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Fraser-Pryce won the women's 100m final in Beijin

Rather than winning medals, Team Nigeria’s participation at the 2015 IAAF World Championships was tainted with controversy, as other nations and athletes proved their mettle at the games, reports ’TANA AIYEJINA
Prior to the 2015 International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Beijing, Nigeria had managed eight medals: four silver and four bronze, since the competition began in 1983.

It didn’t look like it was going to change in China. The women’s 4x400m relay team will compete on the final day (today) of the competition, the country’s last chance of winning a medal in Beijing.
Despite making the long trip to China with 17 athletes, sprinter and captain of the team, Blessing Okagbare, was the only athlete with a realistic chance of mounting the podium once again.
Okagbare was scheduled to compete in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events in Beijing. After a poor outing in the 100m final, where she emerged last, a hamstring injury reportedly stopped her from competing in the 200m. She also failed to compete in the 4x100m relays for women.
In the high jump event, Doreen Amata (women) and Tosin Oke (men) managed a final place finish while the likes of Weyinmi Lindsay (100m hurdles), Amaka Ogoegbunam (400m hurdles) and Tega Odele (200m) only made up the numbers in their events.
Olympian Christy Opara-Thompson said the poor showing of the Nigerian team didn’t come as a surprise to her.
The Barcelona ’92 Olympic Games 4x100m bronze medallist said poor preparations, as always, was the country’s undoing in Beijing.
“Lack of preparations has always been the bane of our sports and it saddens me when we repeat the same thing. This is not a mistake, it’s an act of negligence.
“Nigeria should be in the class of the US, Jamaica and Bahamas because we are all blacks. We are even better endowed than the Kenyans but we don’t prepare adequately for competitions,” Opara-Thompson, a gold medallist at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, said.
She added, “As a country, we are big enough to produce three teams. We should have been competing with our Team B in Bejing, while Team A and B should be used for the Olympics and the All Africa Games. But we’ve bluntly refused to do the right thing. What goes into their pockets is the right thing,”
She believed the over-reliance on Okagbare also affected the team.
She added, “It does not make sense to celebrate Blessing alone. Where are the others? A tree cannot make a forest. In my time, we had at least eight athletes in each event. If you were out, others will take your place.
“But we now have a situation where we have only Blessing; once she’s injured, it’s over for Nigeria.”
Controversies
As has become the norm in international competitions, Team Nigeria’s participation in Beijing did come with its controversies.
First, the alleged exclusion of up-and-coming triple jumper Olumide Olamigoke, who got a wild card to compete in Beijing, by the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, raised eyebrows back home.
No doubt, Okagbare was seen as Nigeria’s major medal hopeful. However, after a disappointing performance in the 100m final, where she placed 8th in 11.02secs, athletics buffs were hoping she would make up in the 200m event.
But she failed to show up in the 200m heats sparking a major controversy both in China and in Nigeria. While the AFN said a relapse of a hamstring injury prevented the Beijing 2008 bronze medallist from participating, rumours filtered in from Beijing that the athlete was not injured.
“A hamstring injury during warm-up on Wednesday prevented Blessing Okagbare from participating in the heats of the 200m,” a statement from AFN read.
But Okagbare opened a new angle to the controversy, when she slammed her critics and those she claimed wished she tested positive to drugs, on her Facebook page.
She wrote, “… As for the snakes blowing the trumpet and wishing I have tested positive to drugs, keep wishing for your own downfall because I am more than what, a foolish journalist, critics, haters and those who call me Warri instead of Nigeria when I don’t win, are made of.
“I am self-motivated, confident and work hard which I am extremely proud of and, I owe no one an explanation, win or lose. Not everyone who opens their mouth to talk or write with a pen in the name of journalism, have their sanity intact and they know themselves.”
AFN boss, Solomon Ogba, also condemned journalists for lighting the fire of controversy.
“Imagine a reporter who was not anywhere near Beijing claiming that AFN officials were shocked when Blessing Okagbare pulled out from the 200m. That is outright falsehood. Okagbare was injured, we all saw it; we invited our medical people and IAAF medical people, they did a scan and they advised that she should not run,” he said.
Olusoji Fasuba, an ex-Nigerian athlete, also backed Okagbare.
He stated, “People that say Okagbare is a flop should refrain from using such words. Instead they should ask themselves what they have achieved in life or even in Nigeria.
“She is a blessing to Nigeria in a time when athletics is at its weakest and journalists should celebrate her as she did get into the finals and is among the top eight in the world.”
The ‘war’ didn’t end there. In fact, more wonders started unfolding. No football fan would imagine the Super Eagles participate in a World Cup without a coach.
Alas, it happened in Team Nigeria’s camp in Beijing. Women’s long jump finalist, Doreen Amata, didn’t have a coach at the games.
Amata’s American trainer, Nat Page, is on the United States’ entourage to the championships, but the AFN left out the high jumper’s Nigerian coach, Kola Adebayo, from the trip to Beijing.
Adebayo, who has been Amata’s coach since 2013, is in Port Harcourt, in camp with Team Nigeria, for the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.
On why he was left out of the championships, Adebayo said, “Only the AFN can explain that. I’m just a coach and I adhere to directives given to me.
“It’s a technical event and she (Amata) needs someone who understands the technical aspects of the sport with her. But if the federation says they want it that way, who am I to kick against it?”
Athletes slam officials
After finishing in 8th place in the men’s triple jump final with a 16.81 metres effort on Thursday, Tosin Oke revealed that officials of the AFN, whom he described as “clueless”, owed him $2,500 prior to the event.
He also expressed disgust at the federation’s apparent interest in a particular athlete at the detriment of the others.
Asked if he actually paid for his flights to the trials in Warri, Oke said, “It’s definitely true and I’m still waiting for the refund of my flight (ticket). I’m here (Beijing), I’m being owed $2,500 by my federation, who are a bit clueless, if you ask me. They invest heavily in one person as you all know…”
He added, “It’s very tough (competing) but luckily, I’ve got a fantastic sponsor and a great family…I try to give my best all the time but it’s hard to take when you hear that one person is getting five figures and you are getting zero.”
Sprinter Gloria Asumnu blamed the AFN for the women’s 4x100m relay team’s exit in the semi-final.
The team ran 43.89 seconds — the second worst time ever by a Nigerian 400m relay team in the history of the championships — to place eighth.
Asumnu ran the first leg in the team that had Deborah Odeyemi, Stepahnie Kalu and Cecilia Francis. Okagbare should have been part of the quartet but Asumnu revealed that head coach Gabriel Okon only informed the other members of the team that Okagbare would not run on the morning of the event, which she said disrupted the rhythm of the athletes.
She wrote on her Facebook page, “Let me start by saying how utterly disappointed I am. Not so much in our performance but how team officials continue to fail us over and over. Every time we as athletes run badly or don’t qualify, the media rips us apart but fails to hold officials accountable.
“Going into this 4x100m, the four girls they put out there have not worked with each other (before). People can say,‘oh your best runner didn’t run.’ But who cares? We didn’t have a plan for that, which I expressed from day one. What will we do?
“Even our relay coach up until this meet was Maurice Greene but for whatever reasons upon arriving here he was no longer our coach… To arrive on race day to the track and have a coach tell you what you’ve known all along and then give you new leg assignments goes to show how unprepared we are as a nation. The embarrassment on a world stage is too much and disheartening.”
AAG signal
Asumnu, who was earlier scheduled to compete at the 2015 All Africa Games, has reportedly pulled out of Team Nigeria for the event in Congo.
It will surely reduce Nigeria’s medal chances in athletics in Brazzaville.
But Olympic bronze medallist, Deji Aliu, believes the country’s athletes will assert their dominance in Brazzaville despite the chaos in China.
He said, “After their performances in Beijing, the athletes’ morale would be down for sure but in Africa, we always have our way. In Congo, it’s not going to be obvious that things are wrong. Individually, the athletes will give their best.
“The only time we are exposed is when we test our strength against countries from other parts of the world. That is when we know that we are lacking.”
Perhaps Team Nigeria’s troubles in China would have drawn the attention of John Carpenter, director of the American film Big Trouble in Little China, if the scenario had taken place in 1986.
Bolt confirms supremacy over Gatlin

