Wikileaks Threaten Doomsday Files: Ready to Release Giant 'Insurance' File if Shut Down

Posted by 9jabook.com on December 5, 2010 at 8:53pm

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, has circulated across the internet an encrypted “poison pill” cache of uncensored documents suspected to include files on BP and Guantanamo Bay.

One of the files identified this weekend by The Sunday Times — called the “insurance” file — has been downloaded from the WikiLeaks website by tens of thousands of supporters, from America to Australia.

Assange warns that any government that tries to curtail his activities risks triggering a new deluge of state and commercial secrets.

The military papers on Guantanamo Bay, yet to be published, have been supplied by Bradley Manning, Assange’s primary source until his arrest in May. Other documents that Assange is confirmed to possess include an aerial video of a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed civilians, BP files and Bank of America documents...

One of the key files available for download — named insurance.aes256 — appears to be encrypted with a 256-digit key. Experts said last week it was virtually unbreakable.

The U.S. Department of Defense says it is aware of the WikiLeaks insurance file, but has been unable to establish its contents. It has been available for download since July.

Assange has warned he can divulge the classified documents in the insurance file and similar backups if he is detained or the WikiLeaks website is permanently removed from the internet. He has suggested the contents are unredacted, posing a possible security risk for coalition partners around the world.

Assange warned: “We have over a long period of time distributed encrypted backups of material we have yet to release. All we have to do is release the password to that material, and it is instantly available.”

The “doomsday files” are part of a contingency plan drawn up by Assange and his supporters as they face a legal threat. He is wanted in Sweden over sexual assault allegations, and the US administration is reviewing the possibility of legal action after the release of 250,000 diplomatic cables.

Ben Laurie, a London-based computer security expert who has advised WikiLeaks, said: “Julian’s a smart guy and this is an interesting tactic. He will hope it deters anyone from acting against him.”

Nigel Smart, professor of cryptology at the U.K.'s Bristol University, said even powerful military computers would be unable to crack the encryption. He said: “This isn’t something that can be broken with a modern computer. You need the key to open it.”

The file is 1.4 gigabytes in size, which would be big enough for a compressed version of all the files released this year and additional data.

Assange said last year that he had been leaked a computer hard drive from an executive at Bank of America and warned this month he was planning a major release on a large American bank. He also claims to have confidential files on BP and other energy companies. Tens of millions of personal computers were hijacked last week in an act of sabotage that crippled the WikiLeaks website. WikiLeaks revealed that a “denial of service” attack that temporarily shut down the website used a network of “zombie” computers, which were infiltrated by the hackers.

WikiLeaks is now battling for its survival. Amazon, which hosted the website, refused further access to its servers last week. A site that provided WikiLeaks with its domain name, EveryDNS.net, also cut off its service because it said it was being inundated with sabotage attacks.

Some of the contingency plans were revealed when the site re-emerged on Friday with a Swiss address, WikiLeaks.ch. The new name was provided by the Swiss Pirate party, which champions internet freedom. Assange has also set up contingency servers in Sweden.

2010 Soul Train Awards, Naija Sings 100,000 USD Winner and more

Posted by NollywoodMohits on December 5, 2010 at 8:45pm

2010 Soul Train Awards

Legend Awards: Anita Baker and Ron Isley

Best New Artist: Melanie Fiona

Best Female R&B/Soul Artist: Alicia Keys

Best Male R&B/Soul Artist: Trey Songz and Usher (tie)

Song of the year: “Nothin’ on You” - B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars

Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year: “Love the Way You Lie” - Eminem ft. Rihanna

Album of the Year: “Raymond vs. Raymond” - Usher

Record of the Year: “Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)” - Alicia Keys,

Aubrey Graham (Drake), Kerry Brothers Jr., and Noah “40” Shebib

Best Reggae Artist: Gyptian

Centric Award: Janelle Monae

Best Gospel Performance: Marvin Sapp

Best Dance Performance: Ciara - “Ride”

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Casey wins Naija Sings

Diploma in Music holder, Casey, wins.. the second instalment of the musical talent reality television show, Naija Sings....

The 27 year old Warri indigene won the coveted $100, 000, a Toyota Rav4 SUV and he’s now an automatic Glo Ambassador. He beats the other finalists Rasineand Da brodas to the trophy on Friday at the grand finale which took place at the MNET Studios in Lagos.

“I intend to invest with the money and get back to school and take care of my family. I want to learn something in a music school. I just don’t want to win this money and disappear into thin air. I want to do something big in music that’s why I have a competition, challenge and serious work to do. I have to step up, from my packaging to the kind of music people want,” he told cp-africa.com after winning.

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New Music

Aspiring musician Kennedy Arohia who goes by the moniker K-Source, has released new singles, ‘Play Me’ and ‘Adamma’ under KD Records recently. The new tracks were presented to various media organisations and entertainment bloggers at Alalo Eatery, Ikeja GRA on Thursday 1 December 2010.

The singer cum producer, a graduate from the University of Benin, says making music has always been his dream. He said both singles were inspired by issues in his environment and hopes to release a full album within the first quarter of next year.

“I intend making my debut before February 14 next year since it’s the love season and my album would contain a couple of love songs,” the singer in his mid twenties said.

K-Source hopes to tread in the R&B and Pop genre in Nigerian mainstream music.

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Mel Gibson movie heads to theatres

Mel Gibson is headed back into movie theatres after months of damaging publicity over his tempestuous relationship with ex-lover Oksana Grigorieva and a domestic abuse investigation by Los Angeles authorities.

Movie studio Summit Entertainment on Friday released the first promotional trailer and a poster of Gibson’s long-delayed movie “The Beaver”, in which the Oscar-winning director plays “a man who has lost all hope.” Directed by actress Jodie Foster, who also co-stars with Gibson, the family drama is described as “coming soon” to movie theatres. According to the Internet Movie Database website, “The Beaver” will be released in the UK in February 2011. No date was given for a U.S. release.

In “The Beaver”, Gibson, 54, plays Walter Black, a man described in the trailer as “a hopelessly depressed individual” who finds solace and new hope by talking through a beaver hand-puppet.

Filming was completed earlier this year but the release was apparently put on hold after audio tapes were leaked in the summer of Gibson ranting at, and threatening Russian-born model Grigorieva as their brief relationship hit the rocks in January.

The “Braveheart” and “Passion of Christ” director has remained silent throughout the furor, which caused him to lose a cameo part in the upcoming sequel to the comedy “The Hangover” due to cast objections, and to be dumped by his long-time Hollywood talent agency.

Los Angeles police are investigating Gibson on suspicion of domestic abuse, and Grigorieva for possible extortion. Neither has been charged.

Gibson, once considered one of Hollywood’s most popular stars, made his last acting appearance in the thriller “Edge of Darkness” in January 2010, which made a lackluster $81 million at the global box office.

But according to an opinion poll in August, 76 percent of Americans questioned said the Gibson-Grigorieva scandal would have no effect on whether they would buy a ticket for a Gibson movie.

Ken Saro-Wiwa was framed, secret evidence shows Shells involvement

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on December 5, 2010 at 8:24pm

Witness statements accuse Nigerian military commander of ordering killings and taking bribes

By Andy Rowell and Eveline Lubbers

Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995.

The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in murder and rape, was in the pay of Shell at the time of the killings and was driven around in a Shell vehicle.

Since the time of Saro-Wiwa's death, Shell has insisted that it had no financial relationship with the Nigerian military, although it has admitted paying it "field allowances" on two occasions. It has consistently denied any widespread collusion and payments. However, The Independent on Sunday has gained exclusive access to witness accounts that were to be used in evidence in the case of Wiwa vs Shell, brought by Ken Saro-Wiwa's family. The case was settled last May for $15.5m, just days before it was due to start in New York. The settlement meant the testimonies were never made public.

They provide fresh insight into Shell's financial and logistical involvement with the Nigerian military and with Lt-Col Okuntimo.

One of the key witnesses due to testify was Boniface Ejiogu, Lt-Col Okuntimo's orderly in the Internal Security Task Force, a coalition of army, navy and police. Mr Ejiogu testified to standing guard as victims were raped and tortured while Lt-Col Okuntimo was in command. Asked if he ever saw his commander receive money from Shell, he said he witnessed it on two occasions..

Mr Ejiogu described in detail how, just days before the Ogoni elders were murdered, he drove with Lt-Col Okuntimo to Shell's base in Port Harcourt, where the officer received seven large bags of money. "I was there when other soldiers were carrying the Ghana Must Go bags," he testified. The bags were so heavy the soldiers had difficulty carrying them, and one fell open. "The thing opened," Mr Ejiogu said. "I saw it was money in bundles. He said, wow, this is money. I say, yes man, it is money."

On another occasion, Mr Ejiogu witnessed four bags being given by a Shell security official to Lt-Col Okuntimo at the official's house late at night.

Another witness, Raphael Kponee, also due to testify, was a policeman working for Shell. On a different occasion, he saw three bags being loaded into Lt-Col Okuntimo's pick-up truck by his driver and another driver in front of the security building at the Shell base. Shell officials have admitted that money was paid to the officer, but purely as field allowances for his men, who were protecting Shell property in Ogoniland.

MrEjiogu also offers compelling evidence as to who may have murdered the four Ogoni elders at a meeting on 21 May 1994. Saro-Wiwa was due to speak but was turned away by the military. Mr Ejiogu said he heard Lt-Col Okuntimo tell his task force commander to "waste them... in the army you waste them is when you are shooting rapidly".

Within 24 hours Saro-Wiwa was arrested and charged with the murders. It was implied that he had had the elders killed because of their moderate stance on Ogoni issues. Despite an international outcry, he was hanged in November 1995, following a sham trial described by the then British prime minister, John Major, as "judicial murder".

A Shell spokesman said yesterday: "Allegations concerning Okuntimo and Shell are not new. There is a lack of any credible evidence in support of these allegations. Shell Petroleum Development Corporation and Shell at the time spoke out frequently against violence and publicly condemned its use."

ExxonMobil, others disown Emeagwali

Posted by technology on December 5, 2010 at 9:41am

The bottom has fallen out of Phillip Emeagwali's basket of false claims. American oil giant, ExxonMobil, has told NEXT exclusively that it hasnever dealt with the American-based Nigerian scientist, contrary to Mr.Emeagwali's repeated claim that he wrote the equations that the company used tosimulate the flow of oil, water, and gas inside its reservoirs...

