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newstfionline · 6 years

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Trump Warns NATO Allies to Spend More on Defense, or Else

By Julie Hirschfeld Davis, NY Times, July 2, 2018

WASHINGTON--President Trump has written sharply worded letters to the leaders of several NATO allies--including Germany, Belgium, Norway and Canada--taking them to task for spending too little on their own defense and warning that the United States is losing patience with what he said was their failure to meet security obligations shared by the alliance.

The letters, sent in June, are the latest sign of acrimony between Mr. Trump and American allies as he heads to a NATO summit meeting next week in Brussels that will be a closely watched test of the president’s commitment to the alliance. Mr. Trump has repeatedly questioned its value and has claimed that its members are taking advantage of the United States.

Mr. Trump’s criticism raised the prospect of another confrontation involving the president and American allies after a blowup by Mr. Trump at the Group of 7 gathering last month in Quebec, and increased concerns that far from projecting solidarity in the face of threats from Russia, the meeting will highlight divisions within the alliance. Such a result could play into the hands of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who is to meet with Mr. Trump in Helsinki, Finland, after the NATO meeting.

In his letters, the president hinted that after more than a year of public and private complaints that allies have not done enough to share the burden of collective defense, he may be considering a response, including adjusting the United States’ military presence around the world.

“As we discussed during your visit in April, there is growing frustration in the United States that some allies have not stepped up as promised,” Mr. Trump wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in a particularly pointed letter, according to someone who saw it and shared excerpts with The New York Times. “The United States continues to devote more resources to the defense of Europe when the Continent’s economy, including Germany’s, are doing well and security challenges abound. This is no longer sustainable for us.”

The president’s complaint is that many NATO allies are not living up to the commitment they made at their Wales summit meeting in 2014 to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on national defense. American presidents have long complained about the lack of burden-sharing by NATO member countries, but Mr. Trump has taken that criticism much further, claiming that some of the United States’ closest allies are essentially deadbeats who have failed to pay debts to the organization, a fundamental misunderstanding of how it functions.

The Trump administration has already reportedly been analyzing a large-scale withdrawal of American forces from Germany, after Mr. Trump expressed surprise that 35,000 active-duty troops are stationed there and complained that NATO countries were not contributing enough to the alliance.

In the letter, Mr. Trump told Ms. Merkel that Germany also deserves blame for the failure of other NATO countries to spend enough: “Continued German underspending on defense undermines the security of the alliance and provides validation for other allies that also do not plan to meet their military spending commitments, because others see you as a role model.”

In language that is echoed in his letters to the leaders of other countries--including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway and Prime Minister Charles Michel of Belgium--Mr. Trump said he understands the “domestic political pressure” brought to bear by opponents of boosting military expenditures, noting that he has expended “considerable political capital to increase our own military spending.”

“It will, however, become increasingly difficult to justify to American citizens why some countries do not share NATO’s collective security burden while American soldiers continue to sacrifice their lives overseas or come home gravely wounded,” Mr. Trump wrote to Ms. Merkel.

Mr. Michel reacted tartly last week to the letter, telling reporters at a European Union summit meeting in Brussels that he was “not very impressed” by it, according to a report by Deutsche Welle.

“Trump still seems to think that NATO is like a club that you owe dues to, or some sort of protection racket where the U.S. is doing all the work protecting all these deadbeat Europeans while they’re sitting around on vacation, and now he is suggesting there are consequences,” said Derek Chollet, a former Defense Department official who is the executive vice president for security and defense policy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

“Europeans have been watching Donald Trump begin to implement his rhetoric on trade in ways that are very combative,” he said, “and they’re starting to contemplate whether he would do this regarding security issues, as well.”

Mr. Trump’s disparagement of Europe and the alliance has become almost routine, leaving some veteran diplomats aghast. Last week, Jim Melville, the United States ambassador to Estonia, told friends and colleagues that he would resign at the end of this month after more than 30 years in the Foreign Service, in part because of the president’s language.

“For the President to say the E.U. was ‘set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,’ or that ‘NATO is as bad as NAFTA’ is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it’s time to go,” Mr. Melville wrote in a Facebook post. He was referring to remarks about Europe that the president made during a rally last week in Fargo, N.D., and comments about NATO that he is reported to have made privately during the Group of 7 gathering.

#NATO #Trump and NATO

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freenewstoday · 3 years

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New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/01/21/i-am-sorry-julie-payettes-full-statement-on-her-resignation-as-governor-general/

'I am sorry': Julie Payette's full statement on her resignation as governor general

TORONTO — Full statement from Julie Payette on her resignation as governor general:

Everyone has a right to a healthy and safe work environment, at all times and under all circumstances. It appears this was not always the case at the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. Tensions have arisen at Rideau Hall over the past few months and for that, I am sorry.

While no formal complaints or official grievances were made during my tenure, which would have immediately triggered a detailed investigation as prescribed by law and the collective agreements in place, I still take these allegations very seriously. Not only did I welcome a review of the work climate at the OSGG, but I have repeatedly encouraged employees to participate in the review in large numbers. We all experience things differently, but we should always strive to do better, and be attentive to one another’s perceptions.

I am a strong believer in the principles of natural justice, due process and the rule of law, and that these principles apply to all equally. Notwithstanding, in respect for the integrity of my vice-regal Office and for the good of our country and of our democratic institutions, I have come to the conclusion that a new Governor General should be appointed. Canadians deserve stability in these uncertain times.

From a personal side, this decision comes at an opportune time, as my father’s health has seriously worsened in the last few weeks and my family needs my help.

So it is with sureness and humility, but also with pride over what was accomplished during my tenure as Governor General and in my service to the country for the past 28 years, that I have submitted my resignation. I have informed the Prime Minister of Canada of my decision. I wish him the best as he seeks an individual to recommend to Her Majesty as the next Governor General of Canada and I wish the best to my successor. I will remain at his or her disposal.

It has been an immense privilege to serve my country and to fulfill the constitutional duties of my Office on behalf of all Canadians. I wish to extend my thanks to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his trust and for offering me this incredible opportunity. I would also like to thank the personnel of the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General for their work, especially under the difficult circumstances that we have known over the past months. All my gratitude also goes to the members of the RCMP who are willing to put their lives on the line to assure our protection; and to the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have always shown tremendous respect, friendship and support. Being their Commander in chief for the last few year has been a tremendous honour. I hold them in great esteem.

For so many Canadians, the past few months have been extremely difficult. As our country, and indeed the world, faced the reality of a pandemic, we all have had to make sacrifice and do our part to limit the spread of the virus, and to protect others, especially the most vulnerable. One cannot choose when hardship comes, but one can choose how to respond to it in times of crisis, and Canadians all over the country have answered the call. At the forefront are the health and medical personnel, essential workers, military personnel, public health officials, leaders and scientists, who have been working tirelessly to provide care, support, leadership and solutions. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude.

I would like to conclude by conveying my sincere appreciation to Canadians for their support over the years. I have had the chance to meet, represent and celebrate the accomplishments of thousands of extraordinary Canadians from coast to coast over the past years and I will always cherish these memories. We live in a remarkable country.

