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What will it take to go after ISWAP enclaves in the Lake Chad region? These guys are building a freaking army !!. If we seriously want this war to end we have to create a buffer, isolate Boko Haram and keep them from having outside reinforcement of any kind.

 No amount of appeasement will force the Chadian government or their French overlords from denying ISWAP the use of their territory as a staging ground. They are just not interested in doing that. Not because they cant, but because it goes against their interest,
Think about it. In February 2019 a series of French airstrikes targeted a group of “mercenaries and terrorists” from Libya. French Mirage fighters struck a column of 40 vehicles that crossed into Chad from southern Libya.
French military said it got involved at the Chadian government’s request. Think about this for a minute. They obliterated a convoy of 40 pickup trucks of an armed group that had travelled from Libya and was “penetrating deep into Chadian territory.
I implore you to look up a map and see the incredible amount of distance required to carry out such an undertaken. The fighter jets, based at the N’Djamena, first carried out a “show of force” flying low over the convoy. The awestruck militants would have been wondering
where the hell they came from. However, the column continued despite the warning, and the French fighter jets carried out two airstrikes. FORTY convoys wiped out by Mirage jets. So here's the paradox. They destabilize Libya,
There’s instability in Libya. it’s full of terrorists. The terrorists are allowed to traverse the Sahel into northern Nigeria unmolested. But try that with Chad the French air force will come for you. The Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR) rebel group probably dont get it.
They cried after the strikes saying the French government must stop meddling in Chad’s “internal problems”, saying the strike had targeted its men. This guys are wasting their time. The French are there to protect the Derby regime at all cost. Democracy will not be tolerated.
Remember the Maskirovska pulled by Chad early this year where a group of Boko Haram fighters supposedly attacked a Chadian army base few kilometers away from French and American bases for NINE HOURS !! unmolested. 100 Chadian troops were killed. After which they took their time
carting away weapons, stacked them unto boats. Not speed boats. Paddle boats (canoes) and paddled away to safety to their sanctuaries in the Lac Province. And we we are all supposed to believe that is remotely possible. The French could stop rebels from Southern Libya,
pound the crap out of them for 3 consecutive days..but could only watch helpless as Boko Haram attacked an army base for nine straight hours. Idris Derby declared war. Dorned his army uniform. Called in tv crew to capture him leading his men. You cannot make this up lol
and embarked on a campaign of lies to embarrass the Nigerian government in the most undiplomatic of fashion. Calling press conferences complaining Chadian forces have occupied territory in Nigeria and asking the media to beg Nigeria to come occupy liberated territory so
they can leave. Drawing a fierce rebuttal from the usually silent Nigerian army. Remember the ''Whose champion are you'' phrase used by Army spokes man John Eneche.
Nigerians may have a hard time understanding the fact that Boko Harams stronghold is around Lake Chad, which lies primarily within Chadian territory. The area combines rich agriculture, pastoralism and fishing that helps the jihadi groups engage in commerce.
I can confidently say that until ISWAP/Boko Haram fighters are uprooted from the Lake Chad and denied sanctuary, it will be virtually impossible to end this war. No matter how much losses they suffer. They retire to their enclaves, restrartegize, re-arm and bounce back.
They can do this forever if they have to. The Chadian authorities can easily restrict economic activities of ISWAP on the territory. French and American forces can turn those enclaves into ashes. Its never going to happen. The onus is on Nigeria to say enough is enough.
In 2015, after scamming President Jonathan of $22 million dollars in a sham ceasefire and going into hiding, Boko Haram apparently went rogue on Chad and carried out two suicide bombings in the Chadian capital. The Chadian military carried out retaliatory airstrikes in Nigeria.
Without notifying Abuja the Chadian air force carried out air strikes on Boko Haram targets in Nigeria to avenge the twin suicide bombing. Citing the "cowardly and barbaric acts perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists", which killed 33 people in N'Djamena
....the Chadian government said that it had "carried out reprisal airstrikes on the terrorists' positions in Nigerian territory" . Six Boko Haram bases were destroyed in the air raids, which caused "considerable human and material losses. It didnt end there. When army spokesman
Olukolade came out and said the strike was part of an agreed framework between both countries, Idris Derby publicly denied notifying Abuja. He said the decision to strike was unilateral and Chad would continue its "merciless" pursuit of the insurgents "so that no drop of
Chadian blood spilt goes unpunished". Listen folks. What will give a man the confidence of, after sabotaging Nigeria's final offensive against BHT. Scam Abuja $22 million for the sham ceasefire, and run into hiding when Shekau resurfaced and denied talks of any ceasefire
France was privy of the fake ceasefire deal and said nothing..and then months later the Chadian military carry out unauthorize airstrikes on Nigerian soil and not only brag about it but threaten to do more.
But here we are years later. We know of ISWAP sanctuaries on Chadian territory. We know terrorist from all over converge on those islands to strategize. We know they smuggle arms into Nigeria from those bases. We have documented evidence of ISWAP running a mini republic.
We know they both turn a blind eye because a destabilized Nigeria is in their best interest. For Chad, access to oil rich Nigerian islands. For France, complete control of West Africa. We have the assets to carry out strikes on those enclaves. Yet we do NOTHING.
We have drones that fly higher and faster and can be used to perform surgical strikes on predetermined targets. The Nigerian army itself can occupy the entire Lake Chad island and create a buffer. We can use our economic leverage to force them to act. We do nothing.

