway, the blog is back and better. Expect the best!
And never forget that Jesus loves you so much, your toils and struggles would not make him change the way he loves you. His heart beat is that all be saved! It pains him whenever anyone whom he created chooses to die in sin, rather than accepting the gift of salvation made available through his Son Jesus!

I hope you reading this understands what I mean... Jesus with arms open wide is saying; "COME SON! COME DAUGHTER!"

Carl Maxie Brashear

Carl Maxie Brashear (January 19, 1931 – July25, 2006) was the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver, rising to the position in 1970. 

Early life

Brashear was born on January 19, 1931, in Tonieville, Kentucky , the sixth of eight children to sharecroppers McDonald and Gonzella Brashear. In 1935, the family settled on a farm in Sonora, Kentucky . Brashear attended Sonora Grade School from 1937 to 1946.

Career

Brashear enlisted in the U.S. Navy on February 25, 1948, shortly after the Navy had been desegregated by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. He graduated from the U.S. Navy Diving & Salvage School in 1954, becoming the first African-American to attend and graduate from the Diving & Salvage School and the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver. While attending diving school in Bayonne, New Jersey , Brashear faced hostility and racism. He found notes on his bunk saying, “We’re going to drown you today, nigger!” and “We don’t want any nigger divers.” Brashear received encouragement to finish from First Class Boatswain’s Mate Rutherford, and graduated 16 out of 17. Brashear first did work as a diver retrieving approximately 16,000 rounds of ammunition that fell off a barge which had broken in half and sunk to the bottom. On his first tour of shore duty in Quonset Point, Rhode Island his duties included the salvaging of airplanes, including one Blue Angel and recovering multiple dead bodies. Brashear was assigned to escort the presidential ship the Barbara Ann to Rhode Island. He met President Eisenhower and received a small knife that said, “To Carl M. Brashear. From Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957. Many, many thanks.”

After making chief in 1959 he stayed at Guam for three years doing mostly demolition dives.

Leg amputation and recovery

In January 1966, in an accident now known as the Palomares incident, a B28 nuclear bomb was lost off the coast of Palomares, Spain after two United States Air Force aircraft of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), a B-52G Stratofortress bomber and a KC-135A Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft collided during aerial refueling . Brashear was serving aboard the USS Hoist (ARS-40) when it was dispatched to find and recover the missing bomb for the Air Force. The warhead was found after two and a half months of searching. For his service in helping to retrieve the bomb, Brashear was later awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal – the highest Navy award for non-combat heroism. During the bomb recovery operations on March 23, 1966, a line used for towing broke loose, causing a pipe to strike Brashear's left leg below the knee, nearly shearing it off. He was evacuated to Torrejon Air Base in Spain, then to the USAF Hospital at Wiesbaden Air Base , Germany ; and finally to the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia . Beset with persistent infection and necrosis , his left leg was eventually amputated. Brashear remained at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth from May 1966 until March 1967 recovering and rehabilitating from the amputation. From March 1967 to March 1968, Brashear was assigned to the Harbor Clearance Unit Two, Diving School, preparing for return to full active duty and diving. In April 1968, after a long struggle, Brashear was the first amputee diver to be (re)certified as a U.S. Navy diver. In 1970, he became the first African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver , and served ten more years beyond that, achieving the rating of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate in 1971. Brashear was motivated by his beliefs that "It's not a sin to get knocked down; it's a sin to stay down" and "I ain't going to let nobody steal my dream".

 "Sometimes I would come back from a run, and my artificial leg would have a puddle of blood from my stump. I wouldn't go to sick bay. In that year, if I had gone to sick bay, they would have written me up. I didn't go to sick bay. I'd go somewhere and hide and soak my leg in a bucket of hot water with salt in it--an old remedy. Then I'd get up the next morning and run." – Carl Brashear

Retirement

BMCM (MDV) Brashear retired from the U.S. Navy on April 1, 1979 as a Master Chief Petty Officer (E-9) and Master Diver. He then served as a civilian employee for the government at Naval Station Norfolk , Norfolk, Virginia and retired in 1993 with the grade of GS-11 .

