#HM • Nigeria

[harryandmeghansussex]

Harry and Meghan have arrived at the Light Academy, an institution in Nigeria supported by their Archewell Foundation as their first stop on this visit to Nigeria.

[cozybearz]

every time i guess a country based just on the silhouette on that worldle game on the first try i feel so smart and proud of myself truly an ego boost

[mea-gloria-fides]

HM Queen Elizabeth II in Nigeria, 1954.

[melbatron5000]

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil

When Gabriel first arrives to Whickber street, a truckful of tomatoes dumps its load at his feet, he even squishes one and almost trips.

@scottishmushroom asked what this means in this post here, and I have some thoughts.

Every scene in this show is doing double duty, every image has symbolism attached to it. The symbolism needs to either be funny, or serve the narrative somehow (often both). And this season is lousy with Clues.

What twigged me to my thought was the further note that there seem to be baskets of tomatoes in the Job minisode. They seem to be a throwaway prop, except that they are placed exactly between Aziraphale and Crowley in the shot they appear in. The placement of objects matters, as it tells the audience what's important, whose POV we're seeing through, etc.

(Oh, hey! I just noticed that the plants in the shot with the pomegranates appear to be dracaena trifasciata -- common names include mother-in-law's tongue, SNAKE plant, and DEVIL'S TONGUE. Native to Nigeria, so not out of place here. I have a six-foot one of those in my sunroom! Hm!)

Back to the tomatoes.

Tomatoes in the Middle East during Bibical times? @docdust pointed out that those aren't tomatoes, they're pomegranates.

Aha.

Tomatoes used to be called "love apples" back in the day, and the Greeks referred to pomegranates as "grainy apples."

Apples, Bible, something something Eve ate something . . .

Eve ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, then offered the fruit to Adam who also ate it. Then both were cast out of Eden, because God was worried they would also eat of the tree of eternal life and elevate themselves to Her own status. (That part of the story gets left out a lot, I wonder why . . . )

There's actually no Biblical reference that we know of to any particular fruit. Some translator at some point labelled it an apple, and it's been thought of that way ever since. But apples weren't found in the Middle East during Biblical times, either, so it's unlikely it was actually an apple Eve ate. Pick a fruit to stand in, any fruit.

(In the TV series Lucifer, Eve jokes that it was always a metaphor, there never was a "fruit" of any kind. Unless maybe a banana? (She grins at Lucifer.) But I digress.)

So pick a fruit to stand in for apples. Maybe a tomato (love apple)? Or a pomegranate (grainy apple)?

In both scenes where these fruits appear, important characters are having a big crisis of faith. In both cases, their first crisis of faith. They are learning that Heaven isn't what it's cracked up to be. Gabriel has eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and has been cast out of Eden (Heaven). (Though we don't know that yet when he first shows up -- the tomatoes are A Clue!)

Aziraphale has eaten of the tree of knowledge and been cast out of Eden -- though in his case, Eden is simply naivete, his ability to go along with Heaven unquestioningly. ("What am I?")

Aziraphale's crisis of faith seems more clear -- even my bestie, while watching the show with me, got kind of upset at the Job minisode because of her own religious trauma. Job is touchy story for a lot of people. It's an appropriate place for Aziraphale to lose his confidence that Heaven is light and truth and good. It's a story that a lot of people lose faith over.

And Crowley, in this instance, is Eve. The one who's already tasted the fruit, and is offering it their partner. "Let me show you what you don't even know."

And so we have "apples" present at the moment of both characters gaining knowledge of good and evil. Or at least, gaining knowledge that Heaven isn't Good, and going against Heaven isn't Evil.

That's my take on it, anyway, and how I would interpret the symbolism of those two fruits present at that those two points in the narrative. Your mileage may vary.

[leadoutlap]

Five better GP locations than Chicago

Since the FIA has yet again decided to piss off both their fanbase and the entire population of a major US city by building a street track in Chicago, here are some far superior locations they could have gone with. Some of these are pre-existing tracks while others would be brand new.

[DISCLAIMER: This list is all made in good fun. I recognize that mass sporting events are often accompanied by rapid gentrification, slum clearances, and price gouging for the local populations. These are just my own fun little ideas for GPs]

Johannesburg, South Africa (Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit)

Come the fuck on, FIA. Kyalami is RIGHT THERE it's a PRE-EXISTING TRACK and it's one that was beloved by fans!!! F1 is hugely popular in South Africa, so drawing crowds would be a non-issue. Also, the fact that the South African GP was held for like 40 years in apartheid South Africa but only twice in democratic South Africa is. Hm. Interesting.

2. Astana, Kazakhstan (No existing track)

I'm honestly surprised that there isn't a GP here already. Kazakhstan is one of the biggest oil and gas exporters in the world, so it wouldn't be hard to draw sponsors. Astana is this wild y2k futuristic planned city covered in monumental architecture right in the middle of the Kazakh steppe. Tons of empty space. Ideal race circuit location IMO + another Asian GP!

3. Yerevan, Armenia (No existing track)

Let's replace Baku with this and stop letting Azerbaijan use their GP as PR while they're carrying out a second Armenian genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh. How would this work logistically? I have no idea. But I think it would be sick regardless. Armenia deserves it.

