Welcome To Echo Blog

  Be Inspired!  "Let's try a different approach and see what happens"...A change definitely. 

Thomas Fuller (1710 – December 1790), also known as "Negro Tom" and the "Virginia Calculator", was an enslaved African renowned for his mathematical abilities.  Born in Africa somewhere between present-day Liberia and Benin, Fuller was enslaved and shipped to America in 1724 at the age of 14, eventually becoming the legal property of Presley and Elizabeth Cox of Alexandria, Virginia. Both Fuller and the Coxes were illiterate. The Coxes enslaved 16 people, and appeared to value Fuller the most; he expressed gratitude for not being sold. Stories of his abilities abounded through the Eastern seaboard. His skill was even used as proof that enslaved Blacks were equal to whites in intelligence, which fueled some pro-abolitionist discussion. When Fuller was about 70 years old, William Hartshorne and Samuel Coates of Pennsylvania were in Alexandria and, having heard of Fuller's powers, sent for him. They asked him two questions which satisfied their curiosity. First, wh

  VANGUARD  ▪Brown Ebewele: A giant has gone to rest. ▪Plateau: NMDPRA debunks govt insinuation of fuel hoarding, cautions citizens against panic buying. ▪Lord’s Chosen making progress on 10 billion souls mandate – Pastor Muoka. ▪2022: Industrialist, Mbisiogu, tasks businesses on discipline, vision. ▪Doyin Salami: Doubts, hopes, expectations as he joins Buhari as Chief Economic Adviser. ▪Black Girl Child Care educates girls on hygiene. ▪Late Sylvester Oromoni: No evidence of torture, bullying, poisoning — Police. ▪Patoranking closes out 2021 with show-stopping performance at Big Name Concert. ▪Buhari on TV: Nigerians react! ▪Lagos nurses vow to embark on 3-day warning strike from Monday. ▪Rule of Law: Nigerians being held hostage by President, Govs — Inibehe Effiong. ▪My 32 harrowing days in bandits’ den —Released victim. ▪Ban of national anthem, cow meat: Don’t jeopardize your case, Wabara cautions IPOB. ▪The rumoured return of President Jonathan ▪2022 budget: Lagos targets N1.237 trn

Global Covid-19 Cases Cross 300 Million Mark. Weekly cases have jumped at the start of this year to almost 10 million from 5.5 million at the end of last month, with over 5.4 million deaths. According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University shows. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to hold a special session Friday to consider the Biden administration’s vaccine rules for private employers and healthcare workers. Here is the latest: The Chinese mainland recorded 174 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with 116 linked to local transmissions and 58 from overseas. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday said 109 countries will miss the target of vaccinating 70% of their population by July based on current vaccinations. Israel has lifted the ban on travel to eight countries, the ministry of health said in a statement on Thursday. The global case-number milestone, reached Thursday, has been accelerated by the Omicron variant’s rapid spread. Weekly cas

"   Let's Go For A Horse Ride Boys"....😃 One in four cowboys was Black, but African American cowboys are rarely seen in pop culture. The image of the Wild West cowboy is one of America's seminal pieces of lore. In movies and books, we learn about the trailblazing, horse-back riding legends of the great Western plains. But in nearly every depiction, those cowboys are white. In reality, historians estimate that one in four American cowboys were black. Black cowboys have a rich, complicated history in the US and remain an important part of American culture to date.  The cowboy lifestyle first came into play in Texas, when American settlers would invade the then Mexican owned-territory in the early 1800s. Americans moving into the territory brought enslaved people with them and began setting up plantations. By 1860, after Texas became a part of the Union, an estimated 30 percent of the population was Black. Following the abolition of slavery, many of those people became

News Headlines In Nigeria Today. VAGUARD Niger Delta community commends Buhari over appointment of Roland Tonlagha, others  Tag Miyetti Allah, MACBAN, FUNAM as terrorist organisations, Ortom tells Buhari. Banditry: Sokoto lawmaker moves for divine intervention with special prayers. Marama celebrates cultural day as peace gradually returns to Borno State. Insecurity: Yobe Gov okays rehabilitation of 2,500 victims of farmers/herders conflicts. More trouble as Bauchi marks founder’s anniversary of conflict, death, destruction. N10 per litre tax on soft drinks: 15,000 direct, indirect jobs on the line— NLC, LCCI, MAN, NACCIMA  Timi Frank flays clearance of suspects in Dowen College students’ death. Timi Frank Politics or forced labour: The new America-China tango. Oromoni: Lagos chief coroner fixes Jan 15 for inquest. Drunk policeman’s gunshot shattered my life — 43 yr-old Graphic Artist. IPOB: Boycott Igbo goods up North — CNG tells Northerners. Lekki port ready for deliver as it reaches

