Trump Blames US Green Card Lottery Program After Deadly NY Terror Attack

The Diversity Visa Lottery Program has been blamed for the deadly New York terror attack that took the lives of many people in the US on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump

 

US President Donald Trump has criticised his country's visa system in the wake of a terrorist attack in New York City that left eight dead, blaming Democrats and pressing for a "merit based" program for immigrants to the United States.

 

"The terrorist came into our country through what is called the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based," Mr Trump tweeted, referring to the Senate Democratic leader.

"We are fighting hard for merit based immigration, no more Democrat lottery systems. We must get MUCH tougher (and smarter)," he also tweeted.

 

Senator Schumer hit back, saying in a statement he had "always believed and continue to believe that immigration is good for America".

"[Mr Trump is] politicising and dividing America, which he always seems to do at times of national tragedy."

 

Since taking office, Mr Trump has been pressing for a ban on travellers entering the United States from some predominantly Muslim countries.

"I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already extreme vetting program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this!" he also wrote on Twitter.

 

Suspected attacker Sayfullo Saipov is an immigrant from Uzbekistan.

AP: KMOV

 

Six victims were pronounced dead at the scene and two more at a nearby hospital, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said.

 

Five of the dead were Argentinian tourists, visiting New York as part of a group of friends celebrating the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation, the Government there said.

 

Belgium's Foreign Minister said a Belgian citizen was also among those killed.

 

A US law enforcement official described the suspect as a US immigrant born in Uzbekistan, a landlocked, predominantly Muslim country in central Asia that was once part of the former Soviet Union.

 

CNN and NBC News reported that the man, identified by officials as Sayfullo Saipov, entered the US in 2010.

 

Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told Mr Trump his Government would do all it could to help investigate the "extremely brutal" attack.

 

Although authorities from the mayor's office to the US Department of Homeland Security all swiftly branded the attack an act of terrorism, Mr Cuomo stressed that the suspect was believed to have acted alone.

 

Asked whether the suspect had been known to authorities before the attack, Mr Cuomo said in a CNN interview, "it's too early to give you a definitive answer". 

 

-Reuters/AP

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Kim Rubbishes Donald Trump, Calls Him a 'Mentally Deranged' Man

President Donald Trump of the United States has faced serious attack from North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un who called him an incurably mentally deranged man.

President Donald Trump

 

In a proxy war of abuse, ‘Rocket Man’ Kim Jong Un North Korea’s news agency has slammed US President Donald Trump as “incurably mentally deranged”.

 

The invective comes few days before Trump begins his first visit to Asia as head of state, amid high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

 

Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un have traded threats of war and personal insults against each other in recent months, heightening worries about a potential conflict on the divided Korean peninsula.

 

Trump has warned of “fire and fury” and “calm before the storm”, telling the UN General Assembly that Washington would “totally destroy North Korea” if it had to defend itself or its allies.

 

He dubbed Kim “Rocket Man” in the same speech — Pyongyang has tested missiles apparently capable of reaching much of the US mainland — and days later Kim responded with a personal statement calling Trump a “dotard”, an obscure term for a weak or senile old man.

 

The US president is due in Asia at the weekend and ahead of his arrival the North’s state-run KCNA news agency lashed out at “bellicose and irresponsible rhetoric ”by the “master of invective”.

“He absolutely needs medicine for curing his psychical disorder,” it said.

 

The US has deployed key military assets including jet fighters and aircraft carriers near the peninsula following the North’s sixth nuclear test in September, which also saw the United Nations impose an eighth set of sanctions on the isolated country.

 

KCNA described the sanctions drive as “desperate efforts” that would prove ineffective and Trump’s hostile rhetoric as “hysteric spasmodic symptoms”.

 

Trump, it said late Tuesday, “disclosed his true nature as a nuclear war maniac before the world and was diagnosed as ‘incurably mentally deranged'”.

 

Trump’s itinerary includes Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines, with all eyes on his message to the North and Kim.

