₦airaland Forum

ROSA PARKS
Born in Alabama, an American state that was highly segregated in the 1950s, Rosa Parks was an unassuming seamstress who would soon become the "mother" of the civil rights movement.
On the 1st of December 1955, Rosa Parks entered the history books by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. This was considerd a violation of the segregation laws that were in place at the time, resulting in her arrest, a court appearance and a $14 fine.
Her action led to a huge protest campaign, led by 26-year-old pastor Martin Luther King: for 381 days, black citizens boycotted the bus company. The influential pacifist movement resulted in the abolition of segregation laws one year later by the Supreme Court.
Several years after her arrest, Rosa Parks confessed: "People say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically (...) No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

JOSEPHINE BAKER
Born into poverty in Missouri in 1906, Josephine Baker claimed both African American and Apalachee Indian heritage, and she quickly became a huge name.
Married at 13 and separated a few months later, she dedicated herself wholeheartedly to her passion, dance, which led her to the cabaret theaters in America and Paris, where she finally settled and obtained French nationality.
Josephine Baker is often considered to be the first black female star. Aside from her dancing, she was a very intelligent woman who came to run in high-class Parisian circles.
She joined the Red Cross, aided the French Resistance during the Second World War, and opened a château in the Dordogne where she welcomed children from all over the world.
When asked why she left the United States for France, it is said she responded that it was because she could no longer stand living in a country where she was "afraid to be black"

MICHELLE OBAMA
Born in Chicago, Michelle Obama is now an figurehead. Prior to her marriage Michelle LaVaughn Robinson studied law at Princeton and Harvard before working at the law firm Sidley Austin.
While working there as the only African American woman, she met the man who would later become her husband and change the lives of millions: Barack Obama.
In 2009, when her husband was sworn in as president, Michelle Obama became the first black First Lady in the history of the United States.
Her different engagements (Red Cross, the Let's Move campaign, etc.) and her elegance make her a well-known personality around the world. She is constantly featured in magazine best dressed lists, and wears the top fashions, like the Carolina Herrera dress she recently wore to the State Dinner!
Michelle Obama has made the fight against obesity and for childhood fitness a major focus of her role as First Lady.
She has worked with celebrities like Beyonce to bring awareness to childhood fitness, and through her Let's Move campaign, she has encouraged children across America to get active.
She now works with Dr. Jill Biden on the Joining Forces initiative to help support American soldiers and military families across the nation.
Michelle Obama © Sipa

MADAM C.J WALKER
Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove, the daughter of two slaves from Louisiana in the second half of the 19th century. She was orphaned at age 7 and soon found herself in the adult world: as a servant at 10 and married at 14. She later became a formidable businesswoman a bit by chance.
The victim of a scalp disease that made her lose her hair, Madam C.J. Warker (she took the name of her third husband) developed a formula to remedy hair problems and began to commercialize it.
Success was immediate!
Madam C.J. Warkercreated a complete range of haircare products for black women, which sold throughout the country. She toured, attended conferences, and trained her representatives - such things were almost unheard of at the time.
She became the first black millionaire businesswoman. And she decided to use her influence to lobby for the rights of black Americans.
In 1998, the United States postal service even issued a commemorative stamp to honor Madam C.J. Warker!

WARIS DIRIE
The daughter of Somalian nomads, Waris Dirie fled her country at the age of 13 to escape an arranged marriage with a 60-year-old man and moved to London.
While in London, she was spotted in the street by a photographer and so her career as an international model and an (almost) fairytale life began...
Waris was circumcised at the age of 3 in the name of tradition, so she has made the fight against female genital mutiliation a major part of her life.
She decided to take the couragous step and talk publicly to the media about her female circumcision;she was later appointed goodwill ambassador for the United Nations by Kofi Annan.
In 2002, she created the Waris Dirie Foundation, and she continues to fight against female genital mutilation across the world.
In 2010, a film was adapted from Waris Dirie's autobiography,Desert Flower.

ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a Liberian politician and economist. After studying in the United States at Harvard, she became Assistant Minister of Finance then Minister of Finance in Liberia.
Her now dead ex-husband used to unleash violent outbursts as he struggled to accept his wife's career...
In 2005, Ellen became the first woman to be elected president of an African state, in elections organized by the UN.
In mid-October 2011, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf came out ahead during the first round of Liberian elections.
On the 7th October 2011, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf received the Nobel Peace Prize, which she shares with two other women, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman, for their pacifist commitment in favor of male-female equality.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf © Sipa

ANGELA DAVIS
Angela Davis was born in 1944 in the state of Alabama and is most famous for her activities as a communist campaigner during the civil rights movements and a member of the Black Panther movement.
Angela's Marxist and revolutionary activism saw her name figure on the FBI's most wanted list in the 1960s, on the orders of J. Edgar Hoover. And in 1972, she was sentenced to death for having participated in a fatal shooting.
Thanks to an international mobilization, she was finally acquitted and she became an icon of the struggle for black people's rights.
After her arrest, Angela Davis was openly supported by Aragon, Sartre, Prévert, The Rolling Stones (who dedicated the song Sweet Black Angel to her) and John Lennon who wrote her the song Angela.
Angela Davissoon learned that equality between white and black people would only exist if there was also equality between men and women, and she quickly became the leading figure of black feminism.
Today she is a professor of feminist studies at the University of California Santa Cruz.

TYRA BANKS
Tyra Banks is one of the most powerful supermodels and television personalities in the media today. She was born in 1973 in California.
After shooting a print piece for Seventeen magazine, she quickly rose up the fashion modeling ranks. During her first season in Paris in 1991, she booked 25 runway shows.
Tyra was the first African-American woman to appear on the cover ofGQ, theSports Illustratedswimsuit edition, and theVictoria's Secretlingerie catalogue.
She created the showAmerica's Next Top Modelin 2003, and has been producing and hosting the popular hit reality series ever since!
Tyra hosted her own ever-popular talk show,The Tyra Show, for five years until it ended in 2010. In early 2012, she finished a special cource for CEOs and top executives at Harvard Business School.

HATTIE McDANIEL
Actress Hattie McDaniel was born in 1895 in Kansas and was the youngest of 13 children. By 1925, she became the very first African-American woman on the radio.
In 1934 she appeared on-screen for the first time inJudge Priest. In 1939, Hattie landed the role that she would become known for throughout history: Mammy inGone with the Wind.
Though many critics will criticize the film and Hattie's character as insulting to African Americans, the role opened doors for Hattie and she later became the first black woman to win an Academy Award, as Best Supporting Actress.
Hattie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1952 and died soon after. She will forever be remembered and was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975.

Being a woman is hard enough, but being a black woman means you’ve had to fight for your rights twice over, and that deserves some serious respect.
Black history month is the time the whole world sets aside to remember the struggles African-Americans have had to face throughout the years. But it isn't all negative, this February is also time for celebrating the achievements of many who helped fight for human rights.
So in honor of this monumental month, we've put together a list of the top black women who have changed history. These women have overcome all of the limitations the world placed on them, and made their marks in the course of the world.
From conquering politics, battling the horrors of FGM, to helping change the racism and prejudice held in the modeling and acting worlds, all of these women have made a massive difference to how black men and women are treated and portrayed in our modern world.
So if you want to know just how much of a difference our First Lady, Rosa Parks and any of these other 11 women have made, here’s our round up of 13 black women who have changed the world.

HARRIET TUBMAN
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland in 1820. She succesfully escaped to the free state of Pennsylvania in 1849, but was forced to leave many family members behind.
Over time, Harriet returned back to the South to deliver her parents, siblings and over 60 others to the freedom of the North. Harriet became known to history as the conductor of the Underground Railroad, the series of hideouts and houses leading slaves to safety.
As slavery changed with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, she began to help escaping slaves make it all the way to Canada, where slavery was outlawed.
Harriet was active during the Civil War as a cook and nurse for the Union Army and worked as an abolitionist throughout her life.
When she died, Harriet was buried with full military honors, and now has dozens of schools named in her honor, the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, and the Harriet Tubman Museum in Cambridge, to honor her memory.

If you were to be treated this way?.........what will you do?

