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.

Thursday, September 30, 2021

MANNY PACQUIAO HANGS UP HIS BOXING GLOVES: WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2022.

"To the greatest fans and the greatest sport in the world, thank you! Thank you for all the wonderful memories. This is the hardest decision I've ever made, but I'm at peace with it. Chase your dreams, work hard, and watch what happens. Goodbye boxingTo the boxing fans all over the world, thank you very much. Thank you for always praying for me and watching my fights through the years. I would like to thank the whole world, especially the Filipino people, for supporting Manny Pacquiao. Goodbye boxing. It is difficult for me to accept that my time as a boxer is over. Today, I am announcing my retirement." - Manny Pacquiao.

ICHEOKU says with those words, he signed off from the ring and gloves, and will now squarely dedicate himself to politics. He gave it his all and he had much to show for it. He dared dream of greatness and was handsomely rewarded. A storied 26-years boxing career that saw him battle 72-fights, winning 62, lost 8 and drew 2. It is also instructive that 39 of his wins were by knockouts. He won 12 world titles and is the only fighter in history to win titles in eight different weight classes. He is currently a Senator, elected since 2016; and has announced his candidacy for president to succeed current President Duterte Rodrigo in 2022. 

Coming from nothing in his rural Philippines's country side to what he eventually became, a global personality with immerse fame and fortune, is an exact definition of rising "from grass to grace" and he achieved it all through sheer determination to succeed and will to become great. Hopefully he will win the presidential election in 2022 as a crowning glory to his boxing and political exploits; and further motivate millions more around the world, particularly those in Philippines, who will see in him that only you can stop yourself from becoming whatever you want to be. 

It would have been better had he ended his boxing career with a win rather than a loss to Yordenis Ugas, who now is forever etched in history as the last boxer who Manny Pacquiao fought in his boxing career and who also joins the only ten people to ever defeat Manny Pacquiao. Manny himself would have loved to have ended on such a high note but he did not write the script of his life and can only accept what destiny wrote for him, including how his boxing career would end, by losing his last fight. But all is well that ends well as he dropped his gloves without suffering any major career ending injury and retired on his own terms. May God be praised for blessing him so abundantly. 

ICHEOKU says Manny Pacquiao is right when he said that he will never forget what he accomplished in his life, and neither will his fans and the general world of boxing as well as the political class in the Philippines forget. So long Peoples Champ, Mr Pacman and National Fist of Philippines as he plunges headlong into becoming the next president of the Philippines. At 42 years old, he still have a lot of years ahead of him to do whatever his heart desires including become president and help make the Philippines great again. All the best with succeeding President Duterte Rodrigo as the next Philippines' president in 2022. President Manny Pacquiao  definitely sounds good to ICHEOKU and also millions of Philippines people. God speed, Pacman!

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

GENERAL MARK MILLEY FAILED TO LIFT THE PALL OF TRAITOR AND INSUBORDINATION.

ICHEOKU says although Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs General Mark Milley has testified as to what he thinks was his recollections about obvious misconducts including the Afghanistan botched withdrawal and the secret phone call to China, but are they truly reflective of his actions, the reason the calls for his resignation or for him to be fired is not abating but still resonating. There are so many issues which are still left un-clarified from his appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and until satisfactorily, fully and exhaustively explained, will continue to haunt him and question his candor, credibility and fitness to remain in office as Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs. 

If the Chairman as he claims maintains absolute loyalty to the United States, why did he stretch his telephone conversation with China after assuring them that America will not attack them, to include that he will give them a heads-up and tip them off should any such order ever be issued by the president? This further assurance is where his cookie crumbled as such defeats the element of surprise in warfares and will also allow China to lie in wait for American troops and massacre them at sight. Giving China a prior information about an impending attack will have China raise its defenses, land, air and sea, thus exposing incursions by the United States Navy, Air-force and the Army to Chinese destructive measures. 

So, he reviewed intelligence that suggested that Chinese officials were worried that the United States was planning an attack because of exercises in the South China Sea. But even if it was not true, was it not better that China was kept worrying and not knowing what was going on in America's president's mind, and that way they would be forced to moderate their hostile maritime actions in the South China Sea, since they don't know how America might react. But he not only deflated that element of an enemy not knowing what its adversary is thinking, but also took further step to inform them that he will tip them off in the event any attack was ordered. 

He served the United States for 43 years, but is he still the same person he once was and is he still serving with the same candor as he did the past 42 years? Is he still as loyal and committed to the United States as he then was, and still maintains his lane of authority; or has his high office gotten into his head that he began to think that he can sabotage a sitting United States president? He said that he is trying hard to keep the military out of politics, but celebrated Joe Biden's election win, which made many people wonder if he possibly participated in the shenanigans that led to the election result. Why would  apolitical Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs, who is trying to keep politics out of the military, care about who is elected the president? 

Why was he delighted that President Donald John Trump was not reelected to a second term if he indeed is not political, and did not have a dog in the fight on November 3rd, 2020? If he knew for certain that President Trump did not intend to attack China, why did he initiate the conversation and not let Chinese officials call to make the inquiry or confirm their fears before he can then assure them that everything is under control. Would what he did not be interpreted by the Chinese as America being afraid of them and seeking ways to avoid a conflict with the Peoples Liberation Army? It would have been better had the Chinese called the Chairman regarding their "intelligence" on a possible attack by America and then the assurance. We are not going to attack you, did they say you were going to attack them? 

As if that was not enough, he took a call from Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is not his Commander in Chief, without referring the acute partisan politician to the chain of command, which should be the Secretary of Defense, for any information which she seeks from the Pentagon. That the speaker has the power of the purse over the Defense Department does not mean that she also has direct power over the military business aspects of the Pentagon. Why did the speaker not broach her fears about President Trump's mental equilibrium with the Secretary of Defense or better still from the White House doctor, instead of thrusting herself directly into the Pentagon and making an inquiry which was not her place to make. 

The ability to launch nuclear weapons resides exclusively with the president, which the speaker has no business meddling in and the Chairman should have told her this immediately and ended the conversation. But no, he went on to assure her that nuclear launch is governed by a very specific and deliberate process as if the Nancy Pelosi did not already know these but was merely looking for informations with which to continue her propaganda that President Trump is a whacko doodle. Both of them were busy gossiping about the president and questioning his capacity to, not only continue to function as president but to exercise his inalienable authority as Commander in Chief with powers over nuclear weapons launch. 

Various personal references characterizing then President Trump were made by the Speaker, to which the Chairman must have likely concurred and most probably given his own pieces of opinion too. How could there ever be an "illegal, unauthorized or accidental launch" of nuclear weapons with all the protocols put in place safeguarding such? His duty is to execute as commanded, but he inserted himself in the process of command, and discussed his Commander in Chief's mental capacity with a highly charged partisan Speaker of the House of Representatives, who never allowed any day to go by without attacking and disparaging the then president of the United States of America. 