Bolt (2nd left) beat Gatlin (right) to 200m gold

However, as the Nigerian contingent was mired in controversy, other athletes stole the opportunity to carve a niche for themselves in Beijing.
World champion Usain Bolt again displayed why he is the king of athletics at the Bird Nest Stadium, beating closest rival Justin Gatlin in the 100m and 200m.
Javelin gold for Kenya’s Yego
Kenya’s Julius Yego won world javelin gold with the third longest throw of all time on Wednesday, a pointer that the East Africans may be coming to assert their dominance in field events.

Jessica Simpson and Tracee Ellis Ross posing together. Photo: @traceeellisross/Instagram

Can you see the resemblance?

On Saturday, Tracee Ellis Ross posted a photo to Instagram of herself posing with Jessica Simpson on a staircase. She captioned the image #sisters. Well it’s true, they are — sort of. Tracee’s younger brother Evan Ross recently married — and had a daughter, named Jagger Snow Ross — with Jessica’s little sister Ashlee. So #sistersinlaw is probably more accurate.

Despite their lack of blood relation, the pair definitely dress in a similarly glamorous fashion. The billionaire businesswoman paired a sequin little black dress with super-high stilletos. Simpson kept with the ‘70s vibe by crimping her long blonde hair and adding to the effect with an exaggerated dark smokey eye. The Blackish actress, on the other hand, went for a glitzy look as well with a funky twist. She paired disco ball-inspired leggings with a black top and floral short blazer, which she matched to a pair or red peep-toe sandals. As for her hair, she rocked some fun double buns to match her ensemble.

