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.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

AUKUS SPARKS DIPLOMATIC RUCKUS AS FRANCE RECALLS AMBASSADORS.

ICHEOKU says Julius Caesar was stabbed severally but it was only Brutus stab that he felt most and complained about with his iconic line "Et tu Brute". It is against this background that France felt deeply betrayed by the United States in sidelining it from the newly established Indo-Pacific defense pact known as AUKUS with Britain and Australia. France strongly feels that, having helped America during the war of independence against Britain and continues to faithfully be their friend, that it has showed enough of abiding love for America to earn their full and unequivocal trust. But for America to now go behind their back and enter a defense pact with only Australia and Britain, the same country which France helped it defeat, is somewhat unfair; the reason it is lashing out. 

Now, that France has recalled its ambassadors from the United States and Australia, the first time in recorded history, in protest of what it considers an act of betrayal, a stab on the back; will America and Australia retaliate in kind by also recalling their own ambassadors from Paris. Or will they rather adopt a wait and see attitude to gauge the French and know whether Paris will take further steps in their protestation or will have sufficient time to cool off and calm down; and resume normal relations by sending back their recalled ambassadors. It is obviously too early to call as their hurt feeling is still raw and emotions still running high; their bruised ego is still heavily bleeding. More time will be needed to see what the overall ramifications will be, provided a tit for tat diplomatic recall of America's ambassador will not take place. 

It is rather ironical that President Emmanuel Macon, who lauded Joe Biden's coming to power because of Trump's go it alone policy, is now watching as Joe Biden did not carry France or Europe along as he entered this new military and defense pact with only Britain and Australia. Even America's northern neighbor and ally Canada was equally kept out in the cold as the woke liberalist tendencies of their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not meet Joe Biden's expectations of the seriousness required of the membership of the new military pact. Then add New Zealand which was also not invited to the new club, and France should have some consolation because not even all the 'Five Eyes' countries were considered worthy of membership of AUKUS.

But it is obvious that a ticked off France cannot be reacting so angrily as to recall their ambassador just because it was denied a place at the dinner table of AUKUS. Champs Elyse` is mad as hell because the new alliance took away its expected income from the $66 billion gas powered submarines contract which it entered with Australia. A contract which has now been canceled and replaced with nuclear powered submarines to be manufactured and supplied by America and Britain. The income and the jobs from this contract which have been taken away from France and French workers, and now going to America and Britain and their workers is what Paris is seething about and going into a tizzy as a result. It is about the economy of France and if France could go to war to revert to the status quo ante and keep the contract, it would. 

Unfortunately, the world is jungle and to the mightiest goes the topmost position in the pecking order. So, it does not matter whether France likes or not because what America wants America gets or takes it by force if need be. It is possible too that Washington DC calculated that had France been invited, there will be a need to also add Germany, Italy, Spain and some other countries in the European Union which might eventually make it the entire EU. So, it made a calculated decision not to bring the socialist politics of Europe Union into the AUKUS by leaving out every member of the bloc. It is a fact that the headaches of NATO is more than enough already for America and there is no need replicating NATO in the new AUKUS defense pact. The European Union is increasingly becoming too woke and too far leftist liberal to be taken seriously in matters of war any more. 

It shows that it is not just only President Donald John Trump that is tired of the mess created in the European Union, where everything is being clogged up and sacrificed on the alter of appeasement politics of meeting and satisfying everyone's feeling, no matter how petty, absurd  and idiotic. So, a France wishing to regain its glory must find a way of pulling out of the European Union and reestablish its independence, with its own thinking and decision making processes restored and not tele-guided from Brussels. European Union is not working, have never worked as too many hands always spoil the broth. America is getting very impatient with European Union and it is effecting its relationship with members of the bloc. This is the most plausible reason why France was shafted by America and kept out of AUKUS. 

Now that European Union Chief Madam Angela Merkel has finally left her high office, it will be a good time to revisit the relevance of the bloc, dilute it down or even scrap it all together. That done, the countries can once again regain their freedom as independent countries with power to make their own decisions. They can keep their Euro currency, they can keep their open border travel arrangement and they can also keep their duty free economy; but they must revert to their respective and independent freedoms of self determination, foreign policy, internal affairs matter and the ability to enter negotiations and make pacts as individual countries. They do not have the will to forge EU into one country akin to the United States of America by having their own United States of Europe that is fully integrated into one government.

But for them to want to deal as EU in some areas and want to go it as separate countries in some other areas, creates more confusion and problems than they set out to solve by forming the union. So, France must understand this imperative sufficiently so that, instead of throwing tantrums like a child whose candy was taken away, must decide how it wants to proceed or be treated going forward. Does it want to be treated as an independent country like United Kingdom or tolerated as a piece of the EU giant maze as just France. It is only when their President Emmanuel Macon can effectively answer this question that France can once again be meaningfully respected and enough to be brought along before the train leaves the station. 

Until then, they should prepare to only play assigned roles going forward, but not to be at the center table making decisions. Woke liberal politics is a cancer eating deep in the heart of Europe and it has almost grounded decision making process of so many countries therein. Joe Biden gets it and Joe Biden has the testicular fortitude to do what needs to be done to put everyone in their rightful place. In fact, with this AUKUS, he took Trump's America First policy to the next level and ran with it. Therefore, it is for Emmanuel Macon to decide what he wants to do, keep his ambassadors or send them back; and then begin to negotiate the way forward for France or better still form his own alliance with Russia and Germany. Although the disgraceful slap by a French guy still reverberates, but this AUKUS snub hurts badly and probably even more. It is sad.

Friday, September 17, 2021

PASSING THE BUCK ON AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: SHAMEFUL AND COWARDLY.

ICHEOKU says it is a shame that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken decided to blame President Donald John Trump's administration's agreement with the Taliban for botching the Afghanistan withdrawal mission. Funny enough the Secretary failed to correctly articulate the real bone of contention which was the manner in which the mission was carried out and not the mission itself. So, it does not matter who initiated the withdrawal process or who entered the agreement with the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan, the withdrawal should have been carried out in a manner that meets the expectation of the world as well as the American people. 

But even if we accept, for the purposes of advancing this argument, that the hands of the Joe Biden government were constrained by the agreement, was their hands also constrained in the manner they implemented it? Did the agreement stipulate that they withdrew the military first before evacuating the civilians, both diplomatic and non diplomatic, including those Afghanis who assisted America during their 20 years sojourn there. So, what exactly was Secretary Blinken saying or trying so hard to convince American people that happened in Afghanistan, why the show they put up was below par and somewhat bothering on a humiliating mediocrity. Who does he think he was trying to make a fool of, a matter made worse because they acknowledged the withdrawal as a resoundingly spectacular success. 

Are there now two desks that there should be any confusion as on whose desk the buck stopped? Even the fact that Joe Biden had already taken full responsibility for what happened in Afghanistan was not persuasive enough for Secretary Blinken to finally come around in telling the truth about what really happened. It is purely crass incompetence; and the fact that neither him nor his counterpart in the defense department have resigned as a result, shows the one thing common with the Joe Biden administration officials and appointees. They cling to their offices as if their lives depended on them, instead of the required accountability, integrity and display of competence which public offices demand of their holders. Afghanistan was hugely botched, yet nobody has fallen on their sword. It is a terrible precedent to set that performance  no longer determines who holds public offices in America. 

They had eight months between January to August to get the withdrawal right; or in the alternative to reform, amend, vary or even outrightly cancel whatever Taliban agreement that was inherited from the Trump's administration. As is the practice everywhere, until full performance, any agreement can be changed  or completely voided; and the agreement between President Donald John Trump's administration and the Taliban was not any different nor an exception. So, why didn't Joe Biden's administration act in a manner that would have vitiated the agreement and renege on its implementation. A course which he had started on when he varied the date of full implementation from May 1st to August 31st or was  it September 1st? Why did he pass up the opportunity to dishonor the contract since it was Trump who entered into it as has been his pattern, practice and attitude to everything Trump. 

