Opeoluwa

All is ours

[Aare kurunmi kakanfo @AKakanfo]

The ancestors are back.
This dance steps are not taught anywhere anymore. The last time I saw people dance like this was amongst elderly Yoruba women in their 80s around 1997 at a Sango festival in Ibadan.
To see a young girl around 7 or 8, doing this flawlessly is scary 😦

[0x鸣人 @LuBtc888]

元朝文学家姚燧76岁时，和侍奉他沐浴的侍妾发生了关系。

第二天，侍妾说：“您已年迈，倘若我就此身怀有孕，恐怕会被家中怀疑，留个证物给我吧！”

元代文人姚燧这位文坛大佬，不仅笔杆子硬，做人更有温度，

他官至翰林学士承旨，笔下碑文能让王公贵族争相追捧，书法更是自成一派。

如今国博的古代书画展上，还能看到他的《草书诗卷》传世。

可就是这样一位权倾朝野的文人，晚年却因一件风流事，留下了一段跨越百年仍让人唏嘘的佳话。

那年76岁的姚燧退休后，日子过得不算冷清，原配早逝，儿女各自成家。

偌大的姚府里，几个侍妾轮流照料他的起居。

其中一个名叫留香的年轻侍妾，凭着聪慧通透，格外被他看重。

盛夏的一天，暑气逼人，姚燧去府中澡堂沐浴消暑，这个年轻侍妾像往常一样随身伺候，

添热水、擦身子、递衣物，一套动作娴熟又周到。

或许是热气熏人，或许是晚年寂寥，这位古稀老人一时情难自禁，和侍妾度过了一夜。

换做旁人或许只当是一场寻常的宠幸，可这个侍妾却在第二天一早就犯了愁。

留香没有哭哭啼啼，也没有趁机索要名分钱财，反而直接找到姚燧，开门见山说出了自己的担忧：

老爷，您年纪大了，要是我侥幸怀了孕，府里的族人谁会相信，到时候说我私通，我和孩子的命恐怕都保不住，求您给我留个证物吧。

这话一出换做别的权贵，大概率会觉得侍妾贪心、不懂规矩，可姚燧却瞬间懂了。

他在官场沉浮大半辈子，见惯了大家族里的尔虞我诈，更清楚元代妾室的卑微处境。

那时候妾室即便生了孩子，也未必能被家族接纳。

一旦男主人离世，无依无靠的妾室，稍有不慎就会被安上不贞的罪名，轻则被逐，重则丢命。

他更明白这个侍妾要的不是荣华富贵，只是一条活命的退路。

姚燧没有写书信、立字据，因为他知道那些东西太容易被伪造、被销毁，根本靠不住。

他让人取来笔墨纸砚，又让侍妾拿出贴身的围肚，提笔就在那柔软的素绸上，写下了四句诗：

八十年来遇此春，此春过后更无春，纵然不得扶持力，也作坟前拜妇人。

这首诗看似简单，实则藏着满满的承诺和考量。

前两句自嘲古稀之年还能邂逅温情，暗指自己时日无多。

后两句更是直接表态，就算自己不能再庇护她，将来孩子长大，也得认她这个母亲，让她能名正言顺地站在自己坟前祭拜。

更关键的是姚燧的书法是翰林院磨了一辈子的真功夫，苍劲有力，自成一派。

整个元朝都没人能模仿，这笔迹本身，就是最硬的铁证。

果不其然没过多久，姚燧就病逝了，应验了诗里此春过后更无春的谶语。

而他离世没多久，那个侍妾就被查出怀了身孕，消息传到姚家瞬间炸开了锅。

姚家的族人和原配的族人，一个个跳出来指责她不守妇道，一口咬定她肚子里的是野种。

有人叫嚣着要把她赶出家门，还有人提议动家法，彻底整顿家风。

毕竟姚燧年事已高，谁也不愿相信，他临走前还能留下子嗣，更不愿有人来分姚家的家产。

就在这千钧一发之际，侍妾没有慌乱。

她缓缓取出珍藏已久的围肚，当着所有族人的面展开。

姚燧那独一无二的字迹清晰可见，族中长辈一看就认出是他的真迹。

再读完诗里的字句，所有的指责和谩骂，瞬间戛然而止。

没人再敢质疑，因为这首诗就是姚燧留下的遗嘱，是这个卑微女子和未出世孩子的保命符。

后来侍妾顺利生下一个男孩，姚家族人不仅彻底接纳了他们母子，还悉心照料。

那个孩子也继承了姚燧的才情，自幼勤奋好学，最终学有所成，没辜负姚燧当年的期许。

很多人都说姚燧这是风流过后的补偿，可其实这背后藏着的，是一个文人的通透和善良。

他看透了封建宗法的残酷，也读懂了底层女子的无助。

没有用权势压人，也没有敷衍了事，而是用自己最擅长的方式，给了一个弱女子最实在的安全感。

这个侍妾的清醒，更是难得。

她不贪慕虚荣，不抱侥幸心理，在命运的十字路口，主动为自己和孩子争取生机。

而姚燧的难得，在于他身居高位，却没有被权势和偏见裹挟，愿意放下身段，尊重一个卑微的生命。

[Joyce Carol Oates @JoyceCarolOates]

really? what a narrow view! Anderson did in fact write sympathetically & convincingly about girls & women; even Hemingway has a story from an adolescent girl's perspective, "Up in Michigan," that is a knockout; not to mention D.H. Lawrence, Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Hardy & (not least) Shakespeare.
if men can't write about women, women presumably can't write about men.
