I am Nigeria. I have millions of
acres of arable land and billions of cubic litres of water,
but I cannot feed myself. So I spend $1 billion to import
rice and another $2 billion to import milk.. I produce rice,
but don't eat it. I have 60 million cattle but no
milk. I am hungry, please re-brand me.
I drive the latest cars in the world but have no roads.
I lose family and friends everyday on roads for which
funds have been looted. I lose my young, my old, and
my most brainy and productive people to the potholes, craters and
crevasses they travel on everyday. I am in permanent
mourning,
please re-brand me.
My school has no teacher and my classroom has no roof. I
take lecture notes through the window and live with 15
others in a single room. All my professors have gone abroad,
and the rest are awaiting visas. I am a university graduate,
but I am illiterate. I want a future, please re-brand me.
Malaria, typhoid and many other preventable diseases send
me to hospitals which have no doctors, no medicines and no
power. So my wife gives birth with candle light and surgery
is performed by quacks. All the nurses have gone abroad and
the rest are waiting to go also. I have the highest maternal
and infant mortality rates in the world and future
generations are dying before me. I am hopeless, hapless and
helpless, please re-brand me.
I wanted change so I stood all day long to cast my vote.
But even before I could vote, the results had been
announced. When I dared to speak out, silence was enthroned
by bullets. My rulers are my oppressors, and my policemen
are my terrors. I am ruled by men in mufti, but I am not a
democracy... I have no verve, no vote, no voice, please
re-brand me.
I have 50 million youths with no jobs, no present and no
future. So my sons in the North have become street urchins
and his brothers in the South
have become militants. My nephews die
of thirst in the Sahara and his cousins drown in the waters
of the Mediterranean. My daughters walk the streets of
Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, while her sisters parade the
streets of Rome and Amsterdam. I am inconsolable, please
re-brand me.
My people cannot sleep at night and cannot relax by day.
They cannot use ATM machines, nor use cheques. My children
sleep through staccato of AK 47s see through the mist of
tear gas. The leaders have looted everything on the ground
and below. They walk the land with haughty strides and fly
the skies with private jets. They have stolen the future of generations yet unborn and have money
they cannot spend in several lifetimes, but their brothers
die of hunger. I want justice, please re-brand me.
I can produce anything, but import everything. So my
toothpick is made in China; my toothpaste is made in South
Africa; my salt is made in Ghana; my
butter is made in Ireland; my milk is made in Holland; my
shoe is made in Italy; my vegetable oil is made in Malaysia;
my biscuit is made in Indonesia; my chocolate is made in
Turkey and my table water made in France. My taste is
far-flung and foreign, please re-brand me.
My people are cancerous from the greed of their friends who
bleach palm oil with chemicals; my children died because
they drank 'My Pikin' with NAFDAC numbers; my poor
die because kerosene explodes in their faces; my land
is dead because all the trees have been cut down; flood
kills my people yearly because the drainages are
clogged; my fishes are dead because the oil companies
dump waste in my rivers; my communities are vanishing into
the huge yawns of gully erosion, and nothing is being done.
My livelihood is in jeopardy, and I am in the uttermost
depths of despondence, please re-brand me.
I have genuine leather but choose to eat it. So I spend a
billion dollars to import fake leather.. I have four
refineries, but prefer to import fuel, so I waste more
billions to import petrol. I have no security in my
country, but would rather send troops to keep the
peace in another man's land. I have 160 dams, but can
not get water to drink, so I buy 'pure' water that
roils my innards. I have a million children
waiting to enter universities, but my ivory dungeons
can only take a tenth. I have no power, but choose to flare
gas, so my people have learnt to see in the dark and
stare at the glare of naked flares. I have no direction,
please re-brand me.
My people pray to God every morning and every night,
but commit every crime known to man because re-branded
identities will never alter the tunes of inbred rhythms.
Just as the drums of heritage heralds the frenzied jingles,
remember - the Nigerian soul can only be Nigerian - fighting
free from the cold embrace of a government that has no spring, no
sense, no shame. So we watch the possessed, frenzied
dance, drenched in silent tears as freedom is locked
up in democracy's empty cellars. I need guidance,
please re-brand me.
