WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?? part 2

THIS IS A TRUE LIFE STORY! I AM GUTTED. Wrote about this here and here


I just got this from facebook and was so moved I had to publish it here.

The lady in this photo is allegedly called Titi who allegedly used to work at Skye bank VI branch. She was allegedly stabbed to death on June 24th by the man beside her. They were married for 2 years and had a child. I am still awaiting for more corrobarative evidence to the event.

I wrote about domestic violence over here. and will not stop writing about it. Especially in barbaric Africa where some defend the indefensible by somehow blaming the DEAD victim of not being submissive enough. The same portion that states that a woman should submit to her huband also states that men should love their wife as christ love the church enough to die for it. But that would be forgotten . Whats worse in Nigeria, (and if story is true) the psycopath will go scot free, set free by fellow murderers and their sympathizers.

In my opinion This case further supports the argument in favour of the death penalty he took a life and should loose his. I am so angry! But will cool down now till I get more details!!!!

But......Why do men have nipples?

Hi

I am writing from a very sunny place indeed. Anyways found this online, it answers the groundbreaking question: why do men have nipples???

Enjoy ;)
All humans begin life in the womb as females. If no Y chromosome is present in the foetus, then the embryo will continue to develop as and be born as a female. If there is a Y chromosome present in the embryo, the male sex hormone testosterone restricts the full development of breasts to just nipples, the labia fuse to become the scrotum and clitoris develops fully to become a penis. If the Y chromosome prevails in producing a male, this is not done without a fight. Male babies are weaker as a result than female ones, occounting for the slightly higher death rate in male babies.

Terence Hollingworth, Blagnac, France

Because we are built to a common pattern. All people contain the genetic information to be either male or female, but in the vast majority of people only one alternative develops.

All humans are born with rudimentary potential breasts. In the case of women they are triggered to develop hormonally as a secondary sexual characteristic. Men not only have nipples, but undeveloped (pre-pubescent) breasts. Anyway, they have entertainment value.

Quentin Langley, Woking, UK

So we know when it's time to put on a jumper.

David Lloyd, Oxford, UK

Chan Yut Wah, Ipoh, Perak Malaysia
so we can suffer from mammary-deficit-jealousy-syndrome. O.K., so i made the name up, but it's true.

ranald, edinburgh
Simple - To be clamped.....

Hayley Whitten, Southend on sea UK
To practice

Meurig Williams, Deeside Clwyd
Beer tits would look ridiculous without them.

Colm, Derry South Korea
So we can have them pierced.

Michael, Barnstaple UK
to stop their chest fraying

Cassie, Birmingham UK
So that men can have the breast of both worlds.

Colin Boyd, Saskatoon Canada
We can share the joys of parenthood by acting as pacifiers - human dummies - for one or two offspring while the sibling(s) are enjoying the real thing. Surely.

Duncan, Marske-by-the-Sea
If they don't have nipples their body looks empty.

Joyce, London, UK
To keep the basic balance in the body shape of a woman and a man.

Bright Stone, Shanghai. China
To twist, so females can punish men if they've been naughty.

Charlotte Glebocki,
So you can point if your hands are otherwise engaged.

Richard Williams, Isle of Wight, England
How else would we be able to attach nipple clamps?

Gareth , London, UK
To act as thermometers to tell when there is a change in the atmosphere, they normally get hard for a while ... well mine at least.

Daniel Richardson, St Georges, Grenada
So my friends can make fun of me when I choose not to wear a jacket from the car to the pub in the winter time.

Joel, Seattle, US
This is one of the many questions that i believe there is no logical answer to, one of the many we will never get a logical answer to.

Rose Diane, Whitney point, NY USA
So we can challenge cows to milk making contests!

Billy Joel, Wisconsin, Tennessee Malaysia
To keep the balance of science. Everything is balanced out, such as good and evil. That's the only logic I can find in it. Otherwise, I truly have no honest idea as to why we have nipples. I suppose that we have them due to us having traits as a male and female before the actual birth. It's probably something along the lines of them developing into breasts if you are female and them just settling where they are if you are destined to be male. Again, I have no clue.

Jon The Curious, Patchogue Okinawa, Japan
Just in case!

Jimmy, Sydney, Australia
To help our creator to put the breastbone right in the middle.

Louis van de Geijn, Renkum, Netherlands
Ask Brian Honeyman of the law Society of England and Wales ...he knows everything ...

Anon,
I reckon men were females before becoming males.

Kaylene Briant, Australia
Because we are built to a common pattern. But in the process, female breasts happens to be more prominent!

Jhune Catubag, Parañaque, Philippines
The gene for nipples is found in the X chromosome, which we all have as we start off as females. Testosterone from the Y chromosome restricts the breasts developing any further.... Well that's my theory.

Heather Kilsby, Durham England
Men have nipples because they'd look plain wrong without them

Morven Gailey aged 7, Stroud England
I have to agree with my fellow oxonian,it is purely an indication of temperature,and a jolly good way of chastisement,a good tweek can stop even the naughtiest behaviour.

janine Bailey, Oxford
I was short on male platty fish so I stole one from where I work. After about a month it turned into a female. Evidently some creatures can change gender after birth. Nipples are there just in case.

Robin Thompson, Stockton, Cleveland
I'm not really sure why but I'm so glad I have mine to tweak, at work or on the bus. Sometimes on the toilet reading the paper or while watching my neighbours through their window. They bought a rowing machine.

Andrew Anderson, Pakuranga, Auckland, New Zealand
The same reason women have beards!

Graham Foskett, Treakle, Bumstead
Men have nipples because they help men find water. Walk to where they point and when they cross, you're above water! Simple. Mainly why men drink so much beer, I guess.

Aaron Goodwin, Middle of England
Because people like me need something to play with when bored...

Adam Newsham, Preston
So your girlfriend can suck them ;)

Jake Reed, Derby
Because nipples are a turn-on

Malika Othman, Scunthorpe
Something else for the female to suck on. ;P

Lucy Campbell, Rugby, Warwickshire
so when theres no boobs around you can pretend your a woman and play with yourself ;D

Dean, Jack and Connor, Derby england
So if a man decides to have a sex change it makes the surgeons job easier?

Harry Machin, Burslem, UK
Because with out them men would get jealous

Bethanie Lucas, manchester
Oh my, some people are odd...

Sara Rickard, Newry, Ireland
So my girlfriend (with her jedi powers) can flick them both square on and make me cry like a girl.

Louis Wood, Wellington, UK
Rudimentary nipples on a male are just for fun. They have no useful purpose - like a bullet with no gun. We cannot reach to suck them, if we could there'd be no point; they make no milk, and consequently only disappoint.

Alan Gibbs, Southport, England, UK
Vestigiality - One of the strongest evidences for the Theory of Evolution. Creationism can never explain nipples in men, wisdom teeth, vermiform appendix etc.

Steve Martin, New York USA
The male nipple is an erogenous zone; manipulation of it during sexual interaction greatly increases the pleasure. i am an older male posing naked for art classes; never mind erections... my nipples (enlarged over the years from being handled) have been found more of a sexual turn-on during these sessions

Edo Deweert, Rimbey, Canada

So do you agree with these cerebral minds or do you have your own theory to enlighten me with? :)))

Mena

S*C*A*N*D*A*L IN BLOGSVILLE (Treating latest Nigerianslangs) LOL

Hello

I sincerely appreciate everyone who follows this blog.
NEWBIES: I usually follow new members immediately but just in case I didnt please leave a comment with a link to your blog and I will follow as soon as I log in. Also newbies if you are looking for a loyal dedicated network of people to follow your blog, then visit the names I highlighted in this blog, read their awesome blogs and if as impressed as I am, follow and interact with them. They will do the same to you and You wont regret it. :-)

Regular Followers: Helllloooow! How are you doing?? Absolutely fine I hope! *Ahem* *blushing* my lovely co-bloggers,*seriously blushing* you might have noticed that I dont always comment on my own post after your comments, please be patient with a fat girl (am a very lazy last minute person whose big derriere (ikebe)doesnot allow for me work as efficiently as I used to... and no I dont type with my ass :P) but each time you comment, I hope you notice that I immediately go to your latest round of blogs,(if any) read them and share my thoughts?? Mwah!

