New Study Shows 1.25m Abortions Occurred in Nigeria in 2012

                      
                                              A pregnant woman

A new study, 'The incidence of abortion in Nigeria', has revealed an increase in abortion rate in the country from 61, 000 in 1996 to an estimated 1.25 million in 2012 due not only to greater population size, but also to an apparent rise in the abortion rate.

The research conducted by Guttmacher Institute and the University of Ibadan, finds that 1.25 million Abortions were performed in the country in 2012, compared with the 61, 000 abortions estimated to have occurred in Nigeria in 1996.

The research also showed that in spite of Nigeria’s highly restrictive abortion law, the estimated abortion rate was 33 Abortion per 1, 000 women aged 15-49 in 2012. Although this rate is greater than the 1996 rate (23 per 1, 000) estimated in a previous study, the most prudent conclusion may be that the abortion rate has increased slightly, as the two rates were calculated using different approaches.

Nationally, one in seven pregnancies (14%) ended in induced abortion in 2012. Within Nigeria, rates of abortion according to the research vary: in 2012, there were 27 abortions per 1, 000 women aged 15-49 in the South West and North Central zones; 31 per 1, 000 in the North West and South East Zones; and 41 and 44 per 1, 000 in the North East and South South zones, respectively.

The proportion of pregnancies ending in induced abortion explained the research was lowest in the South West with 11%, and highest in the North East with 16% and South South with 17%. The higher rates of abortion in the North East and South South zones shows in the study can be explained by two of the main underlying factors that increase women’s need for abortion: the desire for smaller families by women in the South South with lowest desired number of children at an average of 3.9 and the nonuse of contraception by women in the North East as only 3% are using a method.

Director, International Research, Guttmacher Institute, New York, Dr. Akinrinola Bankole, disclosed this while briefing Newsmen yesterday in Abuja at an event organized by IPAS in collaboration with the Guttmacher Institute and University of Ibadan.

According to him, “That most of these abortions were clandestine and many were unsafe and an unsafe abortion is a major contributor to Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate, which remains among the highest in the world.”

He said, "Clandestine procedures are often Carried out under unsanitary Conditions by providers who are not appropriately trained and the resulting complications ranges from unchecked bleeding to serious infections and even death. When contraception is not used or fails, the evidence suggests that women with unwanted pregnancies often have unsafe abortions that put them at risk for adverse consequences.”

Speaking in similar vein, Prof. Isaac Adewole, of the University of Ibadan, who also authored the study said, we hope these findings inform discussions on the public health benefits of allowing expanded access to comprehensive abortion care for Nigerian women.

The researchers urged that the Nigerian government and its local and international partners reduce unintended pregnancies and in turn, unsafe abortion by promoting family planning programmes and sexuality and family life education throughout the country and that post-abortion care services be expanded to ensure all women experiencing complications receive the care they need to avoid disability and death.

Country Director, Ipas, Barr. Hauwa Shekarau, in her remark said that the present practice of abortion in Nigeria could be termed illegal, whose only intention is to save the life of a woman and called for a review.

THIS DAY

If you are diabetic, don’t neglect your mouth

Except a miracle happens, diabetes is a life-long disease. The best way to avoid it is to prevent yourself from developing it.

But then, if you have the condition, there’s no sitting down and wishing it never happened or indulging in self-pity.

Physicians say once an individual is confirmed as being diabetic, the best thing s/he can do is to enroll for medical care under a competent doctor in order to prevent complications from setting in.

Diabetologist/Medical Director of Rainbow Specialist Hospital, Dr. Afokoghene Isiavwe, warns that diabetes is not a condition that any individual can manage at home. Rather, she says, it’s a life-long condition that needs expert, life-long care if the patient must live quality life.

Isiavwe says diabetes comes with sack loads of issues which, if well managed, may not result in life-threatening complications.

Of course, having diabetes is life-threatening enough, experts lament; but they are quick to say that if you take practical steps by accessing good care, you can reduce the complications for which diabetes is notorious.

What is diabetes?

Isiavwe says an individual is said to be diabetic when the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly.

Blood flows through every part of the body, because it is the fuel that keeps us alive. The day blood-flow to an organ ceases, that organ dies, literally.

The body needs healthy, untainted blood, to function optimally. But because of too much sugar in the blood — which causes diabetes in the first place — the body is inhibited from functioning properly.

Diabetes is one ill health that courses through the entire body because it resides in the blood. As such, it is capable of taking along every organ and nerves in the body in its downward trend.

Isiavwe says when diabetes complications set in, they could affect the eyes (retinopathy), heart (cardiovascular disease), kidneys (nephropathy), and nerves and feet (neuropathy).

But an important part of the body that this condition also affects is the mouth.

General Practitioner, Dr. Ireti Majebi, says diabetes puts you at risk for dental problems.

“It impairs the body’s ability to fight bacteria in your mouth. High blood sugar encourages bacteria to grow and this largely contributes to gum disease,” Majebi notes.

Gum disease is easy to diagnose because the symptoms are unmistakable, experts say.

Symptoms include red gums that are sore, bleeding, or swollen. Sometimes, the condition makes the gum to pull away from the teeth, leading to loose teeth. Indeed, if you dither too much about your care, you may lose substantial number of teeth, or possibly become toothless!

Of course, the possibility of developing chronic bad breath is also there, making you socially obnoxious to those who come near you. Nobody wants this, hence the need to take care of your mouth the way you monitor you blood sugar.

Dental care is a must

The average Nigerian doesn’t see the need to visit a dentist; and in a lifetime, an individual may not have had a professional examine his teeth. A diabetic person doesn’t have this ‘luxury.’

Professor of Conservation Dentistry at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Oluniyi Olusile, counsels a diabetic person to get dental check-ups at least twice a year.

The truth is that diabetes puts you at a higher risk of fungal infections such as thrush and mouth sores. These conditions don’t heal easily, experts warn, hence the need to prevent them from occurring at all.

Worse, experts say, is the fact that mouth infections in diabetics put them at higher risks of developing heart disease, such as high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol.

Olusile says once your dentist knows that you are diabetic, he knows the relevant oral care to provide, and it will definitely include professional cleaning that will rid your mouth of infection; while your physician will also give you the nitty-gritty of at-home oral self-care.

Most people only clean their teeth in the morning, though dentists would have us do it twice daily: first thing in the morning and last thing before we sleep. However, a diabetic can’t limit teeth cleaning to once daily. Rather, physicians say, you must endeavour to brush your teeth twice daily, so as to control the possibility of oral infection that can happen because of high blood sugar.

Of course, smoking is bad for everyone; but when you are diabetic, it is a no-go area!

Olusile says in the case of a diabetic person, tobacco use can damage gum tissue and cause receding gums; just as it can also speed up bone and tissue loss, leading to teeth loss, facial disfigurement and the attendant social stigma.

To prevent all these, don’t smoke; and if you already do, stop smoking.

Eat healthy

Under normal circumstances, your food passes through your mouth before it reaches your stomach and, eventually, every part of your body.

That is why you must eat balanced diet that will not only make for steady blood sugar level, but which will not allow bacteria to colonise your mouth.

Nutritionists say much of our traditional foods are okay for you if you eat them in proper combination of carbohydrates, protein and fats; and also if you reduce the quantity.

However, you are warned against indulging in sticky and sugary foods such as ice cream, yoghurt or sweets. In short, if you are diabetic, processed (fast) foods are not for you.

But then, we are human. So, if ever you do eat any of these foods, brush your teeth properly afterwards.

