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

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

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

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

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

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

A HERO IS BORN.

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

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

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

WORD!

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

NOW, YOU KNOW.

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

JUST THE FACT.

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

DO YOU?.

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

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

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

PROBLEM SOLVED.

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

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

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

WORDS ON MARBLE.

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

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

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

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

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


WORD.

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

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

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


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

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


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

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

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

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


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

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

Monday, October 18, 2021

COLIN POWELL: DEAD AT 84, ADIEU.

ICHEOKU says he will be one of the highest profile casualty of the coronavirus pandemic disease and he was fully vaccinated. But at 84 years, he was old enough to have died from natural causes. General Colin L Powell, former Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died from complications of the killer virus COVID-19. May his soul now rest. 

Hopefully he will met Donald Rumsfeld on the other side and probably Saddam Hussein too, so that they can continue with the "There are things we know we don't know" theory and also propagating the WMD hoax before the United Nations Security council and prosecuting the "mother of all wars" operation "shock and awe" bombardment of Baghdad. What would Saddam Hussein say? What a very ephemeral world. Adieu General.

BUHARI IS CLEVER, RUTHLESSLY EFFICIENT: JONATHAN CAUSED THE BUHARI PROBLEM.

ICHEOKU says ever feeling indignant about Buubuu, remember who made it possible for him to enter Aso Rock, the man from Otuoke. Whenever ICHEOKU remembers the very incompetent, clueless and cowardly President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, whatever existing distaste against President Muhammadu Buhari simply dissipates and in its place, a craving for a Buhari with a modicum of human kindness, a Buhari that would be more fair and a Buhari that will be killing less Nigerians, regardless of their provocations. But life is what it is and Nigerians are left with what fate threw their way, a Buhari that is unapologetically Buhari. Although it has not been easy for Nigerians this past six years of his presidency, but at least nobody is in any doubt about who is in charge in Nigeria and he registers this FYI maximumly and absolutely. Like the biblical Rehoboam, he is gleefully chastising Nigerians with scorpions and "lovin it" like McDonald's. 

As always, it is usually better to have a raving lunatic in power than a cowardly, docile, indecisive, uninspiring and timid fellow in power or rather having the appearance of being in power. Jonathan was so unimpressive and so weak that even his wife Dame Patience rode him freely like a donkey and got away with the impression of wielding the actual power in Aso Rock. But where is Aisha Buhari today? In a forced self exile in Dubai as all her efforts at asserting herself in Aso Rock was firmly, resolutely rebuffed. Where is Olusegun Obasanjo today, exercising pseudo presidential authority in a quasi presidential office of his own inside Abeokuta Rock? An act which he perfected so well when the Otuoke man was in Aso Rock that so many governors were paying homage and making pilgrimages to Ota to get their marching orders. 

Where is any Northerner now playing the role of Edwin Clarke, asserting authority and ordering what must be done inside Aso Rock and frequently countermanding Buhari's wishes like Edwin Clark did on numerous occasions during Jonathan's presidency. But no, everyone is now cowering in one corner, having realized and afraid of the awesome powers of the Federal government of Nigeria as wielded in Aso Rock. Where are the "party in power" governors ganging up against the man in Aso Rock or any group of Northern governors criticizing or insulting or challenging Buhari's wishes. But the then governor of neighboring Rivers State to Jonathan's home State of Bayelsa, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, became famous for being the foremost attacker of President Goodluck Jonathan and successfully coopted another South-south Edo State's Governor Adams Oshiomhole to join the anti Jonathan resistance group. 

But the same Rotimi Amaechi who is now the current Transportation Minister, who said then that the reason he fell out with Jonathan was because of Jonathan's failure to develop the South-south, is busy building railway lines to Niger Republic but has not built one rail line in his own Rivers State and/or the South-south region. How does he plan to explain this paradox long after he is no longer a minister? The same Adams Oshiomhole who helped bring down the Jonathan's presidency later bitterly found out that he was just used and dumped; out of power and consigned to such a heap of political irrelevance that they took his chairmanship of the APC and also Edo State away from him. Where is the Atiku's gang of of seven including Bukola Saraki, Babangida Aliyu, Rotimi Amaechi and other party officials and serving governors who were a menace to Jonathan's presidency? 

Do we have their equivalents today from either the North or the APC? Where are the frequent defections from the ruling party government in power to the opposition party that were rampant then? Instead, many politicians including governors, senators, members of House of Representatives and others are now queuing up, begging to be allowed to defect into the ruling APC government at the center. Even the Abdulsalam Abubakar's peace committee which consulted Jonathan out of Aso Rock has been made so redundant that they hardly now have any access to Aso Rock, not any more. Their leader Abdulsalam has equally gone eerie quiet and cannot dare speak against the man on top, afraid that the government might decide to call up investigation into the N16 billion power supply contract which he got during Obasanjo administration but failed to execute. 

Where are the pretend men of "God" and GOs today going to Aso Rock to register their dissatisfaction and grievances against the president, marching on the streets in protests and unceasingly attacking Jonathan when he was in Aso Rock? What happened to these "holier than thou MOGs with direct telephone lines to heaven where "God" regularly speaks to them? All of them have gone radio silent, afraid of the awesome powers of the Federal Government of Nigeria, aware that the current lord of manor does not shy away from deploying it. Practically every Nigerian public figure has enriched themselves from the coffers of the Nigerian State and they are deathly afraid of being investigated. They know that the present occupant of Aso Rock is ruthlessly very mean and will not hesitate to send his hound dogs after them; and he dishes his vengeance in large doses. They are all guilty and the guilty is always afraid of retribution.

Even the Niger Delta activists and militants who were a thorn in Jonathan's flesh throughout his days in Aso Rock have all turned into humbled pipeline maiguards, intimidated into guarding their own natural resources for the benefit of their Fulani overlords/owners. Where is the Asari Dokubo, Tomopolo, General Boyloaf and other laughable and scornful wanna-bee militant "generals' now that their militancy is needed most. But they know that present day Aso Rock is ruthless and shows no mercy, and does not suffer fools lightly. They are aware that a man who kills bandits in  his own Katsina State will not hesitate to wipe out bandits from other States, regardless of the color of the name under which they operate. They know and they are afraid to die and have made a calculated decision to live to fight another day, some day when Buhari is no longer in Aso Rock.

Jonathan was a very weak leader and he was had by almost everyone, including ambassadors from some useless countries who had unlimited and unrestricted access to him. Imagine allowing even a Togolese ambassador frequent and direct access to Aso Rock then that the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs became nearly redundant. Today, Jonathan has been turned into an errand boy for Aso Rock and it is apparent that he prefers to be going as dispatched "envoy" of President Muhammadu Buhari rather than be the president himself. It is a minds game, the pauper mentality, where a servant believes that his only rightful place in the house is in the kitchen but not on the dinning table. He could have similarly used Olusegun Obasanjo and retained his political protection, but Edwin Clark insisted that the government was an Ijaw government and should be left for Ijaws.

Now, you can never hear Jonathan raise his voice to condemn Aso Rock's atrocities or ever attack the man on top; unlike when he called the man who made him president a motor park tout. Jonathan is afraid of Buhari because Jonathan stole money from Nigeria treasury; he was corrupt as president, the reason he did not win the $5 million Mo Ibrahim Foundation leadership award for former African leaders. Jonathan is aware that his corruption file is fully compiled and ready to go for his prosecution, and that Buhari is using it as a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, to ensure his good behavior and disposition towards his presidency by preventing him from ever raising his voice or opening his mouth against him and his government. 

