Casillas picks Ramos over Ronaldo & Gerrard backs Messi: Who voted for who in 2012 Fifa Ballon d’Or?
Etugbo.wordpresscom analyses who some of the game’s biggest
names voted for in the award and breaks down the
final results after the Barcelona star triumphed for a
fourth time
Lionel Messi has won his fourth Ballon d’Or title,
scooping the prestigious individual award over
runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo and third-place team-
mate Andres Iniesta.
Radamel Falcao finished up in fifth, behind another
Barcelona stalwart, Xavi, while Iker Casillas came in
at sixth.
Andrea Pirlo, Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made up a star-studded final top
10 for the calendar year of 2012.
After the awards ceremony, Fifa has released an
intriguing list of the full votes for the award, which is
decided based on decisions made by international
coaches, captains and a selection of media
representatives from each member nation.
The voting list reveals some decisions that would
raise few eyebrows, but other ones that can be
considered as particularly surprising.
In England’s votes, both manager Roy Hodgson and
captain Steven Gerrard voted for the brilliant Messi
as their winner, with Ronaldo in second.
They differed with their decisions for third-place,
though, as the Three Lions boss went for Falcao,
while the Liverpool captain opted for former team-
mate Xabi Alonso.
For Spain, boss Vicente Del Bosque, who himself
was recognised on the night with the Coach of the
Year award, went for three of his own players;
Casillas, Xavi and Iniesta in the top three positions.
Casillas himself had a vote and very surprisingly
opted for club and international team-mate Sergio
Ramos as his No.1 pick, with Ronaldo only second
ahead of Iniesta, perhaps hinting at why the
Portuguese ace felt his club were not fully supportive
of his Ballon d’Or bid.
Messi had a vote as captain for Argentina and did
not select Ronaldo in his top three at all, opting for
Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Aguero. Alejandro Sabella
voted for Messi, with Ronaldo also absent from his
selections.
Portugal matched that tactic, as Bruno Alves, who
was voting in place of Ronaldo, went for his team-
mate as top pick with Messi not in the top three,
although Paulo Bento did name the Argentine in
third.
Italy boss Cesare Prandelli voted for his star player
Pirlo over Gianluigi Buffon and then Messi, while
Buffon himself also went for the Juventus midfielder
as his top choice.
Philipp Lahm backed Iniesta over Messi and
Ronaldo, while Germany coach Joachim Low voted
Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Xavi as his top three.
France coach Didier Deschamps backed Messi over
Ronaldo and Xavi, while Hugo Lloris stayed loyal to
the goalkeepers’ union by voting Casillas as No.1
over Falcao and Drogba.
Brazil skipper Thiago Silva’s votes were
unremarkable, with Messi beating Ronaldo to top
spot and his PSG team-mate Ibrahimovic in third.
Louis van Gaal voted for Messi over Ronaldo and
Falcao, while Netherlands captain Wesley Sneijder
voted Van Persie over Messi (second) and Ronaldo
(third).
Darren Fletcher, who was casting votes as Scotland
captain, backed former team-mate Ronaldo at No.1,
with Messi and club team-mate Robin van Persie as
his other selections.
For a full breakdown of the Ballon d’Or votes, click
here to see Fifa’s full list from national captains,
coaches and media representatives.
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL
FINAL VOTE
1. LIONEL MESSI – 41.6%
2. CRISTIANO
RONALDO – 23.68%
3. ANDRES
INIESTA – 10.91%
4. XAVI – 4.08%
5. RADAMEL
FALCAO – 3.67%
6. IKER CASILLAS – 3.18%
7. ANDREA PIRLO – 2.66%
8. DIDIER DROGBA – 2.6%
9. ROBIN VAN
PERSIE – 1.45%
10. ZLATAN
IBRAHIMOVIC – 1.24%
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
http://cdn.dailypost.com.ng/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Tonto-Dikeh-car-dp1.jpg
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
Barcelona and Argentina forward, Lionel Messi, has created history by winning the Ballon d’Or, for a fourth consecutive time.
