The Village Square - Random Videos http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/ This is a discussion forum about Nigerian affairs en Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:43:46 GMT vBulletin 60 http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/styles/webpoint/misc/rss.jpg The Village Square - Random Videos http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/ Changing Color Complex http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38802-changing-color-complex.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:53:26 GMT Image: http://www.essence.com/images/mt/sammy.jpg Image: http://www.essence.com/images/mt/images/sidebar/sammy-sosa-300x425.jpg Image:... Click the image to open in full size.Click the image to open in full size.

Click the image to open in full size.

Sammy Sosa's Changing Face

From this to this. Is it poor self esteem?

Isn't it ironic that while some darker-skinned people seem to want to be lighter, it seems the opposite for caucasian people. Millions of them are diagnosed with skin cancer from lying in the sun wanting to tan their colour. ]]> The Lounge valteena http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38802-changing-color-complex.html Could Obama Pass On 2012 Reelection Bid? http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38801-could-obama-pass-2012-reelection-bid.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:43:50 GMT ---Quote--- Is it possible that President Obama could be considering not running again in 2012? President Barack Obama In an interview with...
Quote:
Is it possible that President Obama could be considering not running again in 2012?

President Barack Obama

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, the nation’s first African-American commander in chief suggested he might take a page from the biography of President Lyndon B. Johnson and not seek reelection.

"You know, if – if I feel like I've made the very best decisions for the American people and three years from now I look at it and, you know, my poll numbers are in the tank and because we've gone through these wrenching changes, you know, politically, I'm in a tough spot, I'll – I'll feel all right about myself," Obama told CNN's Ed Henry during an interview in China. "I said to myself very early on, even when I started running for office, I don't want to be making decisions based on getting reelected, because I think the challenges that America faces right now are so significant."

But Obama was careful to leave room for a possible reelection bid, just in case. "Obviously, if I make those decisions, and I think that I'm moving the country on the right direction – economically, in terms of our security interests, our foreign policy – I'd like to think that those policies are continued because they're not going to bear fruit just in four years," he said.

Also during the wide-ranging interview, Obama said he’d take a pass on reading the much ballyhooed new book by former Alaska governor and Republican political movie star Sarah Palin.

When asked by Henry whether he would be one of the hundreds of thousands expected to gobble up the memoir of the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential candidate, he said, "I probably won't, but I don't get a chance to read things other than briefing books very often these days anyway.”

But he declined an opportunity to dismiss her as a non-serious candidate for 2012.

"You know, she obviously has a big constituency in the Republican Party," he said. "You know, there a lot of people who are excited by her."


http://www.bet.com/news/National_Cou...Reelection_Bid
Could it be that he can sense that it will be harder for a carmel to pass through the eye of a needle than for him to clinch a second term?. Any way A term is enough me think. The point and history has been made. ]]> The Main Square valteena http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38801-could-obama-pass-2012-reelection-bid.html Angola 2010: Its, Nigeria vs Egypt at Nations cup http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/sports/38799-angola-2010-its-nigeria-vs-egypt-nations-cup.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:09:01 GMT Breaking News: Group A: Angola, Malawi, Algeria, Mali Group B: CIV, Burkina, Togo, Ghana Group C: Egypt, Mozambique, Benin, Nigeria Group D:... Breaking News:

Group A: Angola, Malawi, Algeria, Mali
Group B: CIV, Burkina, Togo, Ghana
Group C: Egypt, Mozambique, Benin, Nigeria
Group D: Cameroon, Gabon, Zambia, Tunisia

na Mozambique I fear pass for our group

Group B is surely the group of death ]]> Sports Big-K http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/sports/38799-angola-2010-its-nigeria-vs-egypt-nations-cup.html <![CDATA[European Union gives Nigeria $1bn 'for peace]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38797-european-union-gives-nigeria-1bn-peace.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:46:59 GMT European Union gives Nigeria $1bn 'for peace'

Militants have been demanding a greater share of the oil wealth
The European Commission has signed a $1bn (£602m) development pact with Nigeria, aimed at tackling corruption and promoting peace.

A substantial amount of the funding will be spent on resolving conflict in the oil-rich and crime-plagued Niger Delta, the EU's development chief said.

The money will also target electoral reform and improving human rights.

