MOVIE: THE KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE
I haven’t published movie reviews in a long while on this blog but I have done a couple of some and I will actually use Saturdays from now as an official day for movie reviews. It’s now official!
Now there had been so much buzz about 50 shades of grey, while I haven’t read the novel i thought we could actually see the movie, but it was stated for a later time and I had read later on how it was banned in Nigerian Cinemas being an erotic movie...I thought there had been much hype about it already, so why wouldn’t the producers make something much more worthwhile for the public..
LESSONS FROM KINGSMAN: SECRET SERVICE
“First of all, here is a short synopsis form IMDB.com
Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton), whose late father secretly worked for a spy organization, lives in a South London housing estate and seems headed for a life behind bars. However, dapper agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth) recognizes potential in the youth and recruits him to be a trainee in the secret service. Meanwhile, villainous Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) launches a diabolical plan to solve the problem of climate change via a worldwide killing spree.
Initial release: December 13, 2014
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Running time: 129 minutes
Music composed by: Henry Jackman, Matthew Margeson
Screenplay: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn “
I actually didn't know most of the characters except Samuel L. Jackson who acted as Valentine and he actually wasn’t my guy in the movie- He was the bad guy. I was drawn to the movie by the title and also it was the next movie in the time range we had to be at the cinema, and like most movies I have really learnt some lessons from, I didn’t watch it alone.... :)
My first lesson was at the opening, when the special squad was saved by the sacrifice of one of them who quickly defused or rather stopped a suicide bomber from blowing them all up, but at the expense of his own life. Here I learnt that great things will mostly start with a small sacrifice.
The first rule in achieving anything is always Team work. This second lesson was from the scene where the Kingsman organization, scheduled the first training for Eggsy and his other colleagues and they all were after their own survival until a girl got drowned.
The next lesson was when Harry although did not win in the final contest into the organization- because he wasn't going to shoot his dog, but he eventually went on to join a 3 man mission to save the entire planet...
Valentine’s death was a lesson in the power of positive over negative, no matter the extent of damage done; the good will always trumps the bad.
So I think the movie is a great movie.(if you agree say ‘aye!’)
If you have other lessons or views about the movie, I will appreciate if you share them in the comments section.
Cheers!
Emmanuel Ayeni
Your billion-dollar friend
www.emmanuelayeni.com
Join myself and our team at Avenues to Wealth as we work closely with 20 people who are ready to increase their financial intelligence, make extra monthly income of about $1000 or more, secure your space at the link. http://bit.ly/VqbOgh
Happy Sunday and today I will like to share a post along the line of spirituality by Gloria Copeland.
Be Willing to Wait
Gloria Copeland
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.
Proverbs 21:23, The Amplified Bible
There's just no two ways about it. If you want to live a life of blessing, you're going to have to make your words agree with what God says. Not just for a few hours or a few days, but all the time.
And if you've ever done that, you know it's not easy. As time wears on and the circumstances around you appear to be stubbornly determined to stay in the same miserable condition they've always been in, it's hard to keep on speaking God's Word. But you have to do it if you ever want your harvest of blessing to come in.
When Kenneth started preaching prosperity, I sat out there and listened to him with holes in the bottom of my shoes. We had terrible financial problems but we knew those problems didn't change what the Word of God said. We knew His prosperity promises were true even if we hadn't been able to tap in to them yet. So, even though we felt foolish at times, we just kept on talking about God's generous provision for us.
I realized later that Word went to work for us from the first day we began to believe it and speak it and order our lives according to it. Our prosperity crop began to grow the moment we started putting seeds in the ground. It just took time for them to come up.
The problem is, believers don't last that long. They start planting well enough, but then when they don't see immediate results, when the bank account gets low and rent is past due, they get discouraged and begin to speak words of lack and defeat. They tear up their crop with the words of their own mouths, and they never get to enjoy the fruit of it.
