Is it appropriate if someone flogs you yourself if they feel disrespected by the things you do/say?...

If you can flog someone who disrespects you because they are younger, why shouldn't someone else be able to flog you if you disrespect them?

This culture that says the older you are, the bigger your monopoly to apply violence and correct people younger than you is quite nauseating. Being older does not make those younger than you lesser humans. You must learn to treat people of all ages with respect if you want some respect yourself!

^^

Don't let anyone sell you some snake oil.

Nothing you do will make you predict the future, not especially some random number generation that is only as good or as useless as it's distributional assumptions.

EnterPRO:
Please how does Game Theory and Probability help in predicting price movements?

Also, if you are good at forecasting, do join us on this thread

www.nairaland.com/enterpro/posts

Thanks in advance.

Nothing can predict price movements in the short term, in the long term, this may only be possible in conventional markets like commodities....definitely not in foreign exchange where correlations between the asset classes you are trading are highly varied!

It's always heart rending to watch people consistently lose their money this way by forcing some strong maths on weak but highly efficient markets hoping some sweet fast bang on way to make money lies therein!!

I once had an argument with some Phd maths student who claimed to have superior abilities to accurately forecast market volatility using a mixture of M-GARCH and volume of traded put options. It wasn't long before he came to realize what lessons many have learnt already that one who attempts to beat the market with numbers and equations will always end up falling behind the market.

jennykadry: LMAO. Una no go kill person. The fact that people even believe this poster is really cracking me up.

+600 likes

These sorts of stories are just too juvenile to be real.

Sounds very much like a bored 16 year old.

People screaming "too much information" like they have no idea that married people even have se.x at all.

@OP

You do come across to me as an insolent confrontational type. Girls like you are only good for being bangd, not married!

It is obvious from your story that you only intend to find out "what's the worst that can happen if i do it my way"...by deliberately going against an agreement that you will prepare for your husband; catfish peppersoup and goat meat egusi soup.

That's deliberate provocation you little brat, nothing petty at all

^^

I don't quite understand you. If the US is already withdrawing its presence in those countries and cutting back on the cost to them....what more is there to be done in that regard?


Everyone hates the fact that US went to Iraq.... Afghanistan is Justified, but those were issues that already took place many years ago for which current and prospective administrations are making significant efforts to reduce both the presence of the United States and the funding provided, what else can they be doing better?

The kiddies tv show on the other hand is not a necessary cost....it is not saving the lives of US troops or US citizens...it is not reducing the cost to healthcare or other social amenities, it's simply an avenue for people to have fun, which the US (a country with high deficit) is being encouraged to fund!!...how ridiculous does that sound?

Going under the auspice that this provides an avenue for adults to become more informed is a bit unfounded. If people are too poor to afford an internet or TV subscriptions to news channels, why not just walk into a public library if you are that much thirsty for knowledge?

The more argument i hear for keeping this bird alive, the more ridiculous it sounds to me....nobody's life will become worse off if government's funding is pulled from this tv show, if the public are bent on keeping the show alive, then it shouldn't be difficult for the producers to find more sponsors.

Tolaaaaannni:


Compared to the wars in iraq and afghanistan which cost the government trillions of dollars, and contributes

absolutely nothing to the economy/does good for anyone! I will take 50 of this educational channels and this "birds"

that actually help educate young children, and get them a head start before they begin school. If Mitt romney wants

to cut spending for unnecessary things, then he needs to concentrate more on getting rid of the ridiculous and useless

wars that takes almost most of the goverment funds than pick on tv shows that doesnt take majority of its funds from the

government and yet still does more for the people. And just so you know this PBS channel does more than just

show "birds" they also show documentaries that I for one think are very informative and valuable. So sir, this channel

is not just for the kids to have a "really nice time", it also helps get educative, and important message out to

adults as well!

Iraq war can no longer be corrected. All the US can simply do is live with the consequences. All US troops are out of Iraq, but it is entirely unreasonable to expect the US to simply cut funding to this country, given that millions of people are still displaced and it is the responsibility of the United States to ensure that stability is fully restored to this country.

