Poem Battle Who WIn? LWKMD!

WIFE: I wrote your name on sand it got washed.

I wrote your name in air, it was blown away.

Then I wrote your name on my

heart & I got Heart Attack.

AKPOS: God saw me hungry, he created pizza.

He saw me thirsty, He created Pepsi.

He saw me in darkness, He created light.

He saw me without problems, He created YOU.

WIFE:.. Twinkle twinkle little star

You should know what you are ..

And once you know what you are

Mental hospital is not so far.

AKPOS: The rain makes all things beautiful.

The grass and flowers too.

If rain makes all things beautiful

Why doesn’t it rain on you..?

WIFE: …Roses are red; Violets are blue.

Monkeys like u should be kept in ZOO.

Don’t feel so angry you will find me there too…

Not in cage but laughing at YOU

WHO KILLED IT? The wife or Akpos?

Evidence of 430,000-year-old human violence found

Human remains from a cave in northern Spain show evidence of a lethal attack 430,000 years ago, a study has shown.

Researchers examined one skull from a site called the Pit of Bones, which contains the remains of at least 28 people.

They concluded that

HISTORY OF MAY 29

1453 - Constantinople fell to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, ending the Byzantine Empire. 

1660 - Charles II was restored to the English throne after the Puritan Commonwealth. 

1721 - South Carolina was formally incorporated as a royal colony. 

1765 - Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia's House of Burgesses. 

1790 - Rhode Island became the last of the original thirteen colonies to ratify the U.S.Constitution. 

1827 - The first nautical school opened in Nantucket, MA, under the name Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School. 

1848 - WIsconsin became the 30th state to join the United States. 

1849 - A patent for lifting vessels

A Different May 29

FOR the first time in 16 years, May 29 would elicit more emotions than celebrations of a new government, rather another government, assuming office. May 29 is laced with trepidations about what the new government would do. The fears are mainly among those who have run the affairs of Nigeria since the 1999 season of civil administrations.

The immediacy of the fears has been located in indications that the eyes of the government may not wonder beyond a few years in the prosecution of its anti-corruption agenda. The befuddlement over the age of Nigeria’s corruption and the interesting analyses to save a select few from the blows, if they ever come, are another interesting side to the inauguration of the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari. Whatever he does would be a new aspect of our governments;

Keep believing

Experts say marijuana use can lead to stunted growth in teen boys

In recent times, medical experts have alluded to the medical advantages of marijuana. But it appears this can only be after a certain age as a study has shown that use of marijuana with teen boys can lead to stunted growth.

According to the study presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin, Ireland, researchers at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan found boys who smoke marijuana through puberty will stunt their growth due to a decrease in growth hormone levels.

Speaking on the finding, Dr. Syed Shakeel Raza Rizvi, lead author of the study said:

"Early puberty is associated with younger age of onset of drinking and smoking, and early matures have higher levels of substance abuse because they enter the risk period at an early level of emotional maturity,”

He further said that  "marijuana use may provoke a stress response that stimulates onset of puberty but suppresses growth rate,"

During the research, the group assessed puberty and growth-related hormones in the blood of 220 non-smoking and 217 marijuana-addicted boys.

The research team also examined the levels of the stress hormone cortisol through collecting saliva samples among 10 adult marijuana users.

It was then found that puberty-related hormones such as testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH), increased among marijuana smokers. But growth hormones decreased in this group.

When researchers checked back in with the men at age 20, the non-smokers were on average 4 kilograms heavier and 4.6 inches taller than their marijuana-smoking counterparts.

According to MSN, the growing concerns over the effects of marijuana use on teens, surrounds the developing brain.

The mind-altering drug can disrupt the transition that takes place form the brain of a child into the brain of an adult by suppressing neurons in the hippocampus and causing learned behaviours to deteriorate.

Furthermore, a 2010 study published in the journal Clinical EEG and Neuroscience found the use of marijuana during the teen years negatively impacted brain structure volume, quality of white manner, and the ability to perform cognitive function.

NIGERIANS ARE SUFFERING

Due to MTN and Airtel, our biggest telecommunications announcements on their shut downs, I wonder if we will return to using NIPOST to send messages to our loved ones (just saying though).

We have suffered enough in the hands of government and we await zealously for change to step in. If this should continue for another week, I believe even airports will shut down.

God help us. 

