₦airaland Forum

What?    Me convince you?  You talking to me, right?  I don't see anyone else here.  lol. 

Did you see my opening 2nd post? 

On screen:
Speaker Boehner standing next to VP Joe Biden. lol.  Where've they been hiding him (Biden)?  Haven't seen him in ages. 

Applause for the congresswoman that was shot last year.  Her baldy astronaut husband.  She looks good.  Especially considering doctors had to cut into her skull, removing parts of it - due to swelling of her brain - to put it back on later.    I remember all that because there was a thread in this section that I constantly updated with all the breaking news at the time.

Mrs. Obama in her slinky silky satiny blue dress.  Tuesday night is disco night.   I will post a pic shortly.

Watch live here: http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN/

Many broadcast (network) channels are showing it live, including cable news channels CNN, MSNBC, etc. 

On screen now: Viewing the chamber, and all the Congressmen on the floor. . . making small talk, sidling up closer to the aisle and the entrance to get that customary handshake with their president.

They also switched out briefly to show Obama and first lady leaving in their motorcade to drive to the venue.  She's wearing an electric blue number. . . not really appropriate for the occasion, if I'm being honest.  It's not a dance party, is it? 

Anyway. . . it just goes to show how close the white house and the House of Rep are.  Also, I don't suppose the president has to worry about traffic - everyone kinda make way for you. lol

That's right, I said "Final."  

I don't care for the Repubs, but Obomber is a treacherous individual.  He betrayed his core supporters, including reneging on his promises on Immigration Reform, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and so many other two-faced backstabbing policies.  He also continues the typical US foreign policy of pursuing right-wing imperialistic and destructive policy against African peoples.

So, YES!, I hope this is the mofo's last SOTU address.   

I shall return with more fun commentary when the coverage begins.

SOTU 2012: Obama's Final State Of The Union Address
Tonight, Jan. 24, 2012, 9PM Eastern.
Washington, DC, House of Representatives
Attendees: Members of the House of Reps, members of the Senate, Justices of the US Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and special invitees, plus some members of the general public who will be seating in the upper deck.

More on SOTU speeches through the years:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php#axzz1kPH2zw72

I think most parents do favor a particular child, but good parents make every effort to not show it.  My parents didn't at all, but the youngest child did get a lot of attention.  We all knew the personal reasons why and we didn't take it to heart.  Now that everyone is grown, the youngest is now treated no different from everyone else.  BTW, I am the fave of both parents, but I never said that.

[quote author=~Bluetooth link=topic=848563.msg10000042#msg10000042 date=1326980558]I understand you sir.I will try and work out something but definitely not this time around.E se pupo sir
I just felt like she should be the one to apologize since the hatred is coming from her.[/quote]Oga Bluefunk,

I feel compelled to be the lone dissenting opinion in this romanticised planned reunion. lol.  Without belabouring the point or revealing too much, I have to simply say, there is a reason people "grow" apart.   A friend went out of his way, after a few years of not speaking, to reconcile with a relative who also was the one "the hatred is coming from," and it was nothing short of disastrous to his life and overall well-being.  (He contends that it is the biggest mistake he ever made in his life and regret it daily still, since he is yet to get this person out of his life - like it was before.  If he had it to do over again, he would have stayed away!)  If someone has a problem with you for whatever valid or invalid reason there is nothing you can do to turn them around.  Usually, the person just has a problem with him/herself, period!  Being a very family-centered person, I can't stand to be alienated from any family member and will do just about ANYTHING to keep in touch with everyone, so I am not against your reconnecting with your sister.  Just do it one step at a time and if you notice there is still some ill-will towards you, I can't imagine you wouldn't start running in the other direction.  That's the most I can share.

Anyway, his way of handling it is to now put more effort into creating his own family instead of continuing to deal with old family problems.  

morpheus24:
The captain loves his life too.

who wan die! Captain or no captain,

Abeg leave the guy o!

Are you joking? That's not how it goes, bud. How would you like to see an airplane pilot unbuckle his seatbelt and run out of the plane while passengers are still strapped in after a bad landing. Come on.

Also, the accident was HIS FAULT!

[size=14pt]Costa Concordia: What happened[/size]
BBC News

At least 11 people died and 24 are missing after the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground with more than 4,000 passengers and crew on 13 January, only hours after leaving the Italian port of Civitavecchia. The maps and graphics below reveal details about the vessel and its ill-fated journey.