I don't see how that compares with spending huge amounts on cartoon shows. The value offered by this tv show does not justify the cost of running it. Most adults are better positioned to be more informative by spending at least 3 minutes each day on Google news than sitting in front of a kiddies channel...these are the kind of holes that the US should aim to shut if it is ever serious about trimming down its record deficit.

Tolaaaaannni:

Nope not kidding, It is literally 0.0012% of the entire US budget. He says "we don't need to waste money" I won't really count it as wasting money because it cost primarily nothing, and it helps educate little children. And this guy claims he wants to create more jobs, while planning to take jobs from more people. Yup some Americans are that stu.pid and will vote for him.

The entire US expenditure for 2011 was 3.6 trillion. What you are letting me know is that the country spent roughly 43 million dollars keeping this bird alive, just so kids could have a "really nice time"?

I get the sentiment that this program was established many years ago when America ran economic surpluses, and could afford to throw cash around the most mundane activities, but that America isn't the same America of today!

43 million dollars and did i hear you say the big ol bird is a poor thing?

Zimbabwe is a country of 12.7 million people and it's federal government entire spending for 2011 was 2.2 million US dollars...roughly 20 times less than the amount US spends keeping a bird alive. What exactly do kids learn from it that isn't available to be learnt in schools, nursery etc?

I don't like Mitt Romney at all...in fact, i believe a better candidate for the GOP/conservative ticket would have been Ron Paul. That said, Mitt Romney is coming across to me as more reasonable if he intends to slash wasteful spending that has kept America's deficit this high in recent decades.

Find 10 of "such birds" to kill and you already have 430 million dollars in savings, why is that unreasonable?

The man that wants to cut funding for PBS won. (Even though PBS only takes about 0.0012% of the entire federal budget! And the rest of the money for PBS comes from donations.) Poor big bird and elmo

WHAT!!!!!!

You are kidding right?

0.0012% of the entire US budget?

Are Americans this stupivd?

CyberG: For those who are just hearing about Romney's positions today, UNDERSTAND that he just changed those positions to appear as "moderate". This guy NEVER had these positions to come through his party primaries while debating among his conservative co-aspirants and appealing to their republican "base". However, he has SHIFTED so much and close to Obama's position on many issues, even the analysts and citizens noticed that and commented after the debate. BOTTOMLINE: Romney will say and do anything NOW to get elected! So rightly, Obama asked: Are these plans you talk about SO GOOD that you are unable to tell Americans what EXACTLY they are? Hope none of you is fooled by the flip-flopping, 47% dissing Romney. The comments he made in private are a VERY accurate portrayal of his real thought towards the people since he thought the public would NEVER see or hear it. Today, he knows people are listening and had to say anything to deceive you.

Like it or not, this is still bad for Obama.

No one likes to see a President mauled so black and blue in front of 80 million viewers. Not especially the President of the United States. The first law of natural selection forbids signs of weakness. If you must stand up tall and defend a country like America on the same stage with folks like Putin and Netanyahu, you can't afford to look like yesterday's Obama!....I bet even Goodluck Jonathan can put up a much fearsome performance (Okay, i know that's taking it too far)

Yesterday was too disappointing to watch. I doubt do if this will have such a strong effect on the polls that may help Mitt's struggles. But it's a start nonetheless, a repeat of such in the future (which i envisage will happen) will be terrible for Team Obama's brand.

Akiika:

So you are insinuating that he used teleprompter in the 2008 debates? you opined that he's intelligent but definitely not a leader...and yet you still hope he wins...Thank God you can't vote in America.

You need to watch the 2008 debates again....Hilary flogged Obama all the way in the democratic debates

Obama is a reflective talker, he pauses...thinks..then talks..then pauses..then thinks..then thinks...then talks!

Mitt on the other hand is a natural alpha male personality. The kind of guy that can force his opinion on you whether you agree with him or not. Obama stands no chance and it was sort of funny to watch him nod in agreement at everything Romney says.

Obama is a nice guy, but sometimes, being nice doesn't make you win. I tried being a nice guy once and ended up not get laid till i was 16!!

When they say "wont be able to pay salaries"...does that refer to salaries of Junior employees or does it include those of very senior level employees up to the chairman himself?