It is called the art of really being in power as so many Nigerians have sinned and fallen short of glory, mired in neck-deep corruption, and can easily be indicted whenever Buhari decides. They are at the mercy of Aso Rock and this have purchased President Muhammadu Buhari all the peace and quiet he needs from the Nigerian elites. As for the bottom dwellers, they don't matter as his agents of the State can take care of business for him, including a police and DSS and NDSC that are not accountable to Nigerians but takes their orders directly from Aso Rock.

Today the military can freely discharge their duty without being hamstrung or being required to first seek clearance and approval from Aso Rock before descending on troubled spots. Unlike when COAS Ihejirika had to literary beg Jonathan to allow the army to storm Katsina Emirate to recover caches of imported weapons and ammunitions stored there, but which Jonathan turned down and denied him permission to proceed. Today's Aso Rock is also unlike the days of DSS Director Ekpenyong begging Jonathan to permit his department to storm Nasarawa State to avenge the killing of 150 officers of the directorate in Egon. 

It is also unlike when NSA director Patrick Aziza had to beg Jonathan for permission to arrest then perennial presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari for inciting violence and insurrection in Nigeria but which Jonathan also turned down, afraid of the reaction from the North. It is also unlike when Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa was murdered alongside the same Patrick Aziza in a Navy plane in Bayelsa due to a very incompetent fella in Aso Rock, who was deathly afraid of every ant in Nigeria that he wears bullet proof vests everywhere he goes outside his bedroom in Aso Rock. The same forces turned around and killed his NSA and the governor just because they could. Which top government official have been assassinated under Buhari and which officers deaths have not been avenged?

Governance requires maximum fearlessness and not being timid. As a leader, one has to be either feared or respected, but Jonathan had none of that and it led to his pitiful ouster from Aso Rock. It makes ICHEOKU sad each time he remembers what was lost as a result of Jonathan's wishy washy period in Aso Rock which led to Buhari's emergence. Jonathan had said that no Nigerian blood is worth his presidency, yet today more than 100,000 Nigerians have lost their blood as a result of Jonathan's weakness and timidity which made it possible for Buhari to come to power. Those murdered Nigerians, both those killed by the agents of the State and those killed by Fulani herdsmen will find it very difficult to forgive Jonathan and not blame him for their deaths, because it would have cost less blood to retain him in Aso Rock than has been spilled so far, since he left. 

Those who made his presidency laughable have since understood that the offices of DSS and EFCC can bite. They also now know that the military can come down heavily upon them. They are also finding out that police can fire live bullets. Above all, the media, including television and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, now know that they can no longer report whatever they like. Nigerians also have realized that Barack Obama could not have possibly pulled off the stunt of 2015 which helped take Jonathan out of Aso Rock, were it in today's Aso Rock. It is good to have a man with real balls of steel in Aso Rock and despite all his shortcomings, Buhari is more presidential than the Otuoke man. Hopefully in 2023 a person in his mold, but with a better capacity and some degree of human kindness, will be elected to succeed him. But another Jonathan should never be contemplated nor ever allowed a berth in Aso Rock. A reformed Buhari, yes; but an improved Jonathan, no.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

RAPE ON A TRAIN AND FAILURE TO AID: BLAME ANTI MASCULINITY/GENDER WAR?

ICHEOKU says it appears that the good old days when men rushed to help women in trouble is gone and the be your brother's keeper or as in this case, your sister's helper, which imposed the duty to aid someone in trouble is no more. Why have we as a people drifted so far apart that we are losing the basic essential humanity in all of us. That a woman was so publicly raped on a train with other riders watching and did nothing to help her, is rather very troubling to say the least. It is a very unusual development for an American society and you wonder why.

Could it be because of the unceasing attacks on masculinity and the barrage of insults levied on men by leftist feminists activists bent on rubbishing the obvious differences between men and women. They continuously disparage men at any given opportunity and working overtime to force a genderless society upon America. So, is it possible that men are gradually making a calculated decision to let women take care of themselves and their businesses however they see fit, including protecting themselves in such situation as this. These feminist females have severally expressed their desire to be left to their devices, emphasizing that there is no difference between women and men, and that anything men can do, women can do better. Is this possibly one instance where men decided to sit things out? 

In the good old days America when men were allowed to be men and admired for their valor and bravery, when men opened car doors as well as other doors for appreciative ladies to walk in; when men sacrificed themselves to save women and toiled so hard to take care of women, this creep who pulled of this rape in a public train would not have dared do it. If he tried, he would not have been alive to face arrest and eventual prosecution as he would have been summarily put down and done with ever before the police arrived. But our society has since evolved and continuously evolving, and somewhat rapidly cascading into an abyss due to the activities of some crazed out wild eyed feminists females bent on waging a relentless war against men.

Men are steadily feeling unwanted, diminished, disrespected, disparaged and completely reduced to mere laughing stock simply because of the fact of their biology. In some circles, it is even now tabooed to be seen as a masculine man and even worse if the man has an opinion, is strong, brave and courageous. Some men are even being ridiculed as either mansplaining or imbued with toxic masculinity. So, why would men still rush to the aid of a woman in trouble when they know that they will not be appreciated but demonized? Why would men come to the aid of a woman in trouble when they have been told that women do not need men and that women are equal to the task and can save themselves if they are in trouble. 

The other time it was a woman in some crocodile exhibition somewhere who found herself struggling to free her trapped wrist in the jaws of an alligator, when a man eventually intervened to force the alligator to release her wrist. There are so many other occasions and instances when such stronger muscle and greater courage were needed, requiring men's intervention to set things straight; but they are not usually appreciated to encourage their further interventions. It is a known fact that relationship between the sexes in America has deteriorated due largely to this endless attacks and disparagement of men. Even masculinity detoxification has also entered our lexicon in a move to level the playing field and make America a genderless society. With it should also come the shouldering of responsibility equally, some people argue.

Strange things have been happening in America for some time, especially since the pandemic; but a 35 year old man publicly assaulting a woman in a public transit train, with onlookers watching without coming to the aid of the victim, definitely seems to top everything all off. Why were these co-riders so indifferent to the woman's plight and did not become her Good Samaritan. That the assault continued until the eventual 911 call was made and dispatched officer arrived and met the assault still going on, tells everything anybody wants to know about the willful indifference and unwillingness to aid the victim exhibited by the riders on the train; most of who were presumably males coming back from work or pubs and at such hour on Friday night. 

Were they afraid that the attacker could be armed and paralyzed by fear of getting hurt, or decided to just enjoy a free live porn? Why were they so shellshocked into paralysis. What overcame Fiston Ngoy's mind that he went such full throttle without a care in the world about the crime he was committing and so publicly, in the presence of witnesses? Was he under the influence of fentanyl or other opiates that distorted his mind so much that he was living in hallucinatory dystopia when he committed the crimes. It is indeed quite disturbing and should shock every conscience that a human being was capable of exerting such terror on a woman and that people present did not lift a finger to help her. 