Miley Cyrus never fails to escape headlines — most recently, she’s been in the news for her revelation that she identifies as pansexual (a term meaning that a person is open to relationships with men, women, transgender individuals, and other gender identities). And of course, you can’t miss her in all those commercials for the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards.

But did you know that the “Wrecking Ball” singer is also a pretty dedicated fitness buff? The 22-year-old star has an in-home fitness studio, loves Pilates, practices yoga on the beach, and is regularly snapped by the paparazzi hiking in L.A. and heading to and from Hollywood’s hottest workouts.

So rather than hating (she’s just being Miley!) we’re rounding up some of the star’s best workout looks.

Associated Press and British Movietone are uploading more than a million minutes of footage to YouTube that documents the most momentous and historic events of the last 120 years. Two channels will feature more than 550,000 videos, including clips that capture first hand the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and Tiananmen Square’s “Tank Man.”

AP has built up a staggering archive over its 120 year lifespan. Alwyn Lindsey, AP’s director of international archive, said that the channels would stand as a visual encyclopedia of perhaps the most turbulent century in human history. “At AP we are always astonished at the sheer breadth of footage that we have access to, and the upload to YouTube means that, for the first time, the public can enjoy some of the oldest and most remarkable moments in history.”

People who want to use the clips in their own videos will still need to license them through AP, but the agency says the trove of videos will stand and inspiration for filmmakers. While the archive is full of tragedies like the Hindenberg disaster, we can see that even before the internet, earlier generations shared our current affinity for cat videos. One clip from 1955 features a kitten spinning on a “radiogram” turntable, while another from 1946 — appropriately featured on British Movietone’s “cute animals” playlist — is about “the world’s most patient cat” and his puppy pal.

Miley Cyrus has been very vocal about her sexuality in recent months, and now she has a new revelation: She identifies as pansexual.

The 22-year-old singer-actress spoke about her sexuality in the October issue of Elle UK, telling the magazine, “I’m very open about it — I’m pansexual. But I’m not in a relationship. I’m 22, I’m going on dates, but I change my style every two weeks, let alone who I’m with.”

Cyrus spoke about identifying as gender fluid and her open view of sexuality last month in Paper magazine. “I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age,” she said. “Everything that’s legal, I’m down with. Yo, I’m down with any adult — anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me. I don’t relate to being boy or girl, and I don’t have to have my partner relate to boy or girl.”

But pansexuality is not as commonly known of a sexual orientation than, say, bisexuality. What differentiates the two?

Pansexuality “generally means that somebody is open to either falling in love and or being sexually attracted to people of all genders,” sex researcher Debby Herbenick, PhD, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University, tells Yahoo Health.

Related: 5 Ways to Better Understand Asexuality

It’s different from bisexuality, she explains, because bisexuality suggests that there are just two genders. Pansexuals, on the other hand, are open to the idea of being drawn to people who are gender-queer or transgender, as well as those who identify as male or female.

“It just widens the scope,” explains Herbenick.

Increased awareness of pansexuality can likely be attributed to the millennials, Jean Twenge, PhD, a millennial researcher, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, and author of Generation Me, tells Yahoo Health. It seems to be linked to the generation’s desire for individualism.

4 Ways Millennials Are Different From Other Generations (in Bed)

“Labels around gender are becoming more fluid,” she says. “This fluidity around gender has an impact on sexuality as well. If we’re not going to have strict gender categories, then we’re not going to have strict sexual categories either.”

Experts say the term “pansexual” is relatively new and fairly unknown outside of sexuality research circles. But Herbenick points out that people have always been pansexual — they just didn’t know how to label it.

She estimates that less than 1 or 2 percent of the general population identifies as pansexual, but she expects that number will increase over time.

“We’ve seen that to be the case with female bisexuality,” Herbenick says. “Decades ago, far more women identified as ‘lesbian’ and less of ‘bisexual.’ Now we see very few women — 1 to 2 percent — identify as lesbian, but up to 7 percent of women identify as bisexual.”

An alsatian dog
| credits: google.com

Nosa Akenzua reports on the bizarre death of a four-month-old baby who was killed by a dog, owned by the deceased’s mother in Asaba

Maureen Akowe had every reason to be elated. At 37, she had a baby girl after three years of delayed conception. Little wonder, she christened the baby Chinonso (meaning God is near).

Like most Nigerians who belong to the middle-class, Maureen employed a nanny to help care for her baby, who was already four months old. As expected of any nursing mother, anytime she took her baby out with her, her nanny moved along.

Last Friday in Asaba, the Delta State capital, the nursing mother, who is also a housewife but a graduate of Sociology from the Delta State University, Abraka, decided to get groceries for the family especially her baby, at a nearby supermarket along Okpanam road, Asaba. She took along her baby, her nanny and an Alsatian dog, which was the only pet the family had.

