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LIFESTYLE: How Often You Should Wash Your Bed Sheets, According to a Microbiologist
We spend more than a third of our lives in bed - but that place can quickly blossom into a "botanical park" of bacteria and fungus, according to New York University microbiologist Philip Tierno.
If left for too long, the microscopic life within the wrinkles and folds of our bed sheets can even make us sick, Tierno told Business Insider.
To stem the invisible tide, he said sheets should be washed once a week.
Humans naturally produce roughly 26 gallons of sweat in bed every year. When it's hot and humid outside, this moisture becomes what scientists call an "ideal fungal culture medium."
In a recent study that assessed the level of fungal contamination in bedding, researchers found that feather and synthetic pillows between 1.5 and 20 years old can contain between four and 17 different species of fungus.
And it's not just your own microbial life you're sleeping with. In addition to the fungi and bacteria that come from your sweat, sputum, skin cells, and vaginal and anal excretions, you also share your bed with foreign microbes.
These include animal dander, pollen, soil, lint, dust mite debris and faeces, and finishing agents from whatever your sheets are made from, to name a few.
Tierno says all that gunk becomes "significant" in as little as a week. And unclean bedding still exposes you to materials that can trigger the sniffing and sneezing, since the microbes are so close to your mouth and nose that you're almost forced to breathe them in.
"Even if you don't have allergies per se, you can have an allergic response," Tierno said.
Another reason your sheets get dirty quickly has little to do with your behaviour or sweat patterns - the issue is simply gravity.
"Just like Rome overtime was buried with the debris that falls from gravity, gravity is what brings all that material into your mattress," Tierno said.
One to two weeks of this build-up is enough to leave anyone with a scratchy throat - especially those with significant allergies or asthma.(One in six Americans have allergies.)
"If you touched dog poo in the street, you'd want to wash your hands," said Tierno. "Consider that analogous to your bedding.
If you saw what was there - but of course you don't see it - after a while you have to say to yourself, 'Do I want to sleep in that?'"
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
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15 things that happen to your body when you eat eggs
By Grant Stoddard & Olivia Tarantino
Eggs might just be the easiest, cheapest and most versatile way to up your protein intake. Beyond easily upping your daily protein count—each 85-calorie egg packs a solid 7 grams of the muscle-builder—eggs also improve your health. They’re loaded with amino acids, antioxidants, and healthy fats. Don’t just reach for the whites, though; the yolks boast a fat-fighting nutrient called choline, so opting for whole eggs can actually help you trim down.
When you’re shopping for eggs, pay attention to the labels. You should opt for organic, when possible. These are certified by the USDA and are free from antibiotics, vaccines and hormones. As for color, that’s your call. The difference in color just varies based on the type of chicken—they both have the same nutritional value, says Molly Morgan, RD, a board certified sports specialist dietician based in upstate New York. Below, we’ve rounded up the 12 incredible effects adding the mighty egg to your diet can have on the human body.
1. YOU’LL BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
If you don’t want to play chicken with infections, viruses, and diseases, add an egg or two to your diet daily. Just one large egg contains almost a quarter (22%) of your RDA of selenium, a nutrient that helps support your immune system and regulate thyroid hormones. Kids should eat eggs, especially. If children and adolescents don’t get enough selenium, they could develop Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease, two conditions that can affect the heart, bones, and joints.
2. YOU’LL IMPROVE YOUR CHOLESTEROL PROFILE
There are three ideas about cholesterol that practically everyone knows: 1) High cholesterol is a bad thing; 2) There are good and bad kinds of cholesterol; 3) Eggs contain plenty of it. Doctors are generally most concerned with the ratio of “good” cholesterol (HDL) to bad cholesterol (LDL). One large egg contains 212 mg of cholesterol, but this doesn’t mean that eggs will raise the “bad” kind in the blood. The body constantly produces cholesterol on its own, and a large body of evidence indicates that eggs can actually improve your cholesterol profile. How? Eggs seem to raise HDL (good) cholesterol while increasing the size of LDL particles (which are thought to be less dangerous than small particles).
3. YOU’LL REDUCE YOUR RISK OF HEART DISEASE
Not only have eggs been found to not increase risk of coronary heart disease, but they might actually decrease your risk. LDL cholesterol became known as “bad” cholesterol because LDL particles transport their fat molecules into artery walls, and drive atherosclerosis: basically, the gumming up of the arteries. (HDL particles, by contrast, can remove fat molecules from artery walls.) But not all LDL particles are made equal, and there are various subtypes that differ in size. Bigger is definitely better — many studies have shown that people who have predominantly small, dense LDL particles have a higher risk of heart disease than people who have mostly large LDL particles. Here’s the best part: Even if eggs tend to raise LDL cholesterol in some people, studies show that the LDL particles change from small and dense to large, slashing the risk of cardiovascular problems.
4. YOU’LL HAVE MORE GET-UP-AND-GO
Just one egg contains about 15% of your RDA of vitamin B2, also called riboflavin. It’s just one of eight B vitamins, which all help the body to convert food into fuel, which in turn is used to produce energy
5. YOUR SKIN AND HAIR WILL IMPROVE
B-complex vitamins are also necessary for healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver. (In addition to vitamin B2, eggs are also rich in B5 and B12.) They also help to ensure the proper function of the nervous system. For more foods full of B vitamins
6. YOU’LL PROTECT YOUR BRAIN
Eggs are brain food. That’s largely because of an essential nutrient called choline. It’s a component of cell membranes and is required to synthesize acetylcholine: a neurotransmitter. Studies show that a lack of choline has been linked to neurological disorders and decreased cognitive function. Shockingly, more than 90% of Americans eat less than the daily recommended amount of choline, according to a U.S. dietary survey.
7. YOU’LL SAVE YOUR LIFE
Among the lesser-known amazing things the body can do: It can make 11 essential amino acids, which are necessary to sustain life. Thing is, there are 20 essential amino acids that your body needs. Guess where the other 9 can be found? That’s right. A lack of those 9 amino acids can lead to muscle wasting, decreased immune response, weakness, fatigue, and changes to the texture of your skin and hair.
8. YOU’LL HAVE LESS STRESS AND ANXIETY
If you’re deficient in the 9 amino acids that can be found in an egg, it can have mental effects. A 2004 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences described how supplementing a population’s diet with lysine significantly reduced anxiety and stress levels, possibly by modulating serotonin in the nervous system.
9. YOU’LL PROTECT YOUR PEEPERS
Two antioxidants found in eggs — lutein and zeaxanthin — have powerful protective effects on the eyes. You won’t find them in a carton of Egg Beaters — they only exist in the yolk. The antioxidants significantly reduce the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts, which are among the leading causes of vision impairment and blindness in the elderly. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, participants who ate 1.3 egg yolks per day for four-and-a-half weeks saw increased blood levels of zeaxanthin by 114-142% and lutein by 28-50%!
10. YOU’LL IMPROVE YOUR BONES AND TEETH
Eggs are one of the few natural sources of Vitamin D, which is important for the health and strength of bones and teeth. It does this primarily by aiding the absorption of calcium. (Calcium, incidentally, is important for a healthy heart, colon and metabolism.)
11. YOU’LL FEEL FULLER AND EAT LESS
Eggs are such a good source of quality protein that all other sources of protein are measured against them. (Eggs get a perfect score of 100.) Many studies have demonstrated the effect of high-protein foods on appetite. Simply put, they take the edge off. You might not be surprised to learn that eggs score high on a scale called the Satiety Index: a measure of how much foods contribute to the feeling of fullness.
