10 Dark Secrets Of Mormon History

Every religion has less-than-savory moments hidden in its history. Catholicism has the Inquisition and the Crusades. The Anglican Church began its existence with a purging of Catholics. Many American Protestant religions promoted slavery or the Ku Klux Klan. Despite the clean-cut image of family-oriented conservatives that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon Church) presents to the world, it too has moments of darkness in its past. From deeply disturbing acts by its founder, Joseph Smith, to atrocities committed in the name of God in Utah, Mormonism has some very dark secrets that even most members of the Church don’t know about. Fortunately, they are well documented—many even by official Mormon publications.10

10. Mormons Threatened To Exterminate All Missourians

Sidney Rigdon was, for a time, the second most powerful person in Mormonism. Then, his relationship with Joseph Smith (depicted above in a statue at the Temple Square’s North Visitor’s Center) suffered due to a number of factors that strained the friendship including when Smith tried to marry Rigdon’s daughter (while Smith was already married) and his refusal to support polygamy. He was removed from his post but, when Rigdon was still Smith’s second-in-command, his input helped shape much of Mormon theology and he also gave the majority of important sermons to the earliest Mormon congregations. When Mormons were living in Daviess County, Missouri, he delivered a fiery oration on Independence Day of 1838 in which he promised that the Missourians who Mormons felt were persecuting them (the sentiments had some justification although Mormons did their fair share of antagonizing as well) would need to stop any disputes with the Mormons or face a war of extermination. He promised they wouldn’t stop until the last drop of blood was spilled. The text of the speech was endorsed by Joseph Smith.

9. A Mormon Militia Burned Villages To The Ground

The non-Mormons who were present at Rigdon’s sermon were rightfully alarmed. Fears of Mormon aggression, as well as Mormons taking control of the county government, led to anti-Mormon sentiments among the residents of Gallatin, the seat of Daviess County. When Mormons turned up to vote on election day that year, a drunken brawl broke out that resulted in Mormons being blocked from accessing the polls. Mormons responded to not being allowed to vote by forming a militia and attacking Gallatin as well as the nearby village of Millport (one militia battle is depicted in the painting above). They looted and gutted shops and set fire to numerous homes, stores, and government buildings until nearly all homes in Daviess County not owned by Mormons were destroyed. Numerous records, including journal entries from those who experienced the attack and affidavits sworn against the Mormon mob, included allegations that the Mormon mob forced pregnant women and children out into the cold, stole livestock, and took prisoners for interrogation. Unfortunately, these actions and the menacing content of Sidney Rigdon’s July 4 speech led to Governor Lilburn Boggs signing an order to exterminate all Mormons in Missouri.

8. Joseph Smith Ordered Governor Bogg’s Assassination
After the extermination order, the Mormons left for Nauvoo, Illinois, but their bad experiences in Missouri would never be forgotten. In 1841, Joseph Smith announced a prophesy that Governor Boggs (pictured above) would, within a year, meet a violent demise. Dr. John C. Bennett, one of Smith’s former close associates (who was no longer in the Church and deeply hated Smith at this point), wrote a letter to the Sangamo Journal in Carthage, Illinois, informing them that he inquired one day about the whereabouts of Orrin Porter Rockwell (Smith’s bodyguard), and Smith replied that Rockwell had gone to fulfill prophecy. Meanwhile, someone attempted to assassinate Governor Boggs, shooting him twice through the skull, once in the neck, and once in the throat. According to Bennett, Rockwell returned the day before news of the assassination attempt arrived at Nauvoo. Rockwell never directly denied the crime, even when he was tried for it, insisting, “I’ve never shot at anybody. If I shoot, they get shot. He’s still alive, isn’t he?” Even though Bennet’s claims were never directly supported by others, they were implicitly supported by William Law, the man who was Joseph Smith’s right-hand man at the time. Further, Joseph H. Jackson, a new arrival to Nauvoo who had a shady past, later claimed in his memoirs that Joseph Smith offered him $3,000 to free Rockwell from prison and shoot Boggs.

7. Mormon Settlers Massacred 140 Pioneers Headed For California

In 1867, a group of non-Mormon pioneers from Missouri and Arkansas were trying to pass through Utah on their way to California but ran into trouble as they tried to get through the Beehive State. The Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt had recently been murdered in Arkansas after essentially trying to kidnap children. Because of this and the expulsion from Missouri, the Mormons at the time felt very strong prejudice against people from those two states.As the pioneers entered Utah, Brigham Young forbade everyone from selling them much-needed supplies. Then rumors began to arise that the pioneers had been destroying fences, burning fields, and making threats against the Mormons, although none of the rumors were ever substantiated. When the rumors expanded to include a claim that the pioneers were going to bring troops back from California to attack the Mormon settlements, a group of Mormons dressed as Native Americans attacked their wagon train and, after a three-day assault, killed all men, women, and children over the age of eight. The victims’ bodies were stripped naked and left to rot in the open air.