Source

K Michelle removing her massive butt implants

                 

In a recent interview, singer K. Michelle said she's over her massive butt & is removing the implants because the enhancement is hindering her career. K. Michelle tells B. Scott;

“I have like movies and different things [I’m working on], and I was having a real conversation with Tyrese — we’re really like great friends. I was telling him about my butt, how I hate being typecasted because my bottom is so heavy — not saying I don’t love myself, but…you know. For me, I want my normal shape back.

For me, and my career right now, and me doing business — like really being on the frontline in business — I don’t need to have a man looking down at my ass when I’m trying to talk numbers. I don’t need to not be able to get the role. Like, I wanna be in Jurassic Park! Let me be in Jurassic Park! I don’t need to not be able to run through Jurassic Park because my ass is too heavy. Before the dinosaurs come to eat me, I need to be able to go!

Man in prison for slapping wife’s friend

An Ejigbo Magistrate’s court in Lagos has remanded a 44-year-old man, Oluokun Olarewaju, in prison for allegedly slapping his wife’s friend, Miss Christiana Duntoye, who told his wife that she saw him with another woman.

According to the charge, the incident happened at 84, Rasaki Tijani Street, Ikotun, where Olarewaju resides with his family, while his wife’s friend (Duntoye) resides at 75 of same street.

It was gathered that peace fled Olarewaju’s family when the gossip started.

Olarewaju’s wife confronted him and accused him of engaging in extra-marital affairs and for suddenly changing his attitude at home.

After much pressure as to the source of the information, Olanrewaju’s wife allegedly told him that her friend, Duntoye, told her.

During one of their now constant quarrels, Duntoye came visiting and was confronted by the accused, who allegedly slapped her and asked her to leave his house since she tried to break up his marriage.

When the charge was read to the accused before Magistrate A. A. Fashola, he pleaded not guilty.

The magistrate granted the accused N50,000 bail, with one surety in like sum, but he was remanded in Kirikiri Prison pending perfection of his bail conditions.

Gridlock: RCCG repairs Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

The Redeemed Christian Church of God has risen to the rescue of users of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as it undertook the repair of the Arepo and Warewa ends of the road on Wednesday.

PUNCH Metro observed some trucks belonging to the church filling up bad portions of the road.

The development has eased traffic on the expressway inward Ogun State but the situation remains unchanged on the other side of the road, inward Lagos State.

An official in the media department of the RCCG confirmed the development to our correspondent on the telephone, adding that the church had plans for more palliatives.

The officer, who asked not to be named, said the church was moved by the cries of users of the road and deployed a team to assess the situation on Tuesday.

She said, “We sent some of our men to go and see what was going on and assess the situation. They returned and gave a report so we deployed some trucks of granite to the place and they used them to fill up the potholes.

“We are not going to stop at that. We also plan to fill up the Lotto area of Mowe, because traffic usually builds up there as well. We will do this before our next congress.”

Our correspondent, however, observed some trucks and caterpillars belonging to the Ogun State Ministry of Works clearing the drainage.

An official, who asked not to be named, said the clearing was to allow for a smooth passage of water, adding that it had nothing to do with road construction.

He said, “We are not in charge of road construction and it is not our duty to do it. You should go and ask Julius Berger Construction Company what they are doing about the road.

“We have been working since yesterday (Tuesday) and we are just trying to clear the drainage which we believe has been responsible for the flooding on the road. We are doing this to ease the traffic, especially for residents of Ogun State who are always faced with traffic congestion.”

PUNCH Metro observed that a 40-foot container conveying millet to Lagos had an accident around the Arepo area and fell on the median.

Some men were seen evacuating its content into another truck, which was parked by the roadside.

One of the workers said, “The accident happened very early in the morning as the vehicle was heading to Lagos. As you can see, it was conveying bags of millet. Nobody was injured.”

Policemen from the Warewa police post and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps were observed by PUNCH Metro directing the traffic from the accident scene.

The Sector Commander, FRSC, Ogun State, Mr. Adegoke Adetunji, said he would call back, but he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, inspected the palliative work on the expressway in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Amosun said that the development became imperative in view of the importance of the road to socio-economic development of the country.

According to Governor Amosun, the palliative measure, being put in place is expected to last for about a month and repair works would be done mainly at night.

He, however, appealed to road users to show understanding and bear with the government, pending the time the palliative measure would be carried out.

Getting away from Comparisons - Alan Loy McGinnis

There is an important factor that causes us to be obsessed with our limitations: the tendency to compare ourselves with others. There is probably no other habit that chips away at our self-confidence so effectively as the habit of scanning the people around us to see how we compare. It is as if we have a radar dish on our foreheads, constantly searching to see if someone else is quicker, tanner, or brighter. And when we find that at times someone is, we are devastated.

The folly of basing our self-estimate on comparisons is that it puts us on a roller-coaster. Perhaps we are feeling fairly good about our appearance one day, and we find ourselves in the company of someone with stunningly good looks. Suddenly we feel ugly and want to disappear. Or perhaps we know we have above-average intelligence, but we happen to be at lunch with people who are even smarter. Then every word that comes out of our mouths sounds like intellectual sludge.

Some of us grew up with older brothers and sisters who we desperately wanted to emulate, but of course we were doomed from the start. For no matter how hard we tried to catch up, we found ourselves smaller, clumsier, and dumber than they were. And when they ridiculed us--as most older siblings do--we learned to criticize ourselves. In many cases this became a life-long habit.

But God did not make us to be like our siblings or anyone else. We are absolutely unique. We are the product of 23 chromosomes from our mothers and 23 chromosomes from our fathers, and geneticists say that the odds of our parents having another child like us are one in 10 to the two-billionth power. The combination of attributes that constitutes us will never be duplicated. If this is true, and if it is true that we are created by God--an original by a master artist--it makes the exploration and development of that uniqueness an item of the highest priority.

Our core value is not diminished when we happen to be with people who are better musicians or more famous or wealthier. Nor is it heightened when we find ourselves with people who are less accomplished. The Bible teaches us that we have worth quite apart from the existence of any other person. We have worth because we are God's unique creation.

The Hasidic rabbi, Zuscha, was asked on his deathbed what he thought the kingdom of God would be like. He replied, "I don't know. But one thing I do know. When I get there I am not going to be asked, 'Why weren't you Moses? Why weren't you David?' I am only going to be asked, 'Why weren't you Zuscha? Why weren't you fully you?'"

Thousands of years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle suggested that each human being is bred with a unique set of potentials that yearn to be fulfilled as surely as the acorn yearns to become the oak within it. Sidney Poitier's parents probably never heard of Aristotle's notion, but they knew its truth in their bones and they taught their children a self-reliance that refused to be defeated because they had some limitations.

"I was a product of a colonial system," says Poitier, "that was very damaging to the psyche of non-white people. The darker you were, the less opportunities were presented to you. . . . My parents were terribly, terribly poor, and after a while the psychology of poverty begins to mess with your head. As a result, I cultivated a fierce pride in myself, something that was hammered into me by my parents Evelyn and Reggie--mostly by Evelyn. She never apologized for the fact that she had to make my pants out of flour sacks. I used to have 'Imperial Flour' written across my rear. She always used to say, 'If it's clean, that's the important thing.' So from that woman--and probably for that woman--I always wanted to be extraordinary."

Lady Arranged Cult Boys To Rape Her Friend

                             

The Nigeria Police in Lagos have arrested a 20-year-old lady, who admitted to setting up her friend to be gang rap*d after a misunderstanding between them. The victim was reportedly ambushed by six armed men, suspected to be cultists, at about 8p.m., around Olaosebikan Street in Somolu, Lagos.

The gunmen, said to have earlier propositioned her, which she rejected, took turns to rape her.

They had a field day on her for over four hours inside an apartment at Elewure’s House. The suspected cultists, it was gathered, accused the victim, a computer operator, of accepting a member of a rival cult group as a lover.