Why did the Chairman not figure out that the Speaker's intention was highly partisan and why did he later inform the Secretary of Defense after the fact and not before it, by directing the Speaker to channel her inquiries to the Secretary of Defense, the real supervisory authority at the Pentagon and by constitution, the liaison officer between the political wing and the military. ICHEOKU is emphatic that the Chairman actively attempted to change and influence the process, usurped authority and inserted himself into the chain of command. All he would have done was tell Madam Speaker that telephoning him was out of order, but he gleefully took the call to curry her favor. 

Further, if the Afghanistan withdrawal was a logistical success, why did we lose 13 service men and women? Why the chaos witnessed which forever tarnished the image of America as incompetent and incapable of executing a simple task of withdrawing its troops as demanded by the Taliban. Better still, could it be that a military which did not want to withdraw from Afghanistan as commanded by the president, chose to sabotage the mission by making it look ugly and tardy just to make their point and smear the withdrawal. What exactly led to the sore sight witnessed at Kabul, both at the airport and in the city, with difficulties in getting to the airport. Only a commission of inquiry would unravel the answers, but will the Congress summon the courage to so do? 

According to him, “My oath is to support the Constitution of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I will never turn my back on the oath. I firmly believe in civilian control of the military as a bedrock principle essential to this republic and I am committed to ensuring the military stays clear of domestic politics.” But it should be qualified as a case of trust but first verify, everything that happened considered. Why did he think he needed to talk to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa over a book aptly titled Peril which is turning out to be very perilous to him; and to spill the much he did or allowed to be spilled. Is he planning a post active duty gig and actively seeking Hollywood embrace? 

Although President Joe Biden has said that he has full confidence in the Chairman, which was obviously partisan driven because it was President Donald John Trump that was impacted. But the president should act in the interest of the office of the president in order to safeguard the office from rogue generals who might think that they know better than their political leadership to circumvent a president. President Joe Biden should fire Chairman Mark Milley because what he did was to the office of the president and commander in chief, and it is a disgraceful and unprecedented act of insubordination. Allowing him to remain is setting a bad precedent and if it is President Trump now, it might be President Biden or some other president in the future with another rogue general. It is even a shame that he has not resigned on his own accord. It is sad. 

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

R. KELLY CONVICTED: TOOK DOWN BY HIS OWN KIND, BLACK'S #METOO MOVEMENT.

ICHEOKU says whether he was not as lucky or Attorney Deveraux Cannick was no Johnnie Cochran and could not pull him out of the jaws of the law and justice. But it is debatable if OJ Simpson would have been as exceptionally lucky to walk free had his case come up in this day of crazy #MeToo movement gone wild. The pressure which they mount on the justice system and society in general, to get hard on whoever they point their accusatory finger at, in demand of justice for alleged past sexual offenses, usually makes it difficult, if not impossible, for any defense lawyer to be successful at mounting an effective defense for a client, the accused. 

Robert Sylvester Kelly has now been devoured by his own kind as the same black women who queued up to hear him sing, who sought favors from him and in some cases even threw themselves at him have now turned around to nail him, using their own version of #MeToo movement called #MuteRKelly as a weapon. They were insistent, they were vociferous, they shouted and screamed on top of their lungs, protested and boycotted his music until they put him at the crosshairs and microscope of the Feds, sexual predator who needs to be investigated. Today their effort has paid off as R Kelly stands convicted of the sexual crimes which these black women alleged, and he is now a pervert and sexual predator who preyed on minors as well as other people who he took advantage of. 

Urinating on anyone, regardless of their age and even sex, is abhor-able and offends every sensibilities of decent behavior. R Kelly went too far in some of the allegations and accusations for which he has now been convicted and will remain a sexual predator for the rest of his natural life. His activities was characterized as a "mafia-style" enterprise which he used to systematically abuse women and young girls, four of which were minors at their first sexual encounter. He was described as a sexual predator who used his inner circle to ensnare underage girls and young men and women for decades, in a sordid web of sex abuse, exploitation and humiliation.

But if as his lawyer claimed the government cherry picked the evidence to suit their narrative, was it not his duty as a defense lawyer to dismantle them? What was he doing when these supposedly cherry picked evidence were being fed to the jury? Why did he wait until after his client was convicted and facing serious time in prison to make such allegation. Was he expecting the government not to try and secure conviction or did R Kelly hire him for mere observation, only to later come out to say what he said. Why did he not share what he saw in "terms of discovery" with the jury? Why did he not point all the inconsistencies to the jury when it would have mattered and made some difference? 

Anyway, why did R Kelly not rehire the same lawyers who helped him beat the previous child pornography charges over a decade ago in Illinois? Hopefully his team have now learnt their lesson in the harshest way and will seek out Bill Cosby's appellate lawyers to help pursue his appeal and see if they can possible wriggle out of the verdict and at worst get a retrial or a reduced term. Pregnant wife killer Scott Patterson got his death sentence reduced to life term, so anything is possible when a good lawyer is in charge of and/or involved in a case. Who is even this Deveraux Cannick and what defense record does he parade that made him the choice attorney to take this case. Since Johnie Cochran is no more, why not Thomas Arthur Mesereau or Mark Geragos.  

May and October relationship was not the issue because so many men often marry much younger women including Harrison Ford whose wife Calista Flockhart is nearly as young as his granddaughter would be, with 22 years age difference. Texas oil mogul J Howard Marshall married Anna Nicole Smith when he was 89 years old and Anna was only 26 years old. And of course Mr Playboy Hugh Hefner never dated any girl above 25 years and he died at 91 years old still sexually active. But R Kelly was not charged nor convicted of dating women he was twenty years older than, he was charged and convicted for crimes of predatory sex with minors, among other crimes. 

ICHEOKU says R Kelly's conviction is a strong lesson to other celebrities to be very careful not to use their fame and fortune to prey on young and vulnerable girls for their sexual gratification, as their victims might someday decide to rat them out and seek justice. Everything which R Kelly had worked for has now come to an end as he is forever tarnished, branded as a sexual predator. A stigma which he will carry to his grave that even if he survives prison, where such predators are regularly preyed on themselves, he will find it difficult to reposition himself post incarceration. It is sad what karma throws at people that R Kelly, who never foresaw this coming when he was on top of the world and having his way however pleased him, has now been met with such a rebuke. 

It was one heck of a coincidence that one of the witness fell unconscious and "miraculously" woke up at the exact time R Kelly was adjusting his pants, and then reached a conclusion that he had his way with her. As for wanting his girls to dress in a particular manner with their hair put in pony tail or as girls scout, ICHEOKU has nothing against that since he wanted what is pleasing to his eyes and paid for it, admitted the girls should have had the option to opt out and walk away and not be compelled to live and look as R Kelly pleases. He paid to have them look as he wants and a buyer most times have the upper hand in such bargains. 

