In the News: Muslim cartoon fury claims lives
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4684652.stm
At least five people have been killed in Afghanistan as protests against European cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad swept across the country.

This is just ridiculous, i've been trying to avoid commenting on this issue considering how sensitive it is, but its got to the point where its like 'enough already'..
Most of the people going crazy over this have not even seen the 'cartoons', it was printed in a Danish Paper over 4 months ago and reprinted by some European papers last week. Rather than ignoring them they've bought more attention to them, at least it got me curious enough to go looking for them since all the papers here were too scared to print them. Of course i would not be silly enough to upload them to my blog...

Anyway the point is, the cartoons are not even funny and the whole exercise was probably aimed to prove that a lot of muslims are extremely intolerant...
A protester here in London was dressed up as a suicide bomber http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4687996.stm the irony of it all was that the guy was not even a devout muslim but a convicted drug dealer (who has now been returned to prison for violating the conditions of his parole)
But i digress..
The cartoons may have been offensive but the reaction to them has gone completely overboard..

Quote: "Sometimes you have to stand for what you believe in, and sometimes you have to stand alone." ~Anon

get involved by sponsoring an African child today:
http://www.plan-uk.org/wherewework/westafrica/

In the News: Third Term: South West governors, lawmakers, back Obasanjo http://odili.net/news/source/2006/feb/3/630.html
The alleged third term project re-echoed, bounced and gathered pace on Thursday in a city inspired by a rock, Abeokuta. President Olusegun Obasanjo was present at the occasion but he did not disclose which way he would jump. Regardless, several South West federal legislators and all South West governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including Ogun State’s Gbenga Daniel, chorused “awa lowo si” (we support it).

I'm actually lost for words ...

Quote: "Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary." - Gandhi

get involved by sponsoring an African child today:
http://www.plan-uk.org/wherewework/westafrica/

In the News: Gene McFadden Dead at 56 (of McFadden & Whitehead)
http://music.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1089971.php/Philly_hit_maker_Gene_McFadden_dead_at_56 Philadelphia soul hit-maker Gene McFadden, who co-wrote 'Ain`t No Stoppin`Us Now' with his partner John Whitehead, has died at age 56.
In addition to 'Ain`t No Stoppin` Us Now,' McFadden and Whitehead were responsible for hits such as the O`Jays` 'Backstabbers' and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes` 'Wake Up Everybody.'
Whitehead died in May 2004 from a drive-by shooting that remains unsolved.

Anyone who knows their old school knew the jam, it was their biggest hit and it still sounds great 27 years after. The song always reminds me of Soul Train (popular US black entertainment show hosted by Don Cornelius), which was where i first saw them perform the song.
McFadden joins his partner Whitehead along with other 'old school greats' like Luther Vandross, Rick James and Barry White, who have passed on in recent times..

Quote: 'There's been so many things that held us down But now it looks like things are finally coming around I know we've got a long long way to go And where we'll end up I don't know
Ain't no stopping us now, we're on the move...'
- McFadden & Whitehead (Ain`t No Stoppin` Us Now)

get involved by sponsoring an African child today: http://www.plan-uk.org/wherewework/westafrica/

In the News: Nigeria to outlaw same-sex unions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4626994.stm

I don't know what the Nigerian government is 'outlawing' as none of our existing laws allows same sex unions. Seems like a corrupt and unpopular government trying to tap into people's revulsion at same sex unions in other parts of the world.

The part that concerns me is certain aspects of the law that imposes a five year jail term on anyone 'aiding and supporting' a same sex relationship. Its a very slippery slope when we allow the government to enact morality laws. Malaysia comes to mind where the prime minister and his deputy had a big political fall out and then the deputy was later imprisoned on some trump up charges of sodomy.

Nigerians in their usual myopic way of looking at issues, seem not to be aware of the wider implications of this law. To make matters worse the 'religious ayahtollahs' seem to have hijacked the whole debate, so all logic has been thrown out the window...
I'm not a supporter of same sex union but if 2 consenting adults wanna 'get freaky' wetin concern government inside.
This is the same country where there are hardly any laws protecting children from child abuse, rape, female genital mutilation, child trafficking etc. They can't even enforce the current laws we have, i wonder how they expect to enforce this one..

