₦airaland Forum

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam " . - Pale Blue Dot Carl Sagan

Pale blue dot was a concept by Carl Sagan to show just how small, fragile and I would say insignificant our planet is. He was the chief consultant to the voyeger missions, a mission to send space probes to the outer planets and their moons and then send them them outside our solar system into the vast unknown of the universe, travelling forever carrying a message from us to anybody or anything out there.

Carl Sagan insisted that at the outer fringes of our solar system, just before the probe takes off into the vast unknown of the universe, voyeger 1's camera should turn to the earth and take one last picture. That picture shows the earth as a little speck of pale blue dot. The picture itself became famously known as the Pale blue dot.

The earth is that tiny speck being shown by the arrow.


Watch and listen to Carl Sagan in the video below to appreciate it more;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5FwsblpT8

After watching it, you will then begin to wonder;

Why the wars?
Why the hatred?
Why the religious intolerance?
Why the greed.

Our destiny is tied together inside this time vehicle.

I do not understand the noise the ordinary masses are making over this $1 billion naira loan, this is usual game played by the politicans. When Jonathan was in power, the PDP borrowed $1 billion to fight Boko haram.

Jonathan gets approval to borrow $1billion to fight Boko Haram - September 2014.

The Senate on Thursday approved a request for external borrowing of not more than N1 billion dollars by President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle security challenges in the country.
https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.premiumtimesng.com/news/168645-jonathan-gets-approval-to-borrow-1billion-to-fight-boko-haram.html/amp

PDP were happy then and the APC was screaming "blue murder" then;

APC lambasts Jonathan over $1 billion Boko Haram loan

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has asked the National Assembly to properly scrutinize the puzzling request by President Goodluck Jonathan for a 1 billion dollar loan to fight the insurgent group Boko Haram, saying the administration has no business borrowing money if it had accounted for US$20 billion in oil funds or plugged the official stealing of 300,000 barrels of oil per day.

Now, that the table has turn, it is APC's turn to celebrate and PDP's turn to scream "blue murder".

kimjongJezebel:
Anybody that collected money from NSA is a thief. Buhari collected $350, 000.00 and two bullet proof cars. Therefore, Buhari is a big thief. He deserves to be jailed

Buhari was giving what he was entitled to under the Nigerian constitution, just like all other former presidents.

Read the REMUNERATION OF FORMER PRESIDENTS AND HEADS OF STATE (AND OTHER ANCILLARY MATTERS) ACT to enlightenment yourself;

1. Remuneration of former Presidents and Heads of State, etc.

As from the commencement of this Act all former-

(a) Presidents and Heads of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (in this Act referred to as "former Heads of State" shall be-

(i) paid the sum of N350,000 per month as up-keep allowance;
5. (1) Free medical treatment for former Heads of State and their immediate family within
Nigeria.

(2) Treatment abroad for former Heads of State and their immediate family where necessary at Federal Government expense.

(3) Thirty days annual vacation within and outside Nigeria at Federal Government expense.

7. A well furnished five-bedroom house to be provided in any location of the choice of the former Head of State in Nigeria.


3. (1) Three vehicles to be bought by the Federal Government and liable to be replaced every four years.

This issue had been discussed extensively on nairaland here - https://www.nairaland.com/2803720/entitlements-former-heads-state-presidents

deomelo:
[s][/s]






GEJ did not commission anything and if he did, he commissioned only sand because there was nothing but dredged sand on the ground when he visited.


All GEJ did was appear for dedication ceremony.

I know lies, ignorance and ipobs are like brothers and sisters, of course.

E tire me too o. I do not exactly know what they (Goodluck and Buhari ) are commissioning. I thought to commission a project means the project is completed and operational, but all I see here are commissioning of empty sand.

Maybe every subsequent president would commission eko Atlantic City until it is finally competed and the reigning president at the time of completion would do the grand commissioning.

CoolAmbience:
The era we are in now is not for white-collar job people. If you are ready to soil your hand with work, then now is your best moment for that big break.

Glam! Case closed! Nigerian youths are still living in the past, they dream of working in airconditioned offices wearing suits and ties in banks, oil companies or at worst government offices. Well I have advice for you guys, remove your suits and ties and put on jeans, teeshirt and canvas and learn a skill or at worst a trade, and you will earn more money than bankers and even oil workers.

AlPeter:
this funny. Okay let's start.
1. Russia: https://www.rt.com/business/386436-foreign-reserves-russia-bank/
http://uk.businessinsider.com/russian-currency-reserves-are-running-out-2015-2?IR=T
ruble fall from 35 to 80 to a dollar

But your friend made the following statement;

36STATES:
No other country's currency lost value like Naira in such a short period.

Now how do you reconcile the two statements? Is it due to deliberate lies or ignorance?

