New Release! The day JFK was shot, taped conversion from Air Force One

Tapes of the conversations that took place on Air Force One immediately after President Kennedy was assassinated give some insight into the confusion and sad realizations of that day.

A call to Mr Kennedy's mother was made by President Lyndon Johnson on board Air Force One just minutes after he was sworn in, and he and his wife Lady Bird tried to console the Kennedy matriarch who was on the ground.

'I wish to God there was something that I could do and I wanted to tell you that we were grieving with you,' Mr Johnson is recorded saying to Rose Kennedy.

Moments before: President Kennedy, seen sitting in the back seat with his wife Jackie, died from a shot in the head

'Thanks a mill- thank you very much, thank you very much. I know, I know you loved Jack, and he loved you,' she responded.

All calls made on presidential plane are put through by a White House switchboard operator, which has a system in place to automatically tape the calls.

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Mrs Johnson is also recorded on the tapes, which captured the activity on the flight from Dallas, Texas to Washington on November 22, 1963, though part of her comments are cut off by an interjection by Mrs Kennedy.

'Mrs Kennedy, we feel like we just had-' Mrs Johnson said.

'Yes, alright,' Mrs Kennedy interjected.

'We are glad that the nation had your son as long as it did,' Mrs Johnson continued.

Making the call: The newly-sworn-in President Johnson called JFK's mother Rose Kennedy (shown right later in life) to give his condolences while on the plane

While the conversation was brief, the plane ride was a busy one as President Johnson was sworn in just minutes before the flight took off.

In the air, he was preparing the speech he was going to give once the plane landed just over two hours later.

Conspiracy theorists have been known to obsess over every detail surrounding the assassination of Mr Kennedy, and are likely going to find fault with the fact that the 42 minutes of tape are only just being released now.

The tapes were found after the death of Mr Kennedy's top military aide Army General Chester 'Ted' Clifton Jr., when his family found the recordings.

They sold his copy to a historical documents dealer, who then gave a copy to the National Archives.

Also included in the tapes is the frantic call of a military aide trying to look for his superior, General Curtis LeMay, who was often at odds with Mr Kennedy.

Recently released tapes reveal the phone calls made on Air Force One as it flew from Dallas to Washington after President Kennedy was shot and killed

The tapes confirm that, like Secretary of State Dean Rusk and several other cabinet members, were all on flights at the time.

The tapes of the calls from Air Force One come shortly after the Kennedy Library released some of the recordings from Mr Kennedy's last days in office.

While speaking to an aide three days before his death, then-President Kennedy unknowingly refers to the day which would end up being his funeral as 'a tough day'.

The conversation arises while his aides are attempting to sort out his schedule, which was expected to be very busy when he returned from his Dallas trip.

One of the meetings they were trying to schedule was with General Nasution of Indonesia.

'I will see him, when is here here? Monday?,' Mr Kennedy says.

A staffer responds: 'Monday and Tuesday.'

'Well that's a tough day,' the President remarks.

'It's a hell of a day Mr President. He'll be coming back here though, I understand on Friday because I offered to entertain at dinner.'

The tapes also revealed his thoughts on the nearing 1964 election, a tender moment with his children, and conflicting reports about the ongoing operation in Vietnam.

TIMELINE OF THAT FATEFUL DAY: SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SURROUNDING JFK'S ASSASSINATION AND LBJ TAKING OVER

November 22, 1963
12.29pm Central Standard Time: The presidential motorcade turns onto Dealey Plaza in Dallas. The open-top limousine has a driver and security guard in the front row, Texas governor John Connally and wife Nellie Connally in the middle row, and President John F Kennedy and wife Jaqueline in the back row.

12.30pm: Witnesses testified that three shots were fired. The famous video recording of the event filmed by onlooker Abraham Zapruder shows that first Kennedy clutches his chest and seems to gasp before another shot hits his head. Governor Connally is also hit.
Mrs Kennedy immediately begins climbing towards the back of the vehicle, apparently in an effort to grab part of the President's skull which flew back after he was shot. The Connallys reported that Mrs Kennedy said 'I've got his brains in my hand!'

12.33pm: Shooter Lee Harvey Oswald exits the Texas School Book Depository, where he fired the shots from a sixth floor window.

12.38pm: The presidential limo arrives at Parkland Hospital.

1pm: President Kennedy is pronounced dead. A Catholic priest had been found and he performed his last rites. Doctors said that while they tried extremely hard to save his life, the wounds were too great by the time he arrived in the hospital. 'We never had any hope of saving his life,' said Dr. Malcolm Perry.