Quote: "On the surface, evil looks attractive" - Anon.

get involved by sponsoring an African child today: http://www.plan-uk.org/wherewework/westafrica/

2005 gradually comes to an end, its been a year of profound changes around me and in my personal life, the single life can't last forever....

On to more serious issues, the UK is now rolling out its roadside 'Big Brother' system

In the News (recently): Gatso 2: rollout of UK's '24x7 vehicle movement database' begins
A "24x7 national vehicle movement database" that logs everything on the UK's roads and retains the data for at least two years is now being built, according to an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) strategy document leaked to the Sunday Times. The system, which will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), and will be overseen from a control centre in Hendon, London, is a sort of 'Gatso 2' network, extending. enhancing and linking existing CCTV, ANPR and speedcam systems and databases.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/15/vehicle_movement_database/
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/article334686.ece
they can already monitor us with CCTV and now our cars will be tracked as well, according to the Independent the system will use a 'network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years'.

I feel a mix of paranoia and major concerns as to where things are heading in the UK. its like you know where i live, the supermarket knows what i eat and how i shop, the credit agencies know my financial situation, my ISP knows all the dodgy sites i visit and probably stores my emails, the mobile phone company keeps track of all my calls and text messages...
Why are they keeping all these information and who is going to control it???

Nice Quote: "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction". ~Pascal, Pensees, 1670

In the News: Alamieyeseigha owns up ... names accomplices
Detained former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha has reportedly begun to sing like a canary, saying he actually owned the companies cited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the conduit used to siphon billions of Naira belonging to the state.

the shameful saga continues and only God knows where it will end, in naija anything can happen....
So far he has been removed from office, thank God for that, even though the state legislators were probably bribed to do their job.


Nice Quote: "Not all religion is to be found in the church, any more than all knowledge is found in the classroom." - Anon.

Weather Today: cold with an occassional appearance by the sun

been on holiday to sunny florida for a nice winter break and so much seemed to have happened while i was away.
first it was a oil explosion in Herfordshire last sunday and then we learnt that another plane crash happened in naija on sat 10 dec.
Barely 2 months after the bellview aircrash, another plane crashed in Port harcourt claiming over 100 lives (70 of them were school kids)

Its a sad state we're in and our "let us manage it" mentality will be the death of us. This is not an act of God it's an act of negligence....

Disney's Epcot Center




So with all the bad news, still managed to have a good time in florida, visiting universal, sea world, disney and the kennedy space center,

It was a dream come true visiting America's space coast and actual visiting the launch pads and seeing the majestic Saturn V rocket that propelled man to the moon many years ago



Shuttle on display at Kennedy Space Center















at the front of KSC

Nice Quote: "But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?" - John F. Kennedy

Weather Today: -3 celcius, extremely cold considering we just got back from sunny florida

And in the weird world of Nigeria...
Naija was in the news again this week and you can trust it wasn't for something positive as the governor of Bayelsa, D. Alamieyeseigha, jumped bail and fled from the UK, reports say he escaped with forged travel documents (obviously..) and was 'dressed as a woman'
Not only is the guy a criminal, he's now also a cross dresser : ).
It's going to be interesting seeing how this plays out, so far he has been kicked out of his party (PDP), i expect the legislators in the state legislative house will have to be 'settled' to instigate impeachment proceedings against him, cause he is definitely not going to resign voluntarily...

Whichever way its a massive embarrassment to all Nigerians and the ijaws should be ashamed of themselves for rejoicing when he arrived. I think the govt should grant the ijaws independence, with leaders like Alams they'll be begging to return....

Nice Quote: "Religion seems to have a way of making people abandon logic". ~Amanda Baxter

Weather Today: weather turns nasty...

'Arrested Development' gets the ax
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/11/television.shows.reut/

AAAgh!!!! (thats my idea of a scream)
/RANT Begins!
just heard some upsetting news, one of the best tv shows from across the pond - Arrested Development - http://www.fox.com/arresteddev/ is going to be cancelled at the end of its 3rd season. Now i hardly watch TV but on the few occasions i do, its to see this show. Ever since Frasier ended, i've been without a comedy fix until i stumbled on this show by accident. This show is for the cerebral mind so its not surprising that it's been canned for its low audience share. If Fox can keep that bloody simpsons going for an eternity i don't know why they can't just keep this show alive
/RANT ends!

oh well i guess my DVDs of season 1 & 2 will just have to keep me going till something else turns up...