He won the award ahead of Barcelona team-mate,Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Argentine attacker becomes the first player in history, to win the Ballon d’Or four times in succession. He previously shared the record of three consecutive victories with Michel Platini, while Dutch duo Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten also won the prize three times.
It was no great surprise, as the 25-year-old enjoyed a sensational 2012, where he scored 91 goals for club and country…
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
1.Shorter men tend to have less sex than
taller men. (unusual fact and true)
2. It is in fact impossible for someone to make
you happy if you’re unhappy with yourself.
3. ‘WAS IT A CAR OR A CAT I SAW’ is the only
full English sentence that, when read in reverse,
will be the same.
4. According to researchers, Monday mornings are
so depressing that on average, humans don’t
crack a smile until 11:07 a.m.
5. The pain that woman experiences while
‘giving birth’ is similar to getting burned alive.
6. The first beer, cigarette and marijuana of
every single person’s life was not bought by their
own money!
7. After an argument, over 85% people think of all
the clever things they should have said
8. Female bed bugs do not have a vaginal opening
so the male stabs the female in the abdomen with
his penis.
9. Attempting to commit suicide was once
considered illegal in England, and was ironically
punishable by death.
10. Getting dumped often leads
to “frustration attraction,”which causes an
individual to love the one who dumped him or her
even more.
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.
2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries,leading to a decrease in mental power.
3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.
4. High Sugar Consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.
5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.
6 . Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.
7. Head Covered While Sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.
8. Working Your Brain During Illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.
9. Lacking in Stimulating Thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
Olu Maintain: My Collabo With 50 Cent
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Nigeria’s very own Award-winning singer, Olu
Maintain’s R&B single ‘Nawti’, released last year,
enjoyed impressive reviews from pundits at home
and abroad, winning a couple of awards. His new
single, ‘Hypnotize Me’ featuring American rapper
50 Cent and velvet-voiced songbird Olivia, was
released yesterday. The singer hopes to make a
big impact in the industry with this musical
‘marriage’. He speaks on how he has fared in the
recent past, his new plans and sundry issues.
On Winning NMVA Award: ”It just makes me feel that
hard work has indeed paid off, having been quiet for
about three years and nominations popping out
everywhere to the extent that ‘Nawti’ won the Best
Video of NEA Awards in New York.
“‘Nawti’ was also nominated as the Best R&B Song at
the Hip Hop World Awards, and I learnt that the only
reason it wasn’t nominated as the Best Video at the
Hip Hop World Awards was that no video directed by a
foreigner is ever nominated. I don’t know why. They
should have asked because the director of ‘Nawti’
video is Kehinde Nayomi Smith, and she’s a Nigerian.
She was in Nigeria recently for the first time when I
won the NMVA Award.
“But going forward, 2012 has been a very eventful year
because my target was to release the album for 2012.
With success of Nawti and the dynamism which the
music industry was taking, I slowed down on the songs
I had recorded initially because I have not been
satisfied that I have put in my best into the ‘CHOOSEN
ONE’ album. So, I went back to the studio and stared
recording again. But now, I can confidently say that the
album is coming out in the first quarter of this year and
the second track on the album titled ‘Hypnotize Me’
features two international artistes.”
On the Title Of the Album: ”The reason it’s ‘CHOOSEN
ONE’ with double ‘o’ is that it’s a ten-track album, and
each of the letters that come together to form the
acronym, represents each track on the album.
“There’s a remix of ‘Nawti’ in the works, and I found a
new PR team in America called KNX based in Los
Angeles and they’re trying to stock my songs and see
the possibility of it pre-listed on mainstream radio and
the response has been positive. They’re the ones
making collaborations with the international acts that
I’ve been working with.
“For me, doing collaboration with any international
artiste should not just be by the star power of the
artiste; it should be by merit that this artiste can
genuinely do justice to the song in question. So, if I
was asked who I would love to do collaboration with, a
female singer that is equally as pretty and has a
beautiful voice, my choice would be Olivia because
I’ve always been her fan. So, when we met and I
played her the song, she liked it and said she was
willing to do it. Then we met in New York at the
Platinum Studio owned by Jerry Wonder, one of the
most sought after producers in the world.