For anyone who loves pets, it is not strange to see them, not only as companions, but as friends in need. Maureen must have loved her dog and decided entrusting the security of both her baby and its nanny in the care of her dog. Maybe she had done that on a number of occasions and nothing negative happened.

On this fateful day when she got to the shopping mall, she pulled over at the car park and left all the occupants of the car, including the dog, to get items inside the mall. For proper ventilation, she wound down the windows of the car and dashed inside.

While she was shopping, sources at the car park said there was a shrill cry from the nanny, who suddenly alighted from the car and ran into the mall shouting, “Madam, baby! Madam, baby!” Panic-stricken passers-by and other shoppers asked what was amiss and she led them to the car.

By then, a motley of crowd had gathered and running towards the car park. The gory sight in the car elicited shouts from them especially the women. Four-month-old Chinonso, had its stomach ripped open with blood splattered on the car seat and the clothes used to wrap it. The dog, on the other hand, stood towering over the baby with blood stains on its mouth!

Taken aback by the crowd, the dog started barking ferociously and wanted to attack. Promptly, two security guards from the mall took the dog and chained it. It still kept barking and tried to scare away any attacker from the crowd.

“Na Madam carry dog put for car and talk say make I stay inside car with dog and baby,” the nanny, who identified herself as Ifeoma Chinedu, quickly told the angry crowd who wanted to know what went wrong inside the car.

“Madam talk say she dey carry dog go veterinary clinic. Na as I sit inside car the dog move close and want to bite Chinonso (baby). I shout when I see say the dog open him mouth. As I shout, the dog no hear me and I come run comot make I go call Madam. But she dey inside supermarket and no hear me. She no come outside here on time,” the nanny, who claimed to hail from one of the eastern states, concluded in tears.

While all these went on, the mother of the baby had arrived and was in tears. Obviously distraught, she rolled on the floor and kept shouting, “Chinonso!Chinonso! Chinonso!” She quickly took her baby and ran. But some sympathisers took hold of her and the baby to avoid running into any oncoming vehicle. They rushed the baby, who was bleeding from the stomach, to a nearby hospital along Nnebisi road.

The baby died before they could get to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the dog was in chains and kept away from the angry mob who wanted to kill it. They alleged witchcraft and that the dog was an evil agent.

When SUNDAY PUNCH visited the family house of the Akowes, sympathisers thronged the place. Patrick Akowe, father of the deceased four-month-old baby, who is a car dealer in Asaba, alleged that his wife killed the baby. According to him, Maureen had a premonition on July 13, 2015, of what the dog did to their baby.

“My wife had told me of a horrible dream she had of the dog she brought to this house,” he narrated tearfully.

“She said in the dream, the dog and the baby were seen on a big tree playing and all of a sudden, the dog kicked the baby from the tree and the baby fell and died. I screamed when she told me this dream and warned that the dog should be removed from the house. Few days later, my wife’s aunt, one Madam Beatrice Okonkwo, visited the house and while our interaction lasted, she claimed the dog was a guardian angel and on no account should the dog be sent out. After a while, I told my wife that the dog had started behaving in funny ways and should be taken away from our home but she said she would take it to the veterinary doctor for treatment.”

For a couple who had waited three years after marriage before having a baby, Akowe’s pains could not be imagined.

the distressed father added, “I was in my office when I got a call that a dog had eaten my baby at the supermarket. Initially, I was confused and when I saw everything, I decided that I have nothing to do with Maureen, my wife, again. That was her first and only child and because of the confession made by her relations indicating a witchcraft activity, I see the death of my baby as mysterious. I do not think I can have anything to do with her again.

“My wife said it is the devil’s work and the devil has succeeded in taking her out of my house. I have warned her about the dog but she did not listen.”

However, neither the distraught mother nor any of her relatives in Asaba could be contacted as of the time of filing this report. She had packed out of her matrimonial home.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs. Celestina Kalu, said the woman (Maureen) was earlier interrogated. “She claimed that she was taking the dog to the vet for treatment when it wreaked havoc on her baby. We are still investigating the incidence while the dog is being kept in police custody for further investigation. We really want to know the root cause of the incident,” she said.

Most dog fatalities are often children —NVMA chairman

In this interview with MOTUNRAYO JOEL, Chairman, the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, Lagos Chapter, Dr. Alao Mobolaji, talks about the safety measures owners should enforce when keeping a pet

Is it advisable to keep pets at home or even carry them along in a car?

Pets are called domestic animals. This means they can freely live with humans. However, there are certain measures that should be put in place to allow dogs, for example, to move freely around the house. These measures are to protect the owns and members of the public.

What protective measures should owners put in place whenever they are carrying their dogs along in a car?

First, the dog should be properly trained and should have learned how to obey commands. It shouldn’t be a dog that’s let loose at will. In developed societies, there is something called responsible dog ownership certificate. This means the dog has complied with obedience commands to a certain extent and is able to move freely within the environment. Another protective measure is that the dog should be properly leeched before putting it in a car. Anything can happen even if the dog is an obedient dog.