The victim, who gave the names of the suspects (withheld) to policemen at Alade Division, said two of them saw her off to a street close to hers, from where she walked home.

Police frees first suspect
According to Vanguard, one of the suspects was arrested at a hotel located off Bajulaye Street, but was later released. It was gathered that during investigation, the victim’s friend, identified as Vera, allegedly masterminded the incident and was arrested last Saturday.

Police sources hinted that Vera admitted to the claim, saying she did it out of bitterness.

The police source said: “She said it was after an argument that she threatened to deal with the victim. A few days later, the victim was rap*d. “The victim will be invited here tomorrow (Thursday), where both of them will sit face-to-face, during the interrogation section.

“We are also on the trail of the suspected rapists. Thereafter, they will all be charged to court. Currently, the victim is in good condition after undergoing treatment.”

Saraki unveils list of committee chairmen, vice chairmen of 8th Assembly

                            

Senate President, Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu

Senate President, Bukola Saraki has unveiled the list of committee chairmen as well as that of the vice chairmen of the 8th Assembly.

The committees which was divided into 65 are saddled with the responsibility of overseeing certain sectors in Nigeria.

Here are the 65 committees

1.
Committee on Rules & Business
Babajide Omoworare
Ali Ndume
2.
Senate Services Committee
Ibrahim Gobir
Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi
3.
Committee on Ethics & Privileges
Samuel Anyanwu
Bala Ibn Na’allah
4.
Committee on Public Accounts
Andy Uba
Gbolahan Dada
5.
Committee on National Security & Intelligence
Shaaba Lafiagi
David Jonah Jang
STANDING COMMITTEES
6.
Committee on Agriculture
Abdullahi Adamu
Theodore A. Orji
7.
Committee on Air Force
Duro Samuel Faseyi
Ali Wakili
8.
Committee on Army
George Akume
Ibrahim Abdullahi Danbaba
9.
Committee on Anti – Corruption & Financial Crimes
Godfrey Chukwuka Utazi
Sani Mustapha
10.
Committee on Appropriations
Danjuma Goje
Sunny Ogbuoji
11.
Committee on Aviation
Hope Uzodinma
Bala Ibn Na’allah
12.
Committee on Banking, Insurance & Other Financial Institutions
Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim
Achonu Nneji
13.
Committee on Capital Market
Isiaka Adeleke
Ogola Foster
14.
Committee on Communications
Gilbert Nnaji
Solomon Adeola Olamilekan
15.
Committee on Cooperation & Integration in Africa & NEPAD
Abubakar Sani Danladi
Baba Kaka Garba
16.
Committee on Culture & Tourism
Matthew Urhoghide
Abubakar A. M.
17.
Committee on Customs, Excise & Tariff
Adamu Aliero
Samuel Anyanwu
18.
Committee on Defence
Ahmad Lawan
Jeremiah Useni
19.
Committee on Diaspora & Civil Societies
Rose Oko

20.
Committee on Drugs & Narcotics
Joshua Lidani
Phillip Gyunka
21.
Committee on Downstream Petroleum
Uche Ekwunife
Jibrin Barau
22.
Committee on Ecology & Climate Change
Bukar Abba Ibrahim
Achonu Nneji
23.
Committee on Education (Basic & Secondary)
Aliyu Wamakko
Rose Oko
24.
Committee on Employment, Labour & Productivity
Suleiman Nazif

25.
Committee on Environment
Olaka Johnson Nwogu
Oluremi Tinubu
26.
Committee on Establishment & Public Service
Emmanuel Paulker
Suleiman Nazif

27.
Committee on Committee on Federal Capital Territory
Dino Melaye
Mohammed Hassan
28.
Committee on Federal Character & Inter Governmental Affairs
Salihu Hussain Egye
Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi
29.
Committee on Finance
John Owan Enoh
Umaru Ibrahim Kurfi
30.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Munsurat Sunmonu
Shehu Sani
31.
Committee on Gas
Bassey Albert Akpan
Abubakar Ahmadu Moallahyidi
32.
Committee on Health
Lanre Tejuosho
Matthew Uroghdide
33.
Committee on Housing
Barnabas Gemade
Francis Alimikhene
34.
Committee on I.C.T & Cybercrime
Buhari Abdulfatai
Ogola Foster
35.
Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission
Abubakar Kyari
Olusola Adeyeye
36.
Committee on Information & National Orientation
Enyinnaya Abaribe
Ibrahim Abdullahi Danbaba
37.
Committee on Interior
Georgeb Sekibo
Bayero Usman Nafada
38.
Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Affairs
Bayero Usman Nafada

39.
Committee on Industry
Sam Egwu
Buhari Abdulfatai
40.
Committee on Judiciary Human Rights & Legal Matters
David Umaru
Godswill Akpabio
41.
Committee on Land Transport
Olugbenga Ashafa
Phillip Aduda
42.
Committee on Local & Foreign Debts
Shehu Sani
Phillip Gyunka
43.
Committee on Marine Transport
Ahmed Rufai Sani
Ighoyota Amori
44.
Committee on Media & Public Affairs
Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi
Murray Bruce
45.
Committee on Public Procurement
Abdulsalami Ohiare
Joshua Dariye
46.
Committee on National Identity & National Population
Marafa Kabir
Abubakar Sani Danladi
47.
Committee on National Planning & Economic Affairs
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
Yele Omogunwa
48.
Committee on Navy
Isa Hamma Misau
Osinachukwu Ideozu
49.
Committee on Niger Delta
Peter Nwaboshi
Abubakar Abdulrahman
50.
Committee on Police Affairs
Abu Ibrahim
Stella Oduah
51.
Committee on Power
James Manager
Bukar Mustapha
52.
Committee on Primary Health Care & Communicable Diseases
Mao Ohuabunwa
Nelson Efiong
53.
Committee on Privatisation
Ben Murray Bruce
Abdullahi Yahaya
54.
Committee on Science & Technology
Robert Ajayi Boroffice
Marafi Bashir
55.
Committee on Solid Minerals
Joshua Dariye
Rilwan Adesoji
56.
Committee on Special Duties
Murtala Nyako
Sunny Ogbuoji
57.
Committee on Sports
Obinna Joseph Ogba
Marafa Kabir
58.
Committee on States & Local Government
Abdullahi Gumel
Kashamu Buruji
59.
Committee on Tertiary Institutions & TETFUND
Binta Masi Garba
Tijjani Yahaya Kaura
60.
Committee on Trade & Investment
Fatimat Olufunke Raji Rasaki
Sabo Mohammed
61.
Committee on Upstream Petroleum
Donald Omotayo Alaosaodura
Bassey Gershom
62.
Committee on Water Resources
Mohammed Ubali Shittu
Emmanuel Bwacha
63.
Committee on Women Affairs
Oluremi Tinubu
Stella Oduah
64.
Committee on Works
Kabiru Gaya
Clifford Ordia
65.
Committee on Poverty Alleviation & Social Welfare
Ali Wakili

After 22yrs in US Prison, Yakubu Gowon's Son, Musa, granted Clemency by President Obama

                 
                           Photo: The 1st pic was in prison when he was visited by his half brother Richard, at his graduation.
                                         The 2nd pic was taken some days before he was arrested, he was 23 years then.

General Yakabu Gowon, Nigeria's former President had a son with late Edith Ike Okongwu and his name is Musa Jack Ngonadi Gowon. The story of how Musa Gowon landed in Prison in the US after he and his mother relocated to America is controversial. Read the full details below:


He was well behaved all through and eventually graduated with a degree in law while in prison...