4 Things to Be Aware of When Writing English Content for an International Audience

Why the Smartest People Don’t Always Give the Best Advice: The Importance of Local Wisdom

Say you want to become a novelist: who would give you better advice on getting started, Stephen King or someone who just published their first book?

I imagine most people would lean towards Stephen King. After all, he’s an incredibly successful author, so he certainly knows a lot of things that a first-time author wouldn’t. If King and this first-time author gave contradictory advice, you’d probably ignore the newbie and listen to the legend.

This doesn’t just apply to novelists. Scientists would prefer to look to Einstein for inspiration than the colleague who just got tenure. Rappers want to emulate Jay Z not the guy who just went pro. New start-up entrepreneurs look to Gates and Jobs, not smaller scale triumphs.

But despite the near-universal tendency to want to listen to these greats, I think that it’s often the people only a few steps ahead of you that offer better advice.

Listen to the Person Two Steps Ahead

Few people are in a position where they could receive and weigh both the advice of someone like Stephen King and a first-time novelist side-by-side. King is completely inaccessible. The best you could hope to get would be to watch interviews with him, or read his books about writing.
However, the tradeoff between listening to the expert and the person just two steps ahead of you is present everywhere.

Say you wanted to start learning French. Should you ask for learning advice from the person who started learning a decade ago and is now nearly fluent, or the person who just broke into having simple conversations? Or programming. Should you see what your friend, a full-time coder, has to suggest? Or the friend who just made his first application?

Why would anyone listen to the less qualified person, given these options?
I think there are a few compelling reasons why the person just a few steps ahead can offer better advice.

#1 — What Matters Changes as You Get Better
When you ask someone for advice, you’re implicitly asking them what’s important. Unfortunately, some things are very important for beginners but don’t really matter once you’re fairly successful.
Consider blogging. I’ve been blogging for years, writing every week. I have an archive of over 1000 articles. Few readers will ever get through even 10% of those. At this stage, my primary focus is on writing quality content, not just trying to increase my post count.
However, for a newbie, the advice to “focus on quality” probably isn’t the most useful. Most newcomers have no experience writing. Therefore, the best way to improve quality is to simply write a lot. Making a goal to write more is questionable advice for an established blogger, but essential advice for a newcomer.

Advice from someone just a few steps ahead will better reflect what’s important at that stage.

#2 — The Path to Success Changes
Success in some pursuits is timeless. If you wanted to get in shape, the same truths which held hundreds of years ago hold today.

But success in many areas is shifting constantly. The publishing world when Stephen King began his career is drastically different from the one today. Many of the steps a new Stephen King would have to embark on are completely different than the ones he actually took.
The person a few steps ahead will possess much more recent information as to what it takes to achieve the next step.

#3 — Success Breeds a Different Outlook
There are a lot of false, feel-good beliefs which are a luxury to possess. As a result, people who don’t have to face the consequences of those delusions are more likely to possess them. This is the danger of going soft, and although some successful people stay just as sharp as when they started, many switch to feel-good beliefs at the price of uncomfortable truths.
Advice from those just two steps ahead will give you not just the words, but the urgency. They can, with the tone of their voice, imply how hard you’ll need to work and what steps are necessary to undertake.

Cultivating Local Wisdom
I don’t think that the opposite extreme, that all your advice should come from those who are only a little better than you, is a good solution either.

People far more successful can point out troubling local maxima that are invisible to those only a bit better than you. They can tell you when a strategy is unsustainable, or prepare you to navigate future obstacles you can’t currently foresee.

But just as you want to get a birds-eye view of the big picture, you need to see the details as well. Local wisdom matters because its exactly that detailed, experience-specific knowledge that is often lost when you only focus on people far more important and accomplished than you.

My advice: Whenever you start working on a goal, strive to find at least one person who recently accomplished a very similar goal and ask for their advice. Not only are these people more accessible for personalized advice, but they often carry wisdom that’s simply unavailable from any other source.

The Illusion of Security

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men experience it as a whole. Avoiding danger, in the long-run, is no safer than outright exposure.” – Helen Keller
Security doesn’t come from following the masses. With an economic collapse, terrorist attacks, obesity epidemics, and third-world flood-relief efforts in an industrialized country, I don’t think anyone can argue that the world is inherently safe. But in that fear you have two choices: to blindly follow the masses over the edge of a cliff, or to think for yourself.
Personal development and unconventional choices often lead to the most success. But despite their appearance, they often hold the least risk. Businesses can fail and diets can be flawed, but every day people lose their jobs and eat hamburgers. There is no such thing as complete safety, and if there was, it certainly wouldn’t be existing in the millions of mediocre choices made by the majority today.

