The 15 facts you never knew about Arsenal Football Club

1 – Its terrifying history

Before the continents broke apart, North London was home to the original Native Americans. Emirates Stadium is now built on top of an ancient Indian burial ground. One day, a club employee brought his daughter to the stadium and set her down to watch TV, only to be horrified when a portal opened up in a stationary closet and sucked her inside.

2 – How it was founded by a secret society

The Dial Square brigade, as they were known, founded the football club in 1886 not simply to play football, but to celebrate the 1886th victim of their Satanic cult. The leader, a sinister man named Dean Davids, was a suspect for the Jack the Ripper murders.

3 – It’s not the only Arsenal

Gunners fans may think their club is unique but there are other Arsenals. There’s Arsenal de Sarandí (Argentina), FC Arsenal Kyiv (Ukraine), Bonzer Arsenal (Australia), McArsenal Thistles (Scotland), L’Arsenal (French Guyana) and Bloody Arse Arsenal (London Hospital of Proctology).

4 – A pioneering kit

Pioneering manager Herbert Chapman not only designed the eye-catching Gunners home kit of red shirts with white sleeves but also teamed up with Italian company Indesit to invent a new type of mechanical washing machine which prevented the two colours running. The joint venture formed the bedrock of a commercial relationship which continues to this day.

5 – Arsenal’s travel ban

Former chairman Peter Hill-Wood banned Arsenal from ever touring the Philippines due to the country’s involvement in George Graham’s bung scandal of the early nineties. The Scot was dismissed for accepting Manila envelopes containing thousands of pounds from the agent of Norwegian star Pal Lydersen. Sir Chips has since Phillip-flopped on the decision.

6 – Wembley pants party

Pictures of Charlie George’s famous 1971 FA Cup final goal celebration were heavily censored by newspapers at the time because the player’s horizontal pose highlighted a thumping great erection inside his tight blue shorts. Under duress from manager Bertie Mee, the striker apologised for his behaviour by donating his win bonus to Pele’s erectile dysfunction charity.

7 – How they almost didn’t sign Thierry Henry

The Frenchman is the club’s all time leading scorer but despite having a hard time at Juventus, Arsene Wenger almost missed out on his signing. He’d been in discussions with other European clubs when the pair met by chance at a Huey Lewis and the News concert. Now that’s what we call the Power of Love!

8 – The underhand tactics

When Arsenal were more green that red in the 1970s due to the proliferation of players from the Emerald Isle, the likes of David O’Leary and Liam Brady would carry that traditional Irish trick before games: releasing a box of furious otters into the opposition dressing room. It worked well enough to get then to three FA Cup finals in a row, although lack of available otters in 1978 and 1980 led to Wembley disappointment.

9 – Why Le French revolution nearly never happened

When Bruce Rioch’s time at the club was coming to an end, Arsene Wenger was under contract at Nagoya Grampus 8 and the Japanese side were unhappy about him leaving. In order to facilitate the move, Arsenal officials promised to provide a kidney for one of Grampus’s directors but couldn’t find a match. In the end they had to dissect 15 orphans to find one that would work!

10 – The Bank of England connection

Arsenal were known as the Bank of England club because of their wealth but also their austere nature. The reality is that the club’s owner, Sir Henry Norris, ran a massive counterfeit operation from under the east stand at Highbury, churning out thousands of 5 shilling notes every day.

11 – Sock it to him

Cristiano Ronaldo came very close to signing for Arsenal but saw his move to Highbury break down over a disagreement with Thierry Henry about sock length. The Frenchman’s contract dictated that he alone should be allowed to sport socks like seductive over-the-knee stockings, a look which the Portuguese also coveted. Vic Akers delivered the deciding vote in a tense boardroom meeting, siding with the Gallic hitman. Ronaldo subsequently signed with United where he was allowed to wear a french knickers instead of shorts.

12 – Friar tucks in

Ken Friar drinks the blood of a sacrificed cockerel at the end of every league season as thanks for Tottenham’s league title trophy drought. Soon after the ritual, which he’s been undertaking since 1962 and also includes puncturing a basketball, the lifelong club servant heads to the Wetherspoons on Highbury corner where he drinks a tray of Aftershocks to rid himself of the taste.