4. Buenos Aires, Argentina (Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez)

BRING BACK THE ARGENTINE GP, YOU RAT BASTARDS. The fact that North America has 5 (Five!!!!!) GPs while South America only has one is truly astounding. Also, look at this track and tell me that it's not the coolest thing you've ever seen in your life. Bring her back!

5. Lagos, Nigeria (No existing track)

Look me dead in the eyes and tell me that a Lagos GP wouldn't go hard as hell. You can't. It's impossible.

Feel free to add your own GP suggestions because we're all smarter than the clown car that is the FIA!

[grusinskayas]

today is a day of complaining it seems. you can scroll past me if you wish. but there's something kinda wild in how folks refer to anyone who isn't from north america or europe when it comes to media at this point. everything is boiled down to just "look it's poc representation!" hm hi jen. did you know colombia is a real country. and nigeria is a real country too. and that latin americans are real people who live in latin american countries and asians are real people who live in asian countries. i don't think i'm doing a good job at making myself understood rn but it's the wild way people refer especially to latin american/asian/african people in this detached otherizing way like they are commodities of some sort. it seems to come from a good place but it circles around into this sort of weird objectification. you are still looking at people through an otherizing lens, just in a different form now.

[lilithadomania]

Where would the twisted wonderland locations be in real world?

Has this post been done before..? I don't know.

Now, let's get the easier things out of the way.

Scalding sands are obviously somewhere in Arabic country. In the Wikipedia for Aladdin, it states that it is a middle Eastern tale.. The clothes seem similar to that of an Arabic country. Turquoise colour is however, often used in over here turkey, but... Turkey is not an Arabic country.. It is stated that Jasmine's clothes were inspired by South Asian clothing... In the wiki it states that Agrabah was also inspired by ottoman empire, the silk city's camel bazaar seems similar to that of an bazaar over here. Hm.. I think that it might be based off of Afghanistan, it isn't fun fitting at all, and I'm just throwing it off there, but it is definitely somewhere similar to there and ottoman empire.

City of flowers is, without a doubt, based off of France. Noble bell college is based off of the Notre-Dame de Paris, more specifically, île de la Cité, an island in the Seine River(this part was taken straight out of the Wikipedia article for Notre-dame de Paris). There isn't much more to say about it, as it was rather easy to find out about it.

Queendom of roses is probably based off of United Kingdom, as the original novel it is based off of was written in england(believe me I will have to do this. A lot.), in November of 1865. From what I was able to see in the manga, the architecture seems to be more modern, along with the clothes as well. That would make anyone from there... British, take that how you will.

Now.. Onto the trickier parts.

Sunset savana, it obviously takes place in.. A savanas. Savanas seem to be most common in northern Australia and probably in Africa, looking at the cards in the Japanese server, the clothes for the sunset savana seems to be resembling that of traditional African clothes, but I might be wrong on this I'm sorry, but I strongly believe that is the case! I am not too sure on the exact country though, probably somewhere similar to Nigeria as the clothes seem to be similar.

Coral Sea, I.. Genuinely don't know. I can't even track anything down aside from going with where the original tale of the little mermaid was written, which is probably Denmark? So... Danish fish mafia???? I don't know??? Azul's name means blue in Spanish and Portuguese, and Floyd means grey and grey-haired in Welsh???? I don't know, I'm confused now.

Shaftlands, it is.. Probably based off of either Germany or somewhere that speaks English, since Cater's last name is english and jack is either english or French, however, if I go off of where Snow White is written from, it's Germany, and the most memorable character from there is vil, who's last name is "schöenheit" which means beauty in German, so... It's probably based from Germany.

•harvest town is... Also in shaftlands, it's probably based off of a town in Germany, I don't know. Epel's last name, felmier, means farmer in Romanian and such, his first name epel sounds similar to the German word for apple, apfel.

Island of woe, another tone.. Where I just don't know. It is definitely based off of Greece for sure, as Idia's name means reserved, private and such, meanwhile his last name comes from the Latin word shroud, which is the name for a cloth that is used to cover over the face of the dead. Ortho means unharmed, safe and such, and plus, the name of the S.T.Y.X is probably based off of the Styx river in the Greek mythology that connects the earth to the underworld.

Briar valley, now.. Another one that is hard to settle for, however, if we go off with how daisomnia looks, it's probably somewhere in Gothic Victorian time, since daisomnia looks like a Gothic Victorian castle, going off of cars and such aren't used in Briar valley, it makes me fully believe that it is mostly based off of the Victorian era. The names... Malleus is the name of a well knows witchcraft, and his last name is, according to the fandom wiki, is deprived off of the words dragon or devil in Romanian and such. Gothic Victorian architecture seems to be most popular in Europe, we don't know much about the Briar valley sadly, but sleeping beauty the fairytale was originally written in.. French.

The final matches, this is all speculations on my part and this was for fun!

City of flowers-france

Queendom of roses-united kingdom

Sunset savana-africa, Nigeria

Coral sea-i... I don't know...

Scalding sands-an Arabic country/probably somewhere in South Asia, possibly Afghanistan

Shaftlands-germany

Island of woe-greece

Briar valley-france/possibly Romania, somewhere in Europe.