The Only Security is Within You

Personal development, far from being a risky choice, is probably one of the safest. You can always lose your job, but only rarely can you lose your skills. Businesses can die, but the lessons learned from failed ventures make future businesses stronger. Your health can falter, but your skill in changing your habits can stay strong.

If any investment of your time doesn’t build internal assets, it isn’t worth doing. Even the most lucrative job isn’t worth the paycheck if you aren’t becoming more skilled or knowledgeable as a result. One of the reasons I believe running a business is safer than working at a job is that I’ve learned far more from entrepreneurship than I have from any job or class. Even if my external assets fail, I’ve still built internal assets that can’t be taken away.

STAND FIRM

"I may be lost and weary; maybe a little disappointed, may not see the road ahead of me clearly, but guest what? I'm not giving up!! If I have to drag myself to the finish line, you can bet on it. Going through hell is nothing when you know paradise awaits ahead of you."

DO NOT LOSE HOPE!

"When it seems you have lost the battle of life, when you feel deserted even among your loved ones, when all you strength and determination seems to fly away in the Horizon, in just one dolt; when you repent over the loss of your most precious gifts in life, through no fault of yours, remember one thing; nothing is constant and permanent in this world. Neither time nor life, neither solution nor problems, neither precaution nor cure, neither success nor failure.

The thing you feel you have lost, was never yours, be it materialistic or a treasured relation, job or a person. You acquired it in the process of fighting the battle of time. Remember, you lose only when you possess it in the first place. It is you who achieved success in all the fronts of life. If you can do it once, you can do it again.

Do not lose hope. Have faith and belief in yourself. Every human is born with a purpose in life. Think positive. One day these positive vibrations will attract and attach new strings in your life. These strings will create and bring the harmony and music in your faded life. Your life will become a musical note once again." 

Akpos No wan Die

Akpos and Ofego were having dinner when suddenly armed robber broke into their house.  Akpos wanted to run away but he said to himself dat if he run away, he might be killed so he freezed himself & stood like an image. The armed robber ordered for money but they did not have money, so d armed robber looked at d image, then turned to Akpos’ friend Ofego and said:

Armed Robber: Take a look at such a beautiful image you have in ur house, but you don’t have any money. Infact i’m going to destroy dis image.  sets his gun, points at the image(Akpos) and was about to shoot.*

Akpos: (screamed out!) Please dont shoot, I am d image of God.

Armed Robber: So here you are, I have been praying to you to give me job but you don’t want to answer my prayer. Today, since i have d opportunity of seeing you, i will not let u escape. When you get to hell, explain to them why u did not want to give me a job.

*about to shoot*

Akpos: (screamed out again!) Please, please, I am d image of Akpos. I don’t want to die!.

World’s biggest Disney store opens in China

The world’s biggest Disney store, and the first in mainland China, opened in Shanghai’s bustling Lujiazui financial district on Wednesday, a statement said.

The statement said that 860-square-metre shop featured a castle at its centre with an hourly music and projection showing the California-based company.

It stressed that more than 2,000 products, including clothing, bags and mobile phone accessories, were available for purchase at the store.

According to statement from Disney, the store gives visitors a taste of what to expect for the much-anticipated opening of the 5.5 billion-dollar Shanghai Disney Resort, which is scheduled to open next spring in Pudong.

“The park is one of nearly 60 theme parks currently under construction in China’’, it said.

It added that there has been a boom in the building of theme parks in China in recent years, as the domestic tourism industry has scrambled to cater to the growing middle class.

Report says Shanghai Disney Resort is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company and Shanghai Shendi Group, which hold 43 per cent and 57 per cent of total shares of the owner companies respectively.

Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company, already has parks in Japan and Hong Kong

How long will APC rule?

For a party that emerged through a marvellous merger just two years ago and on the verge of ruling-party status at the federal level, it may seem premature to contemplate the life expectancy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the context of power. But such reflection is timely ahead of the inauguration of the incoming Muhammadu Buhari presidency on May 29, particularly because of the pronouncements on the party’s lifespan by political prophets.