The Federal Government is set to reduce its workforce. It is designing what it calls an exit package for government workers that will be leaving the service. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said reducing the size of government has become imperative given the huge amount the government spends on recurrent expenditure annually. Some Federal Government workers will lose their jobs when agencies are merged. The government’s mode of reducing the workforce, the minister said, will not entirely be in line with the Stephen Oronsaye report but based on a committee recommendation. According to her, the government is working on an “exit package” to be paid to those that will be affected. Mrs Ahmed said: “There is a special committee led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) that is working on the review of agencies with the view to collapsing them partly using the Oransanye report. “At the end of it what we want to do is to reduce the siz

Florida man scammed $2.1million in pandemic loans to buy Lamborghini Huracán EVO, Rolex and Hublot watches and designer clothes from Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel. Valesky Barosy, 27, was paid out approximately $2.1 million in ill-gotten COVID-19 PPP loans, according to the Department of JusticeHe falsified his payroll, prior year's expenses, net profit and IRS tax forms on his applications, requesting more than $4.2 million. Those funds were spent on a Lamborghini Huracán EVO, designer clothes from Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton and watches from Rolex and HublotBarosy flaunted his wealth on Instagram, branding himself as a rags-to-riches story - and promising his followers he could help them do the same. The Secret Service says it has over 900 active criminal investigations into pandemic fraud, with cases in every state and $100 billion embezzled in total. Culled: MallOnline News WOW!!!

I hope to see him in my lifetime — Abdul Mutallab, billionaire father of jailed ‘Underwear Bomber’ Farouk. Billionaire businessman, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, the 81-year-old father of Farouk Abdul Mutallab, who is serving a life sentence in a US prison for terrorism, has said that he hopes to see his son again in his lifetime.  Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, born December 22, 1986, is popularly referred to as the “Underwear Bomber” or “Christmas Bomber”. At the age of 23, he attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day, 2009. In an interview monitored by Vanguard on Wednesday, Umaru Abdul Mutallab while answering a question on whether he was in touch with his son, said: “Yes, he  phones us, sometimes two times, sometimes three times in a month. We cannot phone him. He’s the one who can phone us and we do speak. “As a matter  of fact, his mother, one of his brothers a

Good Morning  Nigeria, Arise Compatriots ... PREMIUM TIMES: ▪Gov. Matawalle if anything happens to us – Raided media house owner speaksThunder Blower Online says the leader of the thugs that raided its offices had been terrorising opponents of the APC-led administration in Zamfara State. ▪Malami ‘takes exception’ to Southwest governors’ reaction to Magodo incidentMr Malami said he was surprised by the statement from the governors. PUNCH NEWS: ▪Australian Open: Djokovic faces deportation after visa cancellation. ▪Oldest US war veteran dies at 112. ▪Lionel Messi tests negative for COVID-19, back in Paris. ▪Real Madrid, Barcelona into Copa del Rey last-16. ▪EFL Cup: Chelsea outclass Tottenham to take first-leg lead. ▪PDP, others kick as Buhari dismisses state police, insists on grazing routes. ▪Magodo: South-West governors, SANs attack Malami, IGP, AGF faults alleged impunity. ▪Soldiers invade Ogun community, kill two, label victims Boko Haram terrorist ▪Police CSP deployed to Magodo by M

Excise duty on soft drinks - introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria. FG imposes N10/litre. Excise duty of N10/litre on all non-alcoholic, carbonated and sweetened beverages, has been introduced by the federal government of Nigeria. The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed made the announcement during a public presentation of the 2022 Appropriation Act in Abuja on Wednesday January 5.  Ahmed said the excise duty was introduced in line with the Finance Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 31, 2021. She said that this might discourage excessive consumption of sugar beverages which contributes to diabetes, obesity among others.  The Minister said;  “There’s now an excise duty of N10/ per litre imposed on all non-alcoholic and sweetened beverages. “And this is to discourage excessive consumption of sugar in beverages which contributes to a number of health conditions including diabetes and obesity.  “But also used to raise excise

Finally, FG declares bandits as terrorists. The Federal Government of Nigeria, has declared bandits as terrorists, The PUNCH has learnt. After weeks of footdragging, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), gazetted a court judgement that ordered the government to declare bandits as terrorists. States in the North-West geopolitical zone including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna have been ravaged by banditry in the last year. The nefarious activities of the marauders have also spilt into the North Central and other zones in the country. The bandits have killed hundreds of innocent persons, kidnapped several others including schoolchildren, with some still in their custody, while some are nursing injuries sustained during the attacks. Court in Abuja on November 25, 2021, had granted an ex parte application by the Federal Government for Yan Bindiga (Hausa word for gunmen) and Yan Ta’adda (Hausa word for terrorists) to be declared as terror