Authorities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a United States Department of Energy laboratory, where Mr. Emeagwali claimed he sourcedthe Connection Machine for his award-winning experiment, also said they hadnever related with the Nigerian scientist.

Even the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the world's largest organisation of computer experts, has reacted to the scandalsurrounding Mr Emeagwali by removing the scientist's profile from its website.Mr. Emeagwali's bio on the site contained some contentious claims, includingone that he has a doctorate.

War fears as Ivorian poll result overturned all foreign TV and radio broadcasts banned

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on December 5, 2010 at 4:35am

The outcome of Ivory Coast's first presidential election in a decade was plunged into doubt yesterday as the constitutional council declared incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo the winner a day after the election chief handed victory to the opposition.

The new results released by a Gbagbo loyalist on national television directly contradicted those announced on Thursday, which were considered credible by the US, the African Union and the United Nations.

Ivory Coast's presidential election was meant to restore stability in the West African nation after a 2002-03 civil war destroyed the economy of one of the most affluent countries on the continent. Instead the poll is now casting a growing shadow. If Gbagbo refuses to step down, many fear the world's top cocoa producer could spiral into violence again.

The results announced on state television by constitutional council head Paul Yao N'Dre cancelled the votes from seven of the country's 19 voting districts, all opposition strongholds where the ruling party claims the vote was marred by violence and intimidation.

"The irregularities are of such a nature that they invalidate the vote (in those districts)," said N'Dre, who is also a senior member of Gbagbo's party.

Erasing those districts wiped out a significant share of opposition leader Alassane Ouattara's margin, resulting in a victory for Gbagbo. His five-year mandate officially expired in 2005. For five years he has repeatedly cancelled the date for this election, claiming the country was too volatile to assure security and later that polls were technically flawed. A 2007 peace deal broke years of political stalemate, leading to the dismantling of a UN-patrolled buffer zone.

The US has urged the parties to accept the election commission's results showing Mr Ouattara had won. "Credible, accredited electoral observers have characterised the balloting as free and fair, and no party should be allowed to obstruct further the electoral process," US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.

The African Union said that Thursday's results were satisfactory and asked the country's leaders to put the interest of the Ivory Coast first.

"Any other approach risks plunging Côte d'Ivoire into a crisis with incalculable consequences for the country, as well as for the region and the continent as a whole," the AU said in a statement.

The country was isolated by the ruling elite immediately after Mr Ouattara's win was announced, with a decree read on state TV saying that the nation's air, sea and maritime borders had been closed....

Shell funded Hitler : Voluminous evidence indicates that Royal Dutch Shell is the most evil company on the planet.

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on December 5, 2010 at 4:27am

By Alfred Donovan and John Donovan

We have previously revealed how Royal Dutch Shell Group and its founder, Sir Henri Deterding, saved the Nazi Party when it was in danger of financial collapse.

After considerable further research, we are now ready to publish extensive information revealing the variety of ways Shell found to provide huge financial support to the most evil regime in history.

We also provide comprehensive information/evidence of how Royal Dutch Shell (and/or its German subsidiary): -

was arguably indirectly responsible for over 30 million deaths in World War 2
sold out its own Jewish employees to the Nazis, some of whom did not survive the war
instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant
engaged in anti-Semitic policies against Shell employees
financed the Nazis
appeased the Nazis
collaborated with the Nazis
used slave labor
conspired directly with Hitler
got into bed with I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children
continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri as the Chief Executive of the Royal Dutch Shell Group and even after his death

We also explain why these events still matter, despite the decades that have passed. Royal Dutch Shell was driven by greed then, just as it is today, in continuing to trade with another despotic regime in Iran.

All information is supported by independent verifiable evidence from reputable sources.

We will also publish stunning photographs as further evidence of the Royal Dutch Shell/Nazi association.

Today, we will make the draft article, including associated photographs/graphics, accessible to Royal Dutch Shell Plc in advance of publication, so that the company has the opportunity to correct any inaccurate information and supply any comment to be published alongside the article on an unedited basis.

What if Facebook Goes Search While Google Struggles to Go Social?

Posted by technology on December 5, 2010 at 1:45am

What if Facebook Goes Search While Google Struggles to Go Social?
Chris Crum | Staff Writer

Facebook Has a Lot of Pieces of the Puzzle in Place

Facebook and Google don't much acknowledge that they're direct competitors, though there's no question that in many ways they are. Eric Schmidt recently said Bing was it's main competitor, and Mark Zuckerberg said its new messaging system isn't an email killer and that "Gmail is a really good product."

It's true that Bing poses a significant threat to Google's search market share if Microsoft's stars align the right way (Windows Phone is a huge success, people search from within Facebook more, etc.), but it is Facebook that is practically omnipresent throughout the majority of the web. You'd be hard pressed to find many authoritative sites that don't have some kind of Facebook integration, even if it's just "like" buttons. It is all of these many, many integrations together that make Facebook a very dangerous opponent to Google.

More to Google Than Search

First off, it's worth noting that Google has its tentacles planted in many different spaces from search, to business productivity apps, advertising, social media, online video, email, and much more. But Facebook is growing into a monster that could potentially embody many of these same things, and do some of them better. Facebook is not there yet, but it hasn't been around that long yet either, and look how far it's already come. Out of all of Google's products, it's search and advertising that are the company's real bread and butter. Google has sat safely atop the search market for quite some time now, but the search landscape is shifting, largely in part to social media: people are connecting at levels never before possible, and these personal connections (new and existing) can be one of the most helpful indicators of search relevance - not necessarily for all types of queries, but for many of them.

Facebook as a Search Engine

Facebook, while not generally thought of as a search engine these days (with good reason), has the strongest collection of person-to-person interactions on the entire web. Google covets that, and is still trying to find its strategy to match or better Facebook's. According to Mashable, the "social layer" Google keeps talking about (aka: the "Google Me" initiative) has been pushed back to a possible Spring 2011 launch. On this fast-paced real-time web we have today, that's a long time, though we do see examples of Google tweaking products in this direction on a fairly regular basis already. Meanwhile, Facebook's head start in building this data with over half a billion people around the globe continues to grow. Ask yourself this: What if Facebook started putting the kind of emphasis on search that Google is currently putting on social? How much easier would it be for Facebook to develop a really useful search engine than it would be for Google to develop a really useful social network?

Consider that the relevancy of Google's results are often criticized as it is (with a recent New York Times story not helping their case), not to mention investigated for being anti-competitive.

One key point in the Google vs. Facebook conversation that often goes overlooked is that Facebook recently acquired search company Chai Labs, which was founded by a former Google exec. "Our semantic search platform uses proprietary crawling, artificial intelligence and data mining technologies to analyze and extract insights from millions of real-time data points across the web," the company explains. "Our goal is to give consumers the most comprehensive, unbiased, up-to-date information they need to make informed and confident purchase decisions. We are laser-focused on simplifying complexity due to over abundance of online sources about a specific topic, leading to information overload." So that's what they're about, and Facebook is ordinarily more focused on talent than products, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that this kind of thing might be integrated into Facebook itself.

So what if Facebook one day decides to make a big search announcement, promote its search feature as a "new and improved" alternative? Remember it still has Bing web results that can fill in the gaps left by its own offerings. Bing and Facebook have already cozied up to each other, and there's no telling just how deep their relationship will get. Bing will no doubt take any shot it can to crack into Google's market share.

Facebook has also been encouraging the addition of different types of information into its network with things like Facebook Questions and Wikipedia-like community pages. Answer site results and Wikipedia entries are incredibly common among the top results for Google queries. With Facebook search, Facebook would likely point you to its similar offerings directly in Facebook.

But would people use Facebook for search? They just might if Facebook promotes it right. They're already trying to get people to set their home pages as Facebook. What if they made the search box a little more prominent? It seems to have worked for Twitter to get people using Twitter search, which has proven to be quite useful for news-related queries.

Advertising

Former Google AdSense product manager Gokul Rajaram, who Facebook acquired with Chai Labs, is now in charge of the company's ad technology, according to Liz Gannes at All Things Digital. This is very interesting in itself and adds fuel to the fire of speculation that one day Facebook will unleash an AdSense-like network, which could be even more powerful than Google's own in terms of ad relevancy (being how targeting would be based on what users have already told Facebook they like). Facebook has made no indication that it will do this, but it's getting harder and harder to believe that they won't, with so many pieces of such a major puzzle seemingly falling into place, from the acquisition of Rajaram to the saturation of Facebook into the very fabric of the web (Facebook Connect and the Open Graph). Other Ways Facebook Competes with Google

Right now, Facebook isn't competing much with Google Search or with AdSense. This is all speculative. It's about the potential that is there. Very strong potential.

But there are other ways that Facebook is directly competing with Google already. For one, you have the whole Facebook as a center of communication thing. A couple weeks ago, Facebook announced its new messaging system and email addresses, while Zuckerberg may have downplayed it, this is clearly a competitor to Gmail. Some think Google should be worried about this. Beyond just email, Google has already been trying to transform Gmail into a broader communication center, adding things like chat, voice chat, etc.

Facebook competes with Google's YouTube and Picasa. People can upload videos and photos to Facebook just as easily as they can to YouTube or Picasa, and there's a better chance that their friends will see them if they post to Facebook because they'll go right to their news feeds. Facebook has a long way to go to get to YouTube's status in terms of video, but it's been moving up the charts in this category, and if Facebook were to place the emphasis on search I'm talking about, it could help video views tremendously. YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine. Google has the browser and the mobile OS. Facebook doesn't need them. Facebook's already everywhere you go when you're using these devices. It's on Android (not to mention every other mobile OS). It's on practically the entire web (as mentioned). Newer browsers that may or may not catch on in the future are even heavily integrating Facebook into their functionality, and on the others, users can opt to do so themselves via add-ons.

Then you have Facebook's Notes to Googles' Blogger. Facebook's Payments to Google's Checkout. Facebook's Applications to Google's Chrome Web Apps. Facebook's Pages and Lists (and news feed) to Google's News. Facebook's News Feed to Google's Reader and Buzz. The list goes on. ....

Thoughts?

Update: Liz Gannes reports that Facebook Engineering Director Aditya Agarwal, whose projects included Facebook's newsfeed, search, and ads, is leaving the company. This could be significant in the company's approach to search and advertising.