In other words, against the background of the 16-year governmental lifespan of the outgoing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from 1999 to 2015, can the APC rule for a longer period? It is thought-provoking that President Goodluck Jonathan, who is heading for the exit following a stunning electoral defeat, expressed optimism about his party’s chances of regaining power at the centre in 2019. Jonathan said to party members after receiving the report of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation at Aso Villa, Abuja: “We must continue to be united as a party. And continue to work hard so that as we move towards subsequent elections in 2019 and 2023, PDP will come out stronger.”

Also, PDP National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh said: “In this regard, all members who have reports, grievances and suggestions on the way forward should transmit same to the Post-Election Review Committee for an all-inclusive roadmap in the overall effort to regain power in 2019.”

It is possible that Jonathan’s confidence merely reflected ostrichism and a conscious denial of his party’s decline and fall, which is understandable because overexcited stalwarts had predicted 60 years of PDP rule.  However, perhaps things are not so simplistic, considering the perspective of the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Suleiman. In an interview, Suleiman said of APC: “I give the party just one year, it will fizzle out. APC does not have what it takes to stay in power for 16 years or more as the PDP did.” He added: “How will Atiku, Tinubu, Obasanjo and others work together for long? It cannot last for long.  They do not have anything in common. Many of the people in APC have come together for selfish interests and when the expectations are dashed by Buhari’s government, they will scatter.”

This pessimism is not only projected by PDP hierarchs, it is promoted with curious enthusiasm. However, it is noteworthy that this viewpoint, which predated the general elections and  dates back to the merger talks leading to the formation of APC, was flawed by the constitution of the party against all odds as well its triumph at the polls. APC’s record-setting performance has been described as “the first time in Nigeria’s political history that an opposition political party unseated a governing party in a general election and one in which power will transfer peacefully from one political party to another.”  Remarkably, APC also won the majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives in the historic 2015 elections. Apart from winning the presidential poll, the APC is in the saddle in 22 states, the PDP in 13 and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in one.

Interestingly, the diversity of forces that formed APC was responsible for the ouster of PDP. It was a demonstration of the potency of collaboration that the product of the combination of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was sufficiently muscular to overcome the PDP.

However, APC cannot afford the luxury of resting on its laurels; and this is why the party must take the prophecies of doom seriously. The glory of its celebrated election victory will not be sufficient for future feats.  For a party that earned the votes of the electorate based on its campaign for change, APC itself will need to change from a vote-seeking party to a vote-attracting party, meaning that being in power will demand a new imagination.

There is no doubt that the end of the PDP era has created great public expectations, and all eyes will be on APC to live up to expectations. When power formally changes hands, it would be expected that the actions of APC will begin to speak louder than its words. Ultimately, that is the challenge of change.

It is interesting to note that the PDP prophets have concentrated on APC’s alleged incapacity to survive, and glossed over the PDP’s sinking ship. One significant voice highlighted the necessity for soul-searching. Senate President David Mark was quoted as saying that the party was “already hemorrhaging.” Mark warned: “Unless we halt the bleeding and find the necessary therapy, we may be heading for the final burial of the party. The party is already comatose and we should do all we can to resuscitate the party rather than this unnecessary rancour and buck passing.”

Now, given the vigour of APC, contrasted with the PDP’s loss of vitality, it should be easy to guess which of the two parties may slump when the going gets tough. The two parties will be grappling with unfamiliar roles. Federal power is new to APC, just as opposition politics is strange to PDP. Will it be easier for APC to master its new status than for PDP to manage its reduced station?

Aware of the picture, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, observed that PDP “has neither the capacity nor the commitment to be in the opposition.” Mohammed declared that an opposition party needs to be “creative, knowledgeable, resourceful and above all credible,” adding, “It is not by cheap blackmail.”  Mohammed was also quoted as saying: “This is why we wish to extend to the National Working Committee of the PDP a free orientation, just as we have offered the party’s spokesman a free crash course on how to be an opposition party spokesman. The theme of the orientation will be ‘transiting from the ruling party to an opposition party’.”

It remains to be seen how 2015 to 2019 will play out, how quickly and effectively APC can deliver the desired change to cement its position, and how speedily PDP can recover from its post-election trauma to renew and reposition itself for the future.  How long will APC rule? Or how soon will PDP return?