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So just saw a clip with CNN pundits claiming Nigeria investing in rail transport with Chinese funding is nothing but a white elephant project. It would have been better spent to build schools. Since when did the media decide what Nigeria should and shouldn't do with its money?

Ive seen a Focus on Kenya Exclusive on CNN. They spent 4 minutes talking about Kenya's mobile banking system, which is the most sophisticated in the world, and spent an hour on Kenya's Kibera slums. When terrorist struck Nairobi mall CNN was unabash in showing images of blood

and gore of dead victims repeatedly all through the day. This will never happen in a similar style terror attack anywhere in the West. It’s time to take a hard look at the role of the liberal media in perpetuating a horribly simplistic and stereotypical portrayal of Africa

At what point do we stop being dormant?. At what point do we fight back to salvage our self esteem and integrity as Africans? They did not condemn the U.S invasion of Iraq that has forever changed the middle east.
WORLD
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Defense News Nigeria
@DefenseNigeria
The Balkanization of Africa has long been a strategic aim of several foreign powers. As Zbigniew Brzezinski, a US foreign policy theoretician and top adviser to US President Barack Obama stated, a divided and warring Nigeria ultimately serves the interests of the United States.


The initial intention of the powers that be in covertly supporting Boko Haram was to destabilize Nigeria, trigger sectarian divisions and violence, and then rush in to ‘save’ Nigeria under the banner of military assistance and humanitarian aid. Today the powers that be


..has essentially created a conflict intervention industry. Some are testing and exhibiting new weapons system. Others are flexing their diplomatic influence. Private military contractors are securing lucrative contracts, with Russia leading the pack in this field with its


"Little green men" in Libya and Mozambique. Not to be left out Eric Prince, the founder of U.S based Blackwater, travelled to Abuja where he met with Nigeria's President and offered to destroy Boko Haram for a fee of US$1.5 billion. That offer was rejected. See the dynamics?

They criticized Eeben Barlows STTP involvement in Nigeria and then used the back door to try cut a $1.5 billion deal with the Nigerian government. Abuja chose the South African based Special Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection (STTEP) International Ltd.
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I have for the past one week been forced to put off tweets about weapons systems and focus instead on the international conspiracy. I thought today would be different. Apparently not. Media outlets are saying its time for Peace Talks with Boko Haram. Are these people for real?


If this is coming from some mediocre outlet one can easily disregarded. But when mainstream media is saying things like

''With options limited for fighting terrorists negotiations may be the best remaining alternative. How stupid of an idea is that? First of all Boko Haram

is not winning. Their goal of Islamizing Nigeria or set up a caliphate has clearly failed. The more cowardly attacks they mount against civilians the more obvious their desperation. They know they cannot hope to win. The number of jihadi groups fighting to overthrow

national governments and setup a state has grown steadily over the past decade. Sitting down with a murderous jihadi group that does not recognize or abide by the Geneva Convention is as good as recognizing and legitimizing them. Its that simple. I sincerely hope the Nigerian

government do not yield to these carefully planted ideas. Yesterday Amnesty received a $750,000 warchest. Today Nigerian media is talking about negotiating peace talks with a non state entity. Lemme try and explain the dynamic implications of sitting down with terrorist groups.
WORLD
Defense News Nigeria
Defense News Nigeria
@DefenseNigeria
The Christmas Day Truce.

On Christmas Eve 1914 soldiers hunkered down in trenches no further than 150 meters away from the enemy in a network of channels and human trough lines stretching across the north of France all the way to Switzerland.


Separating the warring sides was No Man’s Land, and it doesn’t matter what side initiated the ceasefire, what matters is it happened. The fighting stopped. The 1914 Christmas truce was not the first unofficial truce of this great conflict, but certainly one of the last.