But correspondents say many Nigerians will doubt the money will get to its intended targets.


$1 BILLION EU FUNDS
25%: peace and security
44%: governance and human rights
16%: trade, region integration and energy
15%: environment, health, culture and sciences


The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Lagos, says corruption touches the lives of everyone in Nigeria and leaves the vast majority of people in poverty.

And she says many Nigerians believe the current government is losing the fight against corruption.

Almost a third of the EU money is devoted to the Niger Delta region.

For years militants have blown up pipelines and kidnapped foreign oil workers, demanding a fairer share of the wealth.

"I'm delighted that a substantial amount of this financing will go to support conflict resolution and the peace process in the Niger Delta which has been ravaged by years of unrest," said the EU's development commissioner Karel De Gucht .

Over the past few months, thousands of militants have given up their weapons in an amnesty deal offered by the government in return for the promise of education and jobs.

A three-month respite from the violence has brought back some oil and gas production, but sceptics fear the former fighters could resume violence if they do not quickly find work.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8369974.stm ]]> The Main Square salstep http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38797-european-union-gives-nigeria-1bn-peace.html Nigerian VS American men http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38796-nigerian-vs-american-men.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:24:09 GMT disclaimer: This was culled from someone's write up,not lateesha's opinions perhaps her experience but do you think it's true?

Nigerian Men: I realllly like them- they are soo sexy and I love their macho and manliness
American Men: They're cool- a little too soft at times, but less domineering.

Nigerian Men: VERY passionate and intense in their pursuit of a woman
American Men: Very casual about pursuing women and assumes few women are "good enough" for him.

Nigerian men: Are more likely to avoid loose trampy ignorant behaving women - wants sex- w/ women who can potentially make good wife material.
American men: Don't mind loose trampy ignorant women- he just wants sex anyway and not marriage.

Nigerian men: Are sexist. Has strict ideals about the role of a woman vs role of a man
American men: not sexist at all. Wants a woman to do all he can do and MORE!

Nigerian Men: will Allow wife to be a housewife.
American Men: think housewives are lazy freeloaders. But if the wife is White (Oyimbo) then its okay for HER to be housewife and raise their children.

Nigerian Men: don't keep six pack , muscles, or stay w/nice physique past 20's or once they are married.
American Men: more likely to keep six pack, muscles, well into 30's, 40's and after marriage.

Nigerian Men: see honor in having wife, and kids
American Men: have 3 kids, and never 1 wife. (according to statistics that 70% of Afr. Amer. children are born out of wedlock.)

Nigerian Men: Appreciate beauty in all colors, and shapes. Do not like thick/plus sized women too often.
American Men: Appreciates beauty in every color except VERY DARK skin, do not like skinny girls too often, is OBSESSED with big butts. A LOT of them favor plus-sized women.

Nigerian men: don't stay in shape past their 20's, or once they are married.
American Men: Are vain and more likely to put more effort into staying in shape and looking young well into 30's and 40's.

Nigerian Men: will cheat and expect wife to forgive and forget.
American men: will cheat and KNOW he will be cussed out from A-Z, AND suffer some type of bitter revenge from the wife.

Nigerian Men: are responsible AND STINGY with money. Wife has to EXPLAIN why she needs it.
American Men: are irresponsible with money, but more likely to share with his wife with little question.

Nigerian Men: Looove Sex and are well endowed.
American men: Looove Sex and are well endowed.

Nigerian Men:Know AIDS is real-so he is more likely to play safely
American men: believe AIDS is a scare tactic and is more likely to take chances with unsafe sex. ]]> The Lounge lateesha http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38796-nigerian-vs-american-men.html <![CDATA[''Senator'' Iyiola Omisore holds a fake MS degree?]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38795-senator-iyiola-omisore-holds-fake-ms-degree.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:23:31 GMT As Senate re-run election approaches, Iyiola Omisore's post-graduate degree generates new controversy
WRITTEN BY SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK
THURSDAY, 19 NOVEMBER 2009 13:07





Ex-Senator Iyiola Omisore



Just as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State on Wednesday fixed December 5 for the court ordered re-run election for the Senate seat previously occupied by Iyiola Omisore of the PDP, a new controversy has surfaced over the authenticity and veracity of Omisore’s degree.