It has been an honour and a privilege.

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#Don Martin #Evan Solomon #ottawa #politics

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creativesage · 5 years

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(via Solomon Darwin Takes Corporate Innovation to Rural Villages in India)

The UC professor, born into the so-called group of India’s “untouchables,” thinks one great idea can change rural lives, and is proving it with his Smart Village Movement.

By Patrick Hoge

Solomon Darwin was born in a rural village in southeast India to a family of so-called “untouchables,” a group of people designated by the Hindu religion as cursed because of sins in former lives and thus historically subject to poverty, discrimination, and oppression.

Darwin nevertheless went on to successful careers in U.S. banking and academia after his family converted to Christianity and moved to California, where he was able to get an education. He’s now a UC Berkeley professor.

“America has been extremely beautiful for me,” said Darwin, an unassuming man with jet-black hair, bushy eyebrows, beard, and mustache as well as jarringly intense eyes and a kindly voice. “The equal opportunity which I experienced in America brought me into prominence because it has given me the chance to prove myself. It’s a place where hard work can be rewarded.”

A life of comfort and ease, however, was not Darwin’s reward. Instead, Darwin has embraced personal sacrifices and threats from Hindu extremists to spread prosperity in his former homeland, particularly for those at the bottom of society.

As an academic, Darwin has become an increasingly influential promoter of U.S.-India ties, meeting with government officials up to India’s president and prime minister, and becoming the leader of a Smart Village Movement that aims to bring technological and economic development to India’s rural villages. There are some 650,000 such villages in India, and they are home to nearly 70 percent of the country’s 1.3 billion citizens.

Though virtually all of his extended family long ago emigrated to the United States, Darwin has also consistently gone back to his native village of Mori Podu on the Bay of Bengal, a town of 8,000 where he built and runs a school, an orphanage, and a hospital, all of which serve the poor and outcast, regardless of religious persuasion or social status.

“We are all blessed because of him,” said Harish Pindi, a 27-year-old Mori native who attended Darwin’s Riverside International School. He recently graduated in computer science from California State University, Northridge, and now lives in Fremont. Pindi recalled Riverside as an egalitarian oasis, and said Darwin counseled him to success when he almost failed college.

Darwin explained his motivation to help others by quoting Abraham Lincoln’s adage that almost anyone can go through life’s challenges and succeed, but gaining power will truly test a person’s character.

“I see lot of old friends, even my own relatives, and they are so forgetful and lacking in gratitude now in America. Remember where you came from,” he said. “Even to today I am always remembering.”

This year, Darwin published two books. One, The Untouchables: Three Generations of Triumph Over Torment, is about his own family’s journey over three generations to escape caste oppression. The other, The Road to Mori: Smart Villages of Tomorrow, is about his campaign to digitally empower villages, which, over the past couple of years, has been officially adopted by two Indian states and received support from numerous universities and tech corporations like San Jose’s PayPal, Google in Mountain View, and Ericsson, Sweden’s networking and telecommunications giant.

PayPal chief technical officer Sri Shivananda, for example, dispatched staff to work with Darwin’s students in Mori interviewing local citizens about how to help them sell saris, cashews, and other goods over the internet.

Ericsson in May was touting how it has developed applications of sensor technology in Mori to help shrimp farmers improve harvests and improve water distribution.

Those efforts have already produced tangible benefits for Mori’s residents, and last year the state of Andhra Pradesh approved funding to help Darwin spread similar innovations to the rest of its 470-plus villages, said Venkatesan Ashok, India’s consul general in San Francisco.

“We saw how the villagers were thriving with the improvements that had come in,” Ashok said. “We need many Solomon Darwins to make change in India.”

Andhra Pradesh has given Darwin the honorary title of chief innovation officer. In June, the state of Arunachal Pradesh near the Himalayas in the northeast followed suit with its own deal to develop Smart Villages, shortly after Darwin hosted state officials in the Bay Area and introduced them to executives at PayPal’s headquarters. Darwin is now planning a trip with UC Berkeley students for next year.

Throughout, Darwin has continued to raise money for his school, hospital, and orphanage he started in Mori, relying heavily on church and service groups, like Rotary clubs, which have provided cash, materials, and volunteer services.

Vivek Wadwha, a distinguished fellow at Harvard Law School and Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering at Silicon Valley, said what Darwin has accomplished both personally and professionally is “incredible.”

“These are complete extremes,” said Wadwha, who met Darwin about a decade ago through another academic but did not know until recently that Darwin was born into India’s Hindu underclass. “You are talking about going from the poorest of the poor in India to the height of academia in Silicon Valley. How does that happen? He didn’t hit the lottery. He worked his way to where he is.”

Darwin was born a member of India’s scavenger caste, the members of which have historically been expected to take jobs like cleaning public toilets and sewers, burying the dead, or working virtually as indentured rural slaves. Such “untouchables,” also called Dalits by activists, are among an estimated 200 million people that the government designates as “scheduled castes,” and though affirmative action programs exist and discrimination was officially banned when India adopted its constitution in 1950, prejudice remains, economic opportunities are often limited, and incidents of oppressive violence continue. Deaths of Dalit men manually cleaning out sewage equipment have been commonplace in recent years, for example, even though the practice was outlawed in 2013, and inter-caste marriage provokes killings.

Fortunately for Darwin, he had a remarkable role model of resilience and entrepreneurism in his grandmother, a woman known as Subbamma, who rejected caste distinctions, converted to Christianity and ran restaurants, a lace-making export business and a community bank while also acting as schoolteacher and midwife to countless local children.

“Entrepreneurship is a liberator. That’s what my grandmother proved,” Darwin said.

Opportunity proved nonexistent for Darwin’s academically inclined father, however. He could not find a job despite completing an advanced degree in marine science — a fact he attributed to caste discrimination.

Incredibly, Darwin’s father eventually got hired by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, and after four years’ separation, Darwin and his mother joined him in La Jolla. The family later relocated to San Bruno.

Equipped with at best a fifth-grade education, Darwin was overwhelmed by culture shock and depression. He tearfully pleaded his way into community college, working as a janitor at the school. Three years later, he transferred to San Francisco State University, where he got a bachelor’s degree, proceeding then to get an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Darwin got a job as a financial analyst for Motorola Inc. in San Mateo, worked at a bank in Tulsa, Okla., and then got a job at Glendale Federal Bank in Southern California working as a cost accountant in a crowded basement in a warehouse-like building. In his spare time, he wrote a report identifying how to cut costs.

The report made its way to the bank’s president, who pulled Darwin from obscurity and sent him to Harvard University for an executive training program. When Darwin returned in 1984, he was named corporate controller for GlenFed and given a corner office with a stunning view of the Glendale hills and spreading metropolis.

Darwin bought some nice suits. He worked a lot, went to church, bought a large new house.