The next time you strike out on faith, whether it's in the financial realm or any other area, keep that in mind. Determine from the beginning that you're not going to let that waiting period discourage you. Then hang on until the Word of God is manifest in your life. Put patience to work and keep your words in line. You will receive your harvest.
Join myself and our team at Avenues to Wealth as we work closely with 20 people who are ready to increase their financial intelligence, make extra monthly income of about $1000 or more, secure your space at the link. http://bit.ly/VqbOgh
1.Money Mastery isn’t taught in Schools.
No traditional school teaches you about money with regards to Wealth creation, Wealth Multiplication and Wealth management. This is why you need to take concerted effort at investing in your own financial Education.
Financial Intelligence is the key to the vehicle of financial Independence. You raise your earnings by raising your learning with regards to Financial Education.
2.Money Answers to Action
It’s not what you know about money, but what you do with what you know that really matter on your way to hitting it big!
Wake up and see for yourself how much your knowledge has helped you, until you have taken necessary action in certain direction.
You have to do something about your money situation other than worrying to really make any significant headway.
3.Money has got no emotions
You see, money doesn’t respect age, the market place doesn’t care who you are or how old you are. That is why you have teen millionaires and as well as old millionaires, the same is true for the young and old broke people. Money doesn’t come to you by crying about it, this is why you see great investors get over their emotions while investing. The two emotions you will usually need to get past when it comes to money are the emotions of greed and fear.
4. Money Answers to Value
The iron filings will always flow in the direction of pull of the magnetic force. Simply also, money also answers in the direction of value, no matter who provides the value. Money is always a measure of value. Your value addition either solves a problem or creates a solution. If you want more money then learn to add more value by becoming a person of value.
5. Personal Mastery is Vital to Money Mastery
I am always of the belief that Personal Mastery is a prerequisite to money mastery. By developing yourself to a point of excellence especially in line with your financial goals, you become someone who adds value and in turn attracts money and even more money to yourself.
6. Money Mastery is raising your consciousness about money
To gain mastery of money you need to raise your consciousness or financial IQ, especially creasing your knowledge about generating, creating, multiplication, and managing of money. I always believe that what you don’t know can hurt you, but what you know and act on, can change your life in more ways than one, this is why you must invest in your own financial education. You might need to start reading books on investing, pay attention to business news, personal finance blogs or magazines, joining investment groups and so forth.
7. Money is not scarce
There is no scarcity of money. As a matter of fact, there is no justification whatsoever to prove the scarcity of money, instead, there is abundance. You will see that we have enough money to move around in the world. Money exists in abundance, but it only flows to people who understand certain laws regarding how it’s acquired. The earlier you start seeing things from this perspective, the better.
Join myself and our team at Avenues to Wealth as we work closely with 20 people who are ready to increase their financial intelligence, make extra monthly income of about $1000 or more, secure your space at the link. http://bit.ly/VqbOgh
I am sharing information from www.internationalsos.com on the recent epidemic ravaging some parts of West Africa.
Find details below as shared on their site.
An uncontrolled outbreak of Ebola virus is currently underway in several countries in West Africa (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone). This is the largest Ebola outbreak ever reported, both in terms of case numbers and geographical spread. It's also the first time the disease has affected large cities. Capital cities of these nations are affected.
The disease is spreading person to person, causing significant international concern and disrupting both the health and economy of these countries as well as neighboring nations. in late July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a Grade 3 emergency, its highest level of any emergency response. In early August, they declared it an Public Health Emergency of International Concern, meaning it is a serious public health event that endangers international public health.
An outbreak begins: the first round
This outbreak began in Guinea. The first case there occurred in December 2013, though it was not reported to the World Health Organization/identified as Ebola until March 2014. This significant delay means that control measures were not enacted for months, allowing the virus to take hold in the community. Soon after the disease was brought to international attention, cases were also reported in neighboring Liberia. This progression was upsetting but not unpredictable: borders in the affected area are often porous, with people walking from one nation to another on a daily basis.