 

Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against possible invasion by the US.

 

During a November 7-8 visit to the South — a security ally of Washington that hosts 28,500 US troops — Trump is due to address Seoul’s parliament and visit a US military base, although he will not go to the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas.

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One Million Man March in Support of Anti-open Grazing Law in Benue

 The streets of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, were turned into a carnival atmosphere on Tuesday morning, as residents engage into a one million man peaceful walk.

The protesters

 

A one million man peaceful walk erupted through the streets of  Makurdi, the Benue State capital, on Tuesday morning, to support the implementation of the Anti-Open Grazing Prohibition law set to begin, on Wednesday.

 According to Daily Sun, the walk started at the popular Wurukum Roundabouts amid tight security and the group, ‘Strict Movement Against Ravages in Tiv Land (SMART-LAND) are said to be behind the walk.

 

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Germany to Pay Electricity Users

 Power generation in Germany is performing above optimum level with a recent record hit by the country through wind power.

 

File Photo

 

German power producers are poised to pay customers to use electricity this weekend.

 

Wind generation is forecast to climb to a record on Sunday, creating more output than needed and driving electricity prices below zero, broker data compiled by Bloomberg show. It would be the first time this year that the average price for a whole day is negative, not just for specific hours.

 

Germany’s grid operators can struggle to keep the balance between how much energy people are using and how much is being produced when there are high amounts of wind generation. Negative prices mean that producers must either shut down power stations to reduce supply or pay consumers to take the electricity off the grid.

 

Wind output is forecast to peak at 39,190 megawatts at 7 a.m. on Sunday, equivalent to the output of about 40 nuclear reactors and enough to meet more than half of Germany’s total demand. Onshore wind turbines accounted for almost a third of Germany’s installed power capacity at the end of June and the nation is poised to increase new installations by 9 percent this year, according to industry federation BWE.

 

Wind power currently supplies about 10 percent of Europe’s electricity and is expected to continue to grow as the technology becomes cheaper. The cost of electricity from offshore wind farms, once one of the most expensive forms of green energy, is expected to slide by 71 percent over the next two decades, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

 

Earlier this year, Germany shocked the renewable energy industry by handing out contracts to developers willing to build offshore farms without subsidy.

 

German wind generation reached a record 38,370 megawatts on March 18.

 

Source: Bloomberg

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Uhuru Kenyatta Wins Disputed Kenya Presidential Elections

 President Uhuru Kenyatta has won Kenya's deeply divisive presidential election re-run after winning 98.2 percent of the votes cast, the official results showed on Monday.

President Kenyatta

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta is set to be declared the winner of the Oct. 26 repeat elections by a landslide, granting him a second five-year term in office.

 

The election commission results show that Kenyatta had garnered over 98% of the vote, a total of 7.4 million votes.

 

But rather than the result bringing a close to nearly a year of campaigning and electioneering, Kenya finds itself at the beginning of a new phase of political uncertainty which threatens to tip over into violence in certain regions of the country.

 

The overwhelming vote in favor of Kenyatta was expected after opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the race in early October. Odinga and his supporters boycotted the election after accusing the commission of stonewalling meaningful reforms that would have ensured they didn’t repeat some of the “irregularities and illegalities” committed in the Aug. 8 polls.

 

Those indiscretions led the supreme court to nullify the results of the presidential election on Sept. 1, a first in Africa.

 

The turnout was low across the country, given that more than 80% of the registered 19.6 million voters participated in the August election. Elections were also indefinitely canceled in four counties aligned with Odinga, where officials couldn’t open polling stations.

 

Despite refusing to participate, more than 73,000 people voted for Odinga in the election run-off.

 

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was again put on the spot for the way it tallied and verified the results. On Sunday (Oct. 29), IEBC announced that 7.5 million had so far voted, and provided a voter turnout of 42.8%—instead of 38.4%.

 

At one point, commissioner Abdi Guliye also said that results had come in from some of the constituencies where elections didn’t even take place.