[aresmarked]

Im not in a position to draw rn (and itd be sketchy AF anyway so)

Japanese-Canadian Albertan miku who is

Listening and nodding seriously along to Gakupo talking about grasses not being maintained around rural roads being a hazard in the Nikka Yuko gardens

Doing the land acknowledgement for the next vocaloid concert at Rogers Place

Venting with Luka about the province complaining about not having enough immigrants sent there earlier in the year and then saying we don't want any more coming ('hm the immigrants are primarily from Mexico, Nigeria, and India. Wonder what's up with that')

Getting a chinook headache

Calling the rat sighting hotline

Signed up for the Indigenous Canada course from UoA

Really excited for cultural wear day at school

[harknessxo]

Flashbacks

Paring; Queen Ramonda x reader

Summary: Part 2 to You Don't Deserve to Mourn

Warnings: none just a bit of angst ♧ and fluff ♡

Word Count: 882

@vlkyriesverse @bestfriend491

It's been a month since Ramonda’s death but to you, it felt like it was yesterday. You haven’t been able to sleep, the image of her unconscious body on the ground hunts you every night. You moved to Puerto Rico to a beach house, away from humanity. The guilt was still eating each part of your mind every day. Every time you started to feel guilty, you went to the beach and sat down looking at the horizon to remember the good times you had with Ramonda.

    -   One Year Ago    -

You had just landed in Wakanda with Nakia, your sister. You were living with your parents in Nigeria but they had recently died and you had nowhere to live, so Nakia asked the Queen if you could stay while you found a place. When you got off the ship, you were greeted by the Queen.

“Queen Mother, thank you so much for letting me stay until I can find a place.”

“Of course dear, you are welcome to stay as long as you need. Come, I’ll show you around the palace.”

You said your goodbyes to Nakia and followed the Queen inside the palace. 

    - Present    -

You got up and made your way back to the house when the sun had set. When you got inside it was dark so you started lighting up candles. They smelled just like Ramonda, like cinnamon. You started to think back to the first time you kissed her.

    -   6 Months Ago   -

You were enjoying the sunset when you felt someone sit beside you. When you turned around you found Ramonda looking as beautiful as always. You both sat there in comfortable silence, watching as the sun finally disappeared on the horizon. It started to get cold and you began to shiver a bit.

“Are you cold honey?” Ramonda asked sweetly.

“Yeah, I forgot to bring a coat.” 

“Come here I’ll share my blanket.”

You scoot closer to her as she wraps her blanket around you. You rested your head on her shoulder and sighed happily at how warm she felt. She smelled just like cinnamon. After a few minutes, you looked at her and noticed how close your faces were. For a moment you just stared at each other until she cupped your cheek and kissed you softly. Her lips felt like heaven, you could stay like this forever but you had to pull away for air. 

“I love you, Ramonda. I fell in love with you the moment I stepped foot in Wakanda,” you said and you pulled away from the kiss.

“Me too sithandwa sam. The moment you came out of the ship, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Bast knows what else I was thinking.” you both chuckled at what she had said and kissed again.

    -   Present   -

You poured yourself some wine and went to your balcony and sat there gazing at the stars. As you stared at the star-filled sky you began to recall when you first properly talked to Ramonda.

    -   One Year Ago   -

You were making your way down the palace hallway to your room when you saw the Queen by herself on the balcony gazing at the stars. You wanted to go up to her but decided against it. Right at that moment, you heard her call out your name.

“Y/n, darling, come here.”

“Yes, Queen Mother?”

“Oh, honey you don’t have to call me that, you can call me Ramonda. I wanted to ask how is your stay going?”

“Well Ramonda, it’s going just fine. I’m just dealing with a lot right now and I haven’t been able to enjoy it much,” you said and sighed.

“Here, why don’t I take you on a walk around the city tomorrow to clear your mind, hm?”

“That sounds great,” you smiled and said goodnight before making your way back to your room.

When you woke up the next morning you got dressed and then made your way to the dining room for breakfast. When you got there you were met with Ramonda waiting for you to dine with you. Afterward, you guys headed out to the beautiful city of Birnin Zana. The ship left you guys off in the city. Ramonda took your hand and led you through multiple shops until you stopped to look at the most beautiful necklace you've ever seen. It had a moonstone in the shape of a tear in the middle of it. You were in love with it but you didn’t have the money for it. 

“Do you like it?” Ramonda asked while you kept staring at it.

“Yeah but I don't have the money for it,” you said disappointed. She turned to the merchant and told him something in Xhosa that you didn’t understand. The man then picked up the necklace and gave it to her. 

“I want you to have it as a souvenir,” she said as she handed it to you.

“Oh no I can't accept that,” you refused trying to hand it back to her.

“Here, give it to me, turn around and hold up your hair for me,” you did so and she placed the necklace around your neck. 

“Thank you so much Ramonda. This means a lot to me.”

I think that it for this story because I have no idea how to end it 😭

[harryandmeghansussex]

"His time in Kaduna was more than just a visit; it was a tribute to resilience and a hopeful outlook for Nigeria’s heroes."

