1/ This 10 year old Buhari-branded Tee must be my oldest piece of cloth (bar a couple of agbada inherited from our patriarch).

The story?

In 2011, when Buhari was a hard sell in the South, before he joined forces with Tinubu et al, some of us volunteered to sell him

2/ So a group of us on Nairaland then came together, raised some funds among ourselves. I was the coordinator. I remember one Nairaland guy - from Kogi? - I didn’t know came to my then office and dropped N500k cash and 100 pieces of this Tee from the booth of his car.

3/ We raised about N800k in all and did jingles in radio stations in Lagos, Osun, Oyo and Rivers states. I think we called ourselves Buhari Online Support Group or something like that. We also did some publicity material and distributed those shirts.

4/ I churned out over 20 articles in newspapers making a case for Buhari candidacy. That was also where I got to be friends with people like Femi Adesina and Tope Fasua, through pages of newspapers.

5/ Well, with GEJ’s 2011 goodwill (recall the “I had no shoe” & “Breath of fresh air” campaign mantras?), +with absence of political xture (forget volunteering by small boys like us, you cannot make inroads into a region without xture), GMB only managed to get 200k votes in Lagos

HOW CHINA CHOOSE THEIR LEADERS

On twitter, I have seen many people say China is evil because it’s an Autocratic Government and Why don't Chinese support western style democracy? Why do Chinese people support President Xi, who has no votes?
Now, let’s enlighten ourselves.

1/n

Unlike the so-called "democratic countries," the Chinese people value experience more than votes or other abilities for government officials.
From the Sui Dynasty on (1400 years ago), officials were selected and promoted by examination, not by blood or birth.

2/n

In today's China, if you want to enter politics, you have to take a hard and competitive road. Whether you come from a grassroots family or a political family, you have to go through every step. Only in this way, you can reach the top of power, like President Xi.

3/n

To get started, you have to own a college degree, at least for most Chinese govt officials. You have to take the national civil service examination and be admitted. In 2019, 92000 people took the exam and 14537 were admitted, with the admission rate of 1.58%.

4/n

The ruling party in China is the CPC. In addition, there are 8 other parties. You have to join one of them. If your idea is to become the supreme leader of China, I suggest you join the CPC. You will be one of the 90 million CPC members. They are all your competitors.（5/N）

This morning, His Excellency starts the 2020 Edition of the National Thanksgiving Ceremony at ZITF Grounds. This is the fourth such get-together of the faithfuls, with the President having attending all but one. Zimbabwe is a prayerful Nation of many faiths, all of which coexist

...harmony as dictated to by the National Constitution.

A thread
1/9
"Srinagar, January 4, 1990. Aftab, a local Urdu newspaper, publishes a press release issued by Hizb-ul Mujahideen, set up by the Jamaat-e-Islami in 1989 .. asking all Hindus to pack up and leave."
by @KanchanGupta

2/9
"In the following days, there is near chaos in the Kashmir valley with Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and his National Conference government abdicating all responsibilities of the State."

3/9
"Walls are plastered with posters and handbills, summarily ordering all Kashmiris to strictly follow the Islamic dress code, ... masked men with Kalashnikovs force people to re-set their watches and clocks to Pakistan Standard

4/9
"Srinagar, January 19, 1990. Jagmohan arrives to take charge as governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah, whose pathetic, whimpering, snivelling government has all but ceased to exist and has gone into hiding, resigns and goes into a sulk."

#KashmiriHinduExodus

5/9
"As evening falls... three taped slogans are repeatedly played the whole night from mosques: 'Kashmir mei agar rehna hai, Allah-O-Akbar kehna hai' (If you want to stay in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-O-Akbar);
#KashmiriHinduExodus

Heartwarming news of the successful separation of conjoined female twins at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), yesterday.

Can anyone pls confirm that these photos circulating on social media are from that surgery?

Part of why this is even more exciting is that the 1st time UITH attempted a separation of conjoined twins, fifteen years ago, the babies sadly died, after 14 hours. So it’s really gladdening to see that UITH haven’t given up, and that the ‘class of 2020’ are alive & doing well.

