Living Life Fully ..... Episode 4

                                                            Today's quotation:

Dreams are renewable.  No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
Dale Turner


Meditation:
It's kind of funny how we tend to believe in the idea that once we reach a certain age, things should be "set."  We should be in the same home that we plan on dying in, we should be in the job that we're going to retire from, and for the sake of "stability," we should be happy with these things and not rock the boat any more.  But is this dynamic really caused by a desire for stability, or by a fear of the unknown if we dare to do something different and possibly "lose" our home and the stability we so cherish?
If there really are "untapped possibilities within us," shouldn't we want to bring them out?  Wouldn't our lives be much richer and fuller if we were living up to our potential instead of continuing to live a life that we set up years ago when we were younger and not really thinking about our potential and our dreams?  Most of us put our dreams on hold because we end up caring for a family and providing for its stability, which is a very worthy and noble goal in itself.  But what happens when all the children have moved out and the only ones left at home to care for are ourselves?
This type of venture isn't for everyone, of course, but if you're in a position in which you have the chance to reach out and try to make your dreams come alive, then why not take the chance?
How will we ever know what we can do with our dreams--what kind of people we can become as we work at making them realities and giving birth to new beauty?  Life often gives us chances to take risks and make our dreams come alive, but if we've learned to avoid risks, there's much beauty that never will make its way into the world.  And that's a shame.


For further thought:

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.  Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. 

20 Awkward Photos to Commemorate the 3rd Anniversary of the Royal Wedding

Cultural dances, giraffe feedings, and a prince that eats paper?

It's been a wild three years since the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tied the knot on April 29, 2011.

The duo have accomplished a lot since saying "I do," including bringing us chubby cheeks Prince George, embarking on three royal tours, renovating their posh pad at Kensington Palace, and successfully winning the hearts of royal watchers everywhere with their lovey-dovey moments and down-to-earth attitudes.

But perhaps what makes Kate and Will most endearing is the many awkward encounters they've had during their numerous public appearances. It's safe to say that Kate didn't sign up to pet a porcupine or do every activity under the sun in heels – but nonetheless, she did it with a smile. Since we could only imagine what the pair was thinking during some of their more embarrassing royal moments, we attempted to put words into their mouths.

Happy anniversary to our favorite royals.

 

 

Lukas Podolski & Mesut Ozil spotted in Arsenal training wearing mystery adidas boots

 

It's not every day that you see a pair of mystery boots out in the open on the feet of professional footballers. It's even rarer to see two pairs of mystery boots on the feet of two professional footballers, captured on camera, during training.

Over the last couple week-and-a-half, we've seen just that with Arsenal's Mesut Özil and Lukas Podolski doing just that. The pair of Germany internationals are sporting a pair of adidas prototypes in what may well be the first peak at the sportswear giant's next generation of football boots.


In the middle of last week, Mesut Özil was spotted in training wearing a mystery blackout boot that is interesting to say the least. The Arsenal midfielder has been an adidas wearer for the better part of the last year, making the switch from Nike and the Mercurial Vapor to the Predator Lethal Zones last July.



The new footwear that he has on may well be the next generation of that, sporting a shiny synthetic upper and a pattern of curious white dots. While there are no indications about what they are, those with attention to detail may notice the placement of the dots and note the similarities to the placement of the current lethal zones, albeit in a tighter pattern.


If that wasn't curious enough, this week we saw Ozil's teammate on two fronts, Lukas Podolski, wearing an entirely different pair of boots. Podolski, like Ozil, wears adidas boots but unlike the midfielder, the striker is a fan of the f50 series. Poldi currently wears the Earth Pack F50s but that is most definitely not what was on show in Arsenal training on Sunday, ahead of Arsenal's eventual 3-0 win against Newcastle United.



Podolski's footwear of choice is undeniably different to what his compatriot was wearing in the previous photo set. The synthetic upper of the boots features an interesting diagonal pattern but is completely smooth, barring a 3D-printed texture invisible to the camera, like on the current generation. While it's impossible to make a concrete judgement based on the photos, it is pretty easy to see the adidas Sprintframe outsole, similar tongue shape to the current f50, and a similar stud layout.