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.2 (after 1960)

1963 – Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany. 1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship's hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later. 1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders. 1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City. 1970 – ALM Flight 980 ditches in the Caribbean Sea near Saint Croix, killing 23. 1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers. 1982 – Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. 1986 – Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster. 1989 – Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect. 1995 – During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians. 1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy. 1999 – Panamanian general election: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama. 2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. 2004 – The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa, Nigeria. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2. 2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless. 2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people. 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others are taken ill. 2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction. 2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.

[wqp88888]

Country Codes List

CountryAlpha 2Alpha 3 CodeUN Code

A

Afghanistan AF AFG 004

ALA Aland Islands AX ALA 248

Albania AL ALB 008

Algeria DZ DZA 012

American Samoa AS ASM 016

Andorra AD AND 020

Angola AO AGO 024

Anguilla AI AIA 660

Antarctica AQ ATA 010

Antigua and Barbuda AG ATG 028

Argentina AR ARG 032

Armenia AM ARM 051

Aruba AW ABW 533

Australia AU AUS 036

Austria AT AUT 040

Azerbaijan AZ AZE 031

B

Bahamas BS BHS 044

Bahrain BH BHR 048

Bangladesh BD BGD 050

Barbados BB BRB 052

Belarus BY BLR 112

Belgium BE BEL 056

Belize BZ BLZ 084

Benin BJ BEN 204

Bermuda BM BMU 060

Bhutan BT BTN 064

Bolivia BO BOL 068

Bosnia and Herzegovina BA BIH 070

Botswana BW BWA 072

Bouvet Island BV BVT 074

Brazil BR BRA 076

British Virgin Islands VG VGB 092

British Indian Ocean Territory IO IOT 086

Brunei Darussalam BN BRN 096

Bulgaria BG BGR 100

Burkina Faso BF BFA 854

Burundi BI BDI 108

C

Cambodia KH KHM 116

Cameroon CM CMR 120

Canada CA CAN 124

Cape Verde CV CPV 132

Cayman Islands KY CYM 136

Central African Republic CF CAF 140

Chad TD TCD 148

Chile CL CHL 152

China CN CHN 156

Hong Kong, SAR China HK HKG 344

Macao, SAR China MO MAC 446

Christmas Island CX CXR 162

Cocos (Keeling) Islands CC CCK 166

Colombia CO COL 170

Comoros KM COM 174

Congo (Brazzaville) CG COG 178

Congo, (Kinshasa) CD COD 180

Cook Islands CK COK 184

Costa Rica CR CRI 188

Côte d'Ivoire CI CIV 384

Croatia HR HRV 191

Cuba CU CUB 192

Cyprus CY CYP 196

Czech Republic CZ CZE 203

D

Denmark DK DNK 208

Djibouti DJ DJI 262

Dominica DM DMA 212

Dominican Republic DO DOM 214

E

Ecuador EC ECU 218

Egypt EG EGY 818

El Salvador SV SLV 222

Equatorial Guinea GQ GNQ 226

Eritrea ER ERI 232

Estonia EE EST 233

Ethiopia ET ETH 231

F

Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FK FLK 238

Faroe Islands FO FRO 234

Fiji FJ FJI 242

Finland FI FIN 246

France FR FRA 250

French Guiana GF GUF 254

French Polynesia PF PYF 258

French Southern Territories TF ATF 260

G

Gabon GA GAB 266

Gambia GM GMB 270

Georgia GE GEO 268

Germany DE DEU 276

Ghana GH GHA 288

Gibraltar GI GIB 292

Greece GR GRC 300

Greenland GL GRL 304

Grenada GD GRD 308

Guadeloupe GP GLP 312

Guam GU GUM 316

Guatemala GT GTM 320

Guernsey GG GGY 831

Guinea GN GIN 324

Guinea-Bissau GW GNB 624

Guyana GY GUY 328

H

Haiti HT HTI 332

Heard and Mcdonald Islands HM HMD 334

Holy See (Vatican City State) VA VAT 336

Honduras HN HND 340

Hungary HU HUN 348

I

Iceland IS ISL 352

India IN IND 356

Indonesia ID IDN 360

Iran, Islamic Republic of IR IRN 364

Iraq IQ IRQ 368

Ireland IE IRL 372

Isle of Man IM IMN 833

Israel IL ISR 376

Italy IT ITA 380

J

Jamaica JM JAM 388

Japan JP JPN 392

Jersey JE JEY 832

Jordan JO JOR 400

K

Kazakhstan KZ KAZ 398

Kenya KE KEN 404

Kiribati KI KIR 296

Korea (North) KP PRK 408

Korea (South) KR KOR 410

Kuwait KW KWT 414

Kyrgyzstan KG KGZ 417

L

Lao PDR LA LAO 418

Latvia LV LVA 428

Lebanon LB LBN 422

Lesotho LS LSO 426

Liberia LR LBR 430

Libya LY LBY 434

Liechtenstein LI LIE 438

Lithuania LT LTU 440

Luxembourg LU LUX 442

M

Macedonia, Republic of MK MKD 807

Madagascar MG MDG 450