Then, in 1988, Darwin’s grandmother died, and the trajectory of Darwin’s life again changed dramatically. Subbamma had come in her twilight years to live near relatives. In her final days, she asked Darwin to take her body back to Mori Podu for burial. Darwin told her he could not commit to making that journey, as he was very busy, but his boss urged him to go.

o in 1988, Darwin traveled with Subbamma’s embalmed body by airplane, rail, truck, rickshaw, and finally in a small boat poled by hand across the Godavari River.

Darwin had not been back to Mori Podu since the age of 15. When the boat carrying Subbamma’s casket landed at the water’s edge, hundreds of people were waiting for her arrival. One held a sign in Telugu reading “Subbamma, a friend of the poor.”

Upon returning to the United States, Darwin sold his big house and moved into a communal home for Christian missionaries in Pasadena, where he shared a room with four other men. He sent his savings to Mori to begin rebuilding Subbamma’s mud hut school.

On the professional front, Darwin continued to advance, ultimately becoming a senior vice president of corporate finance for Bank of America in San Francisco. But when the bank was sold to NationsBank and the headquarters was moved to Charlotte, N.C., Darwin resigned. He had fallen in love with a ballet dancer of Swedish descent whom he met at his church, and the two got married and moved to Mori to supervise construction of the school and an orphanage on land Darwin bought when an upper caste farmer had a heart attack and needed money. It opened in 1996 and today serves nearly 800 students a year. The nearby medical center Darwin built similarly sits on land from which Darwin recalled being chased as a child by an upper caste man who yelled that he was unclean.

Darwin moved back to Southern California when his wife was going to give birth. He was broke and exhausted, but one day received a call from former Harvard Business School professor Ken Merchant, who had tracked him down to offer him a teaching position at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Elated, Darwin worked at USC for nine years, where Merchant said he was an outstanding teacher, before joining the faculty at UC Berkeley.

Today, Darwin and his wife, with whom he has three children, live in Pacifica. He is executive director of the Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation, part of Haas’ Institute for Business Innovation.

From that perch, Darwin teaches about business innovation, hosts conferences to promote U.S.-India commerce, the most recent being in September, and supervises student research aimed at using technology and global trade to develop villages around the world, where 3.4 billion live.

“I’m very excited about the work I’m doing. Otherwise, I would be depressed. Most of my life, I’ve had a lot of setbacks. At times, I have not wanted to live anymore,” Darwin said. “At this moment, God has blessed me to a point where I can give something back.”

It’s not all roses, Darwin is quick to point out. Caste and intersectarian tensions in India remain, with violence and other outrages occurring regularly. Despite his own accomplishments, Darwin feels discrimination from Hindus in India and in the Bay Area.

Darwin’s name has even appeared on a Hindu radical target list.

As a result, Darwin said he is careful about broadcasting his whereabouts when he’s in India, and his goal is never to inflame opposition, though he has taken stands at times to ensure staff at his school treat students equally regardless of caste.

“I want to live peaceably with everyone and work with everyone no matter who they are,” he said.

[Entire article — click on the title link to read it at Oakland Magazine.]

***

We’re glad that “new Silicon Valleys,” or place-specific innovation centers, are growing all over the world, at least in terms of innovation and the development of creative economy ecosystems — and we would love to visit them all! We all learn best by exchanging ideas across cultures and industries. We fully support complete diversity in the workplace, and overcoming the inequality challenges that are still too prevalent in our world.

Now, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and organizational leaders from other cities and countries who are visiting the San Francisco Bay Area can have access to Silicon Valley companies to learn from their cultures, hiring, leadership and innovation methods. Come join us for a dynamic, unforgettable, and very enjoyable Innovation Tour in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, the East Bay (Emeryville, Oakland, Berkeley, and more), in the Wine Country, or on the beautiful, rural Northern California seacoast in Mendocino County, including Fort Bragg, California, where we have worked on business, arts and tourism projects.

At Creative Sage™, we design high impact, customized creativity, innovation, and leadership programs, and we are now offering related tours, events, corporate retreats, and workshops in wonderful urban and rural settings that will spark your imagination — and your team’s — to come up with brilliant ideas and plan how to implement new innovations in services, products, your organization’s business model, operations, or in any other area. We also design programs for specific areas and markets, such as health care and health-related travel.

We use the latest in value-tested creativity and innovation techniques and processes; and we select world-class facilitators and partners to help your organization gain lasting value from your experience working — and playing — with us. Creativity and innovation processes could include design thinking, business model canvas, arts-based, interactive creativity activities, lateral thinking, gamification, World Cafe, or other proven methods.

We also work on workplace culture issues, leadership challenges, handling transitions, and building resilience in organizations and individual clients. You’ll be able to see first-hand how Silicon Valley companies create a culture of creativity and innovation, and you’ll be able to talk with their leaders. We’ll arrange a customized tour for you that addresses your organization’s issues.

We can design additional customized programs and tours for individuals, families, work teams, university students and faculty, including those in undergraduate or graduate entrepreneurship or MBA programs, and other special interest groups, such as the charitable tourism activities.

Join our email list and visit our web site, or call: (510) 845-5510 for more information.

You’ll take away essential, valuable insights that you could not achieve in any other way, while enjoying the experience of a lifetime!

***

#solomondarwin #ucberkeley #india #ruralindia #socialinnovation #socinn #socent #entrepreneurs #innovationprograms #innovationtourism #leadership #smartvillagemovement #smartvillage