Is it possible too that the onlookers made a calculated decision not to get involved in something that they might be roped into or were afraid that in the course of rendering help, that they might be hurt or railroaded into the whole criminal misbehavior. Yes, they should have done something about it, except that the same police now saying this, always advise people not to confront criminals including bank robbers who tellers are told to always just hand them the money as it is insured by the FDIC; and carjackers who we are also told to always turn over our car keys to and walk away. 

What if the attacker was armed with a gun and somebody had gone to help the victim and was shot and killed? Will people and the police not have apportioned some blame to the aider for doing a work which he was not trained and equipped to do, being not a law enforcement officer? Why did the victim not even fight back and in the process her fellow riders would have been compelled to assist her. Not even the emergency chord in the train was pulled by the woman or other riders which would have alerted the train engineer that something bad was going on aboard his train. Was she knocked out or slammed unto the floor of the train and what was she wearing that the animal easily penetrated her. 

ICHEOKU says is not blaming her for anything in what she suffered, just trying to analyze the whole circumstances to see if it was otherwise avoidable, and why the attacker successful had his way with her, with or without any other third party stepping in to help her. A lot of people were on that train who should have done something to help her stop the attacker but they did not do so. It shows the unraveling of the bond hitherto holding the American society, caused by nut jobs who are relentless in sowing divisions and pitting one gender against the other and one race against the other, that today, Americans are more divided and uncaring than ever. 

So, Fiston Ngoy is black, but what color is the victim? Is she also black which probably could explain why the white co-riders decided not to step in, not knowing if there is a relationship between them. In this days of Tik Tok cheap fame, the riders might have also concluded that the attacker and attacked were doing a Tok Tok challenge or dare to be uploaded on social media for a viral video. ICHEOKU says is only theorizing what in the world that could have persuaded the onlookers not to intervene and come to the aid of the woman. Some Americans intervened to save hundreds of French people in a train in France but why did these other Americans not intervene to save an American woman in a train in America? 

Hopefully, they will put him away for a very long time and also provide the victim with all the counseling and psychological treatment which she will ever require to help her deal with the trauma. Although the police said that she will get through the horror filled nightmare but it wont be easy. Not only was she raped, but she was raped by a complete stranger and so publicly, on a train while many people watched. It is enough to give her a lifetime PTSD. But why did it take such a long before before saving the victim or does the transportation authority not have ride-along police officers on their trains? It is horrendous and could have been stopped if there was a live video feed to the engineer of the train about the situational wellness on his train's cars. May God provide the victim some comfort and give her much needed healing IJN.

Saturday, October 16, 2021

PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PERFORMANCE INDEX WORRYING: DO YOU MISS ME YET - TRUMP.

"COVID is still raging, our supply chains are crashing with little product in our stores, we were humiliated in Afghanistan, our border is a complete disaster, gas prices and inflation are zooming upward, violent criminals and blood thirsty gangs are taking over our streets, illegal aliens and deadly drug cartels are taking over our borders. Inflation is taking over our economy. China is taking over our jobs and yes, the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan. How’s Biden doing? Do you miss me yet?" - President Trump.

ICHEOKU says Americans were warned but like the Pharaoh of Egypt, they hardened their hearts and now everyone is suffering the consequences of their rash decision to cut off their nose just to spite their face. The anti Trump forces cajoled Americans into taking out a man who is unabashedly patriotic and who loves his country like no other. Like the Jews of the old who chanted release Barnabas for us and kill Jesus Christ, Americans removed their strongest advocate from the White House and replaced him with a vanilla Joe who bids on time to fix everything, instead of holding his officers to account for all the mishaps of this past nine months. 

Now, everyone is stewing in the irresponsible decision of November 3rd 2020 and we are not even one full year gone into a four year administration. At the rate things are currently going, America will most likely be on its knees before too long, with many people begging for a reversal of trajectory and wishing if there could be an immediate opportunity at a do over of their votes of November 3rd, 2020. President Joe Biden is not to blame for what is happening, rather blame Americans who went against the grain of available information on his incompetency to serve in the office and still voted as they did. 

ICHEOKU is not bothered nor gives a damn as it might be a way the almighty God is punishing Americans for not appreciating all that President Donald John Trump did for the country while in office and rejected him instead. They wanted Barnabas instead of Jesus and they got Barnabas, so let them marinate in it while the joyride lingers. There were several signs everywhere preceding to the last election, but despite all the flashing danger signs warning Americans to beware of the choices they made on November 3rd, 2020, majority of people still voted to hand over the affairs of their country to a man who even his former boss Barack Obama warned everyone was not competent to handle the business of running America. 

Barack Obama first counseled his former vice president not to run for the office, in his famous line, please Joe you don't have to do this, you really don't. He also said concerning Joe Biden's competency for the office, "don't underestimate Biden's ability to fuck things up" and "And you know who really doesn't have it, Joe Biden." Obama refused to endorse Joe Biden during the Democratic Party's primaries and did not donate to his campaign, neither did his wife Michelle Obama, which made Joe Biden to quip that Obama hadn't lifted a finger to help him see through the South Carolina primaries. Even Obama's belated and very reluctant endorsement was rather tepid as he silently prayed that Americans got his tip-off and will do the right thing and not elect Joe Biden president. 

President Joe Biden is someone who has been a public servant and in the public eyes for such a long time that we all practically know him, including his capacity, ability and competence. That he also constantly displayed senior moments throughout last year's presidential campaign, showing acute frailty and memory deficit as well as other signs of fatigue, which together shot off many red alerts is true. But despite all of these obvious incompetency, Americans conveniently ignored it and voted as they did, the consequences of which is the fork on the road in which Americans are now trapped, asking themselves how did they read it so wrongly and whether, as one commentator put it, they were stupid morons who fell for Biden's false promises. 

Since his January 20th 2021 inauguration, many things have soured for Americans, from increased nepotistic hiring in the White House which saw sons and daughters and wife of his cronies hired as White House staffers. Then the lack of holding his key appointees responsible and accountable for unsatisfactory performance of the duties for which they were hired. There was the Afghanistan withdrawal scandal but despite it, the Secretary of Defense is still in office. There is the continuing southern border immigration nightmare, yet both the immigration tsar (tsarina) and the Secretary of Homeland Security are still holding their appointments. 

Now, the nation is facing acute shortages of basic goods due to disruptions in the transportation sector, yet the Secretary of Transportation is still fidgeting like a trapped mouse, unable to resolve the problem, at least not yet. Gasoline prices have skyrocketed as well as cost of electricity and groceries, but the Secretary of Energy and Agriculture are still firmly rooted on their seats. Crimes are shooting off the roof and nobody in the Department of Justice has been held to account for what is going on. Labor shortages and work strikes, including people who have walked off from their jobs rather than get the vaccine and you wonder what the Secretary of Health and Human Services is doing about it; and then we can also throw in the Secretary of Labor into the mix.

ICHEOKU says does not know about you, but many people are beginning to miss the good old days of the twittering president, at least he kept every one of his appointees on their toes, guessing when he will twitter them out of office, you're fired! At least they knew then that only performance and loyalty kept their jobs and they strove very hard not to be the next person to find out that they have been fired through a presidential tweet. But now, the current appointees are not even afraid of the White House anymore and many of them are basking on the president's greatly diminished capacity not to truly understand how badly things are currently going. A fully functional president would have been so incensed to have either fired many of these people or at least rejig their portfolios. 

