PICCONN: 2013-12-22

Saturday, December 28, 2013

POPE FRANCIS DECLARES THAT “ALL RELIGIONS ARE TRUE” & HELL IS MERELY A METAPHOR

For the last six months, Catholic cardinals, bishops and theologians have been deliberating in Vatican City, discussing the future of the church and redefining long-held Catholic doctrines and dogmas. The Third Vatican Council, is undoubtedly the largest and most important since the Second Vatican Council was concluded in 1962. Pope Francis convened the new council to “finally finish the work of the Second Vatican Council.” While some traditionalists and conservative reactionaries on the far right have decried these efforts, they have delighted progressives around the world.

An electronic circuit that dissolves in the presence of water. From video by University of Illinois

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a GIF is easily worth a million. The file format—which uses a series of images to produce a looping video, like a flip book—is a tremendous way to convey all sorts of moving wonders, and 2013 was the year that the GIF truly went mainstream, with GIFs of celebrities, sports and politicians filling the Web.

But 2013 was also a banner year for science—so much so that the word ‘science’ was Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. It’s appropriate, then, that we use the GIF to explore some of the coolest, weirdest, most remarkable science stories of 2013. What follows is a non-exhaustive list of amazing science GIFs from 2013, in no particular order.

President Xi has warned that corruption could topple the Communist Party

[BBC] More than 500 municipal lawmakers in one Chinese province have stood down following an electoral fraud scandal, according to state media.

The 512 officials resigned after accepting bribes from 56 members of the provincial assembly to elect them to their posts, Xinhua news agency said. The 56 disgraced lawmakers for central Hunan Province were also dismissed.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho appears to have ruled his side out of contention for this season’s Premier League title.

Even though Mourinho’s Blues are within touching distance of the league leaders, Arsenal, at the half way point in the season, the two-time Premier League winning boss has again backed Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City to claim the crown.

Mourinho is instead suggesting that his side’s priority this season is merely to finish in the top four.

“At this moment, everybody is there. It’s Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and City in the top four,” stated Mourinho. “This year, the pressure will be not just to win the title, but to get top four. I think it will be hard.

According to NAIJ.com, see a list of the richest pastors worldwide.

1. Bishop T. D Jakes: Bishop Jakes lives in a $1,700,000 mansion, he has been called America's best preacher and has been featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He is a writer, preacher and movie
producer. Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes, Sr. is the bishop/chief pastor of The Potter's House, a non-
denominational American mega church, with 30,000 members, located in Dallas, Texas. T.D Jakes wears custom made suits and sports a diamond ring the size of a coin. This man of God has been endowed with a $150 million net worth.

2. Bishop David Oyedepo: Bishop David Oyedepo is a Nigerian Preacher, Christian Author, Founder and Presiding Bishop of Winners Chapel known as Living Faith Church World Wide. Has been hailed as the wealthiest preacher in Nigeria with a total net worth of $150 million and properties like 4 private jets and homes in the United States and England. After the foundation of the Living Faith Outreach Ministry in 1981, it has evolved to be one of the largest congregations in Africa and has a flourishing mission in Nairobi.

Stars shone bright in 2013 in pop music and rap ... but stars being stars, things tend to get hot from time to time. And thanks to social media, the public got a taste of some ugly feuds.

MACHINE HEAD VS. AVENGED SEVENFOLD
First, Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn called Avenged Sevenfold's new album Hail to the King derivative. "Who knew that re-recording Metallica, Guns N Roses, and Megadeth songs could be such a worldwide hit!!??" wrote Flynn on Facebook.

Avenged were miffed, but reacted with level heads. "Some people might see it as being as an underhanded joke," frontman M Shadows said in a radio interview. "It’s no skin off our backs."

Chart Watch: RiRi Ties MIchael Jackson

"The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna tops the Hot 100 for the third week. This brings Rihanna's total of weeks at #1 to 37, which puts her in a tie with Michael Jackson. Only five artists have spent more total weeks at #1 since 1955 than these two stars: Elvis Presley (80), Mariah Carey (79), the Beatles (59), Boyz II Men (50), and Usher (47).

Eminem's total of weeks at #1 is a less spectacular, but still impressive, 24. One song, the Oscar-winning "Lose Yourself," accounts for exactly half of that total.

