From the 11th century to the 16th century, various tribes entered the region from all directions: the Ewé from the east, and the Mina and Guin from the west; most of them settled in coastal areas. The Portuguese explored the area in the late 15th century. As Togoland, it became a protectorate of Germany in 1884. After World War I, Togo was ceded to the French. Togo gained independence from French rule in the 1960s. General Gnassingbé Eyadéma became the military leader in 1967. When Eyadéma resigned in 2002 and later died in 2005, his son, Faure Gnassingbe became president.
The economy of this small African country is based on agriculture. Agriculture provides jobs for 65% of the labor force according to the CIA Factbook. Agricultural products include coffee, cocoa, cotton, yams, cassava (tapioca), corn, beans, rice, millet, and sorghum. Industries include phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement, handicrafts, textiles, and beverages.
The president of Togo is elected for 5 years. The president is also the commander of the armed forces. The president also has the right to begin legislation and dissolve parliament.
After Togo's independence from France, General Gnassingbé Eyadéma became the military leader. When Eyadéma died in 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbe became president. During his re-election campaign, he helped get port concessions in Lomé extended for Bolloré Groupe from 10 to 35 years in exchange for help from the group's public relations subsidiary Havas. In a 26 Feb 2021 civil hearing at the Paris judicial court, French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, along with associates Gilles Alix and Jean-Philippe Dorent, pleaded guilty to corrupt practices in Togo. The President of the court rejected the negotiated plea bargain and ordered that the three be tried in criminal court. In the same trial, Bolloré SE was fined $12 million.
Togo is divided into 5 regions. The regions are divided into 30 prefectures and 1 commune. From north to south the regions are Savanes, Kara, Centrale, Plateaux and Maritime.
The largest cities in Togo are:
About 51% of the population has local beliefs, 29% is Christian, and 20% Muslim.
The Togolese enjoy many foods including tropical fruits, pastries, and many different products made from peanuts. Major drinks include tea, coffee, and wine. Togolese often snack on plantains and French donuts or beignets.
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is an American band that plays punk rock music. They were created in Southern California in 1979 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). People think that they brought back punk rock and helped pop-punk bands during the late 1980s. Since they were created 30 years ago, Bad Religion has had a lot of members come and go. Greg Graffin is the only person that's been in the band the whole time but today there are three of the four members that were in the group when it started.
Today, Bad Religion has fourteen studio albums, two EPs, three compilation albums, one live recording, and two DVDs. Some critics think that their 1988 album "Suffer" is one of the most important punk rock albums of all time. People began to notice Bad Religion after their 1993 album "Recipe for Hate", which was number 14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Their next album, "Stranger Than Fiction", had the band's well-known hits "21st Century (Digital Boy)" and "Infected", did well and was the only Bad Religion album to get gold status in the US. Brett Gurewitz left in 1994. Bad Religion was not as well known after that and did not sell many albums until "The Process of Belief" in 2002. Brett Gurewitz came back in 2001, and worked with them on their four most recent albums. The band is planning to make another album in 2012.
They are known for their smart use of style, comparisons, word choice, imagery, and voice harmonies (which they call "oozin aahs.) Lyrics sometimes have to do with their emotions or their opinion of society.
Most of Bad Religion's lyrics are written by Greg Graffin or Brett Gurewitz. Sometimes, but often, they will co-write a song. Other band members, such as Jay Bentley, also write songs, but very rarely.
Brett Gurewitz says he tried to copy The Germs singer Darby Crash early on in Bad Religion's career. "He wrote some intelligent stuff, and didn't shy away from the vocabulary, which I thought was cool." Bad Religion also uses voice harmonies. The Adolescents influenced them with their three-part voice harmonies. Bassist Jay Bentley says, "Seeing The Adolescents live, it was so brilliant. So, in a way, the Adolescents influenced us into saying we can do it too, because look, they're doing it."
Many of Bad Religion's songs are about what they think are social problems, but they do not blame causes of these problems to any single person or group. Greg Graffin thinks that the politics in the United States can make it hard to talk about the problems.
The band is sometimes direct about the things they want to say. Brett Gurewitz said he was angry at former U.S. president George W. Bush and that "The Empire Strikes First" is about him. "Our whole album is dedicated to getting Bush out of office. I'm not a presidential scholar but I don't think you'll find a worse president in the history of the United States. He's probably one of the worst leaders in the history of world leaders. I just hate the guy."
Despite the name of the band, the members say they are not anti-religious. Greg Graffin says that more often than not, the band likes to use religion to represent anything that does not let a person be free. Their songs are more about being against everyone being the same than against religion or God. But Greg Graffin is an atheist. He helped write the book 'Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?' The band's bassist Jay Bentley has stated that he has spiritual beliefs. Brett Gurewitz is a "provisional deist."
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an alternative/punk rock group from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. They were formed in 1980 by Curt Kirkwood (vocals, guitars), his brother Cris (bass) and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The band is probably best known for their 1994 radio hit "Backwater".
The band went on indefinite hiatus in 2001 as Curt formed two band projects Eyes Adrift (with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh) and Volcano (also with Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh). He also released a solo album. His brother Cris was in prison from August 2004 to 21 months.
In 2006, the Meat Puppets reformed and released a new album, "Rise to Your Knees" in 2007.
As of November 2009, Shandon Sahm is back as the drummer in the Meat Puppets. He replaces Ted Marcus, who was a member from 2006.
The band was chosen by Animal Collective to perform their album "Up on the Sun" live at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in May 2011.
Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (November 24, 1946 - January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist. He confessed to killing 30 women, although the actual number of murders committed is unknown.
Ted Bundy was born in 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, USA. He lived with his mother Louise Cowell and grandfather Sam Cowell when he was a child. Bundy and his mother moved to Washington where she married a man named John Culpepper Bundy. As a child in Washington, Bundy was a good student and went to church often, yet he found it hard to make friends and he began stealing. As a young man, Bundy became involved in politics and got together with a woman named Diane Edwards, known better by the pseudonym Stephanie Brooks. She later left him, and he went on his own for a while. After seeing that he had improved, she got back together with him; but he proposed and then left her a few days later. This is when the murders began. The people that Bundy would murder were much like this lady: young, white skinned (Caucasian) and with long dark hair parted in the middle.