 

If no petition is filed against the results of the election, a swearing-in ceremony for Kenyatta is expected to take place 14 days after the declaration as per the constitution.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

TB Joshua Took Advantage of Me - Jim Iyke

 Controversial Nollywood actor, Jim Iyke has opened up on what took him to Prophet TB Joshua's church which resulted in him rolling on the floor.

Nigerian actor, Jim Iyke

 

Nigerian actor, Jim Iyke has finally opened up on what really happened when he rolled on the floor in Prophet TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of all Nations church. The video of the incident later went viral with many people alleging that the actor was possessed and had to be cleansed.

 

In an interview with Channels, Jim said he was taken advantage of, although he wasn't paid for the act. He revealed further that he was forced to come to the church.

 

Jim also spoke about about the fight he had with Olisa Adibua and how he reached out to him and he refused to allow things die off.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

OPINION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CAUSE DECENTRALIZAION WITHIN THE FEDERAL STATES?

By Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, MD. 19^th October, 2017

Dr. Nick Ngwanyam

This morning I had a call from one of my brothers and friend who is a University Professor. Last night, he read my article on, “The Way Forward for Cameroon”. He said he read it then for the first time and went over it again this morning. In his opinion, it makes a lot of sense and he hoped that we will all look at the message therein and use it as a template on which to build by adding and subtracting where need be and bringing clarity in some of those areas and concepts that are not well understood. He feared that some people might stop looking at the material and concentrate on throwing it away because it came from X and not Y. A wise old man once said something very catchy. He said he was pointing at the moon while some fools were looking but at his crooked fingers.

The professor expressed a worry. He wanted to know what I meant by causing decentralization within the federal structure. We both agreed that I should write this explanatory note to help us think more fruitfully as we wait for the national dialogue that will thrash the issues. He wondered whether the current mission of the Prime Minister and others on the field was the supposed dialogue or something else.

EXPECTED DIALOGUE

I was of the opinion that the current Mission by some elites from Yaounde along some CPDM barons on the field is but a soothing balm on the wounds and emotions of the people of the North West and South West Regions following the tragic events of the 22^nd of September, 2017 and 1^st of October, 2017.

The expected national dialogue which has different actors and stake holders is supposed to deal with the systemic problems as well as the definition of the Anglophone in the whole.

It is supposed to come up with strategies to fight corruption in high places; improve on governance, the economy and development; it will also create a lot of jobs and opportunities for youths by changing the type of education in the country to copy from Finland and South Korea.

Anglophones have problems and they are part of a greater Cameroon which is sick, very sick indeed. She has a surgical problem that we have been treating with tablets, syrups, surface balms, rice and drinks. She needs a painful surgical operation to deal with the cancer.

UNDERSTANDING DECENTRALIZATION WITHIN THE FEDERAL STRUCTURE

What do these two terms mean?

If we harvest a bunch of bananas and take them home, we can learn a lot from the ripening process. By day 4, some will be streaking with the yellow color. Midway down the process there will be a beautiful mix of light green and bright yellow. By the end of the process may be on day 8 or 10, the bananas will be beautifully yellow, soft and sweat and some might start taking on dark patches.

This process depicts decentralization and federation. These two are concepts belong to both ends of the same spectrum where decentralization is the early process of ripening say on day 5 or 6. Federation represents the process on day 9 or 10. It is perfect.

Some people of bad faith say decentralization is like federation and yet when you say federation is better, they start calling you names and report you to the secret police for mentioning or even using the ‘f’ word which is taboo.

Decentralization is like putting two cubes of sugar in your cup of tea. Yet when you put three it makes it better even though the tea cup does not split into two. The tea cup is still one and indivisible but the content tastes better. Federation has more clauses that give more power to the federated states and allows them to function even better.