But then, why can I not simply be me, without being
re-branded? Or does my complexion cloud the color of my
character? Does my location limit the lengths my liberty?
Does the spirit of my conviction shackle my soul? Does my
mien maim the mine of my mind? And is this life worth
re-branding? I am not yet born, please re-brand me.
We can all bring about the needed change if we affect our little
sphere of influence.
A GOOD PLAN TODAY IS BETTER THAN A PERFECT PLAN TOMORROW.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Seneca Isayha Wallace
Seneca Isayha Wallace (born August 6, 1980 in Sacramento, California) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa State.
Early years
Wallace attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, and was a letterman in football and basketball. In basketball, he won All-Sierra Conference honors and All-Sacramento honorable mention honors.
College career
Wallace attended Sacramento City College in order to stay close to home at his mother's request. He transferred to Iowa State University for his junior and senior year.
Wallace received widespread notice in 2002 while with the Iowa State Cyclones in a play known affectionately to some as "The Run," in which he ran for a 12-yard touchdown versus Texas Tech. However, his actual amount of running in this play was estimated at over 120 yards (some sources claim it was actually 130 or more), as he dodged tackles and ran parallel to the end zone while receiving numerous blocks from his offense. While quarterbacking the Cyclones in 2001 and 2002, he threw 26 touchdowns and 27 interceptions.
Professional career
Seattle Seahawks
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of Iowa State University. It is widely thought his draft value dropped because of his insistence that he play quarterback for the team, rather than Antwaan Randle El-type wide receiver. Intrigued by his athleticism, the Seahawks gave him that chance. Wallace made his mark in the 2005 NFL Playoffs when he caught an acrobatic 28 yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck in the NFC Championship game against the Carolina Panthers' Ken Lucas.
In 2006, Wallace started in four games as quarterback after an injury to Hasselbeck's right knee. Under his leadership, the team won two games and lost two. His passer rating was 76.2 for the 2006 season, passing just under 1000 yards, throwing 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
In 2007, Mike Holmgren began using Wallace as a wide receiver in limited formations. By week seven Wallace had caught two passes, run two end arounds, and thrown an incomplete pass on an end around option pass.
In 2008, Wallace started two pre-season games at quarterback and had good statistics against Minnesota and Oakland. After injuries at wide receiver hurt the Seahawks, Wallace was moved to that position, but strained a calf in his first game.
After the injury of Matt Hasselbeck, he returned as a starter in week seven of the season at Tampa Bay, where the team lost 20-10. The next week, he led his team to a 34-13 win over San Francisco. In week 9, Wallace threw for the longest touchdown pass in Seahawks franchise history with a 90-yard completion to Koren Robinson in the Seahawks' first play from scrimmage. However, the Seahawks lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-7. Wallace played again in the 21-19 road loss to the Miami Dolphins in week ten. Hasselbeck was cleared by team doctors to play and was the starter again for week 11. Because of another injury to Hasselbeck, Wallace started in week 14 against the New England Patriots, where he threw 20 completions in 28 attempts for 212 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating for the game was 128.9. He also ran for 47 yards on three carries. However, a lost fumble by Wallace late in the fourth quarter led to a 24-21 Seahawks loss. The following week, he captured his second win as a starter as the Seahawks beat the Rams 23-20 at the Edward Jones Dome. Hasselbeck returned from injury, but Wallace remained the starter for the rest of the season. Wallace had another good performance in a victory against the New York Jets in week 16, but lost to the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals in week 17.
Cleveland Browns
On March 8, 2010 Wallace was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a conditional pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. With this trade, Wallace is reunited with his former Seattle coach Mike Holmgren, who is now the president of the Browns
Early years
Wallace attended Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, California, and was a letterman in football and basketball. In basketball, he won All-Sierra Conference honors and All-Sacramento honorable mention honors.
College career
Wallace attended Sacramento City College in order to stay close to home at his mother's request. He transferred to Iowa State University for his junior and senior year.
Wallace received widespread notice in 2002 while with the Iowa State Cyclones in a play known affectionately to some as "The Run," in which he ran for a 12-yard touchdown versus Texas Tech. However, his actual amount of running in this play was estimated at over 120 yards (some sources claim it was actually 130 or more), as he dodged tackles and ran parallel to the end zone while receiving numerous blocks from his offense. While quarterbacking the Cyclones in 2001 and 2002, he threw 26 touchdowns and 27 interceptions.