Is this the iWatch we’ve been waiting for?

 

During the company’s earning calls for each of the past few quarters, Apple CEO Tim Cook has promised that the company is getting ready to launch devices in 2014 that will see Apple enter “exciting new product categories.” With one-third of the year now behind us, Apple has thus far relaunched an old iPad model, relaunched an old iPhone model and updated its MacBook Air lineup with slightly better processors and a slightly lower prices.

In other words, we have seen nothing exciting and nothing new.

Industry watchers almost unanimously expect Apple’s first new device of the year that actually does break into an “exciting new product category” to be the much rumored iWatch. Apple has hinted numerous times that it is getting ready to enter the wearables market, and rumors suggest it will do so with a pair of smartwatches powered by iOS.

We have seen a number of graphic designers envision an Apple smartwatch, and many of the designs have been quite impressive. They have also been fairly complex, however, and many of them don’t look like watches at all.

But perhaps Apple’s iWatch would be best-positioned to succeed if the company keeps things simple.

German Apple fan blog Apple Page teamed up with graphic designer Eric Huisman to create a mock-up of an iWatch that keeps its design simple and elegant, letting the software do most of the talking.

Is this the iWatch we have been waiting for?

Let us know what you think of Huisman’s design in the quick one-question poll below, and check out a few more images of the design beneath the poll.

Kenyan president signs polygamy law

 

When the bill was passed last month, female members of parliament stormed out of the session in fury after a heated debate

Nairobi (AFP) - A law allowing men in Kenya to marry as many women as they want was signed into law Tuesday by President Uhuru Kenyatta, despite criticism from women's groups.

A statement from the presidency confirmed that the bill, which it said "consolidates various laws relating to marriage", had been signed into law.

The bill, which amended existing legislation, was passed by parliament last month to formalise traditional practice regarding marrying more than one person.

"Marriage is the voluntary union of a man and a woman, whether in a monogamous or polygamous union," the presidential statement added.

The initial bill had given a wife the right to veto the husband's choice, but male members of parliament overcame party divisions to push through a text that dropped this clause.

When the bill was passed last month, female members of parliament stormed out of the session in fury after a heated debate.

The National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK), which groups more than 40 churches and Christian organisations from across the east African nation, has also spoken out against the bill.

The national Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA Kenya) has also said it would mount a legal challenge against the law.

"We know that men are afraid of women's tongues more than anything else," female legislator Soipan Tuya told fellow MPs when the bill was passed.

"But at the end of the day, if you are the man of the house, and you choose to bring on another party -- and they may be two or three -- I think it behoves you to be man enough to agree that your wife and family should know," she added.

As in many parts of Africa, polygamy is common among traditional communities in Kenya, as well as in the country's Muslim community, which accounts for up to a fifth of the population.

Many have said the legislation merely acknowledges something that is already widespread.

"When you marry an African woman, she must know the second one is on the way, and a third wife... this is Africa," MP Junet Mohammed told the house during debate on the bill.

Women are not allowed to marry more than one man.

German Catholic Priest, Stefan Hartmann, Asks Pope Francis To Waive His Vow Of Celibacy

German priest Stefan Hartmann has sent a personal petition to Pope Francis asking him to waive his vow of celibacy, which he posted on his Facebook page.
 
As Francis continues his leadership of the Catholic Church, many have wondered whether there will be a change in the requirement of priestly celibacy, a practice which has gone on for hundreds of years.

Hartmann secretly fathered a daughter in 1989, eight years after he took his vow of celibacy, reports The Local.de. He revealed her existence on a televised talk show in January of this year, causing his superiors to ask him to step down from his position. However, he seeks a path which will allow him to remain a priest while raising his daughter in a family.

In the letter, Hartmann asked to be released from the traditional oath "in acknowledgement of my weaknesses and failures, with all due humility and after long consideration of my conscience and personal situation."

In another post about priestly celibacy, Hartmann argues that allowing Catholic priests to remain ordained outside of celibacy vows would "bring solutions and relief in many cases."