The Middle eastern war has just began!

Turkish artillery has fired on positions inside Syria after shells from Syria killed five people in a southern Turkish border town.

A woman and her three children were among those killed earlier when the shells, apparently fired by Syrian government forces, hit Akcakale.

Turkey's response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Nato ambassadors are due to meet later.

The military alliance's ambassadors would meet under Article 4 of the Nato charter, which provides for consultations when a member state felt its territorial integrity, political independence or security was under threat, a Nato official said.

Turkey is a longstanding Nato member.

Its territory has been hit by fire from Syria on several occasions since the uprising against President Assad began, but Wednesday's incident was the most serious.

In a statement, the office of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement.

"Targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar.

"Turkey will never leave unanswered such kinds of provocation by the Syrian regime against our national security."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu contacted UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, the UN's Syria peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen after the incident.

Mr Ban urged Damascus to respect the territorial sovereignty of its neighbours, saying the cross-border incident "demonstrated how Syria's conflict is threatening not only the security of the Syrian people but increasingly causing harm to its neighbours".

Mr Rasmussen told Turkey's foreign minister that he strongly condemned the incident, a Nato spokeswoman said, and continued to follow developments in the region "closely and with great concern".

Mr Rasmussen has repeatedly said that Nato has no intention of intervening in Syria but stands ready to defend Turkey if necessary.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "We are outraged that the Syrians have been shooting across their border... and regretful of the loss of life on the Turkish side."

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is in Turkey on a trade and diplomatic visit, said: "We condemn all violence by the Syrian regime and demand that it avoids any repetition of today's incident on the border with Turkey," he said.

'Anger'
Akcakale has been fired on several times over the past few weeks.

The BBC's Jim Muir says Syrian government forces are attempting to cut rebel supply routes by winning back the border crossing at Tall al-Abyad which the rebels seized last month.

Residents have been advised to stay away from the border, and more than 100 schools have been closed in the region because of the violence in neighbouring Syria.

Turkey's state-owned Anatolia news agency reported that angry townspeople had marched to the mayor's office to protest about the deaths on Wednesday.

Town mayor Abdulhakim Ayhan said: "There is anger in our community against Syria," adding that stray bullets and shells had panicked residents over the past 10 days.

Wednesday's attack is believed to be only the second time that people have died as a result of violence spilling over the border from Syria into Turkey.

Two Syrian nationals were killed on Turkish soil in April by stray bullets fired from Syria.

In Syria itself, at least 34 people were killed and dozens wounded in a series of bomb explosions in the centre of Syria's second city, Aleppo, on Wednesday.

The attacks levelled buildings in the city's main square. A military officers' club and a hotel being used by the military bore the brunt of the blasts, some of which were carried out by suicide car bombers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19822253

Romney is Romney's problem. He's just not likeable. Plus Obama's campaign already spent huge amounts painting him as a brutal, wealthy, predator who just can't connect with the average American. Romney on his own part lived up to it all...

The debate will be very interesting. Obama is extremely vulnerable....he may be one of the most talented speakers of all time..but this time, unlike in 2008 when he presented himself to Americans as the next best thing to happen to American Politics after Ronald Reagan, he has been tested and many times found wanting. The results of his first term will be scrutinized in more detail during the debates and questions for him will be based on "what more stuff have you got?"

Romney's part of the debate is likely to be much more interesting. I presume his best weapons will be to draw attention to the economy, jobs, Arab spring, Iran and the situation in Libya....just about the same thing he's been doing for many months already. Being a gaffe prone politician, every thing he says will be picked on and may be used against him, no doubts. I'm waiting for a classic line like the "Bet you 10,000 bucks?"

Overall, Obama's chances so far seems much more likely that Romney's. This is an election that Romney should be winning...but the dude is just not likeable.

[size=13pt]Chapter IV :Fundamental Rights[/size]

---

41. (1) Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereby or exit therefrom.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society-

(a) imposing restrictions on the residence or movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably suspected to have committed a criminal
offence in order to prevent him from leaving Nigeria; or

(b) providing for the removal of any person from Nigeria to any other country to:-
(i) be tried outside Nigeria for any criminal offence, or
(ii) undergo imprisonment outside Nigeria in execution of the sentence of a court of law in respect of a criminal offence of which he has
been found guilty: Provided that there is reciprocal agreement between Nigeria and such other country in relation to such matter.