On November 18, 1992, agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Customs Service arrested Musa, Jack Spencer, for conspiring to import in excess of one kilogram of heroin. Jack Musa Gowon, who was 23 years old at that time was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the allegation of smuggling heroin from source countries.
Jack Musa Gowon protested vehemently through his legal team that he was innocent and was framed up and his protest were ignored by the Jury and was harshly sentenced to 324 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. 

Musa timely appealed, challenging the admission into evidence of the Hotel Guide, the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction, and the district court's upward adjustment of his base offense level on the basis that he was an organizer or leader in the conspiracy.
When the appeal to quash his conviction failed, Musa took that decision in his stride believing set back like this is not end of his life. 

                                  

As an inmate of Taft Correctional Facility, Musa Jack Gowon was a role model and a legal adviser to all the inmates.
He was well behaved and a source of inspiration to co-inmates who have given up on life. The prison warden loved and worshiped the ground he tread on.
Permit me to mention that Musa enrolled in one of the universities around and successfully graduated with a degree in Law as a prison inmate.
This commendable act of Leadership did not go unnoticed and he was rewarded severally by prison authorities. 

While all these were going on, Musa's family has never stopped fighting to get him out of prison and calls for his release began to grow louder.
Happy to report that President Obama heard the calls for Musa's release and acted in that regard by granting him a parole.
Musa walked out of Taft Correctional Facility Bakersfield California as a free man on November 2nd and he is currently at ICE Detention Center Bakersfield CA where he will be deported back to Nigeria any moment from now. 

Musa Jack Ngonaadi is grateful to his Dad, General Yakubu Gowon, his friends and his relatives from his maternal side who stood by him and supported him also all through the period of his unjust incarceration that he did not commit the crime he was wrongly accused of.
Musa will narrate his own side of the story very soon and he is grateful to God who kept him alive and well to see this day.

Written by Barrister Chukwudi Iwuchukwu
Principal founder of Visage Media, a PR company based in Lagos.

Non-Smokers Lead Fight for Mexico Marijuana/Cannabis Legalization

  
An unlikely group is leading the legal battle to break Mexico's marijuana ban: Two attorneys, an accountant and a social activist with no interest in actually growing or smoking pot.

Together, they form the Mexican Society for Responsible and Tolerant Personal Use, whose Spanish acronym spells "SMART," hoping the Supreme Court will rule in their favor on Wednesday.
While a victory for SMART would only allow the group to grow and consume its own pot, supporters say it could open the door for others to win similar cases and force Congress to consider legalizing marijuana.
"I have never smoked (marijuana), and I will never do it," Francisco Torres Landa, 50, told AFP from his law firm's office in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood.

He doesn't even want to grow weed.

Torres Landa and his SMART colleagues say their goal is to strip an important source of revenue from drug cartels and, hopefully, stop a spiral of violence that has killed tens of thousands of people in the past decade.

The group took its case to the courts in 2013 after the government's health regulator, Cofepris, denied its request for permission to produce and consume its own marijuana for recreational use.
Justice Arturo Zaldivar, considered a liberal member of the court, has accepted the case and is recommending to grant them permission, arguing that the laws banning consumption are unconstitutional.
President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December 2012, has voiced opposition to the legalization of drugs.
He has pressed on with his predecessor's controversial strategy of using troops to go after cartels.

SMART members say they have spotted government representatives at the court lobbying against their case.

- 'Strategic litigation' -
   

Legalization has caught on in other parts of the region.
Uruguay has created a regulated market for pot, while Chile's Congress is debating legislation to legalize its recreational and medical use.
In the United States -- the biggest consumer of drugs from Mexico -- 23 US states and the capital Washington now allow medical marijuana, and four others plus the US capital have legalized pot for recreational use.

"This is strategic litigation to erode the prohibitionist drug policies," said Torres Landa, a father of five who became an anti-violence activist after his cousin was kidnapped and murdered in 2005.

His office is decorated with newspaper clips of his favorite football team and drawings made by his children.
"They're my inspiration. When I feel down, I look up at my children's drawings and get energized," said Torres Landa, who works on the marijuana campaign for free.
- Drug war's 'brutal' cost -
One of his SMART partners is Armando Santacruz, a 54-year-old accountant and founder of a company that sells raw material who also wants to leave a better country for his five daughters.
Like the others, Santacruz is a member of Mexico United Against Crime, a civil society group.
Wearing blue jeans, a sports jacket and no tie, Santacruz said that after fighting for 15 years to reduce the crimes plaguing Mexican society, he realized that his actions were not enough.
One of his brothers was kidnapped two years ago.

"We realized that we would have few results if we didn't block the drug policy," he said from his mall office in the capital.
"The cost in blood is brutal and the (government's strategy) has not people from getting drugs," said Santacruz, who admitted that he has smoked pot in past occasions, though he is not a user now.
The woman in the SMART group, Josefina Ricano, is the president and founder of Mexico United Against Crime.

Ricano experienced a horrendous tragedy in 1997, when her son was kidnapped and killed.
The fourth member of SMART is Andres Aguinaco, a seasoned attorney who has taken up the cause of the parents of an eight-year-old epileptic girl, who recently won a legal battle to use medical cannabis to fight the 400 fits she suffers each day.

The girl, Grace, took her first treatment last month after the government granted her an exception to the law, making her the first Mexican to legally consume cannabis.

Rescue a Man of Stroke Using Only a Needle

Needle can save a patient’s life in case of stroke. This advice was given by Chinese professor who says that you always should have a needle in your house.

This is amazing and unconventional way to rescue a man from a stroke. Take a time to read this article, because you never know if someone’s life may depend on you.

When someone get a stroke, the capillaries of the brain gradually tears. It requires rest and emergency first aid. These tips will help to save live to someone!

Be calm. Regardless of where the victim is do not move, because if you move the patient, the capillaries will burst and it will cause bleeding in the brain! If you have a syringe, it would be best; otherwise the regular needle for sewing will be ok.
Hold the needle – over the fire, a lighter or candle to sterilize and then use it for pricking the tops of all 10 fingers.

No specific acupuncture is need; it should only be a few millimeters from the nail.
Perform so that the blood can flow.
If blood does not start to drip, tighten and start squeezing the blood to flow.
When all 10 fingers begin to bleed wait a few minutes – you will see that the victim will be back to life!
If the victim’s mouth is distorted, massage their ears until they become red – so blood can come to them.
Then prick with the needle in each ear in the soft part, to fall two drops of blood of each ear. A few minutes later, his mouth would no longer be distorted

Wait until the victim come to normal state without any unusual symptoms, then send to the hospital. This method of bloodshed to save the life is a method of a traditional Chinese medicine, and its practical application is 100% effective and using it people can survive a stroke.

Source: www.natureandhealthyadvice.com

EFCC arraigns Suswam over N3.1bn fraud today

After several days of extended interrogations, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will today arraign the former Benue State Governor, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, for money laundering and embezzlement.

The arraignment of Suswam, who ruled Benue State from 2007 to 2015, follows the filing of a nine-count charge largely bordering on money laundering to the tune of N3.1 billion against him at the Federal High Court Abuja on October 2.

Suswam and his former finance commissioner, Omodachi Okolobia were alleged to have diverted the proceeds of the sale of shares owned by the Benue State government and Benue Investment and Property Company Ltd.

The offence is punishable under section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 20111 as amended in 2012.

It will be recalled that in a bid to set the stage for the prosecution of Suswam, the commission grilled him and his former finance commissioner, Mr. Omadachi Oklobia, for many days last month but released them on administrative bail.

The two men, it was learned from their interrogators, were shown documents relating to the alleged crimes preferred against them and they were asked to defend themselves to enable the commission to determine their culpability or otherwise.