6. Brigham Young Said Mixed-Race Marriages Should Be Punished By Death

Brigham Young (pictured) is revered by Mormons as the second prophet of modern times. According to Mormon doctrines, prophets speak to God and communicate God’s will to Mormons. Their beliefs on the subject extend so far as to dictate that a prophet can never lead people astray. Despite the fact that the leader of the Mormon Church is supposed to relay God’s will to mankind, though, Brigham Young espoused some terrifyingly racist ideals. Most Mormons are aware that Young instituted a ban on black people holding Church leadership positions and entering their temples, but few are aware of how extreme he was. In a speech he gave as governor of Utah to the state legislature, he announced that Utah should have the right to practice slavery. In an address he gave at General Conference (a semi-annual meeting of the Latter-day Saints), he announced, “Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain [those of African descent], the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.”

5. Brigham Young Said Only Spilling Blood Could Redeem Those Who Left Mormonism

Brigham Young had no tolerance for Mormons who began to doubt the faith. One of his wives alleged he ordered the deaths of people who tried to leave the faith. According to her, they would try to leave Utah then turn up murdered (supposedly by Native Americans) along the way. Wild Bill Hickman, a famed gunslinger and friend of the Mormon leader, actually claimed that Young had ordered him to commit some of those murders. Those allegations have never been proven, but Young did indicate that he supported the sentiment even if he never ordered a murder. In several speeches given to large gatherings of Latter-day Saints, he proclaimed that the only way a person could be absolved of the sin of leaving Mormonism would be for that person to have his or her blood spilled on the ground.

4. Joseph Smith Recorded Conflicting Visions
Mormons believe that Joseph Smith had a vision in 1820 in which he saw God and Jesus (“first vision” depicted in a sculpture above). According to this story, they told him that all religions existing at the time were abominations. However, Smith told as many as 10 versions of the story and many had serious contradictions. Earlier versions featured only Jesus or angels appearing to Smith. That progressed into a host of angels, then it evolved to God appearing to Smith in a pillar of fire. The last known version, the one in which he saw both God and Jesus, is the version contained in the Mormon book of scriptures known as the Pearl of Great Price and is the version taught both to the Latter-day Saint faithful and those considering converting to the faith. The other versions are never mentioned, though they are available on a Church-run website.

3. Mormon Scriptures Contain An Image Of An Egyptian God With An Erection

In 1838, Joseph Smith purchased an Egyptian mummy and a set of papyri. He announced that they were scrolls written by Abraham and, a year later, he said he translated the hieroglyphics by the power of God. His translation retells some Biblical stories as well as adding to the lore of the father of Judaism and Islam, and the translation was eventually canonized as scripture. However, the scrolls that he used to translate were believed for years to have been burned in a fire. When they turned up at the Smithsonian Institute in the 1920s, they were returned to the Mormon Church. Egyptologists (both Mormon and non-Mormon) were invited to view the scrolls and translate them, but they found that the scrolls were ordinary funerary texts that had nothing to do with Abraham. Some Mormons say that some of the scrolls must still be missing, but Smith included facsimiles of the scrolls in his translation and they are clearly misinterpreted, with female figures listed as male, canopic jars indicated to be idolatrous gods, and the Egyptian fertility god, Min (depicted in a painted relief above), labeled “God, sitting on his throne.” The image of Min in the facsimile included in Mormon scriptures is sporting a comically exaggerated erectio

2. Joseph Smith Married 14-Year-Old Girls

Polygamy has long been a blight on Mormonism’s public relations. The founder of the religion, Joseph Smith, began claiming he had been commanded by God to take additional wives after his first wife caught him having sex with their teenage maid in the barn. Despite the fact that the Book of Mormon (which Smith said he translated by the power of God) denounces polygamy, Smith didn’t stop with two wives and, before he died, he had married close to 40 women and possibly many more. Some of his brides were as young as 14, and he even married women who already had living husbands. Sometimes, he would send the husbands on missions in foreign countries and marry their wives while they were away and unable to object. However, the revelation that Smith said he received commanding polygamy specifically forbade women marrying more than one man.

1. Polygamy Severely Oppressed Women

Polygamy was far worse for the women of Utah in the mid- to late 1800s than even the staunchest of feminists would likely guess. Even though Mormon scriptures had numerous rules governing polygamy that included requirements that the first wife approve of subsequent marriages and bans on one man marrying mothers, daughters, or sisters, the rules were completely disregarded. Women in Utah were treated like a commodity, with Church apostle Heber C. Kimball once observing, “I would think nothing more of taking a wife than of buying a cow.” Men married additional women to show their status as righteous men who were devoted to their faith and would often marry more women than they could afford to support, keeping the less-liked wives in other towns and forcing them to earn their own living. One wife of Apostle Orson Pratt actually died of neglect after getting sick while living in poverty because he wouldn’t allocate enough money for her care. Even in households where the men could afford their wives and offered them full financial support, sometimes jealousy and spite divided wives to the point that some would kill themselves to avoid having to live in heaven with their husbands and their sister wives.Joseph Nelson has always been fascinated by religion. When he isn’t exploring the dark secrets of various religions, he is a major sci-fi/fantasy geek and the lead editor and author for The Elders Blog on Elders of Genova.