Omisore parades a Master’s degree in Building Services Engineering Management, which he obtained from Brunel University in the United Kingdom in July 2004, according to an academic report obtained by Saharareporters and signed by Dr. R H M Wakelin, the Chairman of the Board of Examiners in the course.

The course description on Brunel website shows the “Building Services Engineering Management MSc at the institution to be a 3-5 years self study without attendance course,” permitting the student to "follow a structured programme of self-study at home or at work."



Omisore's Academic Report from Brunel University



If this is how Omisore obtained his M.Sc degree in 2004, that would mean he was undertaking the course while in prison over the murder of the former Oyo State Governor and later Attorney-General of Nigeria, Bola Ige, in Ibadan. That assassination has never been solved.

An additional question would be how he was able to take his examinations. The structure of the Brunel University self-study programme states that while students can study at their own pace using a study pack comprising text books and CD-ROMs, they have to take annual examinations, in May. Once registered, a student can take his examinations in his country of residence. The university implements the process through "an extensive network of organisations (Universities, Colleges and British Council Offices) throughout the world" who provide invigilation, the cost of which is paid by the student. It is unclear whether such services are made available in the context of incarceration, as Omisore was in 2004, and how.

Efforts to have the former senator speak about his MSc degree have been difficult, but Stephanie Berke, who is a Clerical Officer in the Examinations and Conferment’s section of the Brunel University schools’ registry, responded to our inquiry, asking that we obtain Omisore’s consent to enable them release his academic records to us.

Today, Omisore refused to grant that consent. He told Saharareporters to wait until next week upon his arrival in Abuja to produce a copy of the certificate and the roll call of graduands.

He refused to clarify the pertinent issues relating to when he took the course and how he was able to continue while he was in detention. Saharareporters also wanted to know specifically when he completed the study, whether he used the method of self-study or attended classes, but he was non-committal. About the completion date, he gave us 2005, but the academic record clearly shows 2004.

It would be recalled that on October 30, 2009, the Appeal Court, sitting in Ibadan, removed Omisore from the Nigerian senate, following the successful the petition filed by Action Congress (AC) candidate, Jide Omoworare.


See graphics here

http://www.saharareporters.com/index...pic&Itemid=205 ]]> The Main Square FSU http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38795-senator-iyiola-omisore-holds-fake-ms-degree.html <![CDATA[Obafemi Martins 'skint' on £75,000 a week]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38794-obafemi-martins-skint-75-000-week.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:08:39 GMT Championship - Martins 'skint' on £75,000 a week
Eurosport - Fri, 20 Nov 14:09:00 2009

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/201120...-000-week.html

Former Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins was broke despite earning £75,000 a week, a High Court judge has been told.

Martins was "constantly overdrawn" and regularly blew £40,000 in a weekend before withdrawing another £25,000 on Monday, the court heard.

The 25-year-old is being sued by his former agent, Chris Nathaniel, whose company NVA claims it managed every aspect of his life and gave him cash advances.

NVA say he owes a £284,000 fee plus interest for managing his finances and other areas, and used Nathaniel in what Judge Richard Seymour QC described as "a Jeeves role".

Martins signed the a lucrative £75,000-a-week contract when he joined Newcastle from Internazionale for £10 million in 2006.

Robert Tennink, the lawyer representing NVA, told the High Court in London: "Despite earning these vast sums of money he was constantly overdrawn."

Martins, now of German champions Wolfsburg, owned a multi-million pound mansion in Darras Hall, Northumbria and rented a luxury flat on Newcastle's Quayside. He also had several high-performance cars.

The striker is fighting the claim. He was not in court on Thursday and the hearing is scheduled to last for three days.

Eurosport ]]> The Main Square Gbenga http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38794-obafemi-martins-skint-75-000-week.html <![CDATA[Killers Sell Human Fats in Peru & Italy.. Le Bizzarre!]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38792-killers-sell-human-fats-peru-italy-le-bizzarre.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:42:33 GMT nzherald.co.nz *Peruvian gang killed humans to sell fat* 9:37 AM Friday Nov 20, 2009 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/print.cfm?objectid=10610513 ... nzherald.co.nz
Peruvian gang killed humans to sell fat
9:37 AM Friday Nov 20, 2009
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/print...ectid=10610513

LIMA, Peru - Peruvian police say they have broken up a band of assassins who killed people in order to extract and sell their body fat.