Nothing from the Trump's era has survived Joe Biden's vengeance so far; so why did the Taliban withdrawal agreement? Withdrawing from Afghanistan was a campaign promise he made and therefore he decided to fulfill it, and should own it up and stop blaming Trump for tying his hands up with the Taliban agreement. The Paris Climate accord was reversed by Trump but Biden restored it. The Iranian nuclear deal was abandoned by Trump but Biden reinstated it. Missile defense shields were placed in Saudi Arabia by Trump  but Biden have since removed them. Stay in Mexico immigration policy put in place by Trump has since been reversed by Biden. Construction of the southern border wall being implemented by Trump was equally stopped and abandoned by Biden. Ditto the Keystone XL pipeline which has been stopped by Biden.

The litany of such reversals of Trump's actions by Biden is quite long, so why did Joe Biden not also renege on the contract with the Taliban, and now making a straw man's argument through his Secretary of State that his hands were tied by it and adducing that as he reason the Afghanistan withdrawal suffered such a major humiliating snafu. The withdrawal was a good decision but those involved with seeing it through failed to meet up with what was required of the United States of America. They placed the cart before the horse by first withdrawing the military before the civilians and therefore compounded the whole exercise and made into the boondoggle it turned into. So, Mr Secretary of State should understand what the cry is about and not that American troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan or that an agreement with the Taliban precipitated it.

It was a mission acutely bungled by the people put in charge to carry it out, the Secretary of States and theSecretary of defense, and they did not put America's best foot forward in doing it. But so far, none of them has resigned or forced to fall on their sword for poorly carrying out the mission and in such a very humiliating way. Instead, Secretary Blinken is busy looking for the fall guy to pin the blame on and trying to shift the focus away from the Biden's administration and projecting it on the Trump administration. It is a contrived strategy which has failed as American people knew the facts of the withdrawal and who implemented it, rather abysmally and it wasn't the Trump administration. The Secretary also failed to understand that the crux of the matter was not the mission but how it was carried out and should be ashamed for trying to conflate and confuse the narrative. If only he has the candor to tender his resignation.

Thursday, September 16, 2021

GENERAL MILEY'S PHONE CALLS TO CHINA: UNDERSCORES THE LEVEL OF SABOTAGE TRUMP FACED IN OFFICE.

ICHEOKU says put partisan politics aside, what the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs did was indeed condemnable and tantamount to taking side with the enemy. He has lost his honor and no longer possess the dignity and integrity to continue in office. If Marine Commander Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller was relieved of his duties and thrown out from the Marine for questioning the Afghanistan inept withdrawal, why is General Mark A. Milley still holding his position as Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs. Why has he not yet been shown the way out after such a betrayal and outright undermine of his then Commander in Chief. Is it because it was President Donald John Trump and that everybody in Washington DC was incohoot in sabotaging his administration? It should be about the office and as commander in chief of the armed forces and the subordinate position of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff; and every effort should be made to sustain this hierarchy of authority.

Joe Biden should relieve him of his duties immediately as any military chief who is capable of undermining his commander in chief is not worthy of holding the office which he occupies. It is an office which demands absolute loyalty, from a trustworthy and patriotic Chief who would carry out the orders of his commander in chief without question and with total professionalism. But for a Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs to conspire with an apparent potential enemy of the United States of America and assure them that he will tip them off any time there was an order to strike, is not only treasonous but he put the men and women in uniform in more dangerous position. Not once, but twice and probably on more occasions than he admitted and you wonder what China's read of America's military readiness is when America's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff is the one directly cooperating with them, the enemy, to sabotage America.

It is a bad precedent to allow him to continue to stay in the office as a similar thing could happen in the future with a democrat president and a chief of army staff who despises him so much to the extent that he is will to sabotage his duties as commander in chief. If it was a lowly ranked officer that did this, may be he or she would have since been dismissed and thrown out of the service. But for a Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs, it makes it absolutely intolerable and unpardonable that a military court martial should be appropriate. It should not be treated with levity just because it was President Donald John Trump, we should weigh the gravity of what was done based on acceptable and tolerable practice; and what message it sent to America's adversaries all over the world that an American highest military chief could actively undermine the president and commander in chief. 

If he admitted to this much, imagine what other things he is not saying or probably might have done which jeopardized America's defense and fighting capabilities, leading to the high casualties suffered in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a very serious charge that an American Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs confided in his Chinese counterpart that he was going to tip off the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army any time the president and commander in chief of America's armed forces orders a strike on China or any of its regional strategic interest. What other thing did he promise or gave to them and what did he receive in exchange; or may be a promise of very lucrative post-service retainer as consultant in one of many Chinese front companies. It simply does not look good and in fact it defeats any logical explanation why General Milley has not resigned his office or fired for doing what he did.

So, regardless of whatever altruistic motive as he might have explained which made him do what he did, it still does not make it alright nor forgivable. It was a purely partisan and anti Trump driven sentiment that fired him on as he has not assured Chinese General Li Zuocheng that "the American government is "stable and everything is going to be okay" since Joe Biden assumed office despite his apparent mental disequilibrium? He has not called the Chinese PLA to give them assurances that "we are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against them" since January 20th, despite the obvious discordance and disquiet about who is truly in charge in the White House? Has General Mark A Milley even called General Li Zuocheng to affirm their friendship and inform him that "if we are going to attack, I am going to call you ahead of time and it is not going to be a surprise" in the past eight months now? 

ICHEOKU says is "everything fine" now in America since Joe Biden was installed in the White House? Is America "100% steady" when nearly half the country still believes that Joe Biden was not duly elected? If "democracy can be sloppy", is the rogue general advocating that America  abandon it and go the Chinese way or follow their model? So, why has he not called General Li Zuocheng since Joe Biden took office if it was not his hateful partisanship that made him undercut President Trump? He undermined his commander in chief and in fact contemplated a treasonous leak of information to the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army which would have been highly detrimental to our men and women in uniform, who are regularly called up to make the supreme sacrifice. How are these men and women feeling now, knowing that their Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs' action would have caused them their lives and limbs had war broken out with China. 

Is this revelation suddenly throwing some insight in the bungled Afghanistan withdrawal? Were the Taliban also called during the negotiations with the Trump administration and asked to remain headstrong, just like John Kerry did with the Iranians over the Iran nuclear deal? Was it what led to the Taliban being stubbornly insistent that America fully withdraw their troops from their country? Was the plan that their adamancy will lead to a stalemate where America is forced to resume hostilities and not withdraw? What else did the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs do or say that probably have cost some service members their lives and limbs? If he secretly confided in the Chinese, which other country possibly benefited from such his undermining activities? it is indeed bad and even worse that he is still in office, despite what his men and women will be thinking of him now. He tasked their general cohesiveness and trust; and the near fatal wound should not be allowed to turn into ulcer.

Was what he did not tantamount to "boxing in an American president" by making sure that no war is declared and if, the America will suffer a great loss by a tipped off, prepared and lying in wait China? Did he give a president of the United States a "decision space" to make up his mind whether or not to attack China before he went on to peremptorily promise to tip the PLA off of any order to attack them? In doing so, he inadvertently told China that there could be an attack by America on them and you wonder why the need of surprise as an element in warfare was lost on the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs? But he is a political woke general who suddenly realized that Joe Biden is "a seasoned politician who has been in Washington DC for 50 years" and will not be easily manipulated or harassed, as he did with novice stranger to Washington DC, President Donald John Trump. 