"There is a human right to partnership, marriage and parenthood, even if you can forego it willingly for religious reasons,” he said.

Hartmann also believes that abolishing the requirement for priestly celibacy could encourage more young Catholics to enter the priesthood, at a time when numbers are flagging.

Francis reportedly addressed the issue last week during a conversation with a bishop from Brazil, Austrian-born Erwin Krautler. Krautler's diocese faces a shortage of priests, with just 27 meeting the needs of 700,000 Catholics. According to Krautler, "The pope explained that he could not take everything in hand personally from Rome. We local bishops, who are best acquainted with the needs of our faithful, should be ‘corajudos,’ that is ‘courageous’ in Spanish, and make concrete suggestions."

Francis' secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, also seemed open to the idea of discussing a change in the policy towards married priests when he explained last fall that celibacy "is not a church dogma and it can be discussed because it is a church tradition.”

Eastern Catholic churches in the Middle East and Europe ordain married men, a practice which has gone on for hundreds of years. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI allowed married Anglican converts to become Catholic priests.

German media outlets reported that the response to Hartmann's letter has been largely postive. The Vatican has yet to respond.

Gareth Bale: This is why I came to 'biggest club in the world' Real Madrid

 

Gareth Bale says Real Madrid 's 4-0 thrashing of Bayern Munich on Tuesday proved why he was right to join "the biggest club in the world" last summer.

Sergio Ramos opened the scoring on the night with two goals early in the first half before Cristiano Ronaldo scored a double of his own, breaking Lionel Messi's record for goals in a single Champions League campaign by taking his tally for the season to 16.

The 5-0 aggregate victory — following a 1-0 win at home a week ago — fires Madrid into the final of the competition for the first time since 2002 and Bale believes the holder's style played into Madrid's hands as it moved a step closer to its 10th European title.

"It's a fantastic result for us," the Welshman told ITV . "I think we've been working hard, we got our tactics right and I thought we played very well tonight and deserved the win.

"I suppose they played into our hands. They always leave space on the counterattacking, which we like. We've got quick players and we have to exploit that. It was a great performance and we're happy to be in the final now. But there's still one step to go.

 

 

"You have to do certain jobs for the team in certain games and everyone put in 100 percent tonight. No matter who it was, they put in a performance and it showed in the result. This is definitely why I came to Madrid. This is why I wanted to come to the biggest club in the world. To win trophies, to win massive games. We still haven't won it yet, we've got a difficult game in the final whoever it may be and we're looking forward to it."

Carlo Ancelotti's men will face Chelsea or Atletico Madrid in May's Champions League final.

How yoga could save a 1,500-pound manta ray

A team of 'eco avengers' collaborate to create an image they hope will inspire conservation efforts.

 

Prana ambassador Amy Ippoliti sidles up to a 1,500-pound manta ray in hopes of inspiring conservation efforts. Photo by Taro Smith

Sidling up to 1,500-pound wild marine animals would give most people heart palpitations—especially when they look like they could swallow you whole and not even notice. But when yogi and Prana ambassador Amy Ippoliti slipped into the warm Caribbean water this past summer to join a train of giant manta rays, she felt something different: awe.
Ippoliti’s underwater rendezvous was a chance to showcase the interspecies connection between man and animal, something she hopes will help people understand that these giant animals are worth preserving and protecting—which is becoming tougher than ever due to overfishing. Manta rays are harvested globally in unsustainable numbers by organized fishing programs; fishermen are after their gill rakers (the rays use these to gather food), which are in high demand in China for their medicinal properties despite the fact that there is no proof they can cure anything at all.



Says photographer Taro Smith, the man behind the shot above, activists tend to gravitate to one of two ends of the spectrum: those waiting patiently for financial viability and those who use action such as shock journalism to initiate change. In fact, it was during a stint documenting the gruesome practice of shark finning—wherein a fisherman hacks off a shark’s fin, then throws the shark back into the water, where it will later die—that the team first realized the need for a new approach to photojournalism and began talking with renown underwater photographer Shawn Heinrichs about how they could incorporate art with new approaches to conservation. “Where do artists and yogis use their tools to make a difference?” Smith asks. “We’re trying to use art to do that.”