42. (1) A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person:-
(a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action
of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex,
religions or political opinions are not made subject; or
(b) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative
action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex,
religions or political opinions.

ajiantochi: No live was lost, d cars were stolen in kogi, bt were sold in lag, I get confuse in dis case too nd yeah d 5 families ar working together..bt aniways I tink ill jst hope it gets beta..cos I aint gettin ani help here, thanks 4 ur posts

I understand that these are difficult times for your families, but if you really need to get the opinion of outsiders, then you must consider using the language everyone finds comfortable. Your post till this point has been extremely difficult to follow.


Your best bet will be for you to instruct your lawyers to file court proceeding asking the courts to enforce your fathers fundamental right as provided for under sections 34 and 35 of the Nigerian constitution.

Your Lawyers may also wish to challenge whether or not this case falls within the constitutional duties of the Nigerian army: which legally involves defending Nigeria from external aggression, maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation.

In my view, this may actually be a straight forward case, or not, depending on how much you are ready to fight legally. The outcome of a Judgement such as this will be for the court to instruct the Nigerian army to transfer the case on to the Nigerian Police, who will then decide whether or not they wish to proceed with prosecution.

4Runner: I couldn't sleep last night and ended up sleeping in church this morning. Why? 'Cos my neighbour and his wife started fighting from 2.30am to about 5am this morning. They're known on the street for this, but last night's was different.

The wife broke everything breakable in the house. This was what woke me up and I was scared for them. She kept screaming "one of us must die this night". She abused and insulted the hubby's friend who went to mediate.

I'm against spouse battering, especially when it's the man beating the woman. But my neighbour's case is peculiar 'cos it's the wife that starts the fight, makes the most noise and creates the unnecessary scene.

So if she comes out tomorrow to acuse the hubby of wife battering, some people will support her.
We can only pass a fair judgement when we hear from BOTH parties. My neighbour's is an eye opener.

Hmm..I became speechless after reading this.


Everyone does have a certain limit, and while I'm happy to lead a full frontal war against low life scums who beat their wives, I doubt if even me can let my limits be tested by a human being to this point stated above.

Most likely if i find myself in a scenario like this, i will immediately begin divorce proceedings against such woman and send her back to her popsi's house and probably even demand full refund of any bride price paid plus damages.

At that point where she's going all rage and beginning to break the things i bought with my money, in my house, I may have to use minimal restraint on her to protect my interest and properties....that's wouldn't be classed as wife battering!

ActiveMan:

FOOLISH? WHY DID YOU MARRY SOMEONE YOU WILL BEAT? WHY DONT YOU LEAVE HER ALONE WHEN YOU CAN NOT KEEP YOUR ANGER AND PRIDE IN YOUR POCKET,

Isn't the same organisation you furiously labelled as "FOOLISH" fighting against this stone aged backwardness?

If you aren't sure why you must criticize people, it may be better you don't at all.

Nosa-Henry:

Why are you so judgemental, did you hear from him. What is MTN business with personal and private lives of its employees.

Because MTN has values and its employees are representatives of those values either in their private or professional lives.

I would suggest you gain more exposure to a culture outside a backward stone age mentality.

LastApostle:

The bible made us to understand that marriage is for better for worst.

Does "worst" in this case include when a man beats his wife to death?

ActiveMan: WHAT FOOLISH ORGANIZATION IS THIS?
WHAT IS THEIR AIM?
TO GET SUPPORT? OR WHAT?

THAT STORY OF ZAKI'S WIFE LOOKS SOME HOW

I DO NOT SUPPORT ANY MAN BEATING THEIR WIFE

IF YOUR WIFE OFFEND YOU OR THEIR IS AN ARGUMENT PLEASE JUST WORK OUT OF THE HOUSE AND WHEN YOU ARE COMING BACK HOME BUY HER WHAT SHE LIKES MOST, THAT MAKES ARE FEEL YOU LOVE HER AND YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO CORRECT HER

ALSO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO COPE WITH THE PERSON YOU MARRIED BECAUSE YOU WHERE NOT FORCE TO ENTER THE RELATIONSHIP IN THE FIRST PLACE

What FOOLISH person are you?