The sound of the other side’s conversations, laughter, groaning and singing replaced the falling of shells and the rain of steel.

Most accounts say it was the Germans that started the Christmas celebration as their clocks would have indicated it was Christmas back home

one hour earlier than the British and French again, it really doesn’t matter. What does matter, at least for this writing, is soldiers looking across No Man’s Land and not seeing carnage, but rather seeing tiny Christmas trees with candles pop up on the German side

or Allied soldiers holding up cigarettes and waving their caps. The sound of music and laughter filled the lifeless void their world had become. Initially, both sides planned to deploy their burial and body retrieval squads before the next day’s fighting took place as that
HISTORY
Defense News Nigeria
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The army is doing a better job of fighting Boko Haram in the northeast, especially Borno state. The Islamic terrorists continue disrupting commerce in Borno state by attacking road traffic and occasionally even army bases. The army has set up a convoy system and even these


escorted convoys are attacked. Boko Haram continues to raid rural towns and villages for supplies and prisoners. The captured civilians are either convinced (if they are teenage boys) to join the fight or used as slaves. This was especially the case when Boko Haram took large

numbers of teenagers from rural boarding schools. Criminal gangs are now trying mass kidnapping and demanding ransoms.

Despite the heavy losses, the two major Boko Haram factions continue to operate, raise money and attract new recruits.

The larger faction is also called ISWAP and it is the cause of most of the violence near Lake Chad. The two factions have fought each other in the past but in the last two years appear to have established some form of ceasefire and an effort to stay out of each other’s way.

But there seem to be growing competition between various criminal groups. Boko Haram released a video showing some kidnapped boys and offered to negotiate. It turned out that Boko Haram was not involved but was trying to benefit from the incident before it was resolved.
WAR

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If Rinu or Marinu has exited the Judicial Panel it is because SHE HAS SEEN THAT THERE WAS NO MASSACRE and she is trying to escape the judgement of us and hers. Us being those who knew all along that LekkiLies was babanla iro & hers are the sorosokes who she won't be able to face

Let us put things in context: She did not belong in that Panel all along. We said it and asked for her to be kicked out. That girl tainted that Panel's proceedings, she was a judge in her own cause. It was her who found a bullet that had not been fired on a visit to the locus/

She is trying to disguise by leaving so that she can come back to her tissue-paper ladled supporters for a pass. They see their undoing-that they are responsible for the deaths of 4 soldiers and about 27 Police Officers and about 50 civilians all over Nigeria who all died because

of their #LekkiLies. All of them have blood on their hands and eternal pain on their consciences. Until they purge themselves of these by apologising to Nigerians, the evil they did will haunt them forever. At 23, someone has become so notorious for evil. Same with the sWitch/

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How do you explain the Trinity in Chinese? If you're a Christian in Tang China, there's a few ways!

I'm @ChenHuailun, back for my last #Twittistorian thread, this time on translating the names of God in Chinese Christian documents. ~ahc #jingjiao 1/


There are two main writers/translators credited in the extant documents of the Christian (called 'Jingjiao' 景教 in Chinese) corpus of Tang China: Aluoben and Jingjing. ~ahc #jingjiao /2

Aluoben (阿蘿本) was said to have been the Persian missionary responsible for bringing Christianity to China, arriving in Chang'an in 635 and building a church there with 21 monks. ~ahc #jingjiao /3


'Observing the azure clouds, he [Aluoben] bore the true sacred books; beholding the direction of the winds, he braved difficulties and dangers.' - Xi'an stele ~ahc #jingjiao /4


Let's pause on this name, Aluoben (阿蘿本). Some translate it as 'Olopen.' Is it a Syriac name, perhaps a rendering of Yahballaha or Abraham? Or perhaps a Middle Persian name Anōš-ruwān (meaning immortal soul)? ~ahc #jingjiao /5
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MISREPRESENTED CONTEXT

1. I am indeed disgusted with attempts to misrepresent and take out of context what I wrote on my blog yesterday.


2. Those who did that highlighted only one part of paragraph 12 which read: “Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past.”