Then thrown in Gina Haspel with her comment " I agree with you on everything" and "We are going to lash out for his ego" and you understand that the level of resistance and sabotage of the Trump's presidency was system wide and deeper than the Grand Canyon. That he even survived as long as he did and was able to make it out alive is on its own a miracle, as everyone in Washington DC establishment including the people he appointed to various positions were resolved to make his government ungovernable. They constantly leaked information, repeated so much untruths about him and with every expected investigations not launched or stalled and frustrated. Even his attorney generals slow walked everything just to put him in a bad light, as an incompetent and mumbling fool who doesn't know how to govern, simply because he does not belong to the Washington DC establishment. 

ICHEOKU says is convinced that they will not allow him to come back in 2024 and they will move whatever mountain possible to frustrate it. But if he runs again and in the unlikely event he manages to pull off another berth at the White House, he should make it a cardinal point not to ever appoint anyone in Washington DC into any position whatsoever. Those people have proved that they cannot be trusted nor are they reliable, especially when dealing with an outsider. There are 50 States and other territories in America outside of Washington DC and he should look in them to find more trustworthy individuals to help him preside. 

There were other people who betrayed and sabotaged Trump's presidency, but for a Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staffs to be part of it is exactly what a Brutus stab really looks like. No wonder China is always pushing back and frequently thumbing its nose at America because they always have America's plans and intentions ahead of time. It is sad that Washington DC is indeed a swamp but nobody knew it was also this stinky a place. For a whole Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff to do what he did shows that the rot has metastasized to incurability.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

GAVIN NEWSOM BEATS BACK RECALL: CALIFORNIA IS TOO BLUE TO GO RED.

ICHEOKU says no serious pundit or follower of California politics especially of the recent decade, which saw the Democratic Party take over every state office in California, added to the activism on overdrive of the homosexual community, Black Lives Matter, MoveOn.Org, ANTIFA and the far left liberal wing of the party with headquarters in California and New York, had expected any different outcome in the recall election. Also a lot of time has passed since the said transgressions of the governor which triggered the recall. So, with the state already fully opened and the coronavirus pandemic no longer as devastating as it once was during last year's peak, many people have moved on with their lives and are no longer interested about recalling the governor. 

Governor Gavin Newsom is still very much liked in the far left liberal wing of the Democratic Party which make up a large number of California democrats. His photogenic image is also in tune with the Hollywood and California projection of the ideal personality for a leadership position, and overall he still commands large favorability rating among the homosexual community which has a lot of membership in California. They never forgets and will forever owe him for going to the mats for them by ordaining same sex marriage when he was the Mayor of San Francisco. And of course, all the major social media platforms Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsUp, InstantGram etc are all based in California and the governor still enjoys their unalloyed support. 

So, all the factors were favorably on his side to survive the recall election, especially because none of the alternatives, the replacement candidates has the it factor or required star power to radiate through to Californians to convince them to change their minds. Larry Elder and his co-traveling governors wanna-be look too grand-daddyish for California, which does not necessarily favor such image in their state governorship mansion. Also the fact that Californians dislike President Donald John Trump just like a bull detests a red cloth, made it extremely difficult for anyone identified or closely associated to Trump to succeed in such a Californian recall election; which the democrats successfully nationalized and branded Larry Elder as a Trump's clone and the rest, as they say, is now history.

Getting 65% of NO votes on the recall is high, admitted, for a very deep blue state like California, it is still not that high margin. It send a strong message that many Californians, at lest 35%, are dissatisfied with so many things about the way the state is being ran. Governor Gavin Newsom must therefore adjust his governance accordingly and begin to address the issues which forced the recall election as it was not just because he went for a dinner in Napa or had acute coronavirus lockdown. Homelessness is a big problem in California and he must try and find solution to problem which has now become a metastasized cancer eating into quality of life throughout California. Yes, homeless people have rights, but their rights stopped where the rights of the homed and housed began, because people must be allowed to enjoy their homes and dwellings free of inhibition and being incommoded by blithe. 

The economy must also continue to grow and he should explore ways of making the state conducive for businesses to innovate and continue to create livable-wage jobs in California. The Californian workforce must not become monolithic skill based as not every Californian is a techie or a geek; and those jobs which are hands-on jobs should be retained in California for balance. He should talk with businesses to find ways he can make their operating experience in California favorable enough for them not to be forced to uproot their factories and relocate to China or Texas. If he needs to replace his communication staff, then let him do so to ensure that his messaging comes across better and to reach more Californians, especially those who feel that he is not talking to them whenever he speaks on issues.

But the biggest mistake he will make is to take the outcome of this recall election as a certificate of approval to go buck wild on the same trajectory which he is currently on; or think that everything he is currently doing meets the expectations and satisfaction of Californians, hence there is no need to have a rethink and/or do some adjustments. If he does that, either the Democratic Party might not be as comfortable to field him as their candidate in 2023 or he might have some serious internal challengers to the party's ticket during the 2023 primaries. He should, going forward, let those Californians that championed the recall and voted to recall him know that he got their message and that their grievances have been noted and that he will work tirelessly to once again become a governor for all Californians, irrespective of party affiliations. 

Anyway, the result was as expected and thankfully the status-quo remains; and no time will be wasted trying to put in place a new administration with its attendant headaches. ICHEOKU says congratulations to Governor Gavin Newsom for starving off the hounds that came for his governorship seat and now he will live to fight another day, come 2023. It was the outcome which most Californians expected and they are glad that they were not disappointed. Larry Elder has a black exterior but a white interior, and really has no solid base in California's diverse voting blocks. He ran just for the heck of it, the bragging right; and not because he stood any chance or had plans to fix anything. It is good that Californians outrightly rejected his gimmickry. Now that the distraction of the recall has been put to rest, may California begin its full and complete recovery from the coronavirus disruption. Carry on Governor Gavin Newsom; God's speed.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

KEEP CALIFORNIA NEWSOM: VOTE NO ON RECALL.

ICHEOKU says Californians must rise up and reject a hysteria generated assault on the institution of democracy by saying no to the attempt to remove a duly elected Governor Gavin Newsom of California from office through a recall election. Anyone who wants to be governor of California must wait until the next governorship election and then go to the electorates and test their likability and popularity. 

But to use an orchestrated demonizing of the governor to try and get into the office is akin to using the back door and this must not be allowed. What happened last year at the height of the coronavirus pandemic took everyone by surprise and in the confusion, a lot of things were done that would not have been with clear heads and in a calm environment. Nobody, including the governor, should therefor be punished for some honest mistakes. 

Whatever the governor did, he did thinking that they were in the best interest of Californians. He was not out to intentionally punish or hurt Californians and should therefore not be punished for them, by taking away his fairly won governorship. Nobody died because he ate dinner at Napa or took his children to school. So, yes he was caught in Napa dinning without mask when the rest of the state was under his shutdown. But is it not using a sledge hammer where an ordinary scalpel would have been enough to reprimand him and tell him that Californians did not appreciate the apparent double standards. So, yes he took his children to private in person school when the rest of Californian children were studying online, but is such a mistake sufficient to yank away his governorship? 

ICHEOKU says sincerely believes that the message has been delivered and he has gotten it, never again to mess with Californians' intelligence. But unlike Texans who come out firing on all barrels from across the waist, Californians would rather intelligently assess the charges and apportion commensurate punishment as is necessary to register their displeasure but not to throw the baby away with the bath water. At most, let the California legislature censure him for the two conducts if they feel he needs to get some punishment as a result. But they are not egregious enough to take away his governorship. 