Police Col. Jorge Mejia says three people arrested in the remote Huanuco province have confessed to five killings, telling police they could sell one litre of human fat for $15,000 (NZ$20,500).

Mejia told reporters Thursday the suspects told police the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima, who police suspect sold it to cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies in Europe.

Police say they cannot confirm the fat was sold.

They say, however, that they have recovered the head of one of the victims and several bottles of fat.

Medical experts contacted by The Associated Press expressed serious doubts about a global market for human fat.

- AP
Copyright ©2009, APN Holdings NZ Limited


http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2009.../#printpreview
Peru Cops Claim Gang Murdering Victims for Black Market Body Fat: The Mysterious Dr. Bittner and LipoDiesel
Posted by LBG1 on November 19th, 2009 2 Comments Printer-Friendly

Peru Police Claim Victims Murdered for Body Fat Sold to European Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical Companies


Forbes Fooled by Fake Plastic Surgeon’s Patient’s Body Fat as Diesel Fuel Claims

The Mysterious Craig Alan Bittner: Fake Plastic Surgeon Claimed He’s Returned to South America

lipo_diesel

This post began about a little story out of Peru, where Peruvian police claimed they’d made a grisly discovery of a new enterprise in the remote Huanuco province of Peru: bottles of body fat from murdered victims which the arrested suspects told police were sold to European cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies in Europe. While the police can’t confirm the body fat was actually sold to the companies, three suspects who confessed to five murders told police they sold the body fat for $15,000 to intermediaries in Lima.

“Medical experts contacted by The Associated Press expressed serious doubts about a global market for human fat.”

This story seems farfetched but then again, human fat tissue is used in biomedical research for gene therapy:

Boffins have developed a new gene therapy by using ’suicide genes’ derived from mesenchymal stem cells taken from human fat tissue, which hunt for and kill cancerous tumours.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Cestmir Altaner at the Cancer Research Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava.

And pharmaceutical research:

Human fat cells produce a protein that is linked to both inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke

Dr1_453769a
Craig Alan Bittner, “Famous Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon”

Even so, one wonders what happens to the gazillion pounds of excess body fat removed by liposuction in the U.S., whether there’s some sort of human fat “black market”. Typically, body fat removed by liposuction is considered medical waste while patients, when signing on the dotting line, agree to let the physician take care of the disposal.

It was through research that I discovered the mysterious saga of Hollywood “plastic surgeon” Dr Alan Bittner, his LipoSculpture Center in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive, a mecca for fat extraction for wealthy patients. Bittner’s “eco-friendly” enterprise, “Lipodiesel” and, his claim that he’s returned to the jungles of Bogota, Columbia, due to threats from “religious extremists” upset over his turning human body fat into eco-friendly fuel.

I found Bittner’s “religious extremists” claim rather amusing as, to date, I’ve never encountered religious proclamations that lipo-ed excess body fat was considered “sacred”.

In 2008, the Daily Mail published an article on Bittner’s “eco-friendly” new enterprise “Lipodiesel”, where Bittner claimed he powered his “4X4″ and two other cars including his girlfriend’s Lincoln using his patients liposucked excess body fat. Bittner claimed his patients were excited to be involved in a new enterprise that was “eco-friendly” and which used their body fat to “save the planet”. DM reported that Bittner’s claims were under investigation and that Bittner had “disappeared to South America” after patients had filed lawsuits against his practice for allegedly allowing his unlicensed girlfriend to carry out consultations.

The Times Online filed a report on December 24, 2008, that the California Department of Public Health was investigating Bittner due to the fact that it’s illegal in California to use “human medical waste”, aka body fat, to power vehicles. And, that patients, who had found Bittner online, were consulted by Bittner’s office manager. The Times reported Bittner had shut down his website, Lipodiesel.org..