Smith and Heinrichs recruited fellow “eco avenger” Ippoliti to be the face of the project, an idea inspired by a fashion shoot the duo worked on with Kristian Schmidt where models posed in close proximity to whale sharks. They saw firsthand the response garnered by the first shoot and decided to showcase Ippoliti’s talents with an equally impressive animal. “It was a natural fit to get yogis involved; they’re always down for a good cause,” laughs Smith. Ippoliti spent the next eight months training in a pool in Boulder, Colorado, swimming and doing breathing exercises while the photographers did test shots. Then, after five days floating around the Caribbean, the animals—and the picture-perfect moment—arrived.

“This is my favorite shot,” says Smith of the photo, a still of Ippoliti peacefully engaged in an underwater yoga pose beside the manta ray. “There are others that might be more technically perfect, but that one captures this giant looping magnificent creature that most people are kind of afraid of.”
Smith and Ippoliti hope that the picture draws people into the conservation efforts using curiosity instead of shock-and-awe tactics. Ippoliti suggests sticking to the following to help protect these marine giants:

• Avoid eating fish when possible and use the app Seafood Watch to ensure you’re being served the most sustainable species when you are eating out or shopping for fish.
• Read pet-food labels to make sure fish ingredients are from sustainable species, and never flush commercial, non-biodegradable cat litter down the toilet.
• Boycott restaurants with shark-fin soup on the menu.
• Buy organic produce to avoid the pesticides on regular plant products, which can run into rivers and oceans.
• Carry a reusable water bottle and try to avoid purchasing food in plastic containers.
• Pick up litter on the sand and in the water when you’re at the beach
• Consider supporting organizations like WildAid, Manta Ray of Hope, Shark Savers, or the Oceanic Preservation Foundation.

 

Polytechnic Lecturers & Students Protest in Abuja Over their 10 Months Old Strike! *PHOTOS*

The lecturers and a few perplexed students, went on a peaceful protest in Abuja today Tuesday April 29th! They first gathered at the Eagle Square early this morning to protest non implementation of the agreement made by the both Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) and the Federal Government and later marched down to the Ministry of Education where Minister of Labour Emeka Wogu addressed them  and promised that their grievances would be addressed.

     They were however dissatisfied with the promise and later headed toward the National Assembly complex where a protest letter was billed to be submitted to the both the Senate and House of Representatives leadership, his was when armed policemen fired tear gas canisters and used hot water hoses to disperse them

 

Former Gov. Peter Obi Gave Senators New Cars So that He Could Be Appointed as Minister of Aviation?

 

I saw this report on Sahara Reporters and decided to bring the gist here... Please read below;

President Goodluck Jonathan has promised the post of Aviation Minister to Mr. Obi who in mid-March finished his second term as governor. Mr. Obi, a leader of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA), is in line to be rewarded with a cabinet post for his political loyalty to the incumbent president.

But Mr. Obi has been handing out cars and cash to senators after discovering that there was significant opposition to him within the ruling party. After his exit from Government House, Awka, Mr. Obi’s name was touted as a potential government appointee, first as a replacement for Pius Anyim, a former senator and current Secretary of the Federal Government who is believed to be seriously weighing a governorship race in Ebonyi State. But several political heavyweights within the PDP moved against Mr. Obi, two sources in the party said. 

       One source disclosed that several of the PDP’s top members, including its national chairman, voiced their stance that an original member of the party, specifically Jerry Ugokwe, should be tipped to take any post for which Mr. Obi was being considered.

“It is true that Chief Obi helped us in the presidential election, but he is still a member of another party,Why should we bypass somebody like Ambassador [Jerry] Ugokwe to give a plum job to a man from another party?a source said.

SR sources revealed that Mr. Obi also faced opposition from many PDP and non-PDP figures from Anambra because of what they termed the divisive politics he introduced in his home state during his eight-year governorship. 