If what he did bothered on incompetence that California economy was on a free fall, may be recalling him would be a proper remedy. If what he is accused of bothered on criminality, of course, recalling him from office will be the right action. But what he did is more of a feeling  bothering on how Californians felt by his doing what he counseled Californians against. That is understandable, since we all are supposed to be equal; but sincerely speaking, are we all in fact really equal? All the fingers are not equal despite that they are all fingers. George Orwell in his Animal Farm also buttressed this point with some animals being more equal than others. 

So, we get it and we must therefore temper our anger and make necessary accommodations and move on. We must not allow our feeling to becloud our judgment, especially on matters as crucially important as running a State as huge as California, a state whose economy is the sixth largest in the world. To suddenly trust a radio talking head with such an onerous task as running California will be a very risky and reckless action and Californians are smarter than that with making risk assessments. Californians will not do it and Californians will vote NO to the recall. 

Haste makes waste and actions taken under the stress of events usually turn out not being the best to be taken had cooling time been allowed to elapse and heads cleared out. Let us not make a decision which we will later live to regret by pushing away a Governor Gavin Newsom who is doing his utmost best to keep California rolling. 

The Jews regretted their hasty action killing Jesus Christ. Americans are beginning to regret their hysteric offload of President Donald John Trump as the Joe Biden, who was pushed on them during the cacophony of last years coronavirus pandemic, is showing his hands on why he was not the best decision ever. Californians must therefore learn a lesson from this examples to avoid any future regret from axing Governor Gavin Newsom. The recall effort came about from a generated hysteria and like all such reactions, they always leave the people rueful and regretful later. Californians shall not fall for it and so, must vote to reject the recall with a resounding NO. 

There is problem of homelessness in California which the governor must begin got address seriously and he most likely got the message that his Napa dining out and his taking his children to school were just reactions to pent up frustrations about some things that are not going well in California, top among which is the deteriorating quality of life in California induced by out of control homelessness. He must begin to tackle this problem head-on and must not relax his oars or think that because voters rejected the recall means that they gave him license to carry on and not address this issue. 

If you haven't voted yet, go out there and vote NO on the recall and let California stay in the safe hands of Governor Gavin Newsom because Larry Elder or Caitlyn Jenner have no agenda for California. They are there just for the heck of it, for the bragging right that yes, a black talking radio head and a transgendered man ran in a governorship recall election of California. But they have no clue on how governance works and they have never ran anything outside their homesteads and toying with California by handing it to them will be too grave a mistake to make. 

Even the governor's giving Kamala Harris black senate seat to a Hispanic male, although painful, should not cause blacks boycott of the recall as a payback to him. The females of California have also probably forgiven him for taking that female senate away, thus reducing the number of women in the United States senate. But at last, what is in the best interest of majority of Californians should weigh more than some groups' respective interests and for this, Californians must band together to reject the attempt at a hostile takeover of Sacramento governor's mansion. California is too blue to go red, vote NO on the recall. #KeepCaliforniaNewsom. 

Monday, September 13, 2021

SHEIKH GUMI DENIES THE OBVIOUS: REJECTS BRANDING OF A BANDIT LOVER.

ICHEOKU says he gives them money, he frequently meets with them, he speaks on their behalf, he regularly defends their actions, he acts as a middle man between them and the government, he accuses security agents of using excessive force against them, he butts head with the government for not being fair to them, for not granting them general amnesty and for not creating a ministry of Nomadic Affairs to cater for their needs. Yet he wants everyone to believe that he is not a bandit lover? 

May be he delineates love to strictly "sexual" and because he has not slept with any of the bandits, convinced himself that it is a misnomer for anyone to identify or refer to him as a bandit lover. This, no matter how remotely rational, possibly explains why he is protesting the appellation, having not slept with them and because all the acts which he has been doing on their behalf do not qualify as exemplary acts of love which only a lover would carry out. As far as he is concerned, he was only being their advocate and only using his voice to make known their plight and such a "humanitarian" service which he is providing for them should not be interpreted as a bandit lover's action or the reason to brand him their lover. 

Shiekh Ahmad Gumi wants Nigerians and the rest of world who tunes in to believe that all he is doing for the bandits is devoid of love and are purely without any bias whatsoever, and you wonder why he did not extend the same services or his voice to other Nigerians, including the victims of his Fulani bandits. What more does he need to see or hear before accepting the undeniable fact that it is only his love for bandits that propels him into rendezvousing with them in the forests, negotiate with them, hand them supplies and money, counsel them, pray for them and encourage them to stay strong in their quest to get a better treatment by the Nigeria authorities. 

His actions have rightly earned him the befitting moniker bandit lover as it is quite appropriate to denote his peculiar circumstances of palling with bandits. He should instead of protesting it, accept it as another earned status and find a way of exploiting it further in his dealings with the bandits. He could possibly use it in leveraging them to mend their ways, renounce violence, stop killing and maiming Nigerians and revert to being good citizens of the country. But no, he felt disparaged by being so branded and therefore came out swinging on all cylinders, to remind Nigerians of his steeped pedigree as a neurosurgeon and an intellectual who got his Ph.D from abroad

ICHEOKU says is there any Ph.D awarding institution called "abroad" and where is it located? Possibly too, he has this prevailing complex in Nigeria and Africa in general that anything and everything from outside the shores of Nigeria and the continent of Africa is usually superior. May be he got his Ph.D in Islamic studies from a religious institution in Sudan where the disgraced former Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi also studied; and now Nigerians will not rest because he got his "Ph.D from abroad." Why did he need to reiterate that he got his PhD from abroad or are Nigerian institutions awarded PhD no longer acceptable as good PhDs? 

ICHEOKU says while not begrudging him of his academic and intellectual accomplishments or needlessly denigrating his PhD, but that is not the issue triggered by his extensively demonstrated acts of love for bandits. This is what he has not convinced Nigerians on and in the alternative, he should accept the honor proudly and wear it like a badge or crown. But if he is serious that he is not a bandit lover or wants to shake off the tag of a bandit-lover which has stuck on him like a velcro, he must renounce all his previous pronouncements on their behalf and start behaving like someone who is not taking side with the common enemy of Nigerians, the Fulani bandits. 

Sheikh Gumi must not because he shares a common heritage and lineage with Fulani bandits, being a fellow Fulani man, begin to underplay the murderous activities of those Fulani marauding herdsmen who have been terrorizing Nigerians for quite a long time now. Fulani herdsmen have been killing and maiming Nigerians; they have been burning and destroying farmers farmlands and products; they have been destroying people's properties including vehicles, homes, dwellings, businesses and worship centers. In some places, they have completely wiped out natives and replaced them with Fulani. 

So for Sheikh Gumi to deny these terrors of his Fulani bandits or feign ignorance of them or simply try to explain them away is simply an intolerable act of a jaundiced and unrepentant lover of bandits who sees nothing wrong in the mayhem they are visiting on Nigerians almost daily. Any person doing what Gumi is doing is in absolute fellowship with bandits and should not be heard to deny that he, in fact, is a bandit lover. 

He said that he is not a bandit lover yet cuddles bandits. He said that he is his country's lover but "his country" as envisaged by his Fulani people is a Nigeria absolutely owned by Fulani. Fulani people who have repeatedly publicly asserted their ownership of the entire Nigeria landscape from the Niger Republic border all the way to the Atlantic coast, which according to their warped mindset was bequeathed to them by their Allah. He said he is his region's lover and that region is Northern Nigeria, to the exclusion of Southern Nigeria. The reason he is trying so hard to denigrate IPOB and Oduduwa, while carrying aloft the mantra of Fulani bandits. 