educated people can't write about lesser-educated people, Black writers can't write about brown people, people from Maine can't write about people from Vermont, no one can write about anyone except the sickly face in the mirror.

[Othell Yarwyck @bigbrovar]

A lot of the heroic deeds of our boys during the ECOMOG ops went undocumented. I remembered one of such stories which happened In 1997.
A coup in Sierra Leone left about 30 Nigerian Air Force personnel stranded at Lungi International Airport. Besieged by Sierra Leonian Army loyalist to the coup plotters, they were dangerously low on food and ammunition.

Nigerian Air Vice Marshal Lucky Ararile. Piloting the C-130 Hercules from Liberia with a crew of nine, he executed a high risk landing of the plane using half the required runway (since the other half was held by hostile forces) by hitting maximum brakes to halt the plane in just half the distance to land.

To buy time on the tarmac, the crew pulled off a brilliant psyOps by convincing the rebel troops surrounding the airport that they had direct clearance from the coup leader to land.

Before the rebels realised they have been tricked, the C-130 rapidly unloaded a full company of Nigerian reinforcements led by Lt. Col. Kwaskebe, two Mowag, & Piranha APCs, four jeeps, and two weeks of combat supplies.

When the Sierra Leonean Army finally attacked that night, the newly reinforced troops crushed them, overran their barracks, and permanently secured Lungi.

This operation allowed Nigeria to establish a bridgehead which Brig. Gen. Maxwell Khobe used to launch the operations that eventually ousted the junta.

A game-changing mission that saved the entire operation, yet rarely discussed because, as Ararile later noted, it isn't in the military's nature to advertise.

Thankfully this story was captured and documented by the of Nigerian Military historian Oga @beegeaglesblog in his blog https://t.co/IkTv657hJV

[心灵书舫 | SoulSloop @SoulSloop99]

在屠宰场干了5年，告诉你一个秘密：动物今天要死，它们全都知道

我在屠宰场干了整整五年，每天跟猪牛羊打交道，见过的生死场面成千上万。说句掏心窝子的话，没入这行之前，我跟大伙儿一样，觉得牲口嘛，吃吃睡睡，稀里糊涂一辈子，哪懂什么生死。可五年下来，我摸透了它们每一个眼神、每一个动作，才发现自己当初多天真——这些不会说话的家伙，心里跟明镜似的，自己哪天走，清清楚楚。

平日里，待宰圈那叫一个热闹。猪拱猪、羊顶羊，抢食的打闹的，眼神清亮温顺，该吃吃该喝喝，天塌下来都不耽误长膘。可一到屠宰当天，那气氛说变就变，比翻书还快。整圈牲畜像商量好了似的，瞬间安静下来，挤成一团，紧紧挨着彼此，浑身抖得跟筛糠一样。那抖不是冻的，是打骨头缝里渗出来的恐惧。你赶它走，它四只脚死死扒着地，几百斤的大猪平时一轰就跑，那天愣是钉在原地往后缩，好像前面那条通道是鬼门关。老话讲“万物有灵”，我原先半信半疑，后来彻底信了。