As a people, we deserve everything we are currently experiencing under the Biden's administration because our hatred for President Donald John Trump brought us to the present self hurt. It was our chosen self immolation as we should not have rejected the former president. President Trump gave it his all and served without ever taking his salary, just for his pure altruistic undiluted love for the country, yet we threw him out of the White House. Coronavirus disease is still here with us, still infecting more people and still killing many people that just yesterday alone over 3,000 Americans lost their lives to the virus. Americans were persuaded then that the disease was killing Americans because of Trump's incompetence, but nobody has opined if the same theory still holds valid today? 

If we survive the next three years and three months, going forward, we must be smarter in choosing who steers our common destiny. We must stop letting nonsensical sentiments cloud our judgment in elections, such that who will protect our interest more will always trump over our acute maniacal partisanship. Or put another way, we must stop using mundane things such as our hurt feelings determine who we put in the White House or any other house of authority. ICHEOKU says is not disappointed in President Joe Biden because what is happening were anticipated, the reason we campaigned to retain President Donald John Tump in office. Unfortunately, the Deep State felt otherwise and now everyone is feeling it. It was avoidable and preventable, but we did not choose wisely. It is sad.

Friday, October 15, 2021

HENRIETTA LACKS: WAS ONLY GOOD FOR HER CELLS BUT NOT WORTHY OF MENTION.

ICHEOKU says but for the World Health Organization bestowing her an otherwise overdue recognition for being the source code of medical and scientific breakthroughs which has helped millions of cervical cancer patients, many people including this writer would never have heard that a black woman named Henrietta Lacks once walked this earth. But she had cervical cancer and while undergoing treatment in Washington DC in 1953, her cervical cells were secretly harvested and used in developing many vaccines and modeled treatments and management of cervical cancer as well as other diseases. 

As a result, millions of women's lives have been saved and still being saved; many scientific medical breakthroughs were recorded including discovering the human papilloma virus (HPV) and polio vaccines, drugs for Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS) treatment and cancer. Her cells are also aiding the COVID-19 research. But America refused to acknowledge her nor gave her, her rightfully earned place in the annals of history for her role in unearthing these discoveries and palliatives. But ICHEOKU is not surprised, as her case was just one of such examples where black Americans contributions to humanity were intentionally played down and suppressed lest they will become full bona fide human beings with awesome mental quotients. 

It followed a pattern which continuously diminished and minimized black Americans contribution in American history, including so many inventions of theirs that were either outrightly hijacked or passed off and named after white men as black people were not good enough to invent anything or contribute any meaningful tangible thing to humanity's wellbeing. Speaking about such keep them hidden syndrome and the real McCoy and his oil filter, the traffic light and refrigerated trucks come to mind, including other sundry inventions which black people brought about but which they were not given credit for, until very recently.

It was the same story with white slave masters who constantly slept with black women slaves including the wives of their slaves; and fathered a lot of children with them but refused to acknowledge their paternity. Instead they were forbidden under penalty of extreme torture and punishment, including sale, indentured servitude and lynching by hanging from ever speaking a word about their dirty liaisons. Even the late South Carolina Senator Strum Thurmond had such illicit relationship which resulted in an unacknowledged child who remained incognito until the good ole boy passed away at 100 years old in 2003. 

The daughter, Essie Mae Washington-Williams died at 87 years in 2013 and for her 70 years on this earth kept the senator's secret secret. It is their thing, the code of co-existence to "never be seen or loudly heard outside", the "know your place" racial hierarchy in America which somewhat still prevails till today, admitted in more subtle forms.

By honoring Henrietta Lacks, WHO has somewhat ameliorated some wrong done to her and her family, first by stealing her cells and second, by not acknowledging her for all the inroads made finding cures for so many diseases through her cells. WHO should take further step by endowing a chair in her name in a medical research institution and that way help to immortalize her. Her surviving family deserves substantial compensation and profit sharing from all the drugs developed from using her cells. It is not enough to just give a plaque or certificate of recognition, more needs to be done including making a real cash compensation. Companies making fortune from her cells need to also pony up for all their major breakthroughs

Paying compensation to her family or establishing an endowment in her name will be a more tangible way to really honor her, advance racial equity in health and science and truly recognize women, particularly women of color for their incredible contribution to medical science. She saved countless lives and her immortal cell line, HeLa cells, are still saving countless lives today and will continue to save countless lives long into the future. HPV and Polio vaccines, drugs for HIV/AIDS, hemophilia, leukemia, Parkinson syndrome disease, in-vitro fertilization, cancer, gene mapping, research on chromosomal conditions and other precision medicine are all good tidings which emanated from her cells. 

So what else can anyone ask of anybody, especially someone who has contributed this so much to humanity's betterment and general wellness. A woman whose cells became the first human cell line to ever reproduce and replicate outside the human body. What an indelible historical record; an honor which have earned etching her name in immorality. Imagine if she were a white blondie, but unfortunately she was of the "wrong" skin color, hence the need to suppressed her name and not let the world of women particularly white women, beneficiaries of her cells scientific endeavors, know that it was a black woman whose cells helped save their lives. 

It is sad that the effect of slavery and racial injustices in America lingers on til this day and you ask yourself, what will it take to finally rest that ugly chapter in America's life. Will there ever be an apology for the horrors of slavery and will there ever be compensation or what is termed reparation for the harm caused by slavery. Its other resulting injustices such as the story of Henrietta Lacks should tug at our conscience in speeding up the recompense. But it is doubtful if it will happen right now because the nation has lived with it for so long that they have literally acquiesced in it. Hopefully, progressivism will some day force a different outcome. What a woman and her wondrous gift to humanity.

Thursday, October 14, 2021

JOHN GRUDEN NOT ALONE: WHY CRUCIFY HIM FOR WHAT WE ALL ARE GUILTY OF?

ICHEOKU says like in the early days of queers and homosexuals, we all are closeted regarding our racial preferences and biases against one another. We all are Jon Gruden except that we have not been caught so far, hence the pretenses everywhere that all is well with racial relations in America and that Jon Gruden was a one off racist freak who should be pilloried and cast into the lake of fire for such abominable conduct. It is not so and like crimes, criminals are innocent until caught, prosecuted and convicted. 

Our thinking is usually internalized just as William Shakespeare rightly said in Macbeth through King Duncan, speaking about his surprise at learning of the betrayal of the Thane of Cawdor for which reason he was executed, that 'there is no art in reading the mind's construction in the face'. So, yes, if there is an app for reading the minds of people, more than 90% of Jon Grudens will be uncovered. It is akin to having sex which we usually do, except in few erotica cases, mostly in our confined spaces away from prying eyes. The only difference between us all and Jon Gruden was that he was caught and unfortunately, humanity is always ever judgmental and looking for someone  to put on the stake and barbecue our sorrows and frustrations away. 

If only we are not often tuned out from the teachings and particular admonition of Jesus Christ in the parable of the adulterous woman, and learn instead to always delay in casting the first stone since we all have equally sinned and fallen short of glory, may be Joe Gruden would have found some mercy. But no, as long as it wasn't the traducers, they can afford to pretend that they never uttered similar words or nursed it internally, and that their best friends and closest confidants and good neighbors are people of the opposite race, sex and gender. It is the great pretend which the world whirls on. Should he have lost his job and forced to resign as a result, ICHEOKU says does not think so, as suspension and salary deduction penalty would have sufficed.