Opeyemi4real:
So many fools here proving to be an economist! Lack of knowledge will not kill you before it's too late. Buharinism is a disease, while it's so clear that Nigerians made a huge mistake in 2015 and some are admitting that fact, some out of insensitivity admitted it in their closet but come openly to spew trash. They're the type that find it difficult to say 'I AM SORRY' even when wrong!

Abeg, which mistake are you talking about? That we should have elected Jonathan instead of Buhari?

Edelweiss44:
Oga, read those your articles again and tell me which one of these economies had inflation that's even up to half of what has happened to Nigeria. Which one of them had their currency fall by almost 100%?

I already mentioned venezuela as an exception several times and i clearly said it was due to inept socialist government policies that were put in place. Go and study before coming out to defend incompetence!

Let me first state that I am not completely exonerating Buhari, but is annoying when some people seem to have a condition shown as short term memory and tend to forget events that led to the present conditions.
Nigeria's inflation rate had always been double digits even under president Jonathan, so the high inflation was not created by Buhari.

You also read the articles and tell me which counties had as much corruption as Nigeria, Which ones pay politicians jumbo salaries and allowances, which ones has close to a population of 200 million, which ones support and celebrate corruption and corrupt public officials as we do.

I know they say Black's are allergic to books, but please try and read Professor Charles Soludo article written in January 2015 just before the elections, you will get an idea of where Nigeria was heading whether Buhari or Jonathan won.
Here are some quotes from the article;

The presidential election next month will be won by either Buhari or Jonathan. For either, it is likely to be a pyrrhic victory. None of them will be able to deliver on the fantastic promises being made on the economy, and if oil prices remain below $60, I see very difficult months ahead, with possible heady collisions with labour, civil society, and indeed the citizenry. To be sure, the presidential election will not be decided by the quality of ‘issues’ or promises canvassed by the candidates.


If oil prices remain between 40- 60 dollars over the next two years, the current policy regime guarantees that foreign reserves will continue the precipitous depletion with the attendant exchange rate depreciation, as well as a probable unsustainable escalation in debt accumulation, fiscal retrenchment or taxing the private sector with vengeance. The scenario does not look pretty.

Also take time to read the warning our dear minister of finance and ministers for the economy gave at about the same period;

Nigerians should brace for tougher economic times ahead, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said as crude oil prices slipped to a four year low on Wednesday.

Though the price of sweet crude, the blend of oil export from Nigeria, rose marginally at the close of trading on Wednesday to $76.96 per barrel, it has already crashed below the $79 per barrel benchmark approved in the 2014 Appropriation Act, concerns are mounting that tough times are indeed ahead.
https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.premiumtimesng.com/business/171145-brace-tougher-times-ahead-okonjo-iweala-tells-nigerians.html/amp

36STATES:
Nigeria is not the only country with oil based economy. No other country's currency lost value like Naira in such a short period . It is down to the dullard's stupidity and not fall in the price of crude. All what you wrote there is nonsense because booohari increased fuels price and still pays subsidy on top and still there is scarcity. Can anyone beat such incompetence?

Lies or ignorance. All oil dependent countries had economic problems or recession during the oil doom period ( 2014 - 2015), except few countries with huge external reserves or foreign investments like U.A.E and Qatar.
Here are a few examples
1. VENEZUELA

Things got really bad when oil prices started to plunge in 2014. Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, but the problem is that oil is the only game in town. It makes up over 95% of Venezuela's revenue from its exports. If it doesn't sell oil, the country doesn't have money to spend
- http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/25/news/economy/venezuela-breaking-point/index.html

2. SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia's economy has shrunk in the first two quarters this year as the OPEC kingpin continues to struggle to cope with low crude prices and painful reforms, according to official figures.

General Authority for Statistics figures show that Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 2.3 percent in this year's second quarter compared with the first three months of 2017, mainly over low oil prices and less production.

Saudi Arabia's GDP in the first quarter contracted by 3.7 percent compared with the last quarter of 2016.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and the largest economy in the Middle East, has taken a series of austerity measures since oil prices collapsed in mid-2014.

Until 2014, oil income made up more than 90 percent of public revenues.
- https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/www.alaraby.co.uk/english/amp/news/2017/10/1/saudi-economy-shrinks-in-the-first-half-of-2017

3. RUSSIA

President Vladimir Putin has used his end of year news conference to blame the oil price collapse and Western sanctions for Russia's financial crisis.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/18/news/economy/russia-economy-10-things/index.html

You can read more here;
- http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/30/investing/oil-prices-countries-suffering/index.html

It is annoying when supposedly educated men talk like vulcanisers. Is reno saying he did not offer or pass economics 101 in school?

Is renowned omokri saying he has not heard of such terms like inflation rate, revenue profile, population rate, exchange rate, etc?