Goodluck sells Mark and Bankole their official residences

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on December 4, 2010 at 10:21pm

What has he sold to himself so far ?

The four people that make up the leadership of the National Assembly; Senate President David Mark, his deputy Ike Ekweremadu, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and his deputy Usman Bayero Nafawa , will soon be owners of choice real estate in Abuja.

They are to benefit from the largesse of President Goodluck Jonathan who has given permission to the four men to purchase their current living quarters...

It is not clear what price has been put on the houses, but the commonwealth will pay for the president's generosity to the tune of N1.5 billion. This is the amount in the proposed 2011 budget - which NEXT got exclusive access to - that is to be spent on building new legislative quarters for the leadership of the Assembly.

At least one lawmaker is unhappy with Mr. Jonathan's decision and says it is a sign of how desperate the President has become, ahead of elections. "You know, there are so many things that he (Mr. Jonathan) wants from them (National Assembly leadership) so they are taking advantage of situation, '' the lawmaker said.

PDP presidential primaries: 22 governors back Jonathan

Posted by arimah patrick ifeanyi on December 4, 2010 at 3:38am

GOODLUCK JONATHANThe struggle for the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party intensified within the week with most of the governors elected under the umbrella of the party declaring their support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s ambition to secure the party’s ticket for the 2011 elections.SATURDAY PUNCH extensive investigations on the PDP race between Jonathan and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar showed that the President’s campaign team, led by Ambassador Dalhatu Tafida had made inroads into most of the states in the country.It was gathered that at the last count, 21 governors were supporting Jonathan’s presidential ambition.The breakdown shows that in the North-West, five governors are backing the Jonathan/Sambo ticket; North-Central, four; North-East, two; South-West, two; South-East, three; and South-South, five.SATURDAY PUNCH gathered that Jonathan had the support of virtually all the governors of the North-Western states except Sokoto and Zamfara.An official of the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign team told SATURDAY PUNCH that the President’s men were putting pressure on Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State to make him change his opposition to Jonathan’s ambition.It was learnt that even in Sokoto, the deputy governor, Alhaji Muktah Shagari, a former Minister of Water Resources under President Olusegun Obasanjo, was working for the President.The official dismissed speculations that Wamakko had supported Jonathan because of the judgement delivered in his favour by the Supreme Court.He argued that Wamakko won his case on merit at the Supreme Court on November 26, 2010 as Jonathan had refused to be involved in the judicial process in pursuit of his desire to create an environment that is conducive to the growth of democracy.“In the North-West, I don’t think we have any problem. We are not sure of Governor Wamakko of Sokoto State, but we are working on him. That is the only governor I know that is giving some problems in that zone,” the official said. “But we are sure of the deputy governor, although the deputy doesn’t control the delegates. The governors have control over them.”In the South-West, the two surviving governors of Oyo and Ogun states, Adebayo Alao-Akala and Gbenga Daniel respectively, are known to be arch supporters of the President.Authoritative sources said that even in the remaining parts of the South-West, the party’s structures in those states had volunteered their support for the President.It was gathered that Jonathan had pacified some members of the PDP from the South-West during his multiple visits to the zone recently. During the visits, Jonathan met with stakeholders in the zone.SATURDAY PUNCH gathered that at the meetings, the President took his time to explain things to the stakeholders in the zone. He was said to have promised the stakeholders from the states which lost their governors to judicial pronouncements that their concerns would receive due attention at the federal level.This followed a recent decision of all the governors of the South-West to back the President for the 2011 elections.Our correspondent gathered that the decision of the South-West governors, which was announced by Alao-Akala, was taken after a series of meetings between Jonathan and the core power brokers in the zone.In the North-Central geopolitical zone, those in charge of the political machinery of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation are contending with fresh challenges that have emerged with the seeming withdrawal of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, from the race.It was learnt that the Jonathan team was mounting pressure on Governor Aliyu Babangida of Niger State to reconsider his earlier decision after the exit of Babangida from the race.Aliyu was said to have told emissaries from the Jonathan team that it would be inconceivable for him to support any other aspirant apart from Babangida, who is from the state.With the present situation, Jonathan’s men are not sure of the Niger State governor and his Kwara counterpart, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who also lost the contest for the Northern consensus aspirant to Abubakar via the ruling of the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum.But SATURDAY PUNCH gathered authoritatively that the governors of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi states were frontline supporters of Jonathan’s aspiration.Also, the governor of Zamfara, Alhaji Aliu Shinkafi (North-West) and Danjuma Goje of Gombe (North-East), who were in the camp of IBB, were said to have told Jonathan’s men that their support for the former military president was not as a result of zoning or the NPLF, but for personal reasons.Jonathan is banking on the fact that Goje has always opposed Atiku and had been an Obasanjo supporter and a Minister of State for Power under the late Bola Ige.SATURDAY PUNCH investigations, however, showed that Jonathan had a lot more work to do in the South-East geopolitical zone in spite of the declaration of support for him by the governors.It was learnt that the zone was viewed as a major worrisome spot for the aspirants involved in the contest for the presidential ticket of the party.A source close to the Presidency, however, dismissed the fears, insisting that out of the four PDP governors of the South-East; Jonathan could count on the support of a minimum of three.In the South-South, all the four surviving governors of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers are believed to have given their support in the forthcoming contest for the presidential ticket of the party to the Jonathan/Sambo team.The only state where Jonathan does not seem to have a trusted support in the South-South is Delta, where the governor’s election was recently annulled by the Court of Appeal in Benin.Before the annulment, former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was said to have given discreet support to IBB in spite of the fact that Jonathan had met his condition to get the Minister of Niger Delta, Elder Godsday Orubebe, out of the governorship contest in the state.SATURDAY PUNCH investigations indicated that Uduaghan and the acting governor of the state, Sam Obi, had control over the party machinery in Delta.It was, however, said that Obi was somebody the President’s men could reach and hold fruitful talks with.In spite of the support for Jonathan by the governors, our correspondent gathered that Abubakar had been holding discussions with the delegates.“Our aspirant is an experienced politician. He has been meeting the delegates directly, not through the governors. Besides, many of these governors are deceiving Jonathan. When the time comes, we will know the winner,” said one of Abubakar’s aides.The presidential primaries of the PDP will hold in January 2011, a situation which still gives room for the two aspirants to forge alliances ahead of the ballot.Comments :

I saw bodies, bones of many travellers in the desert on the way to Libya – Trafficked girl

Posted by arimah patrick ifeanyi on December 4, 2010 at 3:35am

A teenager, who found herself in Tripoli, Libya, narrates her tortuous journey through the Sahara Desert, and how some desperate groups recruit young Nigerian girls for prostitution in the North African country to Comfort OseghaleBola, a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School pupil in Ikorodu, Lagos, has had her world turned around in one month without preparing for it. While her peers were taking summer classes last August, she was one of several girls who were being transported in trucks across the Sahara Desert to Libya. She is, however, lucky to still be alive to tell the story.As a pupil in boarding, Bola spends nearly all of her time at school. “I am on a scholarship; I have been on it since I was in Primary Four,” she says. The only child of divorced parents, she spends most of her holidays either at the boarding house or the home of her school proprietor, who lives within the school premises. Last August while the school session drew to a close, and her peers made plans for holiday lessons, Bola decided to take up a holiday job.“I told my mum that I wanted to get a job during the holidays; I wanted save some money before I gain admission into the university. My mum told me her pastor assists the members with jobs. I had to wait though for my aunt, Lola, who was at Ilesa, then trying to get admission into the university because my mother arranged that the pastor would help the two of us to get holiday jobs. A few days later, Lola joined Bola in Lagos and the girls went to Ikorodu to meet the pastor.A woman known to everyone as Mama Blessing showed up moments later. She is the pastor’s friend. And with this set-up, the journey of these girls to Tripoli, Libya, began. The prophet and Mama Blessing, it turned out, only tricked people to recruit young girls for a prostitution ring in the North African country.But in an interview with SATURDAY PUNCH at the office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Ikeja, Lagos, where she is currently being detained, Mama Blessing claimed ignorance of the trafficking trade. “I am just a trader and sell foodstuffs at the market. Pastor knew that my daughter Blessing had come in from Libya and she asked me to assist Bola and Lola in finding jobs in Libya. All I did was to hand them over to my daughter,” she claimed.As Bola recalled, the girls were taken to the Ogolonto, Ikorodu, Lagos, residence of Mama Blessing from where they were to take off days later to Kano in company with one Ibrahim, a friend of Blessing, while Bola and Lola were oblivious that the journey to Libya had begun. The young girls were joined by two other girls, who came with Ibrahim. “Ibrahim kept making calls during the journey. It seemed he was receiving directions from someone,” Bola said. At Kano, the group was met by a Hausa man driving a Golf car; they were to continue the next phase of their journey with him. After a while, two motorcycles trailed the Golf car. “I was scared when I noticed them. It was not until we stopped that I realised that the cyclists were meant for us,” she added. After three trips, everyone was ferried across safely into Niger Republic by the motorcyclists. “The network signal on my phone changed to an Orange symbol and I then realised that we were in another country. We were kept in a hut and warned not to make any noise,” Bola said.Shortly after, Bola and her fellow travellers were joined by a group of boys and girls, who were being led by Blessing and her accomplice. It was a congregation of various Nigerian tribes and African nations. “There were Igbo, Bini, Ishan and Yoruba. There were also Ghanaians,” Bola recalled. A few days later, they moved again, this time by bus: at night. Describing this journey as terrifying, Bola said the group encountered rebels on the way. She said, “At a point, some Nigerien rebels were shooting at the bus and trying to stop, but the driver continued moving. I was told that if we stopped, we would be robbed and all the girls raped.”Eventually, the bus made it to Dirkou, where the girls spent a few more days with their traffickers, sequestered from prying eyes. “We moved again from Dirkou to Agadez in an open-air pick-up truck. We were loaded into the back of the truck like animals and had to sit tightly packed together,”she said. The journey was more horrifying than the last for Bola. The sun was so hot that when the travellers stopped for a brief rest, their shoes almost melted ontheir feet in the hot sand. The desert route was littered with the bones of animals and dead travellers who had gone before them. The ride was bumpy and rough. Once, the truck in which Bola was loaded with others, had an accident; it fell on its side and turned again on its head, emptying its human cargo on top of the corpses that littered the desert.“I lost consciousness while the other girls screamed. My clothes were pulled from me and they poured water on me before I revived. Meanwhile, our Arab driver started beating us. He was angry because he had warned us earlier not to make any noise. With the help of fellow travellers who were coming behind us in pick-ups, we were able to bring up the fallen truck,” she said.At Agadez, all the girls were interviewed separately, “It was during the interview I was told we were being taken to Libya for prostitution; I refused and told my interviewer there was no way I would become a prostitute, that I was still a virgin,” Bola said. Unknown to her, one Ade, a member of the ring, who interviewed her, had contacted Bola’s prospective master in Libya, named Gani with the news. “It was later I discovered that Gani had ordered Ade to do what he could to deflower me,” said the teenager, who alleged that Ade raped her a few days after the interview. “I bled profusely, it was terrible.” she lamented.Not long after this, the contingent started the journey to their final destination in Libya. “We were loaded into about 16 trailers, girls and boys from various countries and all the vehicles moved in a convoy. The journey was rough because of the rocks and sand along the road. At times, some of us would be thrown into the air with each bump,” she said, recalling a moment when a young girl fell off one of the trucks. “We had to scream and shout for the driver to stop because he couldn’t speak English. Eventually, he stopped and went to get her.” According to Bola, it took three days to get to Libya by road from Agadez. “I later learnt that the trailer Blessing boarded took about two weeks to get to Libya because it broke down on the way.