A source in the agency confirmed, last night, that the commission was convinced that the former governor and those who aided him to lauder the funds of the state must be charged to court.

The source said: “Barring any last minute hitch, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, will formally arraign the former governor of Benue State,Gabriel Suswam before an Abuja Court tomorrow, November 4, 2014.

“The anti-graft agency had on Monday, October 2, 2015 filed a nine-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N3.1 billion at a Federal High Court, Abuja.”

While Suswam is facing the trial by the EFCC, he had successfully stopped his probe by the state governor, Samuel Ortom, by securing the order of the Benue State High Court to restrain the commission of enquiry raised by the governor from investigating his tenure.

It is not clear if Suswam will also get the same court to restrain the EFCC from proceeding with his trial.

How landlady, children, nearly beat tenant to death in Lagos

                          
A 51-year-old trader and mother of three, Sarah Bakare, who lives on Oluwole Street in the Ejigbo area of Lagos State, narrowly escaped being hacked to death recently, by the landlady and her seven children. Narrating the incident, the victim told Crime Alert after she was discharged from hospital that she was lucky to be alive to relive her ordeal.

She recalled that trouble started after she rented a room and parlour self- contained apartment last year January for which she paid N250,000. According to her,

“A few months after I moved into the house, I began to experience different attacks from the landlady, Madam Lydia Opetola, and her children.
It all started in the month of March last year when I noticed that one of the landlady’s sons was fond of peeping through the door each time I was in the bathroom.
At first, I ignored it but when it continued, I brought the issue to the notice of his mother. Instead of calling her son to order, she accused me of not allowing her children to live in peace in their father’s house.

So, I went to the agent to complain because before I rented the apartment, I made enquiries through the agent and he assured me that the house was okay, not knowing he was only interested in the commission. “From peeping scenario, the landlady’s children began to turn off the source of water which also happened each time I was in the bathroom as midway, the water would stop flowing and I would have to come out of the bathroom with soap all over my body.
“At that time, I didn’t have a water reservoir. When it continued, I met the landlady and complained to her again. Then one day, five of her children challenged for daring to ask their mother why they often turn off the tap from the control source. Again, I reported this incident to the agent who pleaded on their behalf. Later, I was able to acquire a water reservoir to avoid trouble, and I was also forced to pay N10,000 as collateral for damages.”

Rent renewal

“After my rent expired, I paid N130,000 to my landlady on February 2, 2015 and for about a month, they didn’t trouble me or my children but in April, they renewed the attacks. Sometimes, I would buy water outside to allow peace reign. I then only fetched water when they were not in the house. I practically lived in fear. If I had known, I would have looked for another place when my rent expired.”

My ordeal

“One Sunday, I returned from church and discovered that that they had inserted sticks in the pipes outside and blocked flow of water to my bathroom and kitchen. At this point, I invited some landlords in the area to come and see what was happening and that the attacks and humiliation had become unbearable for me. Seven of the landlady’s children attacked me for calling the landlords and allowing them into the compound.
My landlady walked out on them, saying she had nothing to discuss with them. The landlords then advised that if they didn’t want me to live in the house any longer, they should refund the rent I paid so that I could move out instead of not allowing me to have peace. Their response was that they did not have the money to refund and that I should continue till November when my rent would expire.
In the month of August when my landlady requested for money for electricity bill, I told her to use part of my outstanding N15,000 balance with her. “About two weeks ago, they disconnected electricity supply to my apartment. When there is power supply I won’t have electricity. I kept mute as I could not query them for fear of being attacked. On Thursday, October 14, I didn’t have water.

So, I went to fetch water from the tap outside my apartment. Immediately I opened the tap, one of the landlady’s sons, Folorunsho, hit me with a plank and I fell down. Before I realised what happened to me, all the seven descended on me, hitting me with different objects. I started shouting for help but as I was shouting, they put on their generator so that people would not hear my voice.
While this was going on, the landlady kept threatening that they would kill and bury me inside the compound and nobody would know. They also attacked my daughter who ran to my aid when she heard my cries. One of them broke a bottle which they used to stab me on the face.
“All attempts by neighbours to rescue me failed as they attacked anyone who entered the compound. Maybe, I would have died if the neighbours had not called OPC members who rescued me and my daughter. Immediately the OPC came into the compound, some of the children escaped.”

Eyewitness accounts
A neighbour, Olanrewaju Afolayan, who owns a shop in the neighbourhood, came to Sarah’s rescue. According to the neighbour,

“On that day, I heard noise and I ran to where it was coming from. I tried to go into the compound but a male voice warned that I should not intervene. I defied the threat and found my way in to help Madam Sarah. I was given a slap and beaten with a plank, too.”
Another eyewitness who gave her name as Mrs Kashimu also alleged that Mrs Opetola and her children were brutal. She said, “It was my son who called my attention to what was happening. But I did not take it serious until he told me that our neighbour who went in to help was beaten up. Thank God for some neighbours who alerted the OPC men. I feel it was a planned work, an attempt to kill Sarah.

They even went to put on the generator so that the sound could cover up her cries for help. I want them to pay for what they have done because this is not the first time they would do that. Every other tenant that has lived with them has never known peace. They really surprise us with their attitude. I want justice for Sarah so that it will not repeat itself with another person. They are a real terror in our community.”

Landlady disappears with family
When Crime Alert visited the scene of the incident at No 21, Oluwole Street, Ejigbo, neither the landlady nor her children were available for comment. It was said that the entire family had disappeared after they were released on bail and told to report to the police station on Monday, last week.
Sarah said she suspects foul play in the way the Police in Ejigbo Division is handling the matter.

“The police told me that the lawyer who came for the release of my landlady and her children dropped a fake address and that when he was contacted by the IPO whose name was given as Sergeant Joy, he told them his clients were not disposed to appear at the station.
“When my landlady and her children were released last Friday and got back to the compound on Saturday, I was in my room when I heard the children asking if I was still here, and that they would kill me. I called the IPO and informed her. The police came to the house this Monday, my landlady and her children did not show up at the police station.

“I have spent over N30,000 so far on treatment at the Isolo General Hospital. I am calling on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to please intervene in this matter. The police at Ejigbo are not handling the case as they should. The Opetolas should be fished out from their hiding place.”

When Crime Alert contacted DSP Joseph Offor, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, for his comment, he did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him.

Vanguard

Fire Wreaks Havoc Across Lagos

In what many have described as a black Tuesday, raging inferno wreaked havoc in about three places in Lagos.

First to be razed down on Tuesday morning were two buildings on No. 171 Orodu Street and No 1 Freedom Street, in the popular ghetto city, Ajegunle, in Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area.

Eye witness accounts said the inferno was caused by black-market fuel dealer.

It was said that the fuel dealer, a woman in her middle-age had contracted the services of one Mr. Israel, a welder, to expand her mini fuel store-house, where she stored her products.


While welding, Israel reportedly forgot to remove a 50 litre filled with fuel inside the mini-store-room, causing a spark from the welding electrode to come in contact with fuel, thus leading to a deafening explosion.

Before men of the Lagos State Fire Service could arrive at the scene, property worth millions of naira had already been razed, even as several people sustained varying degrees of burns, and rushed to nearby hospitals.

Eyewitnesses said that Prince Ebeano Supermarket, a shopping outlet which offered a wide variety of items such as shawarma, clothes, foodstuff and even hair weave, along Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, was engulfed in a raging inferno which lasted several hours.

Real Madrid sealed their place in the Champions League last 16 with a narrow home victory over Paris St-Germain.

Nacho Fernandez scored just two minutes after coming on to replace the injured Marcelo but PSG had their chances.

Adrien Rabiot struck a post, Edinson Cavani had a shot cleared off the line and Angel Di Maria hit the bar with an 89th-minute free-kick as Real hung on.

