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Damilola Agbajor, 19 years old, from Delta State, won the 2010 edition of miss Nigeria, yesterday in Abuja.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor,Nike Oshinowo-Soleye, Crowning her.

Twenty young beautiful girls from different State where paraded at this year Miss Nigeria Competition. Erica Okuneye,24yrs, 1^st runner-up, Miss Lagos and Obori Edenkwo, 25yrs, 2^nd runner-up, Miss Cross- River.

The Competition did not show case swimwear segment. The outstanding young ladies where said to be judged on poise, intelligence, cultural values as well as beauty.

First Miss Nigeria pageant was held in 1957, producing Grace Tinke Oyelude as the first Miss Nigeria. 36^th Miss Nigeria has since emerged up till 2004.

According to Chief Adenike Oshinowo-Soleye, the executive producer of the new Miss Nigeria Competition;” will once again showcase positive attributes of the Nigerian woman- elegance, poise, talent, intelligence as well as beauty. Miss Nigeria historically has been a role model to the Nigerian society at large and a spokesperson for national volunteerism and charity, while using her title to educate millions of Nigerians on issues of importance to herself and the society”.

Present at the event, are Mrs Josephine Anineh, minister for women affair, Alhaji Sadiq Mohammed, minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Otunba Rusewe, Danladi Bako and other important persons in the Country.

Miss Nigeria 2010 Edition

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Author: pmnews Date: Sep 26th, 2010. | Category: Multimedia, Photo News. | Follow comments: RSS 2.0. | You can leave a response below. |

Section of the 20 Finalists.

1st Runner-up, miss Nigeria 2010, Erica Okuneye.

2nd Runner-up, Miss Nigeria 2010, Obori Edenkwo.

Chief Adenike Oshinowo-Soleye, Executive Producer, Miss Nigeria.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor, Miss Delta.

L-R Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor, Miss Delta,2ND Runner-up, Obori Edenkwo and 1st Runner-Up, Erica Okuneye.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor, Miss Delta,(M) 2nd Runner-up, Obori Edenkwo(R) and 1st Runner-Up, Erica Okuneye(L).

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor,Nike Oshinowo-Soleye, presenting her gift.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor,Nike Oshinowo-Soleye, Crowning her.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor, Miss Delta.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor, Miss Delta.

Winner, Miss Nigeria 2010, Damilola Agbajor, Miss Delta.

Photos by Femi Ipaye, TheNEWS/Abuja

By Femi Ipaye.

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: ראש השנה‎, literally "head of the year," Israeli: Hebrew pronunciation: [ˈʁoʃ haʃaˈna], Ashkenazic: ˈɾoʃ haʃːɔˈnɔh, Yiddish:[ˈrɔʃəˈʃɔnə]) is a Jewish holiday commonly referred to as the "Jewish New Year." It is observed on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar.[1] It is ordained in the Torah as "Zicaron Terua" ("a memorial with the blowing of horns"), in Leviticus 23:24. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the High Holidays or Yamim Noraim ("Days of Awe"), or Asseret Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance) which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah is the start of the civil year in the Hebrew calendar (one of four "new year" observances that define various legal "years" for different purposes as explained in the Mishnah and Talmud). It is the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts. The Mishnah also sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical (shmita) and jubilee (yovel) years. Jews believe Rosh Hashanah represents either analogically or literally the creation of the World, or Universe. However, according to one view in the Talmud, that of R. Eleazar, Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of man, which entails that five days earlier, the 25 of Elul, was the first day of creation of the Universe.[2]

The Mishnah, the core text of Judaism's oral Torah, contains the first known reference to Rosh Hashanah as the "day of judgment." In the Talmud tractate on Rosh Hashanah it states that three books of account are opened on Rosh Hashanah, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and those of an intermediate class are recorded. The names of the righteous are immediately inscribed in the book of life, and they are sealed "to live." The middle class are allowed a respite of ten days, until Yom Kippur, to repent and become righteous; the wicked are "blotted out of the book of the living."[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah

For secular Jews

It would happen each fall around the Jewish new year. At the very time when renewal was in the autumn air, Arnold Barnett, an engineer from Moorestown, would go into a mild funk. His wife eventually figured it out: He was less than enamored with high holiday synagogue services.

"He simply wasn't engaged by what went on inside our Reform synagogue, or with the traditional approach to Judaism," said Ellen, 70. "I knew he was struggling. So sometimes, I would just go to services alone."

Then last year, the Barnetts saw a small notice in a local Jewish newspaper about a recently formed group in South Jersey. "We went to a meeting that was focused on Jewish history," Arnold, 71, recalls, "and that was something I could relate to. It was much more appealing."

And so the Barnetts will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which begins Wednesday at sundown, by meeting Sunday with like-minded members of South Jersey Secular Jews - a group of people who may or may not believe in God, but do believe in caring about the world and one another, respecting and understanding Jewish history, and celebrating a culture that has meaning and emotional pull.