Robert Sylvester Kelly believes he can fly but did not know that he will some day be flying into prison for a long time; convicted on nine counts charges including racketeering based on sexual exploitation of children, bribery, sexual trafficking, kidnapping, forced labor, and violations of the Mann Act which bars the transportation of people across state lines for sex. Provided he was correctly convicted, based on proven evidence, he met the fate which he richly deserves and everybody should be happy that finally a sexual predator has been removed from the society. May the victims now begin to heal. It is sad that another black mega star ended his storied career and possibly life in this sordid manner. It is often either drug overdose or scandal and R Kelly choose the later. What a tragedy.

Monday, September 27, 2021

BBC's YOUNG PRAY MORE SURVEY: WEST GONE WITH THE WIND OF WOKE CULTURE.

ICHEOKU says a recent news beat on BBC reported a survey which found that young people in the United Kingdom now pray more than their adult counterparts. But the real story is that only Muslims and Hindus were showcased and probably the only ones interviewed for the survey, but not young Christians, most likely in continuation of the war against God and Christianity. It is an inexplicable and incomprehensible absurdity that either BBC and/or the conductor of the survey, in their infinite wisdom, decided on such dichotomy and that only the two religions are worthy of their survey, but not the traditionally Western-centric Christianity.  

Christianity is the bedrock of the Western civilization but it is gradually being relegated to the background and to some extent nearly completely banished from our lives, that it is steadily being treated as a nuisance, disturbance and distraction to the Woke agenda plaguing Western countries. In its place, Islam and other religions are quickly filling the void and with active help of Western media and their talking heads, which are bent on perverting the society with their anti Christianity messaging. They are also heavily invested in teaching behaviors which are anti Christianity in their effort to further dilute Christianity's moral authority and weaken it. 

It is not only in the United Kingdom that this assault on Christianity is going on but throughout the Western world including the United States of America, where being a Christian is now considered and lumped together as "white supremacy". Everything the Bible frowns at is being shamelessly celebrated and everything the Bible teaches is being challenged, including creation. They even sometimes claim that Bible is anti science and that the believe in a higher being is simplistic and moronic, to say the least. They are doing whatever they can to ensure that Christianity is diminished to such extent that people become ashamed of identifying as Christians. 

So, British Broadcasting Corporation and whoever conducted the survey did not and couldn't find young Christians to also ask in the survey if they too are also praying more than their Christian adults counterparts? Possibly, they were afraid of finding young Westerners who they have since brainwashed into abandoning the Christian faith, and made a calculated decision not to embarrass themselves or skew the outcome of their already predetermined survey slant. They wanted a story in that line and they went for the lowest handing fruits that will give them what they desired. 

It is the game they play, set up a declared story and then find the target people to fill in the blanks. They wanted a story that conveys a message that the coronavirus pandemic made people so afraid that they embraced prayers more, clinging unto it to find solace in an otherwise pandemic distorted and disorientated world. But unfortunately, their idea of "young people who now pray more than adults" did not include young Christian Westerners, as it is apparent that only Muslims and Hindus qualified for their survey. 

One of the Muslim girl surveyed said that her faith means stability for her as it is the only thing that she knows that is stable and clear. According to her, every time she watches television news, there is always something negative going on and she feels that it is only in her prayers that she have clarity. Further, that she knows that religion is a guaranteed, stabilizing thing in life and she uses it to find some grounding and solace. In fact she said that her faith is her anchor in life, the reason she prays without ceasing. 

So, does it mean that her Christian Western counterparts do not agree with her or is it the reason there is a lot of social upheaval and disorder in the West, with a lot of drug and alcohol use, anger, suicides and bloody violence? Are Christian Western young people so far removed from God and prayers that they have become despondent and in their devastated state of self help, have become hopeless that they are seeking answers to many questions without finding them and resorting to self destruct as a means to an end. 

Being anchor-less and left adrift in the ocean of confusion without God and prayers, is this why   they cannot find solace in alcohol and drugs, leading to rising suicides and gun and knife violence. Is it time we seek God in his full glory and ask Him to come back and take control of our lives and save us from our helplessness and hopelessness, since we cannot do much by only the strength of our sinews. Could this possibly be why other religions adherents seem to have all the answers, the reason there is less suicides, drug use and gun and knife violence among them. 

Our media must help us get a handle on the steadily eroding and imploding Western civilization. They must stop the incessant attacks on God, Christianity, principles and teachings of the Bible which have helped sustain Western civilization for as long as it have lasted. For example, supplanting Sodom and Gomorrah with open homosexuality or creation with evolutionary nonsensical are attacks on the root of Christianity which has eroded faith in Christianity, admitted Catholic priests molestations of alter boys did not help matters. BBC should have made their survey more comprehensive and even if young Christians said otherwise, they would have still included them in the report for an all balanced outcome. 

They did not interview them and it telegraphed a message that either they could not find young Christians to interview or Christianity no longer matters in the Western world and have now been replaced by Islam and Hinduism. It is ominous because once the strong pedestal upon which Western civilization was founded is eroded completely, the civilization will collapse. Religion, language and culture are the bedrock of any society and to a large extent a civilization; but Western media is steadily chipping away at this foundation and filling it up with values which were hitherto considered and seen as alien. 

There is nothing that is exclusive any more in the Western world, a matter made worse because other civilizations are not exposing themselves to these incursions. What will happen the day these alien values completely submerges Western values that they replaced them. The down fall of the Western civilization will not come through a military defeat, but it is gradually picking up steam in the form of metastasizing divergent cultures, religions and languages. These erosions  might someday progress to a situation where the falcon cannot hear the falconer and the center cannot hold, as mere anarchy descends upon the earth. What we our fate be.

It is not too late to start steering the ship off the trajectory it is barreling, towards the iceberg. No one is saying not to allow others to thrive, but ours must not be allowed to die. Our young people should be encouraged and taught the values which have carried us through this far, including the believe in God and Christianity. They should not be isolated and left out in surveys about young people praying more than adults because Christianity is a religion and Christians pray and we have young Christians as well. Out young Christians are part of the young people of the world, especially in the United Kingdom where they were the subject of the survey. If we do not protect our own, nobody will do it for us.  BBC, it is a shame. 

RYDER CUP BACK IN THE USA: CONGRATULATIONS.

ICHEOKU says an all male and all whites team wins Golf's Ryder Cup for the United States of America. When will Black Lives Matter and those far left feminists trouble makers take to the street in protest of lack of equity and the need for the team to in fact truly reflect their America? America can be better when the Woke culture which is wrecking havoc in the society is brought to an end; and let Americans be Americans. Congratulations Team USA. 

Sunday, September 26, 2021

ANTHONY JOSHUA DETHRONED: HANDED A BROKEN EYE SOCKET AS A PARTING GIFT.