At 9:30pm (2030 GMT), two and a half hours after leaving the port of Civitavecchia, the Costa Concordia hit a rocky outcrop as it sailed past the island of Giglio.

As the ship took on water, the captain tried to turn it towards the island's port, but the ship started to tilt and sink.

At 10:10pm, the abandon ship signal was given. Most passengers escaped in lifeboats, but evacuation efforts were hampered by the angle of the tilting ship and others were winched to safety by helicopter.

The rescue continued over the weekend, with the ship's safety officer, Marrico Giampietroni, being discovered and evacuated with a broken leg at 12:00pm on Sunday. A South Korean couple were also rescued. The search continues for the missing.

Captain Francesco Schettino, now under arrest on suspicion of manslaughter, said the rocks were not marked on maps and were not detected by navigation systems.

But the ship's owners, Costa Cruises, said the captain had made an "unapproved, unauthorised" deviation in course, sailing too close to the island in order to show the ship to locals.

Automatic tracking systems show the route of the Costa Concordia until it ran aground on 13 January. Data from 14 August last year shows the ship followed a similar course close to the shoreline, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence. On 6 January this year, it passed through the same strait but sailed much further from the island.

Investigators have recovered the "black box" system similar to those used by aircraft, that record voices on the bridge, as well as radar position and other data, which they hope will explain how the incident happened.

Divers have been searching the ship as it rests on the seabed in about 20m of water. The operation has been suspended a number of times as the ship has shifted position. The sea floor eventually drops to about 100m.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16563562

[flash=520,340]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhppw50Z3-M[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhppw50Z3-M

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX_08zcCmx8[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX_08zcCmx8

Cruise disaster: word by angry word - coastguard accuses Concordia captain of abandoning passengers

Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia was repeatedly ordered back on to his stricken ship by coastguard officials after they discovered he was in a lifeboat rather than commanding the evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew.

In an extraordinary exchange with the Italian port authorities, Francesco Schettino was accused of abandoning hundreds of passengers still trapped on the listing cruise ship and of refusing a direct order to get back on board and help with the rescue effort.

A senior coastguard officer was aghast when Capt Schettino, 52, told him that he was trying to coordinate the operation from the safety of a lifeboat, while apparently being unaware that some of his passengers had lost their lives in the disaster.

“What do you want? To go back home, Schettino?” the furious official yelled, after the captain complained that he couldn’t see anything because it was “dark”.

A transcript of the exchange, between the Concordia’s captain and Gregorio De Falco, a captain with the Livorno port authorities, was released yesterday as Capt Schettino appeared before prosecutors and a judge at a preliminary hearing on whether he should be kept in custody.

He is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship before all passengers were evacuated, after apparently sailing too close to the island of Giglio to come within sight of his head waiter’s family home.

Francesco Verusio, the prosecutor who is leading the investigation, has called the captain’s behaviour “inexcusable”.

Capt Schettino’s lawyer Bruno Leporatti said his client’s actions had saved “hundreds if not thousands of lives” and insisted he had not abandoned his ship.

The audio recording of his increasingly frantic exchange with Capt De Falco however, appeared to show Capt Schettino had fled the listing vessel while hundreds of passengers were trapped on board.

The tape revealed Capt De Falco’s mounting anger and frustration as he struggled to get the captain back on board his sinking ship. The exchange came at around 1.46am on Saturday, around four hours after the initial collision between the Costa Concordia and an underwater rock formation just a few hundred yards off the coast of Giglio.

The collision caused Capt Schettino to attempt to steer the ship back into the island’s port, but it capsized on to a rocky shelf as it reached shallow water. The evacuation of the vessel eventually began at around 11.50pm and would not be complete until about 4.45am, but at the time of the recording Capt Schettino had apparently already left the cruise ship and was in a lifeboat heading for safety.