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robgrayofficial · 6 years

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GOOOOOOD AFTERNOON CENTIPEDES!I hope everyone is having a GLORIOUS Saturday afternoon! This is your girl u/IvaginaryFriend here and I'm back with another DANK AF weekly recap of WINNING!As always, if you have missed any past recaps you can catch them at this link heree!─=≡Σ((( つ❀°▽°)つLET’SGO!Sunday, July 1st:🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Congratulations to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on becoming the next President of Mexico. I look very much forward to working with him. There is much to be done that will benefit both the United States and Mexico!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Poll: Overwhelming support for President Trump immigration positionsIllegal Alien from Denmark burns 40,000 acres in Colorado. Now in ICE custodyRetiring ICE Chief: No One Has Done More for Border Security than Donald Trump🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:r/politics is a place for really intelligent people.Never ForgetILLEGAL'S LIVES MATTER MORE!I can't believe this even has to be saidBe This GuyMonday, July 2nd:TODAY'S ACTION:6 Month Anniversary of the Tax Cuts and Jobs ActVice President Mike Pence Visits the President of EcuadorThe Vice President Meets Families Affected by the Guatemala VolcanoPresident Trump Meets with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:(Retweeting Homeland Security) Today, DHS, @CBP, and @ICEgov will be sharing stories of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day with the sole objective of protecting our nation. Make sure to follow to see stories that have not been widely reported.Today, it was my great honor to welcome Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, to the @WhiteHouse!Many Democrats are deeply concerned about the fact that their “leadership” wants to denounce and abandon the great men and women of ICE, thereby declaring war on Law & Order. These people will be voting for Republicans in November and, in many cases, joining the Republican Party!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:HEAR WHAT BILL CLINTON SAID AND WHAT OBAMA SAIDHUGE: Diablo, Starcraft, WoW developer Mark Kern just walked away. His Twitter has become a literal battlezone with tolerant leftists attempting to shred him with personal attacks.On this day, 242 years ago in Philadelphia, 56 politicians with guts voted in favor of their own death warrant.Eric Trump rushes into NYC traffic to save ailing womanBrian Ross out at ABC News months after botched report Donald Trump, Russia tanked stock marketPRESS BRIEFINGS, INTERVIEWS, RALLIES:Press Beating🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Some pigs are more equal...One year ago today. God bless HanAssSolo. It was an honor to serve in the ranks with you. I will not forget your sacrifices.Holy fucking shit...the left has gone so far left that even Bernie Sanders is not considered to be on the left anymoreI thought ... socialism is radTuesday, July 3rd:TODAY'S ACTION:Presidential Proclamation Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Annapolis, MarylandPresident Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration PostsPresident Donald J. Trump Welcomes the Prime Minister of the NetherlandsPresident Trump Delivers Remarks at the Salute to Service Dinner🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Crazy Maxine Waters, said by some to be one of the most corrupt people in politics, is rapidly becoming, together with Nancy Pelosi, the FACE of the Democrat Party. Her ranting and raving, even referring to herself as a wounded animal, will make people flee the Democrats!I interviewed 4 very impressive people yesterday. On Monday I will be announcing my decision for Justice of the United States Supreme Court!The economy is doing perhaps better than ever before, and that’s prior to fixing some of the worst and most unfair Trade Deals ever made by any country. In any event, they are coming along very well. Most countries agree that they must be changed, but nobody ever asked!When we have an “infestation” of MS-13 GANGS in certain parts of our country, who do we send to get them out? ICE! They are tougher and smarter than these rough criminal elelments that bad immigration laws allow into our country. Dems do not appreciate the great job they do! Nov.How can the Democrats, who are weak on the Border and weak on Crime, do well in November. The people of our Country want and demand Safety and Security, while the Democrats are more interested in ripping apart and demeaning (and not properly funding) our great Law Enforcement!Many good conversations with North Korea-it is going well! In the meantime, no Rocket Launches or Nuclear Testing in 8 months. All of Asia is thrilled. Only the Opposition Party, which includes the Fake News, is complaining. If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!Just out that the Obama Administration granted citizenship, during the terrible Iran Deal negotiation, to 2,500 Iranians - including to government officials. How big (and bad) is that?Now that Harley-Davidson is moving part of its operation out of the U.S., my Administration is working with other Motor Cycle companies who want to move into the U.S. Harley customers are not happy with their move - sales are down 7% in 2017. The U.S. is where the Action is!Wow! The NSA has deleted 685 million phone calls and text messages. Privacy violations? They blame technical irregularities. Such a disgrace. The Witch Hunt continues!Heading to West Virginia to be with my friend, @WVGovernor Jim Justice, at his beautiful Greenbrier Resort. He works hard, does a great job, and raises lots of money for charities!The Washington Post is constantly quoting “anonymous sources” that do not exist. Rarely do they use the name of anyone because there is no one to give them the kind of negative quote that they are looking for. They are a disgrace to journalism but then again, so are many others!After having written many best selling books, and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write, it should be noted that the Fake News constantly likes to pore over my tweets looking for a mistake. I capitalize certain words only for emphasis, not b/c they should be capitalized!(Retweeting FLOTUS) I had a wonderful visit to @WRBethesda today. Thank you to the many dedicated service members & medical staff who take such good care of our men & women in uniform.Thank you, @WVGovernor Jim Justice, for that warm introduction. Tonight, it was my great honor to attend the “Greenbrier Classic – Salute to Service Dinner” in West Virginia! God Bless our Veterans. God Bless America - and HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL!Tonight we gathered to celebrate the courageous men and women who make freedom possible: our brave service members, and our wonderful Veterans. For 242 years, American Independence......has endured because of the sweat, blood and sacrifice of the American Armed Forces – the greatest force for peace and justice in the history of the world!Tomorrow, families across our Nation will gather to celebrate the Fourth of July. As we do, we will think of the men & women serving overseas at this very moment, far away from their families, protecting America - & we will thank GOD for blessing us with these incredible HEROES!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:In 1984, the New York Times told us that Donald Trump would be our best president. They forgot.Peter Strzok slapped with subpoena to testify in open setting before CongressMedia Fail: Trump's Approval Rating Improved During Manufactured Border Outrage | BreitbartDemocrats hate America.Nunes: 'We're Not Going to Be Threatened By the Democrats --- They're the Ones That Have Blood on Their Hands'🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Trump continues to erase Obama's racist history! No more discriminating based on a person's skin color that forced schools to favor students from certain races over others. #WalkAway #TheLeftIsRacist"Alexa who's the President of the United States"MR PRESIDENT, BUILD THAT WALL!!!Hung my 8’ Trump Banner over (liberal) Downtown Orlando. Was told to take it down or face a $100 fine: I chose the fine.Wednesday, July 4th:TODAY'S ACTION:President Trump and the First Lady Host a Picnic for Military FamiliesPresident Trump's 2018 Independence Day Message🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Happy Fourth of July....Our Country is doing GREAT!President Trump's 2018 Independence Day MessageThe OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up & they are doing little to help. If anything, they are driving prices higher as the United States defends many of their members for very little $’s. This must be a two way street. REDUCE PRICING NOW!Happy Birthday, America!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Donald and Melania celebrating!Getting It Done The Right Way — 14K Legal Immigrants Will Become Americans On Independence DayThis is OUR Hill. Happy Independence Day!🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Happy July 4th my american friends!So this is the latest from the pro-illegal immigration - and I think its a good idea for them.THIS IS AMERICA 🇺🇸We The PepeThis is America...Thursday, July 5th:TODAY'S ACTION:President Donald J. Trump Announces Senior Staff AppointmentPresident Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Congress must pass smart, fast and reasonable Immigration Laws now. Law Enforcement at the Border is doing a great job, but the laws they are forced to work with are insane. When people, with or without children, enter our Country, they must be told to leave without our........ ... .....Country being forced to endure a long and costly trial. Tell the people “OUT,” and they must leave, just as they would if they were standing on your front lawn. Hiring thousands of “judges” does not work and is not acceptable - only Country in the World that does this!Congress - FIX OUR INSANE IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW!I have accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this. The Senate confirmed Deputy at EPA, Andrew Wheeler, will... ... ...on Monday assume duties as the acting Administrator of the EPA. I have no doubt that Andy will continue on with our great and lasting EPA agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very bright!It was my great honor to join proud, hardworking American Patriots in Montana tonight. I love you - thank you! #MAGAA vote for Democrats in November is a vote to let MS-13 run wild in our communities, to let drugs pour into our cities, and to take jobs and benefits away from hardworking Americans. Democrats want anarchy, amnesty and chaos - Republicans want LAW, ORDER and JUSTICE!Every day, the brave men and women of ICE are liberating communities from savage gangs like MS-13. We will NOT stand for these vile Democrat smears in law enforcement. We will always stand proudly with the BRAVE HEROES of ICE and BORDER PATROL!Thanks to REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP, America is WINNING AGAIN - and America is being RESPECTED again all over the world. Because we are finally putting AMERICA FIRST!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:BREAKING NEWS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports cutting tariffs on US cars, in major win for President Trump.Illegal aliens arrested by ICE were responsible for over 48,000 assault offenses in 2017"MAGA ATTACK" on the Front Page of Fox Right Now! We need to keep pushing this!The Madman 🤣: If 'Pocahontas' Warren is in 2020 Race, I'll Give $1M to Her Favorite Charity to Take DNA TestYouTube is actively censoring videos showing alt-left scumbag who assaulted teenager for wearing MAGA hat. Falsely citing that it's "bullying" the man.🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:Your President and First LadyPut. This. In. Every. GOP. Ad. Forever.How the World Works, According to LiberalsBREAKING: POCAHONTAS ISSUES SCATHING REBUKE TO TRUMP'S "INDIAN" REMARKSFriday, July 6th:TODAY'S ACTION:Weekly AddressPresident Donald J. Trump Announces White House Appointments🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!Just won lawsuit filed by the DNC and a bunch of Democrat crazies trying to claim the Trump Campaign (and others), colluded with Russia. They haven’t figured out that this was an excuse for them losing the election!(Retweeting Dan Scavino Jr.) “Hispanic-Latino Unemployment Rate Hits Lowest Level on Record in June”(Retweeting Dan Scavino Jr.) “When they lose, Democrats just want to change the rules”(Retweeting Dan Scavino Jr.) “ICE says it seized $43M worth of counterfeit items in Laredo, Texas”(Retweeting Dan Scavino Jr.) “Six months in, TAX CUTS are already providing historic gains for minorities, women, and small businesses”SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Poll: 61% of Registered Voters Say Illegal Aliens With Kids Should Be ‘Sent Home’VP Mike Pence: ICE Will Never Be Abolished Under TrumpU.S. Trade Deficit Hits 19-Month Low Due to Record-High ExportsFlorida man punched, dragged by car because he had a Trump flag in his front yard.LGBT News: And As Usual, Canada is Just Infinitely Better Than The USA🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:KISS with the BTFO!Doing my part....ContrastResist what again?Saturday, July 7th:🔥🔥TRUMP TWEETS🔥🔥:Twitter is getting rid of fake accounts at a record pace. Will that include the Failing New York Times and propaganda machine for Amazon, the Washington Post, who constantly quote anonymous sources that, in my opinion, don’t exist - They will both be out of business in 7 years!Big decision will soon be made on our next Justice of the Supreme Court!SIGNIFICANT TWEETS AND NEWS:Trump's legal team demands 'factual basis' for Mueller probe before agreeing to interviewUnhinged: Man threatened to kill supporters of Trump, GOP congressman outside campaign office, police say. Mad Maxine would be so proudExclusive here to The_Donald: DNC using crowdsourcing company, ActBlue, to hide identities of donors and breaking FEC law and laundering money. Evidence in the comments...Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez draws Bronx cheer for misleading campaign bio. She claimed she commuted to a school in the suburbs from her family's home in the Bronx borough of New York City. They left the Bronx when she was 5 years old, the bio was changed to "extended family"🐸 TOP SPICE OF THE DAY 🐸:The force is strong with this one..A chilling look inside a death camp for "undocumented" childrenThe REMIX: More Fake News Sourpusses Poo-Poo Trump's Awesome Korea VidWEEEEEEEW LAD WHAT ANOTHER AMAZING WEEK!Without further ado; some afternoon tunes for you lovely 'pedes:StayGhost TownEmotionlessCudi Montange92 ExplorerWouldn't LeaveMAGA ON PATRIOTS! #robgray