We discovered the site was up, and, that Bittner had posted a “goodbye” on December 25, the day after the Times and Daily Mail published their articles. Bittner claimed he had taken down the website “several months ago” due to “religious extremists”:

December 25, 2008

I took this Lipo Diesel website down a few months ago because religious extremists were making threats against me and my family. Unfortunately, there are people who are offended at the idea of using human fat to illustrate the potential for all of use to solve our energy problems – and I apologize for any offense as none was intended. I merely meant to show that alternative energy is all around us, if we open our eyes and have a sense of curiosity. My patients always loved the idea of using their fat for fuel and I enjoyed turning liposuction into something more meaningful. Despite the public hysteria, I assure you that there was never any danger to the public. In fact, medical waste in the US is incinerated for safety, just as it is in the sterilizing bio-diesel process. Unfortunately, a contingency attorney has already claimed to have clients who have suffered millions of dollars worth of “emotional damages” at the thought that their fat was used for fuel, which it was not. That’s the American legal system for you.

Due to the economy and frivolous lawsuits, I have closed my practice in Beverly Hills. In the future, I hope we all can look forward to helping people solve real issues, whether that be health problems or energy independence rather than arguing over lab experiments.

I wish all of you a prosperous and inventive 2009.

C. Alan Bittner, MD

PS – I am sad to announce that the rumors I have a private jet that runs on human fat are entirely untrue.

“My patients always loved the idea of using their fat for fuel and I enjoyed turning liposuction into something more meaningful.”

It turns out that Bittner had “enjoyed turning liposuction into something more meaningful”. The “more meaningful” meaning big bucks performing liposuction on unsuspecting patients who were later horrified to learn Bittner wasn’t a plastic surgeon, and, that his staff weren’t trained professionals.

On December 23, 2008, Bittner informed his patients on his DrAlanBittner.com site, that he was closing Beverly Hills Liposculpture and that he was moving back to South America where he’d “begun” his “medical career volunteering in a rural clinic outside Bogata, Columbia”. Bittner claimed he had treated over “40,000″ patients during his ten-year practice:

My journey has been an amazing one. I began my medical career volunteering in a rural clinic outside Bogata, Columbia that did not have enough equipment and was cursed with only sporadic electricity.After 10 years in practice, I have treated over 40,000 patients, including almost 7000 liposculpture patients. I am proud to be able to tell you that the record of my liposculpture practice has been impeccable; not one single serious complication or infection. Liposculpture is truly my passion and I have been extremely fortunate, however after 10 years of private practice, I am going back to South America to volunteer with a small clinic that is very similar to where my medical career began decades ago, where I can help those most in need.

In the end it wasn’t “religious extremists” who had “ended” Bittner’s Lipodiesel dream but the fact that he’d fled the company due to the fact that the investigation revealed he was a radiologist and that patients endured liposuction treatments by people who weren’t licensed to practice dog grooming, much less invasive surgical treatments. The site, My Dr. Bittner Story relates one woman’s story on having liposuction done by the “famous” Dr. Bittner.

Bittner was in trouble in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2003, where his Ameriscan Imaging Centers were shut down due to deceptive practices. Bittner resurfaced in Los Angeles as a “prominent plastic surgeon” who opened the “Liposculpture” center in Beverly Hills.

Amazingly, Bittner sucked in Forbes, who published a glowing article on Bittner’s “lipodiesel”, Fill ‘Er Up With Human Fat, How a Beverly Hills doctor powered his SUV using his patients’ spare tires. on December 21, 2008. Three days before the Times and Daily Mail published the news that Bittner was under investigation, and had “disappeared” to South America. So far, we’ve yet to uncover where Bittner has resurfaced, or what “enterprise” he’s undertaken.

We doubt Bittner has “returned” to the jungles of Columbia where “plastic surgeon” Bittner began his “medical career” hampered by lack of “equipment” and, the “curse of sporadic electricity”. Even so, it’d would be interesting to find out if the story out of Peru is true, that there’s a “black market” human body fat market, and whether “famous American plastic surgeon” Craig Alan Bittner may be involved.