Professional career
Seattle Seahawks
He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of Iowa State University. It is widely thought his draft value dropped because of his insistence that he play quarterback for the team, rather than Antwaan Randle El-type wide receiver. Intrigued by his athleticism, the Seahawks gave him that chance. Wallace made his mark in the 2005 NFL Playoffs when he caught an acrobatic 28 yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck in the NFC Championship game against the Carolina Panthers' Ken Lucas.
In 2006, Wallace started in four games as quarterback after an injury to Hasselbeck's right knee. Under his leadership, the team won two games and lost two. His passer rating was 76.2 for the 2006 season, passing just under 1000 yards, throwing 8 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.
In 2007, Mike Holmgren began using Wallace as a wide receiver in limited formations. By week seven Wallace had caught two passes, run two end arounds, and thrown an incomplete pass on an end around option pass.
In 2008, Wallace started two pre-season games at quarterback and had good statistics against Minnesota and Oakland. After injuries at wide receiver hurt the Seahawks, Wallace was moved to that position, but strained a calf in his first game.
After the injury of Matt Hasselbeck, he returned as a starter in week seven of the season at Tampa Bay, where the team lost 20-10. The next week, he led his team to a 34-13 win over San Francisco. In week 9, Wallace threw for the longest touchdown pass in Seahawks franchise history with a 90-yard completion to Koren Robinson in the Seahawks' first play from scrimmage. However, the Seahawks lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-7. Wallace played again in the 21-19 road loss to the Miami Dolphins in week ten. Hasselbeck was cleared by team doctors to play and was the starter again for week 11. Because of another injury to Hasselbeck, Wallace started in week 14 against the New England Patriots, where he threw 20 completions in 28 attempts for 212 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating for the game was 128.9. He also ran for 47 yards on three carries. However, a lost fumble by Wallace late in the fourth quarter led to a 24-21 Seahawks loss. The following week, he captured his second win as a starter as the Seahawks beat the Rams 23-20 at the Edward Jones Dome. Hasselbeck returned from injury, but Wallace remained the starter for the rest of the season. Wallace had another good performance in a victory against the New York Jets in week 16, but lost to the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals in week 17.
Cleveland Browns
On March 8, 2010 Wallace was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a conditional pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. With this trade, Wallace is reunited with his former Seattle coach Mike Holmgren, who is now the president of the Browns
carlan Moran
Carla Moran is pressumably the fictional name of the main character in the 1981 movie The Entity and a book of the same name about a mother of four, who experienced violence and rape by an unseen force.
In 2007, japenese film director, Hideo Nakata has confirmed, that he is working on a re-make of the movie.[1]
Background
In reality Carla Moran was psydonym for Doris Bither (or Carlotta Moran), who resided in Culver City, California in the mid-1970s. She was a single mother of four, born in 1939. In 1974, her house in California was supposedly attacked by a number of ghosts or unseen creatures; about twelve different ghosts would have visited her with an average of about three per visit, apparently with one more powerful being as their leader among the unseen creatures. She was the victim of repeated and apparently violent attacks that felt like rape.[2][3]
She sought psychiatric counseling and books on the subject, and while in a bookstore, she incidentally met Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor, two parapsychologists specializing in haunted-house and poltergeist cases. Gaynor and Taff volunteered to investigate her case. They visited her home and took some Polaroid photos of Moran's room. When the paranormal figures were in the room (as reported by herself), Taff and Gaynor would attempt to photograph them; they claim that these photos did not develop properly, as though they had not been exposed. When Moran said the figures had left, they would take photos of the same area, which supposedly developed normally.[4]
Although the doctors did not have the chance to photograph every phenomenon they witnessed, they agreed in description on the sighting of floating "ball of light" seen in one room. Taff described the lights as "three dimensional, greenish-yellow to-white balls of light."[5] One of the doctors supposedly witnessed a dark shadowy figure that disappeared. The same apparition was reportedly witnessed by the eldest son.
After feeling the presence of Taff and Gaynor, the unseen minimized their visits to Bither. Bither since relocated to Texas, but she would allegedly still be visited, and sexually assaulted by them from time to time.