"The most important aspect of secularism is the survival and continuity of the Jewish people," said Paul Shane, a native New Yorker now living in Philadelphia and married to the daughter of Holocaust survivors.

Shane, 75, a member of the more established Philadelphia Secular Jewish Organization, believes humans are responsible for what happens on Earth. The here and now is central, and actions speak louder than words.

That philosophy resembles traditional Judaism. But secular Jews and traditional Jews part company when it comes to accepting religious dogma.

If you're secular, God is optional. (Traditional Judaism has "God at its heart. That's not an option," said Rabbi Ethan Franzel of Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim in Wynnewood.) Also, life-cycle events are handled individually - for instance, there are no set burial or wedding traditions in secular Judaism.

Of course secularism, in which one adheres to cultural norms rather than religious ones, is hardly new. During the Renaissance, from 1450 to 1600, and the Enlightenment in the 18th century, many Jews shed the God-oriented elements of their Jewishness, according to Shane, a professor of social policy at Rutgers University in Newark. That shedding also continued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

What's different today is that a growing number of secular Jews are finding one another, forming groups, and practicing the social responsibility Judaism requires - minus the synagogue.

Rifke Feinstein, executive director of the national Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations, says there are approximately 2,000 affiliated secular Jews in the United States. But because seculars typically are unaffiliated, and therefore uncounted, estimates for the entire American secular population range from 8,000 to 40,000.

In the Philadelphia area, there are six such organizations for secular Jews - including the five-year-old South Jersey Secular Jews - all under the local umbrella cooperative venture called Kehilla for Secular Jews.

For many people, discovering that such an organization exists has been a relief.

" 'I thought I was the only one!' is what people often express when they discover that they are not alone in their secular relationship to their Jewishness," said Larry Angert, 59, a member of 11-year-old Shir Shalom: A Havurah for Secular Jews. "The Jewish tent is big, and there's room for all of us in it."

Some local secular groups, like Philadelphia's Sholom Aleichem Club, which started in 1954, and Philadelphia Workmen's Circle, founded nationally in 1900 to aid Jewish immigrant workers and to promote Yiddish, have graying memberships. Bob Kleiner, 85, of Elkins Park, a retired sociology professor at Temple University, and his wife, Frances, a teacher of Yiddish, both long active in the secular movement, lament that younger people are not actively involved in these historic groups.

But the formation of new groups, such as South Jersey Secular Jews, is evidence the movement still has traction.

Credit Naomi Scher, 64, of Cherry Hill, whose children attended the Jewish Children's Folkshul, another Kehilla group, which is a parent-run cooperative held at Springside School in Philadelphia. About 100 children receive their Jewish education, not in a traditional Hebrew school but in classes that nourish social justice and individual responsibility. Bar and bat mitzvah aspirants undertake personally meaningful projects that they ultimately share with the entire Folkshul community.

Although Scher formed relationships with parents of her children's classmates, commuting to Philadelphia became burdensome once her children graduated, and in 2005, the retired social worker decided to start a secular group closer to home.

What began as a gathering of eight to 10 people now regularly attracts 30, meeting monthly with speakers who address social and political concerns, Scher said.

Deborah Chaiken, 74, of Palmyra is delighted to have a group close to home. "In the formal Jewish community, I felt that I didn't really have a voice. Here, I know that I do."

Dues are $25 a year, and participants are asked to bring food for potluck dinners. Meetings are held on the second Sunday of the month at Unitarian Universalist Church in Cherry Hill..

South Jersey Secular Jews members Cary and Bilha Hillebrand of Cherry Hill call the group a welcome addition to the local landscape. For Bilha, 54, the philosophy of the group is more in keeping with that of her native Israel, where the majority of the population leads a more secular lifestyle.

"We are not in any way antireligious," says Cary, 60. "We hold the belief that we are responsible for what happens to ourselves and to the world. And to us, that's the essence of what religion is, and should be."

Virtual Private Server(VPS) gives users a virtual dedicated environment. A virtual private server, as name suggests, is a method of partitioning a physical server computer into multiple servers such that each appears as an. Each virtual server can run its own full-fledged operating system, and each server can be independently rebooted. Unlike VPS in dedicated hosting the client leases an entire physical server not shared with anyone.

Simply put, a VPS simulates a private server in that you, the site owner, can deploy whatever software you want or need to continue growing an e-biz. This isn’t possible with shared hosting plans which limit you to the software options offered by the hosting company, thus limiting the database, checkout and other software you use.

Over the past four years a quiet revolution has been taking place in the hosting industry. Virtual Private Servers have been steadily changing the hosting landscape. The trend below gives some idea..

If you can identify with any of these statements, VPS might be right for you:

• “I can’t afford a dedicated server, but I need many of the features of dedicated hosting, such as installing a specific operating system and software.”
• “I know what I’m doing and need full root access.”
• “I don’t feel comfortable hosting on the same system as thousands of other websites.”
• “I need more system resources, like CPU and RAM, than low-cost shared hosting can provide.”
• “I know how to implement exactly what I need on the server, and I need the administrative power to get it done.”
• “I need to run programs on the server that are not allowed or supported by shared web hosting providers.”