He said that he loves his state, Kaduna State, the epicenter of bandits killing and kidnapping in Nigeria but he has not made them to stop terrorizing the State he supposedly loves. His said that he loves people, the Fulani people, and no one else; and then for effect, he added that he is a humanity lover. ICHEOKU says his thinking and precedent serving a guide, it is safe to conclude  that the humanity he mentioned is strictly the Fulani stock and no one else. Where was his "humanity lover" when he was advocating for the complete annihilation of IPOB saying that they are more dangerous than killer Fulani herdsmen, who according him, are "only" kidnapping school children for ransom. 

He also made a point about his Fulani people being marginalized and having misgivings against the Nigeria State, but purposefully ignored the marginalization against other people in Nigeria particularly the Igbo people of Southeast Nigeria. May be in his own understanding, their own marginalization is as egregious to also make them bandits and force them to pick up arms and start kidnapping, killing and maiming Nigerians just like his people the Fulani bandits.

For him, IPOB are worse than his Fulani bandits because they are attacking government officials and burning government properties and therefore deserves to be completely wiped out. Why did he not acknowledge the misgivings which IPOB have against the same Nigeria government, which if weighted against his logic, should also excuse their actions. The same fella did not condemn the wanton killings of Christians in Northern Nigeria particularly in his beloved State of Kaduna, yet he loves humanity. How about hundreds of churches that have been burnt and destroyed in Nigeria by his Fulani bandits? How about the genocidal killings being carried out by his Fulani herdsmen bandits in various parts of Nigeria particularly in Benue State and Southern Nigeria? 

For someone who claims that he loves humanity to have kept quiet all these years of unmitigated murders and mayhem being perpetrated by his Fulani herdsmen and bandits, says a lot about his strict construct of humanity. His bias is glaring obvious and therefore it does not matter that he denied being a bandit lover, his actions tell a different story all together about his unflinching and undiluted love for his Fulani people and his Fulani people are the bandits terrorizing Nigeria. He cannot eat his cake and have it; it is either he condemn the evil of full bandits or be grouped together with them. So, until he renounces them and distances himself from them by condemning their actions, it is safe to say that Sheikh Ahmad Gumi loves bandits and therefore is a bandit lover.

Sunday, September 12, 2021

AFGHANISTAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN NUKED AND GOTTEN OVER WITH MUCH SOONER?

ICHEOKU says 9/11 is still hurting so much because Afghanistan was not nuked. People feel that the response following 9/11 attacks was not devastating enough to maximumly punish those who had the audacity to come into American homeland and wreck as much havoc as they did on 9/11. They should have been punished in such a bone chilling manner that it would have served as a permanent deterrent for any person or group or country that ever dreams of hurting or attacking America in the future. An overwhelming severe force should have been used, such as would have shocked the entire world and quickly brought Afghanistan to a quick painful end. Such would have dispensed the losing of 2,448 service members and 3,846 defense contractors, as well as 20,000 others wh were wounded in the wasted twenty years in that awful piece of earth. 

The Japan example would have been replicated in Afghanistan and to the second degree, by completely wiping off the map the country known as Afghanistan. It would have fully placated Americans and brought back peace of the mind and sense of security in the country. But to engage the Taliban in a war that lasted 20 years which they eventually won, brings back all the bad memories of 9/11 rushing back and flooding our minds. It stirs a disturbing sense of trepidation in American people that America is no longer safe but vulnerable and that their country is no longer as powerful nor as feared as before. This feeling of vulnerability is what is making so many Americans raving mad and angry at each other because they are reacting to a bottled up sense of loss, anguish and anxiety. 

The thinking now is that the terrorists did it before and America was not able to prevent it or teach them a bitter lesson on why it is not a good idea to mess with America. They are back in power in Kabul and might soon start to scornfully treat America and with great disdain, to the point that they might some day become even more emboldened to thumb their nose at America, daring America to do its worst. Living such a life on edge of the unknown and what possibly this people might unleash against America in the future is not without its debilitating effects. Americans are largely traumatized and many are suffering from PTSD as a result of 9/11; and of course most have not been diagnosed and some don't even know what is triggering them comes directly from the 9/11 attack. 

On the roads, there are road rages everywhere; on the plane, Americans are losing it and throwing punches at one another; in neighborhoods, there are series of neighborhood wars going on and on our streets, Americans are shooting and killing one another with ease. There are shootings at job places, families are killing each other; police are killing unarmed people and some nut jobs are killing police as well. But we seem to gloss over the remote causes of this angriness in American people and why, despite all they are privileged to have, they are still not a happy people and are always lashing out at each other. Why is nobody in authority looking at the underlying factor of anger which is eating away at American people and forcing them to act out in manners, which are not only uncivilized but not expected of a country that supposedly has everything.

In Pearl Harbor attack, 2,403 Americans were killed with 1,143 others wounded by the kamikaze action of only 55 Japanese suicide bombers and Japan paid a hefty price for their thoughtless action with their two cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima. On 9/11, mostly American people numbering 2,977 were killed with 6,000 others wounded by the actions of 19 Muslim terrorists who flew hijacked planes into three places, One World Trade Center, The Pentagon and a forced crash in Shanksville Pennsylvania. So, if less number of casualties in Pearl Harbor led to the annihilation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, why was such bombs not dropped to avenge the death of more Americans on 9/11. Even Riyadh should have been on the chopping block as well, since 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi Arabia citizens. 

Yes, Americans are sad and sadder today than pre 9/11. They are sad because they feel that 9/11 was not adequately avenged; and are asking what are then nuclear weapons meant for if those who attacked on us on 9/11 were not evaporated. It would have been the best response for the havoc which those terrorists wrecked in America and on Americans, both those who lost their lives on that fateful day and those who are still alive but whose general psyche were irreparably damaged and destroyed asa result. We no longer feel safe in our homeland and our Twin Towers are gone too, drastically remaking our skyline without our having a choice in it. But the people who contributed to these woes somewhat survived and are back in power in Afghanistan as well as still sitting in power in Saudi Arabia.

Although some might read this as heartless, but ICHEOKU demurs that it is those who brought the level of calamity to America that actually have no beating hearts in them. Some people might say why use nuclear bomb for mere plane attacks, but ICHEOKU says those who perished inside World Trade Center experienced weapons of mass destruction, which is exactly the experience Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia deserved, because they do not have World Trade Centers equivalent which we could have brought down with full occupancy. That would have made it a fair retaliation but not when American troops were forced to waste trillions of dollars, thousands of lives and twenty long years searching for targets in such a wasteland. 

Anyway, the deed is done and the war is now over. All ICHEOKU is doing here is trying to second guess why we are not recovering from the 9/11 attack and will not recover from it, not as long as the 9/11 generation still lives. It is because the response was not adequate nor punitive enough to psychological make us feel good and fully recompensed. A case made worse with the Taliban being back on the saddle of power in Kabul and the occupants of the Kingdom of Saud are still acting as if they had nothing to do with it, when the whole world knows exactly that their fingerprints are everywhere on 9/11 attacks. It is sad the level of immunity which oil and oil money had purchased for Saudi Arabia that they simply gets away with everything. Even the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi who they butchered in their embassy in Istanbul Turkey has been forgotten. 

What a bloody world we live in where bloody alliances are forged on the blood of the people. The river of pain of 9/11 continues to flow and many Americans are continuing to  drown in it because treading of the water is fatigue inducing and difficult to maintain. Even coronavirus killer machine is not as pain-inducing as 9/11. There is something about 9/11 that has permanently enveloped Americans' joy like a demonic dark cloud that try as hard as one may, it never lifts nor goes away. The bad news is that by the time one begins to try and push it back in the distance memory, another anniversary of it rushes in and is deja vu the cycle of pain. 9/11 is a bad news that keeps on giving every September 11th of each year when the horrors of that day is relived. Will the torture ever end or at least reduced to minimum commemoration because it is turning us all into PTSD sufferers. 9/11 the worst day ever!