13 – Terry’s big cock up

Manager Terry Neill, believing Clive Allen to be the son of hilarious comic Dave and therefore a fine addition to the Arsenal ranks, was so nauseated by the presence of the former QPR man that he immediately sold him to Crystal Palace, taking left back Kenny Sansom to Highbury in the process. Allen’s insistence on daily handshakes were, to Neill, the sign of a deeply insecure man, while club captain Pat Rice led a player revolt due to Allen’s intensely cloying musk.

14 – The Big Mac

Ex-Gunners striker Malcolm MacDonald successfully sued American fast-food outlet McDonald’s for a six-figure sum in 1979 when they introduced a ‘Super Mac’ to their menu. The sandwich, which included six patties, mild cheddar and a deep fried bun, was withdrawn from service after just one week when judges at the Old Bailey ruled the player’s nickname had indeed been the subject of copyright infringement.

15 – The move to North London

It’s a fact that still enrages fans of Tottenham Hotspurs, a small amateur outfit from Middlesex, but the Arsenal moved North of the river in order to get away from a group of young ladies who, much against the way of the world back then, had relentlessly stalked some of the players in an overtly sexual manner. Ace winger, Cliff Winstanley, was so aghast when flashed with provocative bloomers he had to be put in a mental institution and died a lunatic just three years later. The licentious ways south of the Thames were too much for the gentlemanly Gunners.

 

 

 

 

 

BREAKING NEWS: Search Ship Of Missing Malaysian Plane ‘Picks Up Signal’

A Chinese vessel that is part of a multinational search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean reported on Saturday that an underwater sensor had picked up a “pulse signal,” China’s official news agency reported.

The signal had a frequency of 37.5 kHz, the report said, which is the frequency used for all standard underwater locator devices attached to aircraft data and voice recorders, commonly known as black boxes.

Hours after the report, the Australian chief coordinator of the Indian Ocean search, retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston, said “the characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box.” He also noted that white objects had been spotted floating in the water about 56 miles from the area where the sounds were heard.

But he urged caution, saying the reports could not be immediately verified -- a sentiment echoed by Malaysian and Chinese officials.

“There is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft,” said Mr. Houston, chief of the Joint Agency Coordination Center, an Australian government group.

False alerts can be triggered by sea life, including whales, or by noise from ships. An alert sounded on the British Royal Navy vessel HMS Echo last week turned out to be false, according to the Australians.

The Chinese vessel, Haixun 01, was searching about 1,020 miles northwest of Perth, Australia, on Saturday when it picked up the pulse signal, Xinhua reported.

In the four weeks since Flight 370 veered off its scheduled path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and dropped off civilian and military radar, no trace of the plane has been found. In the past week, searchers have concentrated their efforts in several areas of the Indian Ocean more than 900 miles off the coast of Perth, Australia. A flotilla of ships from various nations have combed the water as aircraft have conducted daily reconnaissance flights.

Crews aboard the planes and ships have spotted floating items nearly every day, but so far all the objects have turned out to be fishing equipment and other detritus not related to Flight 370.

On Saturday, 10 military planes, 3 civilian jets and 11 ships were scheduled to search an area about 1,050 miles northwest of Perth, and the signal reported by the Chinese ship appeared to come from that area, according to coordinates provided by Xinhua.

The Haixun 01 has been a regular member of the search flotilla for days and is one of at least eight vessels China has deployed to the Indian Ocean to help in the search.

On Friday, search coordinators announced that the underwater phase of the hunt had begun with the addition of two military ships — one from Australia and the other from Britain — equipped with underwater sensor technology.

Both those ships planned to resume their underwater search on Saturday, the Australian Coordination Center said in a statement early in the day. There was no mention, however, of the Haixun 01’s part in the underwater search or whether it was outfitted with technology for detecting black boxes.

The Haixun 01 went into service last year, when the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration said it was the biggest of China’s civilian maritime administration vessels with the most advanced equipment.

Black boxes are equipped to emit a signal that can be detected by a receiver under the surface of the water. The maximum detection range is typically up to about two to three kilometers, or less than two miles, though the range is dependent on various factors including the sensitivity of the receiver, sea conditions, water temperature or whether the black boxes are buried by debris.

Much hope is riding on the effectiveness of the underwater listening devices. The black boxes’ batteries, which have a life span of about a month, are expected to expire as early as this week. When they die, so will the pinger signal, leaving the boxes to rest mutely on the seabed, making their discovery far more difficult.