Eitherway I am very grateful for each and every interaction, its a labour of love having to read so many stories and contributing one's thoughts to each blog as we try to encourage each other. So this piece is in honor of my tight-knit network of bloggers who come rain or shine or very dry stories still take out time to encourage me to keep posting. In this particular blog I mentioned a lot of you and placed links to your blogs but if perchance your names were left out its because I dont know how well you take certain jokes. You see *sprinkling holy water* my jokes can be dirty so I used those who I am certain do not take themselves too seriously and are as crazy, humorous and funloving as I am. I hope you understand? God bless you all very much


To the business of the day...*polishing halo*...So I found this piece from a really really old facebook group, loved it and decided to share it here..Enjoy

Treating latest slangs-

Okay i have a cousin in university who seems to enjoy 'moonlighting' at my place most weekends (personally it works for me, who else to send on errands) so i get to learn all sorts of new slangs each week..
Let me give you a rundown on the latest jibe in Nigeria .. emmmm, now i would be very glad if most people do not beef me for "educating them"

A. Couple yourself
This commonly used to advice a person when they make a serious mistake ala shit for church or begins to misbehave or embarrass their friends in public,
Example: Ibhade's underwear is showing, I would say Ibhade, couple yourself or say Ebz's VPL is too obvious I would ask her to couple herself or say Mamuje, gets drunk at a party and falls over numerous times, i would walk up to her and say babe “couple yourself”

Or say Barack Obama takes me out on our dream date and he cant get enough of me and keeps trying to drag me into the toilet to “arrange" me i would say to him “President of the united states, kindly couple yourself”

B. Arrange:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Arrange is used to describe doing things unconventionally and most times illegally but getting exceptional results
Example
Like lets say at KitKat's birthhday, she couldn’t afford champagne at the club, so muse origins Adiya sneaks drinks into the club via her handbag ...she would have arranged or say she takes Oke, 9jafoodie, Gbemisoke, Musco, Efua,prism, real world, thinkaboutit naturalnigerian,Chizy, wildboy, Ibhade, Theatrenotes, Ginger, Myne, Mamuje, NuttyJay, me and other friends clubbing, but cant pay the full gate fee, so she bribes the bouncers to get in... she would be said to have arranged, but if shes caught and ends up embarrassing we bloggers we would be miffed and decide to "treat her fuckup"

C. Treat her Fuck up"
treating mails and memos is a common daily task which most of us have become accustomed to but hate, because it takes too much time, however it is used in a slightly different manner in 'youth speak' example... me having a typographical error in my response to a thread/blog and a group of oversabi (overzealous) anonymous's starts correcting me, then I decide to respond to the anons and extract my pound of flesh...hence i have treated their fuck up!

or say we ask Theatrenotes to use our "last card" to buy drinks and he spends it on credits to call a chic, so when he gets back we will generally "" brush him" hence we have treated his fuckup.

D.brush him"
brushing involves beating the crap out of someone for doing anything deemed wrong.
say Theatrenotes goes to movida but in the name of 'looking for an inspiration for his next blog' he ends up watching a guy wank on a street light, i would suggest we "brush him" instead of "treating his fuckup" if he was the guy wanking then we would "treat his fuckup".

E: shine the congo
shining the congo should not be misconstrued to a person literarily trying to cleaning/waxing... the .. emmm i'm stuck here.. well its a topic i believe the gbedu master aka specialist currently taking back door master class can treat, i suggest Theatrenotes manages this ..

F: last card
last card is normally used for fall back cash, money that should normally be saved for rainy or somewhat dry days...
example lilyjohnson is broke but wants to go clubbing, she gets to a club and uses her last card to enter a club and couldn't buy booze.., she should have "shined his eye"
G: shine your eye
shine your eye means being sharp, smart, emm street wise, native intelligence..etc, say finding ways to sort out problems without anyone else figuring it out
example...
A-naija-great and Iphyigbogirl are going to a9jagr8's place by LAMATA BRT but cant afford to pay for two seats, so iphy laps a9jagr8..hence she has shined her eye, or iphy wants to buy spirits at a much lower cost, she goes to apongbon and buys a bottle of Henessy for 1000 naira, however the shop owner gives her a well sealed bottle of henessy which actually contains squadron, and iphy falls for it, this means she did not shine her eye, and when eventually she pours Myne a drink at home and they realise its fake she would be ashamed and could be said to have "fall her hand"

H. Fall your hand
fall your hand means to disgrace someone or embarass some one,
example.. Surprise is "scoping" Oloriwith a wonderful gift and telling her about how much she means to him and he would sell himsef to get her whatever she wants, (meanwhile he asked a guy at ojuelegba to "arrange" it), then Henry walks in and says "" the tout you asked to bring the stolen goods is waiting outside to be paid".. Henry has fallen Surprise's hand.

I: Market fall press You
a nice correct chic like Ginger needs a hot date or a company ball and she starts looking for a date, unfortunately things dont work out so she has to go with Theatrenotes,(obviously not even her last choice or fall back plan) it means market don fall press her

J: Scoping
Scoping can be used to describe when a guy or girl is seriously admiring someone they are interested in say at an event, and can also be used to catch the attention of an admirer or hook up with someone.
example.. NuttyJ at a bar and she sees DynamiqueProf walk in and starts smiling and strutting her stuff to impress him, she will be trying to "scope" him, and when that doesnt work she will buy him a drink ... she would be trying to scope him..

K. Cut out...
it means to escape being caught by people, when you have done something wrong
example
Rustygeek finally convinces WiseSage to hook up and while they are french kissing in Wisesage's flat her body builder boyfriend comes unexpectdly... rustygeek will jump out the window and would be said to have cut out...
or Theatrenotes and this lady decide to have sex and she wants to stay on top... it will be wise of him to cut out...

there are lots of other latest slangs , but its 2.00am on a sunday and, i have been up since 12 am on blospot and i believe this blog will lead to an early grave for me, so it will be wise to cut out now...before people read this and try to treat my fuck up, arrange me for scoping and brush me...:-P

Have a great great week :)*Legs it!* (runs 440)
x
Mena
p.s: *comes back to add*
Am travelling to Nigeria this month so might be even more erratic than usual. But I will try and keep it up! xxxx (runs away again)

I MISS MY GRANDMA

She bathed us, loved us with all she had, looked after us. She always wanted the most simple of things and was very good at keeping gifts in prestine shape.She gave us a good deal of....a n y t h i n g.Nothing was too much for her to do. She brought us up and served a s a good source of our family history. yes she helped her only daughter,from the beginning till the end, i dont know how she(daughter) can survive this..

She was a calming influence, an assurance that every thing would be alright. She never complained,always having a laugh,joke,or story from the past. Even when she got upset,her voice was so gentle, it soothed you rather than grates you.

I remember when a sibling came home on holidays, she wanted to see if his nether regions..you see this sibling,as an infant, had accidentally slipped into a pot of hot water,his skin was badly burned, so she wanted to check if that area turned out alright...Yes, a very authentic source of family history.lol

I can remember when her husband died, i took a hanky and was cleaning her sweat,i dont KNOW why i remember that moment.. i could feel truly free with her. My heart bleeds

Towards the end,she became the child and i was the adult,taking care of her, gently assuring her about Gods Promises. After her first stroke, i remember always telling her in a gentle way that certain foods should be avoided..she never agreed with me.does it matter now?