Malawi MW MWI 454

Malaysia MY MYS 458

Maldives MV MDV 462

Mali ML MLI 466

Malta MT MLT 470

Marshall Islands MH MHL 584

Martinique MQ MTQ 474

Mauritania MR MRT 478

Mauritius MU MUS 480

Mayotte YT MYT 175

Mexico MX MEX 484

Micronesia, Federated States of FM FSM 583

Moldova MD MDA 498

Monaco MC MCO 492

Mongolia MN MNG 496

Montenegro ME MNE 499

Montserrat MS MSR 500

Morocco MA MAR 504

Mozambique MZ MOZ 508

Myanmar MM MMR 104

N

Namibia NA NAM 516

Nauru NR NRU 520

Nepal NP NPL 524

Netherlands NL NLD 528

Netherlands Antilles AN ANT 530

New Caledonia NC NCL 540

New Zealand NZ NZL 554

Nicaragua NI NIC 558

Niger NE NER 562

Nigeria NG NGA 566

Niue NU NIU 570

Norfolk Island NF NFK 574

Northern Mariana Islands MP MNP 580

Norway NO NOR 578

O

Oman OM OMN 512

P

Pakistan PK PAK 586

Palau PW PLW 585

Palestinian Territory PS PSE 275

Panama PA PAN 591

Papua New Guinea PG PNG 598

Paraguay PY PRY 600

Peru PE PER 604

Philippines PH PHL 608

Pitcairn PN PCN 612

Poland PL POL 616

Portugal PT PRT 620

Puerto Rico PR PRI 630

Q

Qatar QA QAT 634

R

Réunion RE REU 638

Romania RO ROU 642

Russian Federation RU RUS 643

Rwanda RW RWA 646

S

Saint-Barthélemy BL BLM 652

Saint Helena SH SHN 654

Saint Kitts and Nevis KN KNA 659

Saint Lucia LC LCA 662

Saint-Martin (French part) MF MAF 663

Saint Pierre and Miquelon PM SPM 666

Saint Vincent and Grenadines VC VCT 670

Samoa WS WSM 882

San Marino SM SMR 674

Sao Tome and Principe ST STP 678

Saudi Arabia SA SAU 682

Senegal SN SEN 686

Serbia RS SRB 688

Seychelles SC SYC 690

Sierra Leone SL SLE 694

Singapore SG SGP 702

Slovakia SK SVK 703

Slovenia SI SVN 705

Solomon Islands SB SLB 090

Somalia SO SOM 706

South Africa ZA ZAF 710

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands GS SGS 239

South Sudan SS SSD 728

Spain ES ESP 724

Sri Lanka LK LKA 144

Sudan SD SDN 736

Suriname SR SUR 740

Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands SJ SJM 744

Swaziland SZ SWZ 748

Sweden SE SWE 752

Switzerland CH CHE 756

Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) SY SYR 760

T

Taiwan, Republic of China TW TWN 158

Tajikistan TJ TJK 762

Tanzania, United Republic of TZ TZA 834

Thailand TH THA 764

Timor-Leste TL TLS 626

Togo TG TGO 768

Tokelau TK TKL 772

Tonga TO TON 776

Trinidad and Tobago TT TTO 780

Tunisia TN TUN 788

Turkey TR TUR 792

Turkmenistan TM TKM 795

Turks and Caicos Islands TC TCA 796

Tuvalu TV TUV 798

U

Uganda UG UGA 800

Ukraine UA UKR 804

United Arab Emirates AE ARE 784

United Kingdom GB GBR 826

United States of America US USA 840

US Minor Outlying Islands UM UMI 581

Uruguay UY URY 858

Uzbekistan UZ UZB 860

V

Vanuatu VU VUT 548

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic) VE VEN 862

Viet Nam VN VNM 704

Virgin Islands, US VI VIR 850

W

Wallis and Futuna Islands WF WLF 876

Western Sahara EH ESH 732

Y-Z

Yemen YE YEM 887

Zambia ZM ZMB 894

Zimbabwe ZW ZWE 716

[violexides]

i do journalism work at a very small scale currently (no less important but definitely far from the political journalism scene in America) but one thing i REALLY want to explore in university if i get an internship opportunity is like. the backend of how these pieces and posts get made. 

because i mean it is very obvious that the US has issues with self-centering and neglecting other countries, and also tends to specifically cast certain international/global crises in a different light depending on the place (the pitying white savior behavior towards African people, the casting of Middle Eastern people as being brutal while emptily apologetic for what happens there, South Asian countries and people being viewed as pitiful or asinine etc.) and it just intrigues me as to where that process starts. because I wonder how much of that is purposeful vs how much of that is genuine lack of knowing. 

i dunno. like currently i am studying AP Comparative Government which is a class designed by College Board AKA US organization. and the US isn’t a country that is included in the list of countries studied but it’s like. i don’t know. i feel like there is a slight difference in the way that the course discusses the UK vs how it talks about Iran or Nigeria and I wouldn’t hasten to say that this is imagined. 

it’s just! very interesting. journalism interests me for a lot of reasons because I think it is extremely extremely critical and that journalism as a whole is a very good thing. but it is very politicized and very biased and very America-centric at least in the ones we see here. in interesting ways. so hm. 