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10 Surprising Unknown Stories About The Titanic

For more than a century, the tragic story of the RMS Titanic has gripped the imagination of the world. Yet there are many crucial details of that infamous April night that remain relatively unknown.

10 The Weather Was Perfect

It’s easy to picture the Titanic battling huge waves at sea, with the fog and rain obscuring the iceberg that famously consigned her to a watery grave. In reality, the opposite was true. As the Titanic sailed toward her doom, the weather was perfectly, eerily calm. With no wind or waves, the sea was stretched out like a flawless mirror, the only ripples in the water coming from the ship herself as she glided along. And that perfect weather may just have been her doom. According to the meteorologist Edward Lawrence, even a mild swell would have been enough to push phosphorescent plankton around the edge of the iceberg. The plankton, which glow intensely when disturbed, would have essentially outlined the danger for the lookouts on the Titanic. The ship’s second officer, Charles Lightoller, specifically mentioned the absence of glowing plankton as one of the reasons for the disaster. The calm weather may also have prevented the sudden rise and fall in temperatures that usually warns of sailing into an iceberg field. Unfortunately, by the time the iceberg was spotted, there was almost no time to avoid a collision. The 1912 inquiry into the sinking found that the Titanic only had 37 seconds to try and change course, although a more recent evaluation of the evidence suggests it was actually a little over a minute. Either way, the ship was doomed. After the sinking, a bitter wind blew up, helping to chill the passengers struggling for survival.

9. It Was On Fire The Whole Trip

Shortly before her fateful maiden voyage, a fire started in the Titanic‘s coal bunkers. As revealed during the British inquiry into the disaster, the flames were still raging when the ship set out for New York, creating a potentially dangerous situation for those on board. According to surviving stoker J. Dilley: “We didn’t get that fire out and among the stokers there was talk that we’d have to empty the big coal bunkers after we’d put the passengers off in New York and then call on the fireboats there to help us put out the fire.” That didn’t turn out to be necessary, since Dilley claimed the flames were extinguished when the iceberg ripped through the hull and flooded the bunkers with seawater. Other crew members claimed that the fire had successfully been extinguished the day before the ship hit the iceberg. Either way, the Titanic was on fire for almost the entire voyage. This wasn’t necessarily disastrous, since the steel bunkers were designed to contain coal fires. But it did increase the risk of the trip and White Star Line managing director Bruce Ismay subsequently alleged that the ship’s owner, J.P. Morgan, forced the crew to sail at full speed in order to “reach New York and unload all the passengers before the inevitable explosions occurred.” Morgan himself was scheduled to sail on the Titanic, but changed his mind and pulled out at the last minute.

8. The Tragic Foresight Of William T. Stead

In 1886, the legendary journalist William T. Stead wrote a fictional story about an Atlantic mail steamer sinking after a collision, with most of the passengers drowning due to a lack of lifeboats. Stead intended the story to draw attention to lax nautical regulations, which generally did not require ships to carry enough lifeboats for everyone on board.Stead returned to the theme in 1892, with a story based on the White Star Line’s Majestic liner. In the climactic chapter, the ship is crossing the Atlantic loaded with tourists. Suddenly:There was a sound as if the steamer were crashing through ice and the screws were churning amid ice blocks. Passengers felt their way cautiously to the deck. It was wet and clammy and bitterly cold. Every half-minute the fog whistle blew. The crashing of ice against the sides of the ship and clamping of ice under the screws made it difficult to speak so as to be heard. Then there came a cry: ‘Icebergs on the starboard.’Two decades later, Stead lost his own life as a passenger on the Titanic. The liner only carried 20 lifeboats, barely enough for half of the passengers on board.

7. The Captain Failed His Navigation Test

Edward John Smith, captain of the Titanic, has been the subject of countless myths since the fateful night when he went down with his ship. Many even believe that he personally saved a child’s life before disappearing into the Atlantic. However, it has also been alleged that this heroic picture isn’t the whole truth. Not only did Captain Smith ignore several ice warnings and fail to keep the ship at a reasonable speed, he also allowed lifeboats to leave the ship half-empty—the first boat to depart had just 27 passengers in 65 seats. Smith additionally failed to issue a clear “abandon ship” order, which led to many passengers not realizing the gravity of the situation they found themselves in. In 2012, it was revealed that Smith had actually failed his navigation exams the first time he took them. He did eventually pass in 1888, but that initial failure was perhaps a bad omen. Ironically, before the Titanic disaster, Smith had actually earned himself the nickname of “the millionaire’s captain” due to his reputation for smooth reliability.