13. YOU’LL PROTECT YOUR LIVER
B-vitamins aren’t the only ovular micronutrients that contribute to eggs’ beneficial effects on liver health. Eggs are also rich in the nutrient choline. (One large egg contains between 117 and 147 milligrams of the nutrient, depending on your cooking method of choice). A recent review explained that choline deficiency is linked to the accumulation of hepatic lipid, which can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Luckily, a Journal of Nutrition study found that a higher dietary choline intake may be associated with a lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver in women
14. YOU’LL LOWER RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
Another side effect of choline deficiency and the subsequent accumulation of hepatic lipid is an increase in your risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
15. YOU’LL LOWER INFLAMMATION
Eggs are a major source of dietary phospholipids: bioactive compounds which studies show have widespread effects on inflammation. A recent review published in the journal Nutrients connected dietary intake of egg phospholipids and choline with a reduction in countless biomarkers of inflammation. Lowering inflammation has widespread health benefits that range from lowering risk of cardiovascular disease to improving the body’s ability to break down fat. If you’re looking to lower inflammation
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Again 144 Nigerians return from Libya
144 Nigerian migrants returned home from Libya, Tuesday night as part of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) voluntary return scheme.
Recall however that the Nigerian Charge D’Affaire to Libya, Ambassador Iliya Danladi Fachano, told the media on Monday that “So far, we have registered over 3,000 Nigerians in Libya and repatriated about 2,000 so far.
“On Tuesday 5th December, 2017, we are expecting a batch of 250 returnees by 7pm in Lagos.”
They arrived at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos, and were received by the Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Mrs Abike Dabiri, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) among others.
Among the returnees were 39 female, 97 male, two children and six infants.
Their return comes barely a week after news of slave trading of Africans in the North African country drew global criticism, with several leaders, authorities, as well as citizens condemning it.
The migrants who are mainly from Africa, arrive in Libya as they attempt the voyage across the treacherous waters of the Mediterranean sea to European shores.
Most migrants are placed in detention centres across Tripoli, with some requesting assistance to return to their home countries.
Some 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014, most leaving from Libya’s western coast. More than 12,000 have died while trying.
OMG See Sweet Love: Pre-Wedding Photos of Couple Who Dated For 11 Years
For over a decade, this couple keeping their fire of love burning and they are set to finally tie the nuptial knot.
Sylvia Nwahiri and Ifeanyi Anyanwu
Eleven years after they started dating, Sylvia Nwahiri and Ifeanyi Anyanwu are getting married this December in Mbaise, Imo State.
The excited bride-to-be shared their pre-wedding photos on Facebook, writing:
"11yrs in a relationship getting married """ WOW """""
To God be the glory
Join us as we bind in love traditional"
Check out more pictures of the duo below:
Corpers, soldiers clash in Karaye orientation camp
It had reportedly taken the intervention of the State NYSC coordinator to bring the situation under control.
Corpers and soldiers clash in Karaye, Kano state (instablog9ja)
News reports have revealed the tension which has led to a clash between the corp members and soldiers at the Karaye NYSC Orientation camp in Kano state.
Instablog9ja reports that the clash stemmed from the extreme punishment being given to the corp members and little to no social activities in the camp.
The situation reportedly reached a climax when some corp members were allegedly punished while returning from fellowship.
According to the reports, it had taken the intervention of the State NYSC coordinator to bring the situation under control.
However, the corp members demanded that the camp commandant be decamped, a wish that was reportedly granted for peace to reign.
Corps Members Can Now Serve Abroad
SPORT : Imagine Eden Hazard Had Scored This Goal Against Atletico Madrid?
Just imagine Eden Hazard had scored this goal against Atletico Madrid tonight?
The Chelsea winger followed up a standout performance against Newcastle at the weekend by once again running the show for Antonio Conte's men.
Doing it against the Magpies is one thing, but against a quality team like Atletico in the Champions League is on a whole other level.
Eden Hazard in this season for Chelsea:
9 starts
9 goals
7 MOTMs
3 assistsWorld class.
- ️ (@AddictedToCFC) December 5, 2017
Hazard has been high, high quality tonight.
- Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) December 5, 2017
Hazard crossed for Stefan Savic to put into his own net and give Chelsea their equaliser in the 1-1 draw.
But he really deserved a goal of his own - and this effort would have really put the icing on the cake had he managed to find the back of the net:
Credit: TSN
Imagine that had gone in? What a night it would have been for Hazard.
With the draw, Chelsea moved to 11 points in their group, but failed to secure top spot as they lost out to Roma on goal difference.
Eden Hazard in full flow = :ok_hand: #UCLpic.twitter.com/JfjNDCmFlb
- ★ #TeamOfTheYear ★ (@ChampionsLeague) December 5, 2017
So they'll have to play against a top qualifier in the last 16 and will hope Hazard can continue to produce his best form in the second half of the season.
Popular Nigeria Singer Commits Suicide For Shocking Reason
News in Pictures: Fire Consumes Federal Medical Centre In Ondo State, Properties Destroyed Shocking! 62-year-old Woman Caught Trafficking a 4-day-old Baby in Cross River
In what will come across as a really surprising development, a woman has been caught in the act trying to traffic a mere four-day-old baby.
The suspect with the baby
A 62-year old woman who allegedly tricked a 16-year old girl, Oma Samuel, of her four-day-old baby girl for trafficking purposes, has been arrested by the Cross River State Command of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
According to The Nation, the suspected trafficker, identified as Angela Nwaelechi, was caught at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar, on her way to Lagos with the baby. Also arrested was one Ifeanyi, a suspected accomplice, in his thirties.
Controller of Immigration in the State, Adeuyi Funke Cecelia, while handing over the matter to National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) yesterday in Calabar, said they were arrested on December 1, when the baby was still four days old.
“My officers on duty got alert when an elderly woman was in possession of an infant under the age of one week, asked to be allowed to get baby food from luggage she had already checked in. It became suspicious when they saw and elderly woman without the mother carrying the baby. She was invited to the immigration office in the airport, where it was realized she was trafficking the baby.
“I want to appeal to parents to be on the watch out for their children so they don’t fall in to the hands of conmen and women who may want to lure them. What has happened shows that the NIS and its personnel are really positioned to ensure that we crush human trafficking in all the different places we work. This shows diligence on the part of our personnel. They were vigilant and committed and were able to identify that they crime was being perpetrated. We would ensure that people who commit such crime are brought to book,” she said.
Nwaelechi, who said she lives in Lagos, denied that she was trafficking the baby.
According to her, she had a younger male relative who had been sick and wanted to help him get healed by bringing him to a church in Calabar and then getting a wife for him.
She said Ifeanyi brought the pregnant Oma who agreed to marry her relative. The elderly woman said when the baby was born the mother agreed that she could go ahead with the baby to Lagos, where she should would join them after.
“She delivered on the 27th of November. And I took care of the expenses. On the said day we boarded a cab to the airport and had to leave the mother in a restaurant to eat. We were leaving her behind as she said she did not want to come to Lagos immediately. It was at the airport that we got arrested when I tried to get food from luggage I already checked in. There was a one-hour delay for the flight so the food made for the baby finished and she needed food. So I went to the officer and told him the baby is hungry and her food already checked in, and he asked me whose baby it was, and he led me and fortunately the luggage was not in and they let me have the luggage and as I was trying to get the food, he went ahead to call the officers and started questioning me. They asked me to call the mother. So I called Ifeanyi and he brought the mother.”
Ifeanyi said he found the girl when she was six months pregnant and homeless, sleeping outside a church at Ambo Street. He said he decided to accommodate her even though he was living with his wife and children, until she gave birth.
“The girl stayed with me for over three months before she gave birth. That was before I met this woman who said she needed a wife for her relative and I suggested the girl. The girl said she would not go to Lagos. She gave birth in a church and I called the woman and when she arrived she did all the necessary things. I bought the girl and phone and gave her some money and them Mummy (Nwaelechi), who was on her way to Lagos with the baby, called me and said they were interrogating her at the airport. And I went there with the mother and they arrested us,” Ifeanyi said.
Although Oma Samuel admitted that Ifeanyi took her in when she was pregnant and had nowhere to stay, the teenage mother said she never agreed that her baby be taken from her.