Federation into ten states or decentralization into ten states is one at the same thing. In this dispensation, the central government still exerts too much pressure on the small ten units. Corruption will still be galloping. Have you ever asked yourself why we have CONAC and many other structures yet corruption still rides high in Cameroon? All the 24 million Cameroonians can be recruited into CONAC or even recruited into the police and gendarmerie yet corruption will continue to gallop on. It is a system problem.

DECENTRALIZATION AND FEDERATION ILLUSTRATED.

Let us take 11 ‘bobolows= baton de manioc’ or 11equal sticks. Color 8 sticks yellow (A= East Cameroon). Color 2 sticks red ( B= West Cameroon) . Color one stick black ( C=Yaounde Federal Capital City)..

Take one blue string and tie the two red sticks and lay them on the table. Take the 8 yellow sticks and tie them with a green string and lay them on the table as well. Bring along the black stick (C) and bunch A, B and C together. Take a metal chain and tie the three lots so that they form one parcel that is one and indivisible. This is Cameroon.

The red pile represents the Anglophones and the string that ties them are those clauses put in the constitution to protect them. The yellow pile represents the 8 Francophone regions and the green string is the constitutional clauses that protect them and define who they are as a people in the union and what they have and do not have.

Some people have been asking whether or not an Anglophone can ever be the President in this nation. This is where questions like these are answered. If it is a taboo for and Anglophone to ever the president, it should also be stated clearly and written down in the constitution so that our children will never think of it. In a decentralized system, they will say that an Anglophone will be president based on majority vote and the Francophones will use their demographic weight against the Anglophone till they kingdom come.

The Federal system protects the Anglophones from the demographic weight of the Francophones. It also will fight corruption and inertia generated from the centralized system of governance.

THE PLACE OF DECENTRALIZATION.

This is a weaker version of federation. If we cause decentralization in East Cameroon, all the 8 regions will function independently of the Capital city on the banks of the River Sanaga in Bafia. This capital city will have a coordinating effect and then report to Yaounde. Regions will have no direct access to Yaounde.

In like manner, the South West will function independently from the North West Region. However, they are bound together by a federal string which gives them some bargaining rights as they face the Francophones as a cultural identity with a history and a language of their own.

Anglophone in the Cameroonian context does not mean any one who can speak English. If it were so, our grandparents in the villages would not be Anglophones. Anglophones refers to people whose genetic material originates from the North and South West Regions. This is same thing for Francophones. We have an 11^th Region/ Province for people with a mixed origin from mixed marriages or long standing migrations.

A SUMMARY OF MY WRITE UPS; Starting 25^th of Septeber, 2017.

1)    PEACE, JUSTICE, TRUTH &HAPPINESS

2)    Open Letter Against Violence; to Elder Tassang Wilfred et al.

3)    THE WAY FORWARD FOR CAMEROON

4)    THE ADVANTAGES OF BUILDING A NEW FEDERAL CAPITAL OF EAST CAMEROON

 ON THE BANKS OF THE SANAGA RIVER IN BAFIA.

5)    WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CAUSE DECENTRALIZAION WITHIN THE FEDERAL STATES?

Thanks for taking your time to read through all these information. I just hope that it will help us to move forward as we seek to create a more just society in which truth and love would be our guiding principles where we show respect for each other as we build a strong and indivisible Cameroon.

Remember that Peace is a concept. It cannot be forced nor decreed on a people. Peace is a by-product of a process in which truth, love and respect for others are a way of life.

Christ says, ‘All ye that are heavily laden, come unto me and I will give you rest’. Peace can only be obtained in the presence or on the condition that we dwell in the presence of God where truth resides. This is the same God worshipped by Muslims; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is no other one that made heaven and earth besides Him.

The god of power, money and fame; sects and whatever are illusions. They come to kill, deceive and destroy. You might be powerful now, with a lot of money and influence. Just make sure that you are on the side of the Lord like Prophet Joshua and his family and you will be safe. If not you are doomed, you and your family for four generations. It is written in black and white in the Bible and it will come to pass. Material things, power, money, women and booze cannot help you.