What was the revenue profile of Nigeria during president Jonathan's time and what is the revenue profile now? How did the CBN keep the naira down during Jonathan's period? It is by auctioning dollars twice every week. Now where is the Buhari administration going to get the dollars to keep the naira low now? Reno and his supporters can help by exporting something and earning dollars. It will help in meeting some dollar demand by dollar hungry Nigerians.

Nigeria has an average inflation rate of 12% - 14%, if Reno does not understand what this means, I will explain. It means prices of goods and services are expecting to increase an average of 12 - 15% every year. This means prices of all goods including rice is expected to double every 7 to 8 years.

If we were to follow Reno 's logic, then Abacha was a superstar compared to Jonathan. During Abacha's period petrol was N11 per litre, dollar was about N30 per dollar and rice was less than N500 per bag.

I am not saying Buhari is performing well, but Reno and his party should learn to criticise intellectually instead of talking like garage touts.

Annie939:
both bubu ,apc and jagaban have nothing to offer Nigerians buhari is doing all this stuff for selfish interest

Can't you read the article and assimilate? Bubu said after conferring with the ministry of justice, he was informed that tenure extension of party officers tenure was illegal, and it could result in the nullification of all primaries conducted under the illegal party officers (including his own). You should blame the governors who wants to keep Oyegun and the state party officials in place by force or fire until after the primaries.

Billyonaire:
Whether people on this forum, will know it or not, but when a signature research center, equipped with digital Library with accommodation almost free comes up, in every State capital, where people will have access to basic information to escape the trappings of religions and books to know convincing truth, then people will wake up and take their country back.

Even though I do not share your spiritual "mumbo jumbo" the quote above resonate with me. I have had this passion of building and managing a physical and digital library with science lab and research centre included for over 5 years. I have so many ideas and projects in my head that I hardly sleep at night. To get a good sleep, I need to take sleeping pills.

Africa is so backward because we refuse to embrace science and technology, we focus mainly on religion, spiritualism and entertainment, thereby lagging the rest of the world in terms of development.

The problem is how will you elicit interest among the youths on how things really work? How will you get the youth away from Big brother, Facebook, Twitter, yahoo yahoo and numerous unproductive ventures our youth waste their life on. You and I had the burning desire to study how the universe work and spent decades reading and researching. Look at the science and technology section of this forum it is empty, now compare it to big brother naija, celebrity and romance sections.

Cromcruach91:
Well, you said that the army can't be deployed to all schools....

There is no army in the world that can deploy troops to all school within its territory.

Which means Boko will just focus their kidnapping effort on the schools where there are no troops.

What is our military, security organizations and intelligence organisations looking at when a group of more than 50 terrorists regroup, drive for up to two hours to get to their target with a convoy of up to 20 cars and trucks, carry out their activities for hours and then drive back to their destination for hours again. Why are our security personnels collecing huge salaries and allowances?

You have confirmed my point.

Also, fast deployment you have in mind ...the problem is, boko might just simply use their hostages as civillian shields.....(There is a reason why even though I did not like GEJ, I still liked the fact that he did not go rushing in to save the Chibok girls.....).

A hostage situation is much better and less embarrassing than terrorist having free reign without any intervention by the security organisations. Hostage situations happen every were around the word, but it is only in Nigeria that terrorists can have free reign for hours without confrontation.

Jonathan did not even acknowledge that girls were kidnapped until 3 weeks after the Chibok abductions, so don't come telling us that the delay in response was strategic.

komekn:
Nigerian armed forces are very reflective of the indepth, ingrained and endemic corruption that pervades every area of government.

Modern armies do not rely on numbers to monitor and police an area but on an entire connective modern communication infrastructure, pro active contingency plans, interfacing, rapid response and fit for purpose precision weaponry.

Glam! Modern armies do not rely on sheer numbers, they rely on modern gadgets, hardware and strategy.

If defending north east Nigeria seems impossible, you will wonder how Russia that is more than 20 times the size of Nigeria with less population are able to defend theirs.

This Boko Haram embarrassment is a reflection of the rota in our military over the decades. The generals had become politicians over the decades and have deliberately allowed our military to rot.

Cromcruach91:
Hmmm

1.There are probably at least 500 schools in Borno state. How will the army defend them all? And fight Boko, and the other crisis in the country? (Remember that there is the Fulani issue , and the crime issue, and the fact that most states prefer to use soldiers for internal security ops?)

The army does not need to defend all 500 schools before they can defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria, they only need to improve on their trainings, ease of deployment and equipment. For Boko Haram to drive into dapchi or any other school, carry out their operations and drive back to based would require nothing less than 6 hours. A military that cannot be deployed in 6 hours to confront an attack within its territory is not worth to be called an army. It simply means a foreign power can invade the country and over run most of the country before the army can put up a response.
So what was the use of all those Chinese satellites we said we launched if it cannot be used to track invaders with numerous trucks?