#robgray

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forwardintomemory · 6 years

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Lee Hoe-young: A true leader of integrity who passed the torch of freedom to Koreans

“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”

− Nelson Mandela at Chief Albert Luthuli Centenary Celebrations, 1998

Born in 1867 in Seoul, Lee Hoi-young belonged to a highly renowned noble family that had produced many high-ranking government officials including ministers and which was deemed one of the wealthiest families of the Joseon Dynasty. Inspired by editorials in the Independence in 1896, Lee Hoi-young joined the Korean Independence Club and made every effort to assert the invalidity of the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 (Eulsa Treaty). In 1907 he established the New People’s Association (Sinminhoi) and proposed to Emperor Gojong that secret emissaries be sent to the Hague Peace Conference to appeal to the international community.

Lee Hoi-young and his five brothers undoubtedly believed they were compelled to fulfill their social obligation. After the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, all of his brothers unanimously decided to dedicate themselves to the independence movement. Deciding to leave everything behind, they liberated their own servants and liquidated all of their wealth, including house and land located around Myeong-dong, to raise money for the movement. This amounted to 60 billion won (USD 5.5 million) but, given that it was sold at a very low price, it would have been worth two or three trillion won in today’s valuation.

On a freezing day of minus 30 degrees Celsius in December of 1910, approximately 60 people, including their 40 family members and 20 servants who liberated but were willing to accompany them, left the country for Manchuria to establish a base for the independence movement out of the reach of the Japanese government as in the link.

Sponsored by the members of the New People’s Association, they established the Sinheung Military Academy in June of 1911 to train young soldiers and to build a new nation. For 10 years until it was shutdown by the Japanese government in 1920, the academy produced approximately 3,500 graduates. These graduates made huge contributions to Korean independence by taking the lead in various battles against Japan—including the Battle of Cheongsanri and the Battle of Bongodong—and by forming the Joseon Uiyeoldan (Korean Patriotic Corps), the Joseon Euiyongdae (Korean Volunteer Corps), the Joseon Revolutionary Army, and the Korean Independence Army.

Since education at the Sinheung Military Academy was provided free of charge and funds for the independence movement came from his family, they all suffered from severe poverty. Some members of his family died from starvation, and others including Lee Hoi-young died from severe torture in prison, or illness, or went missing. Consequently, only one of the six sons of the family, Lee Si-yeong, was able to survive and return to Korea in 1945, after which he became the first vice president in President Syngman Rhee’s administration and later resigned in opposition to Rhee’s autocratic leadership.

Lee Hoi-young and his family definitely share the spirit of noblesse oblige, showing true leadership and extreme integrity. Influenced by ideas of national sovereignty, independence, enlightenment, democracy and equality, they relentlessly strove to live by their principles and convictions. Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they all knew that “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” as written in the Letter from Birmingham Jail. I believe their lives as anarchists should be understood in terms of the essential connections of their principles and the true philosophy of anarchism: the ultimate respect for humanity. In that sense, their moral responsibility was able to gauge greater depths, be integrated into the philosophy of anarchism, and be developed into faith in self-ownership, volunteerism, pure nationalism, and rejection of oppression. Such unwavering faith compelled them to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.