6. The Sole Japanese Passenger

The only Japanese passenger on board was a middle-aged civil servant named Masabumi Hosono, who was in Europe studying railway systems before he boarded the Titanic to start his journey back home. When the ship began to sink, he made his way to the main deck, determined to face death with dignity. With the “women and children first” policy enforced at gunpoint, his survival seemed unlikely, but Hosono still found himself looking for any chance to get to safety. His opportunity came when a crew member shouted that there were two spaces left in a lifeboat. After seeing another man jump in, Hosono followed suit. If he had known what the rest of his life would be like, he might have decided to go down with the ship. At the time, it was considered much better for a man to suffer an honorable death than to survive in a shameful manner. When he arrived back in Japan, Hosono found himself branded a coward and ostracized from his community. He was also fired from his government job, although he was later rehired. A number of negative reports about an Asian survivor in lifeboat 13 didn’t help matters much, since these were often associated with Hosono.In 1997, he was somewhat exonerated after his handwritten account of the disaster was discovered among his personal belongings. In a letter written to his wife, Hosono mentions that he was in lifeboat 10, meaning that he couldn’t have been the man in lifeboat 13 after all.

5. The Real Titanic Necklace

James Cameron’s Titanic features a forbidden romance and a magnificent necklace known as the “Heart of the Ocean,” details which you’d assume were simply added to make the movie more interesting. But it turns out the real Titanic played host to a very similar story, as passenger Kate Florence Philips received a valuable sapphire necklace from her illicit lover, Henry Morley.Morley was a wealthy 40-year-old confectionery shop owner from Worcester, England, and the 19-year-old Kate was originally employed as his counter assistant. Before long, things went beyond professional and Morley started making plans to leave his wife and young daughter behind to be with Kate. The couple planned to elope on board the Titanic and start a new life in California. After the iceberg struck, Kate was taken aboard the very last lifeboat. Morley wasn’t so lucky.Exactly nine months after the tragedy, Kate gave birth to a baby girl called Ellen. In 1989, Ellen’s story became known after she arrived at the Worcester News office, looking for a picture of her father. The newspaper had previously published an article containing details of Worcester Titanic victims and the 76-year-old Ellen wept as she held Henry’s photograph. She also related her mother’s story, and revealed that she still had Kate’s sapphire necklace, as well as a cabin key from the Titanic.In 2012, Ellen’s granddaughter, Beverley Farmer, and Morley’s great-granddaughter, Deborah Allen, held a reunion to mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster.

4. Mistakes And Theories

We all know that the iceberg caused the Titanic to sink, but over the years there have been a number of attempts to find out why she hit the iceberg in the first place. Immediately following the disaster, inquiries in both Britain and the US concluded that the ship had been traveling far too fast. At a slower speed, the damage would have been lessened, or it might even have been possible to avoid the iceberg entirely. As it was, the impact broke open six of the ship’s compartments, two more than could be flooded while keeping her afloat. In 2010, author Louise Patton, the granddaughter of second officer Charles Lightoller, suggested that the ship could have avoided a collision entirely if the helmsman, Robert Hitchins, hadn’t panicked and turned in the wrong direction. According to Patton, her grandfather conspired to cover up the mistake during both the British and American inquiries into the sinking, believing that the truth would destroy the reputation of the White Star Line and his fellow crew members.Meanwhile, two astronomers from Texas State University have speculated that a rare “supermoon” may have been to blame for setting the iceberg in motion. A supermoon occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to Earth at the same time as a full moon. January 4, 1912, saw a truly remarkable example, as the Moon came closer to the Earth than at any point in the last 1,400 years. This took place only a day after the Earth’s perihelion (the closest the Earth comes to the Sun). As if that wasn’t enough, the Moon and the Sun were also aligned, causing an unusually strong tide. These amazing astronomical events could have set the Titanic disaster in motion, with an extreme tide placing a high number of icebergs in the path of the ocean liner.

3. Elizabeth Shutes

In the movie, the smell of ice didn’t help to keep the Titanic out of harm’s way. In reality, passenger Elizabeth Shutes was so troubled by the smell of ice that she couldn’t sleep, claiming that it reminded her strongly of an ice cave she had once visited. Fortunately, she survived and wrote a fascinating account of the sinking. Elizabeth was on the Titanic to act as governess to 19-year-old Margaret Graham. When the ship first trembled and shuddered after the collision, she wasn’t particularly concerned, sure that the huge liner would be safe. As she relaxed in her cabin, a sudden knock at the door changed everything. A friend reported seeing an enormous iceberg pass her window, adding that she was sure they had hit it. When Elizabeth asked a stewardess and officer about what was happening, she received no satisfactory answer.Only when the first-class passengers were herded to the upper deck did Elizabeth realize the seriousness of their situation. In her memoir, Elizabeth wrote that there were only 36 people in the lifeboat she was placed in, barely half as many as it could hold. At the time, she wished to stay near the ship, because she still couldn’t fathom such a large liner sinking. However, slowly but surely, the ship disappeared before her eyes into the depths of the sea. Just as she had begun to give up hope, the SS Carpathia appeared to take the survivors to safety.