Are there signs pet owners can see in pets to know they are gradually getting wild?

There are signs, if a dog’s behaviour changes, that is a sign especially if it is a dog the owner started training from birth. Although, some people train their dogs to be wild depending on what they want their dogs to do for them, but there are some extreme situations; when a dog becomes dangerous to its owner and members of the public. Once a dog’s behaviour moves out of normalcy, that is a warning sign. Some dogs even experience madness.

Children like playing with pets. Is it advisable to leave them with pets?

Children like to play and they find dogs as play companion. It is the job of the owner to ensure that they are immunised against rabies and are properly trained. The owner should give it proper medicare. If the dog is an aggressive one, it shouldn’t be where children are. Most dog fatalities are often associated with children; they are the most vulnerable victims.

This article, Yellowstone comment card shows guest isn't smarter than the average bear, originally appeared on CNET.com.

You know how restaurants and hotels leave comment cards for their guests inviting customers to "please make any suggestions so that we may improve the level of service we strive to deliver" or something to that effect? Here's a little tip that some people apparently may not know: The cards don't actually mean "any" in its strictest sense. We're talking about waiters and housekeepers, not magicians and wizards.

It would be downright insane for someone who's, say, visiting a national park to expect the wildlife to considerately make an appearance simply to give visitors an interesting sight for their vacation slideshow. However, if a new viral image is to be believed, someone who paid a recent visit to Yellowstone National Park may have thought the rangers could make that happen.

A link to an Imgur account popped up on Reddit this week from someone claiming to be a friend of a Yellowstone employee. The headline: "My friend works at Yellowstone and some guests actually left this with the front desk upon checkout this morning."

Enlarge Image

"Oh, geez -- another tour bus. Time to do the grizzly shtick again. And I was just about to clock out for the day. Sigh. Never fails ."

The picture on Imgur shows a comment card for the Yellowstone National Park Lodges thanking the staff for a "wonderful" visit but also expressing the guests' disappointment that they "never saw any bears." Then they offer a suggestion for how the staff might be able to work on that for their next visit.

"Please train your bears to be where guests can see them," the note says. "This was an expensive trip to not get to see bears."

That sounds like something that might have come from the cute, creative imagination of a child who's disappointed they didn't get to shake hands with Boo-Boo. However, as you can see in the photo of the note, it clearly wasn't written by a child, or at least not by someone who's a child on the physical level.

Julena Campbell, a park ranger and spokeswoman for Yellowstone, confirmed to Crave that the park won't be able to accommodate the request. She said it's not possible to train the 674 to 839 bears in Yellowstone to buy a Day Planner or have Siri remind them to appear before guests.

"I'll hold back my laughter and say that it's not possible to train bears in Yellowstone National Park," Campbell said. "We do not train bears nor do we intend to try. That's part of what most people enjoy coming to the park for, that they are wild animals. Part of the thrill is that 'aha' or gasp when you happen to see a wild animal being a wild animal."

Campbell said she's only seen the note on the Web and that it hasn't been processed through any of the proper channels or officials at the park. She also said the note hasn't gone through Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the company that manages the park's lodges and hotels. However, she said she's gotten plenty of calls about the note since it went viral.

If anyone is planning on paying a visit to Yellowstone and hopes to see a bear or any other animal in the wild, park rangers can offer advice as to the best and safest spots for potential viewing. Campbell said bears also tend to be more active early in the morning and later in the evening.

Pearlington, Miss. residents pray at the beginning of a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. …

PEARLINGTON, MISS. — The running joke among residents of this state line community has long been “Mississippi don’t want us, and Louisiana won’t claim us.” That feeling of being snubbed only got worse when Hurricane Katrina hit 10 years ago Saturday.
“Every time you seen it on the news, it was ‘New Orleans, New Orleans, New Orleans,” said O.J. Mitchell, a Pearlington native. “They never mention the Gulf Shore.”
While the narrative for New Orleans after a decade has become one of rebirth and renewal, the same cannot be said for this small border town that saw just as much devastation. Many here acknowledge that Pearlington may physically never be the same. But just as Katrina broke their buildings, townspeople say one unexpected positive note is that the unity required for the recovery also broke a longstanding racial divide.
The Gulf Coast hamlet 40 east of New Orleans was Katrina’s ground zero. The eye of the storm pushed a 30-foot-wall of water up the Pearl River, nearly wiping out the town, which pre-Katrina had a population of about 1,700. Almost every home was reduced to rubble or deluged by water and mud.

Hurricane Katrina damaged all but two homes in Pearlington, Miss. (Courtesy: Pearllngton Impact)

“We lost the school, we lost the post office,” said Mitchell’s wife, Lucy. “We collected stuff out of the trees in the woods for a longtime.” With attention and resources going to more densely populated areas, it took search-and-rescue teams and relief organizations several days to reach Pearlington. Some residents slept in tents for six months before being issued FEMA trailers.
“New Orleans had levees fail, but we were the one that took the punch in the mouth,” said Joseph Keys, president of Pearlington Impact, a non-profit advocacy group born out of the rebuilding effort.