ICHEOKU says is not in any way holding brief for Jon Gruden nor trying to excuse what his emails contained or trying to explain them. No, the effort here is that some of the issues which he was implicated with are continuously active, alive and well with us all in America as well as the rest of the world. They only come up for discussion each time somebody in the public light is caught off guards and mistakenly lets us into the recess of their hearts that we may truly see who they are. As a world that enjoys public spectacle, we gladly convert such unfortunate people into piñata for our entertainment and ridiculing as we beat them up so badly they bleed out. 

Race relations is not the best it can be in America, neither is homosexuality freely accepted as a bona fide lifestyle. Many people despite their non vocalized or verbalization of their renunciation, still internally wages wars against people who are not their type nor belong in their community. Our deference to those "THAT ONES" is simple mere tolerance but not genuine acceptance. 

So, yes, practically everyone has that racist impulses in them including mixed-marriage couples, who sometimes in their moment of disgust and heat of passion, vocalizes and lobs racial epithets directly at their partners. Even some members of the homosexual community during heated arguments or frustration, equally lash out at each other with derogatory names such as "fag*t". So, like everything in Vegas, he should have been allowed to remain with the Las Vegas Raiders and penalized through other forms.

It is not only President Donald John Trump or President Joe Biden or President Barack Obama or now John Gruden, that has ever nursed or entertained or even voiced out words which are not pleasant at others people outside their own type zone. It is the "me and them" or "we and them" complex which everyone shares, admitted many people have a way of masking or bottling up theirs until that ouch moment when it uncontrollably escapes them or their guard fails as with a friendly banter which got leaked. 

If those emails were never leaked, nobody would even know that Jon Gruden has such a heart or even feels that way about others who are not like him. If they did not come out, no one would have ever known about the dark side of him which he kept under wraps until this leak, talk-less of ever fathoming his resignation from his $100 million ten year coaching contract with Las Vegas Raiders. Recall that the alleged emails were written some years ago and he continued coaching the team as if nothing happened, a team with majority players whose shades of skin color are different from Jon Gruden's. It is also possible too that some members of the homosexual community are in the Raiders team and/or management. 

So, it was not a mistake that he said what he said in those emails as he has always felt that way probably since he attained the age of majority simply because he was born that way. Many Americans, across all the races, share the similar background of disliking other Americans outside their type. Racial identity is a subconscious microchip which human beings are born with. It frequently triggers war between people of different skin colors and it will stay with mankind until the end of time. For one unmasked John Gruden, there are millions of other unmasked Jon Grudens still lurking in the shadows, wearing the fake mask of accepting everyone in the public, but behind closed doors and in the dark recesses of their hearts, churns volatile racial animus. 

Who would have expected such from the lovable and affable, although cocky Jon Gruden; impressionable, famous and rich fella who was constantly in the midst of black people who make up the majority of the Las Vegas Raiders. How could even the best seer have seen inside his dark heart to know of his lowly opinion of people who are different from him. ICHEOKU says must admit that he fooled so many and for far too long about his true feelings towards other people who are not like him.

He is a white guy and just like black people too, we do not necessarily, sincerely, like each other; we only tolerate one another as imperative convenience of living together demands of us all. Behind closed doors and outside public earshot, we constantly disparage each other based on our skin colors and other biases. We call each other names and we are always quick to go off on each other, especially against people who are not like us at the slightest provocation. 

It is inbred in us human beings to always protect our turf and favor those who share our essentials, including skin type, sexual orientation, common beliefs and even religious beliefs. Our kind always come before others and this is what usually passes off as racism and/or homophobia. It is the "we and them" philosophy of survival which forces us all to put down those "outsiders" before they either take what we consider belongs to us, ours or wreck our community. 

It has nothing to do with being a misogynist as women too are sometimes more horrible than Jon Gruden in the racist and homophobic department. It is ingrained in our DNA as human beings to hold opinions which may be considered repugnant to others; admitted many people have been inculcated enough or civilized enough to know how to suppress them and not let them run out randomly. But that does not mean it is not latent in all of us like a dormant volcano which can abruptly erupt any time the top blows off. 

So, he has done all he can do and as expected, by resigning his head coach position with the Las Vegas Raiders. He also said that he was sorry and never meant to hurt anyone, admitted he was only sorry because he was caught; and yes, he did not mean to hurt anyone when he shared his feelings about some people who do not belong to his type. He was simply being gossipy with his friends or whoever he sent those emails and did not hurt anyone nor refused to coach a team because it was made up of black players.

ICHEOKU says his saying that Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires was more of an oversized exaggeration as nobody has lips that big, admitted he was being caustic with his remark. Ditto, whether or not NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is a fag**t and clueless anti football "pus*y" or should not have pressured St Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft "queers" (Michael Sam) into the league. 

These were mere expressions of how he felt about recent developments within the league which is remaking the league in the image of political correctness and woke culture. Many people have harped on them as well and such things would have easily passed for mere banters back in the good ole days, but not anymore. Not since liberal activism  effort to completely emasculate men and detox masculinity took over America public space discourse and determined such as intolerable speak. 

Although he should have been more circumspect with the changing times in mind, but the person he communicated the emails to is who brought him down and not necessarily the thoughts which he privately expressed. They are bad but if they were not leaked, nobody would have heard about them nor would the retribution have followed; a career ending action which has brought his coaching exploits with then Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a screeching end. 

It is fate and it comes in different forms. Like Brutus to Julius Caesar, his friend has now done him in. A Super Bowl winning NFL coach falling from such a gracious Olympian height to the grass is one story of a man who faith played a cruel joke on. His end came like fast and furious and it was with a big reverberating thud. We are now punishing people excessively n America since the advent of the dreaded #MeToo feminists anarchist movement that a man's feelings which he expressed privately has now cost him his job and his friend leaked the emails. It is another case which screams is anyone out there really your friend? It is sad. 

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

PETER OBI'S PANDORA PAPERS SCANDAL: WHY IT MATTERS.

ICHEOKU says the issue is not whether he is a "wealthy" man or "a very big trader" or the "sole importer of Heinz salad cream" or brings Ovaltine in container loads into Nigeria or is the chairman and/or board member of so many banks, nobody is questioning or begrudging him of his riches. The issue is that he turned out to be just one of them, another hypocrite who preached one thing while doing the other. He harped against corruption but ended up engaging in corrupt practices, hiding assets in offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes on them. He also owned foreign bank accounts against the code of conduct for public office holders as a former governor of Anambra State. 

He portrays himself as squeaky clean, an image which he cultivated through many economic theory themed speeches and which he markets himself to Nigerians with, as the only authority on the solution to Nigeria's multifaceted problems. He painted an image of an incorruptible personality, the quintessential embodiment of a saintly politician, the moral authority of exemplary leadership and someone possessed of the clout of an ideal Nigerian leader, something which have eluded the country until Peter Obi emerged on the scene. It is this image which he created for himself and sold to Ndi Anambra and which he is also trying assiduously to sell to Nigerians that has now been sullied and besmirched by what the Pandora Papers revealed. 

