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Foreign Affairs / Re: French Military Forces Might Stay Longer In Mali - US Official by Orpelin: 5:13pm On Feb 17, 2013
The underground-well-structured quick US-France intervention in Mali was for reasons we all known and with this development,Mali is d***m then.
Also with the new US drone base station programme in Niger.
Africa colonialisms in another dimension
Computers / Re: Recover All Your Data From That Crashed Hard Drive: by Orpelin: 12:51pm On Feb 17, 2013
OP Pls post the download link here or let anyone that has gotten the link post it as well.
Sports / Robbie Rogers:ex-Leeds United And USA Winger Reveals He Is Gay by Orpelin: 1:30am On Feb 16, 2013
United States and ex-Leeds United winger Robbie Rogers says he is "stepping away" from football after announcing he is gay.
Rogers, 25, who was released by Leeds in January after a loan spell at Stevenage, is only the third footballer to publicly declare his homosexuality.
"I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity," said Rogers.
"Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football."

The Football Association said it would fully back Rogers, regardless of whether he continues his career.
The California-born player, who won 18 caps for his country, made the announcement in a message posted on his personal website on Friday.
"For the past 25 years I have been afraid, afraid to show who I really was because of fear," said Rogers.
"Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to
preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay.
"Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined… I will always be thankful for my career.
"[Now] my secret is gone, I am a free man, I can move on and live my life as my creator intended."
Only two other footballers have publicly said they are gay, despite a number of high-profile male and female homosexual athletes from other sports openly discussing their sexuality in recent years.
In 1990, former England Under-21 international Justin
Fashanu was the first professional footballer in Britain to reveal he was gay. He took his own life eight years later, aged 37.
Swedish lower league player Anton Hysen, son of former Liverpool player Glenn Hysen, publicly announced his homosexuality in an interview with a Swedish football magazine in 2011.
Darren Bailey, the FA's director of football governance and
regulation, added: "Following the announcement by Robbie
Rogers on Friday, the FA is trying to make contact with him offering our support.
"Whether Robbie stays in the game or steps away for a break he has our full backing."

The FA last year launched a six-point action plan to make the game more inclusive, as well as tackling homophobia and transphobia.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21479520
Foreign Affairs / French Military Forces Might Stay Longer In Mali - US Official by Orpelin: 12:31am On Feb 16, 2013
French military forces will probably be needed to carry out operations against militants in Mali even after a United Nations peacekeeping force is organized to secure the country, a senior State Department official told Congress on Thursday.
“There’s going to be an ongoing need for a counterterrorism operation in northern Mali, and that probably will always reside in the hands of the French and not in the hands of the United Nations,” Johnnie Carson, the top State Department official on Africa issues, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. Carson’s comments reflected extensive consultations between France and the United States regarding the military operation in Mali and suggested that there would be a longer-term role for French forces in the country. French officials declined to comment on Thursday night.
France rushed 4,000 troops to Mali in January, but French officials have said they plan to progressively hand over responsibility for the bulk of the mission to West African and Malian forces as the terrorist threat is reduced. If a Security Council resolution is approved, as expected, in the coming weeks, those units are to be supplanted by a United Nations peacekeeping force made up of African troops.
In a brief interview after the hearing, Mr. Carson sketched out how the military operation might evolve, including a likely role for French counterterrorism forces in tracking down militants in the rugged northern part of Mali.
“It would be very separate and very different,” he said, making the point that while French forces might be in Mali at the same time as peacekeepers they would operate under a separate chain of command.
“A bilateral agreement between the Malian government and the French government would be able to do that.” Edward R. Royce, the California Republican who is chairman of the panel, expressed concern that the mission might be handed over to the United Nations prematurely. “We do not want to do that hastily,” Mr. Carson responded. “We think that over time the U.N. does have peacekeeping norms and standards that would be
applicable and useful in Mali.”
The United States is barred by law from providing direct support to the Malian military after the coup there last year. But it has been providing intelligence, refueling French aircraft, flying equipment and troops to the region, and helping to train West African troops.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/world/africa/french-forces-needed-longer-in-mali-us-official-says.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
Phones / Re: The Nigerian Blackberry Adventure - An Interesting Phenomenon by Orpelin: 9:43pm On Feb 15, 2013
Hotdiamond: this write up too make brain MODS front page pls. Na beg i dey beg Una o
Mod don hear ur begging,kk.
Phones / Re: Tecno N7 5" Android Phone by Orpelin: 12:53am On Feb 15, 2013
Brainrex: Get this phone if you are just a regular user
Brainrex, we shall all wait for U on Rooting,RAM extension and any other business that may be necessary with it.