1.15pm: Oswald shoots and kills police officer J.D. Tippit while he is on the run.

1.33pm: White House press secretary Malcolm Kilduff entered the area of the hospital where the press had gathered and made a brief statement confirming the President's death, as caused by a gunshot wound to the brain.

1.50pm: Oswald is arrested inside the Texas Theater movie house where he went in an effort to evade capture.

2.00pm: President Kennedy's body was brought to Air Force One.

2.38pm: Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as the country's 36th president on board Air Force One, standing next to Mrs Kennedy who continued to wear the blood-stained pink skirt suit that she had on earlier.

3.01pm: FBI director J. Edgar Hoover writes a memo saying that the President's killer had been captured.

6pm Eastern Standard Time: The plane arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington. President Kennedy's casket and Mrs Kennedy leave first before President Johnson makes a brief statement on the tarmac. 'This is a sad time for all people....I will do my best; that is all I can do. I ask for your help and God's,' he said.

7.05pm CST: Oswald is charged with the murder of Officer Tippit.

11.26pm: Oswald is charged with the murder of President Kennedy.

Two days later, November 24, 1963
11:21am: Television cameras catch nightclub owner Jack Ruby shoot Oswald in the basement of the Dallas Police headquarters.

Source...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Contempt of Court: Federal High Court Remands Edo State Attorney General in Prison

THE Federal High Court I sitting in Benin City, Edo State yesterday ordered remand of the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Osagie Obayuwana over non- compliance of the state government with an interlocutory injunction.
It was learnt that the court gave the injunction in a suit involving it and a private investor, Churchgate Industries Limited over the state-owned firm, Bendel Breweries.
Justice Adamu Hobon in its ruling ordered that Obayuwana be remanded in prison until the state government was able to provide an affidavit of compliance with an order the court had earlier issued directing it to comply with the interlocutory injunction sought and got by Churchgate. The judge later adjourned the substantive suit till March 20.
It would be recalled that the court had last week issued a warrant for arrest of the attorney-general. Several other lawyers in the court yesterday tried to intervene on behalf of the AG who claimed he did not receive any copy of the injunction. But Justice Hobon insisted that government should be held responsible for its disobedience of the order and that the AG was the representative of the government in court.
   The judge said the government only filed a notice of appeal in the trial court against the injunction but the appeal was not entered properly, adding that it was a ploy to delay court process.
   Shortly after the end of proceedings, some senior government officials were sighted in the court premises apparently to seek any possibility of reversal.
When they could not achieve their aim, the AG was taken to custody at about 4 p.m. in a Black Maria guarded by more than 20 policemen.
The suit was instituted by Churchgate to challenge alleged forced ejection from the management of the Bendel Brewery on June 17, 2003.
   In issuing the warrant last week, Justice Hobon ordered the Commissioner of Police to ensure that it is carried out.
The case was further adjourned to yesterday for hearing of the committal proceedings

source
http://www.theguardianmobile.com

This Is A Must Read! Some Of The Challenges We Are Bound To Face In Life

I am not here to talk just about making a living, but making a positive change in your life and in your environment. if only you know that everything is within your reach, you will agree with me that the answer to what you need in life is in your hand. You do not have any limitation. We all have something in our hands that will lead us to the point we desire. All you have to do is to decide what you need to do with what you have in your hands.
Most times in our lives, when we are faced with the critical question of what to do with the dreams in our hands, we tend to look for someone who is already made to help us. Yes, you might need help to do certain thing, but your readiness and sincerity to yourself will go a long way to realising your dreams, if only you always remember that the answer to each question is also in your hands.

We all have dreams, it's just that some of us do not know we have. Situations and circumstances of life can never be fair. Whatever you do with your life is entirely yours.

Let me tell you a story about this. One day, I walked up to my mother with a clenched fist trying to outwit her. "Mom, what do I have in my hands?"

She smiled and answered "the answer is in your hands"

"Ok Mom, you got me there. It is a butterfly I have in my fist. But, tell me, is it dead or alive?"

She replied again, "the answer in your hands."

I became angry and agitated. "what do you mean the answer is in my hands"

She smile and levelled her eyes with me,"If I say it's alive you will simply clench your fist tight and the butterfly dies, but if say it's dead, you will open your palm and the butterfly flies away. That is why I say the answer is in your hands.

Today, I thought about it and realised that, Like the butterfly's case, the answers to your dreams are in your hands and only you know what to do with it. You either clench your palms and let it die or open them and let it fly.