ICHEOKU says he reigned as WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion for some years until Ukrainian boxing great, Oleksandr Usyk, said not anymore by defeating him in a twelve rounds championship fight which the three judges scored all for the new champion, 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113. It was predicted by many boxing analysts that Oleksandr Usyk will not be an easy walkover for Anthony Joshua and although Anthony Joshua gave it his all, but his best wasn't good enough to retain his high perch on the heavyweight boxing pedestal. 

Dethroned, Anthony Joshua will now remain a former heavyweight boxing champion until he is  regains his composure and reclaim the lost titles. With the defeat, has also now gone his planned bout with Tyson Fury, who most likely would have also defeated him. It was a good fight anyway, both men haven gone mano-mano right through to the last round; and the 67,000 fans inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium England concur, admitted most of those English fans would have been happier with a different outcome.

As Anthony Joshua goes to hospital to checkout his broken eye socket, he will have many decisions to make including whether to invoke the rematch clause of the fight and give it another go at Olek or just to hang up his gloves for good. With this defeat, who knows how Tyson Fury and Deontay Wielder's rescheduled fight for October 9th 2021 will break, and whether the loser will have to fight Anthony Joshua and the winner fight Oleksandr Usyk and in that way, the hierarchical perching order of heavyweight boxers can be established. ICHEOKU says congratulations to Oleksandr Usyk, the new WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion.

CONOR MCGREGOR OR DR ANTHONY FAUCI: WHO PITCHED IT WORSE?

ICHEOKU says although baseball is not their strongest suit but they could have done at least slightly better than they did. Dr Anthony Fauci threw a horrible pitch and Conor McGregor apparently outdid him, throwing an even worse pitch which went off the home plate farther.

It was during the match between Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins at Wrigley Field Chicago. Recall that the coronavirus doctor pitched a ball  in July 2020 at National Park Washington DC in the season's opener between New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. 

Anyway, both men are authorities in their areas of specializations, with the doctor being the oracle of infectious diseases and the UFC badass being the one of the fiercest competitor in the blood and guts mixed martial arts sport. FYI: the video is even more hilarious, so Youtube it and see for yourself. 

Saturday, September 25, 2021

NANCY PELOSI ELEVATES HER HYPOCRISY: WANTS PRESIDENT'S POWERS CURTAILED.

ICHEOKU says she is the undisputed leader of the Democratic Party's far left liberal wing and she suffers no fools about it, projecting that undiluted and near absolute authority which she wields with ruthless efficiency. She says it and so shall it be, and it does not matter for her that she serves others what she will not accept nor take. 

As usual, what is good for Nancy is never good for others, and as the undisputed, acclaimed mother superior, who makes the rules and decides who gets what, only Nancy can keep her powers but no one else. She is the George Orwell's Animal Farm's personification of "some animals are more equal than others" as she is particularly privileged and cannot share the same platform of expectations with we lesser mortals, including the president. She is again driving this point home, that everyone must understand it clearly, that there is one set of rules for Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi and another set of rules for everyone else. 

Just a few days after her interview on CNN alongside her British counterpart, the Speaker of House of Commons, Lord Lindsay Hoyle, information has come out that her controlled House of Representatives is working on a bill to reduce, minimize, curtail and diminish the powers of the office of the president. But in the said CNN interview, when she was asked about her own powers as a political speaker and whether she will ever think about reducing the powers of her office and become an impartial speaker like her British counterpart, she flatly said absolutely no.  

She said that there is no chance in hell she will ever contemplate that, especially not now when a woman is the speaker of the House of Representatives, questioning why it should be now that a woman is the speaker that such a thing is being brought up. Paraphrasing her, she said that she enjoys her powers as an executive speaker with overwhelming powers, and that she will continue to use it to try and fix many inequities in America, improve the odds of American women and women everywhere, towards forging a better American society where men and "white supremacy" will no longer lord it over everyone. She also blamed "white supremacy" for everything that is wrong in America. 

Her British minion, Lord Lindsay Hoyle, effortlessly nodded in agreement to every syllable that came out of her mouth. The House of Commons fella painted a picture a puppy beside its owner and was just lapping it up, casting a shadow of a specimen of the conquered Western male whose testicles have been locked away in a testicular lockbox by feminist crusaders. He rarely made eye contacts with Madam Speaker Nancy and on the few brief occasions he stole them, just to gauge her countenance that he has not gone off the rails.  He was a completely emasculated male and it showed. 

Anyway, the Brit is not the reason for this article, so we must forget the little digression and steer back on the road by moving on to Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi effort to diminish the powers of the presidency but guarding the powers of the Speaker so jealously. Why does she always protect her interests with every fibre of being in her, but readily trounces other people's interests. If she is the president will she ever contemplate curtailing the powers of the office? Of all the reasons she and the California congressman Adams Schiff are using as reason to reduce the powers of the president, does she think that some other people cannot make similar arguments for why the powers of the Speaker should be reduced? 

But no, the rule is always different for Madam Speaker than for others, including the president of the United States of America. She is always quick to remind everyone that she is the peoples speaker and was sent to Washington DC by the people as their representative; and you ask yourself, is the president not also sent by the people to Washington DC and who exactly does the president represent other than the people of America. But for Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it is only her being sent to Washington DC that really matters and in the same vein, only her representation of the people in Washington DC counts. Is she saying that she has never ever abused the office of the Speaker and that everything she has ever done could pass muster. 

Is she saying that were a man the Speaker, may be such power reduction could have been considered? Why the many impeachments and why use impeachments as a political weapon or does that not sound as a reason to curb some powers of the office which she currently occupies. If she has her way now with limiting the president's powers, how about the next speaker? So, Trump caused it, but how about the next future presidents and why must their powers be impacted because of whatever she accused Trump of doing that warranted her action. But it is Crazy Nancy and some of her actions are spontaneous and emotions tinged. 

It was the same way she did her hair during the coronavirus pandemic when the entire nation was in a lockdown with an acute lockdown imposed on San Francisco but that did not deter her from getting her hair done because what Nancy wants Nancy gets. Meanwhile millions of women in America as well as their esthetically conscious male counterparts went without visiting their hair dressers for nearly one year; but not Nancy, because she is mother superior and must always have her way. Then, her impeachment shenanigans and her repeated false claim that President Donald John Trump is mentally incapacitated, begging the 25th Amendment be invoked to remove him from office. 

The same Speaker Nancy Pelosi has largely remained silent ever since Joe Biden came into office and steadily manifesting a clear case of sputtering neurons which are not firing on their best cylinders. It would seem that the 25th Amendment has now become the 'N-word" and suddenly prohibited? Speaker Nancy Pelosi who always gets what she wants has now become more emboldened to go after the powers of the president. But why does she want a diminished presidency or does she intend to totally and completely subsume the presidency and have an absolute power over the office. Her seeking to diminish the powers of the president but not that of the speaker is a self serving power move, which might end up making the office of the presidency merely ceremonial. But is this what the founding fathers intended and is anyone listening? 

Friday, September 24, 2021

DANIEL FOOTE: A MAN OF HONOR, CANDOR, CONSCIENCE AND GREAT COURAGE.

