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Musings: Ben Hinson's blog (34 unread)

February 18, 2010
2:05
CLARENCE SEERDORF - AC MILAN
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I found myself being wooed by the football antics of Clarence Seedorf from AC Milan as I watched the Champions league match between Manchester United and AC Milan. This guy is 33+ and in my opinion plays just as hard as Michael Essien in midfield. He's fast, strong and has good football IQ. And yesterday he impressed me with a nice touch of skill, scoring in the final minutes of the game with a nice backheel flick kick (the video is below). I hope he stays in the game for a while longer, he is definitely a necessity for Milan./spanbr /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mrhIw1uSGCkhl=en_USfs=1"/paramparam name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/paramparam name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/paramembed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mrhIw1uSGCkhl=en_USfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-8307387902985519168?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
November 30, 2009
20:33
MONDAY POST: THE YMCA SONG - NAIJA VERSION
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Flavor for the day, had to put this up here. This is classic fooling. Enjoy:/spanbr /br /object height="344" width="425"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H5zZl-ojL_gamp;hl=en_USamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H5zZl-ojL_gamp;hl=en_USamp;fs=1amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-2958506574713473273?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
November 25, 2009
14:58
IS THE INTERNET/SOCIAL MEDIA RELEVANT FOR HUMAN SOCIAL INTIMACY?
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

Are social media platforms necessary for social intimacy and interaction? Is it necessary to go with the flow of the new age? On a professional level there have been protests against companies banning the use of social media platforms on the job. Does using these platforms hinder work performance, as it did with the a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,421801,00.html"Metro Link train accident that resulted in the death of 25 people?/a Can we self regulate ourselves? As humans, it would appear the answer is no, as we are all different. One persons "intimacy" is another persons "annoyance" (Theodore Hoppe). To what degree does freedom hinder freedom, and where should the line, if any, be drawn? Watch the vid, share your thoughts...br /br /!--copy and paste--object width="446" height="326"param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"/paramparam name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /param name="wmode" value="transparent"/paramparam name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"/param param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/StefanaBroadbent_2009G-medium.flvsu=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/StefanaBroadbent-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpgvw=432vh=240ap=0ti=680introDuration=16500adDuration=4000postAdDuration=2000adKeys=talk=stefana_broadbent_how_the_internet_enables_intimacy;year=2009;theme=what_makes_us_happy;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=unconventional_explanations;theme=technology_history_and_destiny;event=TEDGlobal+2009;preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/StefanaBroadbent_2009G-medium.flvsu=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/StefanaBroadbent-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpgvw=432vh=240ap=0ti=680introDuration=16500adDuration=4000postAdDuration=2000adKeys=talk=stefana_broadbent_how_the_internet_enables_intimacy;year=2009;theme=what_makes_us_happy;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=unconventional_explanations;theme=technology_history_and_destiny;event=TEDGlobal+2009;"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-3473767550348170432?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
November 22, 2009
22:36
SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style=";font-family:courier new;font-size:100%;" This guy is absolutely brilliant! I cannot even comprehend what kind of code enabled him to transfer the snapshot from the paper to his desktop! Is this what the future will look like? Enjoy the vid:br /br //spanbr /!--copy and paste--object style="font-family: courier new;" height="326" width="446"param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="wmode" value="transparent"param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff" param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/PranavMistry_2009I-medium.flvamp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/PranavMistry-2009I.embed_thumbnail.jpgamp;vw=432amp;vh=240amp;ap=0amp;ti=685amp;introDuration=16500amp;adDuration=4000amp;postAdDuration=2000amp;adKeys=talk=pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_tec;year=2009;theme=a_taste_of_tedindia;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=design_like_you_give_a_damn;theme=what_s_next_in_tech;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=ted_under_30;theme=tales_of_invention;event=TEDIndia+2009;amp;preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/PranavMistry_2009I-medium.flvamp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/PranavMistry-2009I.embed_thumbnail.jpgamp;vw=432amp;vh=240amp;ap=0amp;ti=685amp;introDuration=16500amp;adDuration=4000amp;postAdDuration=2000amp;adKeys=talk=pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_tec;year=2009;theme=a_taste_of_tedindia;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=design_like_you_give_a_damn;theme=what_s_next_in_tech;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=ted_under_30;theme=tales_of_invention;event=TEDIndia+2009;" height="326" width="446"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-7692817025996456153?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
22:32
CHIMAMANDA NGOZIE ADICHIE
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I enjoyed listening to her, beautiful speech:br /br /!--copy and paste--object width="446" height="326"param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"/paramparam name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /param name="wmode" value="transparent"/paramparam name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"/param param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/ChimamandaAdichie_2009G-medium.flvsu=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ChimamandaAdichie-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpgvw=432vh=240ap=0ti=652introDuration=16500adDuration=4000postAdDuration=2000adKeys=talk=chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story;year=2009;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=words_about_words;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=master_storytellers;event=TEDGlobal+2009;preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/ChimamandaAdichie_2009G-medium.flvsu=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ChimamandaAdichie-2009G.embed_thumbnail.jpgvw=432vh=240ap=0ti=652introDuration=16500adDuration=4000postAdDuration=2000adKeys=talk=chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story;year=2009;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=words_about_words;theme=speaking_at_tedglobal2009;theme=the_creative_spark;theme=master_storytellers;event=TEDGlobal+2009;"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-3483999223973675258?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
21:47
DOES FOREIGN AID TO AFRICA DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD?