Behold German 'Sex Meters' For Taxing Street Prostitutes

The city of Bonn, Germany, collected around $20,000 last year from prostitution taxes paid via automated curbside pay stations or "sex meters." Under the new program, sex workers are required to purchase tickets to work the streets at night, the Associated Foreign Press reports.

While a number of other German cities collect taxes from prostitutes working in brothels, Bonn became the first city to extend general prostitution taxes to workers soliciting clients on the street when it introduced the sex meters last August, according to the AFP.

The sex meters charge prostitutes a flat nightly rate of $8.65 for the right to solicit clients on the street between 8:15 p.m. and 6 a.m., according to The New York Times. City estimates place the number of sex workers at around 200, with about 20 of them working the streets on any given night.

It was unclear whether the city would recoup costs from installing the Siemens-built machines around the city, which cost $11,575 for installation plus the cost of security guards hired to protect workers using them, according to The New York Times.

In addition, the city paid to construct special wooden garages, or "consummation areas," near the machines where customers can park their cars and have sex, Reuters reported.

City officials were pleasantly surprised when the machines earned around $400 the first weekend and went on to earn around 14,000 Euro, or $18,200, by the year's end, according to the AFP.

"We are satisfied with that and plan to continue levying the tax," a city spokeswoman told AFP.

Between taxes paid by prostitutes in brothels and on the street, Germany collected around $326,000 last year.

Franz-Reinhard Habbel, a spokesman for the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, told The New York Times he expects other German cities to follow in Bonn's footsteps as the nation's 11,000 municipalities are struggling with a combined $11 billion debt.

Germany legalized prostitution in 2002 as part of an effort to regulate the financial working conditions of prostitutes, Francesca McCaffery explained in The Utopianist.

McCaffery is not convinced the legalization has actually helped the lives of sex workers, but is not ruling out the possibility that it will in the future.

"It is commendable, certainly, for these governments to work to improve and legitimatize the life of a prostitute. But sex workers continue to be ostracized, exploited, and abused," McCaffrey wrote in The Utopianist. "Perhaps ... prostitution will continue to become more legitimized, better tolerated, and better understood. Until then, others continue to fear that the laws help mask a harsh reality that persists beyond a veneer of legality."

"Time will yet tell if Germany's progressive stance on prostitution will improve the lives of sex workers, discourage organized crime, or properly clamp down on human trafficking," she said.

Source,...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Possible Solution to Boko Haram Crisis.

I remember, in those days a man called Oze. He lived in the small hut left for him by his uncle in the Village of Udomi Uwessan. Uwessan is made up of 8 Villages.

He informed everybody that he was specially made god of stone to instill discipline in the people of Uwessan. He wanted everybody to turn away from their gods and follow his. He had followers though, who were also ready to die for his course.

He was very powerful. His might was known and respected by both his age group, older men and all. Warriors feared him.
Although he is not particularly short, he was less than six feet and bulky. Rumour had it that he had one bone, meaning he was a physical giant.

If he hits you or you hit him, you get injured. He was like a stone.

One day, Oze fell out with the son of a renowned herbalist. As usual, when Oze and his followers were done with him, his face could barely be recognised. They burnt down his house and made him homeless.
Of course, the elders and Village heads were too frightened and witless to discuss Oze. They made secret treaty with Oze's relatives with the hope that they would speak well of such elder or village head.
However, the 8 Village herbalists who were Still faithful to their gods summoned up courage and gathered to find solution on how to curtail the Might and excesses of Oze and his followers.

The herbalists cried out to their gods and their gods heard their voices and was moved with compassion that he sent great affliction on Oze and even his supporters. Oze was struck with terminal ailments, his body withered and his might collapsed, gradually, Oze and his supporters died out.

Today, Boko Haram terrorises innocent Nigerians with bombs and all sort of weapons. They have directed almost all their attacks on Christians , killing scores of heaven seekers faithful. Even, some prominent Christian leaders called on Christians in the Boko Haram zones to defend themselves.

I think, as the bible says, the battle is the Lord. The church or, like the 8 village herbalists, the heads and prayer warriors in all the churches nation wide should cry to the their God for divine intervention against Boko Haram menaces. I believe, like the days of Biblical Moses, Joshua and even David, All Mighty God will personally rout Boko Haram out of our land. Unless God All Mighty no longer listens or they are false prophets.

New rules set for international money transfers

Customers who send international money transfers will soon be entitled to clearer cost disclosures.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday issued new rules governing remittances, which are often used by immigrants to send money to family back home.

The rules also require companies to disclose any fees, the exchange rate and the amount that will ultimately be paid out to the recipient in local currency. Companies will also be required to investigate disputes and to give customers at least 30 minutes to cancel a transaction.

