CC™ VideoScope
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Dan Senor’s execrable take on the growing numbers of babies and children being killed in Gaza
By Deji Komolafe, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Dan Senor, former Bush foreign policy advisor and co-author of a new book called "The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World”, recently joined Fareed Zakaria on the latter s long running Sunday morning show on CNN, Fareed Zakaria GPS.
Here is a transcript of their conversation regarding the ever growing death toll in the Israeli siege on Gaza, especially with regard to children.
ZAKARIA: How long -- if this campaign goes on for another month or two, more and more civilian casualties, will -- you know, the memory of the Hamas attack fades and the reality of pictures of Palestinians dying increases, how long do you think he has?
SENOR: It depends how he frames this. If President Biden frames this accurately that Hamas is responsible for Israeli civilian casualties and Palestinian civilian casualties, that the reason Palestinians are being killed is because Hamas has chosen to wage its offensive military capabilities in hospitals, in U.N. run schools, near mosques.
[10:45:04]
Israel doesn't get to choose and the U.S. doesn't get to choose where Hamas fights. Hamas chooses where it wants to fight and is deliberately choosing it. It would be like -- the analogy I recommend President Biden give is it would be as though Russia located a missile launcher next to a Russian orphanage and was firing at Ukraine, and Ukraine responded and accidentally killed the -- they took out the Ukrainian orphanage.
The U.S. wouldn't blame Ukraine for that. It would obviously be Putin's decision. It was a strategic decision. And, I think, President Biden needs to start framing things in those terms and -- then I think the American public's tolerance for the images coming out of Gaza will be, you know, higher.
Dan Senor’s response is truly instructive as it shows an unfortunate reality regarding the subjective value of human life in this conflict.
No amount of political engineering or public relations branding should ever compromise the humanity of ALL to call things exactly as they are. I am confident that the tolerance of the American people will never get higher for the gruesome images of babies, children and mothers being collectively slaughtered.
Sunday
Saturday
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Warren Buffett: All Successful People Have This One Rare Thing in Common
 |
| Warren Buffett |
The difference between successful people and really successful people, according to the Oracle of Omaha.....
Have you ever wondered how the most successful people achieve so much when they have the same number of hours in the day as the rest of us? To Warren Buffett, the 89-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the third richest person in the world, it's not a mystery at all.
In the words of the Oracle of Omaha, "The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."
Hang on, they say NO?
It feels counterintuitive, but give it some thought and Buffett's advice will ring true in virtually any context, whether it's investing, work, or your personal life.
So often we spread ourselves thin by saying "yes" constantly, and we end up taking on more commitments than we can handle. If you've been there, you know the outcome: increased stress and lower quality, whether it's of work, life, or just decisions in general.
Successful people say no to these 4 things
The good news is that you can turn things around just by saying no. Does that mean it's easy? Of course not -- but it's worth the effort.
1. Exciting opportunities that aren't a good fit.
Always remember that devoting attention to something, whether it's an investment opportunity, a new project at work, or a new hobby, means taking time away from something else. This year forgo all those opportunities with potential in order to focus on the ones that are the most important.
2. 80-hour work weeks that cost you time with family.
Our culture has glorified the struggle of the entrepreneur and businessperson to the point where people feel like 60- or even 80-hour workweeks are something to brag about. Show me an 80-hour zealot and I'll show you a family or personal life that's been sorely neglected. Successful people choose balance over burnout.
3. Superficial networking events.
While some people slog through speed dating style networking events that go by in a blur of business cards, the smart ones spend their time nurturing a few truly valuable relationships. Successful people choose quality over quantity.
4. Going to incredible lengths to please people.
Spend too much time trying to please the people around you and you'll find you've neglected your own most basic needs. Successful people aren't self-absorbed, but they're also not going to cater to the people around them at the expense of their own lives and happiness.
Putting "no" into practice
As we start a new year (and a new decade!) it's the perfect time for you to step back and rethink your priorities. If you're still saying yes to the things above (and everything else that comes your way), you'll be amazed at what can happen when you finally start to say no. It won't be easy, and here's a quick exercise that proves it designed by Buffett himself.
Write down a list of your 25 most important goals. That may seem like a lot at first, but you'll hit that number quickly when you think about all the different directions you're trying to go in life.
Next, circle the top five, and then (this is the painful but important part) cross out the rest.
No one -- not even the most productive person in the world -- has room for 25 goals. The really successful people are the ones who recognize that fact, accept their limited bandwidth, and choose to allocate their time to a few things that matter the most. Try emulating this practice and you'll be able to join their ranks.
Source: Inc.