“The first wave that hit was higher than the bridge,” said Herb Ritchie, a Pearlington resident. “In 15 minutes, …

Ten years later, Pearlington’s population is barely 40 percent of what it was before the storm. A closet-sized post office is now located in the corner of a boat repair shop. The school, which served 100 Kindergartners through fifth-graders, was torn down, but residents did win a battle to salvage the building’s library and gym. “We needed something to give us a sense of community,” said Lucy Mitchell, a former teacher at the school.
Many homeowners accepted government buyouts not to rebuild so close to the Gulf Coast. Those who stayed have spent years fighting through red tape trying to secure federal loans and haggling with insurance companies.
“Property values are down, but taxes have gone up and insurance is sky high,” said O.J. Mitchell, age 62.
Before Katrina, the Mitchells paid three times less for home insurance and were 10 payments away from owning their home.
“Now I’ll probably be dead before we get it paid off,” he said.

Government regulations now require Pearlington homes to be elevated. “I don’t really want to talk about Katrina,” …

Unlike New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities, there were no parades or politicians in Pearlington on Saturday to mark the storm’s 10-year anniversary. But some 100 residents did gather for a commemoration ceremony at the gym, where they honored several charities that played a big role in assisting the seemingly forgotten town. “If it weren’t for the volunteer groups, we probably wouldn’t have gotten anything,” resident Vicki Jones said.
Pastor Gregory Trumbach opened the ceremony by asking, “How do you get through a storm like Katrina?”
“Prayer!” people in the stands shouted.
“It took away our homes and our earthly possessions, but it couldn’t take away our faith,” said Margaret Furey, age 43.
The fight to survive also removed a racial seperation once prevalent in the town of retirees and working-class families.
“There’s no segregation,” Furey said. “We celebrate together now. We’re a lot closer. Nothing is going to get us down, we’re here to stay.”
David Yarborough, who represents Pearlington on the Hancock County Board of Supervisors, was asked to give his reflections at the ceremony. At the podium, he immediately asked for a moment of silence to remember the 56 county residents who died during the storm, including six in Pearlington.
Since the hurricane, locals say 130 Pearlington residents have passed away — at a far greater rate than before the storm. Many blame post-Katrina stress and environmental conditions.
“We don’t know what was in the water, the mud, the soil,” said Furey, who didn't know of any environmental testing. “But something has changed.”

Cookie Bello consoles David Yarborough who became emotional talking about local lives lost during Katrina and after. …

After the moment of silence, Yarborough leaned into the microphone to begin his remarks. “The death toll was 56 but that’s not all…” said Yarborough before stopping mid-sentence and breaking down in tears.
“Forgive me,” he said as he walked away and out the front doors.
Outside, Yarborough pulled a white handkerchief from his Levi’s to dry his eyes.
“I didn’t think I would lose it that quick,” he said. “What I was trying to say was that it killed a lot of people that didn’t die in the storm. It was just such a toll on many of us.”
Yarborough, 55, was still fighting back tears when Pearlington resident Cookie Bello came outside to give him a hug.

“It’s going to take us all awhile,” Bello told him.

Photographer Devin Allen grew up in west Baltimore surrounded by crime, drugs and murder. Photography offered him not only a means of rediscovering his community’s beauty, but it also literally saved his life. Still, he never dreamed that one of his photos would land him on the cover of TIME magazine and give voice to his city’s pain during one of its darkest hours.
For Devin, gun violence has been a constant and harsh reality. “I’m only 27 years old, but I have buried 20-plus friends,” Devin tells The Weekly Flickr. While he credits his family with keeping him from losing himself to the street life that surrounded him, he marks one tragic weekend as a turning point. In 2013, Devin’s two best friends were shot and killed within 24 hours of each other. If not for a photo shoot he had scheduled that Saturday evening, Devin believes he would certainly have been present for the second shooting.
“If it wasn’t for photography, I would probably be in a casket. Once I lost those guys, it changed me forever.”
Devin resolved that he wanted no further ties to street life and plunged into his photography with an all-consuming passion. In addition to pouring every bit of his money into purchasing photography equipment, he got a job working nights so he could shoot all day. “I didn’t get much sleep, but I was able to spend my day doing photography,” he says proudly.
On April 19, 2015, Devin heard about Freddie Gray’s death in police custody via a text message and knew there would be protests. “My mind was racing when the protests began, because no one really understands Baltimore,” he recalls. “Most people see the riots … but they don’t understand the pain that caused those riots and caused that uprising.”