"I will not be associated with the United States' inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants back to a collapsed state which cannot support the infusion of the returning migrants." - Daniel Foote.

ICHEOKU says with those words of great audacity, the now former United States Envoy to Haiti, Daniel Foote, resigned his appointment, rather than be left marooned in Port-au-Prince, trying to explain the inexplicable hostile action of his government to his host nation. He should be commended and applauded for the uncommon courage he displayed by calling out his government over the inhuman and harsh treatment of those Haitian immigrants at Del Rio. His action is exemplary to say the least, when viewed against the background of the unbridled sycophancy of many bureaucrats and political appointees who would rather stay on the invite list silenced, than become a pariah of any administration. 

It is only an unconscionable, acute partisan, who will not see and will refuse to see the picture of America's inhumanity painted with that display at Del Rio. The other time it was Iraqi's prisoners in Abu Ghraib in orange jumpsuits and now women and children Haitian immigrants that mounted horses were set at. It is about image and America cannot be going about preaching good behavior for countries around the world when it lacks of it, or at least, the appearance of it. How does America expect her diplomats around the world to torture themselves trying to explain to their host countries, the images coming out from Del Rio of innocent black Haitian immigrants being attacked by giant horses. If Abu Ghraib was a mistake, how about Del Rio and how many more of such unpleasant images does anyone require to see before concluding it is now a pattern of behavior.

The issue is not whether any idea was ignored or any situation was mischaracterized; no, the issue is the damage caused to America's image by what was captured on video, mounted horses charging at and stampeding Haitian immigrants back into the river at Del Rio entry point. The White House, in desperation to damage control the incident and mitigate the horrendous scene, is now attacking the ambassador for not discussing his immigration concerns instead of resigning. But how can any conscionable diplomat discuss what the whole world saw, played out in Del Rio? It is obviously their attempt to claw at any straw because they have no answer or response to either what happened and why the diploma resigned. But try as they may, they can never succeed in demonizing the career diplomat for putting his conscience over and above partisan slobbering. 

Which ample opportunity to discuss what is the White House talking about anyway when the issue was so instantaneous; and that mounted horses were used by Joe Biden immigration enforcers against Haitian immigrants when no other immigrants from other countries have ever been subjected to such a harsh and cruel treatment. The ambassador's resignation was not premised on America's immigration crisis under Joe Biden getting worse; no, it was solely on the horse attack of Haitian immigrants. So, what exactly does the White House mean by protesting that the ambassador had ample opportunity to discuss his immigration concerns instead of resigning. But even speaking to that, is the palpable situation in Haiti not to everyone's general knowledge? 

It is pathetic that the White House, instead of taking full responsibility for the Del Rio scandal by demanding Immigration Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' resignation, is here piling up on a man who summoned the courage to do the right thing. The ambassador resigned in protest for what has now become another sad chapter in America's storied history of heartlessness. It is a huge stain on the Joe Biden's administration and marks his disposition towards black people, despite lying to them that he has changed his racists ways, which made black people vote for him during  last year's presidential election. 

Is using mounted horses to intimidate, harass and scare unarmed women and children who are merely seeking a better life in America back into the river a good idea? It is a shame that Joe Biden has gone this too far to register his dislike against black people because someone acting under the color of authority and his agency, authorized and sanctioned those mounted horses being used to charge against those Haitian immigrants. 

Meanwhile when Haiti asked for America to send them some troops to help them secure their country following the assassination of their president Jovenel Moise, the White House refused. When Haiti was devastated in a huge earthquake ten years ago which killed almost 500,000 Haitians and destroyed their country and economy, where was the Marshal Plan for Haiti by the American government? When Haiti was recently hit by another devastating earthquake few months ago which killed thousands and destroyed more stuff, what level of aid did Washington DC send to Port-au-Prince? 

These were ideas that were probably ignored, admitted that not all ideas are good ideas but building Haiti back better would surely have been one heck of a very good idea, which would have helped Haiti long before and prevented the people from being forced out of their country in search of salvation. So, yes, it is inhumane for the American government under Joe Biden, a known racist, to still take additional step to compound the problems of a people already traumatized beyond reason, by not only stopping them at the southern border but also doing so  in a manner that is reminiscent of slavery and Jim Crow era. 

American people should in unison commend Emeritus diplomat Daniel Foote for taking such a bold step to reject an outrageous and outlandish obvious racist attack on black Haitians. No other immigrants have ever been treated so harshly and his standing up against it is the stuff uncommon courage is made of. We should pray to have more Daniel Footes within the American diplomatic community, so that every American diplomat will have the courage just like like him and speak up whenever the situation calls for it, regardless of the consequences. 

Showing such a backbone and not being an accomplice to inhumane treatment of people from countries they are sent to represent America in, will help improve America's image and resonate the message of what America stands for. It took courage and great audacity to stand so tall and speak truth to power, especially to a government under whose behest he served, until the Del Rio scandal happened. Kudos to Ambassador Daniel Foote.

Joe Biden is aware that Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere has been hit in recent weeks by a presidential assassination, un-abating gang violence and major earthquakes, yet he chose to return their immigrants back in plane loads. It only shows that Joe Biden is still who he is and never really cared nor liked black people. Haitians need asylum more than the Afghanis being brought into America in plane loads. 

As Al Sharpton succinctly put it, "If you come from a nation where the president has been assassinated in the last 60 days, followed by an earthquake, followed by a hurricane, I don't know how you can more qualify for asylum than that." Daniel Foot represents what is good in America, thank you Dan for standing up for the helpless when others including Jim Clyburn are still wavering. #Evacuate100,000Haitians.

Thursday, September 23, 2021

CHARGING AT HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS WITH HORSES: A RACIST TACTICAL MANEUVER.

ICHEOKU says among them were women and children and infants as young as two days old. But these pertinent facts did not deter Joe Biden as he sent his immigration agents on mounted horses to charge at Haitian immigrants simply seeking refuge in America. It is his government, his Immigration Secretary, his immigration policy and his immigration enforcement officers and the buck stopped on his desk. 

So, no amount of denial or remedial effort will take away the shame of what happened in Del Rio or absolve him from it because they are Joe Biden's immigration enforcement officers and they acted under the color of his authority and his immigration higher ups ordered those mounted horses to Del Rio. 

Joe Biden is therefore fully responsible for what took place and he did it because those Haitians are black and his long history with racists tendencies is undeniable, admitted he would rather that chapter of his life be buried in the past where they supposedly belong. If they were not black would his administration have sent mounted horses to confront those Haitians with whips and hoofs? Why were those Mexican and South America immigrants not similarly confronted? And pushing the envelope further, were those Haitians confronted in this manner because their blackness does not meet Joe's "you ain't black" benchmark. 