"The Monster" has now spent more weeks at #1 than "Monster Mash." That Halloween perennial by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers topped the chart for two weeks in October 1962.

"The Monster" is #1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for the eighth week.

According to tatafonaija ''The Nite of a Thousand Dances that held at Sheraton Abuja on December 8,2013 had the MC' Ghana Must Go' inviting Melvin and Maria upstage to talk to the crowd, during which he asked Maria if she loved Nigeria, her response was "i love this guy" referring to Melvin.

It is also confirmed that she arrived Nigeria and has been with Melvin ever since

Delaney "Laney" Ann Brown died on Christmas from complications from leukemia, five days after her 8th birthday. It was on her birthday, Dec. 20, that Brown made headlines when she received a phone call from Taylor Swift, who had heard about Brown's struggle with leukemia through Make- A-Wish America. Brown lived in West Reading, Pennsylvania, just down the road from Reading, where Swift was born.

The pair had a conversation via Facetime, so they could see each other while they spoke; and judging from a post on Facebook, fulfilling the "bucket list" item put a smile on the young girl's face.

Cristiano Ronaldo says he would be happy to work with former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho again in the future.
The relationship between the pair was reportedly a distant one by the time Mourinho left the Santiago Bernabeu for Chelsea at the end of last season.
But Ronaldo insists he holds no grudge against his former coach and after his compatriot recently hailed him as the best player he has coached in his career, the 28-year-old revealed he is open to a reunion one day.

"Forgive Mourinho? I forgive everyone. We never had a confrontation and I have never spoken ill about anyone," he told A Bola TV.

The Lebanese boss Kaveh Noine, a manager with Toppan Printing Company located in Ikeja Industrial Estate, who reportedly beat up a pregnant factory worker, causing her to lose her 7-months pregnancy, has been arrested by the Nigerian police.
He was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command on Friday, December 27th in Kano where he fled to and was brought back to Lagos to face justice.

It looks like Beyonce and Jay-Z are heating things up…in the bedroom! The hip-hop power couple already know how to get the people going, but they also seem to be good at getting each other going too.

According to reports, Bey and Hov recently stopped by the NYC sex shop Babeland, where they dropped around $6,000 on sex toys! A source told the site:

When Selena Gomez said she was canceling part of her tour for "personal reasons," we wondered if it had to do withJustin Bieber.
But the Come And Get It singer may be dealing with more serious health issues than heartbreak.
She may be taking the time off to deal with lupus!
According to an unverified report, Selena was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune disorder over two years ago but has seen an increase in "flares" lately.
According to the source of the report, Selena's rise in symptoms, which include facial swelling, extreme fatigue, and joint pain, have convinced her to take it easy. The source says:

"Selena has been going full throttle the past few years and her Lupus is really catching up with her right now. She knows that she needs to take some time to address the disease and look after herself better if she wants to live a full and healthy life."

Selena and her reps have not confirmed any of this, so for now we'll just let Selena's announcements speak for themselves.
But we will say that we hope no matter what Selena is facing, she has our full support! You take as much time as you need, gurl!
[Image via Bizu/WENN.]

BREAKING NEWS: Governor Oshiomhole In Horrible Road Accident

Governor Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole survived a motor accident at Ewu Village along the ever-busy Benin-Auchi road in Edo State at about 9.45am Saturday, 28th December 2013 on his way back to Benin City from his Iyamho Village.

The incident occurred at about 9.45am at Ewu, in Edo Central Senatorial District, when a Peugeot J5 Bus filled with tomatoes and plantains apparently lost control and rammed into the Governor's Flag Car from the opposite direction before swerving into a roadside ditch.
Three vehicles in the Governor's convoy were in front of the Governor's Flag Car and had passed the Peugeot J5 Bus before it [J5 Bus] had direct impact with the Governor's car, which had the Governor, his Aide-De-Camp [ADC] and his Driver as occupants.

Brendan Rodgers claims he would never have become Liverpool manager without Jose Mourinho.

But he has told his old mentor he won’t fall for his mind games ahead of their first clash tomorrow.

Rodgers says he learnt so much from Mourinho, working as his youth team coach at Chelsea during the Portuguese’s first spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.

“I probably wouldn’t be sat here today if it wasn’t for him,” said the Reds boss. “He played a huge part in my career.