Coastguard official, Captain Gregorio De Falco (CG): “Hello. This is De Falco from Livorno, am I speaking with the captain?”
Captain Francesco Schettino (FS): “Yes, good evening Captain De Falco.”
CG: “Am I speaking with the captain? Please tell me your name.”
FS: “This is captain Schettino.”
CG: “Schettino? Listen Schettino, there are people trapped on board. Now you need to go on your lifeboat, under the bow of the ship on the side. There is a ladder. You need to climb up the ladder and board the ship. Get on board and report to me how many people there are. Is that clear? I am recording this conversation, captain Schettino.”
FS: “Captain, let me tell you one thing, ”
CG: “Speak up!”
FS: “The ship, at this moment, ”
CG: “Captain, speak up! Shield the microphone with your hand and speak louder, clear?”
FS: “At this moment the ship is tilted.”
CG: “I understand. Listen, there are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. Go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship, and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. Clear? Tell me if there are children, women and what kind of help they need. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Look, Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit!”
FS: “Captain, please, ”
CG: “There is no 'please’ about it. Go back on board. Assure me you are going back on board!”
FS: “I am in the lifeboat, under the ship, I haven’t gone anywhere, I’m here.”
CG: “What are you doing?”
FS: “I am coordinating, ”
CG: “What are you coordinating there? Get on board the ship and coordinate the rescue on board. Are you refusing?”
FS: “No, no I am not refusing.”
CG: “Are you refusing to go on board? Tell me the reason why you are not going.”
FS: “I am not going because there is another lifeboat that has stopped.”
CG: “You get on board. This is an order. You need to continue the rescue. You called the evacuation, now I am in charge. You need to go on board the ship, is that clear?”
FS: “Captain.”
CG: “Can you hear me?”
FS: “I am going.”
CG: “Go. Call me when you are on board. My air rescue team is there. He is at
the bow. Get going. There are already corpses Schettino. Move!”
FS: “How many dead are there?”
CG: “I don’t know. One I am aware of. One I’ve heard of. You need to be telling me this. Christ!”
FS: “But you are aware it is dark and we can’t see anything?”
CG: “And what do you want? To go back home, Schettino? It’s dark and you want to go back home? Get on the bow of the ship and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what do they need. Now!”
FS: “I am here with the second commander.”
CG: “Excuse me?”
FS: “I am here with the second commander his name is, ”
CG: “So both of you, get on board, both of you. What is the name of the second?”
FS: “Dimitry.”
CG: “Dimitry who?”
FS: “Dimitry,  “ (Unclear)
CG: “You and your second commander, go and get on board now. Is that clear?”
FS: “I want to get on board the ship but the other lifeboat has stopped its engine and it is drifting and I called other rescuers.”
CG: “It’s already one hour you are telling me this. Now, get on board. Get on board! And you tell me how many people there are.”
FS: “OK, Captain.”
CG: “Go, right now!”

After a short break and with rescue workers struggling to evacuate the remaining passengers and crew from the ship, the exchange between Capt De Falco and Capt Schettino continues:
CG: “Captain, I am De Falco from Livorno.”
FS: “I have called the company and they told me there are hundreds of people on board the ship. I think.”
CG: “Captain can you not give me an exact number?”
FS: “It seems like it’s 100. Captain, I am not able to give you the exact number. Earlier we were carrying out the evacuation of all the passengers and now all of us officers are here.”
CG: “Where are you? You and your officers are all on the lifeboat?”
FS: “Yes, me and the second commander, ”
CG: “Excuse me but earlier it was just you and your sailor and now you are telling me that you are there with the officers. So you could have continued the evacuation? Why don’t you go back on board and see what is happening and then tell us?
FS: “At the moment, ”
CG: “Get back on board! Send someone back on board to coordinate.”
FS: “I am coordinating at the moment.”
CG: “I am giving you an order captain. You must send someone on board.”
FS: “We are going on board to coordinate.”
CG: “Exactly, you have to go back on board to coordinate the evacuation. Is that clear?”
FS: “But we can’t go back on board now.”
CG: “Why did you get them off Captain?
FS: “They abandoned the ship.”
CG: “One hundred people still on board and you abandoned the ship?
FS: “I didn’t abandon any ship because the ship turned on its side quickly and we were catapulted into the water.”
CG: “We will see later what happened. OK. But from now you let me know everything that is happening. You stay on the life boat and don’t you go away. Is that clear?”
FS: “We are here, we are here.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9021456/Cruise-disaster-word-by-angry-word-coastguard-accuses-Concordia-captain-of-abandoning-passengers.html

Costa Concordia: captain ‘says he tripped and fell into lifeboat’

https://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02111/Concordia_2111152c.jpg

The captain of the crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship, Francesco Schettino, has reportedly said the reason he was in a lifeboat while thousands of panic-stricken passengers and crew were trying to evacuate was because he “tripped” and fell into the rescue craft.

Mr Schettino told investigating magistrates in Grosseto, on the Italian mainland, that he ended up in the lifeboat by accident.