1 Like

Celebrities / Re: Lady Gaga Sustains Injury by Orpelin: 10:31am On Feb 14, 2013
Lady Gaga Will Have Hip Surgery
Superstar Lady Gaga will have surgery to repair a tear in her hip and has canceled the rest of her "Born This Way Ball" tour, Live Nation announced on Wednesday.
The singer has a labral tear of the right hip caused by strenuous repetitive movements, the tour operator said. "She will need surgery to repair the problem, followed by strict down time to recover. This unfortunately will force her to cancel the tour so she can heal," a statement said.
Gaga said on Tuesday that several shows would be postponed because of an injury she had been hiding. "I've been hiding a show injury and chronic pain for sometime now, over the past month it has worsened," she tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "I've been praying it would heal."
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/showbiz/lady-gaga-surgery/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Romance / Valentine's Day Spending Chart With Other Demographic Analysis by Orpelin: 9:45am On Feb 14, 2013
Americans spend quite a bit of money to show their love on Valentine's Day (I don't know if Nigerian and Nairalanders as well spend up to these figures).
Here's a Breakdown, by the numbers:
$130.97 -- The per person average estimated amount that people will spend on Valentine's Day.
224 million -- The estimated number of roses grown for Valentine's Day.
51% -- The percentage of people who buy red roses for this holiday.
64% -- The percentage of men who buy flowers for Valentine's Day.
36% -- The percentage of women who buy flowers for Valentine's Day.
$18.6 billion -- The total spending that will be reached by Valentine's Day.
$1.6 billion -- The amount people will spend on candy.
$1.9 billion-- The amount people will spend on flowers.
$4.4 billion -- The amount people will spend on diamonds, gold and silver.
March 14 -- The day men give women romantic gifts in South Korea and Japan; women give men chocolate on Valentine's Day.
$4.52 -- The average amount pet owners spent on their pets on Valentine's Day in 2012.
40.7% -- The percentage of people who will use their
Smartphone to purchase Valentine's gifts.
85% -- The percentage of men and women who say sex is an important part of Valentine's Day.
6 million -- The number of people who expect or are planning a marriage proposal.
29% -- The percentage of people who will type a romantic text message.
145 million -- The unit amount of Valentine's cards purchased.
151 million -- The approximate number of cards that are exchanged on Valentine's Day.
1,400 -- Varieties of Hallmark's available Valentine's greeting cards.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/living/valentines-day-statistics-btn/index.html?c=&page=0
We are yet to get the actual number of condoms being used on that Day and the number to patronage to hotels.
Also the number of baby being delivered after 9 month or thereabout from the Valentine Day Date.
Once we get those figures, I shall publish them,thanks.
Islam for Muslims / Indonesian Officials and Muslim Clerics Want People to Skip Valentine by Orpelin: 9:01am On Feb 14, 2013
Indonesian officials and Muslim clerics have called for young people to skip Valentine's Day, saying it's an excuse for couples to have forbidden sex.
Idris Abdul Somad, deputy mayor of Depok, a town on the
outskirts of Jakarta, said on Thursday that many teenagers use the Western holiday as a time to express their love, which often leads to premarital sex.
He called on residents to instead take their children to Islamic religious activities.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students in Jambi, on Sumatra island, and Solo, in Central Java, held Valentine's Day protests on Wednesday. Muslim clerics urged youngsters to avoid celebrations in several cities in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Indonesia's 200 million Muslims practice a moderate form of
faith. Attitudes toward Valentine's Day vary in the Muslim world.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/indonesia-protests-valentines-day-sex-holiday-18497555
Phones / Re: Tecno N7 5" Android Phone by Orpelin: 12:49pm On Feb 13, 2013
Lawalmd:
What is the battery capacity of the phone.(check the battery bottom for this and compare it with n3 battery capacity) thanks.
Investment / Re: Website For Analysing The Nigerian Stock Market? by Orpelin: 11:36am On Feb 13, 2013
I have lost all interest in Nigeria Capital Market and even my former broker that doesn't help matter in those period.
Not again!!
NYSC / Ministry Plans Consolidation As NYSC Clock 40 by Orpelin: 11:42pm On Feb 12, 2013
Nigeria's Ministry of Youth Development plans to consolidate on the successes recorded by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), as the scheme clocks 40 years this year.
Established in 1973 the scheme entails a one-year compulsory service to the nation by graduates of universities and those of polytechnics.
Immense contribution Extolling the scheme in Abuja, the Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdul-Kadir says, “the NYSC has helped in national integration as batches of corps members have contributed immensely to national development in various sectors because during their national service, most of them work as teachers; they work in rural areas and in so many sectors…
They have contributed a lot, State governments are relying heavily on a percentage of its workforce in the teaching sector which should be appreciated.''
Abdul-Kadir also praised the NYSC for its robust contribution to the success of the conduct of the 2011 general election.
“Up to 80 per cent of the success recorded in the 2011 general elections could be awarded to the NYSC as corps members were largely those who performed as ad hoc election officers,” the minister.