So, if Nigerians cannot trust him to be honest with his assets declarations and compliance with set rules of code of conduct of public office holders, what else can they not trust of. He is approaching the issue with responses and reactions which are off tangent by proclaiming his innocence and declaring how rich he is. Therefore, no matter the length he goes to protest his innocence and/or declare that he acted based on advise of professionals, including international lawyers who had assured him that he did nothing wrong by incorporating companies in tax havens and in his children's and wife's names, it will not cut it. He acted to avoid being directly identified as owner of the companies and to avoid paying taxes on them. It impeaches his character for trustworthiness and this is the only issue that should concern him which he should work to restore. 

The mere fact that he was ready, willing and able to participate in such a money/assets hiding scheme goes to show his character for dishonesty and if he did it, what else he is willing, able and ready to do just for the sake of money. It is his conduct that is on trial alongside his character for deceit. Recall that many of those rich and wealthy individuals implicated in the Pandora Papers are leaders of some countries whose citizens are suffering from all manners of crass deprivations, including the King of Jordan and his $100 million hidden assets. These are heartless people who do not care nor necessarily love their people that they would rather stash millions overseas than invest in their countries and with jobs creations, help their people earn their living. People are dying in their countries from hunger and starvation while they have millions hidden in money laundering havens. 

Anyway, Peter Obi is one fella who ICHEOKU does not particularly care for especially following the Ezu River 23 floating dead bodies of IPOB and MASSOB members who were massacred when he was the governor of Anambra State. The extra judicial murders of these young Igbo men were not investigated and as their governor, he failed to throw his weight to ensure that their killers, the State, took responsibility for their murder and the culprits were prosecuted and punished and compensations paid to their families. He simply acquiesced to it and the murders were swept under the rug of Ezu River and it was acceptable to this Peter Obi. That callousness cost him a lot of goodwill which he hitherto had both in Anambra State and Nigeria. To say that he speaks funnily, in a small, witchy, shrill voice, unfit for any fully grown adult to possess, especially a man, adds to his general weirdness. 

There is something about him that significantly questions his sincerity and trustworthiness; or should ICHEOKU say something eerie feeling about his general demeanor and personality. He could be an accomplished businessman, scholar, administrator and what have you, but there is something unsettling about him that any clear eyed, unbiased and disinterest person can easily see of him even standing hundreds of feet away. So what the Pandora Papers claimed is not the surprise here, the surprise is that there were not many more of such accusations in the papers as appertained to him. 

As an advocate of good, transparency and open governance which he claims, like Caesar's wife, he should have been above board in every facet and flank. He should not  have given anyone including many of his detractors any reason to throw mud at him and say, you see he is just one of us, big on saying things but small in doing them. Like the Pharisees, he does not practice what he preaches. The veneer of corruptibility is sufficient to sully his reputation and for a man who has pontificated and preached values of a holier than thou person since leaving office as Anambra State governor a few years ago, it matters that he was implicated in the Pandora Papers scandal. He is damaged no matter from which angle or perspective it is viewed as the Peter Obi of yore is no longer the Peter Obi of now.

Peter Obi should understand why many Nigerians, especially his fans are angry at him, worried and concerned about the assertions in the Pandora Papers, which he has since admitted, claiming that he did nothing wrong by what he did. It is because of the trust which they hitherto reposed in him but which has now somewhat be shaken or diminished or completely wilted away as a result of the disclosure. They are unhappy with him that their idol and symbol of honesty and good stewardship is no more; and now questioning if he has been just a great pretender all these years. An Igbo adage has it that 'a good face does not deserve to be scratched'; and being above really means being completely above board, regardless. 

That pedestal of incorruptibility and honesty which Peter Obi had placed himself on have been compromised, it has caved in as a result of the Pandora Papers disclosure and so much so that his once colossal political height have become diminished and he no longer stands as tall as he once stood in the eyes of Nigerians. He should therefore channel any damage control to finding ways to repair it and reinvent himself as the man with candor and character who shuns everything and anything corrupt. He can start this by first shutting down those secret foreign operations, then apologize to Nigerians for the mistake, with a promise to be better going forward while simultaneously denying knowledge of ever being aware that such practice is wrong. He needs humility and not defiance, nor using the opportunity to proclaim how "wealthy" a businessman he is, as his riches is not the issue but his sharp practices of secreting assets overseas. 

Once he can appreciate the distinction, he might recover some of his political capital and standing before Nigerians, otherwise, he has gone off the political cliff and with it whatever chances he formerly had at ever berthing himself in Aso Rock. With Atiku Abubakar's avowed notoriety for being acutely corrupt and now Peter Obi's questionable overseas business sharp practices, imagine what would have been the faith of Nigeria had the duo won their ticket's election in 2019. It is possibly the reason the almighty God intervened and prevented their anchor from dropping in Aso Rock. Just imagine how many jobs his $15 million stashed in overseas' bank accounts would have created in Nigeria and helped put food in so many hungry stomachs. It is that Peter Obi is infallible or that he did something which no other Nigerian has done before, but that Peter Obi should have lived the expectations from Peter Obi and not be just one of them. It is sad. 

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

THE MORE YOU ARE TRUSTED, THE LESS YOU PAY - DAVID HORSAGER

Trust, not money, is the currency of business and life. In a climate of trust, people are more creative, motivated, productive, and willing to sacrifice for the team. What happens when a business gains the trust edge? Every aspect of business becomes more profitable. Customers will pay more, tell others, and come back. With suppliers whom you trust, one call is enough. Delivery time and costs decrease because there is less double-checking, paperwork, and follow-up.

Skepticism and suspicion create the opposite of trust and destroy motivation, teamwork, and results. Skepticism brings everything into question, slows processes, and promotes suspicion. America’s public climate has been pervaded by suspicion. For just a glimpse of how this has happened, consider insurance scandals, misconduct by the governors of New York and Illinois, the mortgage and banking meltdown, financial fraud, Ponzi schemes, the Big Three automakers’ failings, executive greed that has bilked investors and employees, food contaminations, and athletes hiding drug use. It is no wonder suspicion is soaring. There is a cost.

In fact, research from a study of 453 buyer-supplier relationships of automakers dealing in three countries (Japan, South Korea, and the United States), gave empirical evidence of the economic value of trust. The research found that the automakers’ transaction costs were five times higher with the least trusted supplier than with the most trusted supplier. Further, with the least trusted suppliers, face-to-face interaction time doubled. Low trust revealed a need to spend more time and resources for communication, negotiation, and compliance. High trust led to greater information sharing and a willingness to sacrifice for the partner.

Your credit score is really a trust score. If a bank trusts you on the basis of your past financial responsibility, then you will get a higher score and pay less for a loan. In fact, I just asked my mortgage broker what the cost of a loan is today using different credit (trust) scores. She said if you have a score of 720, which is not terribly high, you can get a thirty-year mortgage at 4.75 percent. However, if your credit score is 640, which is not terribly low, the best loan you can get would be at 7.25 percent. That means the less-trusted buyer will pay over $115,000 more on the same $200,000 mortgage. If you were to buy a $500,000 house and had the lower credit score you would pay nearly $300,000 more over the course of the loan–and that does not account for the higher payments for insurance because of the lower credit score. The more you are trusted, the less you pay!