Saturday, September 11, 2021

THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11: STILL NO CLOSURE NOR HEALING FOR AMERICANS.

ICHEOKU says this day, every year, has become the day many Americans grieve most as the pain is not going away and is only refreshed or rebooted every September 11th. Americans grieve on 9/11 not only because of the thousands of lives lost on that day, but the stark reality of their vulnerability right in their homeland, as they forever lost their sense of safety and security which the sea to the shinning sea hitherto "provided." Everybody in America is somewhat traumatized, admitted different people carry trauma differently; and although some people have also bravely soldiered on but are usually dragged back to what was and still is on the occasion of each anniversary of 9/11. 

A matter made worse because the skyline of Manhattan New York City was forever and permanently changed as a result of what the terrorists that struck Now World Trade Center desired. The authorities in New York failed to take this into full consideration when they hatched the plan for the restoration of the center by settling for one glass tower instead of two. It would have been a tribute in full restoration of the iconic Twin Towers which had graced the Manhattan skyline for such a long time that it became an identifier of New York City, in addition to Lady Liberty and the Empire State building. 

Although the glimmering glass tower is beautiful but it is not the Twin Towers; and can never be the Twin Towers, especially for the older generation who lived their lives with two twin towers on the horizon in New York City. First and foremost, one is different from two and less than two;  also the former towers were boxy while the new single one is anti prism shaped. ICHEOKU says is confident that had two towers been erected instead of one that it would have helped bring some closure to the tragedy, at least New York skyline would have been restored. But the lack thereof still gives the people the chill that not only were they so violently violated on 9/11, but also that their skyline was gone forever. 

Each day New Yorkers wake up to see a Manhattan skyline without their Twin Towers, it reminds them of the loss which they suffered on 9/11 at the hands of al-Qaida terrorists and it still hurts so badly. That void ought to have been filled and as long as it remains left unfilled, that long will the hurt feeling continue in the people until the generation pre 9/11 are completely gone; and the younger post 9/11 generation can then carry on with the only skyline known to them, devoid of Twin Towers. In fact, the terrorists won in that aspect by permanently and forever redefining an iconic American skyline for Americans. 

It is a defeat to accept their term on how our skyline should look and we are humiliated as a result, regardless of how anyone wants to spin that consequential fact. it would have been a different calculus had the New York development authority decided to change the skyline and took the Twin Towers down and replaced it with one solitary glass tower. But that al-Qaida forced the outcome is simply not the best medicine for anybody to take. It is partly why so many people are still hurting till today, even to the point of suffering PTSD; and going into mood swings and total depression on every September 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11 2001. 

It is twenty years on and nothing has changed in the real sense of it. The reliving of the event each year on television is not helping anyone get better or over it either as it re-traumatizes them all over again. This leads to the question, is it not about time we reduced the extent of our 9/11 commemoration as it is causing more pain than bringing relief to millions of American people. Pearl Harbor attack is not commemorated in the same magnitude as 9/11 which have made it possible for most Americans to move on from the tragic Japanese induced event. So, when are we going to move on from 9/11 or will it take the dying off of the 9/11 generation to eventually reach such an outcome. 

ICHEOKU says does not know about you but September 11 of every year is not usually the best day and each year seems to be getting even worse than the year before in how sad one feels about it. It hurts so much that even tuning off televisions only masks it, because in the back of your mind, it is still that day of infamy, regardless. Although some cultures say that when the palace of a king burns, it is an opportunity to build a better palace, but is One Trade Center's single glass tower really any better than One Trade Center's Twin Towers that it replaced after it was burnt and brought down by the terrorists flying jumbo jet planes into them? 

This particular anniversary is very solemn in some awkward, eerie way. It is particularly memorable as the only anniversary of 9/11 without American troops boots on the ground in Afghanistan, fighting those who facilitated the takedown of our Twin Towers, who attempted the takedown of the Pentagon and also the take down of one other additional American landmark somewhere, before their plan was foiled by brave men and women on Flight 93 who sacrificed their lives by forcing the plane down in Shanksville Pennsylvania. Who knows what their exact target was as it could have been the Congress or the White House or even some place else. But whatever it might have been, it was aborted and for this, the nation remains perpetually indebted to those who, using fighting words "lets roll", rolled and prevented the murderous attempt.

To all those who were killed on 9/11 at the three sites, this day is to honor your memory. We remember you all and pray that you continue to rest. To all those killed post 9/11 through to  August 26 2021, fighting to avenge the deaths of the innocent victims of 9/11, we owe you a debt of gratitude for your selfless supreme sacrifice. We shall never forget, admitted doing exactly such is what will help us all heal and move on from the tragedy. But we are human beings and we seek vengeance, despite what the Bible said that 'vengeance is mine says the Lord.' After killing Osama bin Laden and thousands of people in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are still feeling unfulfilled in avenging 9/11. So, what will it take? May be we should have drawn on Nagasaki and Hiroshima experience to guide our response but we didn't. Now, it is only time that we can look unto to heal our wound; but as seen so far, twenty years is not long enough.  

Friday, September 10, 2021

IT IS A PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED: GET VACCINATED. - JOE BIDEN.

Good evening, my fellow Americans. I want to talk to you about where we are in the battle against COVID-19, the progress we’ve made, and the work we have left to do. And it starts with understanding this: Even as the Delta variant COVID-19 has been hitting this country hard, we have the tools to combat the virus. If we can come together as a country and use those tools, if we raise our vaccination rate, protect ourselves and others with masking, expanded testing, and identify people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on COVID-19. It will take a lot of hard work. It’s going to take some time. Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free. You might be confused about what is true and what is false about COVID-19.

So before I outline the new steps to fight COVID-19 that I’m going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand. First, we’ve made considerable progress in battling COVID-19. When I became president, about 2 million Americans were fully vaccinated. Today, over 175 million Americans have that protection. Before I took office, we hadn’t ordered enough vaccine for every American. Just weeks in office, we did. The week before I took office on January 20th of this year, over 25,000 Americans died that week from COVID-19. Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70%. And then three months before I took office, our economy was faltering, creating just 50,000 jobs a month. We’re now averaging 700,000 new jobs a month in the past three months. This progress is real, but while America is much better shape than it was seven months ago when I took office, I need to tell you a second fact.

We’re in the tough stretch, and it could last for a while. Highly contagious Delta variant that I began to warn America about back in July spread late summer, like it did in other countries before us. While the vaccines provide strong protection for the vaccinated, we read about and hear about and we see the stories of hospitalized people, people on their deathbeds among the unvaccinated over the past few weeks. This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and it’s caused by the fact that despite America having unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.

And to make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19. Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they’re ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities. This is totally unacceptable. Third, if you wonder how all this adds up, here’s the math. The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing. Nearly three quarters of the eligible have gotten at least one shot, but one quarter has not gotten any. That’s nearly 80 million Americans not vaccinated. In a country as large as ours, that’s 25% minority. That 25% can cause a lot of damage, and they are. The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals, are overrunning emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack or pancreatitis or cancer.

And fourth, I want to emphasize that the vaccines provide very strong protection from severe illness from COVID-19. I know there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation, but the world’s leading scientists confirm that if you’re fully vaccinated, your risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is very low. In fact, based on available data from the summer, only one out of every 160,000 fully vaccinated Americans was hospitalized for COVID per day. These are the facts. So here’s where we stand. The path ahead, even with the Delta variant, is not nearly as bad as last winter. But what makes it incredibly more frustrating is that we have the tools to combat COVID-19, and a distinct minority of Americans supported by a distinct minority of elected officials are keeping us from turning the corner.