2.How many soldiers can the army deploy to each school? There were eight soldiers at chibok. All Boko needed to do was send in hundreds of their fighters to Chibok...and there was nothing eight soldiers could do...

As I said soldiers need not be stationed at every school. As you already noted a few soldiers cannot withstand an army of Boko Haram fighters. Are you telling us that there is no army based or barracks in burno? A moderately equipped army must have attack helicopters and transport aircrafts for fast deployment. We are also supposed to have an airforce that could be deployed to area of conflicts within minutes. I thought the government said they borrowed $1 billion to but equipment to fight Boko Haram? Where are they?

3.The real problem here is our underfunded police force, and anyway, they too have all sorts of problems to deal with.

Police are not trained or equipped to fight insurgency or organised armed groups. It is the job of the military to defend against foreign and internal armies.

4.My solution....empower the civilian JTF. And provide more security by running a government that creates jobs....by, you know, promoting investment in things that promote manufacturing...which would encourage more people to get educated...and more people to stay away from Boko.

Civilian JTF would not work in the long run as they cannot confront trained fighters who are maintained by local or foreign enermies. This is a job for the military.

winner01:
Ad hominem


Local champions. Search Facebook for Nigerian atheist movements, I've seen about 2 Nigerian sponsored adverts on Facebook, promoting their arm of hopeless atheism


Greed and materialism is caused by those who have no regard for God or humanity regardless of whatever they claim to believe.

And don't lump other worldviews to atheism and claim they don't deal with issues of hopelessness. Atheism is secluded in its dreamland of a godless utopia. Christianity does not promote materialism either. Christ who all Christians strive to imitate did not preach materialism. And If you give me examples of those not following the teachings of Christ, then be prepared for examples of those who seem to be actingbout the real effects of atheism.

Atheism is a lack of belief that seeks to spread its foolishness to other scenes of humanity. This is why y'all spend your life on a religion section preaching atheism dishonestly and ridiculing religious people.
After hundreds of years of this act of foolishness, humanity still remains largely religious.



But do you agree when we say Christians are bound by a "belief in Jesus as the son of God", after that there are hundreds of denominations.
Do you call out dalaman and other atheists when they triy to lump together all religious attrocitoes commuted by Christians with christianity

That's where your bigotry comes in.


Foreign atheists are not toothless dogs like Nigerian atheists. They have organizations and have held international conventions which have all recorded ridiculously low turnouts.
Atheists organize and go to conventions for the same reason you are onna religion section trying to advocate for the superiority of atheism.

The prominent atheists whose quotes I gave on the first page seem to disagree with you.
I'm my opinion, they are smarter, more intelligent, have more depth in atheism and most importantly are much more honest than most Nigerian atheists. This is why they have honestly exposed the hopelessness of the atheistic worldview.

I now understand why my good friend Billyonaire is winding down his time on nairaland, debates have becomes childish, repetitive and unproductive.

I am also extremely tired of the merry go round, no matter how much you try to educate the fundamentalist Christian that the only thing binding atheist together is a lack of belief of God or gods, it looks like you are talking to a prerecorded voice message, they keep repeating their nonsense of atheist being a platform to offer anything like hope, motivation, etc.

It seems their grouse is with atheists in general and not any other theist. it is as if converting to any theist like Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or even okija worshiper would douse their hatred of others holding different beliefs, and show love instead.

I am also considering leaving like billyonaire, so Christians can have free reign on this section. I think I have outlive my usefulness.

butterflylion:
LMAO if that were the case why did they not take advantage of the internet and run a live stream? After all technology could have made this so much easier wouldn't it?

However they were also after the money they would have made from it so dismal ticket sales which meant little money ended the sham.

I guess it isn't only the religious who talk about money after all.

And by the way this is not stale news. This was a convention scheduled to hold this 2018

Also you said "we" have atheists in every city now. I guess atheism is a community after all

cc wirinet this negates your comment on my thread

Arguing with you is becoming an unproductive and irrational exercise, how does "we have atheist in every city" translate to atheism is a community? I took time to explain to you that atheists do not have the motivation for meetings and jamborees, and you are talking of atheist community. Most universities have a reasonable amount of atheists, but you will not see them forming a community or meetings. They only betray their beliefs when Christians intrude on their privacy and try to save their soul by force.
Atheism is a personal journey, it does not require evangelism or convincing others.

I honestly do not understand you guys obsession with atheist convention or Atheist meetings. There is absolutely no motivation for convinced atheists to meet. I have a convinced atheist for close to 30 years and I have never attended an atheist meeting (I didn't even know there are such things), I have never joined any atheist group online. I only post here on nairaland to counter you arrogant and sorry to say, ignorant Christians who makes loads of ridiculous false claims.