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family: courier new;"Watch the debate below and share your thoughts here if you would. Personally, I believe foreign aid has had some positive impact on the continent of Africa, but on a larger scale has done very little to improve lives and provide the people in various nations with self sufficiency and economic freedom. Could George Ayittey's suggestion of "smart aid" be the answer? Watch the series below, and share your thoughts.../spanbr /object height="344" width="425"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6x7_Ld5bqQYamp;hl=en_USamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6x7_Ld5bqQYamp;hl=en_USamp;fs=1amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-1749545810919839538?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
September 20, 2009
18:44
BOOKS FOR AFRICA
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Books for Africa is an organization based in the United States that focuses on ending the book famine in Africa. They operate in almost every African nation and provide a much needed service for the educational resources in many countries. To date, they appear to be the world's largest shipper of donated books to the African continent. Text books, novels, non-fiction and so forth are all in their catalogue. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"I would encourage anyone reading this to check out their website /spana href="http://www.booksforafrica.org/"span style="font-family:courier new;"HERE/span/aspan style="font-family:courier new;" and make a donation in whatever amount to help our brothers and sisters back home continue to receive the literature they need. Your act of kindness can have a positive impact on someone else's life./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-7424725586876249592?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
6:15
MICHAEL JORDAN'S HALL OF FAME SPEECH
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span style="font-family:courier new;"Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech has drawn much controversy in the past few weeks, and rightfully so: after all he is regarded by many as the greatest basketball player of all time to date(including myself). I found it rather intriguing, and for good reason. Considering the kind of player he was, the amount of trash talking he did on and off the court and so forth, some of his words were not surprising. Yes, he could have toned down some of his comments, but it is what it is. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"No one is perfect, and I'm happy that I got to see that MJ isn't. It was a different kind of Hall of Fame speech, and is sure to be remembered in Hall of Fame history. I was expecting a bit more of a bang from MJ given his reputation for being a good finisher, and on that note alone I was a bit disappointed. But his speech did make me laugh from time to time, and it did have its high points./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"It was a fitting ending to a wonderful professional basketball career. He may not have pulled off a clutch performance in his final outing, he may not have even left basketball with the grace and class of other champions (David Robinson, John Stockton as good/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"examples), but hey, he got the prize he deserved for his galantry on the basketball court. And with Jordan, it seems, winning is all that matters./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"I wish him the very best with his future and thank him again for all the wonderful memories he gave me as a kid.br //spanspan style="font-family:courier new;"/spanobject width="560" height="340"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/owbYN3XstVQamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/owbYN3XstVQhl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-6217632326323494670?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
August 03, 2009
21:03
HIV/AIDS THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

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July 30, 2009
22:14
CRITICAL THINKING, PHILOSOPHY AND LITERATURE IN AFRICA
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I recently read an interesting post on poetry and promoting writing in Ghana, you can read it /spana href="http://oneghanaonevoice.com/2008/02/ogov-roundtable-discussion-2-africans.html"span style="font-family:courier new;"HERE/span/aspan style="font-family:courier new;". I enjoyed the dialogue, and I agreed with much of the discussion that followed. The discussion reignited some thoughts I have had on the role of critical thinking within the African community. No doubt, there are many many briliant minds in Africa, but the platform for them to showcase their mental capabilities in the arenas of philosophy, objective argument etc in most cases does not exist. It benefits a society and a nation if the youth are equipped with these skillsets from an early age. Even adults can benefit from them as well. For example, civilizations such as the Greeks produced philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These individuals produced various 'schools of thought,' that were subjected to criticism by assessing all sides of the equation. What came out of these equations were various theories, theories that in a large sense guided the way the society functioned, the way the emperors performed their duties and handled diplomacy with their neighbours. But the Greeks were not always akin to education and studying human behavior. Earlier in their history, around 1200 BC, the Greeks experienced much civil war, and in those years there was hardly any focus put on writing and philosophy. We can already begin to make some paralells with Africa. It wasn't until Homer and his writings came out around the Trojan War in 1194 BC (other historians believe he existed around 850 BC) that Greek culture and philosophy was influenced and changed forever. /spanbr /br /span style="font-family:Courier New;"Flip the script to Africa. Africa had many flourishing communities, and perhaps was on the verge of establishing its own systems and schools of thought, when darkness fell in the form of the slave trade. Much of our culture was lost, growth was halted and the chance to contribute to schools of philosophy on a global scale was gone. Independence from colonial rule did not undo the mental, economic and physical oppression suffered through the years, and no systems were put in place to stimulate growth in these areas. To add to that a dependency on foreign aid and not self reliance was fostered in Africans. Shattered economies, poor leadership, war, greed and selfishness made people focus more on what would feed their mouths than what would feed their minds, a trend which exists even till this day. But the tradeoff has been costly. Economic malpractice, war and poor government administration are a few seeds that were planted from the void. It is a reality that the economically disadvantaged are less attracted to the value of knowledge for its own sake and more attracted to what brings economic gain, and for good cause, after all a hungry man is an angry man. But focusing solely on material gain and not qualitative values leaves a void that ultimately affects leadership, morality and a society's standards. And using ancient African proverbs is not enough. This is a new era, so thoughts should be challenged and submitted to objective criticism, and not simply left as artistic 'eternal' truths. As deceased Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Wiredu put it: em"the difference (between African folk philosophy and philosophy proper) is that the Western philosopher tries to argue for his thesis, clarifying his meaning and answering objections, known and anticipated, whereas the transmitter of folk conceptions merely says "this is what our ancestors said""(Wiredu in Wright, 157)./em I believe communities/nations Africa can benefit a great deal if they place more emphasis on critical thinking, logic, and philosophy in schools and within the community./spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"strongem/em/strong/spanspan style="font-family:Courier New;"Your thoughts...br //spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-2464338354777576860?l=benhinson.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
July 20, 2009
2:19
SEND THIS TO 5, 10, 15, 7, 205 OR 6 PEOPLE AND GOD WILL BLESS YOU (YEAH RIGHT)
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I normally try to steer away from writing overly religious blogs because my faith is more than that, but I have to address this issue: ever get email forwards from friends, family members, even co-workers detailing an inspirational word followed by an instruction to get a blessing? It usually comes in the form of a good word that usually makes a lot of sense and sucks you in for the final act of deception: "if you believe this message send this to 5 people and God will bless you..." or 6 people, or 8 people, sometimes even 20 people, or 205 people (okay I'm yet to see that amount). Or they might sometimes say "forward this to X number of people and a miracle will happen in your life today! Sometimes they might even come as attachments (beware viruses) with a lovely presentation, and in the end you have to forward them to a set amount of people.And so on.../spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Rubbish./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Friends, let us apply wisdom and discernment in this day and age that's filled with so much deception. No where in the Bible does it talk about forwarding emails to receive blessings (perhaps the apostle Paul had a blackberry and sent out emails to his friends as he went on mission trips???). Okay, so if the email says pass it along to 6 people and I just happen to be a monk honoring God in the wilderness with a wireless laptop and only wilderbeasts as companions, what do I do then? Am I out of a miracle or a blessing for the day? Am I doomed?/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"It amazes me how many people, even some that I know personally fall for this again and again without testing the spirits, applying their intellect and reading between the lines. No email and no man can tell how and when God will bless you, no one. We earn our blessings by being obedient to the Word, showing evidence of a changed life to those who look at us, having a humble and contrite spirit, and by following Gods calling, whatever it may be. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"So I urge you: the next time you get such an email, take the good from it and leave out the bad. Like I said before, no where in the Bible does it talk about forwarding emails to receive blessings. In fact the Bible tells you specifically what you need to do to be in right standing with God, and forwarding emails is no where in there. Do not forward anything or buy into anything that doesn't make sense, because if you live in obedience/humility and honestly do your best to honor the Master inspite of what people may think or do to you, your blessings will come from God, and not from forwarded emails./spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"Food for thought./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-6575191959850338412?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
