Sunday 13 October 2013

E - Report! Football: Nigeria 2 vs Ethiopia 1, Emenike's brace seals win in Addis

Emmanuel Emenike scored twice in Addis Ababa as African champions, Nigeria, defeated Ethiopia 2-1 in the first leg of the 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifier on Sunday.

Behailu Assefa opened score for the Ethiopians before Emmanuel Emenike levelled the game and then scored the winner from the spot.

The Ethiopians dominated the opening half with short passes but the first real chance fell to Nnamdi Oduamadi who missed from close range by side-footing wide while unmarked after 21 minutes.

Two minutes later the Ethiopians had their chance. A short interchange of play by the Ethiopians freed up Gebreyes Adane Girma who shot tamely at Vincent Enyeama.

And on 25 minutes, Said Salhadin controlled the ball exquisitely with his first touch, tapped it past Enyeama but Godfrey Oboabona cleared off the line with Salhadin celebrating away to raise the goal technology question of 'did the ball cross the line?'

In the 32nd minute, Ahmed Musa tried from long range to force a save out of the Ethiopia goalkeeper Jemal Tassew.

Seven minutes to the break, Adane Girma dribbled his way through the forest of legs in Nigeria's defence to give himself a sight at goal but his attempt went wide from the edge of the box.
Inside of added time in the first half, Salhadin again did well with his first touch to cut inside of Efe Ambrose before shooting at goal but Enyeama palmed it away to safety.

The restart was no different from the first 45 minutes as the Ethiopians continued with large share of possession.

On 57 minutes, out of nothing the Ethiopians scored. Behailu Assefa's cross squeezed past the line after Enyeama reacted late in catching the ball.

The lead lasted just 10 minutes as Emenike's shot all from 25 yards beat Tassew in Ethiopia's goal.
Nigeria then raised their game and in the 77th minute, John Obi Mikel threaded a pass to Musa, whose shot came off the upright. It was a huge let-off for the East Africans.

But with a minute to time, Hailu Reda Aynalem upended Emenike in the box for a late penalty.
Emenike stepped up and scored the winner by sending Tassew the wrong way.

The African champions take the advantage into the return leg in Calabar on November 16.


by George Akpayen Supersport

EVENT - “Be The Change 2013” and “Miss Africa UK beauty pageant 2013”.

Afristar Promotions, invite you to its international conference  “Be The Change 2013” and “Miss Africa UK beauty pageant 2013”.

The Be The Change Conference is a forum to address issues affecting African communities in the UK, to call the attention of the mainstream to these issues and profer solutions.

Topics such as "Are we British or African" "Immigration, Human rights and the Tax payer" and "Britain's Africa street kids" "African and gay" are all examples of topics we aregoing to be addressing.

Also an avenue to sensitize young people from the Black Minority ethnic communities to take up the mantle in engineering social Change for the benefit of BME communities.

The Miss Africa UK pageant Is a celebration of beautiful women of African descent living in the UK. The motive behind this pageant Is to encourage young women of dual nationality or mixed heritage to embrace their African heritage and cherish it despite the doom and gloom being broadcast about Africa.

The proceeds from this pageant and conference goes to Afristar foundation which is a charity set up to help African children with Autism and other learning disabilities. To create awareness, education and training to parents of sufferers but ultimately to set up special schools for these young people and care homes for Adult sufferers.

The Miss Africa UK winner will promote this course and travel around Europe and Africa to raise awareness and funds.

Date:
Conference 21st October 2013
Miss Africa UK Peagent 25th October 2013, 7pm – 11pm Venue: Macdonald Hotel, London Road, Manchester M1 2PG.

www.afristars.org for more info.




Gbolahan Peter Macjob
CEO Afristar Ltd

VIDEO: THE FIRST FLYING CAR IS FINALLY HERE, GOES ON SALE 2015 – CAN TAKE OFF VERTICALLY IN TRAFFIC JAM!

The first flying cars are set to go on sale to the public as early as 2015. Terrafugia has announced its Transition design, which is part sedan, part private jet with two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car, will be on sale in less than two years. The Massachusetts-based firm has also unveiled plans for a TF-X model that will be small enough to fit in a garage, and won’t need a runway to take off. 