The win sees Rafael Benitez's side move seven points clear of third-placed Shakhtar Donetsk with two games left.

The Ukrainians defeated Malmo 4-0 in Group A's other match to move level on points with the Swedish side.

Second-placed PSG trail leaders Madrid by three points, and can seal their place in the next round with victory at Malmo on 25 November - a match that will see striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic return to his first club.

"It was not comfortable for us at all," said Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.

"We played a lot better away in Paris where we could only draw. It was a difficult game and it has given us a lot to think about."

Elsewhere, Benfica's 2-1 win at home to Galatasaray of Turkey saw them go top of Group C after second-placed Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 against Astana in Kazakhstan.

Portuguese champions Benfica had been pegged back to 1-1 by Lukas Podolski's strike before captain Luisao sealed the win.

BBC

Shippers Council Begins Implementation Of Advanced Cargo Declaration

Seaport economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council on Monday began implementation of the Advanced Cargo Declaration System(ACD), otherwise known as Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) on all imports into the country through the nation’s seaports.

The Shippers Council has since mid-2015 intimated port users and stakeholders of its plan to reintroduce the CTN which saw severe opposition a few years ago after it was first introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) due to cost factor.

The Council has however maintained that this time, the CTN will not add to shippers’ or the consignees’ cost.

With CTN, cargoes on transit can be tracked from port of loading to port of destination, in terms of risk profiling of vessels, crew on-board vessels, ports of calls, mid-stream operations, cargo characteristics and more.

CTN which has received the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari is also a system that provides relevant information that helps in maritime security.

It is expected that CTN will check decades of fraudulent declarations by importers and even shipowners on arriving the ports.

A source close to the council said the port economic regulator had recently sent out notices to shipping lines, agencies, cargo owners and other stakeholders about the November 2, 2015 date of implementation in Nigerian ports.

Shipping lines and other stakeholders had also at a berthing meeting in Apapa discussed the take-off of the new scheme.

The Council had in the notice to stakeholders explained that the implementation of the scheme is for effective economic regulation, international trade facilitation, safety and security of cargo, ships and port installations.

It was gathered that shipping lines overseas keyed in into the implementation of the scheme by the NSC by complying with the requirements from NSC.

Executive Secretary of the NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, said that new scheme will fasten cargo clearanceat the ports with the advanced information of the cargo that is coming.

Bello also said the new scheme will check pilferages and leakages in the harborages.

“You cannot import wrist watches or you cannot import tyres and say they are tiles. This one, you know what the manifest is. so before you come, you know, so the issue of compliance will be strengthened because unfortunately Nigerians don’t comply, they under-declare the goods they want to import. This is tax evasion.

Even the ships sometimes, they cut their gross registered tonnage (GRT) because of the amount they are to pay is tied to it. With CTN, they cannot do that…it is very transparent. Shippers’ Council will be able to see everything, including other agencies. This is the beginning of the new port order. We are talking about transparency, predictability and efficiency,” Bello explained.

Implementation of CTN is in line with the compliance requirements of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO’s) International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) Code for the safety of ships and port facilities.

It would be recalled that the decision to introduce CTN in West and Central African Sub-region was reached during a workshop organised by the Union of African Shipowners’ Council(UASC) in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD) in February, 2002.

With the decision, CTN was then introduced in Garbon and Congo, followed by Angola, Senegal, Guinea, Benin Republic.

Nigeria had introduced CTN in 2009 under the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) but had to suspend it because of the controversy trailing the cost to shippers.

This time, the NSC, as the Ports Economic Regulator has assured that the cost imposed on shippers during the first time of implementation has been addressed.

Alarming Upsurge Of Kidney Disease

It is fact that kidney disease (renal failure) has become a huge problem affecting millions of people all over the world. Incidentally, the burden of the disease is increasing among Nigerians with its physical, social and financial complications. In recent times, the spate of kidney failure has been a real source of worry in Nigeria.
The burdens associated with the disease have financially impoverished both the sufferers and their families alike, even as stories of Nigerians affected continue to grab media headline everyday.

What is kidney or renal failure? It is when the kidneys are no longer working well enough for a person to live without dialysis or a kidney transplant. Medical experts have attributed the causes of kidney failure to include diabetes mellitus and long-term uncontrolled hypertension, chronic inflammation of the kidney, junks and fatty foods, advanced Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) disease, indiscriminate consumption of herbal medicines and alcoholic beverages. Others are untreated microbial infection, diarrhoea, malaria, potassium bromate poisoning, abuse of painkillers particularly paracetamol.

Statistics by the Nigeria Association of Nephrology shows that about 37 million Nigerians of the country’s 170 million citizens are suffering from various forms of kidney diseases. In addition, records reveal that the disease affects an estimated 16,000 new patients every year. Increasingly, children are the worst hit with a prevalence rate of 22.3 admissions per 1000 child admissions per annum. Unfortunately, managing kidney related diseases is expensive even for the rich. Estimates put the cost of caring for kidney patients at N120 billion annually of which a larger percentage is spent on foreign medical tourism.

Managing kidney-related diseases is complicated, even as its prevalence is a problem in our environment. Estimates suggest that one out of every seven Nigerians has one stage of chronic kidney disease. Unfortunately, out of 50,000 patients, who should ideally be on dialysis, less than 1,000 are receiving one as at today. The good news is that some causes of kidney failure are treatable and the kidney function may return to normal. Unfortunately, kidney failure may be progressive in other situations and may be irreversible. Even at that, there is a lack of government funding for treatment in Nigeria unlike some African countries like Rwanda and South Africa. This leaves the entire burden to individuals who most often cannot bear the cost for too long.

It is painful to note that only a handful of hospitals presently have the dialysis machines, which ideally should be spread across the country to tackle issues of kidney failure. We are therefore calling for the subsidisation of kidney treatments in the country, as most patients are unable to afford the treatments. In all, combating kidney failure among Nigerians implies mounting relentless public awareness campaigns on the risk factors behind it.

To accomplish this, the government should take a holistic approach to chronic diseases prevention, early identification and intervention, even as we recommend that social, behavioural and biological determinants of health be addressed within the framework of an overarching national chronic diseases’ strategy.
Fundamentally, however, the government and health policy makers need to have scientific projections on the trend, with a view to putting in place a framework for investing and funding renal treatment centres nationwide.

Cesc Fabregas denies Chelsea players' revolt claims

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has denied media allegations he is organising a dressing room revolt against manager Jose Mourinho.

'The Secret Footballer' blog claimed he was the "leader" of a "mini-revolt" at the Premier League champions.

Chelsea are 15th in the league table.

"I would like to clarify that contrary to a few reports from some websites, I am extremely happy at Chelsea and have an excellent relationship with the manager," Fabregas said on Twitter.

"There may be certain individuals from the outside trying to destabilise this club but I strongly believe that we will bounce back and come good again," added the 28-year-old Spain international.

Tragic-Couple's Funeral Holds In The Same Church They Were Married In Two Weeks After Drowning During Honeymoon

                             

A newlywed couple who drowned on their honeymoon were remembered by family and friends yesterday at the same church where they married just two weeks ago.

John Rodgers, 28, and his wife Lynette, 26, drowned on October 23 after getting caught in a riptide at Plettenberg Bay, South Africa.

The couple had married at the First Presbyterian Church in Holywood, Co Down on October 17, but yesterday - just two weeks and two days later - their loved ones returned to the church to say their final goodbyes.

