...River Trinity, Apapa-Oshodi Express Way, Lagos, Nigeria

For people who do not know, there is a river popularly known as river trinity along the Apapa-Oshodi Express way in Lagos State. The river is so called because it is located near the popular trinity bus stop along that road.

Whenever it rains...the rain water on the road makes it almost impossible for any body to drive through. Yes! The water level is at least above the knee level. Very deep indeed.

Yesterday was no exception as the rain poured all day long! Naturally and as expected whenever it rains, after the close of work the whole Lagos metropolis was road locked! The traffic jam was so much that many people got to their various homes as late as 11pm.

Back to the subject matter. The river trinity was the major cause of the traffic jam along the Apapa_Oshodi Expressway yesterday (and most days). Motorists have to wade gently through the water. Now you have to be very careful as there are lots of pot holes on the road. Mehn! It was not a funny O!

This is a clarion call! Lagos State Government please do something about the deplorable state of the roads ASAP so that EKO O NI BAAJE!

It was a hoax!

Confession time! Yes. The man behind the photos of the "undiscovered" Amazon Tribe that were beamed around the world (including this blog) has admitted it was a hoax. He said the existence of the Amazon Indians' was already known, but he hoped the publicity would lift the threat of logging!


José Carlos Meirelles, an indigenous tribes expert, said the existence of the tribe was noted as far back as 1910, and they had been photographed to prove that "uncontacted" tribes still existed in an area endangered by logging.

They are the amazing pictures that were beamed around the globe: a handful of warriors from an 'undiscovered' in the rainforest on the Brazilian-Peruvian border brandishing bows and arrows at the aircraft that photographed them.

Or so the story was told and sold. But it has now emerged that, far from being unknown, the tribe's existence has been noted since 1910 and the mission to photograph them was undertaken in order to prove that 'uncontacted' tribes still existed in an area endangered by the menace of the logging industry.

The disclosures have been made by the man behind the pictures, José Carlos Meirelles, 61, one of the handful of sertanistas – experts on indigenous tribes – working for the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency, Funai, which is dedicated to searching out remote tribes and protecting them.

In his first interviews since the disclosure of the tribe's existence, Meirelles described how he found the group, detailed how they lived and how he planned the publicity to protect them and other tribes in similar danger of losing the habitat in which they have flourished for hundreds of years.

Meirelles admitted that the tribe was first known about almost a century ago and that the apparently chance encounter that produced the now famous images was no accident. 'When we think we might have found an isolated tribe,' he told al-Jazeera, 'a sertanista like me walks in the forest for two or three years to gather evidence and we mark it in our [global positioning system]. We then map the territory the Indians occupy and we draw that protected territory without making contact with them. And finally we set up a small outpost where we can monitor their protection.'

But in this case Meirelles appears, controversially, to have gone out to seek and find the uncontacted tribe in an area where it was known to be living.

According to his account, the Brazilian state of Acre offered him the use of an aircraft for three days. 'I had years of GPS co-ordinates,' he said. Meirelles had another clue to the tribe's precise location. 'A friend of mine sent me some Google Earth co-ordinates and maps that showed a strange clearing in the middle of the forest and asked me what that was,' he said. 'I saw the co-ordinates and realised that it was close to the area I had been exploring with my son – so I needed to fly
over it.'

For two days, Meirelles says, he flew a 150km-radius route over the border region with Peru and saw huts that belonged to isolated tribes. But he did not see people. 'When the women hear the plane above, they run into the forest, thinking it's a big bird,' he said. 'This is such a remote area, planes don't fly over it.'

What he was looking for was not only proof of life, but firm evidence that the tribes in this area were flourishing – proof in his view that the policy of no contact and protection was working. On the last day, with only a couple hours of flight time remaining, Meirelles spotted a large community.