[tracknews1]

HM Wale Edun Charts Path From Macro Economic Stability to Growth at 30th Nigeria Economic Summit

At Tuesday’s 30th Nigeria Economic Summit, the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, presented a roadmap towards ensuring Nigeria’s macroeconomic stability and growth under President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The summit, themed “Collaborative Action for Growth, Competitiveness, and Stability,” gathered prominent leaders from public and private…

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 12sep24

hm, I wonder if it has anything to with the crime rate in that neighborhood?

Shoppers at a Safeway grocery store, 757 E. 20th Ave., in Denver on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. The store is among locations that have placed some items in more-secure aisles or displays. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post) Denver grocery stores are locking up or cordoning off more products. But it depends on the neighborhood. At a Safeway grocery store in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, customers planning to peruse aisles 2 and 3 first must enter a secure shopping area cordoned off from the rest of the store. Security cameras monitor an extensive list of products stocked on those protected shelves, including batteries, lightbulbs, laundry detergent, pregnancy tests, deodorant, candles, medicine and baby food. Patrons pay at one of two dedicated check-out counters before being handed receipts and continuing their shopping trips. The anti-theft measures at the store, 757 E. 20th Ave., don’t surprise some shoppers: “They call it ‘Un-Safeway’ for a reason,” Alex Haskins told The Denver Post in the parking lot, repeating a common nickname for that location. Major supermarket chains are ramping up their efforts to prevent stealing by restricting access to certain aisles, installing merchandise lock boxes, hiring security guards and more, Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton reports.

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Should've stuck to the prince with gold bars e-mail scam

The Justice Department [5sep24] announced that Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, both of Lagos, Nigeria, were each sentenced to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to sexually exploit minors. On March 25, 2022, 17-year-old high school student, Jordan DeMay, of Marquette, Michigan, died as a result of this sextortion scheme, which targeted over 100 other victims.*** As detailed in their plea agreements (here and here), Samuel and Samson Ogoshi engaged in a scheme while living in Nigeria to sexually exploit more than 100 victims, including at least 11 identified minor victims. They purchased hacked social media accounts and used them to pose as young women, making fake profiles and using the messaging feature on the social media accounts to contact victims. They conducted online research about their victims to learn where they lived, attended school, worked, and the identities of their family and friends. They then solicited their minor victims to produce sexually explicit images of themselves. Once they received the images, they created a collage of pictures that included the sexually explicit image with other images of the victim and their school, family, and friends. The Ogoshi brothers threatened to disclose the collages to the family, friends, and classmates of the victim unless the victim agreed to pay money using online cash applications. In November 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan charged Samuel Ogoshi, Samson Ogoshi, and Ezekiel Robert, all Nigerian nationals, in the sextortion scheme that resulted in the death of Jordan DeMay. The Ogoshi Brothers were extradited to the United States in August 2023 and pleaded guilty in April. On March 21, a Nigerian court ordered Robert to be extradited to the United States. He has appealed that decision, and the matter is before the Nigerian High Court.***

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Crumbley cases set a good example

The 14-year-old suspect in a shooting at a Georgia high school that killed four people and his father will both stay in custody following back-to-back court hearings Friday morning where their lawyers declined to seek bail. At 14-year-old Colt Gray's hearing, the teen was advised of his rights along with the charges and penalties he faced.*** Shortly after Colt Gray's hearing, his father, Colin Gray, was brought into court. Colin Gray, 54, was charged Thursday in connection with the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, outside Atlanta. Nine people were also hurt in Wednesday’s attack.***

https://www.newsmax.com/us/georgia-school-shooting-suspect/2024/09/06/id/1179333

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WINDER, Georgia — Colt Gray, the baby-face Georgia school shooting suspect who is charged with murdering two classmates and two teachers, grew up in a broken and neglectful home, which police and child services visited on a regular basis, a former neighbor and landlord tell The Post.

His mother, Marcee, 43, has a lengthy rap sheet with drug and domestic violence arrests. And his father Colin, 54, allegedly bought his troubled son an AR-15 rifle for Christmas — and now faces charges of his own for supplying the weapon used in the shooting.

Lauren Vickers, who lived next-door to the Grays in Jefferson, Georgia, said there were “problems immediately” when the Grays and their three children moved into the well-manicured neighborhood 60 miles east of Atlanta in 2022.

“There were nights where the mom would lock him and his sister out the house. And they would be banging on the back door, just screaming like ‘Mom! mom! mom!’ and crying. It was absolutely devastating,” she said.***

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Surprising guilty plea

Hunter Biden‘s trial in California ended before it began Thursday after the first son decided in court to plead guilty to all nine tax charges he was facing and accept whatever sentence the judge decided to impose on him. Judge Mark Scarsi warned Biden that he could face up to 17 years in prison and up to $1.3 million in fines after the first son made the last-minute decision to enter an “open plea,” which involves pleading guilty without negotiating a deal with prosecutors. Government prosecutors read aloud all 56 pages of the indictment that special counsel David Weiss brought against Biden last December to make clear to the courtroom what tax crimes Biden had committed, according to CNN. “Do you agree that you committed every element of every crime?” Scarsi asked the first son after the reading was over. “Yes,” Biden responded. Scarsi set Biden’s sentencing hearing for Dec. 16.***

Maybe he wanted the 3-level guidelines reduction for accepting responsibility?