2. The Titanic And The Costa Concordia

Ever since the tragic wreck of the Italian liner Costa Concordia, people have drawn parallels with the Titanic catastrophe. Some Concordia survivors have actually claimed that Celine Dion’s famous theme song was playing in the dining room as the ship hit the rocks. Not to mention that the ships met their end roughly a century apart, in 1912 and 2012. There are other similarities. Both were improperly christened—the champagne bottle used to christen the Costa Concordia failed to break. There is a myth that the same thing happened to during the Titanic‘s christening, but in reality she wasn’t christened at all. Both disasters were largely blamed on human error and both ships had the same top speed.However, the reputations of the two captains differ greatly. Whereas Captain Smith of the Titanic is popularly remembered as a hero who went down with his ship, Francesco Schettino will forever be remembered as the captain who made a grave error when he left the ship before all the passengers could be saved. When Schettino and the second officer departed, some 300 passengers were still on board the Concordia.

1. Optical Illusions

Several distress signals were sent from the Titanic as she was sinking. A nearby ship, the Californian, seemingly ignored them, even as multiple rockets illuminated the night sky. The Californian‘s captain actually lost his job over the scandal, as some speculated that he had intentionally ignored the rockets. However, ongoing research into the Titanic disaster has come up with a more plausible explanation—light refraction.On the night of the disaster, the Titanic was sailing through an area of thermal inversion, where layers of cold air are below an area of warmer air. Thermal inversion causes light to refract abnormally, which can create mirages. According to historian Tim Maltin, several ships in the area recorded a number of mirages on the night the Titanic sank. Maltin is convinced that the conditions were conducive to abnormal light refraction and that this could explain why the lookouts completely missed the iceberg until it was too late. A similar mirage would have also kept the crew of the Californian from correctly identifying the Titanic‘s distress signals. Maltin’s findings came in 2012, a full 20 years after the British government abandoned their own investigations into light refraction and the Titanic.Estelle lives in Gauteng, South Africa. She wishes all tragedies could be avoided.

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Man to undergo the World's first head transplant (Photo)

Valery Spiridonov, a compter scientist, who is suffering
from a rare genetic muscle wasting disease known as
Werdnig-Hoffman disease has volunteered to undergo the
world's first head transplant..
The Werdnig-Hoffman disease is a rare and fatal genetic
muscle wasting disease that leaves its sufferers seriously
disabled
Basically, Valery's head would be given a new body, and it
has been learnt that, the donor is a man that is currently
brain dead, but healthy...
A brief description of how the procedure would go;
Both donor and patient would have their head severed from
their spinal cord at the same time, using an ultra-sharp
blade to give a clean cut.
The patient's head would then be placed onto the donor's
body and attached using what Canavero calls his 'magic
ingredient' - a glue-like substance called polyethylene glycol
- to fuse the two ends of the spinal cord together.
The muscles and blood supply would be stitched up, before
the patient is put into a coma for four weeks to stop them
from moving while the head and body heal together.
When they wake the patient should be able to move, feel
their face and even speak with the same voice. Powerful
immunosuppressant drugs should stop the new body from
being rejected..... Gaddemit !!!!
The Doctor that would be performing this out-of-this-world
procedure is Controversial Italian Surgeon - Dr Sergio
Canavero.... Canavero claims that all the necessary
techniques already exist to transplant a head onto a donor
body, despite widespread scepticism..

A brief description of how the procedure would go;
Both donor and patient would have their head severed from
their spinal cord at the same time, using an ultra-sharp
blade to give a clean cut.
The patient's head would then be placed onto the donor's
body and attached using what Canavero calls his 'magic
ingredient' - a glue-like substance called polyethylene glycol
- to fuse the two ends of the spinal cord together.
The muscles and blood supply would be stitched up, before
the patient is put into a coma for four weeks to stop them
from moving while the head and body heal together.
When they wake the patient should be able to move, feel
their face and even speak with the same voice. Powerful
immunosuppressant drugs should stop the new body from
being rejected..... Gaddemit !!!!
The Doctor that would be performing this out-of-this-world
procedure is Controversial Italian Surgeon - Dr Sergio
Canavero.... Canavero claims that all the necessary
techniques already exist to transplant a head onto a donor
body, despite widespread scepticism..

null
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Bilikisu Sungbo or Queen of Sheba?