Although I am somewhat of a new user to the container world I thought I'd write a short article giving an overview of why use container instead of dedicated servers for those of you who are involved in the hosting business or people thinking about leasing a container server. Here I will address misconceptions I had about container and talk about how my perspective on container is changing.

Who am I? This article originally written by Marc Perkel - a new container user - expressing my overview of OpenVZ from my perspective as a new user talking to other new users about my experience in learning this new environment. I am not an OpenVZ expert and I want to write this while I'm still new to OpenVZ so I can express my view from a new user's perspective. If you are just reading about container for the first time I am not that far ahead of you. This article is an attempt by me to give back a little to those who created this free software and give you new people an overview of the big picture as I learn this myself.

[edit]Why use Virtual Private Servers instead of Dedicated Servers

Like many of you when I first heard of the idea of container I pictured it is some small lame server that is sold to 12 year olds trying to start hosting companies on the cheap. It had never quite caught my attention until I decided I needed a remote name server and all I needed was enough of a server to run bind, but didn't want to buy a dedicated box just to do that. So I got a container based on Virtuozzo for $80/year and it worked great.

In the process however I started understanding the container concept and it became apparent that this is more than just a tool to create little servers. The way I see it container can replace dedicated servers in many situations in a data center and do a better job than dedicated. You can actually give the customer more horsepower and better hosting than selling them a small dedicated box. (Of course big customers will still need their own server.)

I don't own a data center business myself but I have a friend who does and I colo several servers there. He has several racks of some old Celeron boxes with 512 mgs of ram and one or two 80 gig drives depending on if the customer has any concept of backups, which most of them don't. I'm looking at the racks of Celerons and P4s thinking that each rack could be consolidated into a single modern server and that the customers would actually have a better server than the one they are on now. And the cost saving is tremendous.

[edit]Advantages of container

Most small dedicated servers are a waste of resources. People buy bigger servers than they need and the excess capacity is wasted. These servers take both space and power which is expensive in a data center and you have hardware costs associated with each server that you have to recoup. People often don't do any backups so after several years the hard drive fails and they lose everything. And it's your fault for not backing them up in the first place.

Imagine a rack of 16 Celeron boxes with 80 gig drives being replaced by a Dual Core Athlox X2 with 8 gigs of ram and 4 500gb SATA 2 drives running in a raid 10 configuration. (Writing this in Feb of 2007 for future historians who will read this and laugh at the old days when computers had just gigabytes.) The above server would cost about $2000 to build and only take 2U of space and use far less power than the 16 machines that are being replaced.

Note that I'm suggesting in this example only a 16 to 1 consolidation. Everyone has the same amount of ram. In reality the consolidation is many times higher because most of those using the Celerons are not using all the memory. Many are using only 1/5 of what they have and a lot of that is used by the individual kernels running. In OpenVZ there is one kernel for everyone.

Note also that many of these servers have idle time where the processor is doing nothing and they have lots of extra hard drive space that isn't being used. By consolidating these systems the free resources are combined allowing you to run many more logical servers that each have more resources than the individual servers.

On a dedicated computer the user is stuck with an old slow 32 bit processor, a limited amount of ram, and an old slow hard drive with no backups. In a container that same user is running on a shared dual core 64 bit CPU sharing 8 gigs of ram with fast modern large hard drives with raid backup. That is a significant improvement over having their own dedicated box. So this is a better deal for the customer.

[edit]Administration Advantages

If a customer needs you to fix something on their dedicated server you have to either know the root password or take the server down and boot from a rescue CD to get in and fix it. You also can't access the customer's files without logging in to their server as root. In a container you as host can enter their server at any time without a password. (Keeping the host environment very secure of course.) That allows you to do maintenance without having to look up the person's root password.

[edit]Ease of Setup

Setup couldn't be easier as compared to building a dedicated server. All you have to do is type a few commands and the new virtual server is ready to go. You can have the customer running while you are still on the phone taking the order. A dedicated box requires setup, installation, and often has to be scheduled. This involves cost and time. container is ready instantly and easily. Any distro you want with all the latest updates installed. When a customer places an order they want it now. With container you can deliver it now.

[edit]Backup Advantages

Additionally you can access the customers files directly from the host environment. This allows you to run rsync scripts to back up all the virtual servers to external storage or backup servers without the customer being aware that you are doing sophisticated backups. Then when the customer calls you up in a panic and says, "I totally screwed up my server and deleted a bunch of files by accident. Can you get it back?" You can magically restore their lost data and you are forever their hero.

[edit]IP Allocation Advantages

Tired of allocating 4 IP addresses just to give the customer 1 usable? Or giving them 8 so they have 5 usable and most of them only use one? How inefficient is that? With OpenVZ you can allocate IP addresses individually so that if a customer only needs one IP then they get only 1 IP. But if they need 9 IP addresses you can give them exactly 9 of them. They can call you up and say I need one more IP and you can give it to them in seconds. On a dedicated server if you gave them a /29 vlan and they are using all 5 IPs and they need another one - that is a huge hassle.