Don’t underrate Atiku – Jubril Aminu

Posted by arimah patrick ifeanyi on December 4, 2010 at 3:31am

Senator Jubril Aminu on Friday said it would be dangerous to overrate or underrate the importance of former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the consensus aspirant of the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum.

The senator spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.

The NPLF, led by Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, recently picked Abubakar as the consensus aspirant of the North after conducting a ballot for four Northern PDP presidential aspirants.

The politicians Abubakar floored to emerge as the consensus aspirant are former military ruler, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; another retired General, Aliyu Gusau and Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Reacting to the development, Aminu, who, like Abubakar, is from Adamawa State, said it would be wrong to handle Abubakar with kid gloves.

He noted that the fact that the three other aspirants had honoured their commitment to pull out of the presidential race and support Abubakar meant that the consensus idea should be taken seriously.

The senator said, “There is danger in over-blowing the importance of the exercise and there is also danger in underrating it.

“Somehow in this world, in whatever you do, you must try to look at both sides of the coin.

“This did not involve any party; it did not involve any government, or any cultural or religious organisation.

“They did not even involve any economic sector or educational sector.

“We should therefore look at it as a private arrangement. We do not want to be seen to be cutting each other’s throats. They have their right to do so.”

The senator commented on the ongoing face-off between the federal lawmakers and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Lamido Sanusi, over the latter’s claim that 25 per cent of the nation‘s overhead was being spent on the National Assembly.

Aminu said the apex bank chief should not be blamed for his statements, and had no reason to apologise.

Rather, he noted that Sanusi relied on the information he obtained from a “supposedly competent” source, the Federal Ministry of Finance.

He said that it was not necessary for Sanusi to apologise for his statement.

“Sanusi is a very principled and logical person. Do you know the implication of apologising? You are tying yourself,” Aminu said.

“He felt he was using information given to him supposedly by a competent government source in the Ministry of Finance.

“So, you cannot crucify him for using the information from a competent source of government.

“He (Sanusi) is a victim of circumstances because he used the information from the best source available, how can he apologise?

“The National Assembly is a very reasonable body with people who will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

Aminu went ahead to raise the alarm that the legislative arm of government, particularly the National Assembly, was under attack from some people in the executive.

He hinted that some state governors were the principal elements involved in the campaign against the lawmakers.

Aminu, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, noted that the legislature’s stance on the amendment of the country’s electoral laws led to the attacks it was receiving from the people in the executive.

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Eight killed, four injured in fresh Jos attack

Posted by arimah patrick ifeanyi on December 4, 2010 at 3:28am

Eight people, mostly women and children, were killed in Rikwe Chongu village in Bass Local Government Area of Plateau State in another pre-dawn attack allegedly perpetrated by herdsmen.Our correspondent gathered that the herdsmen invaded the village at about 2.30 am on Friday morning, shooting sporadically in the air.The village is about 30km west of Jos, the state capital.The villagers, who recognised the style of previous attacks, refused to come out of their houses.However, in another attempt to lure the villagers out of their homes, the herdsmen set their houses ablaze and positioned themselves at the entrances so that anybody that came out was either gunned down or killed with a cutlass.The Commander of the Special Task Force on Jos crises, Brig.-Gen. Hassan Umoru, who confirmed the fresh attack to our correspondent, said, “The attack was carried out at about 02: 23 Hours of Friday, December 3, 2010. Seven people were killed and four others sustained injuries.”The spokesman for the STF, Lt. Jerry Ayim-Odu, said, “The four people injured are currently receiving treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, while the corpses of the dead were deposited in the same hospital.“Among the seven victims are two men, the remaining five are women and children.“The Fulani are the suspects in this fresh attack, but that will be confirmed by the police investigation; we have already handed over the investigation to the police.”A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Jonathan Asaki, who visited the scene, said, “This is another of the series of unprovoked attacks on the people. This is not crisis, but a deliberate plot to maim and kill mostly women and children.”

Sunday Sermon: THE ONLY ONE by Deborah Ese Ekperigin

Posted by frank adeche Mr Netchurch on December 4, 2010 at 12:10am

There are many stories in the bible that have become so popular among believers and unbelievers, to name a few Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, Joseph and the colourful coat. The one that caught my attention this time was Noah and the Ark as i was read the story in Genesis 6 a few of the verses ministered to me. verse 9 says " This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man THE ONLY BLAMELESS person living on EARTH at the time and he walked in close fellowship with God". People this man was the ONLY blameless person on earth, now i thought of the world today it will be hard to find one blameless person in a family of four. I know it might sound funny, but it's the truth.

The world we have today no one wants to be the ONLY ONE when it comes to things that are righteous or holy. They are scared of been called names like slacker, I too know , sister/brother holier than thou and as the Nigerians will say over sabi or mugu ! We seem to forget that the only reason we talk about Noah today is because he was the ONLY ONE...

So why can’t you be the ONLY ONE

Among your friends/family/colleagues that decides to earn a honest living instead of duping people (yahoo yahoo/419)

Among your friends/family/colleagues that decides to wait till you get married before you sleep with that wife/husband

Among your friends/family/colleagues that remains faithful to that wife/husband that you asked God to give you

Among your friend/family/colleagues that decides to honour the vow you made to God/spouse instead of divorce

Among your friends/family/colleagues that decides to honour their father and mother no matter what

Among your friends/family/colleagues to tell the truth no matter

Among your friends/family/colleagues not to steal no matter the situation you find yourself

Among your friends/family/colleagues to enter/end a business transaction with integrity

Among your friends/family/colleagues to be forgiving because you know YOU have been forgiven so many times.

I say this because I myself never wanted to be the ONLY ONE, the world makes us feel out of place when we are the only ones, but really we have to put an END to it and realise that we are UNIQUE when we choose to be the only ones and it really is not a bad thing like the world is trying to make it seem it has its great rewards, we do not have to be part of the craze going on at the moment the divorce rate sky rocketing, adultery, fornication, killing, hatred all on the rise, all because people want to be part of it and not left behind on the trend. Forgetting that they will be left behind if they continue the way they do when our Saviour comes.

When Noah decided to be the ONLY ONE he was not disappointed and God never let him down, in fact he had what I will call extended favour, this is the favour that you posses that is then extended to your loved ones that probably don’t deserve that favour, think about it the Word did not say Noah and his family were blameless, he had 3 sons named Shem, Ham and Japheth the Word does not say they too were blameless, but when you go to chapter 9 it says " then God blessed Noah and his sons" extended favour and blessing, be careful what you decide to do now or decisions you make because they might have a negative effect on your generation. We need to make right decisions NOW so our generation will blessed by it.

Please have a think about it today and I pray as we do we all become ONLY ONES like Noah.

Have a blessed weekend people

Ese signing out.

1, 051 Pregnant Women Test Positive To HIV In Lagos

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on December 3, 2010 at 7:55pm

At least, 1,051 pregnant women have tested positive to the dreaded HIV disease in public hospitals in Lagos State, South West Nigeria in 10 months, says the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris.

According to the commissioner, the 10-month period is between January and October, 2010. He revealed that over 28,000 pregnant women were tested for HIV within the period and 1, 051 of them tested positive.

Dr. Idris butressed his claim from a survey carried out by National Sentinel Surveys which put the prevalent rate of HIV infection in the state at a staggering 5.1 percent.

“The sentinel surveys carried out in Lagos has confirmed a steady, though, inconsistent increase in the number of HIV infected people. While sharing the love and not the virus, let us all join hands together to achieve an HIV/AIDS free Lagos,” said Idris at a conference to mark the World’s AID Day in Lagos.

According to him, Lagos has almost one million people infected with HIV out of the estimated 18 million people in the state, adding that over 115,000 people were tested for HIV in various health facilities across the state between January and October 2010.

“Over 35,000 clients are enrolled into ART programme. The state government has significantly increased the service delivery points in the state in respect of HIV treatment, care, support and prevention services.

“Lagos State has taken the lead in the fight against discrimination with the passage of a law for the protection of Persons Living With HIV/AIDs, PLWHAs,” he added.

The commissioner disclosed that the state government has intensified efforts to ensure that access to HIV/AIDS preventive and curative services were improved throughout the state and the rights of PLWHAs were not infringed...

He noted that PLWHAs should be an integral part of the society with equal right as any other citizen without limitation and discrimination. He said there should be no discrimination at work places, public places; no travelling restriction and victims should have equal rights with people not affected.

The commissioner also revealed that government has put in place measures to enable people with HIV/AIDS have access to preventive and curative services as well as enhance the health of PLWHAs through nutritional programmes.

He described Lagos State as a trail blazer in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria as it was the first state in the country to recognize the epidemic impact of the disease in 1999 by setting up a foundation which later became the state’s AIDS Control Agency in 2002.

He explained that through the foundation’s efforts, the 2005 National HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Health Survey showed that more than 97 percent of Lagosians have heard of HIV and AIDS and 94 percent of them had good knowledge of its prevention.