The former governor was seen as the arrowhead of a toxic kind of politics that pitched Roman Catholics against Anglicans, Anambra South against Anambra North, and some traditional rulers against others. 

In addition, Mr. Obi was criticized for manipulating ethnic sentiments in Anambra State, even though the headquarters of his business group is in the southwest, specifically Apapa, Lagos in Lagos State, and he used his years in office to build one of the biggest malls in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

SR sources said the combined efforts of PDP leaders and Mr. Anyim may have made President Jonathan to shelve the nomination of Mr. Obi as minister.

Wary of political intrigues that were threatening to sideline him completely, Mr. Obi launched his counter-move. 

He started giving away several Ford SUVs he had bought in the last few months of his governorship and which he carted away from the Anambra State Government House after he stepped down. A reliable source said Mr. Obi first gave one car each to senators from the southeast, one to the Deputy Senate President, Ekweremadu, and two to the Senate President, David Mark.

The gifts, which SR sources portrayed as auto-for-minister bribery, are aimed at softening senators whenever Mr. Obi’s name is submitted for approval as a minister.

Mr. Obi publicly portrays himself as a miser, but insiders in Anambra and Abuja say he is a big player in corrupt deals. In June, 2009, one of his closest aides, Valentine Obienyem, was caught in Lagos along with police officers attached to Government House, Awka as they hauled N250 million in cash in a government vehicle that traveled by road from Awka to Lagos. A former commissioner in Mr. Obi’s administration told SR that the former governor transferred between “security vote” funds of N250 million and N300 million each month from Anambra State to the Apapa headquarters of Next International, the ex-governor’s company.

Embarrassed by the police interception, Mr. Obi and his aides could not offer a tidy explanation of the source of the funds. A top political source in Anambra disclosed that Mr. Obi evaded prosecution by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because of his close ties to then President Umaru Yar’Adua. In addition, he went unpunished by massively bribing the former Inspector General of Police, Michael Okiro, EFCC chairperson Farida Waziri, members of the Anambra state legislature, and many of Nigeria’s editors and reporters.

President Jonathan and Mr. Obi developed a close personal friendship and political alliance because of the former governor’s habit of befriending any president in power. Mr. Obi sang the praises of former President Olusegun Obasanjo at a time when most Nigerians were very critical of the Obasanjo Presidency. When Nigerians were disappointed in President Umaru Yar’Adua and called him “President Go-Slow,” Governor Obi ran to the defense of the ineffectual and ailing man. Mr. Obi stated that he and the now deceased ruler had a similar style of governance, claiming that Mr. Yar’Adua was first devoting time and energy to making solid plans as a prelude to implementation.

A source close to Mr. Obi told SaharaReporters that the former governor promised President Jonathan that APGA would not field a candidate in the 2011 presidential election. “The governor made sure that APGA focused on securing decisive victory for Mr. President in Anambra and the entire southeast,” said the source.

- See more at: http://www.definitelykingsley.com/2014/04/former-gov-peter-obi-gave-senators-new.html#sthash.q63m9tjP.dpuf

How did this fan burst into flames during a match?

This incredibly scary picture comes from Poland and a match played between Śląsk Wrocław and Zagłębie Lubin in Poland's top division – the Ekstraklasa.

The photograph was taken by Sebastian Borowski of the Newspix agency and published in Polish tabloid newspaper Fakt.

It shows the incredible moment a Zagłębie Lubin fan momentarily burst into flames while standing on a fence waving a flare.

A steward decided to walk over to the fan and fire tear gas at him, clearly not knowing anything about how combining such chemicals work, and as a result the fan burst into flames.

 

Amazingly the fan ran away after the incident seemingly unhurt.

 

You can see the fan with the flare climb up on the fence on the left hand corner of the screen and light his flare at about 40 seconds.

 Then at about 1:40 you can see the steward run up to him and fire his tear gas, engulfing the fan momentarily in flames, before the fan runs away.

 

Borowski captured more incredible pictures from the game that you can view on the Fakt website.