牛的表现更让人心里发酸。但凡当天要走的牛，从早上起就不吃不喝，低着头杵在墙角，一动不动。我亲眼见过无数次，大颗大颗的泪珠子顺着牛眼角往下滚，湿漉漉的眼睛望着你，不挣不扎不吼叫，就那么默默流泪。有一回，一头养了好几年的老牛被主人牵来，主人站栏杆外看了一眼，那牛瞬间红了眼眶，直勾勾盯着主人，温顺又卑微，一步三回头地跟着我们走。那画面，我这辈子忘不掉。羊也一样，平时蹦蹦跳跳软软糯糯，临了却异常安静，紧紧偎着同伴发抖。赶别的羊成群往前冲，唯独那天，你推我挤谁都不肯带头，偶尔被单独牵出来的小羊，发出细细的凄厉叫声，不是闹腾，是真害怕。

时间一长，我们工人不用看单据不用记编号，单凭状态就能判断个八九不离十——活蹦乱跳的是来日方长，沉默发抖、不吃不喝、眼神惶恐的，全是今日宿命。你说它们听不懂人话、看不懂流程，怎么就掐得这么准？其实道理不复杂，流水线一开，前面的同伴一个个消失再没回来，后面的全看在眼里；环境里那股肃杀的气息、同类压抑的悲鸣，它们比人敏感百倍。俗话说“蝼蚁尚且贪生”，何况这些大牲口？它们沉默、发抖、流泪，不是傻，是无力回天的绝望。

五年下来，我这心态彻底翻了个个儿。刚入行那会儿年轻心硬，只当是谋生糊口的活儿，见多了也就麻木了。可干得越久，心越软，越觉得该存一份敬畏。走出屠宰场，我再也不糟蹋粮食，每一块肉背后都是一条热烈活过、恐惧过、挣扎过的命。它们从出生到落幕，没做错任何事，却坦然接受了既定的安排。反观咱们，衣食无忧平安顺遂，倒常常为鸡毛蒜皮纠结、为一点得失内耗，想想真有点滑稽。

所以你看，活着本身就是天大的福气。所有的矫情、焦虑、委屈，搁在生死面前，屁都不是。心存敬畏，懂得珍惜，善待万物，大概就是人这辈子最好的修行。说到这儿我倒想问问你——下次端起饭碗的时候，会不会也想起那些沉默发抖的生灵，然后觉得，眼前这口热乎饭，真香？

[Othell Yarwyck @bigbrovar]

This is one topic I am well read in. It is a gross exaggeration to say Nigeria ended both wars. But not to discount the performance of our boys.

In Liberia the war devolved into a stalemate where Ecomog led forces controlled Monrovia the capital and Charles Taylor forces controlled rest of the country.

The Stalemate lead to negotiation which lead to ceasesation of fighting. Part of the terms was an election which Charles Taylor the major warlord won and became president.

In essence the war only ended when the chief warlord became president.

Sierra Leone Is a bit more nuisanced. Nigeria went in to restore democracy under Ecomog mandate the rescued the then president and removed the RUF junta from power. However like Liberia ECOMOG struggled to complete neutralize RUF. A major security breach in 1997 January 7 lead to invasion of freedom where thousands were killed or amputated and ECOMOG forces were reduced to Lungi airport and surroundings. It took brave effort of Brig General Maxwell Khobe who lead an operation 'death before dishonor' to clear out the rebels and clear Freetown.

The war devolved into state mate and in 1999, Nigeria under Olusegun Obadanjo expressed unwillingness to continue playing the lead role. The Ecomog mission was thus transitioned to a UN mandate where Indian then Pakistan UN peace keepers came in to relieve an otherwise Nigerian operation.

The UN peacekeepers struggled to rein in the RUF and at one time over 500 where captured. This forced the UK to intervene sending in forces in aid of the UN. When unit of the UK forces where captured.. an operation was launched against the rebels known as West side boys. That operation helped secure the release of captured personnel's but also inflicted a defeat of the WSB that lead to official ending of the war.

In both Wars Nigeria played a pivotal role in securing peace but did not have the capacity to end the war kenetically.

One thing that had to be said. Our intervention on Liberia and Sierra Leone demonstrated a capacity that very few countries 3rd or 2nd were capable off. We showed our ability to do combined arms operation over 5000 km from our territory.

Nigeria Navy in particular showed it's more than just a patrol force by helping to ship men and materials including Tanks, APC, Artillery using 2 landing ship tanks. One of which was the NNS Ambe. Nigeria Frigate NNS Aradu and Corvettes NNS Enyimiri and many Missile craft where used to patrol and enforce UN mandated arms embargo of Sierra Leone and they helped with Troops landing in Monrovia and Freetown sometimes under fire.