She said she had no idea what was going on and was tricked out of her baby by the duo.
“What the woman and Ifeanyi said is false. I did not agree to give my baby to anyone to take to Lagos, where I would join them later. I was tricked. When I had this pregnancy I did not have a place to stay and I was sleeping outside the church. So one morning I saw this man, Ifeanyi, and he asked me what happened and I explained what happened and he told me to come and stay with him until I put to bed and after that I would take my baby home. I accepted and stayed with him. And he told me that a woman is looking for a wife to her and I said but I am pregnant already and he said no problem. Later on when I saw the man, who was an imbecile, I declined the offer. They told me the woman has another son that would marry me. But when I thought about it, I said no, that I don’t want to marry anybody again.
“I stayed with him until the day I gave birth and the woman came and I asked who she was and he said she was my mother in law. That same day she wanted to take my baby but I did not accept. Even the women where I gave birth did not accept. So after we stayed until Friday, we blessed the child and I told them I wanted to go back to my place and I packed my things and this woman collected the baby from and we got into a cab. I sat in front and two of them were behind. I noticed through the side mirror that he gave some money to Ifeanyi. I was watching them trying to understand what was happening. They started using their dialect, Igbo, to speak and I was wondering what was going on. When we got to where I was to stop and go down with my baby, they did not stop there. They drove me somewhere stopped and asked me to go down. I asked of my baby and they said I should wait for them that they want to buy something somewhere and come back with the baby. I went down and they left. They did not come back. I started crying. The next thing this man rushed and came back and I asked him where my baby was. He took to the market and bought me a phone and bag. He took me and dropped me off in one healing home and gave me N2000 to eat. I just dropped the money and was waiting for the sun to go down so I will go and report to the police with the money. I was still there when Ifeanyi rushed again to me, with his wife this time, and told me that my baby was going to Lagos with that woman who would take good care of her and when the baby grew to two years, I would go and visit her. This was not what we agreed. The man then told me that we should go to the airport and if they ask me anything I should say she is my mother in law. Initially I agreed but later on I said no, that she was not my mother in law. That is how we got here.”
Principal Officer of NAPTIP Odudukudu Victor, said they were taking over the matter.
“We would do our investigation and then send the file to legal and prosecution and the law will take its course,”Victor said.
7 Things That Can Get You Into Trouble With The Police (SARS)
The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is notorious for profiling people, mostly young Nigerians.
The activities of the special police unit are now
trending on social media » . Hundreds of people are narrating the experience with SARS operatives.
If the tweets are anything to go by, you could get arrested by SARS for looking or dressing some type of way. The reasons range from the ridiculous to the unbelievable.
1) Tattoos
Tattoos are works of art and harmless fun but SARS use it to profile criminals. Having a tattoo or tattoos would most likely make you a suspect in the eyes of SARS officials. These law enforcement officials seem to believe only criminals have tattoos.
If you bump into any of them and have a tattoo you are going to be in big trouble. The chances of being arrested and interrogated are pretty high.
2) Laptops
Having a laptop shouldn’t be a big deal but for SARS operatives it is another indicator that you are into Internet fraud. The mere possession of a laptop would get you into serious trouble with SARS operatives.
If you do not have a receipt for the laptop then you are in big trouble which might land you in a prison cell. SARS officers don’t believe ordinary citizens should own laptops.
3) Dreadlocks & Beards
SARS operatives have been known to arrest men with dreadlocks and beards. It is code red for them. You could be artistic, woke and be a member of the beard gang, SARS could care less. No one really knows the connection between crime and having dreadlocks and a beard.
You could be as gentle as a dove and still get arrested for having dreads and beards.
4) Ear piercing
Mainstream Nigeria has always frowned on men with ear piercings so this is not much of a surprise. SARS operatives have jumped on this stereotype to arrest and detain young men with ear piercings.
5) Possession of a mobile phone
In the 21st century, everyone should have a mobile phone. The men of the SARS don’t seem to think this way. Once they stop you in public, the next thing is to ask for your phone and search it with no warrant. The more expensive your phone, the bigger the trouble you are in. You could be called a cultist or Internet fraudster once they go through your phone.
6) Driving a car
If you are young and have a car, trust me, SARS will you pull you over several times and search it. There are unconfirmed stories of SARS operatives planting incriminating objects in the cars of innocent Nigerians to get them arrested.
7) Dress S3xy
It’s not only men that get wrongly profiled by SARS, women too are victims. Thanks to the anti-SARS Twitter thread we’ve found out that these policemen pick on women too. Their style is to harass women who they think dress like prostitutes. These unlucky women are thrown into vans for interrogation or a ride around town.
POLITICS: 2019: OBASANJO, ATIKU IN FIGHT TO THE FINISH
OBJ vows never to support ex-VPAtiku shuns Ethiopia meetingI made my money early –AtikuHe must beg to achieve aim –Group
Sequel to the resignation of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), there have been so many backlashes on the rumoured presidential ambition of the former number two citizen. But of all the criticisms trailing his ambition, the most striking is that of his former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, whom many see as a major obstacle to Atiku’s ambition. Some highly influential Nigerians, including former President Goodluck Jonathan have advised the ex-VP to close ranks with Obasanjo in order to achieve his aim.
Though Atiku has not announced his presidential plans or the platform he will use, Jonathan had recently warned him not to ignore Obasanjo, even if he gets the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. “If Atiku gets our party ticket, he would compete well. But he would have to reach out to our boss, Baba OBJ, the boss of all bosses.
We’ve all learnt at different times that you ignore OBJ at your peril. OBJ has the magic wand, he is respected at home and abroad”, Jonathan was quoted as saying. As if some Atiku’s traducers were waiting for his exit from the APC, they had immediately put to use an old video of Obasanjo’s interview where he gave reasons for not supporting his former ally.
The video, which had recently gone viral showed the retired General saying he couldn’t have allowed Atiku to succeed him, apparently because of the magnitude of the information at his disposal. “With what I know about Atiku, if I had put Atiku forward, God would not have forgiven me”, Obasanjo claimed in the video, said to have been recorded in 2015.
The insinuations from the video have portrayed Atiku as corrupt in the public view but the ex-VP had on Thursday in Lagos put paid to all the insinuations surrounding his source of wealth where he narrated how he established his business as far back as 1971. With this, it appears that the Atiku camp seems not to be deterred by Obasanjo’s outburst, as the team is also determined to fight back and call the bluff of the ex-president; this, Saturday Telegraph gathered, from sources close to both camps.
Atiku shunned meetings –OBJ camp
An impeccable source within the Obasanjo camp told Saturday Telegraph that with the stance taken by Atiku, it’s going to be a fight to the finish, just as he revealed how Atiku had refused to take advantage of two meetings meant to reconcile the old friends. The source claimed that though Atiku had been to Obasanjo’s home in Abeokuta, he said that was just a publicity stunt, revealing that there were two meetings called specifically for reconciliatory purposes that had been thwarted. “Some people tried to put all these crises to an end, they called two meetings for them within and outside the country but their efforts were frustrated.
It is a pity things are going this way. “But for the steps taken by Atiku and his die-hard supporters, the matter would have been settled long ago. Baba only wanted him to confess the allegations against him and apologise. He could just have done that but he botched it twice. “There had been two meetings called to settle this matter.
On the first occasion, he refused to apologise and he shunned the second one that was to be held outside Nigeria. “He attended the one in Nigeria but was adamant, he didn’t apologise. On the second meeting, baba was actually waiting for him in an East African country but Atiku did not show up. That was a great opportunity he missed. He would have been president if he hadn’t fought his benefactor. “Unknown to many people, baba actually brought him on board in 1999 to succeed him in 2007. If you remember, Atiku was already elected a governor in Adamawa but baba picked him as his running mate for the presidency”, the source said.