Their visions became the foundation of the Sinheung Military Academy and were well reflected in the six principles of the academy: sacrifice yourself to fulfill your mission; make your body strong; endure hardship; live with integrity; cultivate your creativity; and resist injustice. These are core values and virtues that had been pursued throughout the history of the Korean independence movement and that pursuit should be continued today as in the link.

The Donghak Movement occurred in the 1890s and the Uibyeong (righteous army) Movement in the 1900s. The Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty was made in 1910, and the March First Movement toke place in 1919. Thus, in the history of the Korean independence movement, the 1910s were the darkest decade, and the Sinheung Military Academy was the cradle of the movement during that dark period. It carried on the legacy of the Donghak Movement and the Uibyeong Movement by cultivating and fostering the fundamental values for the independence. Despite its shutdown in 1920, the academy left a great legacy behind until the moment when Korean gained its independence in 1945. It truly continued to play the pivotal role as an anchor for the souls of Koreans.

It is my opinion that the story of Lee Hoi-young and his family is of utmost importance but still little known. This is partly because they were neither right nor left, and accordingly not welcomed by either wing in Korea after independence−hence, forgotten. In addition, since Lee and his family did not seek external validation, they were reluctant to hold official titles and refused to take the family-owned land back on the promise of President Syngman Rhee after independence, saying “We did not fight for independence to regain the land.” In fact, their ultimate goal was not to gain the independence of Korea but instead to build a society in which each and every person enjoys equality, freedom, and justice.

Nelson Mandela once said that “Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.” In that light, the core values and guiding principles that Lee Hoi-young and his family left behind should be revived and passed down to future generations, and the significance of the Sinheung Military Academy should be rediscovered. Of particular note, I assert that students of Kyung Hee University should know this story because Si-young founded Shinheung College in 1947 in the hope of inheriting and developing the founding spirit of Shinheung Military Academy, and the college was later renamed as Kyung Hee University by Dr. Young Seek Choue. I hope this story also provides an opportunity for us to learn and realize that we have every reason to be proud.

References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYM_L_X9PMk&t=1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNFfUGaohE4

http://www.woodang.or.kr/

http://www.khu.ac.kr/eng/about/news_view.jsp?idx=450&iPage=1

http://sh100th.org/bbs/data/sh100th_org/ins_bbs3/%EC%8B%A0%ED%9D%A5%ED%95%99%EC%88%A0%ED%9A%8C%EC%9D%98%EC%9E%90%EB%A3%8C%EC%A7%91%EB%B3%B8%EB%AC%B8.pdf

#Lee Hoi-young #March 1st Movement #noblesse oblige #true leadership #freedom

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freecreatorlady-blog · 6 years

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Speech of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Nigeria’s Vice President at South-West Youth Regional Summit

PROTOCOL

I am greatly honored to have been given an opportunity to say a few words here today. And I do not say this merely for correctness. Only a fool will reject an opportunity to speak to the future and the coming generation. I decided, as soon as I was told about this summit, that I must make effort to be here because it is an opportunity to speak to the future.

I must also commend the farsightedness and sense of purpose of the South-West governors under the auspices of the Development Agenda of Western Nigeria (DAWN) for initiating and thinking through a 25-year master-plan for the region. It is also eminently logical that those who are likely to be here in 25 years time should be here to make an input into this very important master-plan. People accuse us in this part of the world of not planning enough but I think that the DAWN Commission and the South-West governors have shown great foresight and they have presented a great example by planning 25 years ahead from today.

It is important because we are told that by the year 2050, we would be the third or the fourth most populous nation in the world. Anyone who knows that you are going to be the third most populous nation in the world must begin to plan now because that future is already here with us.

The Acting Director of DAWN has told us why we are here and he said in particular that they want to get the inputs of the young people who are here and I would like to throw in a few thoughts on what I consider fundamental to the success of individuals and societies.

I am not going to talk about the things that are in the master plan. The master plan already talks about education, healthcare, technology and innovation.

I want to talk about something that I consider the foundation of the success of any community, society or nation and individuals wherever they may be. That foundation is something that is called values. If you look at any society or any individual that has succeeded, values are crucial. Whatever you are seeing that is successful, underlying it are values, if there are no values the society does not work.

Values are the fundamental principle of any society. In the Yoruba culture, they call it “Omoluabi.” It just denotes character, hard work, integrity, courage, and the pursuit of excellence. In other cultures, they call it different names but the principles are the same. The principles that have made other countries successful are the principles that we must work on.

When our fore fathers developed the ethos of “Omoluabi,” they knew even then that those were the principles that would lead to success. And there is no country on the surface of the earth whether they are Afro-Asians, Arabs or whoever they are and wherever they may be, they have had to rely on these principles. So, there is nothing new about what we are saying when we say “Omoluabi” is the fundamental principle for our own development.

I will just take you through a few of those principles so that you will understand that as part of our 25-year development plan, if we don’t enthrone values as a fundamental principle, not much will happen.

The first is to recognize that talent by itself, (is potential & by itself means nothing. If there is no character, if there is no integrity and hard work, talent is nothing at all. The richest place in the world today, the place with the richest mineral potential, is in Africa and that is in the lake region. That is where the largest mineral deposit in the world is but it is also the poorest place in the world. The reason is that no matter how much talent you have, without character there is no way that progress can be made.

The greatest problem that our own country has is the absence of integrity, the greatest problem we have is corruption. If we remove corruption, we would have solved 70 percent of our problems, so, integrity is key anywhere in the world. Some people must make the sacrifice for others’ sake.

Somebody was telling me the other day of a business she started, it was a business of making greeting cards and after about a year she found out that she was not making money but she suddenly found that two graduates who she had employed and were working for her had opened their own stores somewhere in another part of Lagos, they were stealing from her and selling in their own shops. The truth of the matter is that if we do not ensure that businesses can thrive, nobody would be able to create opportunities for others. The reason why it is difficult for people to open branches of their businesses is that if you are not there yourself, you might as well forget your business.

Every society that does not emphasize integrity always fails. I always tell the story of my days as a post-graduate student in the United Kingdom. There was a particular occasion when I could not pay my school fees because we had delays with the Central Bank and so it was very difficult to send money across. So, I went to one of my supervisors and explained that I couldn’t pay my fees and it was getting late and he said to me, “Why don’t you go to the bank and borrow money”, and I said how can I go and borrow money when I don’t have any collateral but he said, “no, go and explain”.So, I went to the bank and spoke to this lady across the counter, and she looked at my ledger and saw how money had come in and out and I had about 30 pounds left in the account. She asked how much I wanted and I said 600 pounds, she asked when I was going to pay back and I told her maximum two months. She brought out some papers for me to sign and she gave me the money and of course when my cheque came I paid back, and that was in 1981.By 1984 in the same United Kingdom it was difficult for anyone who had a Nigerian passport to even open an account because many young Nigerian students had assumed that these people must be very stupid; that anybody that can give credit in the way that I was given money must be stupid. Many Nigerians just went in there took money and ran home and by such reason it became impossible for a whole generation of Nigerians to even open bank accounts let alone get money.