The rules take effect after one year.

The CFPB, which was created as part of the nation's overhaul of financial regulations, was required by law to issue the rules on remittances by Jan. 21. International money transfers previously had not been subject to federal consumer regulations.

Frustrations with the industry include complaints about hidden costs, missing funds or funds that never arrive at all, according to Ruth Susswein, a spokeswoman for Consumer Action, an advocacy group. She said customers can also face difficulty getting companies to resolve such problems.

The CFPB noted that consumers transfer tens of billions of dollars from the U.S. to foreign countries each year. Richard Cordray, who was appointed as the agency's first director this month, noted that the new rules will help consumers compare prices and hold companies accountable for any errors.

"People sending money to their loved ones in another country should not have to worry about hidden fees," Cordray said.

A Western Union Co. spokesman, Tom Fitzgerald, said the company plans to be compliant with the rules by the effective date. He said the company already provides customers with disclosures on fees, exchange rates and payouts.

"We agree that consumers will benefit if all remittance providers are held to the same requirements," he said.

MoneyGram International Inc. also said in a statement that it gives customers information about fees and rates and responds to complaints in a timely manner. The company said it is reviewing the rules to see if any adjustments will be needed.

Source...
http://www.newsvine.com

The escape of Christmas day bomber, Kabir Sokoto: My Conversation With A Bike Man

Conversation with an Okada Man

Me: "Along"
OkadaMan "N200"
Me: "why? Just along..,"
OkadaMan:" Na me cause am, I think you know how much is a litre? Well let's go N150."
So we commenced our journey.

OkadaMan: " Ogah, I get a problem I want to share with you."
Me: " I am listening"
OkadaMan: " My Inlaw has a big farm where he rears all kinds of animals- goats, dogs, pigs, cow and even fowls
Me: "Hmmm!"
OkadaMan: " yes! But recently, the dog among them has been destroying things and has also been taking pride in killing fellow animals. Even on our Igue Festival day, the dog set a part of my inlaw's barn ablaze. So many animals lost their lives in the process. The festival that usually brings happiness was turned to a mourning day.

Me: "that is bad"

OkadaMan: "My Inlaw, in fear and anger, invited some dog catchers to help catch and restrain the dog. I have never seen a vicious and fierce dog like that.

Me: "do you think the dog was acting alone?"

OkadaMan: " Not by any means. I learnt that It has the support of Fellow Dogs and some of my inlaw's friends. Even Fellow Inlaw Association cannot deny one or two association with the dog. They have constantly pleaded that using force to dissuade the violent dog might trigger chain reaction from some quarters and those sympathetic to It course.

Me: "What Course?"

OkadaMan: "That Bone, the best meal for dog should be the default food for all animals."

Me: "That is wrong, what about fowl that has no teeth, goats that eat herbs?"

OkadaMan: "Ask me. However, it took the combine efforts of over a hundred dog- catchers, Medicine Men, palace guards with bows and arrows, chains and cudgel to finally bind the dog.

Me; "Ah thank God"

OkadaMan: "Thank God? Hmmm! When the dog catchers were taking it to "dog house" Fellow Dogs in large group barked and snarled ready to attack, and the dog catchers numbering about Ten panicked and ran away, and the Violent dog was allowed to escape."

Me: "That is dangerous."

OkadaMan: " Ogah, My Inlaw in rage insisted that I was in charge of the Operation I must produce the dog otherwise he will take my wife from me. I love my wife and I love to be called a married man"

Me: " Yes, you must find the dog before It kill again. Why did you allow it to escape?"

OkadaMan: "Ogah, the dog was scratchy my palm, it didn't mean to escape. It was to go and come back. It said when I say Boko, even before I add Haram It would come back."

Me: "Was that the pet name - Boko Haram?"

OkadaMan: " No. Boko Haram is the accolade for pack of Dogs on Dog day. We use it for fun like Jack. The name is Kabir Sokoto"

Me: "In that case, look well, what you are looking for in Sokoto may just be in Shokoto"

OkadaMan. "Thank you Ogah, that is comforting. We have raised a bounty of N50 for any clue as to where about the dog.

His phone rang.
" Hello yes, you say? Yes yes. Astray? Aimlessly?, wandering and crossing to your village? I can't hear,,,, O you caught the dog. Good. Insh' Allah, haba. Lost memory? that is good. Insh' Allah. No problems.
By the way, are you a commissioned dog catcher? Yes... It doesn't matter".

He turned to me." Ogah you stop here, am no longer going, they found my pet, I mean my dog."