OBJ is not God –Atiku’s camp
But in response from the other camp, a source linked with Atiku faulted the claim, saying that Obasanjo was becoming too overbearing for his former deputy, hence the need for Atiku to check his excesses. The Atiku’s ally was also of the opinion that the apology demanded by Obasanjo would not have changed anything because the former president had made up his mind and had publicly said he wont back Atiku. “Don’t believe everything they are saying, it is even people in Obasanjo’s camp that are scuttling all the reconciliation moves. They are not sincere.
What else do they want? If we call a meeting, they will make it public. Ask them why? “The last time Atiku was in Abeokuta, it was supposed to be a closed-door meeting, it wasn’t meant to be for the press, but when we got there, they had already briefed the media. “Whatever we do, they have a way of turning it around.
That’s why we went with our team for the Abuja meeting, in case they wanted to play pranks. The one they told you we didn’t attend was supposed to be in Ethiopia. “They didn’t tell you the country but I am telling you now that it was supposed to be in Ethiopia. They told Atiku late and he already had another engagement within the country.
“They can’t blame anybody for that. More so, why are they playing God? Is Obasanjo God? Let nobody play God, whatever would be, would be. 2019 is not a do-or-die matter, if God decrees that Atiku will rule, millions of Obasanjo cant stop it. We shall leave beyond 2019 by God’s grace.”
Atiku must beg OBJ, says NYLF
In the same vein, the National Youth Leaders Forum, has aligned itself with Jonathan, asking Atiku to seek reconciliation with his former boss. The group, in a statement signed by its National President, Comrade Elliot Afiyo, explained that its position is to clear the air, being a group that had been a party to the reconciliatory efforts so far made.
Accusing some supporters of the former VP, the group alleged that some of the ex-VP’s aides were the cause of the unending crisis. “We make bold to say that aides of the former Vice President are responsible for the botch attempts to reconcile them, because Atiku, rather than listen to wisdom with no vested interest chose to listen to these aides. “Twice we had made moves to reconcile him with Baba, but, twice he had failed. Atiku is not that hard to bend, but his so-called loyal aides were responsible for those failed times we agreed.
“For the records, we make bold to say that those two times were in Nigeria and outside Nigeria, yet at the last minute, Atiku would bow to his aides and will not come. We want to appreciate Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for hitting the nail on the head.
“It is not too late, we are going to build on the suggestion of Jonathan to reach out to Atiku again for the reconciliation. Baba Obasanjo is the most forgiving person for those who are close to him. When you are wrong or make mistakes he will naturally chide you. “And it is for you to go back to him to apologise and promise not to repeat the mistake. He will surely forgive, that is Baba Obasanjo for you.
But, when your aides are telling you to do without him, then according to Jonathan, you are doing so at your own peril. “NLYF is using this opportunity to call again on Atiku, irrespective of his aspiration or ambition to do away with his aides’ hard stance and seek the reconciliation with Obasanjo and our doors are wide opened to be the channel for such”, the statement reads.
Atiku will work with everybody –Media aide
In response to our enquiries, Atiku’s Atiku’s Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, who spoke with our correspondent on the phone, denied knowledge of any botched meeting or any group that is linked with such reconciliatory efforts. Ibe however assured Nigerians that his principal would work with everybody that matters for the betterment of the nation and towards achieving a united country. “Atiku’s strength is his ability to gather people together and work with all shades of opinion from all sides. Be it Yoruba, Hausa or Igbo, Atiku will work with everybody and he has that ability to carry everybody along.
That is his strength. When probed further on the botched meeting with Obasanjo, he denied knowledge of such, saying, “I am not aware of any meeting and I don’t even know the group you are talking about. “Like I told you, I have said this in a recent interview and I am repeating it. Atiku will not discountenance the importance of carrying everybody along in order to build a consensus. Atiku is opened to all”, Ibe said.
How I started my business in 1971 – Atiku
In what seems like a denial to all the allegations of corruption against him, the former VP, while speaking in Lagos on Thursday explained how he made his money, revealing that he took his first business decision as far back as 1971. Atiku, who urged Nigerian youths to have more drive towards entrepreneurship, spoke after receiving the Honourary Achiever Award, at the Africa’s Youth Entrepreneurs Conference and Award. “I came to Lagos on June 29, 1969, and after my twoyear training with the Nigeria Customs Service; I was posted to the border station of Idi-Iroko.
At that time, the Badagry Road had not been constructed and the only means of transportation to the rest of the West African corridor was through the Idi-Iroko border to what used to be called Dahomey and what is now known as Benin Republic.
“On getting to Idi-Iroko, my first posting, I was not married and what I discovered was that the most promising business was transportation. Many pickup vans were transporting women traders from Ajase (Port Novo) to Lagos every morning, and every evening from Lagos back to Port Novo. “So I asked myself; how can I seize the opportunity of this moving business?
I came over to Lagos and in those days, SCOA was the sole distributor of Peugeot, so I went to SCOA and I signed a hire-purchase agreement and bought four of those pickups and gave them to four different drivers and every day they will bring their returns to me and at the end of the month, I will go to SCOA and pay them.
“I wasn’t married, so my salary was intact, and in addition I was saving from what I was getting from my transport business. So, sometime, to be an entrepreneur you must have the ingenuity to be an entrepreneur”, Atiku said, noting that the country’s education system in the early 1960s provided the Nigerian youths the opportunities to make diverse carrier choice. According to the former Vice President, “the educational system we operated in the First Republic provided our students then the opportunity to either go to universities or go to technical colleges or to go to crafts schools. There was never a dropout in that kind of educational system.
The dullest was trained on a skill and given the capital to start a business.” Atiku however regrets that “suddenly, Nigeria moved away from that to a system of education where you train only job seekers.” He pointed out that the products of this educational system didn’t know how to do anything else other than to seek for jobs, adding that they could not self-employ themselves.
“So, what I am trying to say is that my Nigeria is possible and your own Nigeria is possible”, he said. The former Vice President urged the youth to take advantage of the rebound in railway infrastructure that was built by the last administration to start a business initiative of transportation of goods across the country and reduce the reliance on heavy-duty trucks to convey those goods.
POLITICS : Why didn't Japan invade the Soviet Union during WW2?
Sohail Khurianwala
works at Verscom Technologies & Services
23w ago
Many people who study about World War II are not aware of this:
I would like to quote from the above article.
From May to September 1939, the USSR and Japan fought an undeclared war involving over 100,000 troops.
This war played its part in altering world history.
In the summer of 1939, Soviet and Japanese armies clashed on the Manchurian-Mongolian frontier in a little-known conflict with far-reaching consequences.
This was no mere border clash, this undeclared war raged from May to September 1939 embroiling over 100,000 troops and 1,000 tanks and aircraft.
Some 30,000-50,000 men were killed and wounded. In the climactic battle, which lasted from August 20-31, 1939, the Japanese armies were encircled and crushed by Soviet Armor in the Far East.
This coincided precisely with the conclusion of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (August 23, 1939) – Which gave Hitler the green light he wanted to invade Poland and the outbreak of World War II one week later when only Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany.
These events are all connected.
This not so famous conflict also influenced key decisions in Tokyo and Moscow in 1941 that shaped the conduct and ultimately the outcome of World War II.
This conflict (called the Nomonhan Incident by Japanese, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol by Russians) was provoked by a notorious Japanese officer named Tsuji Masanobu, ring-leader of a clique in Japan’s Kwantung Army, which occupied Manchuria in the 1930s.
On the other side, Georgy Zhukov, who would later lead the Red Army to victory over Nazi Germany, commanded the Soviet forces.
In the first large clash in May 1939, a Japanese punitive attack failed and Soviet/Mongolian forces wiped out a 200-man Japanese unit. Infuriated, Kwantung Army escalated the fighting through June and July, launching a large bombing attack deep inside Mongolian territory and attacking across the border in division strength.
As successive Japanese assaults were repulsed by the Red Army, the Japanese continually upped the ante, believing they could force Moscow to back down. Stalin, however, outmaneuvered the Japanese and stunned them with a simultaneous military and diplomatic counter strike.