Most podcasts or blogs never lead to any more than a little extra pocket cash. One podcaster has beaten the odds with a most unusual approach. Canadian Stefan Molyneux is the innovative host of Free-domain Radio, the largest philosophy podcast on the Internet with over 4 million Internet views per year. Molyneux has released over 1,200 podcasts and at least seven books completely free of charge. How does such a model produce any profit?

Freedomain Radio thrives on the honor system. Molyneux, in a massive version of the office snack box, asks listeners to voluntarily donate what value they find in the podcasts. He suggests 50 cents per podcast. Molyneux believes Freedomain Radio’s honor system has been a positive factor for his business model, which he didn’t entirely predict. The fact that his income could dry up at any minute means that he feels a constant pull to keep producing relevant and interesting podcasts. If he doesn’t produce quality, people don’t pay. In my discussion with him he told me, “I get instant feedback. I know right away if it was good or not based on how many donations come in for that material.”

Molyneux says he keeps the donation model so listeners have a sense of ownership of the podcasts. Listeners engage and feel that they are a real part of the conversation, since they contribute to its financial success. His sites include no advertising, and people don’t even get to write off their donations, because he is not a charity. Molyneux proves that where there is trust, money will follow. “Trust is everything,” Molyneux told me. “If I didn’t have trust there would be no downloads, no show, and no business.” According to him, the most important factor in trust is humility. Being humble has made him one of the most trusted philosophers of our time, because he is open to differing opinions and willing to bow to the good points and logic of others.

Another important aspect of trust is being congruent. Molyneux mentioned this: “Your business model needs to be aligned with your content and your approach.” Since his philosophy is that “people are basically good” and that “voluntary virtue is the best ideology,” his donation model is consistent with his philosophy and business. Stefan Molyneux has defined trust as the best conceivable principle to have in the modern marketplace, and it has resulted in success for his business.

Bill Otis, former chief of the Appellate Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, offered this analysis: “Our ability to bail our way out of this recession is extremely limited, because, even if they worked and could be paid for, bailouts and government spending generally fail to address the fundamental problem at the heart of our difficulties. The fundamental problem is not liquidity or even solvency. It is trust–or more correctly, the lack of trust–that has spawned the breakdown in the credit markets. The lack of trust cannot be remedied with money. It can only be remedied with that which creates trust.”

Though our trust has been shaken in America during this economic crisis, we still enjoy a level of trust that is not found in all parts of the world. A business professor and friend of mine, Leo Gabriel, was asked by a native of a small, war-torn, developing country, “Why does capitalism work in America and not here?” Gabriel said, “Because, generally, we can assume trust in our economic system.” In America we can go online, order a product, and assume it will be shipped. The retailer can generally assume that he will be paid. 

Without trust there cannot be economic activity. You must be able to trust that your cash, check, or credit will have value and will be good. A retailer must know that the product or service will be delivered from the supplier as expected. With greater trust comes greater economic activity and a better form of capitalism. One benefit of sincerely building trust is the priceless feeling that comes when one does what he knows in his heart is the right thing to do. Other intangibles of genuine trust include decreased stress, increased peace, fulfillment, solid friendships, and a lasting legacy.

Monday, October 11, 2021

CNN'S 24/7 SIDE SCREEN CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC DISPLAY: WHERE DID IT GO?

ICHEOKU says the reasoning then was that "reporters must continue to expose the tragedy of the pandemic and the government's response to it", begging the question does that need to "expose the tragedy and government's response" no longer exist today? Are people no longer dying from the coronavirus pandemic disease or has the government finally had a grasp on the pandemic that it makes no sense continuing with the split screen effort? 

Rather, was it merely a politically driven sensationalization geared to hurt President Donald John Trump's chances at reelection by portraying him as a clueless mumbling fool who has no idea on how to control the pandemic, and that he is the reason the coronavirus pandemic was killing Americans. Why did CNN make the decision to halt their spilt screen feed about the coronavirus pandemic following President Joe Biden assumption of the mantle of office. 

Could it be that American people dying from the coronavirus pandemic under President Joe Biden is somehow tolerable and permissible, but their dying from the coronavirus pandemic under former President Donald John Trump was unacceptable. A supposed news network that is supposed to just report the news and let the people make up their minds as they see fit, but which has since become acutely partisan, having a clear a dog in the fight, that it merely propagandizes Americans as well as their global audience with only what they want them to hear, rather than what is actually happening. If their purpose was to expose the pandemic and government's response, why stop now?

Many more people are still dying from the virus and statistically, more people have died from the dreaded disease since President Joe Biden took office than died when President Donald John Trump was in office. Yet CNN made the political decision not to continue with their split screen coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in order to protect President Joe Biden and not damage his presidency. Suddenly, everything is now honky dory with President Joe Biden in the White House and there is no more need to continue creating anxiety in the polity and panicking the people. As a result, CNN is no longer going into a tizzy with reminding American people every second, every hour, every day that Americans are dying in great numbers from the coronavirus pandemic, why? 

Their motive was not a genuine attempt to inform the people on the virulence and lethality of the virus and what the government was doing about it. It was part of their grand campaign of calumny against then President Donald John Trump to make it impossible for him to win a reelection. So, what other thing else do we see on CNN is merely biased opinion and not news; and is it about time the network removed the "NEWS" in its name and just become what it covers, biased editorials and opinions. CNN played an active role influencing last November 3rd, 2020 presidential election and with President Trump gone, one had expected that the coronavirus pandemic will also be gone alongside with him. But it is still here with us and killing more people, including the fully vaccinated; upturning the whole CNN narrative that it was a TrumpVIRUS. It is sad. 

Sunday, October 10, 2021

FURY V WILDER TRILOGY: A BATTLE ROYALE, TWO GIANTS BUTTED HEADS.

ICHEOKU says Tyson Fury v Deontay Wilder III lived up to its billings and millions of boxing fans all over the world were completely satisfied, admitted those of Gypsy King Tyson Fury were satisfied more than their counterparts. But overall, it was a beautiful fight that will be treasured for a long time. Congratulations to the Gypsy King for his TKO defeat of Deontay Wilder in the 11th round of their 12 round bout. Deontay showed his mettle too, as he proved he was not just a push over. It was a good fight.

DEONTAY WILDER ON HIS KNEES: BOWS DOWN BEFORE GYPSY KING TYSON FURY.

ICHEOKU says Tyson Fury has nothing more to prove to Deontay Wilder in their battle of who is the superior heavyweight boxer. Not once, not twice, but for the third time which the opportunity availed the American heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder to prove that he is a better heavyweight boxer but he couldn't deliver. It shows that he has nothing on the British boxing great Tyson Fury. 

He drew in their first meet, lost in their second meet and have now once again lost in their third and most probably final meet, thus crowning the Gypsy King the indisputable better heavyweight boxer. Tyson outboxed Deontay and put him down three times and with a TKO, forced Deontay Wilder on his knees as he bowed down to his boxing superior, the Gypsy King. 

The third meet was epic and did not disappoint at all as the two boxing giants battled it out convincingly with five knockdowns, two for Deontay and three for Tyson, before a crowd of more than fifteen thousands boxing fans and millions more who watched it on pay per view around the world. It was a thriller in Las Vegas which went all the way to the 11th round when Tyson Fury dropped Deontay Wilder for the third and final time before referee Russel Mora jumped in to save Deontay from further punishment, declaring a TKO victory for Tyson Fury. 