There is no question at all that any society that does not emphasize integrity and does not stand on integrity cannot succeed. The whole of the economy is based on trust, even the currency that you spend is based on trust, and business is based on trust. Many times as Nigerians we have lost that trust even dealing with international partners we have lost that trust.

So, it is important for us to understand that no matter what we do we must emphasize this Omoluabi ethos, the ethos of integrity. It is so crucial, without hard work it is impossible to do much. People say all sort of things, they say if you are well connected, you will be a success. There is a limit to what connections can do, even when you are connected enough to be given a job, if you are not serious and hardworking at that job you won’t move up on that job, so hard work is crucial.

I was listening to Governor Aregbesola when he was saying that he met Asiwaju during his participation in the struggle for June 12. I met him-Ashiwaju- in 1998 just after the elections when we were planning for the new government in Lagos State, and the conversations we had at that time were conversations about how to build great societies and it is incredible to note that even till now, anytime I meet him our conversations have always been on how to make the society better.

I listened to the MD of No leftovers, the lady who spoke so well about her progress, it was a short presentation but very powerful because she told how she started and told us where she is today but you must also recognize that in between her starting and now, there is so much she didn’t tell us, she could not have told us how many times she failed in that business before she attained the success that she is today.

I remember a lady also who owned a restaurant just close to a church i pastored in Ikoyi many years ago. She owned a Chinese restaurant called Chinaville and I remember going there with a group of people on this particular day and we were the only ones that were there and while we spoke to her she told us that we were the only customers that she had in three days. She said that some days she had no customers and that every day she will throw away food. She said that she was working in a bank and had to resign, sold her car and raised little money from her parents and started the business. But we encouraged her. That is the way to behave, if you stick at it and remain steadfast, one day you will see progress, Chinaville today is in Victoria Island.

I remember one day, myself, my wife and a minister in our church, we saw this woman driving a red jeep and the minister pointed to her and said “is this not the Chinese restaurant woman, this Chinese business is so easy to make money from”, and I had to tell the minister that there were days when this women used to throw away food, losing money but because she stuck to it and worked hard, and remained at it long enough, today people see her driving a jeep and all that.

It is only hard work, it is only the courage and persistent to remain focused that can get us as individuals and as a nation, from one point to the other.

I study very closely what young people are doing all over Nigeria. I have a group of young people working with me, I’m sure they are over 60 in different fields of expertise; some working in power, some in oil and gas, some in management, and a few of them are here with me, in various fields. These are Nigerian young people, very dedicated, very hard working, experts in their fields; and they are multitasking individuals, they can do a variety of things. Some of them are engineers; but when you hear them talk about agriculture, you will be amazed; some of them who are power experts, when you hear them talking about public health, you will be amazed; young people, almost all of them under 40, but they are so talented, and they are all over the place doing great things.

Like I said, I study very closely what young people are doing, and the reason why I said I study them is because I recognize that this country, which is the largest economy in Africa, is the key to the future, not just of Africa, but of the development of our world.

The places that are left to make the kind of growth and progress that the world can make are not very many. Africa is one such place. So we must watch closely what is happening in Nigeria, and that is one of the reasons why I watch and see exactly what young people are doing and try to encourage them. Today, you see that so many young people are into technology, doing all sorts of things. If you look at it, I’m sure that so many of us have come across Iroko TV, which is something in the world of entertainment and they show and distribute a lot of Nollywood films. A young man is the proprietor, it has become so successful that so many international parties want to buy into that thing. That is just one example.

There is Jobberman. I’m sure most of us know Jobberman, that employment website. Three young Nigerians started the site in 2009 – Olalekan Elude, Ayodeji Adewunmi and Opeyemi Awoyemi. They were young undergraduates at the time they started it, they were students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. They did not have any money, they only had that idea and they pursued that idea. Today, they have grown that investment into a major investment. As a matter of fact, they have divested their interests and have started investing in other start-ups all over Nigeria and the world.

I’m sure many of us have come across the website called Nairaland. Nairaland was started by a very young man, 20-year-old at the time, and also an undergraduate in the university. N10,000 was what he started Nairaland with. Today, Nairaland has more readership than probably all other print newspapers put together, and he started it in a room in the university. He didn’t complain, he didn’t come out to say, “we don’t even know what they are doing here, or what they are doing for us.” No. He saw the opportunity and took the opportunity, and it has become what it has become today. Innovation is critical, we must tell ourselves, we of this nation, and young people in particular, we must tell ourselves that it is good to hear stories of the good old days. I was talking to a group of young people and they were telling me about how “oh, you know in those good old days; your days were much better than our own.” But I would say, no. You must be very suspicious of people who are always talking of the good old days. There are no days that are better than the present, and no days would be better than the future. If we look at it, the opportunities that you have today I cannot have.

I remember as a young university lecturer, when I was doing a research, just one, I was researching an issue on “illegitimacy in Nigeria”, it took me eight weeks to just find the right materials. Today, I can sit at my desk in my study and just online, in a matter of hours, I can do all the research I need. We have all manner of opportunities now that nobody would have dreamt of some years ago. In fact, I remember a conversation we had in 1992 when one man was talking of technology, and he said one day, everybody would have telephones, he said even a beggar on the streets would have telephones and everybody laughed. But today, almost everyone has a telephone. The opportunities today are great, the opportunities are many. We must not keep looking back and saying, oh, maybe the good old days; but the good old days are here already. The days of today are your own days. You owe yourself the responsibility of ensuring that you maximise what you have today.

Education is critical. Everybody knows that education is so important, but let me just say to you, self-education is probably more important–educating yourself. A lot of us, of our own generation and even before, did a lot of self-education. I remember Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola who was telling me how he came across Marxist principles. He picked it up from reading some sheets of paper scattered across all over the place, I think, in front of the mosque, Marxist literature, literature talking about Karl Marx, etc.

I remember in 2005, Ogbeni and I went to Cuba for his son’s graduation; he was on scholarship in Cuba then. We were met by all his old compatriots from the communist days. Fidel Castro was excited to see him in Cuba. And here’s a man who was living in Ikare at the time, he had not travelled anywhere, but because he was curious and was looking for information and he was educating himself, he made friends, without the Internet, just by writing letters. He made friends across the world, such that when we were going to Cuba in 2005, he was welcomed as a hero.

So it is important that we understand self-education. The Internet is full of ideas, so much information.There is no reason why a young Nigerian should speak only one language; there is no reason why he/she should not speak French or Spanish or German, and you can learn everything now on the Internet. It is easy to learn. There is no excuse. Some of you young people who are here today would be working in the United Nations, in different UN and international agencies. But you can’t do so if you are speaking only one language. You must be multilingual or at least bilingual. If they ask, what language do you speak, and you say English and Yoruba, or English and Itsekiri. No. You must be able to speak at least two international languages, and there is no reason why not. At any age, you can learn a language, and you must do so. We must self-educate ourselves.