Control measures were enacted in both countries, and seemed effective. By the beginning of April, disease activity slowed. It looked like the outbreak was heading to its end.
A false sense of relief
However, unexpectedly, cases spiked again in late May. New areas were affected. Ebola struck people in areas that had never had an Ebola infection before. The disease also intensified in places where people had previously been infected.
The disease also began actively spreading for the first time in Sierra Leone in late May. New cases continue in all three affected countries and beyond: Nigeria reported the first imported case in late July, in a man who had flown internationally.
Epidemic is not under control
The World Health Organization stated in July that there is a high risk that the outbreak will spread to other countries that border Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone (the three countries initially affected by the outbreak). Indeed, the disease was imported into Nigeria that month. WHO states there is a moderate risk that other countries in the West African subregion will be affected. Infrastructure limitations will contribute to international spread, as it is difficult to implement health measures at border points or to effectively trace and monitor contacts of Ebola patients. People may travel from one area to another to seek healthcare, which is limited in some places.
This Ebola outbreak is not under control. Resources and personnel are stretched in trying to handle the situation. Cultural concerns also play a role: some people in these countries do not believe Ebola is an actual disease. Others are unethically selling a counterfeit “vaccine” to protect people (there is no vaccine for Ebola). Conspiracy theories circulate. Misinformation and mistrust make it difficult to implement national and international health measures – which are critical to bringing the disease under control.
The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola situation to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in early August. The statement confirms that countries in which Ebola is spreading form person to person should declare a national emergency, and consider temporarily stopping mass gatherings. All affected countries are also instructed to screen exiting international travellers with, at minimum, a questionnaire and temperature measurement. Anyone who has Ebola or symptoms of Ebola should not travel. Contacts of Ebola cases should be monitored on a daily basis, and should not travel nationally or internationally for 21 days after exposure. WHO expects countries to ensure airline crews have "appropriate medical care" when operating in affected countries, and have mechanisms for contact tracing travellers. WHO again reiterated there is "no general ban on international travel or trade", however Ebola cases and their contacts should only travel if "the travel is part of an appropriate medical evacuation".
I have been a regular visitor to the Gate's personal blog for a couple of weeks and I am always amazed by his Reading list, trips and continuous philantrophic feats around the world.
I am compelled to share his review of his favourite business book,a book with a captivating title. I also share a link to downloading a free chapter of the book. As a matter of fact Gates created an instant it for this book after he revealed to the world it's hi favourite!
The book is out of print but sure amazon is your answer ;)
Read on!
The Best Business Book I’ve Ever Read BY BILL GATES ON JULY 12, 2014
Not long after I first met Warren Buffett back in 1991, I asked him to recommend his favorite book about business. He didn’t miss a beat: “It’s Business Adventures, by John Brooks,” he said. “I’ll send you my copy.” I was intrigued: I had never heard of Business Adventures or John Brooks.
Today, more than two decades after Warren lent it to me—and more than four decades after it was first published—Business Adventures remains the best business book I’ve ever read. John Brooks is still my favorite business writer. (And Warren, if you’re reading this, I still have your copy.)
A skeptic might wonder how this out-of-print collection of New Yorker articles from the 1960s could have anything to say about business today. After all, in 1966, when Brooks profiled Xerox, the company’s top-of-the-line copier weighed 650 pounds, cost $27,500, required a full-time operator, and came with a fire extinguisher because of its tendency to overheat. A lot has changed since then.
It’s certainly true that many of the particulars of business have changed. But the fundamentals have not. Brooks’s deeper insights about business are just as relevant today as they were back then. In terms of its longevity, Business Adventures stands alongside Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, the 1949 book that Warren says is the best book on investing that he has ever read.
Brooks grew up in New Jersey during the Depression, attended Princeton University (where he roomed with future Secretary of State George Shultz), and, after serving in World War II, turned to journalism with dreams of becoming a novelist. In addition to his magazine work, he published a handful of books, only some of which are still in print. He died in 1993.