Nice Quote: "Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned" – Anon

Weather Today: its time to bring out the gloves...

In the News: Nigerian leader third-term boost
Nigeria's presidents should be allowed a third term in office, a Nigerian Senate sub-committee has proposed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4438648.stm

Nigerian politicians are so predictable its unreal. I remember this was the same stunt Abacha was trying to pull when he wanted to transform himself from a military dictator to a civilian. the constitution says 2 terms of 4 years period, which part of 2 terms don't they understand, why the clamour to change it??? so after 3 terms what stops them from attempting to change it to 4 terms, infact while they are at it why not remove the restriction completely, infact why bother with an election every 4 years???

its quite interesting to note that this is the first time in Nigeria's history that a civilian government has got this far, as in got this close to a third election. anyway lets just hope for the best


Nice Quote: "When the end comes for us, let it find us climbing new mountains and not sliding down hill" – Herbert Macaulay


Weather Today: cold and sunny

In the News: Terror technology plans for rail
CCTV that spots suspicious behaviour is among new anti-terror devices being tested to protect the rail network
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4434302.stm

Ok its official now i'm really scared. What is going on here? first they tried to introduce a new bill giving the police 90 days to detain a 'terrorist' suspect, now reduced to 28 days but even that 28 days is too much, are we expected to trust the police not to abuse the law, the same police that pumped 9 bullets into an innocent brazilian and then tried to cover it up by saying he jumped over the barrier when he was challenged.

Anyway i digress, now i know this software thing is just BS as what exactly constitutes 'suspicious behaviour' someone walking around lost in the station or someone carrying a large rucksack. i mean c'omon the list is endless. Blair and his cohorts are turning this country into a police state. When is this madness going to end???...



Nice Quote: "Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks." Samuel Johnson

In the News: David Blunkett (UK works & pension minister) resigns for the second time

not surprising that this happened, i had a funny feeling the matter was heading in this direction when the story refused to die. Poor Blunkett he had to resign the first time due to the nannygate affair and he had our sympathy, this time around i doubt he'll get much support as most people never get a second chance when they are pushed out of a job.
In his case he returned to the cabinet in may and barely 6 months later he is out again. Kimberly Quinn must pleased.. what was that saying about power corrupting.., anyway regardless of all the mess he got himself into, he is a remarkable man who has overcome many obstacles (including blindness) to get to where he is. I don't feel sorry for him 'cause i know Tony takes care of his own, remember mandelson...


Nice Quote: "It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." - Alfred Adler.

In the News: Nigeria's black weekend (first lady dies after cosmetic surgery, 117 die in bellview plane crash)

Its been a crazy sad weekend in naija, first a major plane crash occurs and it takes 15 hours for the authorities to locate the plane, then some government official claims 50 people survived without even knowing the full details. Lets just say the full incompetence of the Nigerian system was revealed to the whole world. Even if people had managed to survive the crash they would have died waiting for the authorities to show up. As is the usual case people will shout and then its back to doing nothing until the next major incident occurs and then the recriminations starts all over again.
I just hope this tragic incident pushes the govt to overhaul our non existent emergency service, we just can't go on like this with our typical firebrigade approach.
No one knows what caused the crash yet, we pray that the souls of those on board rest in peace. it is truly a tragic event.

the second incident was at least avoidable, talking about stella obasanjo's death after undergoing cosmetic surgery in spain. Its really sad and a tragic waste of life. It seems this is now the latest craze amongst our political elite and i think we've all seen the outcome of vanity.

Like the REM song 'Losing my religion' i think i'm losing my country, cause i just don't understand the way people are thinking, it's as if we've lost the plot completely


Nice Quote: "If you don't have a vision for the future, then your future is threatened to be a repeat of the past." - A.R. Bernard

Weather Today: raining and windy

In the News recently: 'Pastor to repay £200,000 after buying Florida timeshare on church Visa card'

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1814723,00.html (the allegations)
http://odili.net/news/source/2005/oct/16/9.html (his response)

you can trust me to get excitable when i stumble on an article like this, nothing gets my blood boiling than reading about a pastor taking advantage of his position in church and helping himself to its finances. This particular story relates to the pastor of KICC (Mathew Ashimolowo)
I sent the newslink to other Nigerians with the hope that maybe, just maybe people will open their eyes and spend their hard earned money on their families,friends,relations,community members etc rather than paying for the lavish lifestyles of their pastors. Our people are suffering and struggling and in the midst of such poverty we have things like this happening.