The Nigerian Air Force ran over 3000 sorties key of which is the Alpha Jet which had 4 units deployed permanently in Lungi In Freetown. Our C130 Hercules was very vital in providing supplies and men. I remembered during the famous battle for Freetown Nigeria moved over 7k men from Tactical AIr command Makurdi in 7 days.

Ultimately in as much as Nigeria played a massive role in this operations lapses in Intel, corruption and lack of fire discipline and lack of loitering air capability limited the effectiveness of our forces.

Shout out to men of the Nigerian army who distinguished themselves in Ecomog operations.

Brig Gen Dongoyaro. Ecomog first Nigeria force commander. He showed Charles Taylor pepe. He was so successful at dealing with RUF that he was reportedly recalled back to Nigeria because IBB was afraid he was becoming too famous.

There was Brig Gen Tunji Olurin. He it was who stopped NPLA effort to capture Monrovia via a major operation called Octopus by launching a counter offensive called Operation freedom in Oct 1 and defeated RUF. His reign as force commander was described as one of the most peaceful times in Liberia.

Then you have the legend. Brig Gen Maxwell Khobe. I leave you with what the BBC had to say about him https://t.co/2l4gG4dWOO

[老多 @yuashwe]

除了剔的好，这羊肉也好啊

[Dutton @TrustMeDwag]

This makes sense

[Neal K. Shah @nealkshah]

Hospice nurses, who sit with the dying every day, say the body often begins signaling that the end is approaching months in advance, and understanding these signs can bring families more peace, not fear. Palliative care nurse Julie McFadden explains that around six months out, a person often starts turning inward, becoming quieter and more introspective, sleeping much more, and eating and drinking noticeably less. This is not giving up, it is the body naturally conserving its energy as it slows down. In the final weeks and days, these changes deepen, more sleep than wakefulness, less interest in food and the outside world, and sometimes reaching toward or speaking to loved ones who have already passed, which hospice workers see often and consider comforting rather than alarming. The most important takeaway is that hospice teams "let the body be the guide," focusing on keeping the person calm, comfortable, and free of pain. Knowing what to expect can help families feel less frightened and more present in these tender final moments. This is a sensitive topic, and if you are walking this road, please lean on your hospice team and loved ones for support. Follow for more compassionate end-of-life guidance. #Hospice #EndOfLife #Caregiving

[シェフヒロ @sushichef_hiro]

どれを食べてみたい？🍣😋

アワビ
ヤガラ
ウツボ
大トロ
マグロカツ
車海老
ナマコ

選べるのはひとつだけ！
あなたならどれ？🤔

#sushi #seafood #japanesefood #chefhiro #寿司

[ℍ𝕒𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕤 @hays_haunt]

Context 🤣

[Bill Madden @maddenifico]

A message everyone needs to hear.

[KING OF ALL SPORTS @Emmanuel_Tips]

The last time I asked for help on X nobody helped me

[Obong ⚽️🏀🇳🇬 @Obongbillion]

Haaaa so they were waiting 🤯

0-2 joor ✅️

[Entertainment Lawyer @Iamsynord]

Music is powerful !!!

[Opeoluwa @David_Odubayo]

https://t.co/C1YMCOggbJ

[Opeoluwa @David_Odubayo]

https://t.co/NK4jqRVBkq

[CALLUM ABROAD @CallumAbroad]

Dark Tourism 🧵

1. Bin Laden Compound #Abbottabad Pakistan 🇵🇰

[The Liquid Metal Himself @iam_jerrymoses]

Now that we understand what money is, here’s a list of politicians with allegations of diversions of public funds and the amount-

1. Sadiya Umar Farouk - N729b
2. Sambo Dasuki - $2.1b (approx. N2.78 trillion)
3. Yahaya Bello - N190b
4. Saleh Mamman - N34b
5. Murtala Nyako - N29b
6. Darius Dickson Ishaku - N27b
7. Willie Obiano - N42b
8. Aminu Tambuwal - N189b
9. Hadi Sirika - N19b
10. Udom Emmanuel - N700b

[Opeoluwa @David_Odubayo]

@Still_Woozy, new music bro.
Been waiting for 2 yrs. Stop playing. Lock in