Oh Gosh do i miss her..i miss her so much,it hurts me. I cant believe..i am gutted. For the first time, i look at the word "gutted" my guts do feel pulled out..

I cant believe that i will never see my grandma again..so many things i feel i should have done better, so many things i would still like to do with her. Couldnt she have waited a bit...?am i being selfish, unreasonable?questioning God? I dont know yet cause i am still in shock..Looking at the aged women i come across on the street, brings back memories.

I love you grandma, till we meet again..i REFUSE to say g o o d b y e,not yet,not now...

Rest in perfect peace in the bosom of the Lord. (did i just write that?)
by Mena on on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 12:06pm

WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE??

Sorry I cannot read and keep silent for the fear of hurting people's sensibilities. I wrote about it last year yes, but this madness has to be blogged about till something happens. What is it with domestic violence??? What will make you strike and kill your spouse when you can so easily seperate from them???
What is it with domestic violence??? Some cultures actually have guidelines for wifebeating.
My question is what will make you strike and kill your spouse when you can so easily seperate from them???

Imagine this article based in Los Angeles California where it was reported that a Nigerian RN wife was brutally murdered by her husband. The viciousness of the attack was such that the man eventually tied the dead body of his wife to his truck and dragged her dead body through the roads and streets of Southern California until her skull gave up its cranial contents. He was eventually arrested, charged, tried and convicted for first degree murder with special circumstance which carries the death penalty! He is presently awaiting a date with the lethal injection in a cold segregated death-row prison cell!

Think I am overreacting, think again.

The lady in this picture is Tope Aduni Olabiwoninu Douherty, who was allegedly beaten up by her then boyfriend, Tunde Ologundudu.


Recently, the police in Delhi has arrested a Nigerian man Innocent Nwayo who allegedly strangulated his live-in girlfriend, stuffed her body in a bag and left it in a rented flat in West Delhi fleeing to Mumbai.

One of Nigeria’s most respected poet and professor of English and Literature, Dubem Okafor died in the United States after shooting his wife Cheryl 37.

A Florida based Nigerian pharmacist, Olufemi Ademoye was charged for second degree murder for allegedly killing his wife over what family friends alleged as dispute over the paternity of the couple's 17 year old son.

Mr. Kelechi Charles Emeruwa:- A Nigerian Mr. Kelechi Charles Emeruwa, 41 of Old Umuahia, Abia State was charged and convicted with first degree murder of his estranged wife, 36 year old Registered Nurse, Chidiebere Omenihu Ochulo. Kelechi finally lost it and stabbed his wife, with her own kitchen knife, several times that the fountain left on Julius Ceaser fades in comparison, until she gave up the ghost. "According to the account, Chidiebere had just returned from Nigeria where she bolted away for three weeks to give her late father a lavish burial despite protestations of Mr. Kelechi of the bills that are accruing and payable here in America. She wouldn’t hear any of it, after-all she makes the money; only to return to an angry frustrated maniacal husband who took her kitchen knife and carved her up. It was on New Year’s Day, in her townhouse in the 4200 block of Dunwood Terrace, in the Washington DC suburb of Burtonsville in Montgomery County, Maryland.



In Euless, a suburb of Dallas, another Nigerian husband, Johnny Omorogieva, 45, murdered his wife, Mrs. Isatu Omorogieva, 35, by savagely striking her on the head numerous times with a hammer in the full glare of his 7-year old daughter.


This terrible photo tells another family-related violent incident involving a Nigerian, Mr. Theophilus Ojukwu 46, of Enugwu-Agu, Ihe in Awgu LGA, Enugu State used a mattock (hammer) to bludgeon his deeply asleep RN wife, Melvina Ojukwu, 36, of Umuanebe, also of Ihe, Awgu LGA, Enugu State to a very painful agonizing death. Mr. Theophilus Ojukwu, 46, of Enugwu-Agu, Ihe in Ogwu LGA, Enugu State, who killed his wife in their 5400 block of Barcelona Drive home in Garland, Texas has since been sentenced to life in prison.

It was reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a Registered Nurse Roseline Unachukwu, 34, and her six children were taken to the family violence shelter, Northwest YWCA in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, as a result of physical violence. According to people with knowledge of the incident, the poor lady escaped with her life from her husband’s maniacal rage with very severe cuts in her arms which she received while fending off her husband's killer-rage. Her husband, Benjamin Unachukwu from Nnewi, Anambra State, was taken to jail to face two criminal charges with the kitchen-knife weapon of choice as evidence exhibit!

Similarly, in Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas, Texas,Mrs. Monireti Abeni Akeredolu, a 46-year old Registered Nurse from Ondo State Nigeria met her untimely death in the hands of her estranged husband, Mr. Ebenezer Akeredolu, Sr., 48. According to the story, Mr. Akeredolu drove several hundred miles from Georgia (where he had moved to nurse his pains at loosing everything he had worked so hard for since coming to the United States several decades ago) to Dallas and pumped several bullets into his ex-wife in day light, with so many people watching the macabre spectacle. Mrs. Monireti died slumped in the wheels of her SUV enroute to a birthday party in her honor – she had just turned 46 a day before

Pictures below are those of Tess Wigwe, wife of The Nigerian ambassador to Kenya, Dr Chijioke Wilcox Wigwe who was allegedly assaulted by the latter in a domestic incident at their residence. The ambassador has been recalled.



Account written by Mr X, London

Location: London England, (South-East) to be precise! The Time? 2113 Hours, Place: Wole's Apartment.
Perfect Scenario: Wole, could not control his anger, lashes out...scream, scream scream! Wole's girlfriend: Screaming... obscenities! Swearing and shouting...
Wole: just wouldn't let it be, more bang bang bang...
Wole's Girl: bruises, cuts, swelling and reddening to face area and a broken nose...mmmh!

Wole's neighbour: a white middle age lonely citizen...This becomes unbearable for him; He dials 999...it took just 6 minutes, the police arrives...ambulance is also called...The police have a postive action: "reduce, remove and if possible neutralise the risk"....

Wole's apartment: scattered.
Wole's demeanour: anti police....anger, frustration!
Police: Arrest Wole for GBH. Grievous Bodily Harm.
Wole: tries to resist arrest. Police: taser, taser, Wole...Ahh!
Wole: conveyed to Thamesmead Police Station where the facts are relayed to the custody officer...
Custody officer: Authorises detention at 2320 hours...rights & entitlement given.
Police: fingerprints, DNA of Wole is taken and stored for speculative search...
Police: take a statement from wole's girl and neighbour...
Police: interview Wole 0900 hours the next day with a Solicitor present...
Police: reach a decision to charge Wole with GBH at 1100 hours...
Police: make a representation to custody officer on why bail is not suitable...
Wole: kept in another day to go to court first light...
First Light: Serco security attends to lift Wole to court in shackles...
Wole's clothing were seized for forensics. Wole given a white jump suit...
Wole: appears before Magistrate J J Fanny...she's known to have zero tolerance for domestics! rumour has it, she was abused....mmmh!
Court: find Wole guilty and sentence is pronounced...

Wole: now, has a Police Criminal Record.
Oh, I forgot...Wole is a Social Worker and will be needing a CRB for his next job!

Of course the above takes place in UK where fundamental human rights are respected to the letter. Can you think about a Nigerian version? Nigeria where people tend to leave the issue at hand and conveniently blame the victim.

Someone gets raped at a party becomes why was she wearing that at a party.

Girl gets gangraped by policemen, is interpreted as the girl was a prostitute and deserved it

Father rapes 14yr old daughter is interpreted as she is a witch and seduced me.