3. They stopped there and implied that I am promoting the massacre of the French.

4.If they had read d posting in its entirety & especially the subsequent sentence which read: “But by & large the Muslims hv not applied the “eye for an eye” law. Muslims don’t. The French shouldn’t. Instead the French should teach their people to respect other people’s feelings

5. Because of the spin and out of context presentation by those that picked up my posting, reports were made against me and I am accused of promoting violence etc… on Facebook and Twitter.
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(1/11) This term, I’ve taught a seminar @IslamicSt_UniFR called “Little Ice Ages and Mighty Microbes. What Environmental History Can Tell Us about the #MiddleEast”. These are some of the things that I’ve learned. A thread. #twitterstorians #environmentalhistory


(2/11) The Arab invasion of #Iran led to a cotton boom – until the 11th century. Then a “big chill” made agriculture detract. Leading Sunni scholars moved elsewhere &bimportant madrasas closed. This helped to eventually convert Iran into Shi’i-majority lands in the 16th century.


(3/11) The “golden age” of the Ottoman Empire saw the conquest of Egypt. With grain (incl. rats/fleas) now being shipped in huge quantities from Alexandria to #Istanbul, the capital became a constant “plague hub” (which, in turn, dramatically increased Ottoman medical knowledge).


(4/11) At the same time, several #Ottoman provinces were already operating at the ecological limit while still being forced to provide Istanbul with animals. When the Little Ice Age hit these semiarid areas in the late 16th century, significant rebellions & crises ensued.


(5/11) Not only humans suffered but animals, too. Epizootics killed livestock in 18th century #Egypt, which made peasants become more dependent on large landholders. Consequently, “changes in nature of rural labor degraded the lives of both beast and man.”
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Why should we be careful when talking about a “jobs bounce-back” in South Africa? - A THREAD.

You don’t get better labour market economists in South Africa than the @NIDS_CRAM team, but the main finding of an “employment bounce-back” seems counterintuitive. What’s going on? 1/n

NIDS-CRAM does NOT show a rebound to pre-COVID employment levels. They report 700,000 job lost between Feb and Oct 2020, this is massive = 3.85% fall (broad definition). The authors of the employment paper say this could be as high as 5.3% or 960,000 jobs.

The authors @joshbudlender @ihsaanbassier (+ Rocco) also show that Oct employment is normally higher than Feb employment, super roughly Oct is plausibly around 102% of Feb. This means it’s plausible 360,000 jobs would have been gained between Feb-Oct *anyway*.


This would mean - within the study parameters - it’s possible COVID has caused up to (an outer outer limit) of 1.32 million job losses when comparing Oct 2020 with what we would have expected it to be in normal times. This is a total disaster in the context of the SA economy.

This is roughly what we should expect from the StatsSA QLFS. This showed 2.2 million jobs lost in first half of 2020, and 543,000 regained in Q3, meaning a loss of just under 1.7 million jobs in first 9 months. We’d definitely expect some more jobs regained in Oct-Dec.
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We're basically fucked.

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To say more than generalities for a moment, here's what I think is likely the core problem.

Techies take weird, improbable visions, and make them realities: some BS pitch deck to a VC, mixed with money and people, really does turn into some novel thing.

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Shy people are either overthinking or highly observant of the social setting.

And in many cases it can be both.

'So what do I do?'

You learn the 75/25 law.

'What is that?'

The law of charisma...👇

Let's address the over thinkers first.

Do you have any idea why you overthink?

'Yea. Because others are judging how shy I am.'

Incorrect.

Others are thinking about themselves, not you.

But the fact that you think they are thinking about you, you fuck up the interaction.

Now you stay in your head too much & avoid the present moment.

A major no no in the social world.

Your tendency to think that others are judging you for being shy, coincidentally makes you more shy.

And that's when you start giving off a strange vibration to the social setting.

This is when you begin attracting comments like 'why are you so quiet?'
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Unique Natarajar made of emerlad is abt 6 feet tall.
It is always covered with sandal paste.Only on Thriuvadhirai Star in month Margazhi-Nataraja can be worshipped without sandal paste.


After removing the sandal paste,day long rituals & various abhishekam will be https://t.co/e1Ye8DrNWb day Maragatha Nataraja sannandhi will be closed after anointing the murthi with fresh sandal paste.Maragatha Natarajar is covered with sandal paste throughout the year


as Emerald has scientific property of its molecules getting disturbed when exposed to light/water/sound.This is an ancient Shiva temple considered to be 3000 years old -believed to be where Bhagwan Shiva gave Veda gyaana to Parvati Devi.This temple has some stunning sculptures.
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We find its mention in Skanda puraan(Reva khand) and Bhavishya Puraan(Pratisarg parva).
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The story began in Naimisharanya when Vyasji asked Sutji about a way to eliminate all the sorrows and fulfill all the desires and about who is the devta who can grant these at the same time.

So Suutji first prayed to Bhagwan Satyanarayan who is no one else but Vishnu ji.

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