An ultra-luxury faith expedition, offered for $45,000, recently took faith tourists from the United States by private jet to explore religious sites around the world. One of the stops was Ethiopia, at the subterranean carved churches of Lalibela. They could have stopped in Nigeria…at Bilikisu Sungbo’s grave, located at Oke Eri, in Ogun State. The legend of Sungbo, who is believed to be the Queen of Sheba, straddles Christianity, Islam and the Coptic Orthodox Christianity traditions of Ethiopia. But her grave is left untended and untapped.
Buried and forgotten in Oke Eri village, a half hour drive from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, is the tomb of Bilkis Sungbo. Overwhelming archeological evidence points to this site as the final resting place of the famous Queen of Sheba who enjoys prominent mention in both the Bible and the Quran, in detailed accounts of her relationship with King Solomon. In the Old Testament, she is described as having sent a caravan of gold, ivory and other goods from her kingdom to King Solomon.

In the Koran she is an Ethiopian sun worshiper named Bilqis (Balkis) involved in the incense trade who converts to Islam. The imperial family of Ethiopia claims its origin directly from the offspring of the Queen of Sheba by King Solomon. Local legends in Ijebu area of Ogun State link a monument known as Sungbo Eredo to a wealthy childless widow named Bilikisu Sungbo. Sungbo Eredo is a rampart or system of walls and ditches that surrounds Ijebu-Ode. It is reputed to be the largest single pre-colonial monument in Africa.
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Visitors at the shrine

As a construction project, it required more earth to be moved than the Great Pyramid of Giza. More than 100 miles (160 kilometers) in circumference with some sections having walls which reach 70 feet (20 meters) in height, it encloses an area 25 miles (40 km) north to south and 22 miles (35 km) east to west. Even if Bilkis Sungbo is not the Queen of Sheba, surely, the complexity of this monument marks it out as a great heritage which has the potential to be a tourism revenue earner for Ogun State and indeed Nigeria.

The impressive size and complex construction of Sungbo Eredo drew worldwide media attention in September of 1999 when Professor Patrick Darling, an archaeologist then with the University of Bournemouth, surveyed the site and began publicising his bid to preserve the Eredo and bring the site some prominence. Professor Darling’s efforts have apparently not been enough to give the Eredo the prominence he imagined. But what has the government of Nigeria, or of Ogun State, where the site is located, done to attract prominence to it. The Sungbo Eredo monument is said to have been built by this mysterious wealthy widow as her personal memorial.

Dilapidated structure at grave site

Her actual grave is located in Oke Eri Village in Ijebu area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Abandoned and almost overgrown with weeds it remains a tourists’ site whose potentials are yet to be explored. Pilgrims of Christian, Muslim and traditional African religions annually trek to the holy site in tribute to her. Some go there to offer prayers for personal issues. A guard at the site insisted that “Whatever is asked for at her grave side is accepted.” Among the throng of pilgrims are those going back there to thank the mysterious woman for answered prayers. But so far, not much is known about Bilkis Sungbo’s grave outside this local area.

There are more than enough reasons to be skeptical about the claim that Bilkis Sungbo was actually the Queen of Sheba. For instance, it is rather unbelievable that the final resting place of the legendary queen could be in a place far away from where the stories of the Bible or the Quran were written. Many cannot just understand the connection between the rustic Oke Eri Village and the woman of great virtue whose story is recorded in the Holy Books. However, despite the disbelief in some quarters, there is, perhaps, today, no solid story or evidence to contradict the conclusion that the grave which is tagged ‘Her Royal Majesty Queen Sheba Pure Holy and Caring’ is that of the queen, whom some believe was one of the numerous wives of King Solomon in the Bible.

At least, no other site has been authenticated as her final resting place. That is not to say the controversy is not on. In fact, for a long time it will continue to be in the public domain for debate as many are still bound to ask again and again if Bilkisu Sungbo is indeed the Queen of Sheba. To a British archaeologist, Dr. Patrick Darling of Bournemouth University, there is almost no doubt that the Bilikisu Sungbo Grave in Oke Eri, is the burial site of the Queen of Sheba. To him, some of the signs on ground when he visited it in 1994, were not far away from what is expected. And he has ticked it as the most likely site, in the absence of another to contradict it.

“We have living proof that it was a powerful kingdom, and there are many links that have similarities to the Queen of Sheba legend,” he was quoted as saying. Some of the features, he cited as examples, included the mud wall stretching over some 100 miles. According to him, “The earthwork, which is larger than the pyramids in Egypt, was built in remembrance of some great figure. Stories talk of a powerful goddess or giantess.” An expert in classical studies, one Andrew Wilson, agrees with Darling to a reasonable extent. “There is always some element of truth to beliefs passed down through generations. I would not disregard the notion that she lived in West Africa.” While the claim by scholars to Queen of Sheba as being a black and wealthy woman, was also a sort of evidence, Darling pointed out that the belief in the local area that Bilikisu Sungbo is indeed the Queen of Sheba, is also another evidence.