Hubby sleeps around and gets hiv and transfers it to his wife gets interpreted as she was not submissive.

Always like that in that barbaric country.

Well here is another account written by Miss X, Nigeria

Location: South East Nigeria as a location...

Wole: Beats up his woman mercilessly

Mrs. Wole: calls up the police station

Police: Madam that’s a domestic affair o, go and beg your husband

Mrs. Wole: calls her family as she always does.

Mrs. Wole’s mother: Patience and Prayers is all you need to survive in husband’s house

Mrs. Wole leaves the house early next morning to Olola (her friend’s) house with her eyes all swollen.

Olola: were you involved in an accident again? (Because that had always been her story)

Mrs. Wole: no o it’s my husband that beat me up always.

Olola: i had always known but I was waiting for you to say it.

Mrs. Wole: I have nowhere to hide, no one to turn to. *breaks down crying*

Olola: Do you want Wole to stop beating you?

Mrs. Wole: yes please help me. I want to still be alive to be my children's mother.

Olola took Mrs. Wole to Gbegulu’s (senior area-boy... also known as FADER) hideout and Mrs. Wole narrated her ordeal. At midnight 6 area boys landed in Wole’s house, they locked-up madam and the kids in the bathroom so it could look like robbery, then took turns in beating up Wole mercilessly stole all his expesive watches and int passport. The area-boys broke one of Wole's arm and he ends up in the hospital on admission for one month and his broken arm in a cast for 6months.

Now Mrs. Wole have learnt the act of fighting by proxy and she already have plans on ground on her next line of action should Wole dare beat her again.

The time has come for people(men and women) who are disturbed by this trend to have a massive awareness campaign to "STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN!!!!
Sources Punchonline
Ghana Nation
Wole Street journal
Linda Ikeji
Sahara Reporters

The Truth About Bottled Water!

Hey

Well I am an enthusiastic drinker of liquids, which of course includes water, ever since I read that it was a 'healthy thing to do'. During my time in the UK, I have spent a lot of money on bottled water without much of a thought, until I came across this article online and thought it made sense, what do you think?



Imagine you’ve just been given a choice: You have to drink from one of two containers. One container is a cup from your own kitchen, and it contains a product that has passed strict state, federal and local guidelines for cleanliness and quality. Oh, and it’s free. The second container comes from a manufacturing plant somewhere, and its contents—while seemingly identical to your first choice—have not been subjected to the same strict national and local standards. It costs approximately four times more than gasoline. These products both look and taste nearly identical.

Which do you choose?

If you chose beverage A, congratulations: You just saved yourself a whole lot of money, and, perhaps, even contaminants, too. But if you picked beverage B, then you’ll be spending hundreds of unnecessary dollars on bottled water this year. Sure, bottled water is convenient, trendy, and may well be just as pure as what comes out of your tap. But it’s hardly a smart investment for your pocketbook, your body or our planet. Eat This, Not That! decided to take a closer look at what’s behind the pristine images and elegant-sounding names printed on those bottles.

You may actually be drinking tap water.
Case in point: Dasani, a Coca-Cola product. Despite its exotic-sounding name, Dasani is simply purified tap water that’s had minerals added back in. For example, if your Dasani water was bottled at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Philadelphia, you’re drinking Philly tap water. But it’s not the only brand of water that relies on city pipes to provide its product. About 25 percent of all bottled water is taken from municipal water sources, including Pepsi’s Aquafina.

Bottled water isn’t always pure.
Scan the labels of the leading brands and you see variations on the words “pure” and “natural” and “pristine” over and over again. And when a Cornell University marketing class studied consumer perceptions of bottled water, they found that people thought it was cleaner, with less bacteria. But that may not actually be true. For example, in a 4-year review that included the testing of 1,000 bottles of water, the Natural Resources Defense Council—one the country’s most ardent environmental crusaders—found that “about 22 percent of the brands we tested contained, in at least one sample, chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits.”

It’s not clear where the plastic container ends and the drink begins.
Turns out, when certain plastics are heated at a high temperature, chemicals from the plastics may leach into container’s contents. So there’s been a flurry of speculation recently as to whether the amounts of these chemicals are actually harmful, and whether this is even a concern when it comes to water bottles—which aren’t likely to be placed in boiling water or even a microwave. While the jury is still out on realistic health ramifications, it seems that, yes, small amounts of chemicals from PET water bottles such as antimony—a semi-metal that’s thought to be toxic in large doses—can accumulate the longer bottled water is stored in a hot environment. Which, of course, is probably a good reason to avoid storing bottled water in your garage for six months—or better yet, to just reach for tap instead.

Our country’s high demand for oil isn’t just due to long commutes.
Most water bottles are composed of a plastic called polyethylene terepthalate (PET). Now, to make PET, you need crude oil. Specifically, 17 million barrels of oil are used in the production of PET water bottles ever year, estimate University of Louisville scientists. No wonder the per ounce cost of bottled water rivals that of gasoline. What’s more, 86 percent of 30 billion PET water bottles sold annually are tossed in the trash, instead of being recycled, according to data from the Container Recycling Institute. That’s a lot of waste—waste that will outlive you, your children, and your children’s children. You see, PET bottles take 400 to 1000 years to degrade. Which begs the question: If our current rate of consumption continues, where will we put all of this discarded plastic?

To learn more go to eatthis.com.

Ref: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/34361/the-truth-about-bottled-water/

Mena

p.s:Thanks for all the feedback,I appreciate every one of them.Thanks to the new followers, I immediately followed you back. Please when commenting, kindly paste a link to your newly published blogs(if any) so I can read it asap. :-)

'How to Maintain Stellar Relations with Your Black Friends' by Donald Trump foreword by John Mayer author of "My d**k is like a white supremacist"

Hi there!

Nah this is not about Trump and Mayor per se! I came across a game in a facebook group and found it hilarious and so decided to share in here. The pictures in this particular blog were sourced from my 'otakara'(lol) camera. I bought it last year and feel the photos come out wierd? Tell me what you think about the pictures? thanks


Back to the game! Basically imagine all the popular celeb gaffe and try and construct an ironic book title to represent them. I'll start:

"Two Kids are Ideal- Our success story" Kate Gosselin aka kate +8 and Nadya Denise Doud-Suleman aka octomum

"How to win muslim friends" : Terry Jones also author of 'Burn a Koran'

"Anne Nicole Smith was nothing but a gold digger":- Elizabeth Hurley, Katherine LaNasa popularly knows as 'Mrs Dennis Hopper' and Oksana Grigorieva

"How to Be Accepted by the Royal Family" - Sarah Ferguson, with the forward by Camilla Parker Bowles

"I heart Burkas" :- written by Rihanna, Kim Kardashian foreword by Lady Gaga

"Keeping it in the closet"=Perez Hilton and Rupaul

"I love my mum":-Eminem

"Generators? A Waste of Money" by PHCN

"I AM NOT BALDING!"-Donald Trump

"How I survived 30 years on nothing but lettuce": Mo-nique, Roseann, Rosie Odonell

"How to Marry Your Agemate by Hugh Hefner"

"Divorce is Not About the Money" by Maria Shriver and Mrs Tiger Woods


"How to Maintain Stellar Relations with All of Your Black Friends" by Donald Trump foreword by John Mayer author of the book "my d**k is like a white supremacist"

"Say It Loud, Am Black and Proud" by Micheal Jackson

"Heal the World" jointly written by George Bush and Osama Bin Laden, Current U.N Ambassadors for Global Peace


"Idiot guide to monogamy":-jointly written by Tiger Woods, Mel Gibson, Madonna and a foreword by Bill Clinton best selling author of 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman'

"Always Wear a Great Big Smile Upon Your face":- Victoria Beckham

"How to mind your own business":- Wendy Williams

"Crack is whack" by Whitney Houston

"Staying out of trouble" - Lindsay Lohan


"How to win friends" :- Bruno, Alan G, and whatever moniker he goes under.lol

"How To keep a low profile and go under the radar": Jordan, Kanye West, Pamela Anderson, Lady Gaga, Buffy the body, Katy Perry

Know of anymore? ;-)

Then to add the special Nigerian twist, do the same with Nigerians celebs, only use perfume titles this time.