If you were to be treated this way?.........what will you do?

US Donates High Tech Bomb Disposal Robots to Nigeria Police and promise to continue assisting the country further in management of scene of crime and equipment.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ag. IGP Suleiman Abba NPM, mni, on August 20, 2014 at Force Headquarters, Abuja, received the US Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, James F. Entwistle.
The US Ambassador congratulated the Ag. IGP on his new appointment as the Police Boss and thanked the Nigeria Police Force for its high level of co-operation and huge partnership with the US Embassy in Nigeria.
The Ambassador thereafter presented High tech Bomb disposal robots/equipment to the Nigeria Police Force. He also reassured the Ag. IGP that his country will continue to render relevant supports to the Force in the areas of training and security cooperation.
The IGP, while responding, appreciated the Ambassador’s courtesy visit and thanked the US government for assisting the Nigeria Police Force in areas of investigation, management of scene of crime as well as position of equipment.
Describing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) executed by the Nigeria Police Force and the US government recently as a huge partnership that will improve and modernize Police training in Nigeria, the IGP restated his commitment to continue to drive reforms and transformation of the Force in order to reposition the Force for better service delivery and promised that the newly donated equipment would be put to effective use.
ACP FRANK MBA
FORCE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER,
FORCE HEADQUARTERS, Abuja

http://www.premiumgist.com/high-tech-bomb-disposal-robots-donated-nigeria-us/

Just how much do former governors and their deputies regularly take out of the treasury long after they’ve left office? Nigerians are just waking up to this reality. Much of the focus has been on what they spend in office, not thereafter. The first part of this special reportfocused on pensions for ex-governors and ex-deputy governors in Akwa Ibom, Lagos and Rivers. In this second part, TheCable dissects the provisions in two more states: Kwara and Kano.
Kwara: 3 new cars every 3 years
Kwara’s Governor and Deputy Governor (Payment of Pension Law) 2011 copies largely from that of Lagos, but its provisions are juicier in certain aspects. For instance, it provides for “well-furnished” duplex for the former governor, whereas Lagos simply said “residential house” (they probably mean the same thing, anyway). Kwara specifies the qualifications of personal staff: two officers not below the rank of chief administrative officer and two personal secretaries not below the rank of grade level 10 “who shall be selected by the former governor and paid by the government”. The law was signed by Dr. Bukola Saraki (pictured) in 2011.
THE BENEFITS
Annual Basic Salary:100% of annual basic salaries of the incumbent governor and deputy
Accommodation:“Well-furnished” 5-bedroom duplex for governor; “well-furnished” 4-bedroom for deputy.
Transport:Two cars and one pilot car every three years for ex-governor; one car and one pilot car every three years for the deputy.
Furniture: 300% of annual basic salary every four years.
House maintenance: 10% of annual basic salary.
Domestic staff:Cook, steward, gardener and other domestic staff (no limit) who shall be pensionable.
Medical: Free medical treatment for ex-governor and deputy and members of their families (not just spouses).
Security: Two SSS operatives, one female officer, eight policemen (four each for house and personal security) for the ex-governor; one SSS operative and two policemen (one each for house and personal security) for the deputy.
PA: 25% of annual basic salary.
Car maintenance: 30% of annual basic salary.
Entertainment: 10% of annual basic salary.
Utility: 20% of annual basic salary.
Drivers: Pensionable (no limit to number of drivers).
Severance gratuity: Not specified.
Kano: 30-day paid vacation
The Pension Rights of Governor and Deputy Governor Law 2007 was signed by Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who was the governor of the state from 2003 to 2011. It is remarkable in the sense that the gazette has two different schedules─ one for the former governor and the other for the deputy. It provides for the former governor’s personal staff─ one, an officer not below the rank of a Principal administrative officer and, two, a PA not below grade level 10 “who shall be recommended by the former governor and paid by the state government”. There is a provision for 30 days vacation within and outside Nigeria, meaning allowances will be paid by the government!
THE BENEFITS
Annual Basic Salary:100% of annual basic salaries of the incumbent governor and deputy
Accommodation:There shall be a “furnished and equipped office” in any location of the choice of the former governor within the state, as well as a 6-bedroom house; “well-furnished” 4-bedroom for deputy, plus an office.
Transport:Two cars every four years for ex-governor; one new car every four years for the deputy.
Furniture: No special provision.
House maintenance: No special provision.
Domestic staff:No special provision.
Medical: Free treatment for the former governor and his immediate “families” (could be up to four wives and countless children) within and outside Nigeria “where necessary”; ditto for deputy.
Security: No special provision
PA: One for each, paid by the state.
Car maintenance: No special provision.
Entertainment: No special provision.
Utility: Payment of all utility bills (water and electricity) for both.
Drivers: Two drivers “to be recommended by the former governor and paid by the state government”. One driver for the deputy.
Severance gratuity: Not specified.
Copyright 2014 The Cable. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.thecable.ngas the source