Imagine the outrage which would have resulted had it been that President Donald John Trump is in the White House and mounted horses charged at black Haitian immigrants. But no, it is Joe Biden and good ol' boy Joe can do no wrong, hence the tepid reaction over what happened. Immigration Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has not fallen on his sword neither has the black Jamaican-Indian point person on immigration, Kamala Harris, resigned the appointment as Immigration tsar or rather tsarina over the unfolding scandal. It is retro slavery and Jim Crow's intimidation of black people into obedience through forceful corralling by mounted horses. 

Joe Biden is doing to black people in 2021 exactly what were did to them centuries and decades ago. His government is showing no mercy nor pity to black Haitians, unlike the hospitality which it showed to lighter skinned Mexicans and South American immigrants who similarly poured into the country. Meanwhile Haitians who made it out are being summarily returned back to Haiti in plane loads.

ICHEOKU says Kamala Harris is scheming for a 2024 presidential run and therefore approaching the issue with great caution, afraid not to upset many democrats who do not like taking seriously the issue of blacks inequality and mistreatment in America. Democrats, who merely appeal to black people's sentiments only at election time, emphasizing that they should vote for them simply because they are not republicans. But how many issues militating against black people in America have been addressed by the democrats? Even Congressman James Clyburn who deceived, misled and lied to some unthinking black Americans during last year's presidential election campaign that Joe Biden is not a racist, has not been seen throwing a fit over what Joe Biden's administration is doing to black Haitians at the southern border in Del RIo. 

At least Jim Clyburn is old enough to know what Jim Crow law did to black people's psyche in America, reminiscent of their slavery experience when black people were horse whipped and horse corralled into forced obedience. Now, the same Joe Biden who he helped imposed on America by first imposing him on black people have now gone cuckoo on black Haitian immigrants and what has Jim Clyburn said about it. Recall that Jim Clyburn only got a non binding promise from Joe Biden to appoint a black female Supreme Court Justice as the bargain for black votes in 2020. A non vacant position, which might not even open up during Joe Biden's term; yet this was what Jim Clyburn based his endorsement of Joe Biden on. It says a lot about the cavalier manner with which these supposed black leaders treat and approach issues concerning black people in America. 

What crime did those black Haitian immigrants commit other than seeking a better life for themselves and their families, just like every other immigrant coming to America from around the world, especially from lighter skinned countries, including those from Southern America and Mexico. These other light skinned immigrants were allowed in their tens of thousands into America without being whipped or horse harassed. They were welcomed, fed, hydrated, given medical attention and later bused to various cities in America to "wait" the final decision on their immigration petition. But black Haitians, the treatment has to be different and harsh and inhumane. Why is the treatment meted to them different or is the color of their skin in the way and does not meet the standard color of acceptable immigrants in Joe Biden's America.

Who speaks for black people when Kamala Harris has largely remained mute. What has Jim Clyburn got to say about his lies to black people that Joe Biden loves black people, when he is practically reenacting Jim Crow at the southern border as the true custodian of that era's policies against blacks in America. Those Haitian immigrants being charged at by these mounted horses include some pregnant women, nursing mothers, little children and infants some as old as only two days. Who will protect black people in America when black leaders have literally been compromised and will not do their job, at least not any more. Imagine the good trouble which late Georgia 6th district Congressman John Lewis would have caused Joe Biden were he still alive. Is it a crime to be black or do we blame God Almighty, who in his wisdom, made some of his people black. 

It is horrific reliving the Jim Crow era experience under the Joe Biden administration. It was like a time travel back to that era watching those black Haitian immigrants being hoofed after and stared down by toothy stallions. Those Haitians are human beings too and their black lives should matter as well. They deserve to be treated with some respect and dignity. They are not anybody's slaves nor property that they should be subjected to horse corralling. Seeking asylum anywhere including in America is not a crime. They should not be treated like criminals and savages that will pollute America if allowed to come in. 

Nobody is advocating for open borders or unlimited immigration or that anybody who gets to the border should be allowed to come in or stay. No, only that there should be a one cap fits all immigration enforcement such that if Mexican and South American immigrants are cordially welcomed, so should Haitian immigrants too. No immigrants, no matter the shade of their pigmentation, should be harassed with giant horse hoofs, bellowing and snarling of teeth forcing them back into the waters of Rio Grande where they could have easily drowned. Joe Biden did it to the Haitians and since the buck stopped on his desk, he should take full responsibility for it just like he did with the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. It is sad the bargain black people entered with Joe Biden just because James Clyburn made them do it. 

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

JOE BIDEN CHARTS A NEW DIRECTION IN HIS SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS.

"Mr. President, Mr. Secretary General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to this noble mission of this institution. It’s my honor to speak to you for the first time as president of the United States. We meet this year in a moment of intermingled with great pain and extraordinary possibility. We’ve lost so much to this devastating pandemic that continues to claim lives around the world and impact so much on our existence. We’re mourning more than 4.5 million people, people of every nation, from every background. Each death is an individual heartbreak, but our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world. A decade that will quite literally determine our futures. As a global community, we’re challenged by urgent and looming crises, and where in lie enormous opportunities if we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities. Will we work together to save lives, defeat COVID-19 everywhere and take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic, for there will be another one? Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as more virulent, dangerous variants take hold?

Will we meet the threat of the challenging climate we’re all feeling already ravaging every part of our world with extreme weather, or will we suffer the merciless march of ever worsening droughts and floods, more intense fires and hurricanes, longer heat waves and rising seas? Will we affirm and uphold the human dignity and human rights under which nations in common cause more than seven decades ago formed this institution? Will we apply and strengthen the core tenants of the international system, including the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as we seek to shape the emergence of new technologies and deter new threats. Or will we allow those universal principles to be trampled and twisted in the pursuit of naked political power?

In my view, how we answer these questions in this moment, whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not, will reverberate for generations yet to come. Simply put, we stand in my view at an inflection point in history. And I’m here today to share with you how the United States intends to work with partners and allies to answer these questions. And the commitment of my new administration helped lead the world toward a more peaceful, prosperous future for all people.

Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources of the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future. Ending this pandemic, addressing the climate crisis, managing the shifts in global power dynamics, shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber, and emerging technologies and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today.

We’ve ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan. And as we close this period of relentless war, we’re opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world, of renewing and defending democracy, proving that no matter how challenging or how complex the problems we’re going to face, government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people.

And as the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions of the world, like the Indo-Pacific that are most consequential today and tomorrow, we’ll do so with our allies and partners through cooperation and multilateral institutions like the United Nations to amplify our collective strength and speed, our progress toward dealing with these global challenges. It is the fundamental truth of the 21st century within each of our countries and as a global community, that our own success is bound up in other succeeding as well. To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world to ensure that our own future, we must work together with other partners, our partners toward a shared future. Our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected in my view as never before. And so, I believe we must work together as never before.