During three hours of interrogation on Tuesday, he reportedly said: “The passengers were pouring onto the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault. I didn’t even have a life jacket because I had given it to one of the passengers. I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That’s how I found myself there.”
He said he got stuck in the lifeboat for an hour before it was lowered into the water off the coast of Giglio island.

Also with him was Dimitri Christidis, the Greek second in command of the Concordia and Silvia Coronica, the third officer, according to La Repubblica newspaper.

“Suspended there, I was unable to lower the boat into the sea, because the space was blocked by other boats in the water.

The captain confirmed that he took the cruise liner close to Giglio’s rocky coast in order to give a ‘salute’ to an old colleague, a former Costa Cruises captain named Mario Palombo.

“It’s true that the salute was for Commodore Mario Palombo, with whom I was on the telephone. The route was decided as we left Civitavecchia but I made a mistake on the approach. I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times. But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow.

“I don’t know why it happened, I was a victim of my instincts.”
Once he had reached dry land and was allowed to leave the harbour master's office, Schettino's primary concern was to buy some socks.
Ottavio Brizzi, a taxi driver on the island of Giglio, said he picked him up at 11.30am on Saturday and took him the 400 yards to the Bahamas Hotel.

"It was a very short journey, no more than 30 seconds if that," he said. "He didn't say very much apart from asking me where he could buy some dry socks. He looked very cold and scared - he looked like a beaten dog."

Mr Schettino has been accused by one of the officers on board the Costa Concordia of skippering the ship "like a Ferrari" driver.
"If I had to make a comparison, we got the impression that he would drive a bus like a Ferrari," Martino Pellegrino told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.
Salvage work was expected to begin on the ship later on Wednesday, as hopes faded that any more survivors would be rescued. The search was suspended early on Wednesday morning after the ship shifted on the rock. 24 people remain missing, while 11 people have so far been found dead.

https://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02111/SCHETTINO_JAIL_2111952c.jpg

Mr Pellegrino said Capt Schettino was an "authoritarian" who was often "inflexible" in the way he commanded the giant liner as it cruised the Mediterranean.

Mario Palombo, a former Costa commander and colleague of the captain, said: "I've always had my reservations about Schettino. It's true, he was my second in command, but he was too exuberant. A daredevil. More than once I had to put him in his place."
It was reported that a month ago the captain insisted on setting sail from Marseilles in 60 knot winds, despite the reservations of his officers.

But other colleagues came to his defence. Michele Miccio, another officer on the ship, said Capt Schettino had forged "a brilliant career" with Costa Cruises.
The captain's sister, Giulia Schettino, said he had been unfairly subjected to "mud-slinging" and said the accusations against him had not yet been proved.
"My brother will demonstrate that he had no responsibility for what happened," she said.
Italians have been transfixed by the release of dramatic audio tapes in which furious Coast Guard officials questioned why he was in a lifeboat rather than commanding the evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew once it ran aground.

At one point a Coast Guard official, Gregorio De Falco, told him: "Get the ---- back on board." The phrase has been seized on by Italians on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites and has been printed on T-shirts.

Capt Schettino arrived at his home near Sorrento, south of Naples, in the early hours of Wednesday, having been released from prison and placed under house arrest by an investigating judge.
He had been held in custody in prison in Grosseto, in Tuscany, since being arrested on Saturday, hours after the giant cruise ship ran aground on Giglio.

A judge, Valeria Montesarchio, ruled that he should be allowed to remain under house arrest as he awaits trial on accusations of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship.
The 52-year-old captain denied the allegations through his lawyer.

"The captain defended his role on the direction of the ship after the collision, which in the captain's opinion saved hundreds if not thousands of lives," Bruno Leporatti said. "The captain specified that he did not abandon ship."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9022170/Costa-Concordia-captain-says-he-tripped-and-fell-into-lifeboat.html

Homar:
Otokoto or otoro anyone u like call him went to dust-bin shop to buy casket to burry his dead son (bright) so dust-bin sold him d casket so he went home and buried bright . The next week another of his son (mikey mouse or abi mikuz) died . So he went to dust-bin and bought another coffin and buried him. D third week another of his son (dani1hate) died so [b]as he went to buy d casket to bury him he saw that dustbins face grew with smile [/b]as he came in d shop . And so otokoto/otoro pleaded that he did not have enough money to buy casket that he should reduce d price for him (his children were dying of hunger) . And so dust-bin said dont worry my most patriotic customer for i would even sell d coffins to you on credit and so otooro burst out in anger MAY THE NEXT DEATHS BE YOUR CHILDRENS DEATHS WICKED MAN.