   

PHOTOS: Married cheat faked own kidnapping to cheat on wife and mistress with 3rd woman

     

A serial cheat faked his own kidnapping so he could bed another woman behind his mistress's back.
Warren Green, 33, had already lied to his wife to travel to Edinburgh to see girlfriend Chelsea Linn.
But he then shamelessly sneaked off to see another lover – getting a friend to call Chelsea and tell her he had been kidnapped.

The Daily Record reports Married Green, from London, claimed he had been bundled into a car by two men and then punched and kicked as he lay chained to a radiator in an Edinburgh city centre flat.
A frantic Chelsea called in police and when Green arrived at her home in Oxgangs, Edinburgh, the following day, officers were waiting for him.


The love cheat carried on insisting he had been kidnapped when the officers questioned him.
But his story soon began to unravel and he eventually admitted he had made the story up so he could “sneak off to see another girl”.

    
                                                                     Mistress

David Patterson, Green’s solicitor, told the court that his client had “instantly regretted” making up the story of the kidnapping and the whole thing “started off as a joke”.
Patterson added: “The incident started off as a joke but then he couldn’t make his way out of it.
“His error was when the police arrested him he made those comments.”
Patterson said Green was a married man with two children to a woman in London and was currently working as a kitchen porter.
Green’s two accomplices were subsequently found to be living in the United Kingdom illegally and both have since been deported.

     
                                                                                                       Wife

Woman flies Emirates, wakes up covered in lotion

A woman boarded a flight from Dubai to New York, took an anti-anxiety pill and fell asleep.

According to the Smoking Gun the woman was seated next to one Nadeem Mehmood Quraishi, a 42-year-old Staten Island resident.

Quraishi asked if she had a good nap a few hours later when she awoke - and she realised that there was lotion spread on her arms, chest and legs.

Her hand lotion was missing.

When she walked the the bathroom, she realised her vaginal area was sore. She then saw her underwear had been shifted - there was lotion down there too.

When she got back, she asked Quraishi where her lotion was, and he gave it back to her.

She called the crew.

Quraishi admitted to putting the lotion on her, and said he thought she enjoyed it because she didn't resist.

“The defendant also told the flight attendants that he liked it and that it happened to him as a child,” reported Detective Caruso.

How does physical activity preserve lubricated joints?

                                

(Inside Science) -- The human body is able to act like a well-oiled machine because liquid fills its joints. Now researchers are shedding light on how physical activity might help keep this liquid in place. This discovery could lead to insights and treatments for arthritis and other joint diseases.

The cartilage found on the surfaces of the body's joints is filled with synovial fluid, a liquid with a consistency similar to egg white. Synovial fluid makes up about 80 percent of cartilage's volume, and plays an essential role in supporting weight and lubricating joints.

Since cartilage is porous, synovial fluid leaks out its holes every day. Permanent loss of this fluid results in a gradual decrease in cartilage thickness and increase in friction, which can lead to the joint degeneration of osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.

"Think about a tire," said mechanical engineer David Burris at the University of Delaware, in Newark. "When the tire is pressurized, it can support the weight of a car, but if had holes in it to let air escape, it would start to lose pressure, it can no longer support that weight. Cartilage works the same way — once fluid flows out of it, it can't support loads anymore."


The mystery that puzzled scientists then was how synovial fluid made its way back into cartilage. Previous research suggested that when knees are flexed, deflated cartilage gets bathed in the fluid that leaked out it, soaking it back up. However, it was unclear how such flexing might prevent cartilage from deflating over long spans of time, since people are usually relatively inactive.

"Ninety to 95 percent of the day, people are sitting and standing without moving their knees," Burris said.

Instead, Burris and his colleagues speculated that another mechanism known as hydrodynamic pressure might also help drive fluid back into cartilage. This occurs whenever fluid is forced through a thinning gap.

For example, when a car drives on a wet road, hydrodynamic pressure builds as the fluid is squeezed into the gap between the tire and the road. The pressure builds as speed increases until it can fully support the weight of the car. At this point the tires begin to glide over the surface of the water on the road: a phenomenon called hydroplaning. If, however, the tire were porous and could absorb water, fluid could flow into the deflated tire, Burris explained.

To test their idea, Burris and his colleagues slid curved plugs of cartilage against flat pieces of glass. This mimicked the kind of hydrodynamic effects one might see with a tire on a wet road, or in a human joint.

When the cartilage slid at speeds less than 10 millimeters per second, there was little hydrodynamic pressure, which led to thinning and increased friction over time. However, as the sliding speed increased toward 60 millimeters per second — closer to what would occur in a joint at typical walking speeds — the opposite happened.

"These findings show, probably for the first time, an effect that people have been talking about for a long time but have never shown so incisively as happening in tissue," said tribologist Daniele Dini at Imperial College London, who studies friction and did not take part in this research.

This discovery "could have major implications for joint health," Burris said. "For decades, people have thought of physical activity as injurious to joints. However, a couple of years ago, a handful of studies found the opposite, with the risk of osteoarthritis going down the more active you are. Our results show that activity is the driving force behind maintaining lubrication."

Research into this effect could help guide the design of artificial replacement materials for joints, Dini added.

"Current replacement materials often incorporate lubricating films onto metal or ceramic, but these films don't last long," Burris said. "A better understanding of how cartilage lubricates could help lead to porous joint materials that can simulate cartilage, like hydrogels." Hydrogels include the materials used to make contact lenses.

Burris and his colleagues detailed their findings on Oct. 23 at the American Vacuum Society symposium and exhibition in San Jose, California.

Source

Boxer Caught In All Male S*x Tape Finally Admits He Wasn’t Drugged And Confirms His Bisexuality

    

When news broke last week Wednesday that Philly-based boxer Yusuf Mack had appeared in an adult film with two other men, the fighter immediately went into damage control mode. As an engaged father of 10, he insisted that while he was strapped for cash and had indeed agreed to appear in an adult film, he was under the impression that it was meant to be a heterosexual experience. Originally, he insisted that he had been drugged and had no recollection of getting it popping with two men. 

Philly.com: Sometime in June – he can’t recall exactly when – Mack boarded a train to New York City and made his way to an address in the Bronx. Once inside the apartment where the filming was to take place, he noticed a number of naked women walking around.

“I think, ‘It’s about to go down.’ I needed a drink or something,” Mack told me over the phone. “They gave me a pill and a shot of vodka. I took the pill down with the vodka.”
The next thing he can recall is being on a train at 30th Street Station and someone telling him to wake up.

“I don’t remember getting on the train,” he told me. But Mack did later notice that he had $4,500 tucked inside his pocket.

Indian court jails Uber driver for life for rape

An Indian court on Tuesday sentenced the driver of an Uber car to life in prison for raping a young woman passenger.

Shiv Kumar Yadav "will serve regressive imprisonment, which shall mean imprisonment til natural death," judge Kaveri Baweja told the court.

A Delhi court convicted Yadav of four charges last month but sentencing was delayed because of a shortage of police in the Indian capital, where a summit of African leaders was being held at the time.

Yadav was tried by one of the fast-track courts introduced in 2013 following the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi, a crime that sparked nationwide protests about women's safety in India.

India recorded 36,735 rape cases in 2014, with 2,096 of them in Delhi alone. Experts say those figures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg.

California-based Uber was accused of failing to conduct adequate background checks after it emerged that Yadav had been accused of assaulting other women, although he had no previous convictions.

The company was officially banned from Delhi, but the ban has not been well enforced and Uber cars continue to operate in the capital.

Uber set up its India operation in September 2013 and now does business in more than a dozen cities.