"Extinct" by Nitel a delicate and elusive scent

"Confused" by Zain a hint of uncertainty and a dash of chaos


"Almost Contended" by MTN nearly confident scent

"Black Out" by PHCN a sure knock out

"Fight 2 finish by Otedola hint of stupidity and over confidence...

"Ready 4 Fight" by Aliko Dangote seemingly sure but could be wrong

"Consolidated" by Sanusi Lamido brash and outdoor rugged not for the faint hearted

"Former Artful Dodger" by James Ibori Fomer Elusive scent now captured!!



"Evil Genius" by Babangida Perceptive narcissistic scent a must kill!!

"Demolition" by Nasiru El-Rufai bold no holds barred

"Deception" by Farida Waziri a some what dull scent putting on airs of aggrandisement

Know of any more?

bye from me

Mena

What REALLY happened when I allegedly met up with the horndog blogger...

SO Tantricnotes fired the first shot over here, well in In the interest of full public disclosure, this is really what happened. He gatecrashed into my house! my home!!!

Mena: You Idiot, did i ask you to come to my house!
TNotes: (Tried to enter apartment) Why are you dressed up - i thought you said you were not interested in mo*vida.
Mn: (Restricted my movement) Well, I was, until I had a proper date.
TN: (Pushed her hand aside, stepped in and shut patio door) So you ditched me for all these innit boys.
Mn: He’s not a broke ass M.Sc student like you.
TN: Abeg jare, I have prospects! You know the guy is boring as hell, let’s smoke him out and hit town.
Mn: (Hushed tone) Keep your voice down now. We’ll hook up some other time.
TN: Lai lai. I’m gate crashing. If we had done mo*vida as planed, we’d be out till 4a.m. Now however, i’m homeless till trains start service in the morning.
Mn: (She was getting impatient) T.N, you have other friends in London jor!
TN:Please Ihave no where else to go.

Looking at his sad face my maternal instincts kick in and I let him in. He sees that is was just nuttyjay inside the house..

NuttyJay: Ah ah Mena which one are you hanging out with chewing gum boys? You are not Demi Moore,neither is he Ashton Kutcher
TN: WTF, FARK, FACKERY, FARKING HEIL, WHO ARE YOU F*CKING CALLING FARKING CHEWING...
Mena quickly butts in: No be so, he has no where else to go.
Nutty: So you look like a B&B or police station? Mena I don dey taya for your slacking,and your 'humanitarian services' I am going without you!
Mena: No vex my luv

Nutty slams the door in my face.

Meanwhile Tnotes stares at me,open mouthed and I know what he is thinking: "WOOOOAH, SUCH BIIIIIG BREASTS!" "LOVELY HAIRLESS SOFT AND SILKY SKIN", "SUPPLE BUUUUM AND HIIIPS", "LOOOONG LEGS! WANNA GET TO SECOND AND THIRD BASE!!"

But those are his thoughts, what he actually say is

Tnotes: Mena,you have no idea what a day I have had. I need a hug

I innocently give him a hug and then..

Mena: Tnotes you are hugging me too tightly, I cant breathe!

Tnotes: Mmmm, Mena, This feels good, could stay here forever I want to show you someone that is just as eager to meet you....

indeed, he decides to show me. He unzips his trousers, whips his thingy out and shoves it in my hand.

Mena: 'Thanks, but I don't smoke.'

.......................

*blows speck of my halo*
Mena

(Bring it on sexy Tnotes ->

Thoughts on the current Online battle between freedom of speech and Superinjunctions

Hi

This is a long post and more or less a raw collection of my thoughts on the injunction debacle using sources from a few online journals.

Please dont read any further if you find the topic boring.:)

Soone of the top stories making the rounds in most of UK media is the issue of celebrities taking out superinjunctions to protect their private lives.To be specific to hide their affairs..allegedly of course! :)

According to compactlaw online, Injunctions are court orders that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. Quite simply the idea behind an injunction is to to protect the privacy of other parties. For instance an injunction can be taken out against noisy neighbours, or can prevent someone from removing a child from a country or even to prevent someone from getting rid of their assets.

Obviously for anyone to resort to this remedy, an existing relationship has been damaged to such an extent that one party is harassing, threatening or assaulting the other. One of such popular injuction is a restraining order.


An injunction might also prevent somebody publishing something about you which you do not like.

Now a superinjunction on the other hand is on another scale. A Contra Mundum super-injunction is an order that 'ideally should be' enforceable worldwide and in perpetuity.

Imagine the examples above but on the world stage and..perhaps..in the world wide web..I.E No one in the world is allowed to publish stories that reflects negatively upon these celebs.

That is exactly what some celebs tried to do..allegedly of course

A superinjunction not only prevents media sources from revealing the name of an individual named, but it even prevents those sources from mentioning that an injunction exists. In practice judges issuing such an injunction distribute notices to newspapers, TV news companies, websites and so on to ensure they comply.

Superinjunctions are expensive, certainly for the use and protection of the very wealthy.
Several questions arises from this order, hat about the right of the other party to speak about the previous relationship? What if the celebs use these orders to protect an illegal act? Last but not least,how will the legal system enforce or police such an order in a world wide scale?

As it is the social media in general and Twitter in particular, have been carrying details of some of the celebrities involved in their tweets and blogs.

The following is an excerpt from the super injunction blogspot who culled it from a twitterer called Billy Jones.

"Two stars of the TV show Shameless, David Threlfall and Pauline McLynn (Libby Croker) had an affair. Both are married.

British actor Hugh Bonneville paid £195 for the services of prostitute Helen Wood. Wood used a sex toy on Bonneville.

Gordon Ramsay sexually harassed a female employee and sacked a male chief executive for no reason, he is still owed wages.British comedian/actor David Schneider is into BDSM and visits spanking establishments to engage in the whipping of women.

Footballer Ryan Giggs had an extramarital affair with Big Brother star Imogen Thomas which lasted for 7 months. "

The Spanish press first revealed the identity of Giggs but on the 23rd May LibDem MP John Hemming also revealed his name.

Full legal judgement originally made by Mr Justice Eady after hearings on the 14 & 20 April 2011 can be found here

A distinguished family man, Channel 4 online describes Ryan Giggs, as the most succesful footballer in UK history who has won every single trophy in club football.

The other celebrities named above, are also very successful in their respective careers.

It is interesting to note how public personalities are attributed certain expectations. The argument is that a person who earns a living from 'selling' a certain public image and reputation is expected to uphold that image at all times..the day such a person is found wanting, he is villified by the same public and this might affect his 'brand' and in the long run his earnings..Tiger Woods, Arnold Scharzenneger, IMF Khan,are high profile people whose careers are affected by their indiscretions yet they cannot resist but cheat..Its not so much the cheating but the peddling of a wholesome image and gaining substantially from it.

Hugh Salmon in his blog raises another question:

the extraordinary impact of Twitter, Facebook and
the internet generally.


We also know about the huge financial valuations that are currently being placed on
these and other ‘new media’ companies. We are experiencing another dotcom boom.


These valuations are based on the value of these potential audiences in terms of
marketing and advertising cash.