If it was a technology convention, I would be interested, if it was a physics convention, I would be interested, even a convention to discuss paleontology and evolution would greatly interest me, but an atheist convention? No.

butterflylion:
Much as I hate doing this I just need to for the sake of the problematic atheist community here on nairaland. I like them though but they never seem to reason so let me help them reason properly.

I can compare you to a wailing wailer, the same way PDP and it's allies are still pained that their hero lost the last presidential elections and are extremely bitter and sometimes hateful towards the ruling party and their supporters, that is the way you guys are pained that some people left your religious party ( Christianity ) and have chosen to live happily as freethinkers or atheists.

For your information there is no atheist community here on nairaland or elsewhere in Nigeria.

The world as we know it is slowly degenerating into a chaotic place and isn't wholesome anymore for so many and in times like these people seek for hope, motivation, encouragement, direction, comfort.

That is a lie, the world as well know it is not degenerating into a chaotic place, in fact the reverse it the case, the world as well know it is getting better, orderly and peaceful. You cannot compare this period to any other period in world history in terms of peace ( we have not had any major international conflict for over 60years), quality of life ( technological and medical advances had improved the value of human life).

This is so for a vast majority of people world wide so they are constantly on the look out for anyone who can offer them these. So here come the nairaland atheists or even the atheists worldwide to help them as best they can.

The problem poverty, hopelessness and directionless is caused mainly by greed and materialism, which is being promoted by your religion Christianity. Buddhism, shintoism, Hinduism and even Judaism does not promote crass materialism and so do not suffer those issues of hopelessness and lack of meanings to their lives.
Atheism is just personal conviction of lack of any diety worthy of worship, so I do not understand how that can give any others hope.

From my observations atheism is simply a rejection mixed with a sceptical approach with a dice of mockery all added together. We all know that scepticism is a common phenomenon everywhere in the world.

We are sceptical in our offices, market places, schools, and even the area boys and girls are sceptical so this makes scepticism, common place and so irrelevant. However people are always on the look out for anyone with any form of answers and tend to avoid sceptics because as I said, it is so common place. But answer providers are not common place.

We also know that mockery can get boring and tiresome a lot as we cannot keep it up because after a while the fans of the one mocking would begin to get tired and walking away one by one because it is becoming ridiculous and repetitive. Eventually they will turn on the one mocking.

A thread was put up by winner01 (a Christian) which got me thinking about putting up this thread as well. This is the thread

Atheism is simply a rejection or a disbelief in any God. That is the only common denomination, after that there are a million and one shades of atheists, you have the materialistic atheist, you have the spiritual atheist, the militant atheist, the pacifist atheist, there is even the Christian atheist, (those atheists who believes in the teaching and ideas of Christ but do not believe in the diety of Jesus or in any other Gods.

Among the list of the atheist leaders who were to speak in the convention is Richard Dawkins . Richard, the once applauded, atheist and with throngs of followers could not pull his usual attention to this convention so they had to cancel it due to dismal ticket sales.

This was actually the 3rd GLOBAL convention and at just the 3rd convention things are already falling apart.

How can a GLOBAL atheist convention experience dismal ticket sales? Why aren't the global atheists interested?

There are religious conventions which have been held yearly for upwards of 50 years or even 20 years now and still pull crowds because of the hope, comfort, direction, motivation, encouragement, they offer which everyone seeks after. Yet at just the 3rd convention atheists are already losing interest.

Atheist conventions cannot work because there is nothing to discuss in such meetings. What else is there to discuss? Are atheists going to a convention to reinforce their beliefs that there is no God? Will there be music, drinks and motivational speeches at the convention?
The only people that would be interested in such conventions are undecided atheists.

If atheists can offer hope they will grow
If they can offer motivation they will grow
If they can offer encouragement they will grow
If they can offer direction they will grow
If they can offer comfort they will grow

But can they offer any of these? No they cannot

Do they make any attempts at working on these? No they do not.

Atheism cannot and had never pretended to offer those things you listed above. Anyone that need hope, motivation, direction and comfort, better try pentecostal Christianity, they offer tithe, offerings and complete submission to the pastor in exchange for those things.

niggi4life:

How will someone/some people in their right senses be waving and jubilating on seeing Boko haram terrorists, for them they would have been daydreaming of becoming one.

The hausas are easily brainwashed and so daft.. The only little relief i have is that they are bombing and kidnapping themselves in the north

It is called Stockholm syndrome, and it is not peculiar to northern Nigeria. It is the same thing when Ibori and Alamieseigha come back after being jailed or detained for stealing their future and the get massive reception from their people.

If Tompolo should appear in gbaramatu today, the crowd cheering him would be unimaginable.