“Presently, there are 56 HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) sites spread across the State. There are 40 prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) sites, 29 adult antiretroviral therapy (ART) sites and 22 paediatrics ART sites. Several developmental partners are committed along with the state government towards improved access to HIV/AIDS services in the State.

Korean Crisis: How do you solve a problem like Korea? China ! that it’s in its own interest to rein in the Kims

Posted by jackie webLondonGirl on December 3, 2010 at 7:45pm

IF EVER a ruling elite seemed to justify the Bush-era doctrine of “pre-emption”, it is the Kim dynasty in North Korea. No government anywhere subjects its own people to such a barbarous regime of fear, repression and hunger. And the Kims are complicit in international outrages ranging from murderous terrorism and nuclear proliferation to drug-smuggling and currency-counterfeiting. The present dictator, Kim Jong Il, is apparently not long for this world, and seems to be boosting his 27-year-old son and anointed successor as a victorious warrior. When the elder Kim was himself dauphin, in the 1980s, he earned his spurs through international terrorism.

This week the North waged war for the second time this year with South Korea when it shelled a South Korean island near the disputed maritime boundary, killing two soldiers and two civilians, injuring others and burning a score of houses. In March, when one of its torpedoes sank the Cheonan, a naval vessel, killing 46, North Korea could, albeit implausibly, deny culpability. This time, though the North describes its aggression as retaliation (for a harmless South Korean military exercise), there is no gainsaying its responsibility for one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean war in 1953. To add to this dismal catalogue, the latest onslaught came just three days after the revelation that, in defiance of international efforts to curb its nuclear programme, North Korea has developed a sophisticated facility for enriching uranium. That gives it a further potential source of material for bombmaking.

The starting-point for answering the North’s aggression has to be that, in the most basic sense, the Kims will almost certainly get away with only a symbolic return of fire. It is entirely wrong for North Korea to act as it does. But punitive military reprisals against the North risk a spiral of escalation and catastrophic war. Deterrence works badly against a dictator who blithely imposes famine and gulags on his people during peacetime. Even if there are doubts about the efficacy of its tiny nuclear arsenal, North Korea has enough men under arms, and enough conventional ammunition within range of Seoul—just 35 miles (60km) from the frontier—to make war seem very much a last resort.

If war and the threat of war are hardly even options, what can the world do? The best card in a bad hand is to heal the divisions among other countries about how to handle North Korea. That means, in particular, making China see that a tinderbox it has long regarded as a strategic asset has become an appalling liability. China also struggles to control North Korea. But a united front would change the environment that encourages the rogue state’s bad behaviour.

China cannot be blind to the Kims’ bungling and bellicosity, nor welcome their nuclear ambitions. But it has had two worse fears. One is of a rekindled war on the peninsula, which would damage China. The other is of North Korean collapse, with millions of desperate refugees pouring into China and South Korea or even American troops on China’s border. It is as a bulwark against this “instability” that China cossets the Kims. It refused to condemn them even for the sinking of the Cheonan, and this week issued blandly even-handed calls for restraint. It apparently believes that if their only ally abandons them, the Kims might do something really rash..

But they already have. Whatever it says publicly, China must surely see that this regime flirts with war as an instrument of diplomacy and that its desire to shock the world into negotiating with it requires ever greater outrages. Ultimately, this pattern of behaviour threatens the very stability China craves. China’s alliance with North Korea thus undermines not just its image as a global power but also its own interests.

So how to nudge China in the right direction? One possibility is the revival of the six-party forum, chaired by China and involving Japan and Russia. Talks stalled after North Korea forged ahead with its nuclear programme. The Kims would regard a revival as a victory. But talks will eventually have to resume if North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are to be negotiated down. If they also help persuade China to rein in North Korea, that would be a double benefit.

Niger Delta Slaughter: Military Raid Kills 150 .JTF renews onslaught on MEND

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on December 3, 2010 at 7:40pm

A Nigerian military attack using heavily armed soldiers and aerial bombing runs has killed as many as 150 people in the oil-rich southern delta, a human rights activist said Friday.

Oghebejabor Ikim, national coordinator for the Forum of Justice and Human Rights Defense, told The Associated Press civilians have suffered a heavy toll in the military operation that began Wednesday. He did not say how many of the 150 dead were civilians, but said militants left the area before the offensive began.

The attacks on a village in the Niger Delta continued Friday as the military tried to kill or capture a militant called John Togo who officials said gave up on a government-sponsored amnesty program. The amnesty program for militants brought an uneasy calm to a region vital to U.S. oil supplies, which is now threatened by new militant attacks and government offensives that put civilians at risk.

"I can describe it as a killing spree of innocent civilians," Ikim said. "Houses have been burnt. Women are raped. There are killings. Is that how to get at John Togo?"

A military spokesman said Friday that the operation was ongoing, but declined to comment further. The military has declined to offer a death toll for the operation targeting the village of Ayakoromo and surrounding communities.

An independent assessment of the damage and casualties from the attack has yet to be done. The Nigerian Red Cross and other activists have been unable to reach the targeted communities as the military has sealed off the winding muddy creeks that lead to the region. Activists say they continue to see smoke rising from the area and can hear gunfire.

Video aired Thursday afternoon on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority showed soldiers in flak jackets and helmets traveling by boat through the muddy creeks. The network also showed images of what appeared to be suspected militants in custody and of a soldier setting a hut ablaze with a lighter.

Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha, a military spokesman, previously said soldiers recovered anti-aircraft guns, rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and dynamite from the three camps targeted in the attack.

However, it appears that soldiers have yet to apprehend Togo. Casely Omon-Irabor, a lawyer representing Togo, said Friday that the militant and his fighters were "far away in the high seas" and not in the region being attacked. The lawyer said the government had planned a meeting to negotiate a settlement with Togo, but instead launched a military operation against him.

"I do not see any reason why we are calling for truce and trying to get peace and yet a party for that peace has breached that agreement and gone into war again in the creeks," Omon-Irabor told the AP.

Militants in the Niger Delta have attacked pipelines, kidnapped petroleum company employees and fought government troops since an insurgency began in 2006. The attacks cut drastically into crude production in Nigeria, an OPEC-member nation that is one of the top suppliers of crude oil to the U.S. Production has risen back to 2.2 million barrels of oil a day, in part because many militant leaders and fighters accepted the amnesty deal. ..

But not all have been pacified. The main militant group in the region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, has promised to carry out new attacks after claiming responsibility for kidnapping seven expatriate workers in November from offshore oil rigs operated by London-based Afren PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. The group, known by the acronym MEND, also claimed a dual car bombing that killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens more during an Oct. 1 independence celebration in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

Family Tragedy:Pregnant woman, hubby, child, others die in petrol tanker fire

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on December 3, 2010 at 7:34pm

No fewer than five persons, including a pregnant woman, her child and husband died, while several others have been declared missing in a petrol tanker fire in Lagos yesterday. Lagos Police Command Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, a Superintendent of Police, confirmed five persons dead and eight persons injured.

Daily Sun learnt the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Mba’s statement reads: “Today at about 5.45a.m. a tanker with a registration number XZ 777 JJJ loaded with petroleum product suspected to be premium motor spirit was involved in a fatal accident near Fin-Niger Bus-Stop. The driver reportedly ran into a ditch under circumstances yet to be ascertained. The contents spilled on the road and it eventually went up in flames.”

He said the tanker and seven other vehicles were burnt, while five person were burnt beyond recognition and eight others sustained various degrees of burns.” Although the police put the casualty figure at five, Daily Sun learnt that more than 10 persons were consumed by the tanker fire.

Witnesses told Daily Sun that the cause of the tragedy should be traced to the tanker and another car on top speed which overtook the tanker earlier.
It was gathered that as the car suddenly moved in front of the long vehicle, the tanker driver attempted to maneuver to avoid ramming into it. In the process the tanker lost control, fell on its side, and spilled its cargo on the road.

The witnesses said the driver and conductor of the tanker tried to alert oncoming vehicles but the motorists failed to heed the warning and kept driving past.

It was gathered that the movement of the cars and mini-buses ignited the fire, leading to an explosion from the tanker.

Daily Sun gathered that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations in the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Abdullateef Junaid immediately proceeded to the scene to assist in the evacuation of the victims of the fire.

A witness who was identified as John Dickson said shortly after, the men of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Civil Defence Service Corps, Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) and sympathizers arrived they were able to rescue eight people who suffered severe burns.
As at press time, nothing was heard about those who reportedly ran towards the swamp for safey. Efforts by the police only yielded scanty results as only two persons were rescued.

Some residents and sympathizers lamented that more people went towards the swamp, but only two were rescued.
They pointed to items such as shoes, groundnuts and baked cow pea which littered the vicinity of the swamp as evidence that there were still more people in the area. Dickson told Daily Sun that, “a man and his pregnant wife and their little baby were burnt to death in the fire. Some people died inside the swamp. Some are still missing. I believe more than 10 persons were killed in the fire.”
Some of the victims were reportedly rushed to Holy Family Hospital, Satellite Town, while others were moved to the General Hospital.

In tears and anguish relatives of the deceased thronged the scene of the incident to search for their loved ones.
A relative who was identified as Achike told Daily Sun that he was sleeping in a hut on a farmland with other farmers when all of a sudden they heard a loud bang which was followed by a huge fire
Achike said: “We ran for our lives, you know the farmland is swampy. As we were running for safety, some of us fell into the swamp and we believe they are still there.”

He noted that he was able to see some of his colleagues who ran for dear life, “ but as I am talking to you, my best friend Okon is nowhere to be found. I am sure he drowned in the swamp.
Maduabuchi Okone who took an early bus from Mile-2 on his way to Republic of Benin said he managed to escape from the fire. “Our bus ran into the fire. We have to rush out from the bus. I broke my leg. So, I could not run far but other occupants of the bus ran towards the farmland. I am still surprised that when we converged to continue the journey, some of the passengers were nowhere to be found.”
Continuing, he said, the fire fighters should, as a matter of urgency assist in combing the swampy area to fish out those that were missing.

Another person who could not control his anger, Martins Okoye said he was suspecting that his wife Rose might be among the dead. “I have searched through all the hospitals the police directed me to visit but I can’t find her. I believe my wife may have been burnt beyond recognition.”