[edit]Disk Space Allocation

On dedicated servers you have to install a big hard drive that is mostly wasted. If the customer wants backups then it's two hard drives. In OpenVZ you just allocate space in the raid array based on what the customer actually needs and they only use the space that they use rather than what's allocated. The "allocation" is really just a software limit and that is a line in a text file that you can instantly change the moment the customer needs more space. On a dedicatd box if the customer needs a bigger drive then it's a trip to the data center with a new drive and a few hours time to copy everything over and replacing the drive, not to mention the down time.

[edit]Memory Upgrades

Memory upgrades are as easy as hard drive upgrades. Just one command than the user has more ram. But what if the server is full and you don't have any more ram? No problem. Just copy the user's container (virtual environment) over to another physical server with rsync and start them up there. In only a few minutes you've migrated them to a new box and they are up and running.

[edit]Migration

Suppose a customer just needs a bigger server. Migration is easy in the container environment because the container is consistent between servers. You just copy over the files and start it up. You don't have to build a new server, install an OS, copy it all over, and then mess with it for an hour getting everything to work.

[edit]Emergency Procedures

Let's say that a server fries. With container and good backups you have more options. You can copy the backup of the container onto another server and restore it as of the last (nightly) backup. (I'm a backup freak - but it pays.) That gets the customers up instantly if they need that while a tech can go down there and fix the server with less pressure. This give you more options when bad things happen.

[edit]Load Balancing

OpenVZ allows you to migrate servers live from one physical server to another. I haven't yet done that but I have done a shutdown, copy, and restart of the container on another server and it's so easy to do that. So suppose you have a server that's a little crowded and some user starts hogging some resources. No problem. You just move a few users to another box and problem solved. This could probably be done automatically with some well configured cluster and I would love it if someone wrote a wiki page telling us how to do it.

[edit]Protecting your Customers

Since you are managing the host system you can create IP filters and port blocking policies that help keep users from exploiting you or keep hackers from exploiting your users. Instead of a separate box that is all theirs you have them in a more managed shell allowing you to keep the inexperienced out of trouble. This provides them with a service that watched it more closely allowing them to do their own thing, but keeping you closer by to keep them out of trouble.

[edit]Cost

The cost savings are rather obvious. An entire rack compressed into one or two computers. Picture the space and power savings. The greenhouse gas not being generated by the power you're not using. The number of computers that you are not buying. The hours you are saving in setup time and administrative time. When it comes to saving money this is definitely a winner. You can take that extra money and pass some on to customers and keep some extra for yourself.

[edit]The Down Side

Any time you add another layer then you have another layer of things that can go wrong. It takes some learning to understand the process and there is the possibility that one person can screw up the system for everyone. As virtualization develops it will get better. OpenVZ is very stable in that it is far less intrusive than other virtualization methods. It is limited to Linux only so BSD and Windows users will have to do something else.

[edit]Conclusion

I believe that container represents the future of computing. The space, power, and cost savings are too great to ignore. I see data centers that are massive clusters running tens of thousands of logical servers that transparently migrate around the physical resources and are up 100% of the time. Customers no longer will have to deal with issues of backups the way they have to now, and it will simplify the hosting process. I think that every data center should be looking into virtualization technology now with the idea that you are going to be doing this and it's time to at least start thinking about it and exploring it with an eye towards the future.

I have to say that my view of container has radically changed and that I now see this as a solution not just for people wanting little servers but for most everyone who is looking for dedicated service. container is a different way of looking at the computing world and it takes some significant mental adjustment and education to grasp the big picture.

[edit]container Hosting Providers

Five months ago, a friend of mine, who edits a national daily, sent me a text message agreeing substantially with my column, ‘The Punch and the rest of us’, except the generalised conclusion that “all (journalists) have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the profession”. There are still some journalists, he submits, who toe the narrow path of integrity. Of course I knew where he was coming from, but I also knew the context in which I had made that statement.

I revisit that statement in light of the stories spewing out of the political beat, specifically on the race for the 2011 presidential elections and how it affects the integrity of news.

As part of the effort to sell his candidature for the presidency, former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) invited as many as 40 journalists to his Minna home on August 14 for an interview. I have heard questions asked about why he should invite journalists to his home instead of a public place if he didn’t have an ulterior motive, and why he should offer monetary gifts to the journalists in the name of paying for their transportation.

One news medium, which has championed this opposition in the open, is the online agency, Sahara Reporters. According to SR each of the journalists received N10 million for heeding Babangida’s call on his presidential ambition. That is N400 million just for one night’s interview from an aspirant yet to win his party’s nomination if it were true. But it was not. When some of the journalists complained about the fictional sum, SR changed the story on August 19, saying it was just “a paltry N250, 000 each”. Rather than admit its initial error SR simply said, “our accountants have told us that going by the number of 40 journalists in attendance, we are still around the same ballpark of N10 million”. So much for credible reporting!