By LBG ]]> The Main Square I Love Nigeria http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38792-killers-sell-human-fats-peru-italy-le-bizzarre.html <![CDATA[[Comment]Minority Rights: The Sin Of Lying]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38783-comment-minority-rights-sin-lying.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:46:32 GMT ...Read the full article. ]]> Articles and Comments Robot http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38783-comment-minority-rights-sin-lying.html <![CDATA[[Comment]A Second Term For Yar`adua?]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38782-comment-second-term-yar-adua.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:44:29 GMT ...Read the full article. ]]> Articles and Comments Robot http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/articles-comments/38782-comment-second-term-yar-adua.html <![CDATA[World's Craziest, Stupidest and Dumbest Laws]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38791-worlds-craziest-stupidest-dumbest-laws.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:23:19 GMT Culled from NaijaPolitics Yahoo.com ... Yahoo Groups



World's Craziest, Stupidest and Dumbest Laws
Friday, November 20, 2009 5:49 AM
From:
"Adekunle"
Add sender to Contacts
To:
NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com, NigerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com


crazy stupid dumb laws all over the world
In the UK the public voted on which laws they thought were the craziest, ridiculous, stupidest or dumbest at home and around the rest of the world. The results are below:


Most ridiculous laws in Britain:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down

3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store

4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day

5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter

6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen

8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour

10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow


Most ridiculous laws around the rest of the world:

1. In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk

2. In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation

3. In Bahrain, a male doctor can only examine the genitals of a woman in the reflection of a mirror

4. In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm

5. In Alabama, it is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle

6. In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on a Sunday could be jailed

7. In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth

8. In Milan, it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except funerals or hospital visits

9. In Japan, there is no age of consent

10. In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon

11. An American Woman cannot obtain or renew passport for her daughter 14 years old, without her husband's permission:exclaim:

12. There gay men in many if not all states in the United States... but sodomy is illegal... what exactly is sodomy... could that be referring to anal sex? ]]> The Main Square I Love Nigeria http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38791-worlds-craziest-stupidest-dumbest-laws.html War (Poem) http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/inkpots/38790-war-poem.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:56:32 GMT Boom boom I heard, I shuddered And swallowed bitter saliva. Big vultures Flew over me, My heart bled For brothers in war. I lay and longed... Boom boom I heard,
I shuddered
And swallowed bitter saliva.
Big vultures
Flew over me,
My heart bled
For brothers in war.
I lay and longed
For peace,
For retreat to homes
From refugees' camps,
from war fronts.
And I slept
And dreamt
That wars
Were no more,
As I woke,
It was only a dream.

By Chidi Anthony Opara ]]> InkPots publicinfoproject http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/inkpots/38790-war-poem.html Oprah Queen Of Day Time Show To End Talk Show. http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38787-oprah-queen-day-time-show-end-talk-show.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:10:47 GMT Click the image to open in full size.

Oprah Winfrey will announce on Friday's "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she will end her talk show, said a spokesman for Winfrey's Harpo Productions.

"Oprah will be ending her talk show," Harpo spokesman Don Halcombe said Thursday. "She will be speaking about it on tomorrow's live show."

The show will air live from its Chicago, Illinois, studio at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET), he said.

The show will end on September 9, 2011, as its 25th season draws to a close, according to a letter from Harpo Inc. that President Tim Bennett addressed to partners and obtained by CNN affiliate WLS-TV.

"Tomorrow, Oprah will announce live on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that she has decided to end what is arguably one of the most popular, influential and enduring programs in television history," Bennett wrote.

The show has been the highest-rated talk show for 23 consecutive seasons, according to the Oprah.com site. It is seen by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the United States and is broadcast to 145 countries.

The show had its origins in 1984, when Winfrey moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, "AM Chicago," which became the No. 1 local talk show. The show surpassed ratings for "Donahue" one month after it began, the site said. Within a year, it had expanded to an hour-long format and been renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show." It entered national syndication in 1986.

In August 2004, Winfrey signed an extension for the show to keep it on the air through 2011.

"I got a call from Oprah, and she told me that she is announcing that next year will be her last year," talk show host Ellen DeGeneres told her audience Thursday. "It will be her 25th year, and she feels like it's time for her to stop.

"I don't think I could be here without her," DeGeneres said. "I think she has blazed a trail ... she is an amazing woman. She will always be the queen of daytime television ... she is fantastic and I love her and I wish her the best. She deserves to rest. She has worked really, really hard."

Over the years, the show has made news on several occasions. In September 2004, for instance, Winfrey began a new season by giving each member of the audience a new car. In May 2005, Tom Cruise caused a sensation when he jumped up and down on Oprah's couch, declaring his love for actress Katie Holmes.