He said his wife was travelling to Badagry in an unknown vehicle but that since the incident, her phone had been switched off. “The time the incident happened coincided with the time my wife called me that she was on her way to Cotonou and that she was around Fin-Niger.
He said the government should take the issue of citizens seriously by making sure that those who were trapped in the swamp were rescued and that the identities of those who lost their lives in the fire tragedy were ascertained.

An artisan at the Dantata Bus Stop area of the Badagry-Mile 2 who was identified as Adeosun Yusuf, who was on his way to work when the incident occurred described what he saw as a waste of human lives.
Adeosun, a vulcaniser told Daily Sun that he was shocked at the spread of the fire and the way it consumed everything in its path...

“This is a bad way to start preparations for Christmas this December. I was on my way to work. I usually come out early because of people who go to work early and may have flat tyres. It was while I was just trying to set my tools of work that I heard a loud sound and when I looked up, I saw that it was a tanker carrying fuel that fell. Then, the driver and conductor got out and started making calls as I walked closer to see for myself the extent of damage.

“Within a few minutes, the tanker exploded and those of us trying to get to the scene of the accident had to run back for safety. I saw cars, buses and small trucks trying to escape the fire. The fire was so much that we were just unable to do anything.

The Economist: Brazils Rio favelas gangs as Cariocas’ hopes start to come true

Posted by jackie webLondonGirl on December 3, 2010 at 7:31pm

EVERY four years, just before newly elected state and federal governments take over, Rio de Janeiro’s drug gangs start to throw their weight around. This time has been no exception. Just over a week ago, they began hijacking cars and buses, ordering out their occupants and setting them alight, in a show of force and an attempt to terrorise the city. They have become more media-savvy than they were the last time around: rather than murdering policemen, as they did in 2006, they are trying to demonstrate their ability to paralyse the city during the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

The government has also changed its strategy since then. The last time, police went into the favelas (shantytowns) all guns blazing; killed residents (not all of whom were gangsters); and pulled out weeks or months later once the status quo was restored. But Rio has now developed a public-security policy, and gained the political will to see it through. One at a time, thirteen favelas have been endowed with “Pacification Police Units” (UPPs), a permanent community-policing presence that can stop drug dealers from toting heavy weapons and terrorising residents. The plan is to reach 40 slums by 2014. Once public order is securely restored, health-care, community centres and so on will follow—and eventually, it is hoped, there will be no space left in which the bad guys can operate..

Rio is in some ways an incredibly gorgeous city: great beaches, startling mountains and some lovely, if shabby, architecture. But it brings to mind a face that is beautiful until its owner smiles, revealing teeth that are rotten stumps. Wherever you are, you can look up at the hills and see the favelas, home to hundreds of thousands of people living in unalleviated poverty, ill health, and lacking legal protection. Up there, in the hills, the state has ceded control to drug traffickers and militias made up of off-duty and retired police officers. Up there, teenagers sporting machine guns patrol the streets and carry out gut-wrenchingly sadistic murders, and no one is punished. But rather than looking at what is right in front of them, for decades the authorities and many of the better-off have simply averted their eyes.

How come Rio ended up like this? It has never had an effective police force, says Elizabeth Süssekind, a criminologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio. Its police are underpaid and receive little training, and until recently were pretty much armed and then left to their own devices. They could torture and kill within prisons, or carry out revenge attacks inside the favelas with complete impunity, and had neither the organisational structure nor the know-how to do much else. Such folk were easy to corrupt, and throughout the 20th century gangs running the Jogo de Bicho (Animal Game), an immensely popular, lucrative, and formally illegal lottery, provided the money to do so. When Rio became a major transit point for cocaine trafficking to Europe in the 70s and 80s, a fallen police force accommodated these new criminals too.

Julia Michaels, an American writer and journalist who has lived in Rio for many years, points out another consequence of the weak, corrupt state: an emphasis on personal relationships to the exclusion of almost everything else. Brazilians naturally focus on friends and family, she thinks, and there is a very weak idea of the common good. And Brazilians’ famous optimism may play a part too: someone who always thinks everything will turn out fine is less likely to push for much-needed change. When I ask the taxi driver who brings me up to the Complexo do Alemão, the scene of the recent action, what he thought of the week’s events, he says that he believes “good always triumphs over evil”, despite much evidence to the contrary in Rio in recent years.

A consequence of the focus on friends and family is a surprising heartlessness towards everyone else. Professor Süssekind says that some of her neighbours expressed disappointment that the police had not just gone into Alemão and “killed them all”. Another person asked her, Marie Antoinette-like, why “those people” were living “up there” anyway. On my flight to Rio from São Paulo, where I live, the woman next to me said, very firmly, that Rio was fighting a “civil war” and that of course the armed forces would end up shooting innocent bystanders; it simply could not be helped. For such people, what is happening is not an inexcusably belated attempt to extend the protections and privileges of citizenship to the poor, but the punishment of poverty itself as a crime.

But this is an old story, and there is a new one being told in Rio now. I heard it today at one of the entrances to Alemão when I asked Marco, a member of a state police special-forces unit, how things were going today. He said nothing of war or victory, instead simply calling the situation “calm”, and the residents “receptive” and free to come and go as they pleased. Renê, a 17-year-old resident of Complexo do Alemao, went from 2,000 followers on Twitter to 22,000 during the last week, as people from Rio and beyond followed his updates on what was happening. Ms Michaels told me of a teacher she met in a school on the edge of the now-pacified Borel favela, who explained that before, she was not meant to look out the window, or point out the sights to visitors. Now she can look wherever she wants.

Benefits of exercise

Posted by Dan WebNutritionist/Motivator on December 3, 2010 at 4:10am

Benefits of exercise

Regular exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. This article explains the health benefits that are linked to regularexercise, and offers advice about how you can be more physically active.

The health benefits of regular exercise

There is overwhelming scientific evidence that people who lead active lifestyles are less likely to suffer from illness and more likely tolive longer. Exercise not only makes you physically fitter, it alsoimproves your mental health and general sense of wellbeing. Some of thehealth benefits of exercise are described here.

Exercise can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease),including heart disease and stroke, are the biggest cause of illness anddeath in the UK. Inactive people have almost double the risk of dyingfrom heart disease compared with people who are active. So if you don'tdo any exercise at all, even doing a little more physical activity - forexample, walking each day - can help reduce your risk of heart disease.
Doing exercise can also help to reduce high blood pressure (hypertension). You are more likely to have a stroke or heart attack ifyou have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is common - about halfof all people aged between 65 and 74 have it - but it has no symptoms.Exercise can help to prevent high blood pressure, and reduce it if yoursis already too high.
If you need to improve your cholesterol levels, exercise can help. There are two types of cholesterol - low-density lipoprotein (LDL) andhigh-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL cholesterol is sometimes called"bad" cholesterol; HDL cholesterol is sometimes called "good"cholesterol. High levels of LDL and low levels of HDL increase the riskof heart disease.

Studies show that regular exercise such as brisk walking or running is linked to higher levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol. Being activehelps to increase levels of "good" cholesterol.

Exercise can help to promote healthy blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes develops in at least one in 10 people, causing increased bloodsugar levels.
Poorly controlled blood sugar levels can eventually damage your eyes, nerves, kidneys and arteries.

The more exercise you do, the lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Exercise is especially important if you are at high risk ofdeveloping type 2 diabetes, for example if you are overweight, have highblood pressure or have close family members with the condition.

Exercise is also good for you if you already have type 2 diabetes - regular physical activity can help control your blood sugar levels.

You are more likely to have joint pain or lower back pain if you don't do any exercise. Osteoarthritis is the most common joint problemand affects nearly everyone over the age of 60. Regular, moderateactivity, especially walking, has been linked to a lower risk ofosteoarthritis.

Eight out of 10 people have lower back pain at some time in their lives, but people who exercise are less likely to suffer from it.

Osteoporosis (low bone density) is when your bones become brittle and prone to fracture. You can reduce your risk of developing osteoporosisby doing high-impact exercise such as running and skipping. This putsweight on your bones, increases bone density in younger people and slowsdown their degeneration later in life. But choose low-impact,weight-bearing exercise, such as gentle walking or swimming, if youalready have osteoporosis.

Exercise can reduce the risk of certain cancers. You are less likely to develop cancer if you are physically active. There is especiallyclear evidence that exercise protects against colon cancer and againstbreast cancer in women who have been through the menopause. Some studiessuggest that physical activity may also help prevent lung andendometrial cancers.
Doing exercise can help you to manage your weight. Excess calories are stored as fat, so you put on weight when you eat more calories thanyou use. Physical activity uses calories and so helps to create ahealthy energy balance. For many people, exercise is essential formaintaining a healthy weight.

You are obese if you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over. Obesity doubles your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.It also increases the possibility that you will develop joint problemsand some cancers.

Obesity is caused by an imbalance between your energy intake from food and energy output through activity and metabolism (the chemicalreactions going on in your body). You are more likely to be obese if youare inactive. Physical activity alone can help you lose weight if youare overweight or obese - the more you do, the more you will lose.However, combining exercise with a healthy diet will mean you loseweight faster.

Exercise can both help prevent and treat mental illness. Leading an inactive lifestyle for long periods of time means you are more likely tosuffer from clinical depression. Some studies suggest that regularexercise is at least as effective for treating depression as talkingtreatments or medicines, with fewer side-effects than medicines.

You may also benefit from exercise if you have anxiety-related disorders, such as phobias, panic attacks or stress.

You are likely to feel happier, more satisfied with life and have an improved sense of wellbeing if you are physically active. Introduceregular exercise into your routine and you should sleep better, loweryour stress levels and boost your self-image. It's also possible that itmay improve brain function in children and older adults.

Get started!

The average adult needs to do at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day, on five or more days a week to gain the health benefitsdescribed here. However, many people should actually do more. Forexample, children should be active for a total of 60 minutes every day,including spontaneous play as well as organised sports activities. Manypeople need to aim for 45 to 60 minutes on at least five days a week toprevent obesity if they aren't making any dietary changes. If you usedto be obese and have already lost weight, maintaining the weight-lossmay need 60 to 90 minutes of activity on five days.

You don't need to spend hours at the gym or run marathons to be healthy. You can do three 10 minute or two 15 minute bouts to reach yourminimum of 30 minutes and this can be as effective as lengthiersessions. You might find this a more manageable target to begin with.

