Michael Moore's 'October surprise': New anti-Trump, pro-Hillary film

Billing it as his own "October surprise," the provocative producer Michael Moore is hoping to impact another presidential campaign on the silver screen.

Moore, the award-winning documentarian whose movies, for example,"Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" have inspired liberals and enraged conservatives, unveiled his latest effort this week:"Michael Moore in TrumpLand,"a one-man stage performance starring the director about the 2016 election.

It was recorded over the course of two nights earlier this month in Wilmington, Ohio, after Moore's arrangements for a live show somewhere else in the state were scrapped.

Moore said on Facebook a month ago that the group board administering the Midland Theater in Newark, Ohio,opted against permitting him to perform there over worries that he was attempting to influence the election.

That's not in dispute. "TrumpLand" is an unabashed effort to get Hillary Clinton elected, and to thwart Donald Trump - generally as Moore's 2004 film, "Fahrenheit 9/11,"was a bid to defeat George W. Bush.

https://twitter.com/hashtag/OctoberSurprise?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Moore held a free sneak preview Tuesday for his most recent film at the IFC Center in New York, where the film started being shown on Wednesday. In spite of the rushed debut, the film was not entirely unexpected. Moore had been teasing it for days on Twitter.

"Yes, some rumors may be true," Moore tweeted throughout the weekend. "I "might be" putting some finishing touches on an 'October Surprise' for this election. Then again..."

https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/787383065886724096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The unconventional release is fitting for what appears to be an unconventional movie for Moore.In a survey for The New York Times on Wednesday, the critic Neil Genzlinger wrote that, in "TrumpLand," Moore "is by all accounts emphatically uninterested in provoking  anyone with this new offering."

Genzlinger portrayed the execution appeared in the film as a''stand-up comedy routine" that at times "sounds like a commencement address."

The film, Genzlinger wrote, "is not an attack on Mr. Trump, but instead a paean to his rival in the presidential contest, Hillary Clinton."

Moore has spoken out against Trump's candidacy throughout the campaign, but the Oscar-winning filmmaker hasn't exactly been a diehard Clinton supporter over the years. In 2008, Moore said he was "morally prohibited" from voting for Clinton due to her past support for the Iraq War. He endorsed Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary earlier this year.

But Moore said in May that he would "absolutely" back Clinton if she were the nominee. And during last month's first presidential debate, Moore made a plea to Sanders supporters.

"Fellow Bernie voters -- admit it, there's nothing she's said we disagree with," Moore tweeted. "In fact, she's adopted his positions!"

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POSLEAF calls for Peace in Akporo Sogho and other parts of Ogoni

On behalf of the leadership and members of Past Ogoni Student Leaders Forum, I totally condemn the incessant killings and destruction of properties worth millions of naira through constant cult clashes in Akporo Sogho community in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers state.

I am appealing to the community leaders, prominent Ogonis, security agencies and the government to come together and profer a lasting solution to these frequent ugly incidence in Sogho and Ogoni while calling on government to as well intensify efforts at combing the indiscriminate arms in Ogoni.

It is becoming unbearable the rate at which people are being killed and rendered homeless in Ogoni as a result of these cult war.

I appeal to all the waring factions to give peace a chance in Sogho and other parts of Ogoni so as to allow development thrive as it is often said that no development can thrive in an atmosphere of rancour and acrimony.

Thank you and;
God bless POSLEAF!
God bless Ogoni!!
God bless Rivers state!!!

Signed: Ana Hycienth
Dir. Of Information, POSLEAF.

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THE NEED FOR PEACE-BUILDERS IN THE NIGER DELTA

The dictionary defines a Peacemaker as a person, group, or nation that tries to make peace especially by reconciling parties who disagree, quarrel or fight.

I had the privilege to attend a Conflict Sensitivity and Peace Building workshop organized by the Center for Creative Development Strategies earlier few months back. My whole perspective of how i viewed the concepts of peace and conflict changed.

A peacemaker in all essence recognizes the 8 attributes of good governance (Participation, Transparency, Accountability, Responsiveness, Equity and Inclusiveness, Rule of Law, Consensus orientation and Effectiveness, and Efficiency) as drivers of peace and commits his/herself towards their implementation for the goal of sustainable peace.

We've had peacemakers soliciting for lasting peace in the Niger Delta. The disadvantage of just being a peacemaker alone is that there are no steps taken to stop conflict from escalating. Peacemakers most often appear during the heat of a fight or quarrel.

The Niger Delta has been hit with conflict since 1990's. The crisis between the Urhobo's, Itsekiri's and Ijaw's in Delta state left Warri in rubble. The Niger Deltans began agitating for resource control due to years of neglect and destruction of the environment through oil exploration. In 2003/2004, the agitation went violent. Armed groups sprung up from the creeks of the Niger Delta that waged war against the federal government, blowing up oil facilities and kidnapping Oil expatriates.

The Amnesty program initiated by the Yaradua The amnesty program initiated by the Yaradua administration was to bring peace in the oil rich  region. In my opinion this move was done wrongly, it brought a bit of calm but the underlying issues weren't resolved.- A situation conflict experts call negative peace (absence off direct physical violence, no active organized hostilities yet there is presence of injustice and structural violence).As a matter of fact the root causes weren't addressed it was only matter of time before the conflict grows again.