One issue of concern is the anonymity, inanity - and, now, legality - of many of the
comments made on the internet. They are certainly a consideration to advertisers
backing the sites that ‘distribute’ or ‘broadcast’ them (deliberate ‘old media’ terms).


So when a Contra Mundum order is issued in London, it raises a debate and a set of
questions that our industry has a vested interest in answering:
- to what extent, in the real world, is this Contra Mundum enforceable?


- why is it easier to defame someone online rather than offline?


- what about all these ‘comments’ that are made behind a veil of anonymity?


- are these anonymous commentators above the law?


- if so, why?


- if not, to what extent are they controllable?


- what are we doing to police them?


- what are the owners of websites and blogging forums doing to monitor them?


- is there a code of practice?


- should advertisers support websites that do not abide by a code of practice?


- who is making the rules?

The Guardian online reports that Twitter users and the courts go to war over injunction Very interesting article there!

Too many interesting perspectives! Will update as the debate continues...

Mena

Much Ado about an Orgasm

Hi!!

So according to healthguide.com, an orgasm is 'the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual tension resulting in rhythmic muscular contractions in the pelvic region that produce intensely pleasurable sensations followed by rapid relaxatiohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifn'

It is obviously experienced by males and some females(not all)they are often associated with other involuntary actions, including muscular spasms in multiple areas of the body, a general euphoric sensation and, frequently, body movements and vocalizations are expressed. In males, orgasm generally leads to ejaculation.

Obviously a physiologic response to sexual stimulation, orgasms usually result from the stimulation of the penis in males and the clitoris in females. Modern findings by Schwartz(1992) support distinction between ejaculation and male orgasm in men and a distinction between clitoral orgasms from orgasms caused by G-Spot stimulation alone in women. Findings also supports female ejaculation,also known as 'squirting' in women.

Such stimulation can be by self-practice (masturbation) or by a partner (penetrative sexual intercourse, non-penetrative sex; also known as outercourse, and other erotic sexual activities). In addition, partners simultaneously stimulating each other's sex organs by mutual masturbation, penetrative intercourse, or other rhythmic inter-genital contact may experience simultaneous

The words I want to draw out are euphoric sensation and intense pleasure and the power they carry. Such is their weight that men like Tiger Woods have suffered for continually seeking it beyond agreed boundaries. Arnold Schwarzenegger the terminator has been renamed the impregnantor, and Former International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been accused of raping his chambermaid!

That said orgasms can also bond a couple in a healthy relationship. It can also lead to a range of often involuntary spoken words and that, dear class, is where my focus is today.


How words said during orgasms links to personality traits...


1. The Optimist - "Ahh...Oh Yes, Oh Yes, Oh Yes .....Aaahhh ..... ! "

2. The Pessimist - " Ahh ..... Oh No, Oh No, Oh No .....Aaahhh ..... ! "

3. The Confused - " Ahh ..... Oh Yes, Oh No, Oh Yes, Oh No..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

4. The Traveler - " Ahh ..... I'm cumming, I’m cumming ..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

5. The Religious - "Ahh ..... Oh God, Oh God.....Aaahhh ..... ! "

6. The Needy - " Ahh ..... More, More, More..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

7. The Beggar - " Ahh ..... Please ..... Please ..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

8. The Submariner - " Ahh ..... Ohhhh ..... Deeper ..... Go DEEPER..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

9. The Sports man - " Ahh ..... Faster .....Faster .....Aaahhh ..... ! "

10. The Mimicry artist - " Ahh ..... Shhhhh ..... Hsssss ..... Shhhhh ..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

11. The Dutiful man - " Ahh ..... Oooh maaaa ..... Oooh maaaa..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

12. The Wrestler - " Ahh ..... Hold me tight ....Rougher .... Harder ..... Aaahhh ..... ! "

13. The Murderer - " Ahh ..... I am going to cum .....Ahh .....If you cum before me, I'll kill you .....Aaahhh..... !

14. (adapted for Nigerians) YEPARIPA......... YEPARIPA......... YEPARIPA......... YEPARIPA......... YEPARIPA......... YEPARIPA......... YEPARIPA......... MO TIN MBOOOOOOOOOOO

15.OH SHIT,SHIT,SHIT,SHIT, MAKE ME CUM BABY,MAKE ME CUM! SHIT,OH SHIT,I CANT TAKE DIS CURSE MY MAMA,YEESH ABEG CURSE MY PAPA,SAY MY MAMA NA ONYEBERIIIBEEEEEE!

16. The Pain taker.- E dey pain you... Ehn... Make I remove am....Nooooo Noooooo Noooooooooooooooooooo.......

17.The Guarantor.- E no go tear.....hit am well.. welll. e no tearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Recognise thineself? LOL!

Thanks for reading
Mena

...and on a lighter note New Suth Effrican Weds in Suth Effrican lungwich Deekshunry

(Found this online. Lwkmd!)


Officials of the New South African government have come to realise that
the current status of having 11 official languages in the New South
Africa is impractical. A new language was thus introduced. This is
the English as it is now spoken on television and radio. The recently
published New Suth Effrican Deekshunry defines these new weds. Here are some
extracts and examples of their usage in the official New Suth Effrican
lungwich:

Bad - you sleep on it in the badroom

Beds - mossies, doves, etc

Beg - container, as in shopping beg, hand-beg, tog-beg

Ben - to set alight

Chealdren - our future is in their hands

Chetz - where worshippers go on Sundays

Cuds - you can play poker or rummy with them

Cut - a small donkey-drawn vehicle

Debben - city in KZN

Deekshunry - where you find weds

Detty - opposite of clean

Die'llas - as in drug die'llas or wee-pon die'llas

Driva - holds the steering wheel of a teksi

Duck - very duck at night when the lights are all off

Ebben - you get ebben erriors and rural erriors

Effrican - from the continent of Africa

Erriors - districts, e.g. ebbon erriors

Ewways - eg. SAA, Comair

Fems - companies, e.g., Anglo-American

Fest - the one before second and third

Fok - used with nifes

Fum - you can fum with ship or kettle

Fumma - he owns the fum

Guddin - where you grow kebbijees

Geave - you MUST geave, I WILL take

Get - a hinged device in a fence

Hair - as opposed to heem

Heppi - state of elatement, e.g. I'm so heppi - I just voted

Hiss - masculine form of hairs

Hubba - where sheeps dock

Itch - as in itch and avairy pesson

Jems - little bugs that give you the flu

Kah - what you drive around in

Kennel - ummy officer

Kebbijees - vegetable

Keptown - some think parliament doesn't belong there

Kettegry - in a system of classification

Kipper - one who kips, as in goal kipper

Kleenix - where nesses weck

Kot - where the judges sit

Len - to acquire knowledge

Leeda - as in Arwa Leeda, the president

Lungwich - weds what are spokkin

Mick - those that will inherit the eth

Miening - what is the miening of this attack?

Nesses - they weck in kleenix and hospitals

Pee pull - powa to da pee pull

Peppa - one way to get the news

Pesson - one of pee pull

Phlegm - the benning top of a kendal

Pees - symbolised by white dove

Pees-Tox - between IRA and John Major

Reeva - e.g. Limpopo, Vaal, Orange

Regime - anything to describe pre-1994

Ree kwest - replaced by dee mands

Rent - N/A - word obsolete

Scotched Eth - guerilla tactic

Sheep - big boat

Shex - houses in squatter camps

Ship - provider of wool

Shit of Peppa - something to write on

Shuck-attak - if the shuck-net is brokkin

Shuck-nets - at Debben, for safety of sweamas

Spitch - what politicians make at a relly

Suth - opposite of North

Sweamas - compete in a sweaming pul

Teps - solvent to thin enamel paint

Teck - see geave

Teksi - kah for hire - sometimes parrot teksi

Tenning point - the "top" of a parabola

Thest - ice cold Coke will relieve it on a hot day

Tipic ally - characteristic

Tocks - negotiations

Ufrican - pertaining to Ufrica

Ummy - military force

Wee men - ladies

We pon - a gun

Wean-dow - with glus for throwing bricks through

Weaned - Gone with the Weaned

Weaner - the one with the most votes

Weckliss - the unemployed pee-pull

Weds - what the dictionary is made up of

Wekkas - do the weck

Weld - the eth

Wems - small crawly creatures

Weth - she is weth her weight in gold.