Unlike its current flying car, which is designed for pilots, the new design incorporates autonomous functionality, a move the company says will open up the skies to everybody




E - Report - Rita Dominic ends the year with 11 award nominations

"Rita Dominics is a household name in Nollywood, she has exceeded her expectations this year by been nominated for more awards than anticipated. Hardwork sure pays off. Hope the nominations can all be turned into actual winning"

Star actress, Rita Dominic has been busy and not for nothing. She has 11 combined nominations in four different awards to show for it.  Rita who returned to the country from New York, USA where she went for holiday and won Best Lead Actress award from the popular Nigeria Entertainment Award (NEA) has been nominated in the Best Actress category of Nigeria Movie Awards (NMA) taking place at Intercontinental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos this weekend.
The popular award is run by United Kingdom (UK) based Channel 329.
Following NMA is ELOY Award where Rita has two nominations in categories of Best Actress and Best Producer. Exquisite Magazine is the promoter of the award which is billed to take place later in the year.
ELOY stands for Exquisite  Lady of the Year. For her role in Desmond Elliot’s Finding Mercy, Rita got two awards in Best Supporting Actress category and the unusual category of Best Kiss in the very popular Best of Nollywood (BON) awards. BON is in the fourth year running. The 2013 edition will take place in Delta Asaba come November.
Packing up a busy year for Rita will be Golden Icons Academy movie Awards (GIAMA) comes Saturday, October 19. Her role in Finding Mercy bagged another nomination in Best Actress category. Chuks Chukwujekwu and Uti Nwachukwu also feature in the movie that is gaining huge mention in the media.

  • by  Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare

Word of Faith - Do We Really Become What We Think.

Do We Really Become What We Think.