The easiest way to sustain an exercise habit is to incorporate it into your daily routine. One way to raise your level of physicalactivity is to cycle or walk to work instead of taking the bus ordriving. Use stairs instead of the lift, and spend more time gardeningor walking in the park - this will help to increase your energy output.

Sometimes it's hard to motivate yourself to be more physically active and it can feel like a chore. Start by changing the way you think aboutregular exercise. Remind yourself that it will make you feel better,and will probably improve the quality and length of your life. Mostimportantly, it can be fun!

Key points

Regular moderate exercise will benefit your health in many ways, both physically and mentally.
Exercise reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and cancer.
Exercise reduces your risk of bone and joint problems.
Exercise helps you manage your weight.
Exercise helps prevent and control diabetes.
Exercise helps you feel happier.
To see most of these benefits, you need to do at least 30 minutes of moderate activity on five days of the week.

(Extracted from www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/healthy_living/lifestyle/exercise/exercise_benefits.html)
Published by Bupa's health information team, healthinfo@bupa.com, April 2008

"FELA" nominated for Grammy award

Posted by NollywoodMohits on December 3, 2010 at 4:08am

Fela the Musical Broadway show has been nominated for the prestigious grammy award !

Musical Show Album

American Idiot (Featuring Green Day) - Billie Joe Armstrong, producer (Green Day, composers; Billie Joe Armstrong, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast With John Gallagher, Jr., Michael Esper & Others)
Fela! - Robert Sher, producer (Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, composer; Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast With Sahr Ngaujah, Lillias White & Others)
A Little Night Music - Tommy Krasker, producer (Stephen Sondheim, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (2009 Broadway Revival Cast With Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury & Others)
Promises, Promises - David Caddick & David Lai, producers (Burt Bacharach, composer; Hal David, lyricist) (New Broadway Cast With Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth & Others)
Sondheim on Sondheim - Philip Chaffin & Tommy Krasker, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast With Barbara Cook , Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat & Others)

Nominations were announced for the 53rd annual Grammy Awards on Wednesday night with the CBS special The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! While only five of the categories were announced during the show, the balance were made public shortly afterward.

Eminem leads the 2010 field with ten nominations followed by Bruno Mars with seven. Lady Antebellum, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga each received six. For veteran artists, Jeff Beck leads the way with five nods.

Here are the four major categories and the 47 other categories where veteran artist were nominated. There are 58 more categories that we have not listed that were either beyond our normal formats (Latin, Jazz, Classical, etc.) or had no veteran artists nominated. To see the entire list of all 109 categories, go to the Grammy site.

Record of the Year

Nothin' On You - B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
Love the Way You Lie - Eminem Featuring Rihanna
F*** You - Cee Lo Green
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z Featuring Alicia Keys
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Album of the Year

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Recovery - Eminem
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

Song of the Year

Beg Steal Or Borrow - Ray LaMontagne, songwriter (Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs)
F*** You - Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Cee Lo Green)
The House That Built Me - Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
Love The Way You Lie - Alexander Grant, Skylar Grey & Marshall Mathers, songwriters
(Eminem Featuring Rihanna)
Need You Now - Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)

New Artist

Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Male Pop Vocal Performance

Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble
This is It - Michael Jackson
Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert
Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Half of My Heart - John Mayer

Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version) - "Glee" Cast
Misery - Maroon 5
The Only Exception - Paramore
Babyfather - Sade
Hey, Soul Sister (Live) - Train

Pop Collaboration With Vocals

Airplanes II - B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
Imagine - Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
If It Wasn't For Bad - Elton John & Leon Russell
Telephone - Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
California Gurls - Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

The balance of the nominations are after the cut.

Pop Instrumental Performance

Flow - Laurie Anderson
Nessun Dorma - Jeff Beck
No Mystery - Stanley Clark
Orchestral Intro - Gorillaz
Sleepwalk - Brian Setzer Orchestra

Pop Instrumental Album

Pushing the Envelope - Gerald Albright
Take Your Pick - Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto
Heart and Soul - Kenny G
Singularity - Robbie Krieger
Everything is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway - Kirk Whalum

Traditional Pop Vocal Album

Crazy Love - Michael Buble
The Greatest Love Songs of All Time - Barry Manilow
Let It Be Me: Johnny Mathis in Nashville - Johnny Mathis
Fly Me to the Moon: The Great American Songbook, Volume 5 - Rod Stewart
Love is the Answer - Barbra Streisand

Solo Rock Vocal Performance

Run Back to Your Side - Eric Clapton
Crossroads - John Mayer
Helter Skelter - Paul McCartney
Silver Rider - Robert Plant
Angry World - Neil Young

Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Ready To Start - Arcade Fire
I Put A Spell On You - Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
Tighten Up - The Black Keys
Radioactive - Kings Of Leon
Resistance - Muse

Hard Rock Performance

A Looking In View - Alice In Chains
Let Me Hear You Scream - Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain - Soundgarden
Between The Lines - Stone Temple Pilots
New Fang - Them Crooked Vultures

Metal Performance

El Dorado - Iron Maiden
Let the Guilt Go - Korn
In Your Words - Lamb of God
Sudden Death - Megadeath
World Painted Blood - Slayer

Rock Instrumental Performance

Hammerhead - Jeff Beck
Black Mud - Black Keys
Do the Murray - Los Lobos
Kundalini Bonfire - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
The Deathless Horsie - Dweezil Zappa

Rock Song

Angry World - Neil Young, songwriter (Neil Young)
Little Lion Man - Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters
(Mumford & Sons)
Radioactive - Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters
(Kings Of Leon)
Resistance - Matthew Bellamy, songwriter (Muse)
Tighten Up - Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney, songwriter (The Black Keys)

Rock Album

Emotion & Commotion - Jeff Beck
The Resistance - Muse
Backspacer - Pearl Jam
Mojo - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Le Noise - Neil Young

Male R&B Performance

Second Chance - El DeBarge
Finding My Way Back - Jaheim
Why Would You Stay - Kem
We're Still Friends - (Kirk Whalum &) Music Soulchild
There Goes My Baby - Usher

R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

Take My Time - Chris Brown & Tank
Love - Chuck Brown, Jill Scott & Marcus Miller
You've Got A Friend - Ronald Isley & Aretha Franklin
Shine - John Legend & The Roots
Soldier Of Love - Sade

Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

When a Woman Loves - R. Kelly
Hang on In There - John Legend & the Roots
You're So Amazing - Calvin Richardson
In Between - Ryan Shaw
Go (Live) - Betty Wright

R&B Song

Bittersweet - Charles Harmon & Claude Kelly, songwriters (Fantasia)
Finding My Way Back - van "Orthodox" Barias, Curt Chambers, Carvin "Ransum" Haggins, Jaheim Hoagland & Miquel Jontel, songwriters (Jaheim)
Second Chance - E. Debarge & Mischke, songwriters (El DeBarge)
Shine - John Stephens, songwriter (John Legend & The Roots)
Why Would You Stay - K. Owens, songwriter (Kem)

Rap Song

Empire State Of Mind - Shawn Carter, Angela Hunte, Burt Keyes, Alicia Keys, Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic & Alexander Shuckburgh, songwriters (Sylvia Robinson, songwriter) (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys)
Love The Way You Lie - Alexander Grant, Skylar Grey & Marshall Mathers, songwriters (Eminem & Rihanna)
Not Afraid - M. Burnett, J. Evans, Marshall Mathers, L. Resto & M. Samuels, songwriters (Eminem)
Nothin' On You - Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Bobby Simmons Jr., songwriters (B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars)
On To The Next One - Shawn Carter, J. Chaton & K. Dean, songwriters (G. Auge & X. De Rosnay, songwriters) (Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz)

Country Collaboration With Vocals

Bad Angel - Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson
Pride (In The Name Of Love) - Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & The Punch Brothers
As She's Walking Away - Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson
Hillbilly Bone - Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins
I Run To You - Marty Stuart & Connie Smith

Country Instrumental Performance

Tattoo of a Smudge - Cherryholmes
Magic #9 - Infamous Stringdusters
New Chance Blues - Punch Brothers
Willow Creek - Darrell Scott
Hummingbird - Marty Stuart

Americana Album

The List - Rosanne Cash
Tin Can Trust - Los Lobos
Country Music - Willie Nelson
Band Of Joy - Robert Plant
You Are Not Alone - Mavis Staples

Bluegrass Album

Circles Around Me - Sam Bush
Mountain Soul II - Patty Loveless
Family Circle - Del McCoury Band
Legacy - Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
Reckless - SteelDrivers

Traditional Blues Album

Giant - James Cotton
Memphis Blues - Cyndi Lauper
The Well - Charlie Musselwhite
Joined At The Hip - Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites - Jimmie Vaughan

Contemporary Blues Album

Nothings Impossible - Solomon Burke
Tribal - Dr. John & the Lower 911
Living Proof - Buddy Guy
Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook - Bettye LaVette
Live in Chicago - Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band Featuring Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eye" Smith, Bryan Lee and Buddy Flett

Traditional Folk Album

Genuine Negro Jig - Carolina Chocolate Drops
Onward & Upward - Luther Dickinson & The Sons of Mudboy
Memories of John - The John Hartford Stringband
Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy - Maria Muldaur
Ricky Skaggs Solo: Songs My Dad Loved - Ricky Skaggs

Contemporary Folk Album

Love is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino - Jackson Browne & David Lindley
The Age of Miracles - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Somedays the Song Writes You - Guy Clark
God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise - Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs
Dream Attic - Richard Thompson

Reggae Album

Before the Dawn - Buju Benton
Isaac Meets Isaac - Gregory Isaac & King Isaac
Revelation - Lee "Scratch" Perry
Made in Jamaica - Bob Sinclair with Sly & Robbie
One Pop Reggae + - Sly & Robbie and the Family Taxi
Legacy: An Acoustic Tribute to Peter Tosh - Andrew Tosh

Contemporary World Music Album

Throw Down Your Heart, Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Tracks - Bela Fleck
All in One - Bebel Gilberto
OYO - Angelique Kidjo
Bom Tempo - Sergio Mendes
Om Namo Narayanaya: Soul Call - Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon

Gospel Album

He Wants It All - Forever Jones
You Hold My World - Israel Houghton
Nobody Greater - VaShawn Miller
He's Been Just That Good - Kirk Whalum & Lalah Hathaway
Grace - BeBe & CeCe Winans