'When I saw them painted red, I was satisfied, I was happy,' he said. 'Because painted red means they are ready for war, which to me says they are happy and healthy defending their territory.'Survival International, the organisation that released the pictures along with Funai, conceded yesterday that Funai had known about this nomadic tribe for around two decades. It defended the disturbance of the tribe saying that, since the images had been released, it had forced neighbouring Peru to re-examine its logging policy in the border area where the tribe lives, as a result of the international media attention. Activist and former Funai president Sydney Possuelo agreed that – amid threats to their environment and doubt over the existence of such tribes – it was necessary to publish them.

But the revelation that the existence of the tribe was already established will provoke awkward questions over why a decision was made to try to photograph them – a form of contact in itself – in order to make a political point.

Meirelles, one of only five or so genuine sertanistas, has no regrets, arguing that the pictures and video released to the world were powerful and indisputable evidence to those who say isolated tribes no longer exist. 'Alan García [the President of Peru] declared recently that the isolated Indians were a creation in the imagination of environmentalists and anthropologists – now we have the pictures.'

But he is determined to keep the tribe's location secret – even under torture, he says. 'They can decide when they want contact, not me or anyone else.'

Source: Guardian News

Idols (East and South Africa)

The top 7 contestants took the stage tonight!

All through the auditions and down to the top ten the selection had been great! Now, the top 10 are "singing" for our votes! Yes! it is not about the comments of the judges, it is not about how much cheers or boos the contestants get from the audience . . . it is all about the votes of thousands and millions of Africans! Yes, that is ALL that matters.

I am not going to campaign for any contestant but I sincerely pray that the best contenstant (in terms of vocals, presentation and of course stage confident) would be the next Idol. I mean Africa should vote for true talent! Lets vote for a true IDOL!

. . . a doctor is also a patient!

Did you know that medical practitioners alsoo need to be attended to? Well they do. Most of us forget that these medical practitioners (Nurses, Surgeons, Dentists or even the general medical practitioner) are first and foremost humans with theirindividual human needs and feelings!

Doctors cry. . . Doctors feel pain . . . Doctors worry . . . and the list goes on. . .

This is a must read from Readers Digest!

• I was told in school to put a patient in a gown when he isn't listening or cooperating. It casts him in a position of subservience. --Chiropractor, Atlanta

• One of the things that bug me is people who leave their cell phones on. I'm running on a very tight schedule, and I want to spend as much time with patients as I possibly can. Use that time to get the information and the process you need. Please don't answer the cell. --James Dillard, MD, pain specialist, New York City

• I wish patients would take more responsibility for their own health and stop relying on me to bail them out of their own problems. --ER physician, Colorado Springs, Colorado

• So let me get this straight: You want a referral to three specialists, an MRI, the medication you saw on TV, and an extra hour for this visit. Gotcha. Do you want fries with that? --Douglas Farrago, MD

• I used to have my secretary page me after I had spent five minutes in the room with a difficult or overly chatty patient. Then I'd run out, saying, "Oh, I have an emergency." --Oncologist, Santa Cruz, California

• Many patients assume that female physicians are nurses or therapists. I can't tell you how often I've introduced myself as Dr. M. and then been called a nurse, therapist, or aide and asked to fetch coffee or perform other similar tasks. I have great respect for our nurses and other ancillary personnel and the work they do, but this doesn't seem to happen to my male colleagues. --Physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, Royal Oak, Michigan

• The most unsettling thing for a physician is when the patient doesn't trust you or believe you. --Obstetrician-gynecologist, New York City

• It really bugs me when people come to the ER for fairly trivial things that could be dealt with at home. --ER physician, Colorado Springs, Colorado

• Your doctor generally knows more than a website. I have patients with whom I spend enormous amounts of time, explaining things and coming up with a treatment strategy. Then I get e-mails a few days later, saying they were looking at this website that says something completely different and wacky, and they want to do that. To which I want to say (but I don't), "So why don't you get the website to take over your care?" --James Dillard, MD

• I know that Reader's Digest recommends bringing in a complete list of all your symptoms, but every time you do, it only reinforces my desire to quit this profession. --Douglas Farrago, MD

For a full list of all 41 Medical Secrets buy a copy of Readers Digest and/or visit http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/41-medical-secrets/article75920.html