As the journalist Michael Lewis wrote in his foreword to Brooks’s book The Go-Go Years, even when Brooks got things wrong, “at least he got them wrong in an interesting way.” Unlike a lot of today’s business writers, Brooks didn’t boil his work down into pat how-to lessons or simplistic explanations for success. (How many times have you read that some company is taking off because they give their employees free lunch?) You won’t find any listicles in his work. Brooks wrote long articles that frame an issue, explore it in depth, introduce a few compelling characters, and show how things went for them.
In one called “The Impacted Philosophers,” he uses a case of price-fixing at General Electric to explore miscommunication—sometimes intentional miscommunication—up and down the corporate ladder. It was, he writes, “a breakdown in intramural communication so drastic as to make the building of the Tower of Babel seem a triumph of organizational rapport.”
In “The Fate of the Edsel,” he refutes the popular explanations for why Ford’s flagship car was such a historic flop. It wasn’t because the car was overly poll-tested; it was because Ford’s executives only pretended to be acting on what the polls said. “Although the Edsel was supposed to be advertised, and otherwise promoted, strictly on the basis of preferences expressed in polls, some old-fashioned snake-oil selling methods, intuitive rather than scientific, crept in.” It certainly didn’t help that the first Edsels “were delivered with oil leaks, sticking hoods, trunks that wouldn’t open, and push buttons that…couldn’t be budged with a hammer.”
One of Brooks’s most instructive stories is “Xerox Xerox Xerox Xerox.” (The headline alone belongs in the Journalism Hall of Fame.) The example of Xerox is one that everyone in the tech industry should study. Starting in the early ’70s, the company funded a huge amount of R&D that wasn’t directly related to copiers, including research that led to Ethernet networks and the first graphical user interface (the look you know today as Windows or OS X).
But because Xerox executives didn’t think these ideas fit their core business, they chose not to turn them into marketable products. Others stepped in and went to market with products based on the research that Xerox had done. Both Apple and Microsoft, for example, drew on Xerox’s work on graphical user interfaces.
I know I’m not alone in seeing this decision as a mistake on Xerox’s part. I was certainly determined to avoid it at Microsoft. I pushed hard to make sure that we kept thinking big about the opportunities created by our research in areas like computer vision and speech recognition. Many other journalists have written about Xerox, but Brooks’s article tells an important part of the company’s early story. He shows how it was built on original, outside-the-box thinking, which makes it all the more surprising that as Xerox matured, it would miss out on unconventional ideas developed by its own researchers.
Brooks was also a masterful storyteller. He could craft a page-turner like “The Last Great Corner,” about the man who founded the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain and his attempt to foil investors intent on shorting his company’s stock. I couldn’t wait to see how things turned out for him. (Here’s a spoiler: Not well.) Other times you can almost hear Brooks chuckling as he tells some absurd story. There’s a passage in “The Fate of the Edsel” in which a PR man for Ford organizes a fashion show for the wives of newspaper reporters. The host of the fashion show turns out to be a female impersonator, which might seem edgy today but would have been scandalous for a major American corporation in 1957. Brooks notes that the reporters’ wives “were able to give their husbands an extra paragraph or two for their stories.”
Brooks’s work is a great reminder that the rules for running a strong business and creating value haven’t changed. For one thing, there’s an essential human factor in every business endeavor. It doesn’t matter if you have a perfect product, production plan, and marketing pitch; you’ll still need the right people to lead and implement those plans.
That is a lesson you learn quickly in business, and I’ve been reminded of it at every step of my career, first at Microsoft and now at the foundation. Which people are you going to back? Do their roles fit their abilities? Do they have both the IQ and EQ to succeed? Warren is famous for this approach at Berkshire Hathaway, where he buys great businesses run by wonderful managers and then gets out of the way.