Other guests have shared their personal struggles, such as Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former vice presidential candidate John Edwards; performer Whitney Houston and Lisa Niemi, widow of actor Patrick Swayze.

The show has also served as a launching pad for several experts -- Dr. Mehmet Oz on nutrition and health; Suze Orman on financial matters; Dr. Phil McGraw on families and relationships; and Martha Beck, a life coach. McGraw went on to have a talk show of his own.

Along the way, Winfrey has revealed her struggles with weight loss and as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. From the talk show, she has created the popular Oprah's Book Club; O Magazine; Oprah's Angel Network, a charitable foundation; and co-founded Oxygen Media, a 24-hour cable channel aimed at women.

In 2008, Winfrey announced that beginning in 2009, the Discovery Health Channel would be named OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. The network is "a multi-platform media company designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives," according to Oprah.com. Harpo Productions has also grown to include Harpo Films.

Winfrey's wealth was estimated at around $1 billion by Forbes in 2004. Last year, she topped the Forbes Celebrity 100 list that measures both power and money.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/1...how/index.html ]]> The Lounge valteena http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/lounge/38787-oprah-queen-day-time-show-end-talk-show.html <![CDATA[Jay-Z, Will Smith back Broadway show "Fela!"]]> http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/arts-music-movies/38786-jay-z-will-smith-back-broadway-show-fela.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:02:09 GMT He lives on.

DW

-----------------------------------------------------------------


Jay-Z, Will Smith back Broadway show "Fela!"

Source

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have officially signed on as co-producers of "Fela!," a musical about Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo-Kuti that opens Monday (November 23) on Broadway.

The news confirms weeks of speculation that the three would back the show.

A representative for "Fela!" did not specify the amount of the celebrities' investment, but their endorsement alone gives the musical's profile a significant boost just a week before its premiere.

"There's going to be an enormous incentive for people to investigate Fela when they know that Jay-Z and Will Smith are all rabid fans," Rikki Stein, Kuti's former co-manager and executor of his estate, recently told Billboard. "It's a sign that the underground is moving overground."

"Fela!" will help find a larger audience for the music of Kuti, who pioneered Afrobeat from the sounds of James Brown and West African high-life music, became a political icon in his native Nigeria and earned the admiration of everyone from Paul McCartney to the Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil before his death in 1997.

"I have an abiding regret that Fela never achieved the recognition he deserved during his lifetime," Stein said. "We have a long row to hoe in terms of general knowledge and acceptance."

In addition to green-lighting "Fela!," Kuti's estate has licensed his catalog to the newly revived Knitting Factory Records. The well-timed deal will result in the reissue of Kuti's complete catalog -- 45 albums -- during the next 12 years.

"The industry always talks about who the next big legacy artist will be," said Ian Wheeler, label manager of Knitting Factory Records. "It should have been Fela years ago. We're really trying to bring a new audience around the world, and particularly in the U.S., to his music."

Up first is the October 27 release "The Best of the Black President," a compilation of Kuti's best-known material. The set is being sold at previews of "Fela!" and at Felabrations, a series of Afrobeat DJ parties organized by Knitting Factory Records and its marketing partner, Giant Step.

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE

MCA reissued Kuti's catalog in 2001, but Bernstein, who helped market that series, said its potential wasn't fully realized. "MCA was a major label, and no matter how much they said they loved Fela and how important he was, he was definitely lost in the shuffle," he said.

Stein is all too familiar with labels' conflicted admiration for Kuti. In the mid-'80s, he said he met with every major about a potential deal. "They all received me respectfully and saw Fela as akin to Miles Davis or any of the jazz greats," Stein recalls. "But they'd ask: 'Rikki, which three minutes of this 18-minute song do you want me to put on the radio?'"

"I'd ask Fela to write me a small tune," Stein added. "He used to say, 'I'm writing African classical music. Don't mess with Tchaikovsky.'"

A deal nearly came to fruition in 1993, when then-Motown Records president Jheryl Busby offered Kuti a five-album deal under his new Africa-oriented label, with a $1.3 million advance for each album and another $1 million for full ownership of Kuti's catalog, Stein said. But after talking to his spirit advisers, Kuti refused to sign until April 1995. Busby left Motown the week of the scheduled signing, and Andre Harrell's first action as Motown's new president was to ax the African label.