To be honest how Ashimolowo runs his church is his own business, its the people who are blinded and can not think for themselves and have more or less swapped one superstition for another that baffles me. They sell people the message they want to hear and they fall for it hook, line and sinker. Prosperity for all, but all i see is the pastor living large while the congregation struggles. Like Fela sang 'Archbishop na miliki, pope na enjoyment, imau na gbaladun..."

Africans lets us not buy into this bullshit, we need to hold all accountable, our politicians, religious leaders, community leaders etc. people can not continue to use 'wayo' to hold us down. We need to help ourselves and our people by committing to charitable projects in our communities not spending our hard earned pounds, dollars, euros, naira (or whatever currency you are into) to fund the lavish lifestyles of our pastors.


Nice Quote: "We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve." - – Maxwell Maltz in Psycho-Cybernetics (1960)

Weather Today: its autumn and the sun's off on holiday till next year

In the News recently: 'Bird Flu reaches Europe'

ok let the panic begin, it seems migratory birds from Asia have finally bought the dreaded bird flu to Europe (just Turkey at the mo). Africa is just round the corner and with all our problems its prevention is not high on our agenda so you just know that it will be a nightmare when it hits Africa.

Chicken and Turkey (the two things i love to eat) may soon become a no go area just like beef after the mad cow scare. Infact i only started eating beef again in the last 2/3 years. The scariest thing is not the bird flu and the mass culling of poultry it entails. It is the scary scenario of the virus mutating or adapting and spreading from humans to humans rather than bird to humans.

Scientists are saying its only a matter of time before this occurs and there are still no vaccines to combat it. Seems like a doomsday scenario or something out of that crazy film with Dustin Hoffman in it trying to combat an 'ebola' type virus, Only time will tell but it seems we are living, like the chinese will say, in "interesting" times


Nice Quote: "In order to become someone else's soul-mate, you must first be your own" - Dr Derek Hopson

Weather Today: cloudy dark and grey, no surprises there

the site has now been moved to another location from the old location

paying the price for the long journey back from oz, still suffering the effects of jetlag

In the News recently: 'Nigerian governor arrested in London'

the money laundering law claims another Nigerian "theiving" politician, this time the governor of bayelsa state. bayelsa state is one of those poor states in that cesspool of mayhem, poverty and polution called the niger delta. now this state is probably one of the poorest in nigeria and why not when all of the state's money is in the governor's bank account in london.

some idiots are making noise that its all politically motivated but what interest will the british government have in this pathetic little creature.

hopefully the days of nigerian politicians thinking they can just steal money and bring it here is numbered, african countries don't need western handouts and aid, what we need is for western countries to seize stolen african wealth taken out of africa and kept in bank accounts in western nations.

Nice Quote: "the best man for the job does not go after the job, he waits to be called" - Ulysses S Grant.

Sydney Opera House

back from beautiful Sydney, Australia
still jetlagged after the 23 hour flight but will be back with a new more public concept soon ; ) i hope....

view across Sydney Harbour


Sydney Harbour Bridge

From Oz with love...
still in Australia, been down here for almost 2 weeks now, great place with xcellent weather, just got back from Melbourne, nice and laid back, its gr8 2 be back in Sydney after the 15 hour coach ride


In the News Today: 'Another hurricane about to hit US gulf coast'
could it be that its all coming home to roost for the Americans, burying their heads in the sand like an ostrich and hoping their way of life is not causing global warming just won't wash, another major hurricane in less than 1 month, methinks Bush should be more concerned about the "nature" terrorist not the islamic one

Nice Quote: "just because you work in the zoo doesn't mean you have to behave like the animals" - anon.

Weather Today: sunny,dry and bright (hey its sydney always bright and sunny here)

smiley : ): back in Sydney from Melbourne; looking fwd to going back home

...6 days to oz trip the count down begins

In the News Today: 'New Orleans under siege'
New Orleans may go down in history as the first major city in an advanced country to be lost to the process of global warming (newsreport) .. but is anyopne listening???

Nice Quote: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." - anon.

Weather Today: sunny and bright

smiley : ): oz break