Tuesday
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Africa's cultural and literary icon
 |
| Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
By Yahaya Balogun
When a Muse is within my reach or vicinity, my literary antenna captures the precinct or perceives the Muse. When you have an insatiable quest for knowledge acquisition, the muse in talented and good people around infatuates your literary urge. I am an ardent adherent of the muse any day!
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie makes us proud! She is one of our cultural icons and literary moguls in Africa! Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Yale University during the university’s 2019 commencement ceremony.
She got this deserving award one day after delivering the Class Day address. 2019 marked the first time in Yale’s history that the Class Day speaker would receive an honorary degree in the same year. Chimamanda is one of the muses and Nigerian cultural ambassadors to the world. Chimamanda represents one of the best in us in Nigeria and Africa.
When a Muse is within my reach or vicinity, my literary antenna captures the precinct or perceives the Muse. When you have an insatiable quest for knowledge acquisition, the muse in talented and good people around infatuates your literary urge. I am an ardent adherent of the muse any day!
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie makes us proud! She is one of our cultural icons and literary moguls in Africa! Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Yale University during the university’s 2019 commencement ceremony.
She got this deserving award one day after delivering the Class Day address. 2019 marked the first time in Yale’s history that the Class Day speaker would receive an honorary degree in the same year. Chimamanda is one of the muses and Nigerian cultural ambassadors to the world. Chimamanda represents one of the best in us in Nigeria and Africa.
On November 16, 2019, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received the Bookcity Milano prize during the Bookcity Literary Festival in Milan, Italy. She also appeared in an onstage conversation. Adichie's beautiful story in the United States and around the globe is being told beautifully in different forms by the world. And these effervescent forms transcend a single story being told by some Nigerians. But the deafening silence on her achievements by Nigerians is also very obvious.
Nauseatingly, why do we not celebrate the good ones among us? Why do the brown-envelope Newspapers in Nigeria, and social media hogwash us with naughty and noxious things? Why don't people rejoice with our collective achievements domestically and on the world stage? These are damning questions begging for honest answers! Chimamanda Adichie is not the Gucci-COZA, ELISHA ABBO, SYNAGOGUE, HERDMEN or RUGA.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of the representations of Nigeria's intellectual glory. Her achievements are cocooned in a meritocracy. Unfortunately, Adichie comes from the clime where mediocrity holds sway. Mediocrity always takes precedent over meritorious service in the homeland: the reason why Adichie wouldn't make any headlines in our brown-enveloped and hate-monger Newspapers in Nigeria. Nigerian passion for mediocrity is damning and alarming!
Meanwhile, Chimamanda Adichie is flourishing exceptionally in America's exceptionalism, abundant opportunities, and prosperity! The most glowing part of her story is her referential of Nigeria in all her expositions. She is a true patriot and amazon daughter of the soil of Nigeria. Adichie has a compendium knowledge and unique style in preserving Professor Chinua Achebe's literary encyclopedia. Some of our people stereotype Adichie for her beliefs in feminism and controversial academic presentations. Some Nigerian professors frown at her feminist postures, and uniquely essentials, but their inability to understand her multicultural intelligence and literary-know-how is bewildering and damning.
Interestingly, Chimamanda Ngozi's books have been translated into more than 30 different international languages. Her book Americanah made it to the list of the top best Barack Obama's 2018. Adichie is engagingly following the path of our cultural and literary giant---Prof. Chinua Achebe whose book "Things Fall Apart" has been translated to more than 50 international languages.
Chimamanda Adichie beautifies one of the human capital endowments we have known in Nigeria. It is unfathomable to see how unwilling Nigeria exports her best human resources (brains) to a willing world that utilizes them for its benefits. Nigeria is a reservoir of raw and untapped knowledge. The processed brains and other knowledgeable people currently residing in Nigeria are being abused and bastardized daily by the hostile environment. Jealousy, selfish motives and deliberate ignorance signal the hard times ahead of the country.
Consequently, Time actually heals! I hope time heals our people's self-hate, self-destruct and deliberate ignorance. There should be no burden in being critical about something or someone. But when you morph low to hate someone who is making progress because of his or her opinions on germane issues, you will need to make a critical visit to a psychologist for moral therapy.
While Chimamada's spiral self-made and talent are soaring high among the global academia, and in the international arena, her resenters are soaring deep in low-life of jealousy and confusion. Nigeria is a nation with abundant human capital. We are the number one exporter of human resources in the global world. Anytime I see Nigerians achieving a great feat in a competitive global community, my adrenaline-rush for our greatness always go beyond imagination and satisfaction.
Congratulations to Amazon Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She is one of our cultural icons and ambassador extraordinaire! Let's celebrate her brilliance, candor, confidence, grace, and resourcefulness. We are very pleased with Adichie, and also very proud of her great literary talent and achievements.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