Three days later, SR followed up with ‘IBB and his Rogue Journalists’, accusing the journalists of roguery and professional misconduct; roguery, because they collected money from two sources—their employers who presumably authorised and funded the trip and their news source, IBB; misconduct because it is unethical for them to demand/receive gratification from news sources for their services.

And on August 23 in ‘IBB Nocturnal Press Parley: Punch fires Editorial board Chairman’, SR stayed on top of the story by reporting that Adebolu Arowolo, editorial board chairman of the Punch, had lost his job for going on that trip without his management’s approval..

From flags to Facebook, 22-year-old Jimena Navarrete has quickly made it clear what she plans to promote as the world's newest Miss Universe — her home country of Mexico.

"I want the whole world to know about my country and my people," the Guadalajara native said after beating 82 competitors for global bragging rights at the pageant in Las Vegas.

"I imagine that they're all going crazy in Mexico right now," she said through an interpreter. "I'm extremely proud and I'm sure they're very proud, too."

She donned a flowing red dress, strutted confidently in a violet bikini, and said onstage that the Internet is indispensable and requires parents to impart family values.

The model-turned pageant queen then posed for pictures with a Mexican flag and Mexico's last Miss Universe as congratulations from her countrymen came pouring in.

"Her triumph is a source of pride and satisfaction for all Mexicans, who see in her the fruits of perseverance," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in a statement. Immediately after her win, Calderon said on Twitter that her victory would help Mexico's image as a country.

"We won, long live Mexico!" Navarrete said on her fan page on Facebook, spurring 478 "likes" and 218 comments in about one hour.

She was cheered by Spanish-speaking reporters clamoring to talk with her after the pageant, and twice answered questions about Arizona's recent immigration law.

"Every country has the right to impose and enact their laws," she said, wearing her new sash and sparkling tiara. "But I tell you that all the Mexicans and the Latins that are living here in the United States are hardworking people — people who want to improve on their quality of life."

The Miss Universe pageant is known for grabbing headlines — and Navarrete appears ready to make her mark.

She's Mexico's second Miss Universe. Lupita Jones — Navarrete's national pageant director — won in 1991. Navarrete has been modeling since she was 15 and came to Miss Universe after winning for Jalisco, then Mexico, in the country's Nuestra Belleza pageant.

Navarrete replaces Miss Universe 2009 Stefania Fernandez of Venezuela. She also spoiled a bid by Miss Venezuela Marelisa Gibson from giving the South American country a third consecutive victory. Neither Gibson nor Miss USA Rima Fakih made the top 15 finalists.

With fans in some 190 countries watching on television and keeping tabs on social networks, Navarrete and her competitors introduced themselves while wearing over-the-top national costumes. They then danced in silver and black dresses for the show's opening number before the last 15 finalists were announced.

The final 15 walked in swimsuits while Cirque du Soleil musicians played Elvis Presley songs including "Viva Las Vegas." The last 10 impressed in their gowns while John Legend and the Roots played a soulful medley including "Save Room."

By the end of the show, seven of the top 10 trending topics on Twitter had to do with the pageant, its contestants, its judges or owner Donald Trump. The mogul co-owns the pageant with TV network NBC.

The show was without any major gaffes, except for Miss Philippines' answer when asked what her biggest mistake in life was and how she fixed it.

"In my 22 years of existence, I can say there is nothing major," Venus Raj said.

Before the pageant, Raj was rated among the top contestants in an online poll on the pageant's website. She finished in fifth place.

Asked by Olympic gold-medal figure skater Evan Lysacek how she felt about unsupervised Internet use, Navarrete said the Internet is important.

"I do believe that Internet is an indispensable, necessary tool for the present time," she said through an interpreter. "We must be sure to teach them the values that we learned as a family."

Lysacek was one of this year's nine celebrity judges. The others were actresses Jane Seymour and Chynna Phillips; actors Chazz Palminteri and William Baldwin; magician Criss Angel; MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall; drummer Sheila E.; and supermodel Niki Taylor.

Navarrete won a package of prizes including an undisclosed salary, a luxury New York apartment with living expenses, a one-year scholarship to the New York Film Academy with housing after her reign, plus jewelry, clothes and shoes fit for a beauty champion..

Campbell won the Miss Congeniality Universe award. Miss Thailand Fonthip Watcharatrakul won Miss Photogenic Universe and a second award for having the best national costume.

First runner-up was Miss Jamaica Yendi Phillipps, while second runner-up was Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell.

Fakih, a 24-year-old Lebanese immigrant from Dearborn, Mich., spurred celebrations among Arab-Americans when she won Miss USA. Pageant records aren't detailed enough to show whether Fakih is the first Arab-American, Muslim or immigrant to win Miss USA.

Miss USA has not been named Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997.