Gospel Song

Beautiful Things - Lisa Gungor & Michael Gungor, songwriters (Gungor)
Better Than a Hallelujah - Sarah Hart & Chapin Hartford, songwriters (Amy Grant)
It's What I Do - Jerry Peters & Kirk Whalum, songwriters (Kirk Whalum & Lalah Hathaway)
Our God - Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Jesse Reeves & Chris Tomlin, songwriters (Chris
Tomlin)
Return to Sender - Gordon Kennedy, songwriter (Ricky Skaggs)

Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Beauty Will Rise - Stephen Curtis Chapman
Love God, Love People - Israel Houghton
Pieces of a Real Heart - Sanctus Real
Mosaic - Ricky Skaggs
Tonight - TobyMac

Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

Get Ready - Forever Jones
Love Unstoppable - Fred Hammond
Triumphant - VaShawn Mitchell
Aaron Sledge - Aaron Sledge
Still - BeBe & CeCe Winans

Musical Album For Children

Here Comes Science - They Might Be Giants
Jungle Jim - Justin Roberts
Sunny Days - Battersby Duo
Tomorrow's Children - Pete Seeger With the Rivertown Kids and Friends
Weird Things Are Everywhere! - Judy Pancoast

Musical Show Album

American Idiot (Featuring Green Day) - Billie Joe Armstrong, producer (Green Day, composers; Billie Joe Armstrong, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast With John Gallagher, Jr., Michael Esper & Others)
Fela! - Robert Sher, producer (Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, composer; Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast With Sahr Ngaujah, Lillias White & Others)
A Little Night Music - Tommy Krasker, producer (Stephen Sondheim, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (2009 Broadway Revival Cast With Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angela Lansbury & Others)
Promises, Promises - David Caddick & David Lai, producers (Burt Bacharach, composer; Hal David, lyricist) (New Broadway Cast With Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth & Others)
Sondheim on Sondheim - Philip Chaffin & Tommy Krasker, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer; Stephen Sondheim, lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast With Barbara Cook , Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat & Others)

Song Written For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

Down in New Orleans (From The Princess & the Frog) - Randy Newman, songwriter (Dr. John)
I See You (From Avatar) - Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell & James Horner, songwriters (Leona Lewis)
Kiss Like Your Kiss (From True Blood) - Lucinda Williams, songwriter (Lucinda Williams & Elvis Costello)
This City (From Tremé) - Steve Earle, songwriter (Steve Earle)
The Weary Kind (From Crazy Heart) - Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett, songwriters (Ryan Bingham)

Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals

Baba Yetu - Christopher Tin, arranger (Christopher Tin, Soweto Gospel Choir & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
Baby - Roger Treece, arranger (Bobby McFerrin)
Based On A Thousand True Stories - Vince Mendoza, arranger (Silje Nergaard & Metropole Orchestra Strings)
Don't Explain - Geoffrey Keezer, arranger (Denise Donatelli)
Imagine - Herbie Hancock & Larry Klein, arrangers (Herbie Hancock, Pink, Seal, Jeff Beck, India.Arie, Konono No 1 & Oumou Sangare)

Recording Package

Brothers - Michael Carney, art director (The Black Keys)
Eggs - Malene Mathiasson, Malthe Fischer, Kristoffer Rom, Nis Svoldgård & Aske Zidore, art directors (Oh No Ono)
Hadestown - Brian Grunert, art director (Anaïs Mitchell)
What Will We Be - Devendra Banhart & Jon Beasley, art directors (Devendra Banhart)
Yonkers NY - Andrew Taray, art director (Chip Taylor)

Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging

Light: On The South Side - Tom Lunt, Rob Sevier & Ken Shipley, art directors (Various Artists)
Minotaur (Deluxe Edition) - Jeff Anderson & Vaughan Oliver, art directors (The Pixies)
A Sideman's Journey (Limited Collector's Super Deluxe Box Set) - Daniel Reiss & Klaus Voormann, art directors (Voormann & Friends)
Story Island - Qing-Yang Xiao, art director (Various Artists)
Under Great White Northern Lights (Limited Edition Box Set) - Rob Jones & Jack White III, art directors (The White Stripes)

Album Notes.....

Alan Lomax In Haiti: Recordings For The Library Of Congress, 1936-1937 - Gage Averill, album notes writer (Various Artists)
Keep An Eye On The Sky - Robert Gordon, album notes writer (Big Star)
Side Steps - Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (John Coltrane)
There Breathes A Hope: The Legacy Of John Work II And His Fisk Jubilee Quartet, 1909-1916 - Doug Seroff, album notes writer (Fisk University Jubilee Quartet)
True Love Cast Out All Evil - Will Sheff, album notes writer (Roky Erickson With Okkervil River)

Historical Album

Alan Lomax In Haiti: Recordings For The Library Of Congress, 1936-1937 - Jeffrey A. Greenberg, David Katznelson & Anna Lomax Wood, compilation producers; Steve Rosenthal & Warren Russell-Smith, mastering engineers (Various Artists)
The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) - Jeff Jones, compilation producer; Paul Hicks, Sean Magee, Guy Massey, Sam Okell & Steve Rooke, mastering engineers (The Beatles)
The Complete Mother's Best Recordings...Plus! - Colin Escott, Mike Jason & Jett Williams, compilation producers; Joseph M. Palmaccio, mastering engineer (Hank Williams)
Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings And More - Andy McKaie, compilation producer; Erick Labson, mastering engineer (Buddy Holly)
Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968 - Alec Palao, Cheryl Pawelski & Andrew Sandoval, compilation producers; Dan Hersch & Andrew Sandoval, mastering engineers (Various Artists)

Engineered Album, Non-Classical

Battle Studies - Michael H. Brauer, Joe Ferla, Chad Franscoviak & Manny Marroquin, engineers (John Mayer)
Dirty Side Down - John Keane, engineer (Widespread Panic)
Emotion & Commotion - Steve Lipson, engineer (Jeff Beck)
God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise - Ryan Freeland, engineer (Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs)
Pink Elephant - Seth Presant & Leon F. Sylvers III, engineers (N'dambi)

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical

Rob Cavallo
- Brand New Eyes (Paramore) (A)
- Hang Cool Teddy Bear (Meat Loaf) (A)
- Happy Hour (Uncle Kracker) (A)
- Music Again (Adam Lambert) (T)
- Soaked (Adam Lambert) (T)
- Sure Fire Winners (Adam Lambert) (T)
- Time For Miracles (Adam Lambert) (T)
- When It's Time (Green Day) (T)
Danger Mouse
- Broken Bells (Broken Bells) (A)
- Dark Night Of The Soul (Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse) (A)
- Tighten Up (The Black Keys) (T)
Dr. Luke
- California Gurls (Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg) (T)
- For Your Entertainment (Adam Lambert) (T)
- Hungover (Kesha) (T)
- Kiss N Tell (Kesha) (T)
- Magic (B.o.B. Featuring Rivers Cuomo) (T)
- Take It Off (Kesha) (T)
- Teenage Dream (Katy Perry) (T)
- Your Love Is My Drug (Kesha) (T)
RedOne
- Alejandro (Lady Gaga) (S)
- Bad Romance (Lady Gaga) (S)
- The Fame Monster (Lady Gaga) (A)
- I Like It (Enrique Iglesias Featuring Pitbull) (S)
- More (Usher) (T)
- We Are The World 25 For Haiti (Artists For Haiti) (S)
- Whole Lotta Love (Mary J. Blige) (S)
The Smeezingtons (Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine)
- Billionaire (Travie McCoy Featuring Bruno Mars) (T)
- Bow Chicka Wow Wow (Mike Posner) (T)
- F*** You (Cee Lo Green) (S)
- Island Queen (Sean Kingston) (T)
- Just The Way You Are (Bruno Mars) (S)
- Nothin' On You (B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars) (T)

Remixed Recording, Non-Classical

Fantasy (Morgan Page Remix) - Morgan Page, remixer (Nadia Ali)
Funk Nasty (Wolfgang Gartner Remix Edit) - Wolfgang Gartner, remixer (Andy Caldwell Featuring Gram'ma Funk)
Orpheus (Quiet Carnival) (Funk Generation Mix) - Mike Rizzo, remixer (Sergio Mendes)
Revolver (David Guetta's One Love Club Remix) - David Guetta, remixer (Madonna)
Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix) - Axel Hedfors & Dragan Roganovic, remixers (The Temper Trap)

Surround Sound Album

Britten's Orchestra - Keith O. Johnson, surround mix engineer; Keith O. Johnson, surround mastering engineer; David Frost, surround producer (Michael Stern & Kansas City Symphony)
The Incident - Steven Wilson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Steven Wilson, surround producer (Porcupine Tree)
Parallax Eden - David Miles Huber, surround mix engineer; David Miles Huber, surround mastering engineer; David Miles Huber, surround producer (David Miles Huber)
Songs And Stories (Monster Music Version) - Don Murray, surround mix engineer; Sangwook Nam & Doug Sax, surround mastering engineers; John Burk, Noel Lee & Marcus Miller, surround producers (George Benson)
Trondheimsolistene - In Folk Style - Morten Lindberg, surround mix engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround mastering engineer; Morten Lindberg, surround producer (TrondheimSolistene)

Classical Crossover Album

Meeting Of The Spirits - Matt Haimovitz (Amaryllis Jarczyk, Jan Jarczyk, John McLaughlin, Dominic Painchaud, Leanna Rutt & Matt Wilson)
Off The Map - The Silk Road Ensemble
Roots - My Life, My Song - Jessye Norman (Ira Coleman, Steve Johns, Mike Lovatt, Mark Markham & Martin Williams)
Tin, Christopher: Calling All Dawns - Lucas Richman, conductor (Sussan Deyhim, Lia, Kaori Omura, Dulce Pontes, Jia Ruhan, Aoi Tada & Frederica von Stade; Anonymous 4 & Soweto Gospel Choir; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra)
Vocabularies - Bobby McFerrin

Short Form Music Video

Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash
Love the Way You Lie (Explicit Version) - Eminem & Rihanna
Stylo - Gorillaz, Mos Def & Bobby Womack
F*** You - Cee Lo Green
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

Long Form Video

No Distance Left to Run - Blur
When You're Strange - Doors
The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story
Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage - Rush
Under Great White Northern Lights - White Stripes

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Note: this page contains paid content.