Devin grabbed his camera as soon as the protests began. Determined to document the story without bias, he sought to photograph both good and bad. The contrasts were overwhelming. Devin witnessed brutal police tactics, but also some officers playing with children and marching with protesters. He saw protesters vandalizing stores and destroying cars.
But he was also amazed by the solidarity as the community and people from other cities came together to clean up the streets. “I saw people – black, white, Indian – working together, and it was a beautiful thing. Even when I look at some of my own pictures, I still can’t believe I was there and witnessed all that,” Devin remarks.

During the protests, Devin posted and tweeted many of his photos within minutes of taking them. One image featured a line of police officers advancing up a street as a young black man in the foreground runs away. Despite almost getting trampled, Devin liked the photo so much that he stopped and tweeted it on the spot. What he didn’t expect was that it would go viral, with thousands of shares and retweets in a matter of hours. When he got home later that day, he was stunned to discover that his work was being shared by celebrities like Ice Cube, Rihanna, and Usher. Media inquiries began pouring in, culminating with a call from TIME.When the magazine announced it had selected Devin’s photo for the cover of its May 11 issue, he was overwhelmed. “I just cried. I called my mother screaming,” Devin recalls with a laugh. “My entire family was crying.”

In only a few months, Devin found himself featured in many publications. He saw a collection of his photos blown up eight feet tall for an exhibition at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore (running until December 2015). Calls from high-profile clients began coming in. With the support of heavyweights such as Russell Simmons and Michael Skolnik, Devin is preparing to launch a youth photography program, “Inspire the Youth,” in order to give kids from his community the opportunity to learn photography. “Being on the cover of TIME changed my life,” he says. “It’s just amazing because now I’m able to tell people that dreams come true.”

In the end, Devin hopes his images can contribute to the cause of civil rights. While he is saddened by the heartbreaking similarities between his photos and those from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, he still finds ample reason for optimism.
“We have social media now that allows the unheard to be heard, and I was one of those people that was once unheard. But they hear me now.”

Arogbofa

Seinde Arogbofa, the Secretary of pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, in this interview with ADE AKANBI, speaks on the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration

afenifere did not support President Muhammadu Buhari in the last election, and now that he has won the election, has the group realigned itself with him?

No, that is not possible. We in Afenifere, we are what we are always are; we are always focused and principled. It is not that we are unbending but we are quite prepared to look at things from a better perspective. Our philosophy has always been education for all, better health for all, integrated rural economy which has something to do with our agricultural lives and gainful employment for our teeming youths. These had been the major problem of the country. These are what we believe in and what we want any government in power to do and will keep on talking about them; impressing it on anybody in power as to why these things should be, more so when most people know these are the areas we need to tackle for a better Nigeria. Better health, better education, and gainful employment and integrated rural development.

Have successive governments been listening to you?

Every government in this country has always been listening to us when we talk as a body. They see us as the conscience of the nation; they see us as a serious body and they take us seriously because we don’t beg or ask anybody for money. We speak for the masses and we speak to make things better for everyone in the country. Our voice is often respected. Anytime we speak, the people listen to us because they know we are always talking reasonably.

There is an insinuation that the current administration in the country may not implement the reports of the last confab. As one of the delegates at the conference, how will you feel if the report is jettisoned?

That will be very unfortunate. The past government of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan initiated the confab and the issues surrounding the confab are the problems facing the country since independence: The issues of true federalism, state and local governments; peace, security, education and parity are what over 500 Nigerians of different categories — old and young, powerful and non-powerful , knowledgeable people across the country , ex-governors, ex-senators, university heads and even the physically challenged — discussed at the confab. We were all there for about six months racking our brains on how things could be better for this country. The then government also agreed that these issues must be resolved once and for all. We must remember that about six confabs had been set up previously in this country and nothing really had come out of them. Therefore, if this government did not make use of the confab report, that would be very unfortunate for the country and the citizens. Rather, this Muhamadu Buhari-led government should be advised to implement the report of the confab because this is the report that the representatives of all Nigerians gathered to put together and need to make our country move forward.

In some quarters, President Buhari is perceived as being slow in decision making, especially as he has yet to constitute his cabinet. What is you take on this?

That is a mixed feeling. In the first instance, let’s allow him to do some serious homework but he has to make haste, no longer slowly. Things appear to be getting a little bit delayed. He should have studied enough before now to come out and act. I know the situation in the National Assembly may be part of the factors causing the delay, but he should quickly do something. When people are complaining, he should know that the voice of the people is the voice of God. When people start to complain of issues, leaders have to be careful and have to been seen as being sensitive.

Do you think it is right for the Federal Government to release over N7billion as bailout for states owing workers salaries?

It is necessary for the President to do that if only to save the suffering workers. Imagine a state owing workers up to seven months salaries. That is almost a year. How do they want the workers to survive or perform? If there is a bailout for them, no problem. But we must go back to the basis. First, how did these states get bankrupt? How did they spend the workers’ money? This must be investigated.