Whaaaaat?!

Weird subject-matter, but. . .https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif   https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif    https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif    https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif    https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif   https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif    https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif    https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif    https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/24.gif  OMG!   

https://www.ngrguardiannews.com/components/com_fpss/images/PAGE_3_PIX___18_1_12.jpg
Motorcyclists on the queue for petrol at a filling station.  Courtesy: The Guardian (Nig.)

Honestly I've seen a lot of disgraceful threads on NL, but this takes the cake.  And it took a non-Nigerian "Arab Boy" to even talk sense into these people.  Shameful. Spitting on your own culture.

We all know by now that the strike against the subsidy removal is over since GEJ agreed to a lesser increase than what was initially stated on January 2nd.  The compromise is 97 naira from a 2011 rate of 63 naira.

Okay, so the people I talked to on Monday said the official announcement from Labour came at 3pm local time.  One relative said she was going stir crazy stuck in the house for over a week - other than the weekend reprieve of food and provisions shopping - and was happy to be able to go back to her business.  They said they had lights most of the time, but were concerned that in the morning, there would be problems getting petrol.  hmmm.  Also, the old folks refused to let my sis go out to the protests; they said she was way too nosy and always has to put her eyes into everything, so they took her car keys.

Talked to someone else today and they said everyone is back at work.  I didn't get any direct info about the climate and moods of the populace.  Next time.

[flash=520,340]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O19p7oc7Y6U[/flash]

"Africans Just Can't Run Things"? "Africans Just Can't Run Things," he says.

Like we called on their pale asses when we were running our kingdoms!  Bastard!  These imperialist mofos kill or undermine our heroes (PATRICE LUMUMBA) and impose or prop up empty suits no better than scarecrows. . . and "we can't run things"?  It's not their fault. 

So many African proverbs come to mind. lol

It is good to see Randall Robinson of TransAfrica again.  I would like to see the full video and come back to discuss it.

Thanks, Igbo2011. 

[size=14pt]MLK "I have A Dream" Speech[/size]

https://www.ipolitics360.com/pub/photos/20110827212606_gty_martin_luther_king_speech_lincoln_memorial_mw_110822_wg1.jpg

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

[flash=520,340]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs[/flash]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!


Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I have A Dream"
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
August 28, 1963

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm


MLK's "I Have Been To The Mountaintop" speech 1968
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-672198.0.html#msg8363765

MLK's "1964 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance" speech
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-acceptance.html

Since today is a government holiday and a public holiday for most in the USA, as is expected, there is a number of documentaries airing on tv about Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of the enduring topics is whether James Earl Ray acted alone.  Just as in the JFK assassination, many feel that there was definitely a conspiracy in the King assassination as well.

I have come to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.  I know I know, it is an insult and an affront to suggest to some Americans of a certain age, that "the single bullet theory" might have some credibility.  To them it's "the MAGIC BULLET theory." lol

Nevertheless, I am convinced Oswald acted alone in the JFK shooting.  I am also leaning to the viewpoint that Ray also acted alone in MLK's murder.  That is a harder one to be sure of, since so many wanted the man dead.  And J. Edgar Hoover at the FBI had a special and enduring hatred for King.  The lowlife lifelong closeted freak!  Oh well, back to the topic.

Do you believe that the right man, and lone shooter, was convicted for the death of Reverend King?

This is also a time when we're wont to wonder what King would have accomplished were the to have lived past his 38th birthday.  (I recall reading that he was under so much stress he actually had the heart of a 60-year-old man when he passed.)

[quote author=see*noevil link=topic=847103.msg9975783#msg9975783 date=1326708875]EYA !!! KPELE !!! SORRY O!! god don catch una shebi na una dey shout make dem impeach GEJ now wen south south boys don talk una don dey do "don't worry we would survive on this and that" lol Does that mean without the oil from the Niger delta the south west and north wouldn't be able to survive ? god don catch una lol . FYI CANADA makes about 70% of its money from Oil , They have a huge reserve of Oil sand reserves ,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada#Economy

so make u no come hiya dey lie sey na bitumen Canada dey use make money but on the other hand countries like bangladesh , Somali , Nepal have lots of BITUMEN and look how "successful" they are:

somalia: http://www.globalenvision.org/files/73577336_f51d0f7df8_o.jpg[/quote]What's the point of the rubbish you posted?  You enjoy seeing hungry and desperate children, and you look forward to an epidemic of hunger in Nigeria?  Shame.  "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. . .as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

Watch live.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/generic/news/Remembering-Dr-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-2012-Live-Stream-20120109-pk

MLK Day Service - Jan 16, 2012

Being broadcast on a local tv station, started at 10am eastern time.