Source: NYTimes

It's all about infotainment: CBN Building burnt down after the suspension of Sa...

It's all about infotainment: CBN Building burnt down after the suspension of Sa...: The Lagos State office of the Central Bank of Nigeria is on fire. The fire started at about 5:40 PM at the top most part of the buildin...

CBN Building burnt down after the suspension of Sanusi. What is their plans?

The Lagos State office of the Central Bank of Nigeria is on fire. The fire started at about 5:40 PM at the top most part of the building.
Men of the Lagos Fire Service and other emergency agency officials are said to have arrived the scene.
The over 50 year old building is located at the Tinubu area of Lagos Island. It is situated opposite the Stock Exchange office on Custom Street, Marina.
The building used to serve as the bank’s headquarters before the Federal Capital Territory was moved to Abuja.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Source: Channel tv

The value of the Nigerian Entertainment Industry

By ROBERTS ORYA
“Nollywood is getting set to take over the world. I recognize the role of entertainment in the Nigerian economy and this government will support an industry that makes Nigerians happy. I have given them direct order to make sure entertainers have $200 million worth of loan to work with. Make more movies, write and produce more hit songs, provide jobs and give hope to our people.”
- President Goodluck Jonathan
It bears similarity to Hollywood. A number of Nollywood actors and actresses are destined to superstardom before they attain their middle age. It is not about instant fame and fortune, but by sheer productivity and masterful performances, actors and actresses become veterans before they attain the golden age.  Musicians even tend to operate across generations. The reason for this  is that the entertainment industry does so well in harnessing the power of youth. A lot is feared about the demographic structure of Nigeria, for now and for the future. By current estimates, the Nigerian population has over 100 million people under the age of 45. Will this army of young people find gainful employment today? If they don’t, how are they to vent their energy? From, say the year 2054, when the potential demographic dividend of today will yield to something of an inverted pyramid population structure, what percentage of private and public resources would be required to support the pension system and care for the aged?
First, let’s take a close look at the last question. Most artistes across the genres of entertainment are early starters. They start to contribute to the GDP at a relatively young age. Their careers prop a broad range of economic activities that define the entertainment industry value chain. Because artistes remain economically active in their old age, and some of their past works gain even greater value much later, they’re hardly any burden on government or society. Instead, they keep both together happily.  Furthermore, outside of policy-making and regulating the industry, entertainment is a sphere of activities for the private sector. It is not a place where huge pension liabilities will accrue to the government. Therefore, the growth of the entertainment industry does not pose corresponding additional burden on fiscal management.
Indeed, the entertainment industry has been growing in leaps and bounds in the last decade. Nollywood has risen to number two position (behind India’s Bollywood) in the global film markets, in terms of volume of production. In revenue, Nollywood is third, behind Hollywood and Bollywood. Nollywood produces about 50 movies per week. Current estimates put its annual revenue at an impressive $590 million. Africa Renewal, a publication of the United Nations, reported in its May 2013 edition, that the African film industry (in which Nollywood is by far the dominant), would contribute significantly to the expected 5.2% GDP growth projection for the continent last year. Euromonitor International and Reed Exhibitions, the organisers of the World Travel Market, a global event for the travel industry, were cited by Africa Renewal saying that the Nigerian film industry will continue to drive domestic and regional tourism.
The entertainment sector is job-rich. It is now reputed to be the second highest employer of labour in Nigeria after agriculture. Characteristically employing pools of young people with diverse skill sets, the Nigerian film industry alone currently employs more than one million people. In the earlier part of its history, Nollywood struggled to attract the interest of funders. It basically relied on angel investors and personal finance of a few people within the industry to maintain production. Then, its distribution infrastructure was hijacked by pirates and other agents of unauthorised distributorship. Today however, the industry is raising a new breed of savvy entrepreneurs whose exploits have internationalised the movie industry. One of them is 33-year old Jason Njoku of Iroko Partners, who was recently listed by Forbes as one of “top 10 young African millionaires to watch.” His firm with offices in Lagos, London and New York, distributes Nollywood and Ghanaian films and music. Seen as Africa’s version of Netflix, Iroko Partners attracted further $8 million in funding last December to boost its on-demand video platform and drive it toward profitability in 2015.