July 17, 2009
3:11
BARACK OBAMA'S NAACP ADDRESS
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Barack Obama recently addressed the NAACP on change and African Americans taking responsibility. Good words from a unique man and a unique leader. The address no doubt found favor from the various guests in attendance; many celebrities and a few regulars who I'm sure were fortunate to get admittance. Various news channels such as ABC and NBC highlighted the event in the news for about 7 minutes. Many people who got to watch the man speak passed the word on on how good and relevant his speech was.br /Good stuff. But how does this benefit the thousands if not millions of African Americans in the United States as a whole? For example, many African Americans living in highly urban/centralized areas like Central Harlem (NYC), Manhattan, Brooklyn, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark NJ, Trenton NJ, Chicago etc spend most of their time on the streets and 'not taking responsibility' as Barack Obama suggested. They either stand around on the corner, deal in drugs, or just set themselves and others up for trouble. Trust me I know; I have lived in Detroit/Michigan, other urban centers and currently reside in New York/NJ, and these scenes are very familiar to me.br /I doubt this demographic as a whole will focus on the specifics of Barack Obama's message based on conditioning, economic restrictions and availability. And they are one group that desperatley needs to hear such speeches. How can they be reached? How can the effect of Barack Obama's message reach their ears and hearts directly, and not through someone else's lips if at all?br /strongemA Suggestion/em/strong: I personally thought his NAACP speech would have had more of an impact if it was aired live on Jumbotrons (humongous screens) in these areas. This way, it wouldn't simply be preaching to the choir, but talking to the people. Of course, the next question would be the availability of such resources, but organizations such as the NAACP and others I'm sure have decent budgets that can facilitate such initiatives on local levels. Is this wishful thinking? No, its not; anything is possible. If a 3rd world country like Ghana, which was even poorer in the 90's could get a Jumbotron together in the heart of its capital and air live boxing matches whenever our beloved Azumah Nelson was in action (I watched a few of them) for every local person on the streets to see, it can certainly be done in the United States, the wealthiest country in the world.br /A leaders message is more effective when it is heard and seen directly versus it being passed on, or not heard at all.br /br /Just an opinion./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-1698895657356236794?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
June 24, 2009
13:12
OBSESSION
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Obsession is a common theme in society. Everyone is or has been obsessed with one thing or another at some point in time. It could be that dream job, or food, or video games, or hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, or alcohol, or women, and vice versa (men), or cars, or sexual fantasies, or pornography, or who we want to marry, or wanting to be a superstar...obsessions come in many forms, too many to count. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"But most obsessions in my humble opinion come as a result of a want of the mind, or a desire for some physical pleasure to be fulfilled. How do obsessions begin? As with most things, it begins with a taste...that weak friend of yours offers you some cocaine or some alcohol and you try some, or you go out drinking and it becomes a habit, or you watch a little pornography and find you can't live without it, or you hang out with superficial people and you begin to think thats the way life should be. And what do these cravings, these 'obsessions' in most cases result in? The pornography watcher finds that he cannot maintain a stable relationship nor a family because his mind is a breeding ground for different women he can summon at his will to give him pleasure. The drug addict becomes lost in his addiction, breeds depression within himself and drives others away through his erratic and selfish behavior. The superficial person lives life for show, and their actions are determined by what other people think of them. And so forth.../spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"But as any mature person knows, life is not a game but rather a series of tests, and reality is bound to hit at some point or another. And that is when true character shows...how does the one obsessed handle the reality that life has for us all? It all begins with what you feed your mind. Proverbs 17:24 in the Bible states, em"a discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth."/em/spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"I leave you with a poem I wrote that I hope brings some meaning to your life. Enjoy./spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /div align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"strongOBSESSION/strong/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"Looking too long at what you want leads to obsession/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"Not having your obsession leads to depression/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"Depression breeds evil and plants a bad seed that keeps you focused on your wants and not on what you need/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"As the bad seed grows you lose all that you know: happiness and peace all seem to go/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"Focusing on fantasies results in delusions, obsessions with things that are nothing but illusions/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"And all that it takes is that first taste/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"Of what is forbidden for it to be too late/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"-emBen Hinson/em/span/divspan style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-4007769784472485058?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
June 21, 2009
0:00
HELP - BASKETBALL SHOES
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

I've been off the court (basketball) and the field (football) for some time now, mostly due to bad knees and a bad back. Prior to my last basketball game, I hadn't played basketball consistently in almost a year. Now pain is a part of the game, pain that usually sets in after the game is done. Any suggestions? I've been resting my back and legs (kind of a hard thing to do when you live and work in NYC and you have to walk everyday). My bro also suggested a new pair of bball kicks (Nike Dual D's) for me. I am in search of a good basketball shoe that is relatively cheap, is light and provides good support on outdoor as well as indoor courts. My game changes whenever I go back to play; I used to be a straight shooter, but I find myself driving more lately and cutting lanes. I had a pair of Reeboks that I think were Hexalites, and they helped me for a very long time, but I'm hearing that Nike is a better brand to roll with. My experience with Nike to date has not been good, both pairs I had I found to be extremely heavy, but we'll see how it goes with the Dual D's...perhaps Air Jordan's will be next.br /Suggestions are welcome.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-2611441373858658298?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
June 14, 2009
18:44
TONGUE
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"My tongue./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Your tongue./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Our tongues./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"This tongue of ours is capable of being such an evil tool...it is capable of causing chaos, trouble, dissention, envy, anger, gossip, malice and just pure evil. Even motives that may come from an innocent place, if they are let out of the mouth too quickly, without proper research or without a proper assessment can cause so much chaos. And sometimes, enemies can be formed just because that darn tongue could not be harnessed. Proverbs Chapter 10:19 in the Bible states, em"when words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." /emI thank God for wisdom... The key is learning from mistakes if and when they are made, and doing better the next time around./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"I leave you all with a poem I wrote, and I hope it further clarifies my point, and brings some meaning to your life. Enjoy./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /div align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"strongTONGUE/strong/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Be careful with whom you choose to share, don't believe everything you choose to hear/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Data in the wrong hands can be deadly, and not all friends you have are friendly/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Even close ones can share your ways, it takes just a big mouth to go astray/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"The tongue is deadly and does nothing true, a false report can change a point of view/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Information shared can go round and round, a snowball effect till it becomes too profound/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Talking in the dark about others not there, assumptions and secrets discussed and shared/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"So be careful with whom and what you say, discretion is needed to avoid being prey/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Loose lips destroy a great many friendships, and a gossip creates a great many hardships/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"Pay attention, for these things are true-take it from us who've learned and paid our dues/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"The tongue is indeed a deadly weapon, wise men are quiet and practice discretion./span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:Courier New;"-Ben Hinson/span/divdiv align="center"span style="font-family:courier new;"/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-5606856984161558375?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
June 13, 2009
20:20
HIP HOP IN NIGERIA