Missed the first hour.  It's always a lot of fun and inspirational too.

(Already in progress):

Some youth, dressed in different international costumes, are saying prayers mixed with words of/about Dr. King.

Bernice King (looks like she is the MC) takes the podium briefly, says the old saying, "behind every successful man there is a strong woman." is wrong.  It should be "BESIDE every strong man, there is a strong woman."  Some words about her mother and what she said about her commitment and marriage not only to MLK but to the movement.

Deboooooooo!
Thanks for the education.  Anything gleaned from folks back home?  Or has your band of naija-gypsies trekked halfway around the world with no more of them left on Naija soil? 


My stories cont.:

Talked to an older relative at the weekend.  They still have food because people previously planned and stocked their cupboard really well before the start of the strike.  See, this is something I could never do; If I buy more food than normal and then I am stuck at home?  They'll come check me in a week's time and find I can't fit through the door. lol.   
He says the subsidy removal was necessary because it is the neighboring African countries who are benefiting most from it.

Talked to another relative in Lagos today.  A normally meek and mild woman.  She said everyone is ready to fight it out with the government because the removal of the subsidy is ill-timed and is bound to wreak further havoc on people who are already suffering.  She said Saturday and Sunday, the strike was temporarily lifted so everyone could replenish and get more food and provisions for the coming week - strike continues this Monday.  I swear, if this chick is gonna hang in there for the long haul and get this revolutionary fervour, Goodluck is screwed!  It means normally passive compliant and patriotic Naijas are FED-UP!!! She said she hopes for continued "peaceful" protest as it has being all along - for the most part.  That what they are asking for is that this subsidy removal was ill-timed, and the certain things should have been put in place beforehand, incl., building and repairing of refineries.

So, you don't think she's hot?  Are you calling her fat?   Do you think he should keep her hidden from view?  What exactly is your problem with the pictures, bud?  I didn't see you complaining when beaf was posting pics of nubile young women for your pleasure.  I guess that's the problem right there!   Maybe you should go back over to that other room (thread) and look at the pictures you do like.

Come back when you have first-hand report of conversations with people back home in Naija . . . if you are indeed a Naija. . .

hmmm?

morpheus24:
Can you identify the light skin boy in this pic. Who is he? What traitor slept with Jaqueline Chanoos   a citizen of the colonial regime that  is oppressing Ivory coast.

Hang the traitor, ENEMY!!!!

You missed the point of the passage you quoted:  The issue is that that fool is a stooge! 

So we don't have to revisit this cos I see my patience and time on NL waning (lol), but I am not the sort that think all black people have the interest of the black race at heart and all whities or "bi-racial" or "light-skinned blacks" do not.  Some of the worst nightmares of black folk have been and continue to be other blacks.  Marrying a white woman does not make you "not one of us."  I'm sure I don't have to give you examples of black men married to white women who have made real contributions to the liberation struggle.  That slowpoke stooge in Cote d'Ivoire is a despicable tool, and I'm being kind. 

cap28:
isale gan - the vultures are moving in for the kill,

read this:

we need a revolution.

It's enough to make you throw up your hands and retreat from the world, I tell ya.

In the past, we didn't see the handwriting on the wall - we didn't see these people scheming before they've effected their plans.  But now we get to see thing as they progress but still unable to arrest it!

Look how the whole Gaddafi overthrow and murder developed.  We saw it all.  In slow motion.

Look at the overrated Iweala, an utter stooge.  She can't even have a 2-minute conversation with Sahara Reporters without resorting to transparent lies about a bad phone connection - but she's the best of us?  So, the IMF is now the training ground for the new house-negroes?  

