ANOTHER AMERICAN SOCCER STAR KNEELS IN SOLIDARITY #BlackLivesMatters - NBC News

Megan Rapinoe seen here kneeling during a national anthem before the woman National league match 

Since NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the US national anthem before a game, in support of the #BlackLivesMatters movement, more and more sports personalities have been showing solidarity in different forms.

Latest on the list is a female U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who knelt during the national anthem Sunday night before the Seattle Reign's game against the Chicago Red Stars in support of Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the anthem to protest racial injustice and minority oppression came to public notice when he remained seated on the bench before a preseason game against Green Bay. On Thursday night in San Diego, he and safety Eric Reid kneeled during the anthem before a game against the Chargers.

"It was very intentional," Rapinoe told American Soccer Now after Seattle's 2-2 tie in the National Women's Soccer League game. "It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now. I think it's actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn't. We need to have a more thoughtful, two-sided conversation about racial issues in this country.

Megan Rapinoe in US Female National team Jersey

"Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. It's important to have white people stand in support of people of color on this. We don't need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that's really powerful."

Rapinoe, 31, helped the United States win the World Cup last year and played in the Rio Olympics.

"It's the least I can do. Keep the conversation going," Rapinoe tweeted.

She's 99 years old, has been at a job for 80 years and still doesn't feel like retiring.

This is the incredibly story of a woman who recently celebrated her 80 years as a secretary working in her former high school in the US state of Indiana.

Elisabeth Davis first got her current job as a secretary at a prep school in Indiana, she enjoyed it so much that she figured she would stay awhile.

That was in 1936.

Davis, 99, has reached an incredible milestone as she celebrates her 80th year as a secretary at Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana.

Elisabeth Davis 99, behind her typewriter at Culver Academies  in Culver, Indiana

"I was just happy,'' Davis told TODAY. "I like what I do with records and working with everybody who's been here. It's nothing really special, I guess."

Her colleagues would beg to differ as they marvel at a career that began when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House and Jesse Owens was starring in the Olympics in Berlin.

"Having her show the rich history here at the school gives great perspective for the students to appreciate the past and the future,'' Bill Hargraves, director of strategic communications at Culver Academies, told TODAY. "Some people don't even know what FDR stands for today, and he was the president when she started!"

Great grandma Elisabeth Davis shown as a student in Culvers in 1931

Davis got the job shortly after graduating from Culver High School in 1935, starting off with assisting the dean.

She now maintains all of the faculty information, keeping a hard copy of everything that she types up on her typewriter. The school has to order ribbon and any parts from Amazon because of the scarcity of anything typewriter-related.

"I never had a computer,'' Davis said. "I just figured that as long as I'll be here, why should I learn all that technology? I'm able to type, and that's all I need."

The biggest change she has seen during her career has been the evolving technology, all the way from the telegraph to the Internet.

"I haven't learned a lot of that, and I haven't tried to learn it,'' she said. "I figure I won't be here much longer, I guess."

The school has grown from 34 students when she started to 814 today. The only time Davis wasn't at her desk was when she took a leave of absence for a few years until her son and daughter were both in school. She is now a grandmother of six and a great-grandmother of five.

Davis lives close to the school and gets a ride every day from co-workers.

"They're wonderful,'' she said. "They're very good to me."

She never considered getting a job anywhere else, and retirement never crossed her mind, either. After her husband of 59 years, Eldon, died in 2004, the job has helped keep her active.

"I just live day by day,'' she said. "If there comes a time when I feel like it, I will, but I don't feel like retiring."

Culled from NBC News Lifestyle News, As reported by TODAY NEWS

DO NOT INCREASE PETROLEUM PUMP PRICE - EXPERTS WARNS FED GOVERNMENT

A typical example of fuel scarcity in Nigeria

Against the backdrop of rumor that the federal government may increase the price of petroleum products in the country, security experts,  trade union congress, Activists, former lawmakers and Afenifere has warned against any such move, stressing Nigerians would resist it by all means necessary as it would further inflict more injury to the already damaged economy

Meanwhile former and present Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have expressed fears that the current pump price of N145 per litre is no longer realistic.

The statement  came after a one-day meeting they held with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in Abuja, pointing out that the N145 per litre does not correspond with the price-determining components of the commodity and the fluctuations of the foreign exchange rate.

While commending the NNPC for tackling the fuel supply crisis, they however urged the corporation to come up with measures that will sustain the supply of petroleum products demands across the country.

Report has it that the GMDs expressed concerns over the continuous reduction in crude oil production level and its consequences on the environment and the nation’s revenue.

This ugly trend, they agreed if remains unchecked, could lead to the crippling of the NNPC and the nation’s oil and gas sector, which is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

NIGERIANS ARE HUNGRY - SHEHU SANI

 

Senator Shehu Sani

Another senator of the federal republic of Nigeria has landed his voice to the growing number of prominent voices reacting to the biting economic crunch been experienced under the President Mohamadu Buhari led APC Government.

Senator Shehu Sani who is representing Kaduna-Central Senatorial District at the Senate, said this in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH

Sani who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, cautions the Federal Government to create urgent measures to ease the effect of the current economic crisis on the Nigerian masses or risk the lives of the people before he completes his reforms.

He also criticised President Muhammadu Buhari for not having an independent economic team to drive Nigerian economy out of recession, pointed out that many lives would have been lost before the current reforms are completed.

“If you happen to be in a position of power, inasmuch as you want to bring reforms that are painful, you have to understand the need for you to carry the people along because if you keep on bringing reforms and continue to unleash hardship on the people, you may as well say there is a paradise but people need to be alive to reach that paradise.

“If you keep reforming and reforming and the people are suffering and dying, you may reach the Promised Land alone because by that time everyone has died. Of what use would that be?”

The lawmaker added that the goodwill the All Progressives Congress enjoyed at the polls, which led to the emergence of Buhari as president, was waning fast, especially with the increasing number of open letters on the hardships being suffered by Nigerians.

He said, “Let me tell you how it started, which is general with all persons who just took power in Nigeria. In 1979 and 1999, when a new president assumed office, he would have the support of all Nigerians. The first stage will be, ‘We support you; we stand by you and we are going to back you.’

“The second stage will be, ‘We are advising you.’ The third stage will be, ‘We are cautioning you.’ At the fourth stage, Nigerians will say, ‘We are warning you.’ The fifth stage will be, ‘We doubt you.’ The sixth stage, it will be, ‘You are incompetent.’ The seventh stage will be, ‘You should go.’”

“When you study these stages, you will see that we have moved behind 100 per cent support to “advise.” And with letters flying and criticisms following, it is about “cautioning.” And I think the handwritings are on the wall for everybody to see.