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I don't have much to say on Nigerian Hip hop as I still have alot to learn in that arena. As a kid in Nigeria I did not have much exposure to Nigerian rap music, and I instead kept my feet moving with the likes of American artists such as MC Hammer. Most of what I have learned on Naija hip hop has been through friends and my own research. The thing about Nigeria is that its such a huge, vast country with so much flavor and controversy, so its hard to pin point exactly how and where hip hop started. Obviously, American influence brought it to Nigeria's music scene, and in the eighties there were groups like the Plantashun Boyz and Remedies, but I do not know who specifically pioneered hip hop in Nigeria. But its amazing how Nigerian artists have taken rap music there and made it their own, to the point of even displacing common American tunes. Guys like Eldee, Trybesmen, 9nice, 2shotz and others have done a good job with regards to creativity. It is more common to hear Naija hip hop now in Nigeria than it is hearing Yankee tunes (pardon the slight pidgen). I must say that as far as originality is concerned though, alot of guys (and girls) in Nigeria have done some good stuff. Could it be because street life in Nigeria is more at par with urban street life in Yankee? Who knows...I enjoyed listening to Eldee's "I go yarn," I enjoyed listening to 9nice/2shotz "Make dem talk," and 4th Republic's "Mu bottle ye wa." Good lyrics, lots of traditional flavor intertwined with good percussion, and most importanlty, very very original. They talked about life in Naija in ways that anyone who has lived in Naija can relate to. I'm sure that there alot of artists in Nigeria who may sound too American, as it is with other countries, but I like the flavor of what I've heard from Nigeria as a whole regarding hip hop and what they've done with it. My prayer is that Nigerian artists do not glorify crime, vanity and take on the negatives from outside influences, but build up the nation through good music that entertains and educates. One way people relate to life is through music, espescially the younger generation, so there is a certain responsibility musicians have as role models. You guys can sample the videos below to see what I mean./spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /br /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z_Yig7Bx9gwamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z_Yig7Bx9gwhl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p22uRWr5eOsamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p22uRWr5eOshl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r7FSxSpRg80amp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r7FSxSpRg80hl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-4748795551899853815?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
0:35
NBA FINALS, GAME 4, 2009
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"What a game./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Both teams looked dead even to me as far as performance is concerned. Orlando was banging out shots like they always do, and LA replied with their excellent playmaking skills. Dwight played well, and Kobe played mediocre by his standards, in my humble opinion. The game was so even that it went into overtime./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"So why did Orlando lose? I thought they had a chance to take it all...but they made two major mistakes in my opinion./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"1st: Why did they take out Rafael Alston when it mattered? What was coach Gundy thinking? Rafael Alston DOMINATED the first and second quarters...so why did they take him out, and replace him with Jameer Nelson, a guy who is recovering from shoulder injury and is clearly not performing on the same level as he did in the regular season? WHAT??? Derek Fisher hit not one, but TWO three pointers that proved to be daggers for Orlando, one to force overtime and another to close out the game. Granted, Alston only made only one of his last seven shots after his excellent start, but he was still somewhat consistent defensively. I personally believe if he had stayed in, the Magic would have won./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"2nd: Free throws. Hedo Turgolu, an ace free throw shooter, missed some vital shots, as did Dwight Howard. If they made their free throws I think they would have won the game./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"So, just as in game three, when the Lakers made a few mistakes and lost, the Magic did the same. Orlando had a chance to even the series, but veteran experience proved beneficial for the Lakers. And as much as I love the Magic, they will have two win two straight games against the Lakers to stand a chance for a final showdown. To win the championship they will have to win the next three games, whereas the Lakers only need to win one. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"I love the Magic, and I gained a new respect for them in these playoffs, but they have huge, huge, huge odds against them. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"I can't see the Magic winning this; they might win another game, but not the series./spanbr /br /a href="http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/06/12/magic-point-guards-still-struggling/"http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/06/12/magic-point-guards-still-struggling//adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-1446035784021205528?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
June 10, 2009
21:28
SNIPPET FROM MY INTERVIEW ON WNJN REGARDING HIV/AIDS AND AFRICAN AMERICANS
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

As many of you might know, I have been advocating for awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention globally. One way I've been at it has been through my first novel, THREE MONTHS. Here is a snippet from an interview I did on WNJN regarding HIV/AIDS and African Americans. I hope you find the conversation informative, because it is applicable to every group and demographic, not just blacks. See below.br /a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individualamp;videoid=54080997"Ben Hinson on Another View /abr /object width="425" height="360"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="wmode" value="transparent"param name="movie" value="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=54080997,t=1,mt=video"embed src="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=54080997,t=1,mt=video" width="425" height="360" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-4395335115123249734?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
18:27
HIP HOP IN THE MOTHERLAND: A CONVERSATION WITH WANLOV THE KUBOLOR
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SjAKBOGGLmI/AAAAAAAAAC8/x3QfGNnJxWc/s1600-h/wanlov+pic.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 283px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 182px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345783773768592994" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SjAKBOGGLmI/AAAAAAAAAC8/x3QfGNnJxWc/s320/wanlov+pic.jpg" //abr /divbr /span xmlns=""pspan style="font-family:courier new;"I had the chance to have a one on one conversation with Wanlov the Kubolor, a Ghanaian/Romanian music artist who has been making some interesting breakthroughs in the global music scene. His talents have gone past Ghana's borders, and he has performed in London as well as collaborated with a good number of respected musicians in various African and European countries. One cannot really tell what genre of music his songs fall under as his style does not seem to be one dimensional, although a common feature in a lot of his music is the use of African instruments, catchy lyrical wordplay, and some singing. He is also the only artist I know who seems to have a reggae/conscious base and walks around in a skirt and no shoes. His unique personality seems to work in his favor because it gives his music a wider appeal globally. As a fellow West African and musician, I am proud of his accomplishments to date in the music arena. I got together with Wanlov over the phone to discuss the hip hop industry (specifically rap), hip hop's effect on Africans, particularly Ghanaians, capitalism, his mission and vision as an artist, and climbing trees for sweet mangoes…br //span/pdiv/spanspan style="font-family:courier new;"For the sake of my diverse readers, this conversation has been translated from Pidgen English to regular english with a little Ghanaian slang (chale!) for your reading enjoyment:-)/span /divp***YOU CAN VISIT WANLOV ON MYSPACE a href="http://www.myspace.com/wanlov"HERE/a AND HIS WEBSITE a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.wanlov.com"HERE/a. CHECK OUT THE CLIPS BELOW TO SAMPLE WANLOV's STYLE AND MUSIC. ENJOY:/ppbr /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fM3bqgqd9Ykamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"br /embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fM3bqgqd9Ykamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/object/pdivbr //divp/pdivbr //divspan xmlns=""/span/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-8838357968052914826?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
June 03, 2009
4:36
NBA FINALS PREDICTIONS PART 3
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Okay okay.../spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"So I thought the Cavs would make it to the finals, based on how Lebron was consistently putting up numbers in the playoffs (averaging 35 pts per game, 9.10 rebounds per game, 7.3 assists per game), but sad to say, the rest of his team did not come through for King James, in my opinion. I really wanted to see him and Kobe go head to head. Hey, at least I was partly right with my last prediction - LA made it through. Ah well, I guess we'll have to settle for Orlando and LA in the finals. And my predictions for this series?/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"I almost want to say LA doesn't stand a chance...for one thing I do not have complete confidence in the defensive/offensive prowess of the Lakers big men (Lamar Odom is playing hurt and hasn't been consistent, averaging a fair 12 pts a game and 9.5 rebs, Andrew Bynum has been horrible averaging a mere 3.6 rebs per game and 6.3 ppg), and neither do I have complete confidence in LA's guards (Fisher hasn't been consistent offensively, and the Farmar/Vujacic boys are not lighting up the three's like they were last playoffs...for another thing, will the Lakers big men be up to the task to slow down that monster Dwight Howard in the paint? Lets not forget that Turgolu, Rashard Lewis, Pietrus and Alston have all been playing pretty well. I almost want to say that the Lakers don't stand a chance, but.../spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"In my opinion the Lakers have a stronger bench than Orlando. Secondly, next to Lebron, Kobe and Dwight I believe Pau Gasol has been the most consistent and effective player in the finals. Lets not forget that these Lakers have more playoff/veteran experience than Orlando. And then, off course, to close it up, there's Kobe. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Its a hard series to call. Most people expect the Lakers to take it, but for this one I want the underdogs to win. Plus my man Dwight gave props to God after taking out Lebron, so I have to respect that. If the sharphooters on the Magic hit their shots, Dwight controls the boards and they play consistent bball as a team, they can defeat the Lakers. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Orlando will take the cake in 7./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-3780780560957916692?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