The fight is rated their best fight ever out of their three meets. It was the champion's 31st win and the 22nd knockout of his boxing career. Tyson Fury was a bigger and taller fighter and his punches heavier, which he used to punish Deontay Wilder and reminded him who is his boxing daddy; finally submitting him in the 11th round through a technical knockout. With this win, Gypsy King Tyson Fury is now the best heavyweight boxer in the world, the king of boxing heavyweights and also the king of the entire boxing sport.  ICHEOKU says congratulations to the KING. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP IN IOWA WITH EYES TRAINED ON 2024 AND BEFORE THEN, 2022.

ICHEOKU says the former president was in his usual element and before a joyous tumultuous crowd of supporters who drooled and longed that he was still in the White House and leading America from the front. But unfortunately, the conspiracy of November 3rd, 2020 made their day dreaming remain what it is, a mere wishful thinking. He is definitely running again but as he rightly observed, will the "entrenched interests and sinister forces" which scuttled his 2020 reelection bid permit his successful comeback in 2024. If he can bulldoze through their wall, he stands a very great chance of returning back to the White House. But we shall see. #MAGA2024.

Saturday, October 9, 2021

BIAFRANS LIVES MATTER IS THE NEW BLM: CHIWETALU AGU SHOWS GREAT COURAGE.

ICHEOKU says kudos to Nollywood star Chief Chiwetalu Agu for using his acting platform to add his voice to the agitation for an independent State of Biafra. He displayed an exemplary courage worthy of emulating by everyone, using whatever platform they have to put the word across that Biafra is indeed what the majority of the people of Southeast Nigeria truly want. 

Such a display of uncommon courage will help IPOB's leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu with the Biafra struggle. It will show that the agitation is deeply rooted and that majority of the people are in full support of it; an independent homeland where they can freely live, aspire, prosper and safe from the frequent slaughtering by Fulani terrorist herdsmen simply because of their faith in God Almighty and their desire for freedom from a suffocating Fulani Islamists hegemony. Well done High Chief. 

FYI: What Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari's government "proscribed" was IPOB but not Biafra. It also did not ban the wearing of any clothing that looks like or have any connotation of Biafra. The rising sun symbol or red, black and green colors are not exclusive Biafra as to suggest that anybody wearing a design based on them is promoting IPOB. They are not IPOB nor Biafra insignia or attire or regalia. While IPOB is Biafra, Biafra is not IPOB. Biafra is bigger and larger than IPOB as IPOB is but one huge branch of the Biafra tree. The High Chief should approach a court for these clarifications to be pronounced on.  

TRUMP'S HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS & AIDS: THE UNENDING "BLACKS ARE BAD" NARRATIVE.

ICHEOKU says President Joe Biden's immigration officials set mounted horses against them at Del Rio and deported thousands of them back to Port-Au-Prince as soon as they were pocked up, despite the dire situation in Haiti. It did not matter to the administration that amongst those helpless Haitian immigrants were thousands of women and children. It did not matter to the administration that Haitian president was assassinated a few months ago on July 7th, 2021 and that the country is rudderless and adrift on the sea of hopelessness and despondency. It did not matter to the administration that thugs and gangsters are running amok in Haiti, making life unbearable and that security situation is deplorably bad. 

Then add the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2021 which turned Haiti upside down on its head and reeling in abject depravation and degrading poverty. But none of these were sufficient to persuade the President Joe Biden's administration to show mercy on these unfortunate Haitians who successfully made it to America through the Del Rio entry point to grant all of them at least a temporary stay in America. Instead, the administration deported thousands of them back to the same Haiti which they fled several years ago, where they are now more despondent than they ever were when they left as their country that has changed drastically for the worse. 

Now, as if those Haitians immigrants have not had enough punching on the nose already, here comes former President Donald John Trump disparaging them further, stating that majority of them probably have Aids. In his own words while on a telephone interview with FoxNews Sean Hannity, the former president said, of Del Rio's Haitian immigrants: "Haiti has a tremendous AIDS problem. AIDS is a step beyond, AIDS is a real bad problem. So hundreds of thousands of people are coming into our country. And if you look at the stats, and if you look at the numbers, take a look at what's happening in Haiti. A tremendous problem with AIDS." An insinuation that those Haitian immigrants are infected and carrying AIDS.

What a balderdash for the former president singling out Haitian immigrants in this particularly disparaging manner as if Haitians are the only immigrants that ever came to America with some infections or even probably carrying the HIV/AIDS disease. Why the attack on Haitians with such insinuation, afterall Rock Hudson was the first face of AIDS in the world and he is an American, but nobody ever disparaged America or tried to publicly shame America for the scourge that eventually killed the Hollywood rich and famous Hudson. America also had HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s but no country in the world ever isolated American citizens or shamed Americans for producing Rock Hudson in this manner, calling them out as AIDS carriers. So, why Haitians?

But a former president who is either oblivious of the damage or who does not care about his image and how he is perceived among black community in America as an acute racist, continues to give his detractors more ammunition for their continuous firing off of their racist accusations and attacks against the former president. Why is he still digging more inside a hole of racism when he is already in, instead of guarding his utterances more carefully and being more circumspect about what he says that could be (mis)interpreted as further evidence of what they already accuse him of. President Trump should make effort at building bridges with blacks everywhere, including Haiti, in order to help him burnish his image and make it more amiable to black people.

It does not even matter assuming what the former president said is true, such a public figure should be more careful not to utter such divisive and derogatory statements capable of stigmatizing a particular people. We are not allowed to call Islamist terrorists Muslim islamists terrorists because it would stain Muslims all over the world; so why is it then ok to stain all Haitians and by extension, every black people, by painting Haitian immigrants as AIDS carriers. The United States of America at 2.40% even have more people living with HIV/AIDS according to the World Index on HIV/AIDS than Haiti with 2.10%, so why the singling out as if Haitians are the incubators of the disease.

It only goes to show the former president's aversion to all things black; and further propagate the typical stereotyping that paints everything Africa and black as bad and negative. With regard to Haitian immigrants, the former president does not have any proof of the "stats" he quoted and  could not possibly validate his claim, yet he said it, regardless. Whether it was Trump being Trump or to be provocative on the issue of immigration and make a point that President Joe Biden has failed with his immigration policy, what he said only festers the fear of Haitian immigrants by Americans. It is also indisputable that there are more homosexual gay men in America than Haiti and if the typical stereotyping that the dreadful disease is a gay disease, why then is Haiti being singled out in this manner. 

Hopefully, the former president will realize the gravity of what he said soon enough to disclaim or deny it; and apologize for it, except that he does not usually apologize, before it costs him more black supporters and many Haitians live in Florida and throughout the East Coast. Haitian immigrants should not be demeaned in this manner and portrayed as "poster-child" for AIDS. They are immigrants looking for a better life in America just like other immigrants from other parts of the world who throng into America in search of their American dream, not knowing that many of such adventurers before them found nightmares instead; and decided to sleep on rather than wake up to a dream that did not come true. Our homeless and prison population attest to this fact that not all American dreamers lived their dreams but that should never stop anyone from trying their luck whenever the opportunity avails itself. So, no, the former president is wrong as Haitian immigrants are not AIDS infested.