GHANA’S ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND WHY I KEEP DEFENDING THEM BUT THEY KEEP DISAPPOINTING ME

A thread

Ghana has had 8 general elections under the 4th republic and every election has had its challenges
I must say that, the EC, political parties and other stakeholders have always tried to bring in measures or reforms to make an election and its processes better than the previous

From voting with opaque ballot boxes in 1992 to using voter ID in 2000 to using a biometric system in 2012, the integrity of Ghana’s electoral system has been difficult to undermine or rig

However it seems as someone who has championed the course of the EC and its activities, recent events has me worried and reason I think Ghanaians must ask for the right and legal things to be done to protect the sovereign will of the people

I had never trusted election figures until 2012 and these are my reasons; From 1992-2008, the electoral system had frailties that could be manipulated to the advantage of one party
There were reported cases of over-voting, multiple voting and others not on the register voting

Among the 4 far right parties in Israel, looks like "New Right" (mildly religious, very hawkish) will run alone and be anti-Bibi

Jewish Home (very religious, mildly hawkish), Religious Zionist Party (very religious, very hawkish), and Otzma Yehudit/Jewish Power (theocratic, genocidal) will run together and be pro-Bibi

The "Religious Zionist Party" used to be called "Tkuma", it was the religious faction of a hawkish, mostly secular coalition called the "National Union". It's legally taken over the National Union's spot in the election registry but jettisoned most of it's secular voters

"Jewish Home" used to be called the "National Religious Party" for most of it's history. It renamed itself in order to gain secular votes but most of those new people left to form "New Right" so now "Jewish Home" is smaller than the old "National Religious Party"

In the last election, New Right, Religious Zionist Party (then called Tkuma-The National Union), and the Jewish Home all ran together as pro-Bibi with Otzma Yehudit running on its own and failing to enter parliament

THREAD ON CHINA AND GLOB0HOM0

The conventional understanding of right & left, liberal & conservative, breaks down when applied to China

China, while ostensibly communist, differs from other communist countries and from Western leftist ideology in several important ways.

I.

China's "socialism w Chinese characteristics" is heavily nationalist & even racialist, in contrast to the internationalist & anti-racist bent of Western leftism. They have a clear (though somewhat flexible for political expediency) understanding of who is and isn't Chinese

The Han ethnic majority forms the core of Chinese identity, while other (Asiatic) ethnic groups within Chinese territory are still considered Chinese w equal citizen rights but who will be fiercely repressed if they cause problems (Tibetans and Uighurs)

Everyone else a foreigner

II.

China is fiercely protectionist

Their banning of Western social media served 2 purposes: 1) keep glowy foreign subversion out of their cyberspace, and 2) create domestic alternatives such as Weibo and WeChat for greater economic benefit to themselves

China was let into the World Trade Organization thanks to efforts by Bill Clinton (who took CCP $$$) and George W. Bush. They said China would become more liberal and democratic

Dear MAGA, why do you follow this con? First he told you Mexico would pay for the wall. They didn’t. Then he warned you that caravans of illegal immigrants were invading. They weren’t. He said the ACA was a disaster and that he had an amazing plan to replace it. He didn’t.
(1)

He said he was the strongest against Russia. But he wouldn’t even condemn Putin for putting bounties on our troops. He said it was a perfect call. It wasn’t. He said he would save the coal industry. He didn’t. He said other countries would respect us. They don’t.
(2)

He said he only hires the best people. But fires those same people. He said if Clinton were elected it would be nothing but investigations. We’ve had nothing but investigations his entire 4 years. He said he would be tough on North Korea. They have more missiles than ever.
(3)

He said they’re coming for the suburbs. No ones coming. He said Covid was a hoax. It’s not. He said it’s just like the flu. Over 350K are dead in 10 months. He said he shut down travel from China. Not true. He said everyone who wants a test could get one. They couldn’t.
(4)

He told you masks don’t work. Let me say that again. He told you masks don’t work. Cmon. He said the day after the election Covid would just go away. Since the election every fucking day has been worse. Over 4K died just yesterday.
(5)

@priyankagandhi
Does love jihad exist ?

@HouseOfFakts @Udaysha98313533 @DESI_INDIAN98 @SoumavaPaul4 @annodomin1

Essence/existence distinction in Maximus?

Here is the Greek

“Existence” in the Greek is “to einai”. Literally “the thing being”. Same as what St. Thomas uses in the Latin (esse).

He even discusses how form cannot create existence and existence must be added to form to make form actual.