Thoughts are the product of ones mental activity, what one thinks of or processes in ones thinking faculty. It’s an idea, notion, reflection, opinion, reasoning, imagination or philosophy. Our thoughts are largely based on our feelings, views, judgements, contemplations and deliberations. Thus, people have different opinions about different issues and you hear avowals or declarations like ‘I am entitled to my own opinion’ which is undeniably very true.
Proverbs 23:7 is one of the most popular scriptures quoted and advocated by many Pastors, motivational speakers and self-help proponents and protagonists. It has also become a truism used in many writings and amongst many writers of today. The general idea from this scripture quoted out of context is that one can become what one thinks. In other words, think wealth and wealth would definitely come running after you. Think poverty and poverty comes knocking on your door. These are ideologies majorly propagated in most of our Churches today.
Some organisations call it positive thinking, whilst some call it the law of attraction. According to the law of attraction, when you want or desire anything all you have to do is imagine it (process it in your thoughts), believe it and speak what you have visualized. In other words, what you imagine and confess is what you become and possess. They claim to have the power within to speak things into existence. So if you don’t want the negative things of life, you would be advised to think and talk positively.
There are books that have referred to this scripture (Proverbs 23:7) and the bulk of their writings, end up advising and proclaiming that when one thinks the right thoughts again and again, one automatically becomes those thoughts. This is the only place where this quotation is found in the Bible.
So do we really become what we think? If this were true, it gives a connotation that one would be in one’s own world, manufacturing things and becoming things that one can think of, entailing and inferring that we have become gods. And from the perspective of the Church, why would I need to believe in Jesus since I can get and become all that I want because I have the ‘powerful tool of thinking’?
Before we go ahead in this discourse, let us look at the meaning of the scripture being referenced:  “As a man thinketh, so is he” Proverbs 23:7 (KJV).
This portion of scripture was given by Solomon as a word of advice. And it implies that when one is in an environment of affluence or one is before an influential person, royalty or a rich man, Solomon advised that one ought to be very careful especially with regards to ones idiosyncrasies or mannerisms. The person should not gobble the food, nor talk with the mouth full, nor stuff-up oneself with too much food but by having control or bridle over ones appetite.
He further advised that, because one is before a prominent person, the ambience could be deceiving and one might readily begin to think of becoming like the influential person. He advised that we should not wear ourselves out trying (desperately) to become rich: we ought to have or exercise restraint in the process of seeking for money. In other words, there must be a limit in our quest for money.
So why did he say this? Solomon has said this because riches give a false confidence of what one is not. He said riches could disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wind blue yonder. Look around you and ask yourself a question: why do I have so many friends and people around me? Some are genuine, some are not; some are there when things are supposedly fine with you and some for other reasons known to them. The society of today will relate to you positively or negatively based on the influence or affluence they think you have. The things of this world will not make us happy, they have no place or portion in the soul; those that hold them ever so fast, cannot hold them too long.
Let’s continue to examine the advice from Solomon – who’s had a wealth of life experiences thus advising us accordingly.
Now Solomon talks about the stingy man and advises that one should not accept a meal from the stingy man. Not just a meal, but also one should not accept anything special from them because the stingy man will treat you like he treats himself; he is stingy to himself. He would ask you to eat and drink yet he means no word of his request to you. In other words, beware of the deceitful men whose courtesies even you will repent of having accepted; his words eventually are a sham.
That was all Solomon said regarding this scripture. He did not give a principle on how you can become a god to yourself, like many have made it to be. Since Solomon didn’t say this, who then is authorised to say or imply otherwise or is this just a mere concoction? I will presume it’s the latter because we are so good at improvising and making up things.
Mankind has a fallen structure because of our progenitors and ancestors – Adam and Eve. They were chased from the Garden of Eden thus; Man came into planet earth as dead on arrival. We were born into a dark and evil world controlled and manipulated by the Devil. He has contrived (deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously) a phony righteousness, which appeals to human arrogance and people now presumptuously believe they can merit or earn God’s approbation through their efforts. Bible describes him as the god of this world, the master counterfeiter, the adversary, the accuser and he remains the irreconcilable enemy of God. He retaliated by inundating and flooding the world with counterfeit and false doctrines.
The world is called Kosmos in the Greek language, describing an orderly, cohesive system and organization with a purpose, policy and structure of authority designed to subvert the thinking of the human race. It is a vast order or system that Satan has promoted which conforms to his ideals, aims and methods. It is civilization functioning apart from God – a civilization in which none of its promoters really expect God to share, who assigns to God no consideration in respect to their projects; nor do they ascribe any causativity to Him.
Many Pastors fall under (by their messages) neutralizing faith with human works and to compliment this pseudo-spirituality, Satan emulates the power of God. Many are already deceived by this sham power signs and wonders performed by the devil’s disciples.
This is why a successful strategy in Satan’s repertoire is to promote teachings like this, distorting and twisting the Word of God, superficial understanding of cosmic thinking and worldliness (human viewpoints) among believers.
Jesus said “take no thought saying, what will you eat, drink or what cloths we are going to wear for our Heavenly father knows that we have need of such”. He did not say think and you become your thoughts. The statement was more of drawing our attention to the fact that we can trust God for our tomorrow. Matthew 6:33
Isaiah in his description of the heavenly protocol and order said, “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours”. Isaiah 55:8-9.
Knowing that we have this fallen structure, we can then confirm that the thoughts within us will only and continually be evil unless we get help from somewhere. Paul disclosed this when he said and paraphrased that, ‘I know what good is and I know what evil is, but when I want to do good, the power to do it isn’t there. When I want to do evil, I find out that there is plenty power to do evil, which means that there is evil (the fallen structure) constantly present with me’. He screamed out of frustration that he needs help so that when he wants to do good, there would be enough energy supplied to carry out the good in spite of the evil present with him.
He also said that the weapon of our warfare are not man made but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds which are imaginations, thoughts and reasoning which are contrary to the knowledge of God and lastly bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
To say this differently, the weapons that come through God are for the smashing and warping of philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.
I don’t think we can really become our thoughts. If this were possible, some would have become the Queen of England, become Barack Obama, become Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and in fact some would have become a private jet.
But really, we can only become that which is written about us in the volumes of the book, engraved and carved by the Almighty: who is, all knowing, all powerful and present everywhere at the same time; to Him be glory forever more.
Be refreshed!
PST Kunle Surakatu
pastorsurakat@lordwalkwithme.co.uk
Bond Servant of the Holy Spirit
Teacher | Pastor | Author

How to Listen When Your Communication Styles Don’t Match

"For an effective communication read this"