Much can be said about Susan Harvey a.k.a Goldie, one of the very few Nigerian female pop vocalists around. While the press and tabloids seem to focus on her ‘Victorian costumes and infamous eyelashes,’ surprisingly, fans have over time chosen to embrace her very daring musical style with many describing her as ‘bold’.

When she hit the scene in 2007 with the single “Spin Me” and an accompanying video, it elicited comparisons ranging from her idol Madonna to Amy Winehouse. However, judging from the response, it was pretty obvious that Nigerians were not quite ready for her style of music. “When I recorded the ‘Spin Me’ video, MTV base loved it but Nigerians were not crazy about the track; people were like ‘why does she like these outfits?’ So it was a bit difficult,” she remembers. “Then I did ‘Shift’ and took it to the next level. I went all out and said let me just do the outfits and the response was too much. People were like this is something new from a female artist. Of course there were other female artists but my style was unique. I am a contemporary pop artist with a blend of Afro-Hip-Hop sound.”

Shifting focus

Realising that appreciating her music had become even more difficult as time went by, she decided to record ‘Nothing Has Changed’ and toned it down because “I wanted to be simple. ‘Nothing Has Changed’ spoke of my feelings of satisfaction. People [still] love it.” The video for ‘Nothing Has Changed’ featured a lot more dynamic urban backdrop, luxury shots with champagne popping and boat cruises; a shift from her other videos.”

On this day she isn’t sporting her signature long eyelashes and also has on very subtle makeup as well as a wicked micro mini skirt, prompting me to ask if she has rebranded. She bursts out laughing and says, “I don’t think I have changed that much. I no longer wear the long lashes and the makeup is a lot less. I discovered that after I started wearing long lashes a lot of artists began wearing them in their videos and I thought it’s a new year that I could be more creative than all that.”

Now you know

With the release date of her highly anticipated debut album drawing near, the leggy singer who recently signed with Kennis Music has a controversial song and video titled ‘You Know it’ whose Yoruba chorus translated to English means “I can take your man.” Shedding light on the inspiration behind the song which featured eLDee she said, “We (Kennis Music artists) were in Abuja for lunch and while we were talking, Kenny Ogungbe went out and then Eedris started saying, ‘you are a bad girl, you should sell badness because everyone wants the bad girl. You are a “Gb’oko lowo e” girl. Kenny came [back] asking who Eedris sang the song for and he was told I was the one. He compelled me to sing the song.”

Visibly happy with the video’s reception since its release, the singer says she isn’t in any way bothered by the negative comments “I was not referring to anyone [in particular] contrary to what some people think but at the same time, maybe I was referring to someone (laughs) and she knows herself.”

Entertainment fanatic

When not busy in the studio, the University of Sunderland, Business Management graduate is involved in other entertainment projects. “I love writing.

The other day, I was in a stage play titled Peace of the Grave Yard. It was a Black Image production. I love the general process of entertainment and embodying a character like what I am doing right now is my passion.”

With a September release date for her album already set, the Ekiti state born singer is yet to come up with a title. “My fans say I should call it Duchess but my management say I should look for something more simple like Goldie.

All tracks are ready but we just want to streamline and get it all tight. I don’t want it to be like other Nigerian albums; I want all my songs to be classic!”

The President of the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers, Victor Oyenuga, yesterday dispelled fears that the Third Mainland Bridge is unsafe for vehicles because of an alleged crack on a section of the bridge.

Similarly, Ade Omopeloye, the National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, said he sent a member of the association to inspect the bridge, and that the report he got calls for no alarm. "Immediately I heard about it, I sent one of our members there who went through the length and breadth of the bridge but saw nothing," he said, adding, however that a structural engineers would be in a better position to ascertain if there were minute damages on the bridge.

The crack underneath

Officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, however, discovered a crack near the Adekunle exit area of the bridge. According to Francis Obinna, the corps Head of Disaster Department, the bad section of the bridge is better seen from underneath when linking the bridge from Adekunle, Yaba. "Those people who said there is no problem with the bridge did not go underneath," he said. "We went underneath to see it. My dear, if you go under, you will not want to stay there. You want to run."

When NEXT visited the scene, the rubber blocking the expansion gap was discovered to have fallen out completely along some sections creating a see-through hole. When a vehicle passes over the section, the free end of the bridge oscillates.

One end particularly seems depressed from the top as its edge does not align with the other end; each vibration makes it look like it will pull out from beneath. Mr Oyenuga, however, dispelled fears about the falling out of the rubber blocking the expansion joint, and also stated that the oscillation of the free ends portends no danger.

"All they need to do is to replace the rubber," he said. "The bridge is designed as a double cantilever, so the ends are supposed to be free. Of course, vehicular movement will cause the ends to move up and down a bit." He also said that the life span of such structures is, at least, 50 years, if well maintained. This section of the bridge was constructed about 30 years ago.

Experts: 3rd Mainland Bridge Not Entirely Safe

Key bodies of civil engineering today dispelled the fear that the third mainland bridge is unsafe for vehicles because of a supposed crack at a section of the bridge, though the bridge appeared weak when our sources visited the scene.