[globalgrind] They won the fight to keep their daughter on life support, now the family of a little girl rendered brain-dead from a routine tonsillectomywish to move her to a California nursing home, despite being told she is beyond recovery.

Before moving 13-year-old Jahi McMath to a nursing home, doctors at Children’s Hospital Oakland need to surgically insert breathing and feeding tubes into her that will allow the new facility to keep her body functioning, the lawyer, Christopher Dolan, told The Associated Press.

This lawsuit has been heating up for the past few months!
Now we're hearing that, despite what they may want, Kim Kardashian & Kris Jenner will definitely have to appear in court to face Ellen Kardashian!
Kim and some of her siblings, although which ones have yet to be specified, will appear before a judge and are to be questioned on whether or not they filed a lawsuit against their ex step mom solely as a way to drum up a storyline for their show Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
And if they did, did they subsequently stage scenes around this fabrication in order to build drama in the hopes of bigger ratings?
Wow! That sounds serious!

Kimora Lee is having fun with her son in the waves in St Barts

Kimora Lee Simmons is an admirable woman for many reasons – she’s beautiful, successful and has a great personality, but above all, she’s a doting mother.

The businesswoman has been spending time with her family in St. Barts for their annual Christmas vacay, which means plenty of fun time on the beach. Kimora and her children – Aoki, Ming, and little Kenzo – splashed, posed, and frolicked in the beautiful weather with their natural locks stealing the show at every moment.Kimora Lee Simmons is an admirable woman for many reasons – she’s beautiful, successful and has a great personality, but above all, she’s a doting mother.

The Mavin artist shared the photos on his instagram page. He looks dashing!

More photos after the cut...

Football - 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Finals - Final - Nigeria v Burkina Faso - National Stadium - Johannesburg

Sports website ESPN has released it’s 10-man shortlist for its debut Most Influential Person in Football award.

Nigeria’s African Cup of Nations-winning coach, Stephen Keshi, is the only African on the list.

Here are the candidates for the award (in alphabetical order):

Gareth Bale: Can a player be underrated when he comes with a 100 million pound price tag? For some reason or another, the towering Welsh winger isn’t mentioned in the same circles as some of the players mentioned here despite putting up very strong stats. Prior to his move to Real Madrid, many wondered if Bale could excel in the very technical La Liga, but he’s thrived thus far with seven goals and six assists in eight league appearances. Pair that with his dominance in the Premier League (21 goals and 4 assists in the 2012-2013 season) and you have a world-class player.

Justin Bieber may not be number one at the box office withBelieve, but he's number one somewhere else!
After the release of his Journals, the popstar made his way to number one on Billboard's Social 50 chart, dethroningBeyoncé of her top spot!
If you're unclear what the Social 50 chart is, it basically measures where artists rank on all their social media platforms, so, it looks like JBieb's "retirement" freak out allowed the star to rise up in the ranks!
Billboard breaks it down and explains how JB got his groove back, they said:

Bieber’s rise back to No. 1 is fueled by a promotion blitz across all social media channels. Frequent updates promoting Journals and a "complete my Journals" deal through iTunes on Instagram lead to a 31% rise in post likes on the platform. This positive reaction from fans was mirrored on Facebook, where a 25% rise in conversation about the artist on the platform leads to a 1.8 million new fans on the platform, a 56% increase over the previous week.

The Biebs should thank his lucky stars, team for all that hard work!
Let's see you work harder now that you're back from that short retirement of yours!

Britney Spears Flaunts Hot Bod at "Piece of Me" Dress Rehearsal!

It's almost show time for Britney Spears!
The "Perfume" singer looked better than ever at the final dress rehearsal for her Las Vegas show,"Britney: Piece of Me."

Friends and family got a sneak peak at the show before opening night, posting snapshots and video of the songstress on Instagram.
The blonde beauty even slipped back into her famous nude bodysuit -- and she's looking good!

[PM News] A woman took a knife and sliced her husband's penis during a fight at their home in Surulere. Read the report below...

The popular saying that hell has no fury than a woman scorned came to pass on Monday at the Surulere residence of a banker, Bimbo Ajetumobi Daniju and her gospel singer husband Olalekan Idowu Daniju when the woman allegedly took a knife and sliced her husband’s penis during a fight.