His words: “I don’t want to overplay the Sheba theory, but it cannot be discounted… The local people believe it and that’s what is important.” To those who may not know, the story of Queen of Sheba is told in both the Bible and the Quran. Identified as Queen of Sheba in the Bible, and Bilqis in the Quran, her story in relationship with the one acclaimed to be with an unparalleled level of wisdom, King Solomon, is prominent, even though with different versions. Reference is made of her in the Hebrew Bible, First Kings 10:1-13 (largely copied in 2 Chronicles 9:1–12). And in the Quran, reference is made of her in the 34th Chapter.

While one account said she set out on a journey to King Solomon, having been awed by his renowned level of wisdom, another said King Solomon invited her, having heard about the amount of power she wielded and the fact that she and her people worshipped Sun. Solomon was said to have also shown appreciation, giving out gifts and everything that she desi

North Korea experiencing widespread Internet outages

North Korea experienced a massive Internet outage Monday, and some researchers and web watchers speculated that the country's online connections could be under cyberattack.

The Internet outage comes less than a week after the U.S. vowed an unspecified response to a massive hacking attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment over the release of the comedy film "The Interview." The plot of the comedy centers on the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, leading to widespread speculation that the country was responsible for the attack. Late last week, the FBI publicly blamed North Korea in the incident, though Pyongyang has denied involvement.

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The White House and the State Department on Monday declined to say whether the U.S. government had any role in North Korea's Internet problems.

"We have no new information to share regarding North Korea today," White House National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan told Fox News. "If in fact North Korea’s Internet has gone down, we’d refer you to that government for comment."

North Korean diplomat Kim Song, asked Monday about the Internet attack, told The Associated Press: "I have no information."

North Korea is one of the least connected in the world. Few North Koreans have access to computers, and even those who do are typically able to connect only to a domestic intranet. Though North Korea is equipped for broadband Internet, only a small, approved segment of the population has any access to the World Wide Web. More than a million people, however, are now using mobile phones in North Korea. The network covers most major cities but users cannot call outside the country or receive calls from outside.

Doug Madory, the director of Internet analysis at New Hampshire-based Dyn Research, a company that studies Internet connectivity, said the problems were discovered over the weekend and grew progressively worse to the point that "North Korea's totally down."

"They have left the global Internet and they are gone until they come back," he said.

He said one benign explanation for the problem was that a router may have suffered a software glitch, though a cyberattack involving North Korea's Internet service was also a possibility.

Routing instabilities are not uncommon, but this particular outage had gone on for hours and was getting worse instead of better, Madory said.

"This doesn't fit that profile," of an ordinary routing problem, he said. "This shows something getting progressively worse over time."

Another Internet technology service, Arbor Networks, which protects companies against hacker attacks, said its monitoring detected denial-of-service attacks aimed at North Korea's infrastructure starting Saturday and persisting Monday. Such attacks transmit so much spurious data traffic to Internet equipment that it becomes overwhelmed, until the attacks stop or the spurious traffic can be filtered and discarded to allow normal connections to resume.

President Obama said Friday that the U.S. government expected to respond "proportionately" to the hacking of Sony, which he described as an expensive act of "cyber vandalism" that he blamed on North Korea. Obama did not say how the U.S. might respond.

"We aren't going to discuss, you know, publicly operational details about the possible response options or comment on those kind of reports in anyway except to say that as we implement our responses, some will be seen, some may not be seen," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said last week.
Credits to foxnews.com

Davido, Olamide, Phyno are winners; SEE THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS #HEADIES2014

You’ve waited so long for it and guess what? You finally have it as we are thrilled to unveil the WINNERS for the 9th annual Headies Awards – a superb combination featuring the very best artists across a broad range of categories.

The Headies annually celebrates deserving stars who have contributed a lot through good music during the year in review (July 2013 – June 2014), and this year promises to be bigger as some artistes would be honoured, and many others would be encouraged to step up their game

Below is the list of Nominees and Winners of the just concluded HEADIES Awards!

BEST R’n’B SINGLE

LET SOMEBODY LOVE YOU- 2FACE IDIBIA – Winner

IYAWO MI- TIMI DAKOLO

PLAN B – WANDE COAL

DON GORDON – BURNA BOY

BEST POP SINGLE

DOROBUCCI – MAVIN CREW – Winner

AYE – DAVIDO

JOHNNY – YEMI ALADE

PULL OVER – KCEE

DOUBLE WAHALA – ORITSE FEMI

CARO – STAR BOY FEATURING WIZKID AND L.A.X

SURULERE – DR. SID

BEST RAP SINGLE

PARCEL- PHYNO – Winner

DOPE MONEY – OLAMIDE FT. PHYNO

SHOTZ ON SHOTS – ICE PRINCE FT. SARKODIE

RAP IT UP – POSLY TD

DEAF – EVA ALORDIAH

WTF – ILL BLISS

BEST STREET-HOP ARTISTE

DOUBLE WAHALA – ORITSE FEMI – Winner

SHOKI – LIL’ KESH

DOROBUCCI – MAVIN

ALOBAM – PHYNO

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE (MALE)