He promised that the ministry would consolidate on the
achievements recorded by the scheme and makes it stronger.
Abdul-Kadir revealed that the ministry also has plans to re-
structure the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre to further train the youths in civic and leadership responsibilities. “We intend to use the facilities of the centre to resuscitate school-based associations like the Boys Scout, the Boys Brigade, and the Girls Guide, to instill volunteerism in the minds of the youths…We felt the absence of those kinds of associations in our schools gave way to cultism in various institutions, right from secondary schools up to the university level. These associations have through their objectives and conducts, instill the sense of humanitarianism in the minds of young people; they grow up to be their own brother's keeper,' the minister explains. He expressed optimism that the good attitudes that were lacking in young Nigerians could be revived with the reintroduction of such associations.
“Due to these attributes lacking in our schools, we intend to collaborate with ministries of education and other institutions to resuscitate and support them so that our young people will have proper training. School is not just about academic training, it is part of moral training and social training that will make our young people better adults in the society.'' Abdul-Kadir said the ministry would seek the cooperation of the private sectors, to finance programmes for the associations.
http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/Nigeria/Ministry-plans-consolidation-as-NYSC-clock-40.htm
Islam for Muslims / Pakistani Islamists Protest Against Valentine's Day by Orpelin: 10:30pm On Feb 12, 2013
Supporters of Pakistan's main religious party staged a noisy protest against Valentine's Day on Tuesday, denouncing it as un-Islamic and calling for a "day of modesty" instead.
The student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami rallied outside the press club in the northwestern city of Peshawar, chanting slogans against Valentine's Day, saying it had "spread immodesty in the world".
Valentine's Day is increasingly popular among younger Pakistanis, many of whom have taken up the custom of giving cards, chocolates and gifts to their sweethearts to celebrate the occasion. But Pakistan remains a deeply traditional Muslim society where many disapprove of Valentine's Day as a Western import.
The demonstrators, who carried a banner urging February 14 to be a "day of modesty", said the tradition encouraged unmarried men and women to live together in sin. "We will not allow holding of any Valentine's Day function," Shahzad Ahmed, the local head of the student organisation, said. "The law enforcing agencies must prevent such gatherings, otherwise we will stop in our own way."
Peshawar is a conservative city on the edge of Pakistan's restive tribal belt, where most women go out in public wearing veils and few girls go out alone.
Many of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked bombings which have killed thousands of people in Pakistan in the past several years have focused around Peshawar and the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2013/Feb-12/206151-pakistani-islamists-protest-against-valentines-day.ashx
Politics / Finance Ministry Not In-charge Of SURE-P Fund:- Okonjo by Orpelin: 9:46pm On Feb 12, 2013
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said that her office is not in-charge of the finances of the Subsidy Re-investment Programme ( SURE-P).
Okonjo-Iweala made the statement in Abuja on Tuesday at an investigative hearing on the operation and management of SURE- P, organised by the House of Representatives Special Joint committee on SURE-P.
She said that all the questions on how the funds were spent
should be directed to the Chairman of the Programme, Dr
Christopher Kolade.
The minister said, the director-general, who is the accounting officer of the programme, does not report to me.
"Even the accounting officer of SURE-P ( DG Budget Office) does not report to me."
She defended the decision of the Federal Government to set up the management team for the fund rather than allowing the MDAs to manage it.
"It was the desire of Nigerians to see the funds were managed separately.
"This led to the issue of creating a committee to manage the
funds in a manner that Nigerians could see that the monies were transparently utilised," she said.
The Director- General of Budget Office, Dr Bright Okogu,
debunked the allegation that the SURE-P programme was a
duplication of the work of MDAs.
Okogu said out of the N180 billion for the programme, N1
billion was dedicated to the running of the office out of which
N536.35 million had already been spent, leaving a balance of
N463 million.
He said all the monies given to the MDAs under the SURE-P
programme should be looked at as additional budgetary
provision for them.
"It is this additional budgetary principle that we are using to drive the SURE-P Programme and it’s not duplication," Okogwu said.
According to him, claims are made through the Board of SURE-P by Programme Implementation Units (PIUs) and the board verifies before payment.
On his part, Kolade said that N 180 billion was budgeted for the programme in 2012 out of which N105 billion was paid to contractors for various jobs.
He said that one of the challenges faced by the programme was how to convince Nigerians that the programme would be
beneficial to them.
Kolade said the SURE-P committee was the result of Federal
Government policy of ensuring that savings from partial
withdrawal of subsidy results in distinct development projects.
"We are just carrying out the mandate; SURE-P does not award contracts,’’ he said. According to him, money allocated to the programme is expended on health, educational and other related projects.
"We have increased the supply of human resources for health and created jobs by recruiting 3,960 health care workers. "We have selected 625 primary and secondary health care facilities across the 36 states of the country and FCT," he said.Rep. Dakuku Peterside, the Chairman, House committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream),said that since the introduction of the programme it had been received with mixed feelings.
He said that if the amount set aside for the programme was
effectively and efficiently managed, it would make a difference in the lives of Nigeians.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the House of
Representatives on Nov. 15,2012, mandated a Joint Committee to investigate the mandate and operations of SURE-P.
http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/47573/2013/02/12/finance_ministry_not_incharge_sure_p_fund_okonjo.html
Foreign Affairs / Germany Considers Buying Armed Drones by Orpelin: 6:24pm On Feb 12, 2013
The debate over the legality of drone warfare is stretching from Capitol Hill into the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, as Germany mulls buying armed drones for the first time.
Ever since World War II, Germany has been skeptical about military deployments, mindful of its own history of inflicting violence on others. New plans to equip the military with armed drones have caused an uproar this month in this pacifist country, with many Germans worrying that possessing the weaponry could lead them more quickly into conflict. Defense officials, meanwhile, say soldiers and civilians would be safer with drones to back them up.