Why do people who consider themselves good communicators often fail to actually hear each other? Often it’s due to a mismatch of styles: To someone who prefers to vent, someone who prefers to explain seems patronizing; explainers experience venters as volatile.
This is why so many of us see our conversational counterparts as lecturing, belaboring, talking down to us, or even shaming us (if we are venters and they are explainers) or as invasive, out of control, and overly emotional (if we’re an explainer and they’re a venter).
Facing this kind of mismatch, what do you think the chances are for either person actually listening with an open mind?
My answer is… very low.
It is tempting to say “zero,” but since it’s not possible (or even desirable) to work only with people who match your communication style, you need to develop the skill to try to listen around their communication style.
Listening around that style, however, can be incredibly effortful.  When someone is either venting/screaming or explaining/belaboring it triggers a part of your middle emotional brain called the amygdala, which desperately wants to hijack your attentive listening and instead react reflexively with whatever your hardwired reactions are.  And resisting that amygdala hijack is exhausting.
What do to with a venter/screamer
If your conversational counterpart is a venter/screamer, your hardwired survival coping skill might be to tell them to calm down (which will only make them more upset), to shut down and get silent (which will only make them yell longer, because they’ll think you’re not listening), or to try to point out how irrational venting is (which, as noted above, they will perceive as patronizing and belaboring).
Instead, say to yourself, “Okay, here comes another temper tantrum.  Just let them blow.  Try not to take it between the eyes and imagine you’re looking into the calm eye of a hurricane and the storm is going over your shoulder.”
To do this, focus on their left eye. The left eye is connected to the right brain — the emotional brain.  Let them finish. Then say, “I can see you’re really frustrated. To make sure I don’t add to that,  and to make sure I don’t miss something, what was the most important thing I need to do in the long term, what’s the critical thing I need to do in the short term, and what do I need to get done ASAP?” Reframing the conversation this way, after they’ve finished venting, will make sure that your “explainer” self knows what to do – instead of ignoring the venting as another random outburst from “Conan the Barbarian” or “the Wicked Witch of the West.” Chances are, they do have something important they’re trying to tell you – even though they’re not communicating it very well.
After they respond, say to them, “What you just said is way too important for me to have misunderstood a word, so I’m going to say it back to you to make sure I am on the same page with you. Here’s what I heard.” Then repeat exactly, word for word, what they said to you.  After you finish, say to them, “Did I get that right and if not, what did I miss?” Forcing them to listen to what you said they said, “because it was important,” will slow them down, will help you stay centered and in control, and will earn you their and your own respect.
What to do with an explainer/belaborer
If your conversational counterpart is an explainer, your hardwired survival coping skill might be to say to yourself,  “Here they go again, make sure you smile politely even if you want to pull your hair out. Try not to let your impatience and annoyance show.” The problem with this is that even though they may be oblivious to others as they go on and on, at some level they may be aware of your underlying impatience and… that might actually make them talk longer. Yikes.
Realize that the reason they explain and belabor things is probably because their experience is that people don’t pay attention to what they say.  They don’t realize that while that may be true of some truly distracted people, for others, the reason they don’t pay attention is that the speaker is belaboring something that the listener already heard — and doesn’t want to hear over and over again.  Another possibility is that these explainers may not be feeling listened to somewhere else in their life (by their spouse, kids, parents, or boss) and is now  relieved to have you as a captive audience.
When the explainer goes into his explanation/lecture/filibuster, say to yourself, “Okay, this is going to take a while.”  Put a mental bookmark in whatever you were working on. Then look them in their left eye with a look that says, “Okay, take your time, I’m fully listening.” Instead of feeling frustrated and reacting by become impatient and fidgety, remind yourself, “They need to do this. I can be patient.”
Then when they finish then apply a similar response to the venter/screamer with the following minor edit:
“I can see that you really had a lot that you had to say. To make sure I don’t miss something, what was the most important thing I need to do in the long term, what’s the critical thing I need to do in the short term, and what do I need to get done ASAP?” ”
After they respond to that, say to them, “What you just said is way too important for me to have misunderstood a word, so I’m going to say it back to you to make sure I am on the same page with you. Here’s what I heard.” Then repeat exactly, word for word, what they said to you.  After you finish, say to them, “Did I get that right, and if not, what did I miss?”
Your amygdala is probably saying to you and to me, “I don’t want to do either of those things. These people are obnoxious and unreasonable. Why should I kowtow to them?”
Here are several reasons:
  1. They aren’t likely to change. These are deeply ingrained personality traits.
  2. Being more open and inviting them to talk rather than closed and resistant will lessen their need to act this way.  Listening patiently hath charm to soothe the savage (or boring) beast.
  3. You will feel more self-respect and self-esteem. The above approaches will enable you to remain cool, calm, collected, centered and communicative in situation that formerly frustrated you and made you react poorly.