Same for other militants what main job is kidnapping, extortion and oil theft.

Did you see the reception Bode George got after his release from prison?

Stockholm syndrome my friend.

butterflylion:
Oh so you noticed too?

He never offers any demonstrative knowledge. Just the same things offered in mysticism or the meditative arts. The rest is all just scientific language he throws into the fray which have nothing to do with what the focus is.

He talks about God and energy and spirits but uses biological terms to describe them and I wonder if the spiritual can be ever tangibly handled using biology which is physical and natural.

Many of his readers who hail him are simply taken by his many egoistic ramblings and vehement commanding tone and his numerous claims of private jet life, building a homes for a million people, being stupendously rich, etc.

The one that got me rocking with laughter was when he said on one thread that he just ordered for an EEG machine (Electroencephalography) to test out the holy spirit.

How can anyone use an EEG machine which measures electrical activity IN THE BRAIN to test for the holy SPIRIT. the brain is natural and Holy Spirit is SPIRITUAL. the same nonsense but repackaged.

You seem very rational when analysing the beliefs and claims of others, but switch off the rational part of your brains when it comes to claims by Christians. This ability to switch between rationality and irrationality is puzzling.

I agree with you, my Good old friend Billyonaire seem a bit out of sorts, he needs to slow down, else he will be seen to have lost touch with reality.

Billyonaire and I go way back and believe me he is one of the most intelligent people on this forum, I think his forays into eastern esoteric philosophy is beginning to affect him. I have been there. I also ventured into eastern esoteric religions and philosophies and my sanity was also being called to question. I stopped when I did not see the purpose of it all.
Oga Billy used to be very rational (we argued the oneness of infinity and singularlity extensively ), patience ( I never heard insults from him no matter how provoked) and humble, but now he is irritable and highly egocentric. He now feels more intelligent than Einstein.

Lumig:
I so much love Russia with this feedback, UK thinks it can oppress Russia like they do other countries

I do not understand the black man (at least some), they seem to love those that hate, loath or oppress them and hate anyone that tries to come to their aid.

It is quite puzzling to hear a black African declaring love for Russia when Russians can't stand blacks, Putin does not even think blacks exists as he has not stepped foot in any black nation in his 18 years in power. I know the kinds of racism Nigerian students who go to Russia to study face. I had a neighbour who attempted to go to study in Russia, after paying school fees and offered admission, he was detained and assaulted by immigration officials at the airport and sent back.

Other self hating Nigerians would openly declare love for Trump, I find it so ridiculous. The worst is those that are ready to die for Jews. Jews hate blacks as much as Arabs.

LordAdam16:
Liar.

Jonathan never said "there is no corruption but mere stealing in Nigeria."

If he did provide a link where he said that.

This is what he said: “Over 70% of what are called corruption (cases), even by EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and other anti-corruption agencies, is not corruption, but common stealing.”

And then the ICPC boss, Nta, reiterated it by saying, "stealing is erroneously reported as corruption even by educated Nigerians"

You are clearly one of the people Nta was talking about.

Now watch this video and stop lying shamelessly!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va32xNXmjd8

-Lord

You guys are just attempting to dig your self out of a hole and the hole has grown so big that it has swallowed you guys and you cannot find a way out.

What do you call it when monies allocated for public projects are diverted into private pockets - mere stealing?

What do you call it when monies for projects are inflated by 1000% and the monies are shared between government functionaries and the contractor - mere stealing?

What do you call it when $16 billion dollars is allocated and released for power and not one 1kwatt is added to the national grid - mere stealing?

What do you call it when over N70 million is allocated and paid for design of a website - mere stealing?

What do we call it when billions of dollars is paid as petrol subsidy without any evidence that any ship brought in any petrol - mere stealing?

Maybe that is why nobody is prosecuted for "mere stealing " in Nigeria as should be charged and prosecuted for corruption instead.

Cherez:
Not all acts of stealing can be termed corruption.
The challenge here is you view corruption from the Nigerian (mostly) wrong thesarus usage.
A highway robber cannot be treated as corrupt in a court of law but stealing of govt funds by a functionary can be said to be corruption.
Honestly, GEJ was right in his context.
Difference between corruption and stealing involves a lot of misusing public power to ones advantage in the case of corruption

I know you guys can defend Jonathan till death, but it is a big lie that Jonathan was right in the context he said the statement. Jonathan was not lecturing Nigerians thesaurus usage of stealing,

This was what your messiah said;
"There is no corruption but mere stealing in Nigeria”

Even Jonathan in explaining why he said that did not quote thesaurus, he put the blame on the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mustapha.

This is his own excuse;

“I made that statement because I quoted the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mustapha, (when) I called a meeting then, with the anti-crime organisations and the judiciary.