The debate is one that has only slowly taken shape in the
United States, where drone technology has become essential to U.S. war and counterterrorism strategies in recent years while remaining deeply shrouded in secrecy. In Germany, by
contrast, politicians, religious leaders and citizens have been
preemptively dissecting the implications of weaponry that
enables soldiers to make pinpoint strikes against terrorism
suspects while sitting many thousands of miles away.
“Once such technical devices are purchased, it’ll be too late to discuss ethical questions,” said Rainer Arnold, the spokesman for defense issues of the opposition Social Democratic Party.
The discussion, which has dominated German talk shows and newspapers since a disclosure of the plans in response to parliamentary questioning late last month, comes at the same time that U.S. drone policy has been under the microscope. Starting under President George W. Bush and dramatically accelerated under President Obama, drones have become a central pillar of CIA and U.S. military activities in the Middle East and North Africa.
German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere, speaking in his first interview with an international publication since the controversy erupted, said he was “surprised” by the opposition to his proposal. “Ethically and legally there is no difference between a manned and an unmanned airplane,” de Maiziere said. “Rationally, I don’t fully understand the intensity of the debate,” he said. “Politically, psychologically, it is easily explained. This is a surrogate debate on how the U.S. is using drones. And from the way the Americans use them, people are deciding negatively on the operating tool itself.”
He said the American practice of so-called targeted killings of
terrorism suspects would be against the German constitution, which tightly restricts when the military is allowed to engage in combat.
“Nobody will change the constitution for the usage of one type of weapon,” he said, speaking in his office in the Bendlerblock, the operations center of the German Defense Ministry that once served as the planning lair of a failed plot against Hitler. “America has a different constitutional situation.”
A specific Responsibility
Germany remains deeply cautious about going to war. After
World War II, generations resolved to lock away the militarism that they felt was ingrained in Prussian culture. The 1949 constitution bans preparations for wars of aggression — in fact, the only accommodation for military action is made in a “state of defense.”
“In Germany we have a specific responsibility, with our history of two world wars launched by Germany and one peaceful revolution, to take up the role of searching for alternatives,” said Renke Brahms, the peace commissioner of the Protestant Church of Germany.
To this day, men and women in uniform are treated with
suspicion by many in broader society. Attitudes have slowly
evolved since German reunification in 1990, with the first post- World War II combat deployment in Kosovo in 1999, then in Afghanistan.
De Maiziere has pushed to make the armed forces’ role in
German society more like that of any other military since he
took up his post in early 2011, including advocating the
institution of a veterans’ day. That proposal proved
controversial because the country can’t even agree on the
definition of “veteran.”
But the country still goes to war reluctantly. Germany held back from participating in the NATO aerial campaign in Libya that drove out leader Moammar Gaddafi, and it has given only non- combat support to France in its weeks-old deployment in Mali.
Many here are cautious about anything that might make it
easier to go fight. “Having these weapons is temptation for politicians to use them. This is the experience with the U.S.,” said Juergen Trittin, a leader of the Green Party, who is a candidate for chancellor.
“The threshold for using military force, for using deadly
violence, goes down with such an instrument, because the
risks for using it go down.”
Even some proponents of the technology say that they assume that the weapons, if purchased, could be used for strikes against terrorism suspects, not just for ordinary combat.
“When you buy a drone, you know what it’s all about and what it can do,” said Michael Wolffsohn, a professor emeritus at the Bundeswehr University Munich, which is affiliated with Germany’s military. “It’s the best humane instrument if and when you have to face the terrible decision to use force.”
Drones in Use
Germany has 60 unarmed surveillance drones currently
deployed in Kosovo and Afghanistan,
according to formal answers to parliamentary questions that were released last month. Several of them are Israeli-made Heron drones. An additional 347 drones are on German territory, mostly lightweight ones that can be launched by hand, according to the official answers. Those drones are used by both police and the military for surveillance.
German defense officials have said they would prefer to
develop a European drone in concert with France, but that they would also consider leasing or purchasing off-the-shelf ones in the short term, including American models.
Dassault, a French defense contractor, tested a stealth drone in December, but it is not ready for production. Britain flies U.S. made armed drones in Afghanistan, and Italy has sought to do so. Turkey has also sought the American technology.
The German government has proposed devoting $225 million to the drone project as it shrinks the number of soldiers after ending the draft in 2011, a decision that was made to help modernize the military.
“We are already under 200,000 persons in uniform. This is a challenge for us. We have to have the same efficiency that we have now,” said Hellmut Koenigshaus, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces.
If Germany purchases combat drones, de Maiziere said, he had one tactical preference: that the drone operators be deployed alongside ordinary combat soldiers.
“I feel it is important to be in the theater, to have breakfast in the canteen together with the soldiers who are patrolling the area, to pass a military hospital where a wounded soldier is lying, to be away from home, because the effects of the weapon are also away from home,” de Maiziere said.
“You need a certain empathy with the event.”
He hopes to make the decision within months.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germany-considers-buying-armed-drones/2013/02/11/ebf44654-7215-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_story.html?wprss=rss_world
Foreign Affairs / Iran Converts Enriched Uranium To Reactor Fuel And Sets For Negotiations by Orpelin: 6:18pm On Feb 12, 2013
As it prepares for two sets of negotiations with outsiders on its disputed nuclear program, Iran said on Tuesday that it was converting some of its enriched uranium into reactor fuel, the state news agency IRNA reported, potentially limiting the expansion of stockpiles that the West fears could be used for weapons.
Iranian officials are to meet on Wednesday in Tehran with Herman Nackaerts, the deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, who has been pressing for access to a restricted military area at Parchin, 20 miles south of Tehran. International inspectors suspect the site may have been used for testing bomb triggers.