Over the last eight months, I prioritized rebuilding our alliances, revitalizing our partnerships, and recognizing they’re essential and central to America’s enduring security and prosperity. We have reaffirmed our sacred NATO Alliance to article five commitment. We’re working with our allies toward a new strategic concept that will help our alliance better take on the evolving threats of today and tomorrow. We renewed our engagement with the European Union, a fundamental partner in tackling the full range of significant issues facing our world today. We elevated the quad partnership among Australia, India, Japan, and the United States to take on challenges ranging from health security, to climate, to emerging technologies.

We’re engaging with regional institutions from [inaudible 00:07:10] to the African Union to the Organization of American States, to focus on people’s urgent needs for better health and better economic outcomes. We’re back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations to focus attention and dispar global action on shared challenges.

We are reengaged at the World Health Organization and working in close partnership with Kovacs to deliver life-saving vaccines around the world. We rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and we’re running to retake a seat in the Human Rights Council next year at the UN. And as the United States seeks to rally the world action, we will lead not just through the example of our power, but God willing with the power of our example. Make no mistake. The United States will continue to defend ourselves, our allies, and our interest against attack, including terrorist threats, as we prepare to use force, if any is necessary. But to defend our vital US national interest, including against ongoing and imminent threats. But the mission must be clear and achievable. Undertaken with informed consent of the American people. And whenever possible, in partnership with our allies. US military power must be our tool of last resort. Not our first. It should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world. Indeed, today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms. 

Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants. To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots and arms as fast as possible, and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments to save lives around the world. And for the future, we need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security that builds on our existing development assistance and a global health threat council that is armed with the tools we need to monitor and identify emerging pandemics so that we can take immediate action.

Already the United States has put more than $15 billion toward the global COVID response. We’ve shipped more than 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to other countries. This includes 130 million doses from our own supply and the first tranches of the half a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine, we purchased to donate through COVAX. Planes carrying vaccines from the United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world, a little dose of hope as one American nurse termed it to me. A dose of hope direct from the American people and importantly, no strings attached.

And tomorrow at the US hosted Global COVID-19 Summit, I’ll be announcing additional commitments as we seek to advance the fight against COVID-19 and hold ourselves accountable around specific targets on three key challenges. Saving lives now, vaccinating the world, and building back better. This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis. The extreme weather events that we have seen in every part of the world, and you all know it and feel it represent what the Secretary General has rightly called code red for humanity.

And the scientists and experts are telling us that we’re fast approaching a point of no return in a literal sense. To keep within our reach the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, every nation needs to bring their highest possible ambitions to the table when we meet in Glasgow for COP26. And then to have to keep raising our collective ambition over time.

In April, I announced the United States ambitious new goal under the Paris Agreement. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the United States by 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030, as we work toward achieving the clean energy economy with net zero emissions by 2050. And my administration’s working closely with our Congress to make critical investments in green infrastructure and electric vehicles will help us lock in progress at home toward our climate goals. And the best part is making these ambitious investments isn’t just good climate policy, it’s a chance for each of our countries to invest in ourselves and our own future.

It’s an enormous opportunity to create good paying jobs for workers in each of our countries and to spur long-term economic growth that will improve the quality of life for all of our people. We also have to support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt. In April, I announced that United States will double our public international financing to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis. And today, I’m proud to announce that we’ll work with the Congress to double that number again, including for adaptation efforts.

This will make the United States leader in public climate finance, and with our added support together with increased private capital from other donors, we’ll be able to meet the goal of mobilizing $100 billion to support climate action in developing nations. As we deal with these crises, we’re also encountering a new era. An era of new technologies and possibilities that have potential to release and reshape every aspect of human existence. And it’s up to all of us to determine whether these technologies are forced to empower people or to deepen repression.

As new technologies continue to evolve, we’ll work together with our democratic partners to ensure that new advances in areas from biotechnology to quantum computing, 5G, artificial intelligence, and more are used to lift people up, to solve problems and advance human freedom, not to suppress dissent or target minority communities. And the United States tends to make a profound investment in research and innovation, working with countries at all stages of economic development to develop new tools and technologies to help us tackle the challenges of this second quarter of the 21st century and beyond.

We’re hardening our critical infrastructure against cyber attacks, disrupting ransomware networks and working to establish clear rules of the road for all nations, as it relates to cyberspace. We reserve the right to respond decisively to cyber attacks that threaten our people, our allies, or our interest. We will pursue new rules of global trade and economic growth to strive a level of playing field. So it’s not artificially tipped in favor of any one country at the expense of others. And every nation has the right and opportunity to compete fairly.

We will strive to ensure that basic labor rights, environmental safeguards, and intellectual property are protected, and that the benefits of globalization are shared broadly throughout all our societies. We’ll continue to uphold the long-standing rules and norms that have formed the guardrails of international engagement for decades that have been essential to the development of nations around the world. Bedrock commitments, like freedom of navigation, adherence to international laws and treaties, support for arms control measures to reduce the risk and enhance transparency.

Our approach is firmly around it and fully consistent with the United Nation’s mission and the values we’ve agreed to when we drafted this charter. These are commitments we all made, and that we’re all bound to uphold. And as we strive to deal with these urgent challenges, whether they’re long-standing or newly emerging, we must also deal with one another. All of the major powers of the world have a duty, in my view, to carefully manage their relationships. So they do not tip from responsible competition to conflict.

The United States will compete and we will compete vigorously and lead with our values and our strength. We’ll stand up for our allies and our friends and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones, whether through changes to territory by force, economic coercion or technical exploitation or disinformation, but we’re not seeking, say it again, we are not seeking a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocks. The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to share challenges even if we have intense disagreement in other areas, because we’ll all suffer the consequences of our failure, if we do not come together to address the urgent threats like COVID-19 and climate change or enduring threats like nuclear proliferation. The United States remains committed for ready to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Where are working with the P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically, and to seek a return to JCPOA. We’re prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same.

Similarly, we seek serious and sustained diplomacy to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We seek concrete progress toward an available plan with tangible commitments that would increase stability on the peninsula and in the region, as well as improve the lives of the people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

We must also remain vigilant to the threat of terror, that terrorism poses to all our nations. Whether emanating from distant regions of the world, or in our own backyard. We know the bitter string of terrorism. The bitter sting of terrorism is real. We’ve almost all experienced it.

Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and almost 200 innocent Afghan civilians in a heinous terrorist attack at Kabul airport. Those who commit acts of terrorism against us will continue to find a determined enemy in the United States. The world today is not the world of 2001 though, and the United States is not the same country we were when we were attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago. Today, we’re better equipped to detect, to prevent terrorist threats and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond. We know how to build effective partnerships to dismantle terrorist networks by targeting their financing and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel as well as disrupting imminent attacks. We’ll meet terrorist threats that arise today and the future with a full range of tools available to us, including working in cooperation with local partners so that we need not be so reliant on large scale military deployments.