In August, as Stalin secretly angled for an alliance with Hitler, Zhukov amassed powerful forces near the front. When German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop flew to Moscow to sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Stalin unleashed Zhukov’s forces on the Japanese.
The future Red Army Marshal unveiled the tactics he would later employ with such devastating effect at Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and elsewhere: a combined arms assault with massed infantry and artillery that fixed the enemy on the central front while powerful armored formations enveloped the enemy’s flanks, encircled, and ultimately crushed him in a battle of annihilation.
Over 75 percent of Japan’s ground forces at the front were killed in combat. At the same time, Stalin concluded the pact with Hitler, Japan’s nominal ally, leaving Tokyo diplomatically isolated and militarily humiliated.
The fact that the fighting at Nomonhan coincided with the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was no coincidence.
While Stalin was openly negotiating with Britain and France for a purported anti-fascist alliance, and secretly negotiating with Hitler for their eventual alliance, which divided territory in Eastern Europe between the USSR and Nazi Germany, he was being attacked by German’s ally and anti-Comintern partner, Japan.
By the summer of 1939, it was clear that Europe was sliding toward war. Hitler was determined to move east, against Poland. Stalin’s nightmare, to be avoided at all costs, was a two-front war against Germany and Japan. His ideal outcome would be for the fascist/militarist capitalists (Germany, Italy, and Japan) to fight the bourgeois/democratic capitalists (Britain, France, and perhaps the United States), leaving the Soviet Union on the sidelines, the arbiter of Europe after the capitalists had exhausted themselves.
The Nazi-Soviet Pact was Stalin’s attempt to achieve his optimal outcome. Not only did it pit Germany against Britain and France and leave the Soviet Union out of the fight – it gave Stalin the freedom to deal decisively with an isolated Japan, which he did at Nomonhan. This is not merely a hypothesis. The linkage between Nomonhan and the Nazi-Soviet Pact is clear even in the German diplomatic documents published in Washington and London in 1948.
Recently revealed Soviet-era documents add confirming details.
Soviet General Zhukov won his golden spurs at Nomonhan/Khalkhin Gol – and thereby won Stalin’s confidence to entrust him with the high command, just in time to avert disaster in December 1941 when the spearheads of the Wehrmacht were just 20 miles from the spires of the Kremlin.
Zhukov was crucially able to halt the German onslaught and turn the tide at the gates of Moscow in early December 1941 (arguably the most decisive week of the Second World War) in part by deploying most of the forces from the Soviet Far East.
Many of these were the battle-tested troops he used to crush the Japanese at Nomonhan. The Soviet Far Eastern reserves – 15 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 1,700 tanks, and 1.500 aircraft – were deployed westward in the autumn of 1941 after Stalin learned from his master spy - stationed in Tokyo - Richard Sorge (pronounced - Rishart Zorga) that Japan would not attack the Soviet Far East, because it had made an irrevocable decision for a southward expansion that would lead to war with the United States and Britain.
Stalin in September 1941, did not repeat the grave mistake he made in June 1941 where he angrily dismissed reports by the same spy that the German Armies would definitely invade the USSR on June 22nd with the remark :
“There is this squirt who has set himself up with some little factories and brothels in Japan and even he dares to send me ridiculous reports of an imminent German invasion.”
Japan had decided to gamble on using its powerful Navy to wallop the Americans and British since it did not forget the whacking its Army had received from the Soviets on the Soviet Manchurian border in 1939.
There were other considerations also.
It was the oil embargo imposed by the USA and Britain on the Empire of Japan after it overran French Indo-China, after the fall of France in 1940 to the Wehrmacht, which forced Japan to look desperately for oil and other resources vital for the survival of her empire in the East.
By September 1941, with the oil embargo by the USA and Britain in force, Japanese oil reserves had dropped to 50 million barrels, and their navy alone was burning 2,900 barrels of oil every hour.
The Japanese had reached a breaking point. If they did nothing, they would be out of oil and options in less than 2 years, If they chose war, there was a good chance they could lose a protracted conflict.
Given the possibility of success with the second option, versus none with the first option, the Japanese chose war.
Importantly, Siberian petroleum zones are in the West Siberian petroleum basin, Central Urals and the Sakhalin Island.
Eastern Siberia did not have the extensive oil wells like those which were already established in the Dutch East Indies at that time.
The Japanese leadership thought that securing the oil wells of the Dutch East Indies and invading South East Asia using their Army and powerful Navy was far easier than taking on the Soviet Armies again in Siberia in a winter campaign.
The only hindrances to securing the oil wells of the Dutch East Indies and transporting that oil back to Japan using the ocean route was the United States Pacific fleet and the Royal Navy in the Far East.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th 1941 was a knock out blow meant to disable the US fleet and make Japan the dominant Naval power in the Eastern Pacific so that resources from the Philippines, Dutch East Indies and British Malaya could come under the control of the Empire of Japan after their army had taken over these countries and tin, oil, rubber and other raw materials needed for the Japanese industries could easily be transported to Japan using the sea route.
The Japanese air force immediately struck mortal blows at the Royal Navy also in the Far East by sinking two of Britain’s largest battleships: The Prince of Wales and Repulse off Kuantan in the South China Sea on December 10th 1941, before they embarked on their lightning conquest of British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies.
The Prince of Wales and Repulse were the first capital ships to be sunk solely by naval - air power on the open sea.
They also overran the Philippines which was a US colony at that time.
(The US had acquired the Philippines after their victory in the Spanish American war.
References:
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Evgeny Bakhtin
Russian who watches Russia from outside for years.
81w ago
Most of answers are based on assumption that if Japan would attack USSR, it should go until Moscow, or at least take the whole Siberia. Which doesn’t make sense, indeed.
However, these two areas did make sense for Japan:
These two areas make sense for Japan not in terms of resource base, but rather strategic defense of it’s rear and strategic offence towards China.
It makes even more sense, if you consider that USSR was already in proxy war with Japan since 1937 - Soviet Volunteer Group helping China to fight Japan at the air. Also, you have constant small conflicts starting from 1935 - Soviet–Japanese border conflicts.
So, it makes a lot of sense to Japan to attack USSR!
But in contrary, Japan seals Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. And focuses southward.
However, USSR didn’t trust Japan with this Pact and kept about 1.000.000 soldiers, tanks, aviation, etc. at Far East. Which were damn needed at German front!
So, basically the answer is - Japan had comparatively less need to go North than to go South, and USSR was well armed there.
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Ozgur Zeren
Author at ViaPopuli.com
96w ago
They tried - in Khalkin Gol battle, they attacked USSR.
That was very probably a test of Red Army's strength on behalf of the alliance Japanese belonged to - Anti-Comintern. Since there were 2-3 countries on the planet who claimed to be communists, and the only sizable country was USSR, Anti-Comintern alliance was basically an anti USSR alliance.
How do we conclude that this was a test, is rather simple:
A big Japanese army starts with border skirmishes, then escalates into a full blown battle. For ~4 months, it conducts full blown operations with no impediment to its supplies, requisitions or manpower.
Then when it is beaten back, Japanese government says this was done by a 'rogue general' who 'acted on his own'.
So a rogue general acting on his own fought a massive battle for 4 months, Japanese government not only was not able to control him, but magically his supplies, manpower and equipment flow from Japan did not get impeded in any way.
Of course not. No general in Japanese army could even imagine going against orders.
So it was a test to check Red Army's fighting power.
If the test evaluated well, Japan would not hesitate from invading Siberia, which would very easily be accompanied by Nazi Germany invading from the west. Poland would be more than cooperative with that kind of affair. Which was what the West was hoping.
Instead Japanese got steamrolled. Khalkin Gol was a beyond decisive victory for Red Army, in which Zhukov implemented the very tactics which were to be used in the Eastern Front to Germany.