IYAWO MI – TIMI DAKOLO - Winner

DOUBLE WAHALA – ORITSE FEMI

WHY YOU LOVE ME – NOSA

ORDINARY PEOPLE – COBHAMS

BEST R’n’B/POP ALBUM

THE JOURNEY – SEAN TIZZLE – Winner

TAKEOVER – KCEE

ONCE UPON A TIME – TIWA SAVAGE

ME, MY MOUTH and EYE – SOUND SULTAN

L.I.F.E – BURNA BOY

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE (FEMALE)

LOVE TO LOVE YOU – NIYOLA FT. BANKYW – Winner

WANTED – TIWA SAVAGE

WINDOW – MONICA OGAH

GOOD MAN – RUBY

BEST RAP ALBUM

NO GUTS NO GLORY – PHYNO

ALAGA IBILE- REMINISCE

BADDEST GUY EVER LIVETH – OLAMIDE – Winner

THY NATION COME – JESSE JAGZ

BEST REGGAE/DANCEHALL SINGLE

GIRLIE O REMIX – PATORANKING – Winner

LEAD ME ON – CYNTHIA MORGAN

STINKING SH#T – CHOPSTIX FEATURING ICE PRINCE, YUNG L AND ENDIA.

ONLY YOU – JESSE JAGZ FT. WIZKID

MURDA – SEYI SHAY FT. PATORANKING and SHAYDEE

BEST COLLABO

OYA NOW – JOE EL FT. ORITSE FEMI

EMERGENCY – WIZZY PRO FEATURING SKALES, PATORANKING AND RUNTOWN – Winner

SURULERE – DR. SID and DON JAZZY

PASS YOU BY – BLACK MAGIC FT. ORITSE FEMI

GIRLIE O REMIX – PATORANKING

DOROBUCCI – MAVINS

HIP HOP WORLD REVELATION

TIWA SAVAGE – ONCE UPON A TIME

SEAN TIZZLE – THE JOURNEY

BURNA BOY – L.I.F.E

KCEE – TAKE OVER Winner

BEST RECORDING OF THE YEAR

IYAWO MI- TIMI DAKOLO

LET SOMEBODY LOVE YOU- 2FACE IDIBIA

ALWAYS ON MY MIND – NOSA

ORDINARY PEOPLE – COHBAMS ASUQUO - Winner

BEST ‘ALTERNATIVE’ SONG

BOLAJI – BOJ – Winner

BODY- BLACK MAGIC FEATURING BANKY W

GOOD MAN – RUBY

WHY YOU LOVE YOU – NOSA

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

DON JAZZY – DOROBUCCI – Winner

PHEELZ – ELEDA MI O

T SPIZE – AYE

LEGENDURY BEATZ – CARO

SHIZZY – SKELEWU

DEL B – PULL OVER

LYRICIST ON THE ROLL

SHOTS ON SHOTS – ICE PRINCE

RAP IT UP – POSLY TD

GOD ON THE MIC – JESSE JAGZ – Winner

KPANSH – YUNG 6IX

NEXT RATED

PATORANKING – Winner

RUNTOWN

OREZI

SKALES

YEMI ALADE

HALL OF FAME

SIR DR VICTOR UWAFOR – Winner

BEST AFRICAN ARTISTE

MAFIKIZOLO

SARKODIE – Winner

DIAMONDZ

R2BEES

BEST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

SLYDE

REEKADO BANKS – Winner

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

ADA ADA BY FLAVOUR – CLARENCE PETERS – Winner

TOH BAD BY NIYOLA – KEMI ADETIBA

JUST LIKE THAT BY RAYCE – AJE

OYA NOW BY JOE EL FT. ORITSE FEMI – UNLIMITED LA

SONG OF THE YEAR

AYE – DAVIDO - Winner

PULL OVER – KCEE

DOUBLE WAHALA – ORITSEFEMI

SURULERE – DR. SID

DOROBUCCI – MAVINS

JOHNNY – YEMI ALADE

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

SEAN TIZZLE – THE JOURNEY

BURNA BOY – L.I.F.E

PHYNO – NO GUTS NO GLORY

OLAMIDE – BADDEST GUY EVER LIVETH – Winner

ARTISTE OF THE YEAR

DAVIDO –Dr Winner

WIZKID

KCEE

TIWA SAVAGE

OLAMIDE

PHYNO

FLAVOUR

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Aliko Dangote dedicates his Forbes Africa person of the year award to Nigeria

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