by Mark Goulston HBR

Make Your Innovative Idea Seem Less Terrifying

" This is a good read for any innovator that is trying to make management buy in to new ideas"




Four years ago, Craig Hatkoff, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, approached me about a brainstorm: an event recognizing and celebrating breakthrough innovators.  When I suggested to Clayton Christensen that we partner with Hatkoff to create the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, Clay’s response was: I trust you Whitney.  If you say we should, let’s do it.  In 2010, the first year, the event was fledgling, but charming.  By 2013, we had honored Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Garrett Camp of Uber, famed choreographer Twyla Tharp, and Gangnam style pop artist Psy.
How I wish that all my ideas received this kind of reception!  Rarely have I had that kind of immediate trust and social currency when proposing something new.  More often, I’ve experienced the opposite reaction:  what I consider genius ideas have been greeted with blank faces, disapproving stares, and occasionally the outright smackdown.
New ideas tend to evoke fear and anger – we are programmed to prefer the comfort and safety of established norms. Much as I want to believe that a glaringly good idea will stand on its merits, I have come to realize that just like any product or service, ideas require good marketing if they’re going to reach their intended customers.
Potential customers for our ideas have a predilection for thinking more about what they are already thinking, of scaling the learning curve they are already on.   When it comes to embracing a new idea, most will demur unless you can pack a parachute that will allow them to jump safely from their S-curve to yours.  You create this parachute using convincing data, demonstrating your own competence, speaking their language, and socializing your idea to overcome the ever-present fear factor. This becomes especially important within a large organization where innovation is often perceived as a battle:  the heroic disruptive David against the oafish bureaucratic Goliath, or a spy game requiring stealth.
Celine Schillinger sought to change the leadership landscape of Sanofi, a major pharmaceutical company.  She loved her job, and with a background in public affairs in communications had been successful in both international business and management roles.  But as she began to consider her future at the company, she realized that all of the people above her were white, male engineers or accountants.  She also believed that Sanofi’s competitive edge was at risk because of this narrow approach to talent management.
So she wrote a memo to the CEO explaining why gender balance is good for business.  Initially there was no buy-in.  But when her e-mail unexpectedly went viral after she’d shared it with a few colleagues, Schillinger became the leader of what has come to be known as WoMen in Sanofi Pasteur (WiSP), now the largest network across Sanofi with 2,500 members in fifty countries.  This might have backfired with an executive team that wasn’t as competent and as open to discussion, or if Sanofi had gone about it in a different way — in either case, they could have reacted as if she were going behind their backs. But both her tactful socialization of the idea and its contagious effect were self-validating. As the idea gained grassroots traction, the risks of buying in fell for senior management even as their respect for her expert stakeholder communication skills rose. This led to the HR VP brokering a meeting with the CEO and an invitation to make a formal presentation to the Executive Committee.  By eliminating the heightened sense of risk inherent in new ideas, Schillinger offered a parachute for potential stakeholders to jump into the unknown. Today, she’s the Head of Stakeholder Engagement for their in-development Dengue Fever vaccine — one of Sanofi’s largest business initiatives.
Or consider Scott Heimendinger, who jumped from the role of program manager on the Excel team at Microsoft to the director of applied research for Modernist Cuisine, a company dedicated to advancing the state of the culinary arts through the creative application of scientific knowledge and experimental techniques.   Making the leap to a new career curve is a bold idea that also needs to be sold, and the importance of mitigating risk for the key decisionmaker — the prospective employer — holds true.   Because Modernist Cuisine founder Nathan Myhrvold was a former Microsoftee (their first CTO and the founder of Microsoft Research), Heimendinger immediately reduced the perceived risk of hiring him by speaking their shared Microsoft language.  But what really packed the parachute was Scott’s demonstrated competence at the Seattle Food Geek blog.  And like Schillinger, Scott also has the ability to socialize an idea;  he’s recently wrapped a successful Kickstarter campaign for Sansaire, a startup he co-founded to produce a $199 sous vide cooker.
According to the research on successful entrepreneurs, their single most important trait is the ability to persuade.  Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur, unless your boss is as comfortable with disruption as Clay Christensen is, your ability to persuade is tightly linked to your ability to assuage fear. To get buy-in for any new idea, whether your customer is your manager, your direct reports, your teenage son, the CEO, de-risking is essential.  The ability to jump to a new vision or product or job almost always requires that those around us, our fellow stakeholders, also leap to a new curve of learning. If you’re looking for a break for your breakthrough ideas, prepare to skydive:  pack a parachute for you and your colleagues.