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in between USSR and Germany was signed just 4 days after Zhukov started his final offensive in Khalkin Gol, and it was evident that Japanese army was being run over. This is a critical point. Practically pact's existence is due to the result of Khalkin Gol.
So now it was seen that Red Army was strong, Japanese had nowhere near the power necessary to even beat the forces Zhukov already had in Eastern USSR, they had no hopes of moving forward, leave aside reaching any Oil fields in USSR, and they had limited oil reserves.
Which meant that trying to invade Siberia would be a craziness which wouldn't even 'start' happening.
Wisely, they turned into the only thing they could do - gamble against US with Pearl Harbor and hope for a quick peace on favorable terms.
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Omanshu Thapliyal
works at Purdue University
125w ago
TL;DR
It was not merely due to resource scarcity, but resource scarcity combined with a change in state policy from Hokushin-ron to Nanshin-ronJapan had already occupied parts of French Indochina (1940) before signing the neutrality pact (1941) with the Soviet Union (therefore, the neutrality pact was not the only reason)
Many of the answers have tackled the scarcity of resources in the Japanese mainland to be the reason for their southward expansion, but it misses a key point of the change in the Japanese state's policies in the pre war period.
Simply put, Japan didn't invade the Soviet Union because of a stark change in the Imperial state's policies.
In the pre-WW2 period, Japan maintained hostile borders with USSR and the general of the Imperial Japanese army, Kenkichi Ueda, was a staunch supporter of Hokushin-ron 北進論. The Imperial army at that time believed in the Hokushin-ron, or the Strike North doctrine. Under this Northern expansion doctrine, Japan considered it destined for her to conquer the sparsely populated, mineral rich regions of northern Asia. This policy saw steep budget cuts incurred by the Imperial Navy and large scale production of tanks, etc. However, under Ueda's generalship during the Soviet-Japanese conflicts in the 30's, repeated Japanese losses resulted in a Neutrality Pact in 1941. This was followed by a a drastically different policy, Nanshin-ron 南進論. This was the governing doctrine of the Japanese Imperial motives during the immediate pre-WW2 period and it claimed the Southeast Asian region to be Japanese sphere of influence and that the "Pacific was destined to be a Japanese lake".
After this stark change of Imperial policy, Japan carried out huge Naval militarization violating the Washington Naval Treaty and with the promulgation of the Toa shin Shitsujo (New Order in East Asia), Nanshin-ron became the adopted as the national policy in 1936. It should be noted that Japan had already occupied Northern French Indochina by September 1940 and the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact came later in 1941.
The Imperial motive of Japan were affected by the fact that it being an island nation; this meant a limited supply of resources and raw materials. This could be mitigated by the new state policy to occupy the Pacific region and southeast Asia.
This change of policy is prominently reflected in how the Japanese occupations and militaristic tendencies behaved with time:
POLITICS: Donald Trump tells Arab leaders he'll move US embassy to Jerusalem
Senior US officials have said Trump is likely on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital while delaying relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv for another six months. Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump told Arab leaders he intends to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a decision that breaks with decades of US policy and risks fuelling further unrest in the Middle East.
Senior US officials have said Trump is likely on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital while delaying relocating the embassy from Tel Aviv for another six months, though he is expected to order his aides to begin planning such a move immediately.
US endorsement of Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital would reverse long-standing US policy that the city's status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The international community does not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman, who all received phone calls from Trump, joined a mounting chorus of voices warning that unilateral US steps on Jerusalem would derail a fledgling US-led peace effort and unleash turmoil in the region.
Palestinians pray, earlier this year, outside the Lion's Gate near the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City. Ariel Schalit
At the same time, a senior Israeli minister appeared to welcome Trump's decision on Jerusalem while vowing that Israel was preparing for any outbreak of violence.
Trump notified Abbas "of his intention to move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said.
Dangerous consequences
Abbas, in response, "warned of the dangerous consequences such a decision would have to the peace process and to the peace, security and stability of the region and of the world" and also appealed to the Pope and the leaders of Russia, France and Jordan to intervene.
The Jordanian monarch, whose dynasty is the custodian of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, told Trump that moving the embassy there would have "dangerous repercussions" for the region and would obstruct US efforts to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, according to a palace statement.
Jerusalem's old city. Oded Balilty
Jordan plans to convene an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Trump's new Jerusalem policy, said Foreign Minister Ayman al Safadi.
Egypt's Sisi cautioned Trump against "taking measures that would undermine the chances of peace" and complicate matters in the Middle East, a presidential statement released in Cairo said.
King Salman stressed to Trump that any US announcement on the status of Jerusalem "will hurt peace talks and increase tension in the region and said it would "inflame Muslim feelings all over the world, the Saudi Press Agency said.
None of the leaders' statements said whether Trump, who was also due to talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, specified the timing of an embassy move, a notion that successive Israeli governments have supported.
But US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was expected to sign a national security waiver - as have his predecessors - keeping the embassy in Tel Aviv for another six months but would commit to expediting a move. It was unclear, however, whether he would set a date.
Trump, who promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to move the embassy to Jerusalem and is expected to announce his decision in a speech on Wednesday, appears intent on satisfying the pro-Israel, right-wing base that helped him win the presidency.
Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, a move not recognised internationally.
'A big mistake'
Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, who met last week with US officials in Washington, told Israel's Army Radio: "My impression is that the president will recognise Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years, as the capital of the state of Israel.
Asked if Israel was preparing for a wave of violence if Trump recognises Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, he said: "We are preparing for every option. Anything like that can always erupt. If Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) will lead it in that direction then he will be making a big mistake.
Turkey threatened on Tuesday to cut diplomatic ties with Israel if Trump recognises Jerusalem. "Mr. Trump, Jerusalem is the red line of Muslims," Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AK Party.
Senior US officials told Reuters some officers in the State Department were also deeply concerned and the European Union, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League all warned that any such declaration would have repercussions across the region.
Netanyahu has so far declined to speculate on what Trump might say.
But Katz took to Twitter to reject Turkey's threat and reiterate Israel's position on the city, which is one of a long list of stumbling blocks in years of failed peace talks with the Palestinians.
'We don't take orders'
"We don't take orders or accept threats from the president of Turkey," he wrote.
A US official said the consensus US intelligence estimate on US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was that it would risk triggering a backlash against Israel, and also potentially against US interests in the Middle East.
It is also likely to upset an Israeli-Palestinian peace push led by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, in pursuit of what the US president has called the "ultimate deal." The initiative has made little progress.
The European Union's top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said on Tuesday that "any action that would undermine" peace efforts to create two separate states for the Israelis and the Palestinians "must absolutely be avoided."
Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Brussels, she said Jerusalem's status would have to be agreed through negotiations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has consistently warned against any unilateral action that would have the potential to undermine the two-state solution, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
"We have always regarded Jerusalem as a final status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties based on relevant Security Council resolutions," Dujarric said.
The Arab League and Saudi Arabia repeated past warnings, following statements by France and Jordan in recent days.
Past Israeli-Palestinian rifts have deteriorated into protests, attacks and fighting and further destabilised the region.
During World War II, if Germany had invaded the Soviet Union two months earlier, would Germany have won the war?
Khalid Elhassan
Eclectic Rabbit Hole, and all around history buff
94w ago
No. If the Germans had attacked two months earlier, which would have been around April 21st, it would have backfired on them disastrously as only a few weeks into the campaign they would have been forced to bring activities to a standstill. That is because of the spring Rasputitsa , the Eastern European mud season when unpaved roads, which is to say the overwhelming majority of roads on the Eastern Front, become nearly impassable.
These guys are stuck until the roads dry
The Rasputitsa, caused by snow melt in spring and autumn rain in fall, would have ground an early Operation Barbarossa to a halt or agonizingly slow crawl as attacking units, and more importantly their supply chain, would have struggled to move in a sea of mud. That not only would have limited the depth of initial German advances, but would also have given the Soviets a desperately needed breather and opportunity to regroup and fortify while waiting for the roads to dry and the war to resume.