Here's another oreo trained by IMF - Ouattara the eunuch, the African tool of Sarkozy and his zionist buddies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alassane_Ouattara.
[img]http://2.bp..com/-GYdyi4S-WQA/TbC8sVoDBTI/AAAAAAAAAEk/SsuOc1y5sQ4/s320/Ouattara%2527s+French+wife-Nouvian+Folloroux.jpeg[/img]
http://mamluks..com/2011/04/simon-gbagbo-beaten-tortured-and.html
https://www.allwestafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/610x-110.jpg
http://bytheearlylight..com/2011/06/truth-and-reconciliation-part-5.html
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTAltWVYZkQwzjKHFXX_ESKC7Mul8Gf2Iftz2UinioHElAbwP6xRA[/img]
http://frindethie./2011/04/14/cote-d%E2%80%99ivoire-ouattara%E2%80%99s-death-squad-hunting-journalists-artists-and-christian-worshippers-m-frindethie/

Imagine if during the struggle with gbagbo, a picture had been released of his "wife" being subjected to the treatment Mrs. Gbagbo was.  And we had Nigerians on this silly site full of even stupider Africans hailing the behaviour and their neo-colonial masters.  

I told you before, you had a of of patience trying to educate this semi-literate people.  I think I actually had a better image of our people before I started spending time on here.  The ignorance and Western worship is startling!  No matter what we say of akata behaviour, fact is, even the most "uneducated" ones know more about the systemic destruction of black peoples all over the world than these Nigerians who are the most overly educated black people you will ever see.  There is a difference between going to school and amassing degrees and actually having real knowledge and applying that knowledge to real life.  Naijas (at least the most vocal ones strutting around this virtual conference hall) are a disappointment.
P.S.: I am talking about NLers/Nigerians in general, not just the ones at home or who schooled at home.  From my observation, often the Diasporans are much worse in their mentality and general outlook.

pDude:
I have long studied the trend in Nigeria and I have decided to reconstruct how the whole thing is going to go down.

On January 1st the president is gonna give his yearly speech and he would read out the budget. After reading out the 2011 budget, he would tell us that the fuel subsidy has been removed but kerosene prices will still be stable (trying to pacify our fears with kerosene) bla bla bla. Naturally, people will get angry and a lot of noise will start being made.

After the broadcast, you will naturally go outdoors to buy breakfast things: bread, eggs, milk, cocoa, etc but you will suddenly realize that the 500 naira which  U̶̲̥̅̊  intended to use for the entire purchase is now totally useless. The loaf of bread (formerly 250naira)alone would cost more than 500 naira (naturally because of the multiplier effect of the fuel increase which is almost *3) and an egg would cost about 80 naira. Traders would increase their prices far above twice or thrice the price because of the insecurity and need to maximize profit.

From this point, things would begin to detriorate rapidly. You would notice quickly that the little amount of money in your bank account will be almost useless. Hungry people who couldn't buy breakfast would begin to fill the streets. Any shop owner who is present at that time will get into arguments with buyers and before you can say 'Jack' he will have his store pillaged. Then mob action begins. Because of the need to secure one's self, looting of shops and stores would begin. I really pity traders at this time.

A few hours later, area boys and touts would take to the streets: burning, looting, pillaging and fighting. Only a few will remain indoors. Miscreants would then begin house-to-house ransacking (I implore you at this point, if your house is visited for robbing, kindly allow them rob you cos your life is more important). At this point, it would really be a sad time for two sets of people: Ladies who dey form yanga and neighbourhood opressors.
On the street level, everyone would be carrying a stick or weapon to either protect himself or for attack. If you had any beef with any neighbourhood dude, I implore you to quickly make peace with him or else he might just visit you that day with a bunch of his friends.

You make ask at this point, "what about the police and other security or military personnel?" Don't worry about them because they will be too busy hiding themselves because at this point, angry youths would have taken over the streets and any uniformed personnel would be a potential target.
  Banks would be ransacked, cars burnt, local govt offices would be in flames, girls violated, several dead bodies lying around, gangs and factions would clash, etc. When a form of decorum takes over at a certain point, people would mobilize and begin marching to the various government houses and lodges to take back their own pound of flesh from the government officials. If any of our politicians or leader have not been wise enough to leave the country at this time, they would have themselves to blame. A few foolish ones may try to surround themselves with mobile police units or soldiers, but by the time these military operative envision the mass of people approaching, they would drop their guns, tear off their uniforms and flee (like the cowards they are), deserting the politician. The mob will then descend on that politician and lynch him. Also his lodge will be razed to the ground but not after it is looted.

A massive inflation would then set in, dwarfing both the German and Zimbabwean inflation (Nigeria is an extreme place and negative situations are normally extreme). Your saved up money would become totally useless.

The Ijaw and Niger Delta youth (MEND) would go into action and declare independence from Nigeria; they would arm themselves to the teeth and begin protecting their oil fields and wells. No exploration of oil would take place in that region once they do that. Nigerians would begin to feel the hardship. The Bokos would then take over the north and begin killing any foriegner they can lay their hands upon. Northern Nigeria would shortly become like Somalia.