One of the most important ways we can effectively enhance security and reduce violence is by seeking to improve the lives of the people all over the world, who see that their governments are not serving their needs. Corruption fuels inequality, siphons off a nation’s resources, spreads across borders and generates human suffering. It’s nothing less than a national security threat in the 21st century. Around the world, we’re increasingly seeing citizens demonstrate their discontent. Seeing the wealthy and well connected grow richer and richer, taking payoffs and bribes, operating above the law while the vast majority of the people struggle to find a job or put food on the table or to get their businesses off the ground, or simply send their children to school. People have taken to the streets in every region to demand that their governments address people’s basic needs, give everyone a fair shot to succeed and protect their God-given rights.

And in that chorus of voices, across languages and continents, we hear a common cry. A cry for dignity, simple dignity. As leaders, it’s our duty to answer that call, not to silence it. The United States has committed to using our resources and our international platform to support these voices, listen to them, partner with them, to find ways to respond that advance human dignity around the world. For example, there’s an enormous need for infrastructure in developing countries. With infrastructure that is low quality or that feeds corruption or exacerbates environmental degradation, may only end up contributing to greater challenges for countries over time. Done the right way, however, with transparent, sustainable investment in projects that respond to the country’s needs and engage their local workers to maintain high labor and environmental standards, infrastructure can be a strong foundation that allows societies in low and middle income countries to grow and to prosper. 

That’s the idea behind the Build Back Better world. And together with the private sector and our G7 partners, we aim to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment. We will also continue to be the world’s largest contributor to humanitarian assistance, bringing food, water, shelter, emergency healthcare, and other vital life-saving aid to millions of people in need. When the earthquake strikes, the typhoon rages or disaster anywhere in the world, the United States shows up, we’ll be ready to help. And at a time when nearly one in three people globally do not have access to adequate food, adequate food just last year, the United States is committing to rallying our partners to address immediate malnutrition and to ensure that we can sustainably feed the world for the decades to come. To that end, the United States is making a $10 billion commitment to end hunger and invest in food systems at home and abroad.

Since 2000, the United States government has provided more than $140 billion to advance health and strengthen health systems. And we will continue our leadership to drive these vital investments to make people’s lives better every single day, just give them a little breathing room.
And as we strive to make lives better, we must work with renewed purpose to end the conflicts that are driving so much pain and hurt around the world. We must redouble our diplomacy and commit to political negotiations, not violence, as a tool of first resort, to manage tensions around the world. We must seek a future of greater peace and security for all people of the Middle East.

The commitment of the United States Digital Securities, without question, are our support for an independent Jewish state is unequivocal, but I continue to believe that a two-state solution is the best way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish democratic state, living in peace, alongside of viable sovereign and democratic Palestinian state. We’re a long way from that goal at this moment, but we must never allow ourselves to give up on the possibility of progress.

We cannot give up on solving raging civil conflicts, including in Ethiopia and Yemen, who are fighting between warring parties is driving famine, horrific violence, human rights violations against civilians, including an unconscionable use of rape, as a weapon of war. We’ll continue to work with the international community, to press for peace and bring an end to this suffering.

As we pursue diplomacy across the board, the United States will champion the democratic values that go to the very heart of who we are as a nation and a people. Freedom, equality, opportunity, and a belief in the universal rights of all people. It’s stamped into our DNA as a nation and critically it’s stamped into the DNA of this institution, the United States, we sometimes forget. To quote the opening words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, quote, “The equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world. The founding ethos of the United Nations places the rights of individuals at the center of our system, and that clarity and vision must not be ignored or misinterpreted. 

The United States will do our part, but we’ll be more successful and more impactful if all of our nations are working toward the full mission to which we are called. That’s why more than 100 nations united around a shared statement, and the Security Council adopted a resolution outlining how we’ll support the people of Afghanistan moving forward, laying out the expectations to which we’ll hold the Taliban when it comes to respecting universal human rights. 

We all must advocate for the rights of women and girls to use their full talents, to contribute economically, politically, and socially, and pursue their dreams free of violence and intimidation, from Central America to the Middle East to Africa to Afghanistan, wherever it appears in the world. We all must call out and condemn the targeting and oppression of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, whether it occurs in Xinjiang or northern Ethiopia or anywhere in the world. We all must defend the rights of LGBTQI individuals so they can live and love openly without fear, whether it’s Chechnya or Cameroon or anywhere. As we steer our nations toward this inflection point and work to meet today’s fast-moving, cross-cutting challenges, let me be clear. I am not agnostic about the future we want for the world. 

The future will belong to those who embrace human dignity, not trample it. The future will belong to those who unleash the potential of their people, not those who stifle it. The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand. The authoritarians of the world may seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they’re wrong. The truth is, the democratic world is everywhere. It lives in anti-corruption activists, human rights defenders, the journalists, the peace protesters, on the front lines of this struggle in Belarus, Burma, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, and everywhere in between. It lives in the brave women of Sudan who withstood violence and oppression to push a genocidal dictator from power and who keep working every day to defend their democratic progress. It lives in the proud Moldovans who helped deliver a landslide victory for the forces of democracy with a mandate to fight graft to build a more inclusive economy. It lives in the young people of Zambia who harnessed the power of their vote for the first time, turning out in record numbers to denounce corruption and chart a new path for their country.

And while no democracy is perfect, including the United States, we’ll continue to struggle to live up to the highest ideals to heal our divisions, and we face down violence and insurrection. Democracy remains the best tool we have to unleash our full human potential. My fellow leaders, this is the moment where we must prove ourselves the equals of those who come before us, who with vision and values and determined faith in our collective future built our United Nations, broke the cycle of war and destruction, and laid the foundations for more than seven decades of relative peace and growing global prosperity. Now we must again come together to affirm the inherent humanity that unites us is much greater than any outward divisions or disagreements. We must choose to do more than we think we can do alone, so that we accomplish what we must together.

Ending this pandemic and making sure we’re better prepared for the next one; staving off climactic climate change and increasing our resilience to the impacts we already are seeing; ensuring a future where technologies are the vital tool to solving human challenges and empowering human potential, not a source of greater strife and repression. These are the challenges that will determine what the world looks like for our children and our grandchildren and what they’ll inherit. We can only meet them by looking to the future. I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years, the United States is not at war. We’ve turned the page. All the unmatched strength, energy, and commitment, will and resources of our nation, are now fully and squarely focused on what’s ahead of us, not what was behind.

I know this; as we look ahead, we will lead. We will lead on all the greatest challenges of our time, from COVID to climate, peace and security, human dignity and human rights, but we will not go it alone. We will lead together, with our allies and partners, in cooperation with all those who believe as we do, that this is within our power to meet these challenges, to build a future that lifts all of our people and preserves this planet. But none of this is inevitable. It’s a choice. And I can tell you where America stands. We will choose to build a better future. We, you and I, we have the will and capacity to make it better. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford to waste any more time. Let’s get to work. Let’s make our better future now. We can do this. It’s within our power and capacity. Thank you. God bless you all."