“Coincidentally, Olivia is Jerry Wonder’s new artiste as
well. 50 Cent has his lines on this track too. And there
was this chemistry upon our meeting and we did the
song with a beautiful experience and the video too is
on the way.
“Everything is pretty much falling into place and I’m
more than happy that I’ve waited this long. In terms of
quality, you should never compromise because you
have the obligation to always beat your best. So far,
my name has evolved from Mr. Yahooze to Mr. Nawti.
So, I look at ‘Nawti’ as the best effort that I’ve put out
there and Hypnotize Me has to come to beat what
Nawti has done.”
Assesment Of the Industry In 2012: “In all fairness, the
industry has evolved bigger and more eventful in 2012.
The Nigerian music industry is breaking more frontiers.
Afro Beat is now a genre that’s now officially accepted
in the UK and the larger parts of Europe and we have
international record labels signing Nigerian artistes.
We have more collaboration with international artistes
as well.
“2012 was big and 2013 is going to be bigger. This is
encouraging from what the industry used to be some
ten years ago. This is just a motivation to keep striving
harder yearning for music that has substance. Nigerian
music industry has gained a lot although; in its growth,
it still lacks some level of development in terms of
structure. Recently, I learnt that COSON has been
able to get some level of publishing for some Nigerian
artistes who have had songs over time. I’ve not got
anything from COSON but that is a welcome
development from COSON because Nigeria is the only
developing country in the world where artistes don’t
get publishing for airplay. Go to the UK and the US,
one of the major income generating avenues for
artistes is shows/concerts but everywhere else in the
world publishing plays a larger part in financial rewards
that an artiste gets. So for COSON to have intervened
to forcefully demand for what is the right of Nigerian
artistes, I think it’s a positive development. It’s like a
marriage. A typical young man is not ready for
marriage but when you find yourself in a situation
where it’s inevitable to be in that circumstance, you
deal with it. You manage it and you excel in it. So, if
the Nigerian media hides behind the excuse that it’s
not ready yet, nothing will move forward. Saying you’re
not developed enough to impact in policies that the
Western world has been doing for decades, you’re
basically running from responsibilities. It’s like a loser’s
statement; that it’s not going to be easy is not an
excuse for it not to start. COSON has started. If
everyone has that mentality that we want to follow the
structure that we look up to in the west, then it can in
no way be a step in the wrong direction.”
2013 Of My Dream: ”2012 for me was a production
phase. It was a phase where Olu Maintain came out of
a three-year hiatus and when he came out, he made a
statement. So, the Olu Maintain brand is now known
as one that doesn’t make a statement every time, but
when it does, he gets it right. Coming up from a split in
a group called Maintain, it made a global statement
with Yahooze. And after three years hiatus, he made a
statement again with Nawti, both the video and audio
and won awards. So, in 2013, you can only expect that
the production phase is over and it’s now an exhibition
phase. Tours, endorsements, concerts are in the offing
for the brand Olu Maintain in 2013.”
Collaboration With Nigerians: ”There’s a track in my
album titled ‘Naija A-list’, and it’s a beat produced by a
young producer, Yung D. He has produced quite a
number of successful songs in 2012 and one of them
is Timaya’s ‘Bum Bum’. This is the part I want to have
collaboration with five best Nigerian rappers, so I
called it ‘Naija A-list’. I have my choices but I’m not
going to subject the feature on the song to my decision
making alone. I want to let my fans decide who the
best five are. It will be an online campaign and people
are going to vote for their five best Naija rappers which
will be like a survey among industry heads and fans
out there.”
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
Metabolism is your body’s process of turning food, measured in calories, into energy. When your body is in caloric balance, you are consuming as many calories as your body is using. When in caloric deficit, your body is using more calories than you are taking in; when this occurs your body converts stored fat cells into energy, thus burning fat.
Step 1
Determine your body’s caloric needs. According to Medline Plus, if your activity level is low to moderate, you must consume 13 to 15 calories per pound to maintain your weight. One pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories, so to lose 1 lb. of fat per week, you should consume approximately 500 fewer calories per day than you need to maintain your weight. Using the above values, calculate the number of calories you must consume to achieve your fat-loss goals.