Later this month, Iranian negotiators are to meet in Kazakhstan with representatives of six powers — the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — for a further round in a series of long-running and inconclusive talks about curbing Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program.
Western countries suspect that Tehran is seeking to acquire the technology to make nuclear weapons, but Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes such as the creation of reactor fuel for civilian use.

At a news conference on Tuesday in Tehran, Ramin
Mehmanparast, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, was asked to comment on a news report that Iranian scientists had converted some uranium enriched to 20 percent purity into fuel for a research reactor in Tehran. The spokesman said the “work is being done” and details had been sent to the I.A.E.A., which is based in Vienna.
Iran’s nuclear program came under added scrutiny on Tuesday after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test since many intelligence officials believe the two countries share nuclear knowledge, though so far there is no hard evidence to substantiate that belief.
Reuters quoted Mr. Mehmanparast as saying: “We think we need to come to a point where no country will have any nuclear weapons.” While all countries should be allowed to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, he said, “all weapons of mass destruction and nuclear arms need to be destroyed.”
Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is believed by Western
negotiators and international inspectors to be of far lower purity than is required to make nuclear weapons. But, diplomats in Vienna said on Tuesday, enriched uranium converted into reactor fuel is more difficult to enrich to a higher degree of purity.“It’s a step away from weaponization” one diplomat said, speaking in return for anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.
Some analysts argue that, by slowing the growth of its stockpile, Tehran could delay the moment when it acquires sufficient 20 percent enriched uranium to trigger a response by Israel, which has signaled readiness to attack Iran’s nuclear sites.
The likely outcomes of the forthcoming sets of negotiations
remain unclear. Mr. Mehmanparast, the Iranian spokesman, said the talks with the I.A.E.A. team in Tehran on Wednesday had “bright” prospects if the I.A.E.A. negotiators recognized Iran’s rights, IRNA said. But Yukiya Amano, the director general of the I.A.E.A., said on Monday that “the outlook is not bright” for obtaining permission to visit the Parchin site. Mr. Amano’s remarks contrasted with a more optimistic tone from the agency less than a month ago, when his deputy, Mr. Nackaerts, expressed hope that the negotiations on Wednesday would agree an inspection plan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/world/middleeast/iran-converts-enriched-uranium-to-reactor-fuel-reports-say.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
Celebrities / Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton Shutout At The Grammys by Orpelin: 10:06pm On Feb 11, 2013
Former President Bill Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama were nominated for Grammys in the spoken-word category Sunday night, but neither of them ended up taking the prize, much to the surprise of the winner, Janis Ian.
“I can’t believe I won over them. To say this is an upset is an understatement,” Miss Ian said.

The Grammy for best spoken word album goes to the year’s best audiobook for adults. Miss Ian won for her reading of “Society’s Child: My Autobiography.”
An analysis done by The Daily Caller shows that not one
prominent conservative has made it on the list dating back to 1997.
“If you’re a conservative, you are more likely to be appointed to President Barack Obama’s Cabinet than be nominated for a
Grammy in the ‘Best Spoken Word Album’ category,” The Daily Caller’s Jamie Weinstein writes.
President Obama has won both times he was nominated. Mr Clinton has been nominated three times and has won once. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been nominated two times, winning once, and Al Gore won in 2009, the only time he was nominated, The Daily Caller reports.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/11/michelle-obama-bill-clinton-shut-out-grammys/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
Foreign Affairs / China's Patience Wearing Thin Over North Korea Third Nuclear Test Plan by Orpelin: 7:18pm On Feb 11, 2013
China's patience with North Korea is wearing thin, and a widely-expected third nuclear test by the latter could bring that frustration to a head.