DR. Nick Ngwanyam, MD

www.stlouisbamenda.com

 

( PS.. You might find a few typo errors here and there in what I write. No one proof reads for me as I want to be responsible for what I say. I have noticed that each time I ask for help, the style and ideas get battered out of recognition.)

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Opinion: The Way Forward for Cameroon

BY DR NICK NGWANYAM, MD. SUNDAY OCTOBER 8, 2017

Dr. Nick Ngwanyam

Good morning dear Brothers and Sisters,

‘Brothers and sisters’ refers to all Cameroonians irrespective of region, color, language and creed. The nation has been going through a lot of pain and we all have to rise up and solve the problems generated under the banner of the Anglophone Problem. We have been faced with a lot of challenges that will not be going away any time soon.

We have the capacity to solve the problems if we choose to. We can fight and kill ourselves if that is what we want to do. But wisdom calls us to address ourselves intelligently and lovingly to our problems and solve them now once and for all. We have to lay a solid foundation otherwise we set the stage for more turmoil tomorrow when our grandchildren will come of age.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES WE HAVE IN CAMEROON?

●    The Anglophone problem is top on the list.

●    Our neglect of the youth; caused and enhanced by a poor educational system that has failed to build our capacities for solving personal and community problems. Our certificates are like fake currency with no intrinsic value. Our heads are full of theories and our hands lack skills.

●    Corruption, non-respect for merit, inertia, lack of accountability; favoritism and tribalism have eaten the nation down to her soul (poor governance).

●    Greed, individualism, lack of the sense of common good is settled in our DNA. This is second nature to us.

●    Generalized poor infrastructural development all over the country and a failed private sector are not helping matters.

●    A Failed Agriculture (we import most of what we eat, rice for instance).

●    Failed Economy (we depend only on sales of natural resources, we produce nothing and import everything else that we need).

●    Violence, Boko Haram, crime and many other evils are generated by lost hopes in the people.

●    We suffer from a chronic disease called inferiority complex so we care more for ego than productivity. Ignorance and irresponsibility crush us daily. (Do you know who I am? Do you know whom you are talking to? Do you know my connections in Yaounde?)

Well and above all, we do not FEAR GOD in this nation.  Even some churches have turned into money making rackets and some men of God steal. We have forsaken God’s ways. We look for quick miracles and quick fixes and we blame our failures and lack of self-discipline, diligent work after proper training on witchcraft and the Devil.  Thus we cast and bind everything with the blood of Jesus. We lead our lives with human wisdom and lean on the devil, money, power and materialism for support. Oh men of little faith! How we as individuals and the nation perish for lack of knowledge about the Kingdom of light.

We are spiritual prostitutes. We are not aware of our souls and the Spirit of God that yearns to dwell in us; to lead and guide us daily in our travail and existence.

HOW DO WE FIX THE COMPLEX PROBLEMS?

We certainly need a magic wand that will do the trick for us.

Primo, we need a God consciousness in the nation.

It is not about a God of Miracles, Free Meals and Healings. It has nothing to do with double portions of blessings because of our tithes.

This money for miracles is armed robbery; deceit and a misrepresentation of God and how his Kingdom operates.

He is not bought and sold. His blessings are free. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these other things shall be added unto you. It is simple. You need no other doctrine. It is free. All you need is your personal commitment to the Kingdom and the King.

Just TRUST HIM, LOVE HIM, COMMUNE WITH HIM.  Love your brother as yourself; if you did, you will not kill others. We kill for bread. What a shame.  God does not need your money to bless you. He needs your FAITH, TRUST and TOTAL SURRENDER TO HIM. We need TRUTH for Truth is GOD.

We should not lean on our understanding nor on our lands, gold, silver, armor, guns and chariots.

Secondo, we need a new form of the state to help us manage and develop better.

The United Nations recently wrote to say that the territorial integrity of the state should be maintained and that there should be true and frank dialogue in the nation. We cannot do anything and succeed if we do not follow the instructions of the United Nations. Some people call it a toothless bulldog. That is a huge mistake. You dig your own grave when you neglect her.