Personal life

Brashear married and divorced three times: Junetta Wilcoxson (1952–1978), Hattie R. Elam (1980–1983), and Jeanette A. Brundage (1985– 1987). He had four children: Shazanta (1955– 1996), DaWayne, Phillip, and Patrick. Brashear's grand-nephew is former New York Rangers left wing Donald Brashear.

Pictured left is Carl Brashear and Cuba Gooding Jr. on the set of 20th Century Fox's Men of Honor . Carl served as a technical advisor on the film.

 

Cuba Gooding, Jr. played the role of Brashear in Men of Honor, a movie inspired by the life of Carl Brashear.

Brashear died of respiratory and heart failure at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center , Portsmouth, Virginia on July 25, 2006. He is buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia . Carl Brashear Foundation After his death, his sons DaWayne and Phillip Brashear started the Carl Brashear Foundation in his honor. 

Service Medal Honors

Brashear was honored with the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in October 2000 for 42 years of combined military and federal civilian service. The award was presented by Secretary of Defense William Cohen. On October 24, 2007, the Newport News Fire Department dedicated a 33-foot (10 m) high- speed fireboat named Carl Brashear to be used by their Dive and Marine Incident Response Teams. The Lewis and Clark -class dry cargo ship USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7) was christened in his honor in San Diego, California on September 18, 2008. General Dynamics delivered the completed ship to the Navy on March 4, 2009. On February 21, 2009, Nauticus , a science and maritime museum in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, opened a new exhibit called "Dream to Dive: The Life of Master Diver Carl Brashear".  It is the first full-scale museum exhibit dedicated to Brashear.

On Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 7:34 PM, his son, Phillip Brashear, chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army, came to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division to speak of his father and his own accomplishments during a ceremony honoring Black History Month. Phillip Brashear relayed his father’s message to the group. “First, everybody has to work. That is something a lot of young people need to learn,” said Phillip Brashear. “The second thing you need is an education. Education never stops. I didn’t get my bachelor’s degree until I was 38 years old.” The third thing was God. “You have to believe in a higher power,” he said.

Sources: www.wikipedia.org; www.chasingthefrog.com

Hmm! How inspiring. Well, I'll never advise you to divorce your wives for any reason except that which the word gives. And even at that, love still compels us to forgive.

This little biography challenged and inspired me, I hope it inspired you too?

Leave a comment...

Invention no. 10: Tooth ‘tattoo’ sensor

The last but trust me, not the least

By Doug Gross, CNN

In the bizarre world of body modification, tooth tattoos – while they do exist – aren’t near the top of many people’s preferred procedures.
But a scientist at Princeton is working on a temporary one that could help detect tooth decay, gum disease and other illnesses.

The tiny sensor is made of graphene, the same substance that forms the graphite in pencils. But applied to ultra-thin layers of silk, it stays flexible enough to attach to skin, or, in this case, tooth enamel.
“It is like the difference between a tree and a piece of paper,” said Michael McAlpine, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton.

The thus-far unnamed sensor is outfitted with miniscule electrodes and a wireless coil – allowing it to be powered by, and transmit information to, a remote device. When it detects the kind of bacteria that causes decay or disease, it pings that device, letting its wearer know there’s a problem brewing.
Depending on which bacteria it’s programmed to detect, the sensor could also be used to watch for other types of illnesses. For example, hospitals could use the replaceable tooth tattoos to spot bacterial infections that sometimes spread among patients.

“The Holy Grail is to be able to detect diseases from saliva and breath,” said McAlpine. “The tooth comes in contact with both, so you can tailor the sensor to target different diseases.”