May 26, 2009
4:42
My novel, THREE MONTHS, book reviews
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I am happy that some people think highly of my work. Of course, I did not write emstrongTHREE MONTHS/strong /emfor praise but rather to bring attention to the novel's subject matter. The novel centers around a very very important subject, HIV/AIDS. I believe this is a topic many people prefer not to discuss openly for many reasons, one of which is the negative stigma that the virus carries. My novel tackles the subject in a blunt (not offensive) manner, and I did my best to be as objective as possible. I encourage you to get a copy and read it for yourself. You can order a copy by clicking /spana href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Three-Months/Ben-Hinson/e/9781595268938/?itm=1"span style="font-family:courier new;"HERE/span/aspan style="font-family:courier new;". You might learn a thing or two about HIV, AIDS and this world/span span style="font-family:courier new;"that we live in./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-2387977276680136051?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
May 18, 2009
15:13
HIP HOP IN GHANA
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I love Hip Hop. Like all artwork, it is another form of artistic expression, whether it's in the form of Breakdancing, Graffiti, DJing, Beatboxing or in its most common form which is Rapping. Starting with DJ Herc and the other pioneers who gave birth to the artform in the Bronx New York, the artform has now become a global phenomenon, and rightly so: after all it is a form of expression and expression cannot be limited to geographic boundaries. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"It's hard to pinpoint exactly when Hip hop officially arrived on Ghana's shores, as many school groups had already begun taking after the big names abroad in the early nineties, possibly even in the eighties. Ghana at that time had a few groups on the scene, groups like Talking Drums and producers like Panji Anoff being pioneers of their day. Hiplife strongemis a musical genre that makes for absolutely great party music./em/strong It seems to be a mix of Zouk, Soka, pop reggae and Ghanaian Highlife, and in a sense can at times seem like a mixture of Ghanain highlife and hip hop. Funny enough, many, not all, but many of the artists in this genre take on the American 'gangsta rap' persona, something I personally believe is an identity crisis. /spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"The Ghanaian hip hop scene is coming up, with guys like Wanlov the Kubolor, Mensa, Obrafour, Tic Tac, Reggie Rockstone and Manifest leading the fray. While some, such as Wanlov celebrate having a unique identity and can put some good words together, others take on the American persona, and at times can even sound and look more 'American' than Americans themselves. I personally believe this is evidence of the after effects of colonialism still prevalent on our shores./spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"Ghana is a country with alot of promise...the hip hop scene there is morphing into something unique, and with time just may garner an identity of its own./spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"Any takers???/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"View the videos below to get a taste of Ghanaian hip hop.br //spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"P.S: Had to include the video for 'Look Ma Shoe' as a bonus,its at the very bottom,love the track!br //spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pDCapLAuxL4amp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pDCapLAuxL4hl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rQPcoeFBMQ4amp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rQPcoeFBMQ4hl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HzAdH92HVmcamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HzAdH92HVmchl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MiakOn0IvCcamp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MiakOn0IvCchl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4Cf0nzs6cA4amp;hl=enamp;fs=1amp;"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4Cf0nzs6cA4hl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-4885844223629243138?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
May 12, 2009
3:23
My thoughts on Miss California and her comments on same sex marriage
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Watch these interviews on gossip blogger Perez Hilton and Miss California.../spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm44Dgqj3rIamp;feature=related"span style="font-family:courier new;"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm44Dgqj3rIamp;feature=related/span/abr /br /span style="font-family:courier new;"And Miss California's interviews here: /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQHtI_eKv1s"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQHtI_eKv1s/a/spanbr /a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m35zNXq7C0samp;feature=related"span style="font-family:courier new;"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m35zNXq7C0samp;feature=related/span/abr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"And here is the Perez guy yapping: a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI1u6bZ39YEamp;feature=related"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI1u6bZ39YEamp;feature=related/a/spanbr /span style="font-family:Courier New;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"First of all I applaud Miss California for giving an honest answer, and maintaining her stance despite the pressures from mainstream media and culture. Secondly, I do not think this guy has any right to bash her just because she gave an honest answer to his question. She did not speak ill of homosexuals nor did she express any fear of them, she simply said she thinks marriage should be between a man and a woman. Thirdly, the man said he did not approve of her answer because it leaves gays and lesbians out of the picture and thats not what Miss USA should be about. Well, if she did answer it the way he wanted to and approved of gay marriage then she would be leaving out a whole other group of people, a group of people that do not agree with same sex marriage. She is not fit to be Miss USA because she supports one group and not the other? Seems pretty biased to me. Perez Hilton even went on to suggest bringing the matter to the States as our forefathers would have done. Well, if you want to reference forefathers, they supposedly founded this nation as a "Christian" nation (we're not going to get into wiping out the Indians, putting them on reservation camps and then celebrating Thanksgiving, genocide on the African continent that more than matches both World Wars, etc). I thought Miss California gave a clear, concise and honest answer. It may not have been the answer he along with millions of others wanted to hear, but it was an honest answer, and again I applaud her. /spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"If the USA is what it claims to be, then it should be able to hear and respect everyone's opinions without taking offense. And this goes for all groups of people, Christians included. True Christian teaching dictates that people should not take offense or judge anyone, but to leave that role to God./span span style="font-family:courier new;"If the USA is about honesty and dealing honestly but not offensively its our neighbours, its enemies and even those who question its foundation then I believe Miss California represents what the USA is all about, based on how she answered the question and has handled criticism on that subject. The question is, is that what the USA is all about?/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-7879308515998564743?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
May 08, 2009
19:16
NBA FINALS 2009 PREDICTIONS Part 2
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"Man, after watching the Cavs/Hawks game last night, I must say that I am truly a Lebron fan. That kid is going to be a real stand out in two years... he already is. The Lakers game tonight is going to be really interesting, after all the physical play between Fisher and Artest (man I did not know Derek was that strong!!!). I've always liked Ron Artest, I think he's a true street baller with a little temper, so I'm curious to see tonights matchup. Isn't it amazing how far the Rockets have gone in the playoffs without McGrady?/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Eastern Conference finals = Cavs vs Celtics/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Western Conference finals = Lakers vs Nuggets/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Finals = Cavs vs Lakers/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-5050599331487127366?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
May 06, 2009
13:44
NBA FINALS 2009 PREDICTIONS PART 1
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I'm really impressed with the way Denver is playing in this years NBA playoffs. They're blowing out teams by 20 plus margins, and to date I have not seen any other team play like them in this years playoffs, save maybe Cleveland. Dirk has been shut down in both games so far by Kenyon Martin, and the combination of Carmelo, Nene and Josh Smith are proving too much for the Mav's defense. The Mavs may have had a chance if Howard wasn't so banged up, but after seeing that ankle injury he suffered 2 games back, I doubt he'll be making any more appearances. Can anyone face Denver with the way they are playing? I would have rooted for the Lakers in the Western finals, and they are still one of my favorite teams, but they fell to sloppy Houston in their last game...on the East the Celtics may have miraculously made it past the Bulls in the first round but without KG they don't stand a chance against Dwight and his superchildren. Predictions anyone??? I predict, for now, that on the East Cleveland will take the cake over Orlando in 6 games and on the West Denver will etch out the Lakers in 7 games. Cleveland will win the title over Denver in 7. I will give my final prediction when I finish watching the Celtic series./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-7955930020736995965?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
May 02, 2009
15:24
Does TWITTER make sense?