Source: http://www.outofafricaclub.com/oac_web_4_014.htm





Activity feed

Bullying and bullies..part 1

I was bullied in secondary school! Many years ago and I can still remember it!

I recall it was my first time having a period and I was scared of what to do and had no one to talk about it.

I was in a boarding secondary school. A federal government girls college 4hours from home and comfort. I recall it as a flux of rules and energy and lots of bullying and punishment and very few genuine friendly face.

It started at the general assembly. I felt faint and soon noticed blood trickling down my legs to stain my white socks and brown bata* shoes. I kept cleaning it up with fear running through me. Where is it coming from? I was scared and felt like I was less than human and didnt know what to do. We eventually had siesta and some senior girls noticed the state of me. They commanded me to come to their 'segment' as it was called. I felt all eyes on me, as my heart beat faster certain now that I was dying. At that moment all I could hear was an avalanche of insults on me,in between sentences like 'did you pack a sanitary towel'? I nodded with tears in my eyes and snort in my nose. Ah so thats what its used for?? I thought to myself. I wanted it to stop!

Well I finally learnt in between the derision, how to use a pad, I used two for double protection but didnt know how to dispose of it properly. Remember I said secondary school wasaflurry of activities? well before I knew it, a prefect had marched us for prep time (study time).
During prep I was still ill (a feeling i would learn was called dysmennorhea) and felt uncomfortable with my pad, deciding it was time for a change. I finally went outside to take the pad off, I tied it in a bag and threw it in a bin while using a fresh pair for reinforcements.lol. Then came back to class.

Not knowing a bunch of students trailed me. They got a stick, took the pad out of the bin and brought it to where I was sitting. They threw it on my books, insulting me, laughing, saying how a witch will take my blood and I will never have children. I remember crying my eyes out. I also remembered the girls that did it even till this day..I remember that the more I cried, the more they laughed. At that moment, they were the cool kids, I was the outcast.. Years later, I cant figure out why they would do such a thing?

That memory brings me to my guest writer of the day, KitKat and her tales on bullying/bullies....Enjoy
Mena

I’ve always had a problem with my English professor. She gives too many essay homeworks and is so strict in grading!!..she’s also very talkative and loud and sometimes it gets a little bit too much. Most of the classmates are so rude to her and when she cracks a “not-so-funny” joke, they laugh at her and make it so obvious that they..well, think she’s a wee bit crazy. I am always surprised she never flips and is always oh-so-jovial no matter how much they push her buttons and make silly comments to her face. Infact she joins them to laugh at herself. Today she came to class, uber excited (as usual), and announced that her seven year old kid just said a complete sentence for the first time. As usual, some smarty mouth was like “err..seven years old?? Isn’t that meant to be normal??”.. and then she goes on to talk about her son and how he’s suffering from autism. She tells us how its so hard to be a parent of a child with autism and how it took him ages to learn to crawl. She literally had to crawl with him between her legs even in public places just so he could learn to do it. She talked about how people make fun of him a lot and some even make rude comments about him right in front of her and being a mother, you can imagine how hard it is to hear another kid at a birthday party call your son a retard. She said there are so many times she wants to give up, but she just can’t give up on her own son, and that there was even a woman that killed her autistic child out of frustration and stress. To top it off, her second child, the elder sister, is suffering from OCD. Everything has to be straight, little things get the girl so worked up, she gets into panic attacks frequently because her mind sees things in a certain way and once something is different from the way her mind sees it, then she just can’t deal with it. So here she was, standing in front of her class of obnoxious students, sharing her real personal story with us, and she was totally smiley-faced about the whole thing. You’ll think she was sharing a real good joke. I don’t know anyone who didn’t have tears in their eyes, it was so emotional to hear what this woman was going through, and the fact that she always radiates such positive energy still eludes me. It just made me feel dumb for all the times I rolled my eyes at her jokes and fantasized about getting the teacher evaluation sheet were I could give her a poor evaluation (just cos I was mad she didn’t know who chimamamda was lool :p ) ..I have a renewed respect for her and I just wish I could have that much resilience in me. Like my biggest worry in life right now is probably how I’m going to sacrifice my sleep to read for my history exam and yet I don’t even radiate as much love and joy as she does… I definitely learnt a lifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife lesson today.

Sooo I finally finished reading “please stop laughing at me” and I have to say it’s a very emotional book and the fact that it’s a real life story makes it even more emotional. It’s basically the author’s story about her life in junior high and high school and how she had to endure so much torture and bullying from her peers. It didn’t matter that her parents took her from one school to the other to escape all the bullying, no matter how much she tried to avoid being picked on, her peers always made her life a living hell.
They hated her for being brilliant. They hated her for sticking up for other classmates that were being bullied. They hated her for having a deformity in her boobies. They just plain hated her.
She went through all sorts of hell from name calling, to beating, to preventing her from sitting next to them on the schoolbus, to getting snow forced down her throat, to having people spit in her hair and tie it up with chewed gum, ..it got to a point were she was depressed. She never wanted to leave the house, she wanted to commit suicide.. and she was only a teenager. Fast forward to ten years later, she’s now a successful author and publisher. She has worked with plenty celebrities and dignitaries.. she’s sitting in her car in the parking lot of her high school where she’s supposed to be attending her high school reunion, and even though she knows her former tormentors and bullies are now full grown adults and wont be able to bully her again, a part of her is still too scared to leave the car. The scars and memories of her childhood still haunt her. She still feels vulnerable and scared, like the outcast that was dehumanized so many years ago. The most amazing thing is that when she finally steps in, her mates are so nice and sweet to her, and they honestly don’t remember doing all the mean things they used to do to her. To them, she was just one out of many other kids they must have picked on when they were kids. To her, they were the people that scarred her for life and made her question her self-worth.

That’s the thing with bullying and hurting people. The one inflicting the pain barely recalls doing it an hour later. To them it’s no big deal, it was just a way of passing time and having fun. But to the person you hurt, to that person that you took it upon yourself to make the butt of your cruel malicious joke, it’s something he or she remembers for a long long time. Also, it's not so much about the mean things that are done to the person getting bullied, but also all the things that they exclude the person from. Not talking to that one person, inviting everyone else but that person, basically ignoring that person. A quote from the novel says:
"The hardest thing about being an outcast isn't the love you don't receive. It's the love you long to give that nobody wants. After a while, it backs up into your system like stagnant water and turns toxic, poisoning your spirit"

The above piece, titled 'Please stop laughing at me' was written by today's featured author KitKat. Follow her on http://pweetytales.blogspot.com





Activity feed

UK, US, CANADA cost of living many Africans should know about!

Hi

So I was taking stock of my time away from Nigeria and how much I have spent since I got here and its unbelievably very high!!



