Tuesday 27 December 2016

WHAT AREYOU DISCUSSING ABOUT?

WHAT AREYOU DISCUSSING ABOUT ?
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people" 
         Eleanor Roosevelt (former first lady of the United States)
In the stage of life, there are many things we humans discuss about. This may be ideas , events or people. But our greatness in life depends on what our mind focuses on.
  From the quote above you will discover that there are three categories of people . The small minded people, the average minded people and finally Great minded people. using my piecemeal approach, I will define the these three categories of people to the best of my ability.
The Small minded people- I personally call these set of people, people with a small fry mentality. these set of people occupy their minds discussing about people instead of focusing on theirs.  in the Nigerian setting, you will find these set of people in every nook and cranny of the society. You might find them as your next door neighbor, your fellow employee in your place of work, or a fellow worshipper in the church where you worship. These people preoccupy themselves discussing about people with the sole purpose of tarnishing their image. They ears itch for the latest gossip and are glad when their fellow comrades are around in order to dispel it and make it viral.
  I pity such set of people because I take them as myopic yokels whose minds needs to be matured and creative. They are people used and dumped easily by the devil.
The Average minded people  : These are people slightly better than the simple minded people but are average minded. They preoccupy their minds discussing about latest events and lifestyle. You see most of these people at newspaper stands forming small groups discussing about the latest event in town. I am not saying that the simple minded people are not found in newspaper stands but the average minded people are mostly seen. They discuss about the latest nightclubs happening in the city, latest boutiques celebrities attend and also the latest films that will show on silver bird cinema. These set of people are satisfied with the average level and does not want to go further in life. Their minds are occupied with events and can waste their hard earned money and capital to keep up with the joneses. Most of fall people also fall within the single source of income circle.
The Great minded people: The set of people are unique because they always make a glowing positive difference in their lives and in the lives of people around them. They are mostly the ones the simple minded ones talk about and the average minded people attend their events. They make things  happen for they are the ones holding the economic strength of a nation. Their minds are always busy creating new ideas that will help humanity and also add money to their various pockets for most of them are multiple source of income earners. They are the go getters of our time.
    What do you normally  discuss about? Do you discuss about people or events? To me it is noble to think about Great and lofty ideas for "ideas rule the world" or don't you think so?
                                                       

Monday 26 December 2016

LIFE IS A CLASSROOM

LIFE IS A CLASS ROOM
A  classroom is interactive room between the teacher and his students. it is a room where knowledge is being shared and intelligence sharpened.it is a learning's major tool.
Life is a classroom in which we have a central figure that is a also great teacher God. In a classroom you normally encounter 4 categories of people. The distracted ones, the lazy ones, the ones that knows everything and finally the studious ones. Let us discuss these four categories of people in a piece meal manner.
THE DISTRACTED ONES: These people are easily distracted from the instruction and teachings of the teacher with the activities of life. They are distracted with the situations and circumstances around them and do not focus on God the teacher. These are easy prey for the devil for they do not focus and look on God who has a solution to their problem and be healed. They are happy and cheerful when the economy is up and they are worried and gloomy when the economy is low. They are depressed when the doctor tells them they is no hope for them to get out of that sick bed and they are fed with the lies of the devil that they will soon die. They are seriously controlled by the activities and scenes around them. They can only find peace when they shift that focus on the activities around them and focus on the teacher. For in the teacher there is hope.
THE LAZY ONES: These category of people are with the teacher and attend his classes but do not do his assignments in order to pass. They are lazy in their prayer life, bible reading life and faith life causing their grades  to be constantly falling. They are an easy target for the devil because the protective hedge of healthy prayer, scriptural and faith life is broken life is broken and the enemy like a poisonous snake comes in and strikes them. Their ratings in the teacher's sight can only be improved if they shun laziness and do their assignments. Having a blissful and daily communion with the Master through a prayerful, bible reading and faith lifestyle.
THE ONES THAT BELIEVE THEY KNOW EVERYTHING THAT THE TEACHER IS TEACHING: These 3rd category of people believe they know more than the teacher and believe they can correct the teacher. They have read so many textbooks on the topic that the teacher is teaching and they feel they have the right to correct the teacher but they do not know they don't know that their knowledge is only superficial while the teacher's knowledge is in depth. They a times feel their is no need coming for lectures since they know what the teacher is actually teaching. You can find these group of people among the highly learned people especially people that occupy high religious position in some churches  and those who think reading the bible and other religious books  numerous times thinking that they are now at right standing with God. Such category of people should take heed lest they fall . They should swallow their pride and learn under the master. For no one better than He.
THE STUDIOUS ONES : These category of people are the teacher 's delight and are the ones that have high grades. They are eager to learn from him and does his assignments .They are the ones that when outsider's see  them, they always see the reflection of the master.
    Like I said earlier, life is a classroom and after reading this post, you will know the category you fall in and correct yourself if you feel you are in the wrong one.