http://thecable.ng/revealed-pensions-of-nigerian-ex-governors-2

I think African should go for this

Canadian scientists have created a treatment for the Ebola virus that has saved the lives of monkeys days after they were infected, the Xinhua News Agencyreported on Wednesday.
Ebola hemorrhagic feveris one of the most deadly and contagious diseases known to exist in nature. The lack of adequate vaccines and antidotes for the virus have made it a serious worry for biodefense specialists concerned about its possible applications as a biological weapon.
Individuals carrying the virus can die less than a week after being infected or three to four days after first displaying symptoms -- which include a skin rash, red eyes, internal and external bleeding, and diarrhea. That does not leave much time for the administration of life-saving medical countermeasures.
"For this reason, such treatment has been considered by many to be closer to the domain of science fiction than contemporary scientific research," lead study author Qiu Xiangguo of the Canadian Public Health Agency said in an interview.
Qiu and his colleagues administered their new combination therapy treatment, which contains three different antibodies and a special disease-fighting molecule called interferon alpha, to monkeys that had been exposed to Ebola. The combination treatment was 75 percent and 100 percent effective in saving infected monkeys, which had been exposed to Ebola three days earlier.
The antibodies are "like three little but powerful missiles" that go after three separate components of the disease, according to Qiu.
The scientists' findings were released in theScience Translational Medicinejournal. A Phase 1 safety trial to try out the new treatment on humans provisionally has been planned for late 2014 or early 2015.

http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/new-treatment-may-cure-ebola-days-after-infection/

EFCC Arrests 2Bank Managers OverN661million Scam.Find the EFCC press release below…
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested two bankers for allegedly stealing the sum of N661,000,000 (six hundred and sixty one million Naira) from their employers.
The duo, Samuel Obende, a Branch Manager, and Rabiu Alhasan Dawaki, Head of Operations, both of the Bello Road Cash Center of Union Bank Plc in Kano, abused their positions to perfect the heist. They were saddled with the responsibility for the evacuation and supplying of cash to about seventeen branches of the bank in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, and Jigawa States. Continue…
In the course of carrying out their duties, they fraudulently conspired and stole the sum N661, 000, 000 (six hundred and sixty one million Naira only).
In an effort to conceal the illegal act, they fabricated accounting entries, which deceitfully showed that all the monies were sent to the respective branches.
Investigation into the fraud continues.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
12th August 2014

http://www.premiumgist.com/2-bank-mangers-arrested-n661million-scam/

More pics

Due to the Ebola virus in lagos, The Lagos State Government has created a special isolated area for victimsand suspected cases at the Mainland hospital in Yaba, Lagos State.
These pictures below, obtained by Saharareporters show the state of these facilities.
The virus has killed two individuals in Nigeria and have infected eightmore Nigerians after one nurse was earlier admitted.
The virus was introduced to the country by Liberia, Patrick Sawyer after he willingly flew into the nation, even though he knew he had the dangerous disease.

http://www.naij.com/275917-photos-lagos-state-ebola-virus-isolation-center-yaba.html