Step 2
Track your calorie consumption. Using a food diary, keep track of the foods you eat over the course of the day and the number of calories they contain. Aim to consume the number of calories you calculated in Step 1. Menu planning can also play a significant role in using foods to burn fat. Plan your meals in advance in order to distribute your caloric intake evenly over the course of the day.
Step 3
Understand metabolism. If you prefer to not count calories for convenience, certain foods may help burn more fat than others. According to MayoClinic.com, of the energy your body needs to function, a majority is used to keep your body operating normally — fueling organs, for example. A smaller portion is used to perform physical activities like walking, running and exercising, and about 10 percent of the energy your body consumes in a day is used to digest food. According to some studies, some foods actually require more energy to be metabolized than they provide, therefore burning calories and fat.
Step 4
Exchange some of your diet staples for “fat-burning foods” to ensure a lower overall caloric intake without counting calories. Some of these foods include celery, oranges, apples, gmolestfruit, strawberries, pineapple, zucchini and carrots. However, anything used to top these foods or cook them can counteract their fat-burning potential.
Tips and Warnings
The idea of “negative-calorie” foods is still in question. While many doctors agree that digesting certain foods will burn more calories than the foods provide, there isn’t conclusive evidence as to exactly how many negative calories each of these foods contains and whether this is an effective means of burning fat.
Discuss any changes to your diet and exercise habits with your physician. Consuming significantly fewer calories than your body needs to function can trigger your metabolism to slow down; your body will feel as though it’s starving, and slowing metabolism conserves energy. A combination of calorie-burning exercise and lower caloric intake is more effective than diet alone.
Foods That Burn Fat Easily
More people are overweight or obese than ever before, and simple dietary changes can be the solution to a growing problem. No matter your current weight, there are foods that can help amp up your body’s metabolism, causing you to burn more fat and shed some excess pounds. Of course, if you are seeking to make major changes to your body, dietary changes alone will not suffice–you will also need to start and stick with a regular exercise regimen. But if you are looking for a good place to start, your food is a great beginning.
Fish
Fish is a prime source of omega-3 fatty acids and decreases the amount of leptin in your body. Leptin, according to Men’s Health, plays a key role in your metabolism, determining whether your body burns calories or stores them as fat. More leptin in your body makes you more likely to store fat, while lower leptin levels makes you more likely to burn fat.
Lean Meats
Lean beef, turkey, chicken and pork can play a large part in helping you shed fat. The protein within these lean meats requires more energy to digest. So if you are eating more protein, your body will work harder to digest it, burning more calories and fat. The key, though, is that the meat you eat is lean and relatively void of additives. Cut away any fat or skin that may be on the meat, and minimize–or completely avoid–any marinades or sauces that will pack extra calories into your dish.
Hot Peppers
Hot peppers, particularly jalapenos, habaneras and cayennes, help you burn fat by boosting your heart rate. Hot peppers contain a chemical called capsaicin; capsaicin gives peppers their spicy taste and helps boost your metabolism as your body works to cool itself down. Spicy meals, according to Men’s Health, can boost your metabolism by nearly 25 percent, and the boost can last as long as three hours.
Milk, Whole Grain and Oats
Milk, whole grains and oats can help burn fat by providing your body with complex carbohydrates and calcium. Complex carbohydrates and calcium help keep your metabolism going by keeping your insulin levels low after you eat. High insulin production, according to Men’s Health, triggers your body to start storing fat; fat is stored when your metabolism slows. But if your metabolism keeps moving and the insulin stays low, your body will burn fat more easily. Low-fat yogurt is another great source of calcium and produces the same effect on your insulin levels.
Berries and Other Fruits
Berries and other fruits provide your body with healthy doses of fiber, which works two-fold in helping you burn fat. First, fiber helps you feel full for a longer period of time, causing you to eat less in the long run. Second, like calcium and complex carbohydrates, fiber does not greatly boost your body’s insulin production, helping your metabolism burn more fat.