GEORGE MICHEAL DIES AT 53


                          
 
    
 

 

 
 
 
         
         
         
         
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      GEORGE MICHEAL DIES AT 53
      George Michael, the creamy-voiced English songwriter who sold tens of millions of albums in the duo Wham! and on his own, was found dead on Sunday at his home in Goring in Oxfordshire, England. He was 53.
      A police statement said: “Thames Valley Police were called to a property in Goring-on-Thames shortly before 2 p.m. Christmas Day. Sadly, a 53-year-old man was confirmed deceased at the scene. At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious.”
      Mr. Michael’s manager, Michael Lippman, told The Hollywood Reporter that Mr. Michael had died of heart failure “in bed, lying peacefully.”
      “It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period,” his publicist Connie Filippello said in a statement. “The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
      Information on survivors was not immediately available.
      Mr. Michael was one of pop’s reigning stars in the 1980s and ’90s — first as a handsome, smiling teen-pop idol making lighthearted singles like “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” with Wham!, then arriving as a grown-up pop sex symbol with his 1987 album “Faith.”

      But Mr. Michael grew increasingly uncomfortable with the superficiality and relentless promotion of 1980s-style pop stardom. He turned away from video clips and live shows; he set out to make more mature statements in his songs, though he never completely abandoned singing about love and desire.
      Mr. Michael wrote supple ballads, like “Careless Whisper” and “Father Figure,” as well as buoyant dance tracks like “Freedom ’90” and “I Want Your Sex.” For much of his career, including his best-selling albums “Faith” and “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1,” he was also his own producer and studio backup band. Much of his music drew on R&B, old and new, but his melodic gift extended across genres.
      He won a Grammy Award in 1988 for “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me),” a duet with Aretha Franklin, and “Faith” won the Grammy for album of the year. In Britain, he was showered with awards, and in 2004, Britain’s Radio Academy said he had been the most-played performer on British radio from 1984 to 2004. Aretha Franklin joined Mr. Michael in 1988 in Auburn Hills, Mich., on his tour for his Grammy-winning album “Faith.”© Robert Kozloff/Associated Press Aretha Franklin joined Mr. Michael in 1988 in Auburn Hills, Mich., on his tour for his Grammy-winning album “Faith.”
      In 1998, Mr. Michael came out as gay after being arrested on charges of lewd conduct in a men’s room in Beverly Hills, Calif. He had long lent his name and music to support AIDS prevention and gay rights. During interviews in later years, he described himself as bisexual, and said that hiding his sexuality had made him feel “fraudulent.” He also described long struggles with depression.
      During the 2000s, Mr. Michael’s output slowed; his last studio album of new songs was “Patience” in 2004. In later years he put out individual songs as free downloads, encouraging listeners to contribute to charity. But in 2006, 25 years into his career, he could still headline stadiums worldwide.
      George Michael was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, London, on June 25, 1963, the son of a Greek Cypriot restaurateur and an English dancer. In 1979, he and a schoolmate, Andrew Ridgeley, played together for the first time in a ska band called the Executive. That didn’t last, but they continued to make music together — nearly all of it composed and sung by Mr. Michael — and began releasing singles as Wham!, cultivating the image of carefree teenage rebels in songs like “Young Guns (Go for It!).”
      Their 1983 debut album, “Fantastic,” reached No. 1 in Britain; in the United States, their 1984 single “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” became ubiquitous on MTV and reached No. 1. In 1985, the duo became the first major Western pop group to perform in China as part of its world tour, and Mr. Michael appeared at the Live Aid charity concert, telecast worldwide, joining Elton John to sing Mr. John’s song “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”
      The worldwide 1984 hit “Careless Whisper,” credited in Britain to George Michael solo and to Wham! featuring George Michael in the United States, signaled a turn away from perky teenage fare. Mr. Michael’s status as a top British pop star was confirmed by his appearance on Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” the 1984 all-star benefit single for Ethiopian famine relief.
      In 1986, Wham! dissolved, with a farewell show at Wembley Stadium. Mr. Michael had a No. 1 hit with “I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)” before releasing the album “Faith” in 1987. Its first single, “I Want Your Sex,” reached No. 2 in the United States, though it was seen as too risqué by some radio stations; Mr. Michael made an introduction to its video clip stating, “This song is not about casual sex.”
      “Faith,” which hinted at both gospel and rockabilly, reached No. 1, and the album included three more No. 1 hits: “Father Figure,” “Monkey” and “One More Try.” It has sold more than 10 million copies in the United States.
      But for his next album, “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1,” released in 1990, Mr. Michael set out to jettison his pop persona. “I’m not stupid enough to think I can deal with another 10 or 15 years of major exposure,” he told an interviewer at the time. “I think that’s the ultimate tragedy of fame, people who are simply out of control, who are lost. I’ve seen so many of them, and I don’t want to be another cliché.”
      The autobiographical “Freedom ’90” declared his independence from the pop machine; he wasn’t in its video clip, which had supermodels lip-syncing the lyrics. The album also included a No. 1 single, the ballad “Praying for Time,” and has sold two million copies in the United States, but after the blockbuster of “Faith” it was considered a commercial letdown.
      Mr. Michael entered a protracted legal battle with Sony Music over his contract, and was unable to release another album until 1996. Its title, “Older,” was an unmistakable signal that he was no longer directly courting the youth market; he was 32 years old. The album was an instant hit in England and Europe — it had six hit singles in England — though it was less popular in the United States.
      After his 1998 arrest, Mr. Michael released a greatest-hits album with two new songs; one, “Outside,” set its video clip in a men’s restroom. He made a 1999 album of cover songs, “Songs of the Last Century.”
      In the early 2000s, Mr. Michael released songs protesting the invasion of Iraq, including the 2002 “Shoot the Dog.” His last full studio album, “Patience,” was released in 2004, full of introspective ballads.
      Mr. Michael returned to performing; he joined Paul McCartney onstage during the 2005 Live 8 benefit concert. In 2006, he performed a world tour, paired with another collection of hits, “Twenty Five,” which included new duets with Mr. McCartney and Mary J. Blige. He continued to release individual songs sporadically, and in 2014, he released “Symphonica,” a collection of standards and his own songs recorded with an orchestra on a 2010-11 tour. During that tour, he collapsed with nearly fatal pneumonia and was hospitalized for five weeks; he wrote a single, “White Light,” about the experience.
      Mr. Michael had been planning an expanded reissue, due in 2017, of “Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1,” paired with a documentary, “Freedom,” exploring his musical, personal and legal struggles.
      “I never minded being thought of as a pop star,” Mr. Michael told GQ in 2004. “People have always thought I wanted to be seen as a serious musician, but I didn’t, I just wanted people to know that I was absolutely serious about pop music.”
       

      Thursday 22 December 2016

      TV HOST MUDERED , DAUGHTER KIDNAPPED IN LAGOS

                          

       Aisha-Thelma

      Tv Host Aisha Thelma Alli Balogun Murdered, Daughter Kidnapped In Lagos

      There is yet another worrying news of the new upsurge in crime in Lagos. Budding broadcaster and TV Host, Aisha Alli-Balogun has been murdered in cold blood reports LeadersNg. The Lagos State University graduate of English who was the presenter of popular comedy show, Stand-Up Nigeria was shot on Friday evening by dare devil robbers who were operating around the Asolo-Majidun road of the Ikorodu expressway in Lagos.
      Widely known as Thelma, the beautiful presenter was married to Ajibola Yussuf Abiose with whom she had two kids, a boy and a girl.
      Sad enough, little daughter of the murdered TV presenter, Fareeda was also kidnapped by the assailants. The whereabouts of the little girl remain unknown as at press time.
      According to a version of the story gathered by CityScoop, the assailants actually wanted to kidnap Aisha and her daughter and it was while she was struggling to save her daughter that she was hit with the bullet.
      Aisha Alli-Balogun was 28 years old. She was born on March 7, 1988.
      She attended Reagan Memorial Baptist Girls Secondary School and then proceeded to Lagos State University where she graduated in 2009 with a BA in English.
      img-20161217-wa0032 Also an actress, Aisha was one of the contestants at the 2011 edition of The Next Movie Star reality show which was eventually won by talented actress, Tamara Eteimo.
      She has since been buried according to Islamic rites while the whereabouts of her daughter remain unknown.

      Wednesday 7 December 2016

      MAN WOUNDS HIMSELF TRYING TO CONTROL SEXUAL URGE


       
       

      Trying to control sex urge, man wounds himself

         
      Man covering groin with hands, outdoors, close-up
      A man has strained his penis as he attempted to wear his wedding ring on it.
      According to reports in The South African Medical Journal, wife to the 28-year-old unnamed man has just had a baby, and his friends had advised him that in order to put his sexual urge under control, he should wear his wedding ring on his manhood.
      The situation soon assumed a gory dimension, as he was taken to the hospital in an emergency.
      “His penis was erect and blue and he was in severe pain,” the journal noted.
      It was a herculean task before doctors could remove the ring, though; as the ring’s width was rather too small for the circumference of his penis; coupled with the fact that his penis had become excessively swollen in the aftermath of the misadventure.
      “The wedding ring got stuck and caused the patient’s penis to swell.
      “Doctors even tried using a small surgical saw to remove it, but it got too close to his manhood!
      “Deciding otherwise, they, instead, used an injection to drain blood from the penis, by making several punctures with a needle to decrease the swelling.
      “This worked quite well, as the swelling went down, allowing them to pull off the wedding ring,” the journal reports.
      The man stayed in the hospital for a few days to recuperate, after which he was discharged and given pain killers and antibiotics.

      Wednesday 23 November 2016

      TRUMP AGAIN DISAVOWS ALT-RIGHT , WHITE SUPREMACISTS


      Trump again disavows alt-right, white supremacists


      President-elect Donald Trump waves to a crowd in the lobby of the New York Times building following a meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)   President-elect Donald Trump is again distancing himself from the alt-right movement as its white supremacist members claim his election as a boon for their agenda.
      "I disavow and condemn them," Trump said Tuesday during a wide-ranging interview with staff members of The New York Times.
      It's the latest attempt from Trump to separate himself from groups and individuals widely condemned for their advocacy of white supremacy in American culture.
      The Republican president-elect added that he does not want to "energize" the groups, one of which garnered viral headlines this weekend with a gathering in Washington, where organizers and attendees evoked Adolf Hitler's Third Reich with cries of "Heil Trump" and reprisals of the Nazi salute.
      The Times has not yet released a full transcript or video of the meeting, but participants used Twitter to share his remarks throughout the exchange.
      Richard Spencer, an alt-right leader who convened the weekend gathering sponsored by his National Policy Institute, told the Associated Press he was "disappointed" in Trump's comments. But Spencer said he understands "where he's coming from politically and practically," adding that he will "wait and see" how the real estate mogul's administration takes shape.
      Still, Spencer argued Trump needs the alt-right movement and should be wary of shunning it because of a few news cycles of bad publicity "that do not define what we're doing." Spencer said Trump needs people like him "to actualize the populism that fueled his campaign."
      Trump's denunciation also comes amid continued criticism over Trump tapping Steve Bannon, who managed the final months of the billionaire businessman's presidential campaign, as chief White House strategist. Bannon was previously the leader of Breitbart News, an unapologetically conservative outlet that Bannon has described as a "platform for the alt-right."
      At the Times, Trump said Breitbart "is just a publication" that "covers subjects on the right" and is "certainly a much more conservative paper, to put it mildly, than The New York Times."
      Before Trump's latest denunciations, Spencer told AP earlier Tuesday that he doesn't see either Trump or Bannon as members of his movement, though "there is some common ground."
      He said he and like-minded "identitarians" — his preferred label for white identity politics — see Trump's election as validating their view that the United States is flailing because it has embraced multiculturalism and political correctness at the expense of its European heritage.
      Spencer said "without an intellectual vanguard" that white nationalists can provide, Trump would have a "meaningless" tenure mired in the "mainstream conservative movement" that he's railed against. "The whole promise of his campaign was that he wouldn't do that," Spencer said.
      Throughout his campaign, white nationalists have embraced Trump's hard-line approach on immigration and other issues. He sometimes used his Twitter account to distribute comments and links from white supremacist accounts, including a famous quotation from Benito Mussolini, the 20th century fascist leader of Italy.
      The president-elect's son, Donald Trump Jr., also became a flashpoint by using social media to distribute imagery with xenophobic or racist connotations. In September, the younger Trump posted a doctored image of himself, his father and several other prominent Trump allies next to Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character that Spencer chose as a mascot for his movement. Trump Jr. also retweeted an academic who argued that anti-Semitism is a "logical" response to a belief that Jews control the world's banks.
      In February, the elder Trump refused during a CNN interview to denounce the Ku Klux Klan and one of its former leaders, David Duke, saying he "didn't know anything" about Duke. Initially, he said a faulty ear piece left him unable to hear the questions clearly, but days later he issued a clearer condemnation.
      "David Duke is a bad person," he said in an MSNBC interview. "I disavowed the KKK," he added. "Do you want me to do it again for the 12th time?"

      Tuesday 22 November 2016

      ACHIEVING DESPITE OBSTACLES- THE SYDNEY SHELDON'S STORY

      ACHIEVING DESPITE OBSTACLES - THE SYDNEY SHELDON'S STORY

      Sidney Sheldon.jpg
       
      Sydney Sheldon (1917-2007) was  a writer and a producer who won numerous awards with his award wining novels and movies. His blockbuster novels include The other side of midnight, Rage of angels, The naked face, if tomorrow comes , Master of the game to mention but a few.
       One thing captivating about Sheldon's movies is that it keeps you glued to your seat when you have fully exhausted every page and chapter of  a novel of his you are reading.
      He made a mention of this in his 1982 interview "I try to write my books so that the reader cant put them down.  I try to construct them so them so that when the reader gets to the end of it ,he or she has to read just one more chapter . It's a technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy on the edge of the cliff  till the end of the chapter".
         Sydney Sheldon was a celebrity who lived to a ripe age of 89 plus (12days short of his ninetieth birthday) but a certain illness that stayed on till the end of his life would have killed the dream of this literary icon.
        The illness bipolar disorder a mental illness or disorder marked by alternating periods of elation and depression, which tortures its victims to the point of contemplating suicide. Sheldon at  the end of seventeen almost contemplated suicide but thank God he didn't for he was talked out of it by his father who discovered him. Sheldon  faced his challenges and later became a literary figure of international repute.
        What I am saying is that no matter the family, societal or physical challenge one faces, one can still achieve the apex of his or her dream if one truly desires it. It might take time yes but with commitment and focus, you will see a bright but blissful horizon in the end.
         The world bows to anyone who refuses to bow to the challenges it presents and celebrates anyone who had previously celebrated his or herself even before the world started doing so.
        Always see yourself capable of achieving the apex of your dream. Focus and desire it for one day your name will be boldly written on the sands of time with such splendor when the crown of success and achievement settles with ease on your head.
       


































      PLANT IT THIS DAY

      PLANT IT THIS DAY

      As I was moving towards the bank in my vicinity in order to recharge my phone which was at its lowest ebb and also to withdraw cash. I was opportune to witness a scenario that greatly influenced my writing this article.
      I saw a woman complaining bitterly to a man about her husband. The woman's voice was so loud that anyone nearby can eavesdrop.
        The woman was complaining to the man about her marriage. She said that her husband doesn't care about her anymore as he used to before her marriage and has left all the financial needs of the family to her.
        From all I gathered, the marriage was a five year old marriage and the couple were blessed with two kids. The woman said that recently, she was so fed up with the marriage , that she threw her wedding ring at her husband as a sign of giving up. The lady was telling the man that now she is contemplating divorce because she is totally fed up with the marriage.
       The angry lady was still there when I went into the bank and did the necessary transactions, came out and left the scene.
       I wished I gave the lady a piece of candid advice, but here in Nigeria,  everybody minds his or her own business especially in Lagos where I reside.
             One thing everyone should take note is that no relationship follows a linear or straight line pattern. It has its own pros and cons. The angry might not know whether the man she was complaining to is for the marriage or against it. That is why it is wise for one to settle his or her relationship or marriage issues without any external interference.
         In every relationship to grow, one of the pair needs to pay the price for it to remain fortified and grow. Every relationship has its hassles especially marital relationship, but one needs to plant what he or she desires in that relationship even if it is not there.
          The movie war room is an ideal movie every Christian home should have. written by Stephen Kendrick et al, the movie teaches  us  the things an ideal Christian home should plant and nurture for their home to be peaceful. In the film, the lady's marriage was on the verge of collapse, but following the advise of a God fearing Christian woman, the marriage bounced back to life and peace was ensured.
        For you to live in a happy marriage or relationship, plant love in place of hatred,  plant peace in  place of war, plant tolerance in place of intolerance, plant healing in place of hurt and joy in place of sadness. But mind you, you cannot do this great task alone, you need to gather strength from a higher source and that higher source is God. When one gathers strength from God through the promises in his word, one will find out that previous obstacles to a happy marriage or relationship ceases to exist because he is a God that calms all storms. Apply this planting measure with great faith and patience in your heart and the lord who greatly blesses the sower will certainly bless your seed.




      Monday 21 November 2016

      BE IN YOUR HAPPY ZONE

      BE IN YOUR HAPPY ZONE
      There is no other life fulfilled than the life of one who lives with ease in his happy zone . Staying in one's happy makes one a primus interpares, an achiever of a special class, a trail blazer and a master of his game. living in your comfort zone makes you to live a life on a constant groove and it in the end it gives you that wining smile that you deserve.
         What do I mean by someone living in his or her happy zone ? A happy zone is a zone where all your gifts and talents are fully expressed for your own benefit and humanity. It is a zone where you do things with minimum supervision and you excel greatly. It is a zone in which life is not worth living if you are not in it and whenever you are in it the sense of fulfillment resides in you.
           It is a pity that a high percentage of people are not in their happy zone. Many people due to peer pressure, environmental/societal influence and wrong parental advice has been misguided away from their happy zone. They go to work with less excitement early in the morning and come back late in the night  stressed and sad. Most of them love Fridays and cant wait to paste thank God its Friday (TGIF) on their Facebook walls. They spend most of their lives slaving for people to actualize their dreams and live comfortably in the happy zone.
         That is not God's great plan for us, For he gave us gifts and talents for us to live a fulfilled life of value. Do you know that all these great and famous men like musicians , entrepreneurs etc excel greatly because they are in their happy zone ? They see the world as a world full of prospects because they are in a zone that gives them a wide range of view.
        Living in your happy zone gives you that zest and excitement for life, with the whistling wind of vision and purpose fanning you to greater pursuits and heights.
          What really excites you when you do it and makes you different from the rest of the crew? what really makes you a master that cools the waves of obstacles with ease? That is your happy zone my friend.
        In this present economic  recession ,you needs to find where his or her happy zone lies for your happy zone brings out the real excellent you.