The outbreak of Ebola has been traced to a 2 year old boy in a remote village in Guinea.
CNN reported that the two year old boy, called Patient Zero died December 6th 2013 after suffering from symptoms synonymous to that of fever, accompanying it with black stool and vomiting. It was reported that the boy died few days after he suffered from the pawns of the disease recently known as Ebola.
But few days after he died, his mother, his 3 year old sister, his grandmother and a mid wife who was caring for him when he was ill also followed suit days after one another. with his mum and sister dying before the end of December 2013 after suffering bleeding symptoms, and his grandmother, January 1st while the mid-wife died February 11th. The disease infected many of their family members who died in March 2014.
Although scientists did not know how the little boy came in contact with the deadly virus, as it can only be contracted from handling infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines.
The virus spread from the Southern Guinea village to other parts of Africa after villagers from Sierra Leone and Liberia, who share a border with the village, attended the grandmother’s burial. Two of the funeral attendees fell ill and the virus spread from their families to their villages and to health care workers and family members taking care of patients. And eventually, Patrick Sawyer brought it to Nigeria!

http://www.naij.com/275920-revealed-ebola-outbreak-started-2-year-old.html

Sources: CNN

Hello Nairalanders!
This thread is created for skinny and fat people,if you fall within any range,you can call in here.....share your story concerning your body type.
Thanks

1. Falling out of the Sky and Living: Vesna Vulović
As a 22 year old flight stewardess who had boarded the wrong flight because of a scheduling mishap, Vesna Vulović must have cursed her luck when a bomb exploded in the small aircraft where she was working. What followed was a 33,000 ft. drop that resulted in the deaths of 27 out of 28 people in the plane at the time. Vesna was pulled from the debris by Bruno Henke, a former medic during World War II who treated her extensive trauma. She awoke from a coma after 27 days (an ironic number if you see above) with a new lease on life and the claim to the highest fall survived in history. Vesna has since taken advantage of the notoriety granted her to become politically active in former Yugoslavia and Serbia.

2. Miracle of the Sun
The Miracle of the Sun was an event witnessed on a mass scale (up to 100,000 people) in Portugal, 1917. There was such a large amount of people present because the miracle had been preordained by three farm children. They had promised the crowd a vision of the Virgin Mary, but what followed was a dazzling array of bizarre solar displays. The sun moved erratically towards Earth, inverted into a spinning disk, and shed a multitude of different colors and shadows across the landscape. Onlookers momentarily feared the end of the world. Apparently, the Sun was only saying hello and also kindly dried the wet clothes of bystanders. Skeptics point to the fact that it isn’t generally healthy for the eyes or the mind to stare at the Sun. In sum, the size of the event alone lends credence thatsomethingmiraculous did occur that day.

3. Our Lady of Akita
Our Lady of Akita is the name for a miracle regarding the Virgin Mary that happened near Akita, Japan. Since this list is about what has tangibly been experienced and seen we can pass briefly over the supposed apparition of Mary seen by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa. Sure, Mary had a lot to say to the good nun, but it is what happened next onlive national televisionthat makes our list here. A statue of Mary was filmed crying for the world to see. In the long history of the Vatican, Our Lady of Akita is the only apparition accompanied weeping statue that has been confirmed as being truly unexplained and supernatural in origin. The vast majority of weeping statues are hoaxes. The Vatican may be religious, but they are very scientific when it comes to miracle-proving. They run tests (including DNA) on all liquids that are expulsed by weeping statues.

4. Unexplained Healing: Therese Neumann
Therese Neumann has a bucket list of miraculous events that could have made this list, including stigmata. So many in fact that not only has she found herself sanctified, she has also made this list as a case ofunexplained healing.She was declared blind in 1919. Therese was also partially paralyzed and suffered nasty bedsores. On May 17, 1925 she claims that Saint Therese of Lisieux came to her in spirit and cured her of her illnesses. Whatever happened, her bedsores were healed and eyesight physically restored. She was then (and this could be treated more skeptically, due to the nature of medical diagnosis at the time) diagnosed with appendicitis only to later announce herself free of the ailment.