This is not Blitzkrieg weather
The need to account for the Rasputitsa is why the German invasion was launched when it was, contrary to the numerous myths that developed later to explain the supposed "delay" in the launching of Barparossa.
No brilliant lightening maneuvers in these conditions
As it was, throughout the course of the war on the Eastern Front, a campaign rhythm developed in which the pace of activities slowed down significantly for a few weeks twice a year, in spring and autumn during the semiannual Rasputitsa, while both sides waited for the roads to dry enough for the resumption of intensive fighting.
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Oren Roded
studied Law
43w ago
The perception of Operation Barbarossa seems to be widely flawed among most people. People believe that the Russian winter and rasputitsa (muddy season) completely derailed the German juggernaut but this was not really the case, while it is true that after the muddy season only 1 in 10 German tanks was functional and the rest were cannibalised for parts, it was the strategy that the Germans opted for that really killed them in the end. Army group south was ordered to take Kiev and was later re-designated army group Ukraine in 1942 and while they took 450,000 Russian POW’s, the russians managed to build back this army in a matter of months. The germans throughout the war at this point opted for quick lightning blitzkrieg attacks into enemy territory so I don't understand why the opted for a siege in Leningrad, a 900 day siege to be exact, even though the Germans brought with them their knowledge of trenches from the first world war and were thus able to live through the Russian winters in relative peace they still failed to capture leningrad and bring the 1 million russian defenders to surrender, they lost thousands of men in order to try to take Leningrad which apart from its port had little to offer other than a symbolic victory. Army group center took the biggest beating especially at Stalingrad where they were led into a trap. Stalin had heard from his spy in Tokyo that the Japanese were not going to attack Russian again like they did in 1938 at Khalkin Ghol, but were instead going to attack south at pearl harbor, this allowed stalin to take his experienced siberian armies and bring them down to stalingrad, Zhukov then initiated operation Uranus in which he attacked the flanks of the German 6th army that was protected by poorly equipped lithuanian and romanina troops, they were no match for the crack russian troops and soon enough the german 6th army found itself locked in a pocket of death.
So to be honest it really would not have mattered if the Germans had attacked 2 months earlier because it would not have changed their tactics and strategies.
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Samuel Smith
Interested in history, avid reader
110w ago
No.
They might have made a little more progress. But they would have still been facing these same problems.
Overstretched supply lines Supplying 4 million men isn't easy, especially when they are deep in enemy territory and split up into four different armies. This problem is compounded by the fact that the Russians are using the "scorched earth tactic" and going to great efforts to deny the enemy supplies of any kind. Also if the attack had been started earlier the supply problem would have been even more pronounced, since there would most likely have been to little and too few vehicles to transport them without the build up.The Battle of Stalingrad. Even if the attack had started earlier the army would have still bogged down at Stalingrad, and even had they been victorious massive losses would still have been incurred.
Hitler This turned out to be a crippling disadvantage to German strategy. He was a madman who tried to dictate his general actions, and subsequently caused some of the most catastrophic failures of the war. Most historians agree that his idea to invade and conqueror Russia was his worst mistake, and his resolution not to withdraw made it continually worse.
Winter No matter what they did the Germans were bound to encounter winter. If you would look at this map you can see how far the invasion got.
By the time winter came only a fraction of all Russia was in German hands. So it leads one to believe that in if the invasion had been launched earlier it would still have been slowed by Russian resistance and finally halted by winter.
This is my opinion and there may be others better informed who differ with it, but since history has already happened all we are left with is conjectures and no proof of how things "would have gone."
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Bernie Schiemer
34w ago
The essential doctrine of Blitzkrieg requires concentration of your forces.
In February 1941 the Germans moved 1.5 x panzer divisions to Africa (90th Light and 15th Panzer).
In May they invaded Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. This delayed their Russian offensive by six weeks (Barbarossa was due to begin in early May), so they were in fact aiming for an earlier start. In the Yugo/Greek campaign, the Germans lost well over 300 transport planes (270 alone in Crete) and many thousands of troops lost and/or tied up defending nothing.
In August 1941 the Germans send another panzer division to Africa (21st Panzer). Plus Rommel’s advances in Africa required 6000+ trucks to provide water and petrol to his forces.
Imagine the Germans with 3 x more panzer divisions, 300+ transport planes (supplies and more supplies), 6,000 + additional trucks and additional 6 weeks of campaigning, plus with Rommel driving a corp along with him, they almost certainly would have taken Moscow, and may well have beaten the Russians.
They had to beat the Russians in the first year or it was all over. Their economy was not set up for a long campaign, and their replacement pool of troops, equipment and spare parts was dangerously low. At least an early May start with ALL of their available forces and supplies would have given them the best chance possible.
If they had beaten the Russians in 1941, could you imagine how deluded Hilter and his cronies would have become. The US and Britain would have still prevailed but it probably would have been a nuclear rather than a conventional finish.
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FOREIGN NEWS: Trump forges ahead on Jerusalem-as-capital despite warnings
President Donald Trump will recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital on Wednesday despite intense Arab, Muslim and European opposition to a move that would upend decades of U.S. policy and risk potentially violent protests.
Trump will instruct the State Department to begin the multi-year process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, U.S. officials said Tuesday. It remains unclear, however, when he might take that physical step, which is required by U.S. law but has been waived on national security grounds for more than two decades.
The officials said numerous logistical and security details, as well as site determination and construction, will need to be finalized first. Because of those issues, the embassy is not likely to move for at least 3 or 4 years, presuming there is no future change in U.S. policy.
To that end, the officials said Trump will sign a waiver delaying the embassy move, which is required by U.S. law every six months. He will continue to sign the waiver until preparations for the embassy move are complete.
The officials said recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital will be an acknowledgement of "historical and current reality" rather than a political statement and said the city's physical and political borders will not be compromised. They noted that almost all of Israel's government agencies and parliament are in Jerusalem, rather than Tel Aviv, where the U.S. and other countries maintain embassies.
The U.S. officials spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity Tuesday because they were not authorized to publicly preview Trump's Wednesday announcement. Their comments mirrored those of officials who spoke on the issue last week.
The declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital is a rhetorical volley that could have its own dangerous consequences. The United States has never endorsed the Jewish state's claim of sovereignty over any part of Jerusalem and has insisted its status be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiation.
The mere consideration of Trump changing the status quo sparked a renewed U.S. security warning on Tuesday. America's consulate in Jerusalem ordered U.S. personnel and their families to avoid visiting Jerusalem's Old City or the West Bank, and urged American citizens in general to avoid places with increased police or military presence.
Trump, as a presidential candidate, repeatedly promised to move the U.S. embassy. However, U.S. leaders have routinely and unceremoniously delayed such a move since President Bill Clinton signed a law in 1995 stipulating that the United States must relocate its diplomatic presence to Jerusalem unless the commander in chief issues a waiver on national security grounds.
Key national security advisers — including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — have urged caution, according to the officials, who said Trump has been receptive to some of their concerns.
The concerns are real: Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital could be viewed as America discarding its longstanding neutrality and siding with Israel at a time that the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been trying to midwife a new peace process into existence. Trump, too, has spoken of his desire for a "deal of the century" that would end Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
U.S. officials, along with an outside adviser to the administration, said they expected a broad statement from Trump about Jerusalem's status as the "capital of Israel." The president isn't planning to use the phrase "undivided capital," according to the officials. Such terminology is favored by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and would imply Israel's sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians seek for their own future capital.
Jerusalem includes the holiest ground in Judaism. But it's also home to Islam's third-holiest shrine and major Christian sites, and forms the combustible center of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Any perceived harm to Muslim claims to the city has triggered volatile protests in the past, both in the Holy Land and across the Muslim world.
Within the Trump administration, officials on Tuesday fielded a flood of warnings from allied governments.