“The CJN, Mustapha decided to take a look at the files that dealt with corruption and more than 80 per cent of them were just cases of stealing.

Please note the the then chief justice of Nigeria did not come out publicly to defend the statement that stealing is not corruption.

EzeDictator:
you Are Wrong sir... My Mother's close Friend Had An Accident and Her Head Was Chop off, the People Around The Scene Grabbed her Head, tied It To The Body then Rushed Her To The Hospital, she Couldnt Turn Her Head For A Long Time. She Is Still Alive today

Nothing person no go hear from Nigerian pentecostal Christians, you mean a was chopped clean off and it was tied back to the body and it was sewn back together again at a hospital. That hospital should be in all news media and the doctor deserves a Nobel price.

This miracle is even greater than Jesus raising lazarus, at least lazarus body parts were intact. Are you aware that the body would lose almost all its blood just a couple of minutes after the Carotid Arteries in the neck are severed. Have you seen a chicken being slaughtered, it loses all its blood very quickly.

Ordinary of breaking of neck can result in permanent paralysis of the whole body, if the nerves in the spinal cord situated in the neck is affected, and you are talking about compete severance of the neck.

You Christians take telling incredible stories to another level.

kingkakaone:
U are being one sided.
How do u know that Putin was responsible? Most people know that the west hate him so much for being against most of their plans and they would tie things like this to him so they can hit him but what Britain fail to understand is that they are alone on this.
Russia will face them totally because they don't have the whole EU block to hide under anymore.
We will see who will lose more between Britain who has has never endured series of sanctions or Russia that is enjoying sanctions up and down.
Russia knows that Britain is alone so they will strike hard because they are like just like a single man since Brexit .

This is the crux of the matter. Britain is now so exposed because of Brexit. No other European country would help UK with its spat with Russia and NATO cannot be relied upon under an unpredictable Trump. Britain had never been so exposed since the 2nd world war.
When economic sanctions starts flying around you cannot expect the EU to tag along and only economic sanctions by EU can really hurt the Russian economy.

I think Putin is promoting nationalism and unilateralism in other countries especially western democracies to weaken them and thereby can start plucking them one by one.

vaxx:
yes they were all lost, so how can we now depend on the information available? are we working with faith?

i postulate he may also depend on hearsay as you rightly put the case of the available evidence that buttress the GOSPEL of act

Arian of Nicomedia depended on written materials from history to compile his biography of Alexander the great. The Greek society was highly literate and so there were numerous documentary evidence of all their kings. Arian of Nicomedia stated that he relied on documents from those close to Alexander especially Ptolemy I Soter who was speculated to be a half brother to Alexander the great. For you to write a biography of someone who lived half a millenia in the past, you cannot rely on hearsay but on research materials from the academia. It was just unfortunate that all the earlier materials were lost. Conquerors of new lands in the past destroy libraries and other historical relics in an to attempt to wipe out legacies of previous rulers. Even ISIS and Taiwan still does that today.
Jesus story on the other hand is purely hearsay, even the bible admitted that much in Luke 1 - 3;

Luke 1:1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses , and ministers of the word;

1:3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,

There were no written documentary evidence of Jesus before the gospels. There were no physical evidence such as bust, coins, inscriptions or anything pertaining to Jesus. Jesus's activities were confined to a very limited and small location, judea, Galilee and it's surroundings. Although he was said to have fled to Egypt with his parents immediately after birth, there is also no documentary evidence of that.

this is your own assumptions, any evidence to back it up that Arian of Nicomedia historical position on Alexandra the great is nothing but the truth? per the bold, was the influence of Alexandra felt during Alexandra reign in those country you mentioned or after so many years of Alexandra departure or death ? your answer will buttress my next reply

If you accept that Alexander the great reigned in those countries, how come you question that he had influence in those same countries? I do not understand. Are you questioning Alexander's conquests of Persia, Egypt and India?

There have also been interesting archaeological discoveries as well bearing on the gospels. For example, in 1961 the first archaeological evidence concerning Pilate was unearthed in the town of Caesarea; it was an inscription of a dedication bearing Pilate’s name and title. Even more recently, in 1990 the actual tomb of Caiaphas, the high priest who presided over Jesus’s trial, was discovered south of Jerusalem. Indeed, the tomb beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is in all probability the tomb in which Jesus himself was laid by Joseph of Arimathea following the crucifixion''. According to Luke Johnson, a New Testament scholar at Emory University.

Why not show us links to these archaeological discoveries so we can see if these are authentic or fake to promote certain beliefs. Fake "archaeological discoveries" are very common on the net.