One of the key areas that have to be looked at would be the form of the state which will help us fight corruption, create jobs, grow our economy and bring development more rapidly. We have two options here. We are faced with either decentralization or federalism.

I will try to describe a form of government that you have probably not heard of before. Necessity is the mother of invention and I was looking for an acceptable formula that will address all or worries and appeal to the 250 tribes in Cameroon.

Our new state should have Federalism and decentralization principles combined as explained here below.

FEDERAL CONCEPT

●    There should be two federal states (East and West Cameroon).

●    There should be a federal capital city (Yaounde)

●    The capital of West Cameron should be Buea.

●    The Capital of East Cameroon should be new and built on the banks of the River Sanaga on the way to Bafia.

ADD DECENTRALISATION TO THE FEDERAL CONCEPT

If you leave East Cameroon as it, the 8 Regions will still suffer the weight of the centralized government in Bafia.

It is therefore, necessary to cause decentralization within the federal states. That way, the people of the South West Region will not be threatened or feel marginalized by the North West brothers.

The federal structure protects the Anglophones from the crushing Francophone majority and the cultures would not be clashing ever so often again.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST FEDERATION.

Many ill-intentioned people have argued that to have two governments is expensive.  Our current government has three times the number of ministers and high level functionaries of the same status than we actually need to be effective and efficient. Check with France and Germany.

The excuse about expense is a ploy to derail. This is not true. It is to maintain the centralized government in which there are no checks and balances, no accountability where favoritism and corruption abound. Those that have the right connections to sip into the nectar love this arrangement and would fight toe and nail to protect it. It is difficult to abolish a productive farm.

Some say that Federalism is a step away from secession. This is another ill-intentioned reason to create fear and confusion in the people for no good reason. Germany, Britain, America, Canada, Belgium are all Federated and well developed. The UN is the guarantor.

MANAGING THE ADMINISRATION, ECONOMY AND BUDGET IN THE FEDERAL ARRANGEMENT

FUNCTIONS OF YAOUNDE ( Federal Capital City).

It takes care of the army, Foreign Affairs, Ministers (state policy), Presidency and National Assembly (National Laws and Policies).

Yaounde is responsible for major infrastructure like damns, major road networks of the nation, telecommunication, airports, seaports; collecting and disbursing the national budget.

FEDERAL STATES

They carry out local development; they run schools, hospitals, and other ministerial departments at their levels. They pay civil servants and sort out retirement issues etc.

THE BUDGET ( hypothetical case).

Let us say that a total of 4000 billion is raised by Yaounde for a fiscal year.

1000 billion of this or so is retained by Yaounde to run her own programs as above.

About 1000 billion is set aside and redistributed to the other Regions in the country that have generated the budget. This avoids the kinds of problems that the Nigerian government is facing with the Delta communities that produce oil, but do not seem to enjoy from the proceeds. Thus people of the East Region would benefit from their wood, gold and more. Those of the Centre would benefit from their cocoa, timber and people from the South west will get a cut from their oil and the CDC.

The rest of the 2000 billion is shared to the ten regions almost equally. However, a little mathematical bias is introduced to take care of the population size, development needs and more. This way, the extreme North will have a little more than the South Region.

CONCLUSION

This is a template I am putting out to help us think our way through the impasse. It might not be perfect. It could be misunderstood and would probably be rejected by people on both sides of the divide. Again, this is just to help us to be reflecting as we forge ahead.

We need to think our way through this difficulty and I hope that the Church and the United Nations plus some good will Cameroonians that are God fearing will join the government bench in the near future for this frank  and open dialogue that has been prescribed by everybody as the way forward. There should be no taboo subjects during the dialogue.

It is understood of course, that we need a new government in place; that people can trust before such a dialogue can take place.

In case I have inadvertently offended you, please, ‘kill’ the message and not the messenger.

Sign

Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, MD.  www.stlouisbamenda.com

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)