So fellow african just before dashing all out for the UK, (or U.S or Canada) Be warned, be careful & also be prepared...for the cost of living here in the UK is thus:

1. Mortgage payment for Home owners
2. Home Building insurance for home owners
3. Home Content insurance 4 Home owners
4. Rent bills for those renting
5. Gas bill
6. Water bill
7. Electricity bill
8. Council tax
9. Transport fares for Bus or tram passes etc.
10. For car owners - Road tax, MOT, Car insurance, Car servicing, Breakdown cover & the all important Petrol or Diesel.
11. TV Licence
12. Internet fees for Surfing the net
13. Mobile phone bills
14. Home phone bills
15. Sky TV fees
16. Food
17. Clothings
18. Provision
19. Prescription charges
20. Dentist fees
21. ? Savings
22. Charity & Family

DO NOT GET ME WRONG, THE BENEFITS ARE WONDERFUL, THE EXPOSURE IS COMPARABLE TO NONE. THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE.However the fact remains that many do not understand that UK is not a place to earn pounds easily as though picking it from the ground. And those with cars & houses definitely have more bills to sort out than those without, meaning the more you earn the more you pay! So where is the change?

Giving someone a car in the UK is so different from giving someone a car back home in Africa becos here it may be rejected if the person is not ready for the other bills attached to a car owner such as MOT, Road tax, car insurance, Breakdown cover, Servicing & then PETROL.

Mortgage is not heard of back home becos those who buy houses really do it once by paying cash down. But here if anyone tells you he/she has bought a house its a different story, becos it often mean HUGE money has just been borrowed & once that individual fails to pay his or her monthly loan back - the Bank will repossess the house from such. And there has been so many homes repossessed recently since the recent economy crunch.

Like I mentioned earlier, same thing goes on in other places. Take for instance North America. Many Africans who come to North America, expecting it to be easy and stuff, get it pretty rough. You find yourself working 2 to 3 jobs, in order to sustain a lifestyle that is basic to most westerners. Some who blindly think that their credentials will be recognized in the west, are shocked to discover that they have to go back to school or work menial jobs. Most of those jobs, are hardcore factory jobs that often endanger the lives of those who partake in them.

Other things to note, are the international students who get hit hard with the reality of living in the west. School books in North America, could cost as much as a semester's worth of fees in Africa. Tuition is also very expensive and in countries like the US, it can be unaffordable(like 20,000 - 40,000 dollars), unless you get a loan from the government or get a scholarship. In Canada, tuition is like 5000 to 7000 dollars for most universities, as it is subsidized by the government. But i know international students who pay close to 20,000 dollars in tuition. That is excluding living expenses and textbooks. In the UK, cost of tuition for International students used to be 15000-30,000 depending on the courses but the recent plan by the conservatives will further hike such school fees!

These amounts are not even charged by the best universities in Africa.

An article by Danesi in Nigeria Village Square further puts things in perspective:

I do understand why you want to migrate given your love for your family. I am happy that you have all obtained your visas as you look forward to transferring your media skills here (UK). Work was not going the way it should in spite of your towering industry stature. So you have thrown in your retirement letter to everyone's shock. You have sold all you ever owned to be able to relocate with your family. In a nutshell, bridges have been burnt as you look forward to making UK your "new home."

However, you need to prepare for a completely strange transition, which may either make or break you. You will practically go to 'school' on CV writing and before you eventually get it right it might take roughly three months- this is no exaggeration, as there are many critics out here. You will start pushing out your new CV, while it takes about 3,000 to get you one interview! You may have to push out about 30,000 copies to get 10 interviews and you’ll probably need to attend 30 interviews to finally land a job! The truth is you may have to send out 900,000 applications before you get a job here!

If you are wondering why this is so then consider the following statistics and facts: the Royal Mail risks 50,000 jobs; Woolworths, which has 813 stores, collapsed in November and as a result, 25,000 jobs are likely to go; the pound has hit a near low against the Euro; manufacturing has fallen to record lows; the service sector is in record contraction; Britain is slipping down the income rankings; the Bank of England is being blamed for the recession; unemployment has hit 1.8 million- the highest since 1998; UK debt has risen to 1.5 trillion pounds, etc.

Do not be shocked that your M.Sc degree means nothing to the employers here. Worse still, the almost 20 years of experience you have does not count! Most employers do not even know what the HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) means!

It is great that you are coming with your family of five, but you need at least £13,000 (N2.8m) to survive the first six months of possible unemployment- and this is outside of London! You’d probably need close to double that amount if you decide to reside in London. You may not be able to earn the mandatory £35,000 per annum required by the Home Office (if your visa is to be renewed in two years time) if you do not work in London. And if your post code reads anywhere but London, your applications will all fire blank. Meanwhile, no employer will tell you the reason.

If you have a relation or friend who lives in London and is willing to accommodate you temporarily, why not come alone for now? However, the danger in that is multi-faceted. Who says you will find work in six months- even menial work? There is a recession here, which affects virtually every sector. You will be shocked to learn that the employment agency would rather call, and even in some cases, register somebody from the EU who cannot express him/herself clearly in English than give you, a master's degree holder a break. And the job in question? Factory operative! The wage is about £5.75 an hour before tax/NI deductions. Do not forget that you need to be in the £24/25 per hour bracket to hit the HSMP £35k target. Relationships with your hosts will be strained in most cases and you will be running bills back home too since your wife is not working.

f you have the money, come with your family, stay with your host for not more than 72 hours, maximum, a week, but be prepared to contribute your quota to the upkeep of the home. You will be lucky if your hosts are not greedy because they have not set eyes ever on the kind of money you are coming with at a go, in their 20-something years of living in the UK!

That you have the money is no guarantee that you will immediately get a house of your own because you do not have a credit history. If you do not have a guarantor (and many potential ones are unwilling) then just pay six months rent upfront. Though the checks that will still be undertaken may take between two to three weeks. Make sure your landlord in Nigeria can easily be reached by the referencing company, e.g. e-mail, fax, land phone, mobile, etc. If you do not get a permanent job before the six months and your landlord wants to sell the property then you start the process all over, though your Nigerian landlord may not be contacted again. If your employment is temporary/contract, which is less than 6-12 months, you will need a guarantor.

Do not be in a hurry to own a car because keeping it on the road is not a joke; more so your driving licence/experience, like your academic certificates/experience, will not be recognised! You will have to start from scratch as a learner, in spite of your 18 years accident-free driving experience on roads that are death traps in Nigeria! Do not even think of using your international driving licence because of the prohibitive insurance premium you will be paying on it. What baffles me, however, is the accident statistics here despite the very strict driving/traffic regulations - every morning my radio reports accidents on the A2, M25, and the lot, as fatal!

The bills never cease to come from utility companies whether you have a job or not! Your local council tax is even reviewed upwards and if you call to let them know you are not working, they ask if your wife is and if she is. Your subsequent bills will come in her name! If you are impatient, the thousands of rejection letters you are going to receive on your applications will almost make you stop believing in yourself - you will think you are absolutely useless! An attempted foray into other unrelated survivalist professions like care work may even return further rejection letters- but you are highly skilled! You will crave anything eventually because the bills are ticking away - lunch time play leader, mail sorter, support worker, anything.

You pick up most newspapers here and it is obvious you could do a better editing job if given the chance, but you have sent more than 5,000 unsuccessful applications to be considered even for the post of assistant reporter! You will almost feel like quitting. Your foreign degree is competing with theirs in this period of recession. Thousands of their citizens are out of work and they would rather give them priority. But do not be frightened, do not despair. I understand that your Christian faith is intact: that is a vital credential you will be need here at this time. Be prepared because at a stage it will look like God does not even operate here!

You were given 24 months and by 10 months into your visa some prospective employers are already weary of even interviewing you, citing "company policy" as the reason (your visa is running out of steam). I can confirm to you that many Nigerians here are returning home in great numbers- are you surprised?



Do you still want to come to UK (U.S,CANADA ETC( Whatever decision you take should consider a lot of the points listed above. Once you do that, you will LOVE living there!!

Mena