It's with a certain level of disbelief that i read people here demanding to hear "the other side of the story"...which by all accounts will likely begin with statements such as:

"I slapped her because..."

"I punched her because..."

Nairaland is a microcosm of the Nigerian society afterall. The evidence is all too glaring to the eye. People who are sympathetic to wife beaters and would rather listen to a man's excuse for beating up his wife are themselves closet wife beaters. People like that deserve no place in a forward looking society.

Domestic violence should never be tolerated...regardless what the other side of the story for perpetuating such violence may be.

Fast forward to this case.. The report so far has no other testimonies apart from that of the witness.. A van filled with drunken policemen is not impossible but however unusual even for the Nigerian police.. They shot him twice!! That's not just a random shooting.. Twice means the gun was on full automatic and the person wanted him dead.. The Nigerian Police will not leave any witnesses alive.. Infact, the witness has no account of them shooting at him and he dodging the bullets.. He testifies that they shot at him from a distance so I would like to know how he came to the conslusion that they were drunk!? The fact that they pulled up in a police van, with police uniforms and even had Police rifles still don't make them the police.. Its not unusual for criminals to operate in Police and military fatigues.. Infact, a colleague of mine was kidnapped in a police van..

The story of you and your mum sounds quite scary to be honest.

As you have witnessed yourself, one argument that sure holds merit is the fact that Nigerian Policemen can be unstable and completely reckless and are not normally methodical with the choice of their victims.

This statement below, copied directly from the passage shows me the murder, if committed by the Police as alleged, is in fact consistent with the unstable and reckless pattern Nigerian Policemen are likely to display once heavily drunk together in a group.

As they were waiting for a taxi to pass by, a Police pickup truck with intoxicated but uniformed policemen in it pulled up about 10-15 feet from them, and a policeman fired a shot directly into Ozuah’s chest, with the bullet going right through.

Nigerian Policemen are known to carry mostly Ak-47 rifles. Firing two shots continuously is the least of the problem of an Ak-47 handler.

the.game:

If it was the police force that killed the man, they also would have shot the friend to cover-up the whole act,cause nobody that commits an offence would like to be exposed,
Two shots at close range already proves it was assination.
Seems like the friend was the only witness in the crime scene thereby giving him the ability to conclude on any story of his choice.
There is more to this story

I can't seem to find anywhere in the story that puts the account of the events solely on the friend's testimony. This was a crime supposedly committed in full glare of the public, it may be unreasonable to assume the friend was the only person within the vicinity whose account contributed to the conclusion of the story.

While i agree that the story does need more to be explained, the best anyone could do at the moment is to proceed with the testimony of the people at the crime scene. It was reported that the killers at the crime scene drove in a police van and wore police uniform...given that men of the Nigerian Police have shown themselves capable of committing even far more outrageous crimes, that singular account does make them number one lead in the case.

The other possibility is that this is a case of an unorganized assassination and the killers wore police uniform to divert attention away from them.

Okija_juju:


Prefect Crime!!!! I think not..

More like the lamest cover story ever.. Even the Nigerian Police would never use such a flimsy cover story..

Drunken policemen.. Shoot twice at one person from a distance.. Leave the witness to get away... How?! Not my Nigerian pigs.. They may be corrupt but not entirely stupid..

So which part of the story sounds unreasonable? That the Nigerian Policemen could get drunk? That they could shoot at one person twice from a distance or at close range? or that they could leave witness to get away?

Are killers more likely to leave witness to get away than Nigerian Policemen?

So let's say you were to plan a very lame assassination in Nigeria, why would you deliberately put yourself on the crime scene when you can simply tell the killers whom they should be looking for?...Isn't it more convenient if you weren't at the crime scene at all?

Just when you think you missed Naija, you hear another story that makes you think .."how the fck do people live in that country"?

RIP to the soul of the deceased. Where Justice is hard to get, i hope Karma takes it course!