These pandemic politics are making people sick, causing unvaccinated people to die. We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of Americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal. As your president, I’m announcing tonight a new plan to require more Americans to be vaccinated to combat those blocking public health. My plan also increases testing, protects our economy, and will make our kids safer in schools. It consists of six broad areas of action, and many specific measures that each of those actions you can read more about at whitehouse.gov, whitehouse.gov. The measures, these are going to take time to have full impact, but if we implement them, I believe, and the scientists indicate, that the months ahead we can reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans, decrease hospitalizations and deaths, and allow our children to go to school safely, and keep our economy strong by keeping businesses open.

First, we must increase vaccinations among the unvaccinated with new vaccination requirements. With nearly 80 million eligible Americans who have not gotten vaccinated, many said they were waiting for approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA. Last month, the FDA granted that approval, so the time for waiting is over. This summer, we made progress through the combination of vaccine requirements and incentives, as well as the FDA approval. 4 million more people got their first shot in August than they did in July, but we need to do more. This is not about freedom or personal choice. It’s about protecting yourself and those around you, the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love. My job as president is to protect all Americans, so tonight, I’m announcing that the Department of Labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees that together employee over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated, or show a negative test at least once a week.

Some of the biggest companies are already requiring this. United Airlines, Disney, Tyson’s Food, and even Fox News. The bottom line: We’re going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated coworkers. We’re going to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across America. My plan will extend the vaccination requirements that I previously issued in the healthcare field. Already, I’ve announced we’ll be requiring vaccinations at all nursing home workers who treat patients on Medicare and Medicaid, because I had that federal authority. Tonight, I’m using that same authority to expand that to cover those who work in hospitals, home healthcare facilities, and our other medical facilities, a total of 17 million healthcare workers. If you’re seeking care at a health facility, you should be able to know that the people treating you are vaccinated, simple, straightforward, period. Next, I will sign an executive order that will now require all executive branch federal employees to be vaccinated, all.

I’ve signed another executive order that will require federal contractors to do the same. If you want to work with the federal government and do business with us, get vaccinated. If you want to do business with the federal government, vaccinate your workforce. And tonight, I’m removing one of the last remaining obstacles that make it difficult for you to get vaccinated. The Department of Labor will require employers with 100 or more workers to give those workers paid time off to get vaccinated. No one should lose pay in order to get vaccinated or take a loved one to get vaccinated. Today, in total, the vaccine requirements in my plan will affect about 100 million Americans, two thirds of all workers. And for other sectors, I issue this appeal: to those of you running large entertainment venues, from sports arenas to concert venues to movie theaters, please require folks to get vaccinated or show a negative test as a condition of entry.

And to the nation’s family physicians, pediatricians, GPs, general practitioners: You’re the most trusted medical voice to your patients. You may be the one person who can get someone to change their mind about being vaccinated. Tonight, I’m asking each of you to reach out to your unvaccinated patients over the next two weeks and make a personal appeal to them to get the shot. America needs your personal involvement in this critical effort. My message to unvaccinated Americans is this: What more is there to wait for? What more do you need to see? We’ve made vaccinations free, safe, and convenient. The vaccine has FDA approval. Over 200 million Americans have gotten at least one shot.

You’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us. So please do the right thing, but just don’t take it from me. Listen to the voices of unvaccinated Americans who are lying in hospital beds, taking their final breath, saying, “If only I’d gotten vaccinated. If only.” It’s a tragedy. Please don’t let it become yours. Second piece of my plan is continuing to protect the vaccinated. For the vast majority of you who’ve gotten vaccinated, I understand your anger at those who haven’t gotten vaccinated. I understand the anxiety about getting a breakthrough case, but as the science makes clear, if you’re fully vaccinated, you’re highly protected from severe illness, even if you get COVID-19. In fact, recent data indicates there is only one confirmed positive case per 5,000 fully vaccinated Americans per day. You’re as safe as possible, and we’re doing everything we can to keep it that way, keep you safe.

That’s where boosters come in, the shots that give you even more protection than after your second shot. Now, I know there’s been some confusion about boosters, so let me be clear. Last month, our top government doctors announced an initial plan for booster shots for vaccinated Americans. They believe that the booster is likely to provide the highest level of protection yet. Of course, the decision of which booster shots to give, when to start them, and who will give them will be left completely to the scientists at the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control. But while we wait, we’ve done our part. We bought enough boosters, enough booster shots, and the distribution system is ready to administer them. As soon as they are authorized, those eligible will be able to get a booster right away in tens of thousands of sites across the country, for most Americans at your nearby drug store, and for free.

The third piece of my plan, and maybe the most important, is keeping our children safe and our schools open. For any parent, it doesn’t matter how low the risk of any illness or accident is when it comes to your child or grandchild. Trust me, I know, so let me speak to you directly. Let me speak to you directly to help ease some of your worries. It comes down to two separate categories, children ages 12 and older, who are eligible for a vaccine now, and children ages 11 and under, who are not yet eligible. The safest thing for your child 12 and older is to get them vaccinated. They get vaccinated for a lot of things. That’s it, get them vaccinated. As with adults, almost all the serious COVID-19 cases we’re seeing among adolescents are in unvaccinated 12 to 17-year-olds, an age group that lags behind in vaccination rates.

So parents, please get your teenager vaccinated. What about children under the age of 12 who can’t get vaccinated yet? Well, the best way for parents to protect their child under the age of 12 starts at home. Every parent, every teen sibling, every caregiver around them should be vaccinated. Children have four times higher chance of getting hospitalized if they live in a state with low vaccination rates, rather than in states with high vaccination rates. Now, if you’re a parent of a young child, you’re wondering, “When will be the vaccine available for them?” I strongly support independent scientific review for vaccine uses for children under 12. We can’t take shortcuts for that scientific work. But I’ve made it clear I will do everything within my power to support the FDA with any resource it needs to continue to do this as safely and as quickly as possible, and our nation’s top doctors are committed to keeping the public at large updated on the process so parents can plan.

Now, to the schools. We know that if schools follow the science and implement the safety measures like testing, masking, adequate ventilation systems which we provided the money for, social distancing, and vaccinations, then children can be safe from COVID-19 in schools. Today, about 90% of school staffs and teachers are vaccinated. We should get that to 100%. My administration has already required teachers at the school that’ run by the Defense Department, because I have the authority as president in the federal system, the Defense Department and the Interior Department to get vaccinated. That’s authority I possess. Tonight, I’m announcing that we’ll require all of nearly 300,000 educators in the federal paid Head Start Program must be vaccinated as well to protect your youngest, our youngest, most precious Americans, and give parents the comfort.

And tonight, I’m calling on all governors to require vaccination for all teachers and staff. Some already have done so. We need more to step up. Vaccination requirements in schools are nothing new. They work. They’re overwhelmingly supported by educators and their unions. And all school officials trying to do the right thing by our children, I’ll always be on your side. Let me be blunt. My plan also takes on elected officials in states that are undermining you and these lifesaving actions. Right now, local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them, and even threatens their salaries or their jobs. Talk about bullying in schools.

If they’ll not help, if these governors won’t help us beat the pandemic, I’ll use my power as president to get them out of the way. The Department of Education has already begun to take legal action against states undermining protection that local school officials have ordered. Any teacher or school official whose pay is withheld for doing the right thing, we will have that pay restored by the federal government, 100%. I promise you, I will have your back. The fourth piece of my plan is increasing testing and masking. From the start, America’s failed to do enough COVID-19 testing. In order to better detect and control the Delta variant, I’m taking steps tonight to make testing more available, more affordable, and more convenient. I’ll use the Defense Production Act to increase production of rapid tests, including those that you can use at home.