With the rising funding profile, several Nigerian actors and actresses have starred in international films. Some  Nigerian films have been shot in exotic locations outside the country. One of the exponents, Genevieve Nnaji has been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is currently a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations. In the music sphere, Femi Kuti has received two nominations for Grammy Award, while 2Face Idibia and D’banj are winners of MTV Music Awards. Around Africa, Europe and America, Nollywood actors and Nigerian musicians are showcases of the abundance of raw talents in Nigeria, and how we are a people that is up and doing. Africa Magic channel on DSTV (Digital Satellite Television) is about the magic of the Nigerian creative zest and industrial capacity; no pun intended.
Less than a decade ago, it was almost unthinkable that a local Nigerian musician would collaborate with international stars. Today, such collaborations are commonplace. U.S. mega stars Kanye West and Snoop Lion have worked with D’Banj and Don Jazzy, while Senegalese-American star Akon has signed Tuface Idibia, P-Square and Wizkid as the African representatives of his record label, Konvict Musik. Apart from signing a lucrative deal with Sony Music Entertainment, D’Banj’s was recently unveiled at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa as the Ambassador for ONE Campaign, an advocacy that calls on African governments to commit at least 10 per cent of national budgets on agricultural investment.
Nigeria’s kings of comedy, Ali Baba, Basketmouth, Julius Agwu, AY, among others are also celebrated across Africa and beyond. Basketmouth and Julius Agwu have individually organized sold-out shows at the O2 Arena, United Kingdom. Apart from having sold-out performances at home and abroad, video and audio recordings of comedy shows have also become huge sources of revenue for these comedians.    Nollywood bubbles with the energy of youth. The predominant genre of the Nigerian music ruling our airwaves is youthful. That means perfect symmetry with the huge Nigerian youth population. The population universe of 170 million people provides a big market for retail of entertainment products. At the same time, businesses tapping the huge Nigerian consumer market, especially the mobile network operators (MNOs) and food & beverage, are propelling Nigerian entertainers to new levels of financial success with incomes from endorsements, Caller Ring Back Tones (CRBT), etc. In effect, Nigerian youths have the right motivations for success in the examples of the stars that grace our television sets and rule our airwaves.
When cinemas arrived in Nigeria, much of the movies that moviegoers were treated to came from Hollywood, Chinese and Indian films. However, over the last decade, Nollywood films have become staples of Nigerian cinemas. This experience has further deepened the cinema culture in Nigeria as Nollywood film producers and directors, with considerable investments in both equipment and training, have significantly improved the quality of Nigerian films.   The Nigerian entertainment industry has invalidated the excuse of poverty as a reason for the youth to operate in the underworld. Many music stars and comedians have emerged from poor neighbourhoods, including Mushin and Ajegunle  suburbs  of  Lagos. We therefore hope that the demographic dividend that is associated with the Nigerian population structure will be realised. The threat of a large youth population, which will turn against the larger society because of lack of the right motivation and opportunities, therefore diminishes.
Presidential vision
It is to the credit of  President Goodluck Jonathan that he made the connection with the entertainment industry as early as 2010 when he succeeded late President  Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. On November 6th of that year, he announced an intervention fund for the entertainment industry. He expressed his vision for the industry and commitment to growing it with these words: “Nollywood is getting set to take over the world. I recognize the role of entertainment in the Nigerian economy and this government will support an industry that makes Nigerians happy. I have given them direct order to make sure entertainers have $200 million worth of loan to work with. Make more movies, write and produce more hit songs, provide jobs and give hope to our people.”
This show of foresight, and the consequent recognition of the body of artistes by Mr. President, with the audience he granted the industry stakeholders, was thought to be an election gimmick ahead of the 2011 presidential election. Assuming that was the case, it would mean that the youth, given their visibility in the entertainment industry and their career successes, have become a critical bloc in the Nigerian political calculus.
However, soon after his election in 2011, Mr. President kept his promise. He has continued to renew his commitment to the industry.
The Nigerian Creative and Entertainment Industry Stimulation Loan Scheme (NCEILS) was launched with the funds pledged by Mr. President. Having facilitated the drafting of the operational guidelines for operating the Fund, and as the trade policy bank of the Federal Government, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank has managed it. NEXIM Bank flagged-off funding support for the Nigerian movie industry with its first film financing facility for the production of “Dr. Bello” Movie on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Lagos. The bank has since been providing funding support for the improvement of distribution infrastructure/platforms and establishment of new digital production studios.