Business Adventures is as much about the strengths and weaknesses of leaders in challenging circumstances as it is about the particulars of one business or another. In that sense, it is still relevant not despite its age but because of it. John Brooks’s work is really about human nature, which is why it has stood the test of time.
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ~ Carl Bard
As the year moves on and ushers in the new month of July, I praythat the good Lord will perfect all that concerns you.
Leave the past behind ,move on and embrace the opportunities for change the new month offers with every breaking of each new day.
No matter what, it is always a great day- a rare gift from GOD!
Open Heavens 2014: Sunday June 22, daily devotion by Pastor E. A. Adeboye - SUNDRY TRUTHS ABOUT LIGHT
Topic: SUNDRY TRUTHS ABOUT LIGHT [Sunday June 22, 2014]
Memorise:
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:4
Read: Matthew 5:14-16
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Message:
In Isaiah 60:1, we are enjoined to rise and shine. To shine means to reflect light. It could also mean to fulfil your purpose. John the Baptist knew the purpose of his existence. He faced this purpose squarely and refused to be distracted. John 5:35 says this concerning him:
“He was a burning and a shinning light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.”
Light burns. Light cannot be separated from heat. Science confirms that light is produced by hot objects. A good example of this is the sun. The sun burns itself to give light. As children of God, we are commanded to shine, and in order to shine, we must burn. The source of our light is God (John 1:4). That Source shines in darkness and darkness cannot overcome it. In other words, it resists darkness. There are lots of lessons to learn from this truth. First, we must shine and resist darkness. It is wrong for a child of God to stay idle and allow the works of darkness to thrive. As a child of God, you should be hot for the Lord. Evil and works of darkness should not feel comfortable wherever you are. However, no one can do this by his or her strength alone. You definitely need God for success and sustenance. He is the only reliable source. It is therefore important that you remain connected to your Source so that you don’t burn out (Proverbs 3:5-6).
The word of God teaches that light cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14-15). No one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel. No! The beauty of light is seen when it is exposed, not hidden. If you are working in an organisation and your co-workers cannot identify the light of Christ in you, then something is seriously amiss. Why? Because light cannot be hidden. In the same vein, we must know that we cannot hide our true character from people. It is both dangerous and unprofitable to be pretentious. We should therefore let people know our true colour. How? Be the best you can be for God. When you make up your mind to reflect the light of God in the midst of unrighteousness, the presence of God will always be seen in your life. A perfect illustration of this truth can be found in Joseph. He got to Egypt as a slave in Potiphar’s house, and God was with him there. He was tempted to hide the light and compromise his stand but he refused to yield to temptation. His action landed him in a dungeon, yet God was with him there. Finally he became the Prime Minister and God continued to be with him. Is your situation similar to that of Joseph? Please reflect the light. Are you facing a serious temptation to compromise your stand? Please reflect the light. God will always be with His children, and if God be with you, who can be against you?
Key Point:
If you remain connected to the source of light (God), you will not burn out.
Bible in a Year:
Leviticus 26:14-27:34; Psalm 136
Open Heavens Daily Devotional is written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world. He is a Christian elders statesman and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.He is a Spiritual Father to many in Nigeria and all over the world.
It's great to be back after the past 24 hours + break.
The past one week has been terrific...God has been so good and I am trying to catch my breath... from work schedules, business, church life, family,blogging and much more...
I am still committed to the 30-day writing challenge, even if there are any breaks in the process
I will start again and again, and go forward and stick to the plan again and again...
It is not about how often we fall, the most important thing is how often we rise up again after each fall.
Looking forward, there are tons of interesting contents coming up this month on the blog, I appreciate all feedbacks from readers
and viewers of my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/user/emmandus
This month let's watch out for more articles on success, some tips on life and living, business,
and personal finance tips, book reviews and lots more...
More questions,suggestions on what you will like to read on this blog and advice are welcome at this time
Thanks a whole lot!