McAlpine’s team hasn’t made any public announcements on when the sensor might be available commercially, although it’s likely at least several years off. The lab’s work was published in a scientific journal last year and has already picked up some buzz – earning a spot on the New York Times Magazine’s “Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow” list.
It may not spark fashion trends. But by being able to detect tiny amounts of bacteria at a much higher sensitivity level than traditional methods, the tooth tattoo could give doctors a critical head start in battling infections.

Source: www.cnn.com

Hope you enjoyed the series?
Leave your comment to make the blog better!

Invention no. 9: Soccket energy ball

By Todd Leopold, CNN

A soccer ball Barack Obama kicked in Tanzania wasn’t just any soccer ball.
It had power. Literally.
The Soccket may look like a soccer ball, but it’s really an energy source. Kick it around for 30 minutes, and thanks to some internal mechanisms, the kinetic energy is converted to about three hours’ worth of electricity – enough to charge a basic cell phone. A full charge, 72 hours, can be had for 16 hours of play.
The idea: Bring electricity and light to parts of the world that are power-poor and often make do with toxic, fume-producing kerosene lamps.

The ball is the flagship product of Uncharted Play, a company founded by two Harvard students, Jessica O. Matthews and Julia Silverman, in 2008.
The two were part of an engineering class for non-engineers. The class assignment: Come up with a playful idea that could help tackle an issue in the developing world. Matthews, whose family is from Nigeria, knew about power problems in sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 25% of the population has access to reliable electricity. With that in mind, the pair and their classmates came up with the Soccket concept.

It’s been through a variety of iterations. The first ball was a Nerf-like hamster ball. Then it became a soccer ball – a nod to the world’s most popular sport, readily played almost everywhere – but an inflatable version proved unworkable. The latest version is just two ounces heavier than a standard soccer ball, though Uncharted Play is still working on making it as bouncy. (Obama did manage to give it a header.)

The company has tested the balls in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil and parts of Africa and conducted a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. (Among its fans: Bill Gates and Ashton Kutcher.) It’s now taking online orders through its website.

Matthews has said there are hopes of expanding to other sports, such as basketball. People across the globe may soon find themselves powering their homes by doing something as delightful and simple as playing a game.
Ain’t that a kick?

Source: www.cnn.com

Invention no. 8: Oculus Rift

By Doug Gross, CNN

Get in the game. That’s not just an order barked from the sidelines any more. The folks behind Oculus Rift are hoping it’s the future of video gaming.
Rift is a head-mounted, virtual-reality device designed specifically with gaming in mind. The idea behind the goggles-and-headphones style contraption is to immerse players in a 3D world that’s as close as possible to the real one.

So, yes, Rift could be a real-world step toward the “Star Trek” Holodeck – a chamber which could simulate any environment -- so many of us have dreamed about for decades.
Rift was designed by Palmer Luckey, a 20-year-old engineer at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies.

Luckey started out as a teenager looking for cool virtual-reality tech he could use to play games. When he didn’t find it, he started trying to make it himself, scouring the Web and buying up outdated VR technology, sometimes for only a fraction of what the pieces originally cost.
When he felt he’d learned enough, he launched a Kickstarter project, hoping to raise enough money to make maybe a few hundred headsets for diehard enthusiasts.
The campaign set out to raise $250,000. It hit that goal in four hours and, by September, it had raised nearly $2.5 million.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that one of its early advocates was gaming legend John Carmack, the lead programmer of groundbreaking games like “Doom,” “Quake,” “Rage” and “Wolfenstein 3D.” Carmack, who demoed an early version of “Doom 3” at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, is now chief technology officer for Oculus.

Developer versions of the headsets have been rolling out to Kickstarter backers and others, for $300, since this spring. A consumer version, which will be compatible with PCs and Android devices, is expected sometime next year.
There are other virtual-reality headsets out there. But the people behind Oculus Rift promise their wide field of view, high-resolution display and other features will let people step inside their favorite game like never before.

Source: www.cnn.com