What in the world is going on in Nigeria? It’s been one terrible news after the other. First, I received this really, really gruesome pictures of the utmost display of human brutality. Armed bandits stopped a bus full of travelers on the Lagos- Benin expressway and asked them to give up their money. Those who had money on them gave it up. But the horrible aspect of this story is that the gangsters then asked the passengers who had no money to give to lie down on the road and forced the driver of the bus to drive over these poor innocent passengers who were just trying to get home or their loved ones! Continue reading →
Posted in Africa, Civil Society, Nigeria, Political Economy, Politics, Underdevelopment
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Tagged Bandits, Barbarism, Billions Of Dollars, Brutality, Corrupt Practices, Gangsters, Godfathers, House Of Assembly, Lagos, Medical Attention, Naija, Oil Revenue, Saudi Arabia, Thuggery
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I’ve heard about it for quite some time but always thought it was one of those stories you can never verify. Until I experienced it first hand at a major clinic in Round Rock, TX. Imagine going to a hospital and no matter what ailment brought you to the hospital, you are always required to have “lab work”. Strange. Even more strange is when those lab results always turn up wrong or with bogus results that throws off any reasonable diagnosis. This creates a situation where you are made to do the “lab work” over. But you end up paying twice – co-pay and all. Continue reading →
Posted in Education, Law and Ethics, Policy
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Tagged Austin Regional Clinic, Billing Mistakes, Billing Scam, Clinical Laboratory Tests, Double Billing, False Diagnosis, Federal Government, Healthcare Billing, Hospital Bills, Improper Activities, Medical Billing Advocates
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This week, it was revealed that retail giant Walmart and H&M took capitalist greed to a new level by slashing and burning what they could not sell. For these pillars of capitalism, instead of taking unsold items to sample sales or donating them to people in need (and there are many, especially in these very tough economic times where one-third of New York City’s population is poor), H&M and Wal-Mart have been throwing them out in giant trash bags. For good measure and to ensure that people who stumble on these bags of unsold items do not try to keep or re-sell them, these companies have gone ahead and slashed up garments, cut off the sleeves of coats, and sliced holes in shoes so they are unwearable. Continue reading →
Posted in Civil Society, Economy, Law and Ethics, Poverty
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Tagged Borders Bookstore, Capitalism, Coats, Compassion, Cop, Cotton Balls, Developing Countries, Discard and Destroy, Economic Times, Garments, Good Measure, Greed, H&M, Instep, Jordan Marsh, Macy's, Mary Jane, Patent Leather, Pillars, Poverty, Sam Goody, School Shoes, Trash Bags, Unused Merchandise, Wal Mart, Walmart, Warm Socks
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“We will not succumb to a siege mentality that sacrifices the open society and liberties and values that we cherish as Americans, because great and proud nations don’t hunker down and hide behind walls of suspicion and mistrust. That is exactly what our adversaries want, and so long as I am president, we will never hand them that victory. We will define the character of our country, not some band of small men intent on killing innocent men, women and children” – President Barack Obama
That mindset and mentality is to be applauded. However, the incident that prompted the president to make that statement has to send some chills through the spine of most people all over the world. It is chilling because while many people are breathing a sigh of relief that “no-one was badly hurt”, we seem to totally miss the point that this could easily have turned out in a very ugly way – like American fighter jets raining five thousand ton bombs on Abuja kind of ugly. Continue reading →
Posted in Africa, Conflict Resolution, Europe, Foreign Policy, Law and Ethics, Middle East, Nigeria, Politics
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Tagged American Fighter Jets, Barack Obama, Ineptitude, Intelligence Agencies, Intelligence Report, National Security, Siege Mentality
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For all intent and purpose, it is safe to say that as long as Obama is president, he can rule out any contributions from most of the leadership of the Republican Party. I will actually go further and say it right now, that the Republican Party and its supporters are Fifth Columnist who are willing to engage in espionage or sabotage within our national borders with the intent of undermining the government from within and bringing down the Obama administration. In the course of this “Obama must fail” campaign, the right-wing master puppeteers of the Republican Party are blind to the national security implications of their opposition to anything the current administration wants to do.
Posted in Civil Society, Constitutionalism, Foreign Policy, Law and Ethics
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Tagged Current Administration, Espionage, Fifth Columnist, Leadership, Master Puppeteers, National Borders, National Security Implications, Republican Opposition, Republican Party, Right Wing, Sabotage
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