Beijing signaled its growing unhappiness by agreeing to tightened U.N. sanctions after North Korea launched a rocket in December, surprising China watchers with its unusually tough line, which prompted harsh criticism from Pyongyang.
And while China isn't expected to abandon its communist
neighbor, it appears to be reassessing ties a year after new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took office. The question is for how long China, itself under new leader Xi Jinping, will continue to back North Korea's nettlesome policies.
"Perhaps Kim Jong Un thinks Xi Jinping will indulge him. Perhaps he's in for a surprise," said Richard Bush, Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.
China is feeling spurned by Kim. Although China welcomed his ascension after his father died in December 2011 and maintained flows of aid and investment, Kim has ignored China's interests in a stable neighborhood with his two rocket launches and nuclear test plan. North Korea announced last month it would conduct a test to protest the toughened U.N. sanctions.
"At the start, China gave him a warm welcome and, I think, some aid. But we got no gratitude. They take us for granted," said Jin Canrong, an international affairs expert at Renmin University in Beijing. "China tried to get closer to him, but it was not successful. China has become very disappointed."
Yet Beijing also sees Pyongyang as a crucial buffer against US.troops based in South Korea and Japan. It also deeply fears a
regime collapse could send swarms of refugees across its border.

For those reasons, Beijing is unlikely to cut Pyongyang adrift, even if it pushes North Korea harder to end its nuclear provocations and reform its broken-down economy.
"China's not ready to turn the support to North Korea switch to 'off' at this stage," said Roger Cavazos, a North Korea watcher at the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability.
North Korea's apparent reluctance to reform its economy ranks among Beijing's biggest frustrations, and the thorny nature of the bilateral relationship is on show along the frigid Yalu River, which forms part of the border Chinese troops crossed to rescue North Korean forces during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Last week, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, dozens of North Korean trucks lined up at a customs checkpoint in the northeastern Chinese border city of Dandong, loaded with bags of rice, cooking oil, cheap electronics and other daily items that their country's collapsed industry cannot produce enough of for its 24 million people.
Further to the south, a much-heralded North Korean economic zone on a pair of islands along the Yalu remains a field of untrammeled snow behind a newly erected border fence, more than 18 months after it was opened with great fanfare.
The Hwanggumphyong and Wihwa islands zone, one of two such establishments along the border, resulted from talks led by Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming and Jang Song Thaek, Kim's uncle and a top official in the ruling Korean Workers' Party who is thought to be pro-China. The two men attended the June 2011 grand opening accompanied by a brass band and the celebratory release of doves, giving rise to hopes that China's advice was having an impact on the North.
Yet area residents say they've seen no progress since then, while work on a towering bridge nearby, intended to supplement the rickety old one in Dandong, has slowed to a snail's pace. Dandong's city government has moved offices to the area, but the thickets of surrounding high-rise buildings remain unfinished and empty.
While Kim has made improving the economy a hallmark of his nascent rule, many analysts doubt that he will go too far with reforms for fear that change could lead to a loss of control, in turn threatening his authoritarian rule.
"There's nothing going on around here. North Korea is fine with taking Chinese aid and doing some trade, but its economy doesn't seem to be changing at all," said a Dandong businessman who trades with North Korea AND asked to be identified only by his surname, Qu.
That leaves the new fence as the dominant feature along the
border. Topped with rolls of barbed wire, it doubles up in places to form both an inner and an outer perimeter, with a strip of concrete in between for guards to patrol along.
The intimidating barrier seeks to block the flow of illegal border crossers, typically those seeking food and work in China or an escape route to South Korea. It also symbolizes China's fears of instability in North Korea, a steel barrier to contain the chaos.
China is widely credited with keeping its neighbor afloat,providing an estimated half million tons of oil to North Korea a year, along with copious amounts of food aid. Officially tolerated smuggling buttresses the formal trade between them, while North Korea earns much-needed hard currency from thousands of North Koreans who work in northeast China and a similar number of Chinese tourists and advisers visiting the other side. Chinese companies are also investing in North Korea's mines, although many complain of corruption and a lack of respect for contracts.
Yet it remains unclear how much influence China has with North Korea.