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"From a business/marketing standpoint I think it does, from a personal standpoint...dunno, 50/50 on that. What do you think?/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-8079893971387969756?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
April 17, 2009
13:32
Nadja Benaissa
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SeiPpm78NYI/AAAAAAAAACI/Se3jORTDkho/s1600-h/Nadja+Benaissa2.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 118px; height: 83px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SeiPpm78NYI/AAAAAAAAACI/Se3jORTDkho/s320/Nadja+Benaissa2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325664504354977154" border="0" //abr /br /span style="font-family:courier new;"What a shame. For those of you who don't know, Nadja Benaissa is/was a German pop star who recently was accused of "knowingly" infecting some male partners with H.I.V. She was arrested right before she was due to give a performance and is currently being held in a women's jail while she awaits trial, and could serve up to 10 years in jail if she's found guilty. /span span style="font-family:courier new;"We can all discuss who is to blame, blah blah blah, but the point remains that lives have been shattered. She may never have known about her infection, and may have slept with these men unprotected as millions of women all over the world do. She just happens to be the scapegoat, and I know that there are many women and men who sleep with people unprotected and may be walking around with HIV themselves. What about her privacy? Is arresting her in public and making her status known to the whole world the right way to handle justice, or is it a way to humiliate a scapegoat? Could these men who say the got HIV from her have acquired it from somewhere else? HIV is very tricky, and if you have many sexual partners it becomes almost impossible to track down who actually infected you as the person exposed can show no physical symptoms for many years./span span style="font-family:courier new;"My heart goes out to this girl and her family, as well as the men involved. Sometimes pain is required to learn a lesson or two, and we can all take away a few things from this. HIV does not discriminate with who you are or where you're from. It does not matter how pretty and famous you are, or how average and careful you may be, how strong and proud you may talk or how limited your mind can see...if you engage in loose sexual behavior, whether it be one night stands, booty calls, or even sleep around with boyfriends/girlfriends, you set yourself up to catch HIV and other STD's. Love does not make a person HIV negative. Thats the whole reason I wrote THREE MONTHS, to show how real this thing is. Visit my website: a href="http://www.benhinson.com/"www.benhinson.com/a to get the scoop. My prayers go out to everyone involved in this scandal. /spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-5067152095146986073?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
13:21
Me in Montclair State University's Newspaper
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SeiCt1QpgII/AAAAAAAAAB4/xCn2eQHsk-s/s1600-h/montclarion+logo.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 39px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SeiCt1QpgII/AAAAAAAAAB4/xCn2eQHsk-s/s320/montclarion+logo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325650283268243586" //abr /I was recently interviewed regarding my book and all that in Montclair State University's Montclarion newspaper. Read the interview by clicking a href="http://media.www.themontclarion.org/media/storage/paper374/news/2009/04/16/News/Montclair.Alum.Writes.Hivaids.Awareness.Book-3712216.shtml"HERE/adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-6757158951752502748?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
April 12, 2009
1:28
Web promo's for my novel, THREE MONTHS
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I shot these in NYC a few months back to promote my novel, THREE MONTHS. Many thanks to Joe, LD, Nathan and all the actors who came out, check them out:br /br /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/htrLQ3mIhQYamp;hl=enamp;fs=1"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/htrLQ3mIhQYhl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr /br /object width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yO8ov6mULs4amp;hl=enamp;fs=1"param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yO8ov6mULs4hl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/objectbr //spanspan style="font-family:courier new;"/spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-8510208648241161077?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
0:47
THE PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACTS OF WAR ON CHILDREN
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

By Ben Hinson p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"April 5supth/sup, 2009/pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"?xml:namespace prefix = o /o:p/o:pChildren are often the ones who pay the highest price when it comes to the effects of war on a society. It is on this basis for discussion that I bring to light the psychosocial impacts of war on children, using the nation of Sierra Leone as a case study./pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"The ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /st1:place st="on"st1:placetype st="on"Republic/st1:placetype of st1:placename st="on"Sierra Leone/st1:placename/st1:place is a country situated in st1:place st="on"West Africa/st1:place. Formerly a major trading port that fueled the slave trade, it became a British protectorate and eventually gained its independence in 1961. However, independence was followed by years of civil instability. Civil war erupted in the country from st1:date st="on" year="1991" day="23" month="3"March 23 1991/st1:date to st1:date st="on" year="2002" day="18" month="1"18 January 2002/st1:date due to reasons related to control of the nation’s diamond industry. Bad governance led to the elimination of all forms of national security and control, and the nation became plagued with corruption, violence and illegal weapons trafficking. The violence was led by rebel leaders such as Foday Sankoh, who opposed the government in power. He recruited child soldiers, and brutally annihilated anyone and anything that stood in the way of his quest for power, including some of his colleagues. /pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"Today the war is over but the emotional and psychological effects on the minds of those involved will last a lifetime. Many children, between the ages of 9 to 17 were abducted and forced into soldiering by their adult counterparts. These children, with no formal education and no strong moral foundation, were often drugged and made to commit various atrocities on innocent civilians. A young mind is easily influenced, which makes children easy targets for many cowardly terrorists, rebel leaders and troublemakers. Families were displaced, and many fled and were accepted as refugees in neighboring countries like st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Guinea/st1:place/st1:country-region. Husbands were separated from their wives, and children from their parents. In many cases mothers and wives were raped and murdered in front of their spouses and children, and family members were mutilated by ruthless rebel units. Today there are many physically disabled people in st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Sierra Leone/st1:place/st1:country-region who are missing limbs and have been reduced to being beggars on the streets. The fear of being separated from family and loved ones has its toll on a child. Majority of children affected by the war have grown up without parents. Many Sierra Leonean refugees live on in foreign countries such as st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Guinea/st1:place/st1:country-region, and are at times oppressed by their hosts and suffer humiliation. Many victims of the war still alive have lost touch with their homeland, and live on with scars embedded deep in their bodies and in their minds. Those who have returned home after the war have difficulty settling down because they have lost all their property./pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"So what are the psychosocial effects of war in this case? Child soldiers had their minds severely damaged from drugs and the atrocities they were forced to commit. These children were victims of a continued cycle of destruction and chaos and have known nothing but violence and exploitation for most of their lives. How does one recondition the mind of a young girl who was abducted and for many years forced to be a sex slave and now does not understand the concept of freedom, of love or self worth? How can young girls with war babies even care for their children? How does one recondition the mind of a young boy whose playtime involved the execution his peers and adults? How are children who were forced to watch their parents get mutilated and murdered before their very eyes to deal with the lifelong scars from such traumatic experiences? How can such children be reintegrated into society especially when a country like st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Sierra