The other thing I want to leave with you before I go is the value of small beginnings. I think it was Governor Ajimobi who emphasised that point, that don’t ever assume that because today does not look good, that today you don’t have anything or a job, it means that tomorrow is going to be the same; of course not. The value that thrives, what endures forever is the courage and persistence of human beings. That is the only thing that keeps human beings going; it is their courage and persistence. The difference between success and failure is your ability to see today and say although things are not working today, I am sure that tomorrow will be brighter and you make sure that you work towards it.

I was telling some people that I graduated early in life. At the age of 21, I was already a law graduate. I started teaching at the age of 24. So, in every way, I could be considered fortunate because I graduated early. But at that period of my life, teaching and being involved in legal practice, I was earning very little, because in the university we were paid N20 a month but we were able to do a few things. And I explained to these people who I was talking to that I never used a brand new car until 1998. Anybody seeing me in my old car in 1998 would have said, “Well, this man, what is he up to? He’s a professor, he is an advocate, but he must be keeping some money somewhere.” But I recognized even then that, it was important to build something, it was important for me that, in the future, I must be able to look back and encourage some people, young people, and let them know that they don’t have to steal, they don’t have to cheat or do anything untoward to get money. And I was saying that it is possible for a person to earn a salary, it may not be enough, but you are developing yourself, you are building up yourself.

A time came in my life that people would give me cars. Life itself is a journey; it is not a hundred-meter dash. If you hurry too much and you go around shortcuts, you would end up in big problems. There are people who would say, at the age of thirty-something, I must have built a house. Why must you build a house at the age of thirty-something? I built my own house at the age of 50. I moved into my house at the age of 51 and I enjoyed the house. Before then I used to live in a house that I rented. It was a rented accommodation. So there is nothing to be said for saying that by the age of 20, you would do this. So what? If God helps you and you are successful honestly, at the age of 20, fantastic. But don’t be under any pressure; don’t let anybody put you under pressure. You must be determined to work hard, you must determine to be a person of integrity, determine to ensure that you build your works correctly, so that at the end of the day, you are able to enjoy whatever you have in peace.

Finally, let me just say that we must also recognize that every generation owes itself the duty of converting its challenges to opportunities and success. And you must not see yourself as young people of the South-West alone. Yes, you are South-West citizens, you were born and bred here, but you are actually citizens of the world. You are citizens of Nigeria. You must make contacts across the country, you must build bridges across the country; you must see yourself first and foremost as a Nigerian citizen. It is from this Nigeria that we would make the kind of progress that each and every one of us need. There is no point doing our business only in the South-west, Nigeria is our playing field; this country is big enough. The advantage of our country is that it has everything that we need, and we must take advantage of it.

So while we are here locally, we must think nationally, and we must think globally. And we must act nationally, and we must act globally.

Thank you very much.

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thedeadshotnetwork · 6 years

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10 things you need to know today: November 26, 2017 1. The Egyptian military conducted airstrikes against Islamic State affiliate hideouts in the Egyptian desert Saturday in response to Friday's attack on a Sufi mosque in the Sinai province which killed 305 people, 27 of them children. The attack, committed by extremists who reportedly carried an ISIS flag and looked like organized militants, is the deadliest such incident in Egypt's recent history. ISIS has not publicly claimed responsibility. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had promised to retaliate with "brute force," and the bombing reportedly targeted the attackers' vehicles. Cairo did not give details on the number or location of the air raids. 2. Come Monday, there will be two people starting the same job as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), one of them chosen by the agency's outgoing head (per the guidelines in the law that created the CFPB) and one picked by President Trump (per more general law on executive appointments). Both sides are apparently prepping for a legal fight — the Justice Department issued a memo justifying the administration's position Saturday evening — and lawyers told Reuters the dispute will likely go to court. Trump defended his position on Twitter Saturday, calling the CFPB a "complete disaster" and pledging to "bring it back to life!" 3. President Trump's son-in-law and unpaid senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has an increasingly limited role in the White House, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported Saturday. In the early days of the Trump administration, Kushner had a broad purview with walk-in privileges in the Oval Office. Since Chief of Staff John Kelly took office, however, Kushner's responsibilities have shrunk considerably. He is still tasked with solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Kelly reportedly made clear Kushner is under his authority and will not operate independently of the White House staff structure. Trump told the Times Kushner is "very effective" and "working very hard" to bring peace to the Mideast. 4. A New York Times story Saturday on President Trump's continued support for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore reports the president has begun saying the Access Hollywood tape which hears him bragging about sexual assault may be fake. "He suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently," the Times reports. This is a reversal of Trump's position immediately following the tape's discovery last year. At that time, Trump acknowledged he was the speaker in the recording and apologized . 5. President Trump posted a pair of tweets about the media Saturday evening, one attacking CNN and the other promoting a blog called MAGA Pill. In the first post , he complained that "CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news" abroad, "and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly." The second tweet recommended MAGA Pill, which shares content like a flowchart of "The Swamp" including "human sacrifice" and "certain bloodlines" dominating the financial industry, as a worthwhile source to read a list of Trump's accomplishments as president. 6. The Pakistani government on Sunday deployed paramilitary forces under military command to respond to protesters who blocked a major highway and attacked a police checkpoint. At least six protesters were killed in the initial clash and about 200 more people were injured. The demonstrators have been in the streets for weeks rallying against a proposed parliamentary rule change that no longer requires Pakistani lawmakers to mention the Prophet Mohammed while taking the oath of office. They have accused the Pakistani law minister of blasphemy over the proposal and have demanded his resignation. 7. The Navy on Saturday identified the three U.S. sailors who went missing Wednesday when their plane crashed into the ocean shortly after takeoff from Japan: Lt. Steven Combs, Aviation Boatswain's Mate Airman Matthew Chialastri, and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Bryan Grosso. "Their service and sacrifice will be lasting in 7th Fleet and we will continue to stand the watch for them, as they did bravely for all of us," said Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer. The search for the missing men was called off Thursday, but an investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing. 8. A major explosion at a factory in Ningbo, China, a city south of Shanghai, killed two people and injured at least 30 more Sunday morning. The blast occurred around 9 a.m. local time, knocking down multiple buildings in a riverfront neighborhood. Police are investigating the source of the explosion, which may have been a gas line leak. Casualties would have been higher, but several of the buildings destroyed were evacuated in preparation for demolition. Industrial accidents of this sort are relatively frequent in China. 9. The two men whose fight in a London Tube station caused a mass panic and evacuation Friday voluntarily turned themselves in to authorities for questioning Saturday. Their altercation on the subway platform was mistaken for a terrorist attack, and police received 999 calls reporting shots fired. Investigators later determined there were no shots fired. It remains unclear whether the men, aged 21 and 40, will be charged. Several people were injured in the panic, only one seriously. 10. Actor Rance Howard, the father of director Ron Howard and grandfather of actress Bryce Dallas Howard, died Saturday after a six-decade career in Hollywood. He was 89. Rance "stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity," Ron Howard wrote on Twitter. "A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love miss U Dad." With nearly 300 acting credits on IMDB, Rance Howard appeared in films including Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind as well as shows like Grey's Anatomy and Seinfeld . November 26, 2017 at 03:05PM

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