The indictment alleged, among other things, that Biden claimed as business expenses

a. A $1,500 Venmo payment on August 14, 2018. That payment was to an exotic dancer, at a strip club. The Defendant described the payment in the Venmo transaction as for “artwork.” The exotic dancer had not sold him any artwork.*** d. Payments totaling $11,500 for an escort paid by the Defendant to spend two nights with him.*** Defendant placed Person 1 on payroll shortly after she moved to Arkansas while she was pregnant with his child. Person 1 did not perform any work after being formally placed on payroll in spring 2018 and had no work-related communication with the Defendant after she was placed on payroll. Person 1 received $22,500 in wages which the Defendant falsely claimed as a business deduction reducing the income to him***

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Wonderful human

A motocross instructor who mentored children was sentenced [4sep24] to 40 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, and ordered to pay at least $193,500 in restitution for sexually exploiting numerous children. According to court documents, Ryan Meyung, 33, of no fixed address, sexually exploited multiple young children that he met and befriended while traveling the country as a motocross instructor between July 2019 and December 2021. As part of his predatory behavior, Meyung produced images and videos of six different minor victims engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sex acts with him and with each other. The victims were between 6 and 13 years old at the time. Meyung also possessed and transported images and videos of child sexual abuse produced by other sex offenders and sexually abused and recorded other children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.             Meyung pleaded guilty in April to six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor (producing child sexual abuse material) and has been in custody since his arrest in December 2021.***

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Apparently not investigated until he complained about border

CV NEWS FEED // The FBI on Thursday raided the homes of several top officials in the administration of New York Democratic Mayor Eric Adams in the midst of an ongoing corruption investigation.***

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If a really hot female wants to go on a date and she leaves her purse on the table, you're being video recorded

CV NEWS FEED // A spokesman for a Department of Justice (DOJ) office stated in an undercover video that Democratic New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump is “nonsense” and a politically motivated effort at the behest of “the Democrats.” In addition, Nicholas Biase acknowledged that Bragg’s prosecution – which resulted in Trump’s May 30 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records – is backfiring on Democrats.  Biase is the chief spokesman for the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York – a jurisdiction that covers Manhattan, the Bronx, and six suburban counties in upstate New York.  An undercover journalist from the independent media source MugClub told Biase: “Those felonies did nothing to stop Trump from running.” “No, in fact they made him more relevant,” the DOJ spokesman replied.  “Did that backfire?” the journalist asked. The prosecution is “a perversion of justice,” Biase continued. “[Bragg] was stacking charges and rearranging things just to make it fit a case. No, to be honest with you, I think the case is nonsense.”***

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Libs of TikTok

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Chiraq violent? Who knew?

(The Center Square) – Crime is up in Chicago despite city-wide efforts – and more than $180 million – to reduce violence through a series of programs. Republican state Rep. John Cabello said Chicago’s rising crime rate amounts to an indictment of the state’s present legal system and all its recent changes. New data shows robbery, aggravated assault and aggravated battery cases across the city are all at five-year highs over the 12 months as the number of violent crimes overall have jumped by 7.2%. “When criminals know that they’re probably not going to be held in jail because of the SAFE-T ACT they’re going to be a little bit more brave in what they do,” Cabello told The Center Square. “The arrests are down because the police are too afraid to do their jobs. They need to get rid of the SAFE-T ACT, no cash bail but for low level offenses and go back to what we were.”*** The ongoing crime wave continues to bubble despite the city heavily investing in hopes of changing things, including allocating at least $180 million for violence prevention and youth summer job programs as part of the state budget.*** “It’s going to continue with Chicago losing population,” he said. “People are going to leave because they’re afraid and they want to protect their families and that means the more people that leave Chicago the less tax dollars they’re going to have and it’s going to be a never-ending, revolving cycle.”***

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When he's driving a Lambo, you know he has the $$ for a lawyer

CNN —  The Miami-Dade Police Department placed an officer on administrative leave Sunday after Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill was detained prior to the start of the season-opening game. On Sunday morning, just hours before kickoff, Hill was detained for a short time by police after a traffic incident, the team said on social media. Hill’s agent said the wide receiver was ticketed for a moving violation and it’s not clear why the situation escalated. Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) Director Stephanie V. Daniels said Sunday an investigation has begun into the incident and one of the officers involved is being placed on administrative duties. A second Dolphins player said he was also handcuffed when trying to discuss the situation with officers at the scene.***

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Weird - expect better from such flamers?