The woman who made "fierce" and "smize" a regular part of our vocabulary may likely never model again!
WHAT?! And yet, it's true!
In fact, Tyra Banks admits she doesn't even miss those days! She said:

"I don't miss modeling very much because I haveAmerica's Next Top Model, so for the past ten years I've been creating photo shoots, executive producing the television show, and doing a lot of photo shoots myself."

Well, it probably is better being the boss!
Though she does admit that modeling wasn't all that difficult as far as work. She explained:

"I do look back to those modeling days when it was just some people on your nails, somebody on your hair, somebody on your makeup, and you're just like, 'What angle am I going to do today?' So it was a pretty non- challenging life in terms of not having to micromanage and wear so many different hats, but it wasn't easy."

The supermodel also relates how tough modeling can be on a person's self esteem, saying:

Benito Hernandez stands outside his desert home in Mexico's northern state of Coahuila. (Photo credit: Daniel Becerril, Reuters)

For many people, the idea of living under a rock might seem like the punchline of a joke. But for one Mexican couple, a hut wedged below a 130-foot boulder in Coahuila, Mexico, has been home for the past 30 years.

A reporter recently visited the couple, Benito Hernandez and Santa Martha de la Cruz Villarreal, in their primitive desert home 50 miles south of Texas. Hernandez is a farmer who plants and collects the Candelilla plant used in making Candelilla wax.

Tonto Dikeh, Funke Akindele, Uti Nwachukwu, Florence Ita-Giwa, Mbong Amata and more celebs at the Calabar Carnival going on right now in Calabar, Cross River State.

See More Photos after the jump...

What do you give a girl who has everything??
Well, Kim Kardashian’s closet is already full of handbags but her man Kanye West knew she would love this hand-painted Birkin!
Yikes…
If every kiss begins with Kay, what do a bunch of naked ladies with monster faces get you?!
Hey, so long as Kim loves it, WE love it!

Concert Review: Britney Spears' "Piece of Me" Vegas Show

Britney Spears made her big debut at Planet Hollywood on Friday night, kicking off her two-year residency with her much-hyped "Piece of Me" show.

The singer will reportedly be making $15 million a year for the gig and is slated to perform about 50 shows a year.
But with ticket prices ranging from $59-$179 (and even more for some very expensive VIP packages), is the 90-minute show worth the money?

Many will disagree with me, I'm sure ... but I say "Yes."

See more Tweets after the cut...

This is just so rude!
We're not entirely sure we understand why someone would fake their death and cause their family and even the world all that grief! We understand it LESS when someone accuses a person who was taken so soon of doing such a deplorable thing!
Deceased Paul Walker has been accused of faking his owndeath with Roger Rodas in the fiery accident that occurredon November 30th.
The article on Nosinfo.com claims the Fast & Furious actor's family and friends are all pulling a fast one the world, claiming:

They are all lying. Paul Walker didn’t die. Nor did Roger Rodas. They are both alive and well, and their relatives well know it.
It has already been established that the relatives of Paul Walker are involved in a cover-up, that is the cover-up of faking the actor’s death. It has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, here, that the accident is a

fabrication and that there wasn’t any real car crash. Rather, what is seen is imagery of a man-made car fire and a car pre-placed in position to be incinerated: without either Walker or Rodas inside.

WTF?! Boo! All kinds of BOOOOO!

[TMZ] DMX just settled a HUGE $1 million child support case ... and TMZ has learned he's now in Europe trying to recoup some of that cash.

TMZ broke the story ... DMX was accused of owing more than 10 years of back child support to Patricia Trejo. Because he owed so much ... X wasn't allowed to have a passport ... which meant he was prohibited from traveling to any overseas gigs.

DMX's rep tells TMZ the child support case has now been settled -- he wouldn't say for how much but we're told X paid off a huge chunk.

Nati, DMX's rep, says X got his passport back ... and now he's on tour in Europe ... where he's trying to score some quick coin.

Comedienne Princess Dammy & husband split after only 7 months ofmarriage

Unfortunately, after about seven months of marriage, Nigeria's famous comedienne Princess Dammy (Damilola Adekoya), has separated from her husband, movie producer/director Adeshola Jeremiah.

The NET reports that the couple started having problems barely 2weeks after their wedding in May 2013 and officially split a few months ago after a series of efforts to mend issues failed.