The Jerusalem declaration notwithstanding, one official said Trump would insist that issues of sovereignty and borders must be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians. The official said Trump would call for Jordan to maintain its role as the legal guardian of Jerusalem's Muslim holy places, and reflect Israel and Palestinian wishes for a two-state peace solution.
Still, any U.S. declaration on Jerusalem's status ahead of a peace deal "would harm peace negotiation process and escalate tension in the region," Saudi Arabia's King Salman told Trump Tuesday, according to a Saudi readout of their telephone conversation. Declaring Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the king said, "would constitute a flagrant provocation to all Muslims, all over the world."
In his calls to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II, Trump delivered what appeared to be identical messages of intent. Both leaders warned Trump that moving the embassy would threaten Mideast peace efforts and security and stability in the Middle East and the world, according to statements from their offices. The statements didn't speak to Trump's plans for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the head of the Arab League, urged the U.S. to reconsider any recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, warning of "repercussions." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Parliament such recognition was a "red line" and that Turkey could respond by cutting diplomatic ties with Israel.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he reminded Trump in a phone call Monday that Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations on setting up an independent Palestine alongside Israel. Meeting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said actions undermining peace efforts "must be absolutely avoided."
Despite Trump's comments to world leaders, U.S. officials said an embassy announcement wasn't seen as imminent. Instead, they said Trump on Wednesday would likely sign a waiver pushing off any announcement of moving the embassy to Jerusalem for another six months.
Trump also will give wide latitude to his ambassador in Israel, David Friedman, to make a determination on when a Jerusalem embassy would be appropriate, according to the officials. Friedman has spoken in favor of the move.
Majdi Khaldi, Abbas' diplomatic adviser, said Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital could end Washington's role as mediator.
"This would mean they decided, on their own, to distance themselves from efforts to make peace," Khaldi told The Associated Press in perhaps the most sharply worded reaction by a Palestinian official. He said such recognition would lead the Palestinians to eliminate contacts with the United States.
Changing Jerusalem's status would be "a stab in the back," Husam Zomlot, the Palestinians' chief delegate to Washington, told the AP.
Palestinian political factions led by Abbas' Fatah movement called for daily protest marches this week, starting Wednesday. East Jerusalem, now home to more than 300,000 Palestinians, was captured by Israel in 1967 and then annexed in a move most of the international community has not recognized.
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Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Karin Laub in Amman, Jordan; Josh Lederman in Brussels; Matthew Pennington and Bradley Klapper in Washington; Elaine Ganley in Paris; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Aya Batrawy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
POLITICS: Osinbajo visits Adamawa State over death of 95 persons
Vice president of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo visited Dong village in Anambra State, one of the villages attacked and burnt on Monday by militant herdsmen where over 45 corpses.
The Hama Batta, Alhamdu Teneke, told Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who was on a visit to the troubled communities on Tuesday that over 45 corpses had been given a mass burial in the community.
Also, youths in Numan alleged that fighter jets of the Nigerian Air Force killed over 50 residents through air bombardment of the community.
It is believed that over 100 might have been killed in the invasion of about five villages in the Numan area of the state by herdsmen.
The District Head of Dong and the village head of Lawuru, another village in the area, were also killed in the attacks.
Osinbajo said his visit to the state was to find a lasting solution to the unending killings following the clashes between the locals and Fulani herdsmen in Numan and its environs.
The VP, who held a closed-door meeting with the Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Barkindo Mustapha, at the Presidential Lodge of the Yola International Airport, condemned leaders fuelling violent conflicts in the country.
At Numan, Osinbajo met with the Hama Bachama, Col. Honest Stephen (retd.), saying “leaders, who fail to ensure peace in the land have lost the right to leadership.”
The Vice-President’s visit was nearly marred by youths who were protesting the alleged killing of over 50 residents by NAF fighter jets.
The youths, who had gathered for the mass burial of the 50 corpses reportedly killed by the fighter jets, seized the visit of the VP to converge on the palace of the paramount ruler to protest the killing of the residents by the jets.
Osinbajo said the government was particularly concerned about the casualties involving women and children.
“Every one of us, who is a leader, will know that something has gone wrong. Anybody can fight, anybody can kill, only true leaders can bring people together and make progress,” he stated.
While in Dong, one of the villages completely razed by the invaders, residents said the gunmen attacked the village in their hundreds.
Osinbajo added, “The reason why we are here is to see for ourselves. Your Excellency, what we have seen here, as you have said, is not the first time, is very sad, that lives have been lost and properties destroyed.
“The first thing of course is to find how we can compensate the loss and take immediate steps and make sure that NEMA immediately supplies relief materials and also restores some things destroyed to the state where they were before the destruction and that is the reason the President has sent me here.’’
“We must ensure perpetrators of violence are prevented with every power at our disposal. This is the time to come together to make progress as a people. There is no reason why we should allow so much poverty and all we are doing is fighting and killing each other. No reason.
“Our role is to provide security and resources so that everybody can enjoy their lives as citizens of this country.”
Source: ( Punch Newspaper )
POLITICS: 2019: Senate President, Saraki speaks on dumping APC for PDP
Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has said that he will not dump the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The Senate President spoke with Punch through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, on Tuesday.
He pointed out that as a founding father of the APC, he would remain in the party.
He said, “There is nothing like that and there is nothing to suggest that. Every member must come from somewhere. Are you going to ask the President [Muhammadu Buhari] whether he would go back to the Congress for Progressive Change?
“You’re not going to ask Asiwaju [Bola Tinubu] whether he will return to the Action Congress of Nigeria.
“Everybody has where they are coming from. As far as my principal is concerned, he is a founding father of this party. There is nothing like that.”
The former Governor of Kwara State was among 10 other members of the Senate, who on January 29, 2014, announced their defection from the PDP to the APC.
The 11 lawmakers had written to the then Senate President, Senator David Mark, to officially declare their defection.
A former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar had over a week ago announced his resignation from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and last weekend he officially returned to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
His move prompted speculations that other APC bigwigs may also dump the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.
TECHNOLOGY: Here Are Some Reasons Why Your Smartphone Gets Hot And Drain Battery
Leaving your phone directly to the sun, is not the only way your phone can get hot. Moreover, we are no longer in the summer and this doesn’t mean your phone cannot get hot when using it. There are many reasons and problems causing the phone to drain battery.
The main truth is that, there’s no true fact on why phone gets hot because many things causes it but it’s well known that metal devices usually get hot than glass devices by heat conductivity.
We all use removable or non-removable battery and it can cause big problem to the smartphone, if it gets worse. It’s not safe to hold hot smartphone on your hand and at the same, still stay confortable pressing it.
It is normal for your phone to get hot a little when it does multiple tasks
If your phone gets hot above normal degree, there’s no cause for alarm. If it persists while running game or heavy applications, it’s still normal. After closing the apps for some time, and it still gets hot, then you can worry.
There are many reasons why your phone gets hot and they are: multi-tasking, having a too tight case (pouch), installing an unofficial ROM or using a charger in poor condition. It is not safe to charge your phone with a bad charger.
1. Unofficial ROM – For the installation of an unofficial ROM, it could possibly affect some part of the code which will make the processor not work well. It is recommended you install the official ROM or any other one you trust that won’t result in a problem.
2. Using a too tight pouch or case can cause your smartphone to get hot – Even though our phone doesn’t have cooling systems or fan, it does have an air vent, charging port and loudspeaker. Our phone will get hotter if all these are covered with case or pouch.
3. Leave your phone in dry places and don’t use it while charging – It may sound funny, but we have to be careful of where we put our phone. If you are used to placing your phone on top of the computer, on the television, under the bed lamp or on appliances like refrigerator or microwave definitely the temperature of your phone will increase and much more if it is in charge.
Generally, it is not advisable to use your phone while charging, since it will delay the charging and also increase the temperature which will put your phone at high risk.
Hope this article is helpful? Kindly take your time to share and drop your comments.
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