The Justice Department announced today that Dallas Humber, 34, of Elk Grove, California, and Matthew Allison, 37, of Boise, Idaho — leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group — were charged with a 15-count indictment for soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Humber and Allison were arrested on Friday by law enforcement officials.***

According to the indictment, which was unsealed today, Humber and Allison are the leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, a transnational terrorist group that operates on the digital messaging platform Telegram, where it promotes white supremacist accelerationism: an ideology centered on the belief that the white race is superior; that society is irreparably corrupt and cannot be saved by political action; and that violence and terrorism are necessary to ignite a race war and accelerate the collapse of the government and the rise of a white ethnostate.  The indictment alleges that Humber and Allison, as leaders of the Terrorgram Collective, contributed to and disseminated several Terrorgram videos and publications that provide specific advice for carrying out crimes, celebrate white supremacist attacks, and provide a hit list of “high-value targets” for assassination. The hit list included U.S. federal, state, and local officials, as well as leaders of private companies and non-governmental organizations, many of whom were targeted because of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Humber and Allison are alleged to have operated Terrorgram channels and group chats, where they solicited Terrorgram users to commit attacks in order to achieve Terrorgram’s goals of accelerationism and white supremacy and provided instructions and guidance to equip Terrorgram users to carry out those attacks.*** They also incited Terrorgram users to commit attacks in furtherance of white supremacist accelerationism, including the following individuals who were allegedly inspired or guided by Humber, Allison, and other members of the Terrorgram Collective to carry out attacks or were planning to do so when they were arrested by law enforcement:

An individual who shot three people (killing two) outside of an LGBT bar in Slovakia;

An individual who planned an attack on energy facilities in New Jersey; and

An individual who stabbed five people near a mosque in Turkey.

The indictment charges Humber and Allison with a total of 15 counts, including one count of conspiracy, four counts of soliciting hate crimes, three counts of soliciting the murder of federal officials, three counts of doxing federal officials, one count of threatening communications, two counts of distributing bombmaking instructions, and one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.***

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Good!

North Carolina automotive parts manufacturer and seller, Rudy’s Performance Parts Inc. (Rudy’s), and its owner, Aaron Rudolf, have agreed to pay a total of $10 million in criminal fines and civil penalties for manufacturing, selling and installing devices, commonly known as “defeat devices,” used to remove or disable required emissions controls in motor vehicles. Rudy’s pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in federal court in Washington, D.C., for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden for the District of Columbia ordered Rudy’s to pay a criminal fine of $2.4 million and to complete a three-year period of organizational probation, consistent with a plea agreement. *** Rudy’s sold defeat devices, known as delete tuners, which tampered with the on-board diagnostic systems (OBDs) of vehicles. Rudy’s top selling product was the Mini Maxx delete tuner originally manufactured by another company, identified in court documents as “Company A.” Rudy’s also sold the XRT Pro, another Company A delete tuner. After Company A stopped making these tuners, Rudy’s conspired with others to manufacture imitation Company A tuners. Rudy’s reached an agreement with a software technician to convert certain tuners into imitation Company A tuners. That agreement ran from July 2015 through December 2016, when the software technician stopped converting tuners. After that, Rudy’s manufactured the imitation delete tuners in-house using a laptop computer that Rudy’s purchased for $850,000. The laptop contained software to convert tuners into imitation Company A tuners. In-house manufacturing lasted from about December 2016 through July 2018. In total, Rudy’s sold approximately 43,900 imitation tuners, generating about $33 million in revenue. The civil lawsuit alleges that from at least 2014 through mid-2019, Rudy’s and Rudolf manufactured and sold over 250,000 products designed to remove or disable EPA-mandated emissions controls. These products included hardware parts such as plates that block a vehicle’s exhaust gas recirculation system and pipes that replace pollution treatment components in a vehicle’s exhaust system.***

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[lboogie1906]

Sarah Forbes Bonetta (c. 1843 - August 15, 1880) a princess of the Egbado clan of the Yoruba people, is known as the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was born in Nigeria. Her parents’ names are unknown as are the names of her siblings who were all killed in the 1847 slave raid that made her a captive.

Her village of Okeadan was attacked by King Gezo of Dahomey. Intent on capturing slaves and killing those not taken, Gezo’s men seized the four-year-old girl. She was not killed and remained at Gezo’s Court until British Commander Frederick Forbes landed the HMS Bonetta in Dahomey to persuade Gezo to give up slave raiding and trading. Forbes noticed the young girl and bargained for her life. He persuaded King Gezo to “give” her to Queen Victoria, saying “She would be a present from the King of the Blacks to the Queen of the Whites.” The girl remained with Forbes in West Africa where she was baptized and given the name Sarah Forbes Bonetta.

She met Queen Victoria. The Queen was impressed by her intellect and entrusted her care to the Schoen family. The Queen declared her goddaughter and paid her tutorial expenses.

She developed a cough believed to be caused by the climate of Great Britain. Queen Victoria arranged for her to be sent to what she believed was a better climate for her in Sierra Leone. There she was educated at the Female Institution. She excelled in music and academic studies but was unhappy prompting the Queen to bring her back to England.

She was permitted by Queen Victoria to marry Captain James Pinson Labulo Davies, a wealthy Yoruba businessman from Sierra Leone. She arrived at the ceremony in an entourage that included ten carriages. The couple lived in Bristol, England before returning to Sierra Leone.

She began teaching in a Freetown school. She gave birth to a girl and was permitted by the Queen to name her Victoria. The Queen became young Victoria’s godmother. Her cough continued and she was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She had two more children but died. Queen Victoria continued to provide for her daughter. She supported young Victoria’s education and gave her an annuity. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence