GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: FOR WHO THE BELL TOLLS NEXT.

Just five people shy of Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting incident that claimed 26 lives, the Uvalde Texas Robb elementary school mass shooting at 21 victims, now ranks among the highest grossing gun carnage in America. It is sad that such frequent blood spilling has tragically become part of our culture as a society. May the souls of the killed now rest.

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi once questioned former President Donald John Trump's fitness to remain in office due to what she claimed was his declining mental capacity. Does anyone know what Madam Speaker presently thinks about the incontrovertible case which America is now saddled with? Just curious!

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.

A HERO IS BORN.

I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.

WORD!

A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.

NOW, YOU KNOW.

When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.

JUST THE FACT.

In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle

DO YOU?.

“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

'The best way to keep peace is to be ready to destroy evil. If you Pearl Harbor me, I Nagasaki you.' - Ted Nugent.

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.

WORDS ON MARBLE.

"Birth is agony. Life is hard. Death is cruel." - Japanese pithy.

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

Homosexuality is a sin. It is not ordained by God, therefore same sex marriage cannot be blessed by the church - Pope Francis.

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

TWITTER IS BORING WITHOUT HIS TWEETS. #RestorePresidentTrump'sTwitterHandle.


WORD.

"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.

Monday, December 15, 2008

WELL DUCKED, MR. PRESIDENT!

Icheoku asks, did the secret service detail protecting President George Walker Bush fail in their assignment by allowing the crazy Iraqi shoe-thrower a second attempt at his target, our President? The first could be interpreted as an unexpected surprise, but the second time is unacceptable considering it could have been any other more harmful weapon. Icheoku hopes that the secret service will review what happened in Iraq with a view to avoiding such embarrassment to Americans by proxy of our President in the future.

Hate him or love him, President George Walker Bush is still our president and this fact should be made known to the whole world including this Iraqi mad-man; and Americans protect their own. In the composite picture right, President Bush looked slightly bemused after ducking the shoe hurled at him by this Iraqi fanatic while Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki tried like any gracious host to reach out and parry off the thrown-shoe before it hits his American guest, President George Bush.

Icheoku says congratulations, Mr. President, for twice successfully ducking those filthy Iraqi shoes hurled at you by that fanatic masquerading as a journalist. Mr. President, Icheoku wants you to know that you did America proud by not allowing that Iraqi dog hit a home-run with those dirty dusty shoes of his. Mr President, you denied him his possibly greatest joy at humiliating an American President by striking a target with those his smelly shoes. Imagine an Iraqi pig's shoes landing on the head or body of an American President? Bravo, Mr. President for those quick reflexes which you displayed at that Baghdad press conference, it pays to be alert and nimble!
Icheoku sometimes wonders aloud if the Iraqis would rather they had remained under the dictatorship of "Sad-man Insane" as opposed to the relative freedom they appear to now enjoy? Even their Prime Minister Al Maliki would not have had the privilege of hosting an American President were it not for the fall of Sadam Hussein, courtesy of the Americans and President George W. Bush. For this pig to now throw his dusty shoes at George Bush is the greatest case of ingratitude for all the blood and treasury expended in liberating the Iraqis. Under the deposed Saddam Hussein, this shoe-thrower's head would have been cut off for bringing shame and ridicule to the brave Iraqi people. His daring to put a guest of the Iraqi government under fear of bodily harm, would have been treated by Saddam Hussein as a treasonable high crime felony warranting the guillotine; possibly his family, clan and community would have equally been wiped out under the deposed regime for producing such a disgrace.
This shoe-throwing is inexplicable under any circumstance; and for showing such disrespect and contempt to a visiting foreign dignitary, this Iraqi shoe-thrower deserves some years in the slammer for his uncivilized behaviour. His conduct is abhorable and should be condemned by all right-thinking people, world over, irrespective of the popularity or lack thereof of President George Walker Bush. However, President Bush had the last laugh by artfully dodging the raving mad-man of Iraq's shoe-missiles, thereby denying that loser, his intended target.
Icheoku says that this despicable shoe-thrower, Muntather Zaidi, a correspondent for Baghdadiya, a satellite TV channel that broadcasts from Cairo should not walk, as he assaulted an American President and a visiting guest of the Iraqi government!