This is hundreds of years before St. Thomas.

Ahead of the 1st anniversary of Soleimani's assassination, senior Iranian officials praise his contribution to the liberation of Iraq from ISIS. But in fact, the Quds Force led by soleimani took advantage of the ISIS crisis to maximize the Iranian influence in Iraq.⬇️

The IRI sees great importance in Iraq as part of its own national security for variety of reasons. Historically, Iran has aspired to control the Shiite holy shrines of Iraq, mainly in Najaf & Karbala. For this purpose, fierce battles took place btw Iran and the Ottoman Empire.⬇️

Thus, Iraq became a major destination for exporting of the Islamic Revolution immediately upon the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The essence of Iranian motivation in the war was to establish a pro-Iranian Shiite puppet government there.⬇️

Highly motivated to establish a Shiite revolutionary regime in Iraq, the IRI rejected Saddam's proposal for a ceasefire in 1982. Accordingly, the war continued for another six years in which hundreds of thousands more people on both sides were killed.⬇️

In 2003, due to IRI's fear of the possibility of the U.S. establishing a Shiite democracy in post-Saddam Iraq, it meddled in Iraq's affairs and established an array of Shiite militias. Tehran used this transnational array to wage a proxy war against the U.S. in Iraq.⬇️

.@N12News assessment of Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi's tenure as IDF Chief of Staff at 2 yrs:

2-@n12news:IDF finishing 2 good yrs since Kochavi's appointment: few Israelis harmed by terror, terror attacks stopped at border, including sea and land penetrations from Gaza , bombs on Syrian border, rocket attacks, Cyber attacks

3-@n12news: On the offensive, IDF engaged in, intensifying "war between wars" -- most activity carried out by air or sea, small part through cross-border special forces ops. Not just in Syria, but also Iraq, Lebanon, Sinai, in addition to reported cyber attacks in Iran

4-@N12News: Significantly damaged weapons, bases, armament factories. "Iranians evacuated 50% of forces in Syria, moved bases east," mistakenly thinking this would complicate IAF missions. Damage also to Syrian Army, its missile factors and defense systems

5-@n12news: War Between Wars will expand in coming yr, but this brings Israel closer to point where opponents can no longer restrain themselves

Today, an emotional Sunday thread on signs & wonders in Lagos, and why my trip to Ajah is on hold.

TL:DR - God safe Lagos drivers

It all started after I decided I needed to hear God's voice directly this Sunday, and so I would go to physical mass, no more online.

I decided I would go to Divine Mercy in Lekki, as opposed to St. Charles Borromeo in VI.

My first decision.

As I parked my car, I noticed the car on my left side was not parked properly - one of those criminal offences people commit when they take up space for two cars, instead of parking properly inside the designated lines.

As a law abiding citizen, I hinted at this to the attendant

Fast forward to the end of Mass, filled with the spirit, I stepped out of church and walked towards my car.

As I did, a man said to me - 'this your corolla is fine o, very smooth and clean, you should borrow me'

Now, people who know me know that I like my car to be clean - inside and outside. I don't like scratches or bashes. I'm too good a driver to have such.

So after hearing this, I was very proud. I entered my car and drove to pick up something from the office (still Lekki)

A "brief" recapitulation of monthly events/turmoil in 2020 :-

⚠ LONG THREAD

JANUARY
-US airstrike killed one of the most important leader of Iran, Gen.Qassem Soleimani
-Philippines Taal Volcano eruption
-Trump impeachment inquiry
-Iranian military by mistake downed a Ukraine plane killing all 176 on board

FEBRUARY
-Anti CAA riots in India
-Namaste trump event
-Coronavirus Spreading
-UK leaves Brexit
-US confirmed killing of Yemen AlQaeda Leader
-US-Taliban sign peace agreement (withdrawal of American Soldiers from Afghanistan, releasing prisoners)

MARCH
-India becomes observer of Indian Ocean Commission
-Finland topped the World Happiness Report
-Olympics Postponed
-Former CJI nominated in Rajya Sabha
-Syrian strikes kill Turkish soldiers
-Migrant exodus struck India

APRIL
-India supplies HCQ and paracetamol worldwide
-Hole opened up in Ozone layer in Arctic got closed
-Global surge in violence against women due to lockdowns
-Oil prices hit negative
-KimJongUn "dead or alive"