Our President and his ministers would then be targeted next. There would be a massive march of youths carrying sticks, stones, a few rifles and any weapon that they can lay their eyes upon. At this time, dialogue would be a waste. The Nigerian youths would have blood on their mind and damn any person still found in Aso Rock. He might try to surround himself with military personnel but at the end after a few protesters have been shot and killed, they will eventually fall upon them and lynch them ( see the capture of Ghadaffi).


At this point in time, the Nigerian topography and atmosphere will resemble the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust: fires burning, bodies littering the street, area boys in control, Bokos and Almajiris running wild, Militancy in the ND,  and a general air of chaos.



This is just a reconstruction which I was discussing about with a few friends. Many might doubt that we would do our normal siddon look but I really doubt if this will be the case at this point. The rich and the poor will be affected and all would participate in the riot.

If our leaders are wise, let them hear. Nigerians are waiting for you. The catalyst that might topple Nigeria is the fuel subsidy removal. Tread carefully.

Did you really write this up on Nov 7? Interesting. Good job.

One thing missing is, the part where U.S. and NATO do whatever necessary to safeguard the production of Nigerian oil. Remember when they went into Irag, despite the hundreds of thousands killed, power outages, religious killings, they reserved their strongest defense for the oil rigs and ensured that the oil kept flowing.

That's his opinion.  Which is very much influenced by his extreme disdain for Tinubu and what he considers Tinubu's "hijacking" of the western political machine, specifically the revamped ACN.

It doesn't nullify the very real combustible events happening on ground, and the fact that no matter how well-meaning, the president is punching well above his weight.  Recognize! 

Politics aside, we have serious hard times looming.  We all should be concerned

P.S. That older man I talked to? He has a history of downplaying events so as not to worry us or create panic. Very cool and controlled guy, that's all.

(USA to Lagos) Telephone call to an older relative who is very politically savvy. 

He said they are staying indoors.  That the news stations are reporting the news and that the television networks have not been asked to stop nor is he aware of any censorship.  He also said that a lot of the recycled news, especially that on the internet, is calculated to undermine the efforts of the national government - that state some politicians are out to use this opportunity to score political gains.  He pointed out the irony of Tinubu, who he considers a crook as someone who makes a lot of money from oil being the godfather of the party that he feels is coordinating the strikes and a lot of the anti-GEJ/PDP demonstrations.  Wow! 

A view directly contradicting the earlier one today; unless he is just as concerned but simply trying to avoid worry and panic.

He said there is a strike tomorrow as well, but he expects things will not get out of control.

We wait. 

(edited)

       

I think he's happily married.  (Congratulations, Cap, if so. Don't answer, please. lol.)
And I know I don't have to tell anyone, no mean comments about families. 

Here's my new thread. Stuff's happening fast and furious at home.
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-842457.0.html

There are so many threads in Politics section, I cannot keep up!  I'm also watching ChannelsTv.  I can't get Al-Jazeera to play.  Is there one specifically for African news or is it just the English-language one that everyone is watching?

So far, we're hearing. . . Demonstrations/Riots(?), Workers Strike, Reprisal(?) attacks in Benin, a man killed by police. . . and so on.

There is a threadin Politics section, https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-842109.0.html, asking for first-hand account of what people on the ground in Naija are seeing.  A very good thread, but seems to have fizzled out since there are about 20 active threads at the moment covering the ongoing events.

I thought we'd use this thread similarly - to get first-hand account of what your family and friends are in Naija are telling you when you communicate with them.


My account:
I'm in the USA.  A relative called me at 4pm Lagos time, and said everyone is home.  No work, no shops, etc.  They're watching events unfold on tv.  The most compelling thing she said was that, things are so bad . . .the feeling in the air, and that "o da bi pe won ma yo ijoba yi kuro o!" Meaning that the government may not survive.


As I wrote above, there's too many threads to keep up, please ADD DIRECT INFORMATION THAT YOU HEARD OR RECEIVED FROM YOUR PEOPLE BACK HOME.

Thanks.

Morpheus,
Either propose to Cap28 or get off his ar.se! 
(BTW, I thought they mentioned needing a moderator for this secton. I'd even support and champion you for it.)

You guys have not thought up a single memorable thread or discussion from 2011 either. 


I'm starting a thread on events developing in Naija; maybe we can tackle real-time current events.