Leone/st1:place/st1:country-region does not have the necessary structures and systems in place for rehabilitation of the children? Organizations such as UNICEF, the Red Cross and various non-profit groups have provided valuable aid towards rehabilitation, and have run various projects geared at addressing this issue, but funding is limited for such initiatives. However without proper access to education, employment and psychosocial support systems, most of these children turn back to what their minds are most accustomed to. In most cases young boys turn back to violence which results in armed robbery. Young girls turn to prostitution and pornography. And who can blame them? The world has turned their back on them, and their problems are not addressed nor seen as worthwhile. Developed nations see their plight as unfortunate, and countries like st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Sierra Leone/st1:place/st1:country-region are the butt of many jokes. Yet Sierra Leonean diamonds are adorned across the globe and their exports fuel many foreign economies. So what are these individuals to do? For many it becomes a never ending spiral of crime, drugs, sex and immorality, and hence progress is never made. Money acquired does not go towards programs designed to support these children economically and with their moral states, so they turn to what they are accustomed to, and we all suffer as a result. /pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"The psychosocial effects of war are not restricted to only the African continent. Children are often forced to participate in military activities all over the globe, as they are easier to train and easily manipulated. Their roles range from being spies, cooks, couriers, decoys, sex slaves to actual fighters. Children have been used in war in countries like st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Iraq/st1:place/st1:country-region, st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Afghanistan/st1:place/st1:country-region, st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Cambodia/st1:place/st1:country-region, st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Bosnia/st1:place/st1:country-region, st1:country-region st="on"st1:place st="on"Ethiopia/st1:place/st1:country-region and st1:city st="on"st1:place st="on"Columbia/st1:place/st1:city. There are approximately 300,000 children believed to be combatants in some thirty conflicts worldwide. /pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"Instilling violence in a child from an early age almost always ensures a chaotic and unproductive future. And children are our future. Children who are victims of such horrific cycles are robbed of their innocence, and suffer mental breakdowns throughout their lives. In most communities they are branded as outcasts, and without love they suffer rejection, confusion and hopelessness. In the end the society suffers as it loses valuable investments in its future, and the child struggles to cope in a world that does not welcome them./pp class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"br //pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-5717404039708012503?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
April 02, 2009
18:01
The Stages of HIV infection
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"HIV is a very complex virus that can be acquired very easily. I like to call it a “cloak” virus because one can have it for many years without any detectable symptoms. HIV infection comes in various stages (Primary, Asymptomatic, Symptomatic and AIDS). The Primary stage is usually accompanied with possible flu like symptoms or a simple rash, and even though sometimes these symptoms are serious enough to consult a doctor, many a time the diagnosis of HIV infection is often missed. So in other words it’s very possible that many people think they have a simple flu or cold and do not get tested, or can visit their doctor and be diagnosed/treated for symptoms other than HIV. The next stage for the virus is the Asymptomatic stage which for the most part can last anywhere from 10 to 15 years during which an individual can be relatively free of any major symptoms. There are probably millions of people who are in the Asymptomatic stage of HIV infection who do not know that they are infected with the virus and who frequently spread the virus to others through sex or drug use...With time the Asymptomatic stage enters into the Symptomatic stage, which is when damage begins and the immune system begins to fail, and as the immune system fails, symptoms (Symptomatic) begin to develop. At the Symptomatic stage the person's immune system is so weak that various infections/conditions begin to take hold; some non infectious like certain cancers, and others which are infectious like the common cold, and the person can become contagious, not by spreading HIV, but by passing on whatever infection they may have that is contagious. Then of course, in due time, HIV will progress to AIDS./spandiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-4912288648655942535?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
March 12, 2009
6:45
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

span style="font-family:courier new;"I recently participated in the National Women and Girls day event in Trenton, New Jersey in which I was a featured speaker. Click a href="http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2009/03/11/news/doc49b72a9f01bf5858336453.txt"HERE/a to read about in the Trentonian. Present were executives from the New Jersey State Department of Health, some executives from Abbott Virology Laboratories Inc., the Commissioner of Health and HIV/AIDS prevention Mr. Larry Ganges, and Andrea Williams, the inspiration for the movie "Life Support," starring Queen Latifah by HBO films. I really had a good time and my book got some good exposure, and like I said I learned and had some interesting discussions on the HIV pandemic in America and in the world. For starters the Commissioner made an interesting point as he gave his address, which was that even though it was a 'Women’s' day event, he wished more men were present, as 3 out of 5 women get HIV from heterosexual intercourse. The commissioner raised another interesting point, on how many people and groups publicize HIV as a manageable disease...he made the comment that 75% of people who acquire HIV eventually die, and this is true; HIV medication may stall its effects depending on the individuals immune system but does not destroy the virus. So prevention is key. There were also some other points that were raised that I found interesting, for example how people in relationships and are 'in love' neglect to practice protected sex and assume that being with one partner makes them safe. Dealing solely on emotions when in relationships can be a deadly thing I tell you. Objectivity is required... Having unprotected sex, whether you are single or married, puts you in the high risk category. Until you know for sure what your partners status is you will always be at risk of acquiring HIV and other STD's, if you do not them already. But in today's society, we tend to put it into context: "I love him/her...we are together and not seeing anyone else...I have been with him/her for XXX years," and every other ignorant justification for high risk sexual behavior or drug use. Reality check: People cheat and do all sorts of activities behind closed doors, and every person brings their set of baggage into every relationship. The Bible says in a verse "people perish for lack of knowledge." How true this statement is in today’s society where so much deception rules the day. I learned some other interesting things at this event, for example I did not know that semen, not sperm, carries HIV (think of it like a fishbowl, the sperm being the fish and the semen being the water; HIV sits in the water)... I also did not know that older women are more susceptible to catch HIV through heterosexual sex (after menopause the vaginal tissue gets thinner and is more susceptible to tearing and allowing the virus into the bloodstream). I also did not know that a person can opt not to tell their family of their HIV status when they go for checkups at the doctor, and doctors have to respect that oath of privacy...I found that a bit scary. So, a married man or woman can go fool around either with injectable drugs or with a sex buddy, contract HIV and come home and infect their partner, and the partner may never know about it until it is too late. Talk about selfishness. And finally, the negative stigma regarding HIV was addressed. I enjoyed my time at this event. I find it a shame that there is not enough exposure on this pandemic in mainstream media, when it is a critical issue with every demographic: white, black, spanish, asian, young, old, single or many sexual partners, etc. Community activism is crucial to prevention, because although the government can support all activism efforts, they cannot go into the communities. It is such a complex virus that covers so many areas, from the technical facts, to funding, to the negative stigma it generates, to addressing behavior. What makes it so hard to address is that it is spread mainly through the primordial drive of every human: SEX. The virus needs a reservoir to survive, and that makes it hard to contain, because a person from