Since 2013 Rivers State in particular has been in the eye of the storm regarding election related and cult violence. In 2014 the family of Mr. Jude Obi was completely wiped off due to activities of Oil thieves in the Oyigbo/Imo river area. The only surviving son, Stephen Ifeanyi Obi is still unaccounted for. Reports have it that Stephen led local vigilante groups to curtail the activities of the vandals leadin to the attack on his family. The gang swore to hunt him down wherever he goes in the country.

Following the 2015 elections, there was an increase in general insecurity in Rivers State. There was widespread incidences of kidnappings, politically-motivated killings, robberies, cult clashes and shootings and killings. Some communities are more or less ghost-towns due to violent cult clashes leading to the destruction of lives and properties. This year we saw a full scale return to militant activities. Several oil facilities have been destroyed and the cult wars continue.The rising incidents of cultism, kidnapping, ethno-nationalism, and continued agitation by militants may be cause for continued attention by peace actors in the Niger Delta.

What's the way forward?

We need Peacebuilders not just peacemakers to create a lasting solution to the Niger Delta Crisis.

It brings me to the point... What is peace-building? or who is a peace-builder?

Peace-building is the employment of measures to consolidate peaceful relations and create an environment which deters the emergence or escalation of tensions that may lead to violent conflict. Peace-building is about deep, long-term transformations. This requires an integrated approach engaging a diverse range of actors.

This is of two forms

Pre-armed: refers to a strategy which tries to avoid conflict through measures of attitudinal, socio-economic and political nature (emphasis on human security & good governance).

Post-hostilities: refers to the whole aggregate of actions and measures that may be undertaken once the hostilities phase (violent) of a conflict ends. The purpose is to prevent any renewal of the conflict. Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR).

Comprehensive post-conflict reintegration- reconciliation, rehabilitation, reconstruction, resettlement, repatriation, reorientation,  and reforms in the political, economic, military, police, education, and legal institutions).

Sustainable peace is built by a critical mass of citizens and leaders who:

• serve the interests of others and not just their own;
• collaborate to transform the structures and systems of society to make them less violent, more just, more inclusive, and more participatory.

We need to act now so we don't have recurring stories like that of the Stephen Obi's family.

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No more elections till violence ends – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it will not hold any elections in Rivers State until peace is restored.

This was disclosed by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi on Monday, March 21, 2016, The Cable reports.

“We are not going back to the state until the atmosphere is conducive to have a violent-free election. But I don’t want to preempt anything ahead of the Wednesday meeting,” he said.

“This issue will be raised there; thereafter, we will issue a public statement on our findings. We will also investigate any allegation that has been raised and backed with fact,” he added.
Osaze-Uzzi had earlier announced that INEC would no longer release results due to the irregularities witnessed during the elections.

INEC had earlier cancelled the elections held in eight out of the state’s 23 local government areas.
Meanwhile, about 10 people are said to have died during the elections leading the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to trade blame on who was behind the crisis.

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Governor Wike Blames INEC, Security Operatives For Chaos

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, is blaming Nigerian Army personnel and INEC for the chaos in most of the local government areas where results of the re-run elections have been cancelled.

He said while INEC failed to print a uniform form with federal government seal for all the council areas, the soldiers according to him acted beyond their brief by attempting to stop party agents from accompanying electoral materials.

“As early as 9AM yesterday morning I was getting calls from local governments. I got a call from Bonny Local Government that ‘look the results they brought to us, we don’t think its original’.

“I asked ‘how do you know the original result?’ They said the one they had seen for the Senate was different as they could see the coat of arms and the one for the House of Assembly also had the coast of arms but the one for the House of Reps had nothing and was not even signed.

“I got to the REC on phone and told him about the complaints, he said that the problem was that he told the electoral officers (EO) to counter-sign those ones that don’t have codes so that that would form as original but most of them did not sign,” Governor Wike said.

He also berated the security operatives for allegedly failing to play their expected role during the election.

He said that he had suggested that the military should not be involved in the election but play strictly the role of providing security and manning strategic positions.

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VIDEO: INEC officials storm out of collation centre in PH #RiversRerun

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials have reportedly stormed out of the collation centre in Port Harcourt without uttering a word, as many awaited the announcement of results from yesterday’s elections.

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#RiversRerun:APC chieftain allegedly kills security operative

Another security operative has been killed in the ongoing legislative rerun elections in Rivers State.

The operative was allegedly shot dead  by a former Chairman of Asari Toru LGA, Flag Amachree.

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Gov Wike, Peterside cast their votes

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has casted his votes at  Obio Akpor Ward 9 Unit 7 amid tight security.

Wike cast his votes, shortly after his accreditation.

Dakuku Peterside, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State and DG of NIMASA was also captured casting his votes.

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Amaechi describes all APC members as God-fearing

Ahead of Saturday’s legislative rerun elections in Rivers State, former governor of the state and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said  all members of the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are God-fearing.

Amaechi , who spoke on Thursday in an interview with Channels TV,  said members of the party will not resort to violence in the elections.

He stated that people who are very close to him know that he abhors violence.

Watch Amaechi describing all APC members as God-fearing

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