National executives of the Nigerian Institute of Structural Engineers (NISE), Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE) and Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI) told our sources that the bridge is still safe.

The section under query was discovered by officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDS). According to the Head of Disaster Department, Mr. Francis Obinna, the bad section of the bridge is better seen from underneath when linking the bridge from Adekunle, Yaba.

During its visit today, our sources observed a major space of about 4 inches closed with protective rubber, which had already fallen off its position, thereby causing deep vibration as vehicles move on the bridge.

As observed, the rubber covering the expansion gap has fallen out completely along some sections creating a see-through hole. When a vehicle passes over the section, the free end of the bridge oscillates. One end particularly seemed depressed from top as its edge does not align with the other end; each vibration makes it look like it will pull out from beneath.

In his reaction, NICE National Chairman, Engr. Ade Omopeloye said he sent a member of the association there for inspection and the report he got calls for no alarm.

"Immediately, I heard about it. I sent one of our members there who went through the length and breadth of the bridge but saw nothing," Omopeloye said.

He insisted that we speak to the structural engineers just so to be sure that the news about the damage is a rumour.

One of the structural engineers we spoke who would chose not to be named said, "Those people who said there is no problem with the bridge did not go underneath. We went underneath to see it. My dear, if you go under, you will not want to stay there. You want to run."

However, NISE President, Engr. Victor Oyenuga said the displacement of the rubber covering the expansion joint does not imply danger, saying all they ‘need to do is to replace the rubber.’ He dispelled the fear that the oscillation of the free ends portends danger.

Oyenuga added that, "The bridge is designed as a double cantilever, so the ends are supposed to be free. Of course, vehicular movement will cause the ends to move up and down a bit."

What remains to be proven is whether the extent of oscillation is still within limit but Mr. Oyenuga has not visited the site.

The Director-General of FOCI, Engr. Adeniran Adekanbi declined comments on the state of the bridge until his team takes a critical look and tenders a situation report.

The Third Mainland Bridge was constructed over three decades ago and the structures used were given a life span of 50 years, if well maintained.

sourced from Next & ThewillNigeria

The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House. While the anti-establishment Tea Party movement has gained significant ground and is now a rising and powerful political force to be reckoned with, many of the president’s own supporters as well as independents are rapidly losing faith in Barack Obama, with open warfare breaking out between the White House and the left-wing of the Democratic Party. While conservatism in America grows stronger by the day, the forces of liberalism are growing increasingly weaker and divided.

Against this backdrop, the president’s approval ratings have been sliding dramatically all summer, with the latest Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll of US voters dropping to minus 22 points, the lowest point so far for Barack Obama since taking office. While just 24 per cent of American voters strongly approve of the president’s job performance, almost twice that number, 46 per cent, strongly disapprove. According to Rasmussen, 65 per cent of voters believe the United States is going down the wrong track, including 70 per cent of independents.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls now has President Obama at over 50 per cent disapproval, a remarkably high figure for a president just 18 months into his first term. Strikingly, the latest USA Today/Gallup survey has the President on just 41 per cent approval, with 53 per cent disapproving.

Related link: The Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime

There are an array of reasons behind the stunning decline and political fall of President Obama, chief among them fears over the current state of the US economy, with widespread concern over high levels of unemployment, the unstable housing market, and above all the towering budget deficit. Americans are increasingly rejecting President Obama’s big government solutions to America’s economic woes, which many fear will lead to the United States sharing the same fate as Greece.

Growing disillusionment with the Obama administration’s handling of the economy as well as health care and immigration has gone hand in hand with mounting unhappiness with the President’s aloof and imperial style of leadership, and a growing perception that he is out of touch with ordinary Americans, especially at a time of significant economic pain. Barack Obama’s striking absence of natural leadership ability (and blatant lack of experience) has played a big part in undermining his credibility with the US public, with his lacklustre handling of the Gulf oil spill coming under particularly intense fire.

On the national security and foreign policy front, President Obama has not fared any better. His leadership on the war in Afghanistan has been confused and at times lacking in conviction, and seemingly dictated by domestic political priorities rather than military and strategic goals. His overall foreign policy has been an appalling mess, with his flawed strategy of engagement of hostile regimes spectacularly backfiring. And as for the War on Terror, his administration has not even acknowledged it is fighting one.

Can it get any worse for President Obama? Undoubtedly yes. Here are 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in serious trouble, and why its prospects are unlikely to improve between now and the November mid-terms.

1. The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people

In a previous post I noted how the Obama presidency increasingly resembles a modern-day Ancien Régime, extravagant, decaying and out of touch with ordinary Americans. The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Spain at a time of widespread economic hardship was symbolic of a White House that barely gives a second thought to public opinion on many issues, and frequently projects a distinctly elitist image. The “let them eat cake” approach didn’t play well over two centuries ago, and it won’t succeed today.

2. Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership

This deficit of trust in Obama’s leadership is central to his decline. According to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, “nearly six in ten voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country”, and two thirds “say they are disillusioned with or angry about the way the federal government is working.” The poll showed that a staggering 58 per cent of Americans say they do not have confidence in the president’s decision-making, with just 42 per cent saying they do.

3. Obama fails to inspire

In contrast to the soaring rhetoric of his 2004 Convention speech in Boston which succeeded in impressing millions of television viewers at the time, America is no longer inspired by Barack Obama’s flat, monotonous and often dull presidential speeches and statements delivered via teleprompter. From his extraordinarily uninspiring Afghanistan speech at West Point to his flat State of the Union address, President Obama has failed to touch the heart of America. Even Jimmy Carter was more moving.

4. The United States is drowning in debt

The Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Budget Outlook offers a frightening picture of the scale of America’s national debt. Under its alternative fiscal scenario, the CBO projects that US debt could rise to 87 percent of GDP by 2020, 109 percent by 2025, and 185 percent in 2035. While much of Europe, led by Britain and Germany, are aggressively cutting their deficits, the Obama administration is actively growing America’s debt, and has no plan in place to avert a looming Greek-style financial crisis.

5. Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat

The relentless emphasis on bailouts and stimulus spending has done little to spur economic growth or create jobs, but has greatly advanced the power of the federal government in America. This is not an approach that is proving popular with the American public, and even most European governments have long ditched this tax and spend approach to saving their own economies.

6. Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political mistake

In an extraordinary act of political Harakiri, President Obama leant his full support to the hugely controversial, unpopular and divisive health care reform bill, with a monstrous price tag of $940 billion, whose repeal is now supported by 55 per cent of likely US voters. As I wrote at the time of its passing, the legislation is “a great leap forward by the United States towards a European-style vision of universal health care, which will only lead to soaring costs, higher taxes, and a surge in red tape for small businesses. This reckless legislation dramatically expands the power of the state over the lives of individuals, and could not be further from the vision of America’s founding fathers.”

7. Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive

While much of the spilled oil in the Gulf has now been thankfully cleared up, the political damage for the White House will be long-lasting. Instead of showing real leadership on the matter by acing decisively and drawing upon offers of international support, the Obama administration settled on a more convenient strategy of relentlessly bashing an Anglo-American company while largely sitting on its hands. Significantly, a poll of Louisiana voters gave George W. Bush higher marks for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with 62 percent disapproving of Obama’s performance on the Gulf oil spill.

8. US foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration

It is hard to think of a single foreign policy success for the Obama administration, but there have been plenty of missteps which have weakened American global power as well as the standing of the United States. The surrender to Moscow on Third Site missile defence, the failure to aggressively stand up to Iran’s nuclear programme, the decision to side with ousted Marxists in Honduras, the slap in the face for Great Britain over the Falklands, have all contributed to the image of a US administration completely out of its depth in international affairs. The Obama administration’s high risk strategy of appeasing America’s enemies while kicking traditional US allies has only succeeded in weakening the United States while strengthening her adversaries.

9. President Obama is muddled and confused on national security

From the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the War on Terror, President Obama’s leadership has often been muddled and confused. On Afghanistan he rightly sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the battlefield. At the same time however he bizarrely announced a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces beginning in July 2011, handing the initiative to the Taliban. On Iraq he has announced an end to combat operations and the withdrawal of all but 50,000 troops despite a recent upsurge in terrorist violence and political instability, and without the Iraqi military and police ready to take over. In addition he has ditched the concept of a War on Terror, replacing it with an Overseas Contingency Operation, hardly the right message to send in the midst of a long-war against Al-Qaeda...

10. Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness

Barack Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t believe in American exceptionalism, and has made apologising for his country into an art form. In a speech to the United Nations last September he stated that “no one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold.” It is difficult to see how a US president who holds these views and does not even accept America’s greatness in history can actually lead the world’s only superpower with force and conviction.

There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.

This, combined with weak leadership both at home and abroad against the backdrop of tremendous economic uncertainty in an increasingly dangerous world, has contributed to a spectacular political collapse for a president once thought to be invincible. America at its core remains a deeply conservative nation, which cherishes its traditions and founding principles. President Obama is increasingly out of step with the American people, by advancing policies that undermine the United States as a global power, while undercutting America’s deep-seated love for freedom.

Dear people get up in the morning grumbling do not understand what a difficult is routine, a basic attempt to to move forward in life, want to go to another country, to see another culture and it is very natural, I say that not all wat's shin is gold, the neighbor's grass is not always more beautiful, God Bless Nigeria with a beautiful country, with a fertile soil, trees, sea, oil, gold, minerals and much much best kind of human material North, South, West and East all pretty good pouple and they want the best i have one prayer to God Nigeria will find the largest most precious ore Mutual respect Yes to encourage each other to understand each other and give each other love then I believe nigeria will be a nation perched high above the rest like the Tower of Light !

so i wish you all peace love and understanding !!!