I am happy about what is happening now. Some past governors are facing the music of their alleged misdemeanor. One of them was locked up in Kano, two or three (of them) have been granted bail but what is important to us all is that these are people who formerly felt they were above the law. You can now see that the law is above them. Whether the current governors will take a cue or not is another thing, but we will like the law enforcement agents to carry this matter to a very logical conclusion so that they can serve as deterrent to others.

Secondly, we have always said that no state has any reason to depend on the Federal Government for money. Every state should be independent and self-sufficient. Part of what every state has should be sent to the Federal Government. Every state in this country has natural endowment (resources) that God has created in it. How did (Chief Obafemi)Awolowo make history, was is not from what we had in Western Region? How did (Dr. Nnamdi) Azikwe make his mark, was it not from what he was able to do at his region? How did (Sir) Ahmadu Bello achieve what he achieved at his domain? Every state should look inwards. I know that the Federal Government has too much money now; let it give the states some money to be able to explore their natural endowment to bring what they have to the limelight to make their economies grow. Every state governor should stop going to Abuja to beg for money every month. It is very wrong. If they are very resourceful, they will make it. This bailout thing is improper.

As a member of the Political Restructuring and Forms of Government Committee at the confab, what are the issues discussed about the National Assembly?

We were radical and revolutionary about the National Assembly. In our committee, we said the Senate should be scrapped because it has been the greatest source of wastage in this country. We said we should have unicameral legislature. What we said in our committee was that there should be a unicameral legislature whose membership shall be full-time and the membership should be 50 per cent based on equality of states and 50 per cent base on population. We did this because it has been very wasteful; how can a senator be entitled to N250million per annum? This is a country where people die of hunger. We said it (Senate) should be scrapped. But you know Nigerians; at the plenary, our decision was jettisoned. We were not surprised because some ex-legislators were also members of the confab.

How about the call by some people that the legislature be made part-time and less attractive financially?

Yes, I do support it. As members of Political Restructuring and Forms of Government Committee of the confab, we raised it at the committee level but we were defeated at the plenary level. Though it is too late now to say that the legislature should be part-time because elections have been held. Maybe that can work in the next election. But for now, it is not possible again. Again, I support the drastic reduction of money being spent on our legislators I was reading in the dailies recently that what they received as allowances is nine times their salaries. This is too outrageous. How can they be taking such amount of money? I know that we Nigerians also contribute to this mess because these legislators spend a lot of money on electioneering. But if people are now aware that you don’t need to sell your houses to be elected, I think there will be sanity.

Taylor Swift's awkward Twitter feud with Nicki Minaj over the institutional racism of the VMAs/everything was thiiiis close to being successfully resolved -- Swift apologized, and Nicki accepted the apology. Sadly, VMAs host Miley Cyrus -- as great as she is -- has tried to insert herself into the conversation, claiming in an interview with The New York Times that Minaj was "unkind" and not approaching Taylor Swift in the right way. Many people decried it as an attempt to tell a black woman how she should deal with institutional racism, and contributes to the music industry's history of whitewashing (or, in this case, 'whitesplaining'). But it's also not even close to the best beef leading up to and/or resulting from the VMAs.

Because the VMAs are designed to produce so much pageantry, it's not surprising that they also lead to conflict. Some of these conflicts are captured in our look at the awards' most memorable moments, like Moby and Eminem's fight in 2002 or the Kanye West-Taylor Swift interruption of 2009.

Sometimes, there are just extreme tensions and heat between players at the awards, like the conflict at the heart of the attempted Van Halen reunion in 1996.

But there's also been physical violence at the ceremony, like in 1991, when Bret Michaels got into a fistfight with once and future Poison bandmate C.C. DeVille. In 2007, Kid Rock slapped Tommy Lee, leading to a fight that got both dudes thrown out of the venue. None of this, however, compares to the sniping between RuPaul and Milton Berle. "You used to wear gowns and now you wear diapers" is a stone-cold classic.

Miley, Taylor, Nicki -- if you're planning anything for the VMAs, you probably shouldn't do it. But if you do, put in the effort to make sure you clear this high, insane, soapy bar.

This story was published on August 28, 2015 2:00 PM

It's no surprise that Grimes aka Claire Boucher is a verifiable polymath, but somehow in between releasing a new album and illustrating a comic book, she's also managed to start a new record label-meets-art collective called the Eerie Organization -- mostly to support a new artist named Nicole Dollanganger and others like her.

Telling Billboard that she "literally started Eerie to fucking put [Dollanganger] out," Boucher hopes for the label to serve as a foundation for emerging artists; a sort of artist incubator meant to elevate emerging artists to the level where they can be picked up by larger, established labels that come armed with more resources, connections and infrastructure.

Providing "help from people who've been through it already," Boucher said that "We want to be a healthy gateway to all that stuff, without taking anything."

"I think if anything Eerie is a patron of the arts and a labour of love," she continued. "It's only a business insofar as it is required to be in order to help the artists we work with."

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