Confirming the split, Princess Dammy told Thenet,ng

"Yes my marriage has ended due to irreoncilable differences. We have been having issues since the wedding but we still remained together hoping that we would be able to work it out. But apparently, we couldn’t work it out, hence the reason for our separation. We actually ended it several months ago, but we didn’t want to make it public. I’m sure God knows best’

Wow! Short of words for this one. Wishing them well and do hope for the best.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Miley Cyrus tongue licking Cara Delevingne

This is Miley Cyrus licking -- or is it bumping tongues? Is that even a thing? -- with Victoria's Secret model Cara Delevingne and if you're wondering about whether or not Miley's going to change her behavior over the next few days and magically become someone who doesn't engender feelings of pity and eye-rolling, here's the sad state of things: the answer is probably 'no'.

No, Miley is not going to stop this, because this is what's getting Miley publicity these days. It's not that she's recording music of the stuff that legends are made of, and it's not that she's championing human rights and making impressive strides against the fight for equal rights or something. Miley's tongue is what's getting her in headlines these days, and when the novelty finally wears off -- and oh, you better believe it will -- we'll have absolutely nothing to talk about where this girl is concerned.

Thank goodness, and so, as Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one."

Worst Celeb Neighbor... Kim & Kanye top List

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are rock bottom when it comes to choosing who you'd LEAST like to share a common fence with.

Zillow has revealed the celebs American would LEAST like to have as their neighbors ... and Kim and Kanye top the list -- according to 25% of us common folk. Only 2% feel the opposite.

The Honey Boo Boo clan comes in second in the worst celeb neighbor contest, weighing in at 18%. Somewhat surprising ... Justin Beiber came in 3rd at 16%, and Miley 4th aqt 16%.

As for the best celeb neighbor, Jimmy Fallon wins with 11%, while Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton share second position with Jennifer Lawrence at 10%

Frank Edoho & new wife Sandra Onyenaucheya expecting first child

The couple who went public in 2011 after the 'Who Wants To Be a Milllionaire' host ended his marriage to TV gal, Katherine Ibiang after over 10 years together, are expecting their first child.

Mother of one, Sandra, and father of three Frank got married last year and were even rumoured to have quietly done their traditional wedding two weeks back. Sandra shared photos from her baby shower, which held on Sunday December 22nd, on her Facebook page.

More photos after the cut...

A man is treated after he was bit by a palometa, a type of piranha, while wading in the Parana River in Rosario, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013. Lifeguards director Federico Cornier said Thursday that thousands of bathers were cooling off from 100 degree temperatures in the Parana River on Wednesday when bathers suddenly came to them complaining of bite marks on their hands and feet. He blamed the attack on palometas, ”a type of piranha, big, voracious and with sharp teeth that can really bite.” (AP Photo/La Capital, Silvina Salinas)

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A swarm of biting fish injured more than 70 people who were bathing at a popular beach in Argentina on Christmas, a medical official said on Thursday.

A seven-year-old girl had her finger partially amputated and dozens more suffered bite wounds on their extremities from the fish, a relative of the piranha called "palometas," said Federico Cornier, the director of emergency services in the city of Rosario.

selena gomez cant stand lorde taylor swift bestie riff celebrity feud come and get it

And they'll never be bestiez (bestiez), it doesn't run in their blood!
With the ridiculous amount of success Royals brought her,Lorde suddenly finds herself on the top of many charts and on the tip of every celebrity's tongue!
The talented teen from New Zealand has a slew of super important friends now, including Taylor Swift, but she's also pissed off her fair share of divas during her quick ascent to the top!
Selena Gomez, for one, pretty much HATES her!
It all started when Lorde dissed the super sex-ay starlet for the message behind her smash single Come & Get It and it has only gotten worse! Now those closest to Selena say she CAN'T STAND Lorde!
A source close to the situation revealed:

See What Davido Has To Say About His Song 'Skelewu'

Skelewu crooner, Davido took to his twitter to say his trending song 'Skelewu' is spiritual.

See tweet below

Meanwhile two of Nigerian's talented music video directors who directed Davido's skelewu video, Mr Moe Musa and Sesan Ogunro lost their fathers some days ago.
Sesan's dad, Sesan Ogunro Snr was shot point blank by armed robbers as he returned from his church's Christmas Carol with his family - kids and grand kids. He was rushed to the hospital, only to die later on.

Moe Musa's dad died after a horrific car accident in Lagos.