What a failed state!

dasparrow:

Oh please! If you must know, I attended a greater part of my primary education and all of my secondary education in Nigeria before leaving the country and excelling academically in college here in the States. I believe that if you are going to do a job, then do it well. We should stop celebrating or excusing mediocrity in Nigeria. If journalism does not pay well, then I guess it is time for a career change.

Why would anyone who calls himself or herself a journalist consistently write "the light skinned pilot" or "the dark skinned actress"? What has one's skin tone got to do with anything? Why the fixation or downright obsessions with skin tone amongst many Nigerians? Is it inferiority complex rearing its head again? And anyone who can't spell the simple word 'actresses' should not be called a journalist or practice in the profession. Nigeria will never move forward if all we have in Nigeria today are educated illiterates who can neither write nor spell properly.

ah!...You study in the states and have probably spent a large chunk of your adult life reading Wall Street Journal articles, Financial Times or the Washington post...I get how out of touch you must be with the Nigerian situation, having been exposed to a world in which competition is rife for the top-of-the-class talents and the industry can actually afford to train and compensate such talents adequately. It's simple, if the society demands quality, it must be willing to pay for it, in terms of improving education standards, available infrastructure and adequately rewarding sound talents.

I get how frustrated it must feel to learn that there's actually another world out there where millions go though learning in the most intolerable environmental conditions and are forced by the society to obtain degrees either by hook or crook means which they themselves cannot convince themselves why they must obtain those degrees.

I get how out of touch you must be with the Nigerian situation if you've actually attended in the very least, a modest education and must probably think every other Nigerian had the same opportunity as you. It must be frustrating eh?

I'm not the type to justify mediocrity, but the reality is what i have mentioned in my first post. I'm convinced it is a little far fetched to demand so much from people whose environment, opportunities, and exposure offered them so little. It will be completely bizarre to expect the same sort of results from someone who schooled in one of the classrooms below with another who attended Eton college, don't you think?

dasparrow: @Post

I bow for Nigerian journalists. They can't even spell the word 'actresses' and their way of writing is so childish. Why do Nigerian journalists always have to mention a person's skin complexion? Is that really necessary? Anyways, I am sure Capt. Ekeinde will find another job. Push come to shove, he can live off his wife's income in the meantime till he secures employment again.

I think you are demanding too much from people who have only received too little.

The pay of a Journalist isn't very attractive, neither is the prospect of risking a lot to source for news item....add that to the fact that these same people attended the same epileptic educational training available for sale in Nigeria and you may start feeling some sort of sympathy rather than outright condemnation.

Jimoh Ibrahim is one ruthless, i-no-send-ya-mama murafucker!

AjanleKoko:

That's a lot of pain to endure, just for the privilege of strutting your shoulders

Well, i have seen people endure much worse pain for the privilege of strutting their shoulders. It's a society thing. The same reason some study for medicine or engineering.

In an overtly competitive efficient world where almost everyone has an access to the same sort of information and knowledge, the only way you stand to differentiate yourself from a billion other humans living on this planet is to search and discover more knowledge and contribute this to the jillions of knowledge already available for onward transfer to the nth generation.

Doing a Phd is an extremely wonderful thing. Unlike masters or bachelors, where you simply learn what others have discovered, it puts you in a position to write in a complete clean sheet...you build on pieces of information to arrive at a completely new information that may change the way the world views itself forever...this is not some overly priced and packaged MBA nor some "extracurricular BSc", packaged as MSc, a Phd is beyond all that. A Phd is a true quest for knowledge, if seen as anything short of that, then it's meaning itself may be lost.

More knowledge is never a useless thing. I will rather associate with people who can challenge conventional wisdom than those who simply take things as given.

The argument that vocational experience may fill this void is completely without merits. 500 years ago, perhaps vocational experience may have dictated and thought people at that time to drown themselves once they are inflicted with smallpox. It would have taken someone or a group of people to dedicate a significant amount of time and their life into discovering the nature of Smallpox virus and subsequent treatment...and for that reason, you and I live in a better world.

Phd is never a waste of time, oftentimes, the purpose of obtaining one is what makes the difference. Many people get a Phd simply to strut their shoulders.