While that production is ramping up, my administration has worked with top retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger, and tonight, we’re announcing that no later than next week, each of these outlets will start to sell at-home rapid test kits at cost for the next three months. This immediate price reduction for at-home test kits for up to 35% reduction will also expand free testing at 10,000 pharmacies around the country. And we’re committing $2 billion to purchase nearly 300 million rapid tests for distribution to community health centers, food banks, schools, so that every American, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests. This is important to everyone, particularly for a parent or a child, with a child not old enough to be vaccinated. You’ll be able to test them at home, and test those around them. In addition to testing, we know masking helps stop the spread of COVID-19.

That’s why when I came into office, I required masks for all federal buildings, on federal lands, on airlines, and other modes of transportation. Today, tonight, I’m announcing that the Transportation Safety Administration, the TSA, will double the fines on travelers that refuse to mask. If you break the rules, be prepared to pay. And by the way, show some respect. The anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong. It’s ugly. The fifth piece of my plan is protecting our economic recovery. Because of our vaccination program and the American Rescue Plan, which we passed early in my administration, we’ve had record job creation for a new administration, economic growth unmatched in 40 years. We cannot let unvaccinated do this progress… Undo it, turn it back. So tonight, I’m announcing additional steps to strengthen our economic recovery. We’ll be expanding COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan programs.

That’s a program that’s going to allow small businesses to borrow up to $2 million from the current 500,000 to keep going if COVID-19 impacts on their sales. These low-interest long-term loans require no repayment for two years, and we can use to hire and retain workers, purchase inventory, or even pay down higher-cost debt racked up since the pandemic began. I’ll also be taking additional steps to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. Sixth, we’re going to continue to improve the care of those who do get COVID-19. In early July, I announced the deployment of surge response teams. These are teams comprised of experts from the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, the Defense Department, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to areas in the country that need help to stem the spread of COVID-19. Since then, the federal government has deployed nearly 1000 staff, including doctors, nurses, paramedics into 18 states.

Today, I’m announcing that the Defense Department will double the number of military health teams that they’ll deploy to help their fellow Americans in hospitals around the country. Additionally, we’re increasing the availability of new medicines recommended by real doctors, not conspiracy theorists. The monoclonal antibody treatments have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 70% for unvaccinated people at risk of developing severe disease. We’ve already distributed 1.4 million courses of these treatments to save lives and reduce the strain on hospitals. Tonight, I’m announcing we’ll increase the average pace of shipment across the country of free monoclonal antibody treatments by another 50%. Before I close, let me say this: Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by this virus. And as we continue about COVID-19, we will ensure that equity continues to be at the center of our response. We’ll ensure that everyone is reached.

My first responsibility as president is to protect the American people and make sure we have enough vaccine for every American, including enough boosters for every American who’s approved to get one. We also know this virus transcends borders. That’s why even as we execute this plan at home, we need to continue fighting the virus overseas, continue to be the arsenal of vaccines. We’re proud to have donated nearly 140 million vaccines to over 90 countries, more than all other countries combined, including Europe, China, and Russia combined. That’s American leadership on a global stage, and that’s just the beginning. We’ve also now started to ship another 500 million Pfizer vaccines purchased to donate to 100 lower-income countries in need of vaccines, and I’ll be announcing additional steps to help the rest of the world later this month.

As I recently released the key parts of my pandemic preparedness plan so that America isn’t caught flat-footed when a new pandemic comes, as it will, next month, I’m also going to release the plan in greater detail. So let me close with this: We’ve made so much progress during the past seven months of this pandemic. The recent increases in vaccinations in August already are having an impact in some states, where case counts are dropping in recent days. Even so, we remain at a critical moment, a critical time. We have the tools, now we just have to finish the job with truth, with science, with confidence, and together as one nation. Look, we’re the United States America. There’s nothing, not a single thing we’re unable to do if we do it together. So let’s stay together. God bless you all, and all those who continue to serve on the front lines of this pandemic, and may God protect our troops. Get vaccinated.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

ASHRAF GHANI'S APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED: ABANDONING HIS PEOPLE IS TREASONOUS.

"I owe the Afghan people an explanation for leaving Kabul abruptly on August 15th after Taliban unexpectedly entered the city. I left at the urging of the palace security who advised me that to remain risked setting off the same horrific street-to-street fighting the city had suffered during the Civil War of the 1990s. Leaving Kabul was the most difficult decision of my life, but I believed it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her 6 million citizens." - Ashraf Ghani, deserter and former president of Afghanistan.

ICHEOKU says the only thing the woke former president of Afghanistan, a captain who abandoned ship on the high seas with millions of Afghanis still in it and left to drown, can satisfactorily do now is to fall on his sword and commit harakiri. He was the commander in chief of Afghanistan National Army and he fled in the midst of battle, deserting his command post and left his troops and millions of Afghanistan citizens at the mercy of the invading Taliban. 

Therefore, no amount of explanation or apology will be enough to rectify the damage which his cowardly decision to run away to safety, abandoning millions of Afghanistan citizens who he took oath of office to defend and protect from all enemies foreign and domestic, caused. What exactly is he trying to explain and to who; or that the Taliban is not in power today in Kabul and dictating the policy of the state, having instituted an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with an acute sharia law flavor. Who is he actually apologizing to and expecting to accept it?

Is he apologizing to the millions of Afghanistan women and girls who have lost their twenty year freedom to wear make up, dress up, acquire education and then hold gainful employment? Is his apology for the hundreds of thousands of people who hitherto settled in Afghanistan but who have now been forced to be evacuated for fear of the terror of the Taliban? Is his apology to the United States of America which supplied Afghanistan with $83 billion worth of ammunition, weapons, aircrafts including many helicopters, tanks and other military equipments which are now in the hands of the Taliban? 

Who is this fella apologizing to really or is it to the investors and entrepreneurs who have put down roots in Afghanistan in the last twenty years, believing that the political stage of Afghanistan is safely secured to do business and thrive? Who exactly is this man making his apology to and expect to receive it, forgive him or forget what he did, the greatest betrayal of his people and other people living in Afghanistan. But he is a liberal Berkeley California educated fellow and possessed of a mindset that thinks first about self before others, thinking that apologizing later will suffice. 

How about the thousands of Afghanistan people who lost their lives because they did not flee but chose to stand up and die fighting to save Afghanistan from the Taliban. How about the thousands of American troops and their allies who died fighting the Taliban with hope of saving Afghanistan from the Taliban? How about the trillions of dollars spent on Afghanistan in an attempt to plant and sustain democracy in Afghanistan? But no, only Ashraf Ghani's life is so precious and worth saving that he felt he cannot make necessary sacrifice, if need be, to save it. 

ICHEOKU says anybody who accepts or even thinks about forgiving this man for what he did, needs to have his or her head examined. Were was his loyalty to his people when he ran away at their hour of greatest need of him to protect them from the Taliban. He was the center of gravity of democracy in Afghanistan but decided to let democracy collapse and die simply because of his selfishness and self centeredness. He convinced himself that his personal interest exceeds the greater interest of Afghanistan when he fled and here he is now, opening his mouth to offer an apology and give useless explanation. 

For what use are they anyway if one may ask? Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani should stuff his apology in his you know where, the darkest place in his anatomy where the sun hardly ever reaches. That is where his apology belongs as nobody wants to hear it or needs it; his apology is not accepted. He is a sad commentary to manhood and he will forever live in the shame of his deserting his people when they needed him and his leadership most. His name will live in infamy for abandoning his Afghanistan people without a care in the world if the Taliban slaughtered them all. Shame on him.