Archaeological evidence concerning Pilate’s name and title bears evidence of Pilate and not Jesus. Why is it hard to obtain Archaeological evidence bearing the inscription of Jesus name and title? story writers tend to infuse names of famous peoples and places in their stories to make it more believeable. That homer used actual places and personalities in his illiad does not mean all the mythical characters were real.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and most Christian tourist sites were sited by Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, she even sited the holy ground where moses saw the burning bush.

vaxx:
If you mean this evidence do not count , why do you think the source concerning Alexander the Great count? or do you not also accept Alexander the great do exist? if not, i can as well tell you the sources written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander are all lost. and the only trusted GREEk historian , by the name Arrian of Nicomedia,who is consider one of the best sources on the campaigns of Alexander has about 500 year difference. do you think is story can be very efficient?

Yet you said references to Jesus written about 5 decades which is independently verified should be dismissed.

most of the history available about Alexandra the great reveals ignorance about geography,chronology and technical military knowledge, yet this source are not questioned as an accurate source of history regarding Alexander's existence.

when it comes to the existence of Jesus, i am very skeptical on the theory, so i will not conclude he did not exist(there are some evidence to accept it).... regarding the supernatural Jesus as the bible portray it, that is story for another day.

There is a huge difference between the historicity of Alexander and that of Jesus. Numerous people including contemporary authors and generals wrote extensively about Alexander the great, the problem is that they were all lost. Remember the great library in alexandra was complete destroyed.
How else did you think Arrian of Nicomedia was able to write consise biography 500 years later? He had the original sources of course. He could not have dreamed up the biography of Alexander the great. One of the most importance source as cited by Arrian of Nicomedia was the writings of Ptolemy I Soter, who was a general that fought beside Alexander and went on to rule Egypt. Alexander's influence was felt all over the ancient world, from Macedonia to Persian all the way to India.

The same cannot be said of Jesus. No one has claimed contemporary literary works of Jesus was lost. What we have are general beliefs by followers as penned down by authors decades later.

Alexander the great had physical evidence. There are many coins that date to his period with his head on it. There are also numerous busts and statues of Alexander, some that survived till today.
In the case of Jesus nothing, all the roman Catholic could come up with was a shroud that was said to have been used to cover the crucified Jesus and the shroud retaining the physical features of Jesus. The shroud had been proven to be a 12th or 13th century fraud.

vaxx:
there is historical record, that are in parallel with the bible, for instance, the biography of the Emperor Claudius refers to agitations in the Roman Jewish community and the expulsion of Jews from Rome by Claudius during his reign ( from AD 41 to AD 54), likely the expulsion mentioned in the Bible Gateway passage: Acts 18 vs 2. In this context, the name "Chresto" is mentioned, which is likely a reference to Jesus.

Obviously, this validates at least one historical reference in the Bible itself.

I disagree with you that the "chresto" mentioned in claudius's biography by roman historian Suetonius, was referring to Jesus.

First Suetonius was born AD69 while the events he was supposedly writing about happened between the reign of Emperor Claudius (AD 41 to AD 54), so obviously Suetonius was not writing from position of facts but from hearsay, more than 5 decades after the event is said to have taken place.

Secondly, Jesus was said to have been crucified between AD 30 - AD 33, so how come the same Jesus was causing trouble in Rome between AD 41 to AD 54.

Thirdly, According to acts Paul had not even gotten to Rome, he was in Corinth when he was told that claudius expelled Jews from Rome because of "chresto".

Fourthly, Aquila and his wife Priscilla that accomodated Paul were practicing Jews and not Christians or believers in Christ as the Messiah.

Daviddson:
On the bolded: For your information, neither "Jesus" nor "Christ" is Roman; they're both Greek. And Greek was like the dominating language of communication then because they'd been a vast empire and their culture and names had been adopted far and wide. It's just the same way the English language is currently the most used language for communication today due to the conquest of the then British Empire.

Thanks for the correction. There was so much similarly between ancient Greek and Roman culture, that it can sometimes confusing. In fact they overlap so much.

Having said that, my inference remains the same. Jesus was not Greek, his parents were not Greek, so he could not have been giving a Greek name while alive.
Have you ever stopped to wonder what language or languages Jesus spoke?
The main language of communication in first century Palestine especially judea was Aramaic, it was the spoken language of ordinary people, so Jesus would have spoken mainly Aramaic.

The language of learning and academia was Greek, so if Jesus had any form of formal education, he would have learnt to speak and write Greek.

The language of the clergy was Hebrew as the old testament was originally written in hebrew and hebrew was the language of the temple. If Jesus was a priest, he would have definitely spoken hebrew.

Now, I doubt any of the disciples would have spoken Greek, because they were uneducated and unlettered. So most likely, the disciples communicated in Aramaic.

Paul and Theophilus were well learned and wrote their books or letters in Greek, so maybe they were were the ones that gave the person the thought of as being the Messiah Greek names and title.