Greens
Vegetables are great foods that help you burn fat easily. Particularly good are asparagus, lettuce and celery. Asparagus helps flush fluids out of your body and contains only 26 calories per cup. Lettuce also minimizes your caloric intake; iceberg lettuce provides only 6 calories per cup. Celery gives only 14 calories per cup. Simply digesting these foods burns more calories than the foods contain, making them very effective fat-burning foods.
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
Culled from PUNCH
The police in Lagos State have arrested a 27-year-old housemaid, Mariam Acheme, and four others for allegedly robbing the housemaid’s boss.
According to police authorities, the housemaid, invited her boyfriend, Dansu Akokran, and another person at large to rob her boss and also stage her own kidnap.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, Ngozi Braide, said, “On November 26, 2012, the housemaid invited her boyfriend to her boss’ house when the madam had gone out. On getting to the house, the boyfriend and another person ransacked the entire house.
“They vandalised the doors and also stole all the valuables. The housemaid then padlocked the gate from outside and fled with them.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that when the owner of the house arrived, she discovered that all her valuables were gone and Acheme was nowhere to be found.
The victim was said to have immediately reported the matter to the Bode Thomas Police Division.
Braide said a few days later, someone contacted the housemaid’s boss and informed her that Acheme had been kidnapped. She said the woman returned to the police and informed them of the development.
Braide said, “The madam told the police that some men called and said they had kidnapped the housemaid. The men asked for N5m and said if the money was not paid, they would not release her. The housemaid spoke to her ‘madam’ on the phone, crying and telling her that she was being tortured by the kidnappers and urged her boss to pay the ransom immediately.
“The Divisional Police Officer, Bode Ojajuni, immediately swung into action. Detectives at the station were able to establish contact with the kidnappers and urged them to collect N1m. The kidnappers then sent a bank account number which the money should be paid into.”
It was learnt that the account number belonged to one Prosper Tatou, a bricklayer.
Through the bank account number, policemen traced the owner to Agbara area of Ogun State and accosted him.
A close police source, who craved anonymity, said Tatou led the police to the hideout of the other suspects.
He said, “Tatou said he knew nothing about any kidnap but told us that a few days earlier, his brother, Jean Mari, had asked him to send his bank account number because he needed to receive some money from soCulled from PUNCH
The police in Lagos State have arrested a 27-year-old housemaid, Mariam Acheme, and four others for allegedly robbing the housemaid’s boss. (Suspects pictured above)
According to police authorities, the housemaid, invited her boyfriend, Dansu Akokran, and another person at large to rob her boss and also stage her own kidnap.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, Ngozi Braide, said, “On November 26, 2012, the housemaid invited her boyfriend to her boss’ house when the madam had gone out. On getting to the house, the boyfriend and another person ransacked the entire house.
“They vandalised the doors and also stole all the valuables. The housemaid then padlocked the gate from outside and fled with them.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that when the owner of the house arrived, she discovered that all her valuables were gone and Acheme was nowhere to be found.
The victim was said to have immediately reported the matter to the Bode Thomas Police Division.
Braide said a few days later, someone contacted the housemaid’s boss and informed her that Acheme had been kidnapped. She said the woman returned to the police and informed them of the development.
Braide said, “The madam told the police that some men called and said they had kidnapped the housemaid. The men asked for N5m and said if the money was not paid, they would not release her. The housemaid spoke to her ‘madam’ on the phone, crying and telling her that she was being tortured by the kidnappers and urged her boss to pay the ransom immediately.
“The Divisional Police Officer, Bode Ojajuni, immediately swung into action. Detectives at the station were able to establish contact with the kidnappers and urged them to collect N1m. The kidnappers then sent a bank account number which the money should be paid into.”
It was learnt that the account number belonged to one Prosper Tatou, a bricklayer.
Through the bank account number, policemen traced the owner to Agbara area of Ogun State and accosted him.
A close police source, who craved anonymity, said Tatou led the police to the hideout of the other suspects.
He said, “Tatou said he knew nothing about any kidnap but told us that a few days earlier, his brother, Jean Mari, had asked him to send his bank account number because he needed to receive some money from someone.
“Tatou then led us to a deserted building where his brother lives. At the house, we were able to arrest those who masterminded the purported kidnap.”
Detectives were however shocked when they saw the housemaid in the compound.