2 comments:

  1. Iraqi shoe thrower to go on trial

    Mr Zaidi's lawyers say he was making a legitimate protest
    The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush in December is to go on trial in Baghdad.

    Muntadar al-Zaidi is charged with assaulting a foreign leader and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years.

    His lawyers argue he was simply expressing his views in a country where passions are still inflamed after the US-led invasion in 2003.

    The TV reporter achieved global notoriety by his actions, which were celebrated across the Arab world.

    'Symbol of disrespect'

    The trial is due to open on Thursday morning in Baghdad.

    However, after an appeal by the defence team, the court may change the charges against Mr Zaidi once the trial is under way.

    The lesser charge would incur a maximum sentence of two years.

    The head of the defence team told the BBC they would be pressing for the charges to be dismissed and Mr Zaidi freed, without delay.

    He said Mr Zaidi stood by what he had done and would not be offering any apologies to Mr Bush.

    Mr Zaidi's lawyers said earlier that he had simply been expressing his opposition to the US presence in Iraq and that Mr Bush had never been in serious danger.

    "Have you ever heard of anyone being killed by a shoe?" lawyer Dhiaa al-Saadi told Reuters in December.

    "In Europe, they throw eggs and rotten tomatoes to insult. In Iraq, throwing a shoe is a symbol of disrespect."


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    The incident drew mixed reactions in Iraq

    Mr Zaidi threw two shoes at Mr Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on 15 December.

    He shouted that Mr Bush was "a dog" and the shoes were "a farewell kiss" from those who had been killed, orphaned or widowed in Iraq.

    Mr Bush ducked the shoes and appeared untroubled by the incident, joking shortly after that he knew they were a size 10.

    Mr Zaidi was arrested and has been held in custody ever since.

    His actions were condemned by the Iraqi government as "shameful", but he was celebrated as a hero by thousands in the Arab world, who called for his immediate release from prison.

    Mr Zaidi had been due to go on trial last December, but his trial was postponed after the appeal.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Iraqi PM says shoe-thrower had fair trial
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    Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print AP – Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hold an anti-US demonstration marking the 6th anniversary … By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press Writer – Sun Mar 22, 6:51 pm ET
    SYDNEY – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says his government did not intervene in the trial of the journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush, but offered little sympathy for the man many consider a hero for his protest.

    In an interview broadcast Sunday, al-Maliki disagreed that many Iraqis supported Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act of shoe-throwing during a news conference last December by the two leaders in Baghdad.

    Al-Zeidi was sentenced earlier this month in an Iraqi court to three years in prison after a quick trial — two relatively brief hearings — that fed widespread suspicion among Iraqis that al-Maliki's U.S.-backed government orchestrated the process. Defense lawyers said they had no evidence of interference, although they argued the sentence wasn't warranted because al-Zeidi's act was an expression of freedom and not a crime.

    Al-Maliki told the partly government-funded Special Broadcasting Service that al-Zeidi could have faced much worse for the crime of insulting a visiting head of state.

    "What this man did in an official prime ministerial venue, in the presence of the prime minister and a state visitor — the Iraqi law, the Iraqi constitution, even under the old regime, applies sentences for 15 years up to execution," al-Maliki said.

    "We left it to the law and did not interfere, and he was sentenced to three years," al-Maliki said in SBS's translation of the interview from Arabic. It was recorded during al-Maliki's March 10-14 visit to Australia.

    Al-Zeidi's brazen act turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, where the former U.S. president is reviled for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Powerful Shiite clerics have called for al-Zeidi's release.

    Al-Maliki said he did not believe Iraqis supported al-Zeidi because they respected their guests and the shoe-throwing act "does not comply with the values and ethics of the Iraqi people."

    He said Iraqi forces would be ready to take over security as U.S. troops withdrew from his country, and that "the sectarian war is over" in Iraq, with political gangs responsible for most violence in the country now.

    "We are not worried about Iraq, neither economically because it is a rich country, nor politically because the political process has settled on the basis of governing in a peaceful and democratic manner, and nor for the security side of it," he said.

    ReplyDelete