"Fela!" re-creates the Shrine -- the Lagos, Nigeria, nightclub where Kuti played multiple nights each week with his band, Africa 70. Singers, dancers and musicians perform Kuti songs including "Shakara," "Zombie" and "Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense" behind lead actor Sahr Ngaujah, who has won an Obie Award for his spot-on portrayal of Kuti in the show's Off Broadway run last year. The effect is less stuffy theater than raucous concert -- just as its creators intended.

"The Broadway experience can be like sitting with blinders on," "Fela!" director/choreographer Bill T. Jones said. "This is a show you enjoy as much with your body as with your mind. It's free and communal."

"There was a constant struggle between keeping Fela's music pure and deconstructing it for the audience," said the show's musical director, Aaron Johnson, who translated Kuti's Yoruba and pidgin lyrics and is also the conductor/trombonist of the acclaimed Afrobeat band Antibalas. "I've been very pleasantly surprised with the response so far."

Nor have the most controversial aspects of Kuti's life been smoothed over, from his simultaneous "wedding" to 27 women to his clashes with the Nigerian government that led to a brutal 1977 attack on his compound, which he called the Kalakuta Republic. "It's all out there," Stein said. "Fela has not been sanitized."

And there's further proof that a Kuti revival of sorts is under way: A screenplay for a biopic is in the works, to be directed by the U.K. filmmaker Steve McQueen ("Hunger").

"I believe that with the show, the film and the reissues, a lot is going to change," Stein said. "We'll see a much wider audience for Fela. There were a million people at his funeral shouting, 'Fela will live forever.' Of course, they were right." ]]> DoubleWahala http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/arts-music-movies/38786-jay-z-will-smith-back-broadway-show-fela.html Three nijas shine in bigbrother africa4! http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38784-three-nijas-shine-bigbrother-africa4.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:51:51 GMT NIJA SHINES IN BIG BROTHER AFRICA4! For the first time in recent months,Nija is radiating positive vibes via the Mnet reality show:BIGBROTHERAFRICA... NIJA SHINES IN BIG BROTHER AFRICA4!
For the first time in recent months,Nija is radiating positive vibes via the Mnet reality show:BIGBROTHERAFRICA 4 holding in South Africa.when the show tagged REVOLUTION opened a couple of months ago,Nigeria had three inmates amongst the 25 youths picked across Africa.the three,Kevin,27,…the hot favourite for the grand prize:D;Nkenna,23 ,the enfant terrible girl Africa loves to hate and Geraldine,24 who from internet polls may likely come home this weekend.Ghana s rep was evicted in the very first week!the three nija inmates have shown typical bonding of nijas when away from home,ensuring their safety thus far while other nations even with only an inmate each had been evicted.The last seven inmates standing now are Itai(Zimbabwe),Edward(Namibia),Emma(Angola),Nzamo( Malawi)and of course the three nijas.Kevin made concerted efforts to befriend Elizabeth from Tanzania:kiss:,but she naively played hard to get until the frustrated viewers voted her out with her tantrums.:twisted:Emma fell head over heels with Jeremy from Uganda :drool:and almost lost focus of her mission inhouse until Jeremy got evicted some weeks back.Geraldine,despite taking her guitar in did not show much action except her portrayal of the typical nija s mum s pet.Nkenna on the other hand was garrulous to a fault!she claimed to be born again but got drunk twice,once threatening to strip naked for Africa!:rant:she naively claimed to be a virgin but said she would not mind being open to a stranger as a loved person may jilt her after claiming her prize!the three nija reps deserve kudos for showcasing Nigeria well.The show as in Bigbrother 1-3 opens the window to the world to see how African youths behave as individuals and as a group,especially when restricted to a location.viewers have learnt a thing or two about the culture,tradition,menu,etc of the various participating nationals.Barring any unforeseen circumstances,Kevin may likely bag the $200,000 prize.:clap:but in games like this,nothing is too certain until Dec 6th,last day in Big Brother4 House.:shake: ]]> The Main Square agensheku http://nigeriavillagesquare.com/forum/main-square/38784-three-nijas-shine-bigbrother-africa4.html