5. Stigmata: Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Ever since St. Francis of Assisifirst made it cool for Christians to exhibit unexplained wounds similar to those suffered by Jesus Christ, many other people have hopped on the trend train. The person selected for our list is Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, a priest who would later become a saint and who was the first stigmatic to undergo the scrutiny of (relatively) modern medical science. His stigmata appeared after the turn of the 20thcentury. Wounds opened in the middle of his two hands and medical practitioners failed to diagnose the cause. Infection never entered the wounds even though they were present for most of his life (they healed once only to reappear shortly thereafter). In fact, his wounds were inexplicably smooth and his hands were never puffy. This irregularity has been accepted as proof that his body did not see the wounds as invasive and so found no reason to try fighting them. Stigmata isn’t just relegated to Christianity, it is found in many mystical cultures, including Buddhism.

6. Incorruptible Corpses: Rita of Cascia
The incorruptible corpse is a truly phenomenal, if not painstakingly long to decipher, event. Basically, someone dies, and for whatever reason their corpse is either unburied, uncovered, or otherwise observed. The catch is that when these bodies are viewed theylookas if they had literally just died. Even more surprising is that there are a number of these corpses, many of them even being over a thousand years old. The competition to make this list wasstiff, but ultimately Rita of Cascia took the prize due to the lore surrounding her. It has been reported and verified that her body actually moves from time to time. The extent of this spectacle is skeptically debated, but there are indisputably times where her face needs to be readjusted, usually her eyebrows and eyes that have a habit of opening.

7. Nature is Miraculous: The Kiwi Gives Birth
Let us not overlook the inconceivability of nature’s design. Natural systems, unseen energies and a huge collection of evolutionary curiosities have scientists searching for answers and then more questions that those answers beg. From creatures that glow in the dark to frogs that can be frozen only to unfreeze and hop away alive as happy as can be. There are many bizarre things that nature throws our way, but I have chosen the kiwi’s process of birth. The kiwi lays the largest egg (and probably the largestanything) per body mass on earth. This egg is almost the size of an emu’s, the largest bird in Australia. The egg weighs 16 oz! The above image speaks for itself. Nature provides us with some truly phenomenal stuff.

8. Boy Comes Back Alive For a Short Time
Imagine you are at a wake for a loved one while a eulogy is being read. Suddenly, the same lifeless body that had been laid out all day suddenly rises, asks for water, and lays back down dead as ever. This roller coaster of emotion is precisely what happened to the family of Kelvin Santos, in Brazil, 2012. Kelvin miraculously sat upright looking to his father for something to drink. The resurrection was miraculous, but it ranks low on our list because of what happened next. Before his father could fathom seeing his son alive again the moment was robbed from him. What followed is a dramatic protest of the hospital that had initially pronounced him deceased. The truth behind the events that transpired in this episode are so far unexplained, and so remain a bittersweet, modern miracle.

9. Mary Appears on a Florida Finance Building
It seems that the Virgin Mary is always getting her jollies through this miracle thing. Sometimes she shows up in the most random of places. This is exactly what happened in 1996, when she decided to pop her image on an office building in Clearwater, Florida. Her image started dull and grew in distinction over a series of months. The image stuck in the glass windows and the building was soon purchased by Shepherds of Christ Ministries. A statue was erected outside and visitors poured in by the truckload. Sadly, all good miracles come to an end and someone eventually knocked out the glass panes bearing Mary’s head with slingshot. Whether religious or not, most people believe that this manifestation was a curiosity that should have been preserved. Our world is so much more interesting with effigies on office buildings.

Maybe miracles are the mind’s way to exert extraordinary control over the body. Whatever you may believe, this list will certainly have you questioning the fabric of our existence.
10. Man’s Wedding Ring Deflects Bullet
It is becoming a common debate whether the institution of marriage is growing outdated. For Donnie Register, his marriage literally saved his life. Mr. Register was at the register when two armed men stuck him up. Confusion happened and Donnie lifted his left arm towards his assailants. A gun was leveled at his head and went off. The bullet hit his wedding band and was redirected away from his vital area. Pieces of the bullet remain lodged in nonthreatening locations of his finger and neck tissue. Donnie’s experience proves that the life-saving capabilities of cherished valuables are not simply a tv show cliché. This experience might not be as miraculous as the rest of the list, but it serves as an example of where luck meets the astounding in everyday life.