“That was when we discovered that she connived with her boyfriend to commit the crime,” the police source said.
Acheme however denied conniving with the kidnappers.
She said although she had invited her boyfriend to come and visit her when the incident occurred, she had no clue of his intentions.
“I invited my boyfriend (Dansu) to come and visit me at the house when my madam had gone out. When he arrived, he came with another guy and both of them pushed me into the toilet and locked me there. They stole all my madam’s things and then kidnapped me,” she said.
When asked why she did not escape from the purported kidnappers’ den when she had the chance, she said, “I could not escape because I did not know the terrain.”
She added, “My boss was very nice to me. She paid me N12, 000 a month and I had worked with her for seven months and she never maltreated me.
“She has two grown-up children and they even give me tip when I do their laundry. I could not have repaid their kindness with wickedness.”
Dansu also claimed to be innocent, saying it was his friend, Femi, who is now at large, that planned the whole thing.
The PPRO seized the opportunity to warn employers of domestic servants to be wary of the people they hire, noting that cases of crimes being committed by domestic servants seem to be on the rise.
The PPRO noted that the suspects were all nationals of Benin Republic and said it was necessary for employers to register their domestic servants at the nearest police stations.
meone.
“Tatou then led us to a deserted building where his brother lives. At the house, we were able to arrest those who masterminded the purported kidnap.”
Detectives were however shocked when they saw the housemaid in the compound.
“That was when we discovered that she connived with her boyfriend to commit the crime,” the police source said.
Acheme however denied conniving with the kidnappers.
She said although she had invited her boyfriend to come and visit her when the incident occurred, she had no clue of his intentions.
“I invited my boyfriend (Dansu) to come and visit me at the house when my madam had gone out. When he arrived, he came with another guy and both of them pushed me into the toilet and locked me there. They stole all my madam’s things and then kidnapped me,” she said.
When asked why she did not escape from the purported kidnappers’ den when she had the chance, she said, “I could not escape because I did not know the terrain.”
She added, “My boss was very nice to me. She paid me N12, 000 a month and I had worked with her for seven months and she never maltreated me.
“She has two grown-up children and they even give me tip when I do their laundry. I could not have repaid their kindness with wickedness.”
Dansu also claimed to be innocent, saying it was his friend, Femi, who is now at large, that planned the whole thing.
The PPRO seized the opportunity to warn employers of domestic servants to be wary of the people they hire, noting that cases of crimes being committed by domestic servants seem to be on the rise.
The PPRO noted that the suspects were all nationals of Benin Republic and said it was necessary for employers to register their domestic servants at the nearest police stations.
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
http://everywherenigeria.com/m/discussion?id=6323374%3ATopic%3A320064
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
Fanatical lovers who write letters to their beloved in blood, have been heard of. But Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, took this practice to a new level. In the late 1990s, he commissioned a calligrapher to make a copy of the Qur’an, using his own blood as ink. For the project, Saddam donated 7 gallons (27 liters) of blood over the course of two years – the time it took for the book to be completed. The book still exists, and no one knows what to do with it.
For now, Saddam’s blood-inscribed Qur’an is being kept behind locked doors in Baghdad. The unusual book is both sacred and profane, so officials are quite unsure as to how to deal with it. Islamic clerics are confused over the decision to either destroy the book or preserve it as a reminder of the dictator’s brutality. It is most likely that Saddam was quite aware of the controversy his project would spew, given the taboos in Islamic culture over human bodily fluids, but he went ahead with it anyway. His intentions were clear – he had said that the book was his tribute to God because his son had survived an assassination attempt. In the words of one Iraqi citizen, “On one flank had been the government, doing all it could to prevent access”.
The Shia-led regime is highly sensitive to the re-emergence of any symbols that might lionize the remnants of the Ba’athist rank and file, which still orchestrates bombings and assassinations every few days. And then there are the Sunnis themselves, who are fearful of government retribution if they open the doors and of divine disapproval if they treat this particularly gruesome volume of the Qur’an with the reverence of a “holy book”.
http://www.odditycentral.com/news/the-blood-quran-a-holy-book-writt…
Posted by Joseph Etugbo
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