Despite Beijing's entreaties, Pyongyang has refused to return to Chinese-hosted six-nation nuclear disarmament talks that had won China credit as a responsible international power.
In a sign of China's rising pique, the Foreign Ministry recently took an unusual swipe at North Korea for spending on defense, rocket and nuclear programs instead of the economy. "We would also like to actively encourage the relevant country to develop economy and improve people's living conditions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters late last month. Chinese media have also been running commentaries suggesting Chinese interests need not be held hostage by its desire for a stable North Korea.
"If North Korea ignores the persuasion and eventually carries out a third nuclear bomb test, it must pay a heavy price for it. The various kinds of aid it receives from China will be decreased for good reasons. Of this, we hope the Chinese government will warn North Korea in advance, so that they will not have other fantasies," the Global Times, a nationalist tabloid that often airs controversial views, said in a commentary last week.
Another test may not be enough to push the new leadership into casting North Korea adrift, but China may employ tougher measures, given that it has already upped the ante by agreeing to the tightened U.N. sanctions. If it does, North Korea can't say it wasn't warned.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/11/china-patience-wearing-thin-as-north-korea-plans-another-nuclear-test/
Phones / Re: Tecno N7 5" Android Phone by Orpelin: 5:11pm On Feb 11, 2013
Lawalmd: n7 review
comes with an extra back cover with a flap no extra battery
price 29800(microstation )
phone is 5" with ips screen
comes with asphalt 6, office suite(quick office ), touch application, opera mini, and some other apps and games
screen is very responsive,
ram handling quite well
not default screen shot app
the rest are specs we've been reading about

What about the SIM card slot size?? Is it Normal Or Mini Size.
Romance / Re: . by Orpelin: 10:18pm On Feb 07, 2013
Career / Re: An Undergraduate by Orpelin: 7:45pm On Feb 07, 2013
^ where do you wish to further your education??
However T22 and Sagamite can be of help has regards UK even US i guess.
Celebrities / Queen Elizabeth II To Wed Her Longtime Female Partner by Orpelin: 7:39pm On Feb 07, 2013
Following the House of Commons’ passage Tuesday, Feb 5, 2013 of a bill that paves the way for same-sex marriage in Britain, Queen Elizabeth II publicly announced her plans to marry her longtime partner, 63-year-old Denise Whitelock, as soon as the law goes into effect. “After more than 30 years of sharing a committed and loving partnership, I am absolutely thrilled that Denise and I are finally able to seal our union in marriage,” said the reigning British monarch in a press release, speaking on behalf of her partner, a retired dog breeder, with whom she lives part-time in a Kensington Garden flat. “Marriage is something we’ve both wanted for a very long time, but never had an opportunity to pursue because of the unequal and antiquated marriage laws of this country. We’re delighted that the government finally took this important step forward, and we couldn’t be happier to announce our official engagement.” The Queen also informed members of the press that, as this was her second marriage, she and Denise had decided to hold a low-key ceremony with close friends and family.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/queen-elizabeth-ii-to-wed-longtime-partner-followi.31188/?ref=auto
Foreign Affairs / UK Lawmakers Approve Same-Sex Marriage by Orpelin: 7:28pm On Feb 07, 2013
UK lawmakers took a big step Tuesday (Feb 5, 2013)toward legalizing same-sex marriage, an issue that has prompted widespread rebellion within Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party.

In a 400-175 vote,at the end of a full day's debate on the bill.

Prime Minister David Cameron has described the move as "an important step forward" that strengthens society.

Voting lists show that 136 Conservatives opposed the bill.This figure includes two cabinet ministers - Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and Welsh Secretary David Jones - eight junior ministers, and eight whips. Of the remaining Conservative MPs, 127 were in favour, 35 did not vote, and five registered an abstention by voting both in favour and against MPs approved the second reading of a bill legalizing such marriage, indicating a significant majority of members support the measure.

However, it must go through several more stages before it can become law as the bill faces another vote in the House of Commons and a vote in the House of Lords.

Before Tuesday's vote, three top party members appealed to Conservative MPs to get behind the controversial legislation in a letter published in the Telegraph newspaper.
The letter, signed by Chancellor George Osborne, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Home Secretary Theresa May, said that passing the bill is "the right thing to do at the right time."
The institution of marriage has evolved over time, the letter said, while "attitudes towards gay people have changed."
Brendon Ayanbadejo talks NFL gay rights Boy Scouts consider ending gay ban Manti Te'o: I'm not gay Obama promotes gay rights in speech Poet makes history at Obama inauguration

In a direct appeal to fellow party members, the trio added: "We believe that opening it up to same-sex couples will strengthen, not weaken, the institution. As David Cameron has said, we should support gay marriage not in spite of being Conservatives, but because we are Conservatives."


Their attitude was echoed by Kate Green, a Labour MP, during debate. Tuesday's reading was the first opportunity for lawmakers in the House of Commons to debate the bill in detail.

"By recognizing and extending the definition of marriage to reflect today's greater openness towards, and recognition of, same-sex relationships, the legislation does not weaken the institution of marriage. On the contrary, it takes it forward, it strengthens it. It helps to perpetuate it," she said.