From $4.5 Billion To Nothing: Forbes Revises Estimated Net Worth Of Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes. Last year, Elizabeth Holmes topped the FORBES list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women with a net worth of $4.5 billion. Today,  FORBES is lowering our estimate of her net worth  to nothing. Theranos had no comment. Our estimate of Holmes’ wealth is based entirely on her 50% stake in Theranos, the blood-testing company she founded in 2003 with plans of revolutionizing the diagnostic test market. Theranos shares are not traded on any stock market; private investors purchased stakes in 2014 at a price that implied a $9 billion valuation for the company. Since then, Theranos has been hit with allegations that its tests are inaccurate and is being investigated by an alphabet soup of federal agencies. That, plus new information indicating Theranos’ annual revenues are less than $100 million, has led FORBES to come up with a new, lower estimate of Theranos’ value. FORBES spoke to a dozen v

CGTN NEWS: ▪COVID-19: Over 100,000 hospitalized in U.S. for 1st time in 4 months. ▪Swedish King, Queen test positive for COVID-19. ▪French lawmakers debate controversial COVID-19 ‘vaccine passes’. ▪OPEC+ agrees to increase oil output. ▪Japan, U.S. ministers to hold 'two-plus-two' talks. ▪Attack hits U.S. military camp in Iraq. ▪WHO official warns of newer, more dangerous coronavirus variant. ▪DPRK fires unidentified projectile towards eastern waters. ▪U.S. reports over 1m COVID-19 cases in a day, setting global record. ▪CES consumer technology show takes place in Las Vegas and online. ▪The sports of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. ▪U.S. alpine skiers expecting to compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics. ▪Quick-thinking AI robots sort waste, boost recycling in Finland. ▪Who will be Italy's next President? ▪CES consumer technology show takes place in Las Vegas and online. ▪The sports of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. ▪Kazakh govt resigns, emergencies declared in cities, p

What is Buzzing... VANGUARD: ●'Follow me’: Dog finds help, leads police to owner’s car crash. ●Man freed after 37 years due to ‘sex for lies’ false witness. ●Failure to declare Bandits Terrorists: Malami’s reasons not tenable — Afenifere, MBF, Ohanaeze, PANDEF. ●2022: Shipping industry may continue to bleed as operators list challenges. ●Delta councillor saves monthly salary, builds public water project for constituents. ●Opinion: Nigeria we hail thee. ●Navy warns public against falling prey to fraudulent recruitment websites. ●Uche Nwosu: IHRC must maintain neutrality in Imo to sustain peace — Country Rep told. ●Ondewari Cottage Hospital built by Agip lying waste in Bayelsa Creek. ●Halting acts of lawlessness by herdsmen. ●Anambra creates fishery village, sets up agency to drive initiative. ●Why we focus on addressing ecological challenges. ●Presidency to spend N2.102bn on refreshment, wildlife, miscellaneous, others. ●Ogun rolls out measures to combat students’ misconduct. ●With

How to be happy: the psychology behind the “HEAL” method and how it helps you become happier. Fascinating new research suggests that it’s psychologically possible to train yourself to be happier. Human emotions are complex, but we’re often guilty of oversimplifying them. If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a well-meaning but misguided “Don’t worry, be happy” or “Try not to worry”, you’ll understand. Because when we talk and think about happiness as a general outlook, we tend to sort people into two camps: “glass half full” and “glass half empty”. For a long time, even psychologists have considered personalities as one or the other, but as new research has found, this may not be the case. According to University of California Berkeley researchers, it’s actually possible to actually learn new ways to activate your feelings of engagement in a positive experience. Put simply: it’s technically possible to teach yourself to be happier. According to the researchers, people’s ability t

This post is to inspire you to achieve! You can be all that you dream of, you can make it! Remember, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step."  So Move!

Some Headlines Making The Buzz Around The World: The Wall Street Journal:  ■ Biden Promotes Plan Aimed at Tackling Meat Prices. The Biden administration on Monday outlined tighter regulations for U.S. meatpackers, accusing the industry of inflating Americans’ food bills, as meat companies say they are experiencing persistent supply chain problems and labor shortages as the economy recovers from the pandemic. ■ The Elizabeth Holmes Verdict: Theranos Founder Is Guilty on Four of 11 Charges in Fraud Trial. Jury’s mixed verdict caps downfall for former startup CEO who claimed to revolutionize the blood-testing industry. SAN JOSE, Calif.— A federal jury convicted Elizabeth Holmes, the startup founder who claimed to revolutionize blood testing, on four of 11 charges that she conducted a yearslong fraud scheme against investors while running Theranos Inc., which ended up as one of Silicon Valley’s most notorious implosions. ■ Apple Briefly Tops $3 Trillion Market Cap. The iPhone maker’s share