by Whitney Johnson HBR

E - Report, Film: Crew members: ‘Captain Phillips’ is one big lie

" Another act of deception by Hollywood exposed by original crew members of the original cargo vessel overtaken by Somali pirates. The crew have come out to say the film is not a true representation of the true story"
The film Captain Phillips will be released in UK cinemas next friday.
Read the whole text here

It’s made for Hollywood: the story of an average American family man, captain of a cargo ship in dangerous waters, his vessel overtaken by armed Somali pirates demanding ransom, saving his crew by allowing himself to be removed from the boat and taken hostage.
All of this is the basis for “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks as the titular, real-life hero. The only problem, say some members of the real Capt. Phillips’ crew, is none of it is true.
Capt. Richard Phillips, they say, is no hero, and the film is one big lie.


                                               "Captain Phillips" star Tom Hanks with Capt. Richard Phillips.
                                                              Photo: AP Photo/StarPix, Dave Allocca


“Phillips wasn’t the big leader like he is in the movie,” says one crew member, who, for legal reasons, spoke with The Post anonymously. He worked very closely with Phillips on the Maersk Alabama and was alarmed by his behavior from the beginning. Phillips, he says, had a bad reputation for at least 12 years prior, known as a sullen and self-righteous captain.
“No one wants to sail with him,” he says.
After the hijacking, 11 crew members have sued Maersk Line and the Waterman Steamship Corp. for almost $50 million, alleging “willful, wanton and conscious disregard for their safety.” Phillips is a witness for the defense.
“The crew had begged Captain Phillips not to go so close to the Somali coast,” said Deborah Waters, the attorney who brought the claim. “He told them he wouldn’t let pirates scare him or force him to sail away from the coast.”
‘REAL ARROGANT’
Phillips had taken command of the Maerskin late March 2009. Left for him, says the crew member, was a detailed anti-piracy plan now used by all ships per the International Maritime Organization. Should pirates get too close, the crew should cut the lights and power and lock themselves below deck.
“He didn’t want anything to do with it, because it wasn’t his plan,” says the crew member. “He was real arrogant.” Phillips says he knows nothing about such a plan.
Over this three-week period, 16 container ships in the same region had been attacked by pirates, and eight had been taken hostage.
As the film opens, Hanks, as Phillips, is seen assiduously tending to safety protocols. “Let’s tighten up security!” he orders. “I want everything closed, locked, even in port.”
Phillips has admitted that, on board, he got seven e-mails about increased piracy off Somalia — each exhorting ships to move farther offshore by at least 600 miles.






   











                                      The Maersk Alabama leaving the Port of Mombasa, Kenya in 2009.
                                         Photo: AP Photo/Sayyid Azim