a low risk pool can come into contact with a person in a high risk pool who may have HIV, and as soon as they become infected, they join the rest of those in the high risk category, and all it takes is ONE EXPOSURE. Yes, it is easier for some groups to get it, for example it is harder for men to get HIV sexually than it is for women because of genetic makeup, but that is no reason to go fool around because it could be your unlucky day. So I like to say everyone has the same chance of becoming infected if you put yourself in that position. Like I said, the virus needs a reservoir to survive, and irresponsible behavior helps it survive. Tools on HIV prevention tend to stay within the HIV community because those on the outside receive all news pertaining to HIV with stigma. This virus will continue to thrive in communities across the globe as long as ignorance prevails and action is not taken. I enjoy writing, and I write about many different themes and subjects, but I assure you that I will always be committed to HIV activism. Why? Well, why not? I will leave you with a poem I wrote that was published with my novel THREE MONTHS and a few pictures from the event. Enjoy:/spanspan style="font-family:courier new;"br //spanspan style="font-family:courier new;"/spanspan style="font-family:courier new;"strongemIGNORANCE /em/strong/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"strongemIf I knew I could, But that doesn't mean I would. /em/strong/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"strongemAnd if I fail to change I blame myself for pain. /em/strong/spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"strongemAnd I can't hide and say that I didn't know,For the knowledge was given but I did not grow./em/strong/spanbr /a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbixg6k1XNI/AAAAAAAAAAM/IQswddHg48E/s1600-h/100_0153.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312190939521178834" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbixg6k1XNI/AAAAAAAAAAM/IQswddHg48E/s320/100_0153.jpg" //a div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312192315579449586" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s320/100_0154.jpg" //a/divbr /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /divbr /br /br /br /diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi1l8CX5VI/AAAAAAAAABE/rjPbyeSztow/s1600-h/100e0161.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312195423859369298" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi1l8CX5VI/AAAAAAAAABE/rjPbyeSztow/s320/100e0161.jpg" //aa href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbiz35y-LBI/AAAAAAAAAAk/lCaF1Zrpe3E/s1600-h/100_0194.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312193533472287762" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbiz35y-LBI/AAAAAAAAAAk/lCaF1Zrpe3E/s320/100_0194.jpg" //abr /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /divbr /br /br /br /divbr /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /divdiv align="left"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbizYj3NgtI/AAAAAAAAAAc/NprTxD6YUd4/s1600-h/100_0190.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312192995008545490" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbizYj3NgtI/AAAAAAAAAAc/NprTxD6YUd4/s320/100_0190.jpg" //aa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divdiv align="left"a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi0NuopC2I/AAAAAAAAAAs/cI1fo5-uBkM/s1600-h/100_0196.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312193908433292130" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi0NuopC2I/AAAAAAAAAAs/cI1fo5-uBkM/s320/100_0196.jpg" //aa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divdiv align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /divbr /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi1PwN57SI/AAAAAAAAAA8/TiPvW0DcEqo/s1600-h/100_0199.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312195042729389346" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi1PwN57SI/AAAAAAAAAA8/TiPvW0DcEqo/s320/100_0199.jpg" //aa href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/diva href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi0uBIiEmI/AAAAAAAAAA0/h7R7JBVYy2U/s1600-h/100_0197.jpg"img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312194463154704994" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/Sbi0uBIiEmI/AAAAAAAAAA0/h7R7JBVYy2U/s320/100_0197.jpg" //abr /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /div align="left"br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/diva href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"strongspan style="font-family:Courier New;"/span/strong/divbr /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"/divbr /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /br /div align="left"a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kIz5jtHFPl8/SbiyxAysQPI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Uj6kF2HQeKo/s1600-h/100_0154.jpg"/a/div/div/div/div/div/div/divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-1278809783683250397?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
February 25, 2009
0:14
New book I am working on
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family:'Courier New';"I have been working on a new book I have been outlining since last year and change on relationships. It started out being a mushy love story, but I have matured and been exposed to so many different revelations regarding this arena, that I decided to give the novel a different twist. It should be an fresh, entertaining read, especially knowing that up until about a year and change ago, I was the last person in the world anyone would have suspected would have any idea on what relationships are all about. This novel in its previous form (the mushy love story) was actually what I had planned on writing as my debut novel before my interest in HIV/AIDS came along, so it took a back burner. But I am happy it did. There were some things I had to learn, and as with most things meaningful, time and patience were essential to the process. Now the book is ready and ripe for writing./spanspan style="font-family:'Monotype Corsiva';"?xml:namespace prefix = o /o:p/o:p/span/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family:'Monotype Corsiva';"o:p/o:p/span/pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-7857223062467042197?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div
February 24, 2009
17:36
Consistency
» ‎ Musings: Ben Hinson's blog

p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" class="MsoNormal"/pp class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family:';"span style="font-family:courier new;"I am really tired. I did not get much sleep last night...then again, I never do. I played in a basketball game with two buddies at Columbia University, and my game was mediocre. I blame that on my inconsistency with playing. Unlike my teen years and my early twenties when I played ball practically every other day and every weekend, now, because of life's many demands (God, work, projects, loved one's, etc) I only get to play ball once every eight months at best. My shot is gone, my explosiveness is not there anymore, and yesterday I found myself struggling against guys I know I could have handled easily in years past./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"But that’s the way the game goes isn't it? If you don't maintain a skill or craft or passion or ethic, or attitude or routine, it is so easy to lose a foothold in that area. And once you lose that foothold, it is so hard to get back on track. Getting back on track is not impossible, and in the game yesterday there was a brief spurt when the old Ben resurfaced, and I was dropping three's in succession, I made four successful drives to the basket and I dominated the boards. But it was brief, and after the game and on the subway ride back downtown I realized that if I wanted to get back into the game there was a lot of work I had to do, and if I plan on succeeding then I would have to be consistent./spanbr /span style="font-family:courier new;"Success is a combination of a range of efforts, one of which is consistency. If I want to be a better partner, I have to take on admirable traits and be consistent in my application; if I want to be a better writer, I have to consistently continue writing, expand my range and be consistent in what I produce; if I want to be a better servant, I have to be consistent on how I follow the rules and put them to practice; if I want to be a better leader, I have to be consistent in how attentive and objective I am towards others needs; if I want to be a better friend, I have to be consistent in being selfless and unbiased with my friendships, and so forth. Because if I am not consistent in any of these areas, chances are I will never be successful./spanbr /br /span style="font-family:courier new;"I think I will start being consistent by remembering to get more rest at night:-)/span?xml:namespace prefix = o /o:p/o:p/span/pp style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" class="MsoNormal"/pdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8609116999494747266-2145686977168004702?l=benhinson.blogspot.com'//div

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Musings: Ben Hinson's blog (34 unread)

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Consistency