She was later diagnosed with cancer. In a live interview with George Noory on Coast to Coast Am November 17, 2006, Taff verified that Carla Moran had died in July 25, 2006 from multiple myeloma, thus ending research in the attacks.[6]
Interview with a family member
In 2009 Ghosttheory.com conducted an interview with the son of Doris Bither, the purported victim of the events that the movie is based on.[7]
Book and film
In 1978, author Frank De Felitta published a novel titled The Entity. A movie version (by director Sidney J. Furie) was released in 1981 and subsequently became a cult classic. Doctors Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor, who have written about this case as representing real events, served as technical advisors on the film.
The events depicted in the film and described in the book mirror those in the stories of unseen yet apparently physical paranormal forces or beings such as poltergeists and demons. The depicted events are also very similar to the Smurl haunting, with a shadowy man-like apparition and the sexual assault of the victim(s).
Following the movie, various women have appeared on television claiming to be Carla Moran. The last such person, as of 2004, was an elderly woman who, in 2001, told news reporters that she had cancer.
Apart from Doris Bither some argue that the woman, who died in 2006 of multiple myeloma was, in fact, Lisa McIntosh, Barry Conrad's girlfriend. Conrad has worked with Taff for 19 years (see worldoftheunknown.com)
In 2007, japenese film director, Hideo Nakata has confirmed, that he is working on a re-make of the movie.[1]
Background
In reality Carla Moran was psydonym for Doris Bither (or Carlotta Moran), who resided in Culver City, California in the mid-1970s. She was a single mother of four, born in 1939. In 1974, her house in California was supposedly attacked by a number of ghosts or unseen creatures; about twelve different ghosts would have visited her with an average of about three per visit, apparently with one more powerful being as their leader among the unseen creatures. She was the victim of repeated and apparently violent attacks that felt like rape.[2][3]
She sought psychiatric counseling and books on the subject, and while in a bookstore, she incidentally met Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor, two parapsychologists specializing in haunted-house and poltergeist cases. Gaynor and Taff volunteered to investigate her case. They visited her home and took some Polaroid photos of Moran's room. When the paranormal figures were in the room (as reported by herself), Taff and Gaynor would attempt to photograph them; they claim that these photos did not develop properly, as though they had not been exposed. When Moran said the figures had left, they would take photos of the same area, which supposedly developed normally.[4]
Although the doctors did not have the chance to photograph every phenomenon they witnessed, they agreed in description on the sighting of floating "ball of light" seen in one room. Taff described the lights as "three dimensional, greenish-yellow to-white balls of light."[5] One of the doctors supposedly witnessed a dark shadowy figure that disappeared. The same apparition was reportedly witnessed by the eldest son.
After feeling the presence of Taff and Gaynor, the unseen minimized their visits to Bither. Bither since relocated to Texas, but she would allegedly still be visited, and sexually assaulted by them from time to time.
She was later diagnosed with cancer. In a live interview with George Noory on Coast to Coast Am November 17, 2006, Taff verified that Carla Moran had died in July 25, 2006 from multiple myeloma, thus ending research in the attacks.[6]
Interview with a family member
In 2009 Ghosttheory.com conducted an interview with the son of Doris Bither, the purported victim of the events that the movie is based on.[7]
Book and film
In 1978, author Frank De Felitta published a novel titled The Entity. A movie version (by director Sidney J. Furie) was released in 1981 and subsequently became a cult classic. Doctors Barry Taff and Kerry Gaynor, who have written about this case as representing real events, served as technical advisors on the film.
The events depicted in the film and described in the book mirror those in the stories of unseen yet apparently physical paranormal forces or beings such as poltergeists and demons. The depicted events are also very similar to the Smurl haunting, with a shadowy man-like apparition and the sexual assault of the victim(s).
Following the movie, various women have appeared on television claiming to be Carla Moran. The last such person, as of 2004, was an elderly woman who, in 2001, told news reporters that she had cancer.
Apart from Doris Bither some argue that the woman, who died in 2006 of multiple myeloma was, in fact, Lisa McIntosh, Barry Conrad's girlfriend. Conrad has worked with Taff for 19 years (see worldoftheunknown.com)
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