The legislation passed the House of Commons with the support of lawmakers from Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The latter are in a coalition government with the Conservatives.

As drafted, the bill would enable religious organizations to choose to conduct same-sex marriages if they wish and includes provisions intended to make sure no religious organization or person is forced to do so.

The Church of England is among the religious bodies opposed to the legislation.

The bill would also allow same-sex couples to convert a civil partnership to a marriage and enable married transsexual people to gain legal recognition in their acquired gender without having to end their marriages.

A law recognizing civil partnerships in England and Wales was passed in 2004.

Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, who are already same-sex civil partners and have five children together, told CNN that it was important to them to be able to marry in front of their fellow churchgoers.

"We want to be able to go into our local parish church, where we are practicing Christians, and under the eyes of the Lord, get married," said Barrie Drewitt-Barlow.

"I don't want to go in front of a vicar or priest who doesn't want to do it; it's supposed to be the happiest day of my life. I want to be really happy and joyous when I get married to the man that I've been together with for 25 years."

His partner, Tony, said it was a question of equality.

"Marriage is all about the union of two people that love each other and want to bind that love in a relationship that lasts forever. And for me, it's about having that right for everybody, gay, straight or bisexual," he said.

"Whatever you are, if you love that person, then you should have the rights to be joined in matrimony with them."

Cameron has said he is determined to push through legislation allowing same-sex marriage "not only as someone who believes in equality but as someone who believes passionately in marriage."


Priests in same-sex relationships may become Anglican Bishops

But his commitment to that aim has set him at odds with many in his own party.
A number of local party members wrote to the prime minister Sunday, urging him to reconsider.


"We feel very strongly that the decision to bring this Bill before Parliament has been made without adequate debate or consultation with either the membership of the Conservative Party or with the country at large," said the letter, published on the Conservative Grassroots website.

"Long-held religious and personal freedoms and the right to free speech will be adversely affected by the passing of this Bill."


The Church of England also outlined its objections to the bill in a briefing note sent to lawmakers Friday.
It cannot support the legislation "because of its concern for the uncertain and unforeseen consequences for wider society and the common good when marriage is redefined in gender-neutral terms," it said.

It also argues that civil partnerships "already confer the same rights as marriage" and that allowing same-sex couples to marry will open the door to "continued legal disputes for years to come."


The issue of same-sex marriage has also prompted wide disagreement elsewhere.

Lawmakers in France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, on Saturday passed with a wide majority the most important article of a law to legalize same-sex marriage.

Debate will continue for the next week on thousands of proposed amendments to the law, which would also open adoption to same-sex couples.

The vote by French lawmakers followed big public protests against the bill, which has proved highly divisive in the majority Catholic country.

In the United States, where President Barack Obama has voiced his personal support for same-sex marriage, it has been legalized in nine states and the District of Columbia.

At the same time, 30 US states have passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, according to the Pew Research Center.

Polls show the U.S. public has gradually become more accepting of same-sex marriage, with more Americans in favor in 2013 than opposed, according to Pew.

Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa and Norway are among nearly a dozen countries that allow same-sex marriages.

According to a report released in May 2011 by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, same-sex relations are still criminalized in 76 countries, and in five of those countries, the death penalty can be applied.
http://www.edition.cnn.com/2013/02/05/world/europe/uk-gay-marriage-vote/index.html

Also: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21346220

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/05/tory-metrosexuals-gay-marriage-vote-cost

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2273529/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Gay-marriage-split-wanted.html#axzz2KEjioH5L
Sports / Nigeria Vs. Burkina Faso -- Your Predictions. by Orpelin: 10:16pm On Feb 06, 2013
Seeing the wonderful performance of the Super Eagles
against the Malian team,Nigeria will now take on Burkina Faso for the Final place.
My prediction for the match is Nigeria 2-1 Burkina Faso. So what is your prediction for the final AFCON 2013 match?
Let have yours with no too much story telling.

3 Likes

Sports / Re: Nigeria Vs Mali (AFCON 2013) - (4 - 1) On 6th February 2013 by Orpelin: 4:32pm On Feb 06, 2013
nairaland server wetin now?
seun do something ooo
Sports / Re: Nigeria Vs Mali (AFCON 2013) - (4 - 1) On 6th February 2013 by Orpelin: 4:29pm On Feb 06, 2013
goalllllllllll
Sports / Re: Nigeria Vs Mali (AFCON 2013) - (4 - 1) On 6th February 2013 by Orpelin: 4:26pm On Feb 06, 2013
why the card now??
Foreign Affairs / Re: Hillary Clinton Resigns As US Secretary Of State by Orpelin: 12:56pm On Feb 04, 2013
^
this is just your personal opinion and it is noted.
Politics / Re: Sanusi Receives N25,000 Allowance Daily For Local Trips by Orpelin: 12:17pm On Feb 04, 2013
^
such parastatal is not a revenue cum regulatory agency as CBN I guess.

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