Nigerian Armed Forces Remembrance Day.

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

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.

If you want to know how the United States went from being the most admired to the most hated nation today, you have to read this thread. It exposes the insanity of the American liberal media, which by the way is the major cause of the decline of the western society.

Between 2013 and 2015 the Nigerian government practically begged for the sale of specialized aircraft to fight the insurgency, the A-29 Super Tucano to be precise and its compliment of precision guided munitions and smart bombs. Nigeria was willing to pay over half a billion.

The U.S found every reason they could to delay the deal. Even when they agreed upon the sale, one mishap and the deal is cancelled. This went on for years. Hillary Clinton herself fought for two years not to include Boko Haram on the U.S list of terrorist organizations.

Then there was a disruption. President Trump won the 2016 presidential election. Ever a pragmatic man it didn't take long for him to see the absurdity in denying Nigeria weapons it needed to BHT. He cancelled Obama's ban and approved the sale of the A-29. ALL HELL BROKE OUT

The U.S mainstream media went beserk. They accused President Trump of supporting a brutal and abusive Nigerian government. Why, they asked was the U.S identifying itself with an autocratic regime. To say this is hilarious will be an understatement.

ISWAP’s rapid rise, defying the military of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon is still poorly understood. Know why? Because it makes no sense. It defies logic. Boko Haram was on the verge of collapse. factions were killing each other. Fighters were surrendering en mass.

Suddenly we hear on TV ISIS now has a foothold in West Africa. How? In June 2014, when Abu Bakr al Baghdadi declared a caliphate in the Levant, jihadist camps in Nigeria were abuzz with the news. Abubakar Shekau declared his own caliphate two months later in August.

At first communications challenge. This was when the Nigeria media was not in the business of broadcasting terrorist propaganda. Boko Haram lacked a stable internet connection. At that point, ISIS began giving Shekau advice on how to manage its communications, suggesting that it

use the messaging app Telegram, popular among jihadists due to heavy encryption instead of WhatsApp. So Boko Haram and ISIS began exchanged audios, videos, photos and documents about recent battles, internal organisation on a daily basis.

The back andforth was probably monitored by the CIA, because it was reported that Information gleamed from this back and forth chatter allowed the US to track him down and kill him in 2016 in an air strike in Syria.

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

Today in pulp I look back at the world of Soviet women's fashion!

It's not all berets, but it mostly is...

Now you may think that fashion and the Soviet Union go together like Groucho Marx and Friedrich Engels. However that is to misunderstand the nature of the Commad Economy: if she commands it, you'd better buy it for her!

So there is a rich history of fashion and fun (along with the tractor factories and endless ballet performances) in the old USSR. Let's take a sashay along it...

At the start of the Soviet years women's fashion, let's face it, tended towards the functional. Red was popular, as were headscarves, hobnail boots and the ability to field strip a 3-line rifle.

But all that was about to change...

...because Russia had a new fashionista in charge: Stalin! He hated the peasant look of War Communism because it made socialism seem synonymous with poverty. He ordered Soviet Woman to spruce herself up.

Chinese president Xi Jinping is the lead speaker at this week's Davos Agenda, the World Economic Forum's online summit.

Xi lays out four priorities for world:

1) Step up "macroeconomic policy coordination" and promote "strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth of the world economy";

2) Abandon ideological prejudice and "jointly follow a path of peaceful coexistence." Says no country is superior to another. "There would be no human civilization without diversity," he adds, taking aim at "arrogance, prejudice and hatred";

3) Close the divide between developed and developing countries. "With the growth of developing countries, global prosperity and security will be put on a more (solid) footing"; and,

4) "Come together against global challenges and jointly create a better future for humanity." "No global problem can be solved by any one country alone. There must be global action, global response, and global cooperation."

THE EVOLUTION OF OUR NATIONAL FLAG (1857-1947)

The INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG is not just a flag! It's a testimony of patriotism and seamless sacrifice. A symbol representing one of the oldest civilizations on this planet.

Let's hope what happened yesterday never repeats!

(Thread)

After the revolt of 1857, the first Indian flag was designed. The design was based on western heraldic standards with "Union Jack" in the upper-left quadrant and a "Star of India" enclosed in the royal crown in the middle of the right half.(1)

The flag was a symbol of the direct imperial rule in India.(2)

In 1904 the first Indian flag which stood for India's independence from the British was devised. The design was provided by sister Nivedita, an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda.(3)

The flag was red and yellow with an image 'Vajra' (weapon of god Indra). The phrase 'Vande Mataram' was written in Bengali on it. The red colour and the yellow colour signified freedom and victory while the symbol of vajra stood for strength.(4)

#Navalny is facing TWO court hearings today; one is happening now. I'm listening to his speech. He's trying to explain: he was not hiding from the court; he was in a coma. The whole thing is so absurd that it is impossible to comment. In a nutshell: they just want him locked up.

It is clear that the verdict will not be overturned. He will go to serve 2.8 years or more in a penal colony. His allies are locked up under home arrests w/o the Internet. People are silenced. Honest and brave people have lost again.

Navalny's last word #1: "I give the last word so frequently. This trial will end now; there will be the second [today]. And there, too, I will say my last word. If someone decides to publish my last words, it will be a thick book..."

"Probably, this is a sign the power sends me, “Look, we can turn this judicial system any way we want. What are you doing? I'm not the only one who sees this and... people imagine that it can happen to them, too..."

Navalny speaks of his newly found faith and says that he experiences "satisfaction" and doesn't regret returning to Russia." He did the right thing and followed the commandment "blessed are those hungry for righteousness, for they will be satisfied"

Those with a stated interest in heritage, like e.g.
@theSpurtle @NTBCC
may be interested to read our new section covering the extensive advice given to the Council & Developer by Historic Environment Scotland.

To save people having to read the whole thing here are a few key points. HES conclusion: "the proposed development would give rise to "adverse effects on the OUV of the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh World Heritage Site (WHS) & the setting of the Category A listed Royal Crescent"

Regarding the application brought forward HES "recommended changes to the design of the development which we consider would reduce and avoid the impacts described" (on the OUV of the WHS). These included reduced height.

However, even the 1st pre-application advice issued to the developer & Council said "On the northern part of the site.. six-storey blocks would constrain... views to the Crescent from the north… Reducing the height of the.. blocks…would… protect the WHS topography & townscape"

Then on another occasion "our clear preference would be for the consideration of alternative options for the footprint and massing of development in this area" Referring to the southernmost blocks nearest to Royal Cres