The Maersk was 235 miles off the coast, says the crew member, though Phillips has since rounded that number up to 300.
“I couldn’t tell you exactly the miles,” Phillips tells The Post. “I don’t know.”
In 2010, Phillips told CNN the Maersk was 300 miles off shore; published reports from that time had the ship at 240.
Phillips ignored every missive and later admitted he didn’t share these warnings — though they were not sent exclusively to him.
Meanwhile, another crew member was tasked with keeping track of every ship in the region that had been attacked. Using the e-mails, a chart was built. On it were the names of each ship, the dates and times they were assaulted, their latitude and longitude, the ransom demanded.
When presented with this data, a crew member says, Phillips ignored it, too. In the film, Hanks tells his crew — depicted as lazy coffee guzzlers who fall back on the security of their union-protected employment — that their job is to get the cargo ship from Point A to Point B in the shortest, cheapest time possible.
In fact, says this crew member, the Maersk veered off course by 180 degrees south — this was during the first attack, on April 8. Phillips denies this, and says the boat only picked up speed.
“We had two pirate attacks over 18 hours,” says this crew member, not just the one shown in the film.
The crew didn’t know whom to fear more: the pirates or Phillips.
According to this crew member, during the first attack, as two pirate boats came into view, clearly chasing them, Phillips was putting the crew through a fire drill. In the film, it’s a security drill.
“We said, ‘You want us to knock it off and go to our pirate stations?’ ” the crew member recalls. “And he goes, ‘Oh, no, no, no — you’ve got to do the lifeboats drill.’ This is how screwed up he is. These are drills we need to do once a year. Two boats with pirates and he doesn’t give a s- -t. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
At first, Phillips maintains this is a lie. “No,” he says. “The mate called up and said, ‘Do you want to stop the drill?’ They [the boats] were seven miles away. There was nothing we could do. We didn’t know the exact situation.”
But is it true that he ordered the entire drill completed anyway?
“Correct,” Phillips says.
“Yeah, seven miles. What’s the dif?” the crew member says. “I saw them, and they were closer than that.”
The Maersk eventually made a narrow escape, and Phillips ordered it back to its original route.
One of the crew mutinied — he refused to do it, instead going below deck, sleeping with his boots on and his flashlight by his side, waiting for the inevitable.
At 3 a.m., the pirates radioed the boat to stop; Phillips had left the stern light on and the bridge open. At 7 a.m., came the third and final attack: Four armed Somali pirates stormed the Maersk.
The crew was on their own. “Phillips didn’t say what he wanted to do,” says the crew member. “His plan [was], when the pirates come aboard, we throw our hands in the air and say, ‘Oh, the pirates are here!’ The chief engineer said, ‘We’re going downstairs and locking ourselves in.’ One of the mates said, ‘Let’s go down. We’re on our own.’ ”
They hid in the engine room, in 130 degree heat, for 12 hours. Phillips and three other crew members were held at gunpoint, yet Phillips tells The Post things weren’t that dire. “The ship,” he says, “was never actually taken.”
DEATH WISH
Chief Engineer Mike Perry, who has a small presence in the film, was perhaps the most heroic. He led most of the crew downstairs and locked them in; he disabled all systems; he attacked the chief pirate, seizing him and using him as a bargaining chip for Phillips.
Most of this is accurately depicted in the movie — until, Perry has said, the moment of exchange, when the Maersk crew tries to swap the pirate for Phillips.
“We vowed we were going to take it to our graves, that we weren’t going to say anything,” Perry told CNN in 2010. “Then we hear this p.r. stuff about him giving himself up . . . and the whole crew’s like, ‘What?’ ”
“If you’re gonna shoot somebody, shoot me!” Hanks pleads in the film.
It didn’t go down like that, say several crew members: The pirates just reneged on the deal, grabbing their guy and making off with Phillips in a Maersk lifeboat.
While the remaining crew waited for the Navy to reach them, they sat and wondered: What just happened?
Four days later, Phillips was rescued by SEAL Team Six. He was hailed as an American hero. He met with President Obama in the Oval Office and wrote a memoir.
For some of the crew, it was too much. In their version, Phillips was the victim of a botched exchange. In 2009, he told ABC News he was taken after promising to show the pirates how to operate their escape boat. His book was packaged as the story of a man who gave himself up for his crew, which Phillips later said was a false narrative spread by the media. Today he tells The Post, “I was already a hostage,” but remains vague on the exchange.
Perry and third engineer John Cronan went to CNN, speaking of Phillips’ recklessness, claiming he endangered all their lives.
Perry said he and other crew believed Phillips had a perverse desire to be taken hostage. “That’s what many of us officers were saying to ourselves,” he said.
The crew member, who is not part of the suit, agrees Phillips had a death wish: “Yeah,” he says. “Because he went through that area, and the company is sending him e-mails, and I know he saw that chart [of prior attacks] 50 times.”
“It is galling for them to see Captain Phillips set up as a hero,” Waters said. “It is just horrendous, and they’re angry.”
In the run-up to Friday’s release of “Captain Phillips,” Hanks has appeared on the cover of Parade magazine with Phillips and the headline “The Making of an American Hero.” The film won the opening-night slot at the New York Film Festival on Sept. 28 and opened the London Film Festival last Wednesday. It has won raves, all of which note the film is based on real events. The two men have walked the red carpet together.
Not all of the crew cooperated with the movie, and those who did were paid as little as $5,000 for their life rights by Sony and made to sign nondisclosure agreements — meaning they can never speak publicly about what really happened on that ship.
It’s the film’s version of events — and Hanks’ version of Phillips — that will be immortalized.
“They told us they would change some stuff,” says the crew member, laughing. By the end of Friday, opening day, he had seen the film. “It’s a good movie,” he says dryly. “Real entertaining.”


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