How to Balance Your Metabolism By Eating Fruits Daily

                 

By Sophie Addison


Health and physical appearance are a concern to many people all over the world. But most of these people do not adhere to the right eating habits, diets and physical exercises to obtain and maintain fit physical condition and health state. Eating the right diet that includes fruits daily enables one’s body to metabolise and burn fat more effectively and efficiently, and this helps one to get all day energy as the body burn calories. Metabolism helps in regulating the body weight. Therefore ensuring an efficient metabolism helps achieve and maintain the desired body weight. Fruits are rich in fibre that facilitates the body’s ability to burn fat through moving the macronutrients through the digestive system faster. 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men is the recommended fibre daily intake. Fruits form an important part of the diet to ensure the body performs at its optimum capacity by enabling a fast metabolism process.


Blueberries

Practising healthy eating is among the many weight loss exercises that enable a person achieve and maintain the desired physical condition. Blueberries are among the super foods for its many healthy benefits. The deep blue colour of theses fruits is as a result of very important nutrients known as flavonoids. These flavonoids are crucial in boosting metabolism by enhancing the working of leptin in the body. This process enables an individual lose the stubborn pounds to achieve the desired body shape and size. Also, berries contain dietary fibre. The human body is incapable of digesting fibre. The body tries to digest fibre contained in these berries and other foods it burns calories in the process. Fibre makes calories and fat in snack or meal disappear through the digestive track before the body can absorb them by soaking them up. It is advisable to incorporate blueberries into the morning meal daily to boost your body daily in the morning. 

Melons

One of the crucial elements in boosting metabolism is potassium. Certain types of melon including watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe contain high levels of potassium. Sugar glucose is an important fuel providing component in the bodily cells. If the sugar levels in the cells go low beyond the normal levels, to counteract this situation, the liver releases glycogen into the bloodstream. Potassium enhances the liver’s capability to make glycogen, and this implies that lack of potassium in our bodies reduces the rate of metabolism. In a single serving, watermelon contains about 225mg of potassium, honeydew contains 461mg and cantaloupe contain 494mg of potassium. Incorporating a serving of these fruits in our meals can go a long in improving our weight loss activities which boost your metabolism rate. Also, these practices help facilitate every person weight loss goals to achieve the desired body size and shape.

Citrus fruits

Citrus fruits have high levels of vitamin C, and this is a component that helps in speeding up the body metabolism process. Vitamin C speeds up metabolism because it contains fat burning qualities. Vitamin c is crucial in the body for its capability to improve the metabolism by 100 calories daily. As people age, their metabolism goes down. Therefore, daily intake of vitamin c among the aging society is very crucial in boosting their metabolism process. Among the recommended citrus fruits that balance the bodily metabolism process include tangelos, oranges, grapefruit, oranges and lemon. Incorporate a serving of citrus fruits daily in your meals to boost your weight loss exercises and to facilitate your body metabolism balancing capability. 

Coconut

Coconut oil is the essential part of the fruit that helps in boosting metabolism. Although people believe fats are not good for controlling body weight, coconut oil is among the good oils that have significant benefits when it comes to boosting metabolism. Coconut oil should be incorporated with other metabolism boosting fruits as its benefits are limited and are short-lived. 

Grapes

Grapes are also preferred fruits in boosting the metabolism process. Incorporating grapes in our daily meals boosts an individual’s weight loss exercises as it contain weight loss qualities. Primarily, grapes are known for their capability of reducing the insulin levels in the blood. Insulin is a hormone that inhibits the body’s capability to break down fats. Thus, the reduction in the bloodstream enhances and boosts the body’s capability to break down the fats, therefore, boosting the metabolism process. A serving of grapes should be incorporated in the daily to boost the body’s ability to obtain and maintain the desired body size and shape.
Conclusion
It is every person’s desire to obtain and maintain a healthy body. Obtaining a healthy body requires one to practise healthy eating habits and engage in physical exercise. Among the healthy eating habits involves incorporating a serving of fruits in our daily meals to help boost and balance our metabolism process. A good metabolism process means a sound and healthy body condition. Effective and efficient metabolism enables an individual attain his or her weight reduction goal; therefore, achieve the desired body size, weight and shape.

Reference:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/272625-fruits-to-increase-metabolism-for-weight-loss/
https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/weight-loss/what-is-metabolism-and-how-to-increase-it.html
http://thebodydepartment.com/wellness/7-morning-rituals-to-supercharge-your-metabolism/

Author Bio:

Sophie Addison is a popular blogger and writer on beauty related tips and articles. She is very passionate about health and beauty. She has posted articles on skin care, tips for using eyelashes, weight loss and celebrity beauty news. Apart from work she likes gardening and listening music. You can also contact her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

How Sierra Leone Fought Ebola With TB Joshua’s ‘Anointing Water’

                       

                       Mrs Fatmata Kargbo

This report was sent in by Ihechukwu Njoku.

When Nigerian ‘Prophet’ T.B. Joshua controversially claimed in August 2014 that his ‘Anointing Water’ had the ability to cure the deadly Ebola virus which had ravaged several West African countries, the declaration was met with both doubt and derision.
However, a prominent Sierra Leonean politician has sensationally claimed that the contentious arrival of 4,000 bottles of Joshua’s water to her nation was the key to the eventual decline of the incurable disease.


Mrs Fatmata Kargbo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sierra Leone, gave the startling revelation in Lagos, Nigeria at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) on Sunday 1st November 2015.
“I am very disturbed and have had sleepless nights for not giving this testimony,” the civil servant admitted.
“When T.B. Joshua announced his desire to send Anointing Water to the countries affected by Ebola, I immediately contacted the presidency,” she explained, adding that after the government accepted his offer, she was appointed to head the team that would receive the blessed ‘water’ with alleged healing powers.As was widely reported in mainstream media, the Nigerian cleric paid for a private jet to transport the ‘spiritual items’ to Sierra Leone, alongside a cash gift of $50,000 to those affected by the outbreak.

“I received the Anointing Water at the airport and submitted the consignment to the President,” Kargbo revealed. “However, the devil fought hard and we faced a lot of opposition and obstacles.” According to the civil servant, even after obtaining presidential approval to begin distributing the ‘Anointing Water’ to the most affected zones, strong opposition from ‘internationally renowned medical organisations’ severely delayed the allotment.

"Medically, they said there was no scientific proof that it could cure Ebola," she explained, adding that some of the water was even ‘confiscated’ by medical personnel.It was only after several weeks of struggling that Kargbo found a senior ranking medical official who was sympathetic to her cause and managed to ‘smuggle’ in some of Joshua’s water to a clinic where Ebola patients resided.

“The patients who received the Anointing Water testified that the symptoms disappeared almost immediately,” she sensationally claimed.
“In the South East region where we were finally allowed to minister the Anointing Water, there was no new case of Ebola recorded from September 2014 onwards,” she further added.According to Kargbo, it was only the regions where Joshua's 'holy water' failed to reach that Ebola's spread continued, eventually beginning to decline in early 2015. She lamented that if not for the strong opposition, Ebola would have been conquered much earlier.

"If we were allowed to use the water as directed by the man of God at that time, Ebola would have been rid from my country within weeks," she asserted.According to a BBC interview with President Ernest Bai Koroma, if no new cases are recorded, Sierra Leone is expected to be declared Ebola free this week.

T.B. Joshua claims his controversial water, newly branded as 'Morning Water' is anointed by God. "It is not the water that heals but God Himself since the anointing is done in Jesus' name," his website states.

Last week, two survivors of a tragic helicopter crash in Lagos, Nigeria, claimed that it was Joshua's water that rescued them from certain death.

Ihechukwu Njoku is a freelance Nigerian journalist currently based in Lagos, Nigeria


                                   

  

DISCOVERY IN THE TREATMENT OF LEUKEMIA: Molecules found in avocados target cancer cells…

A new study shows that avocados, besides being very tasteful also contain key fight against acute myeloid leukemia.

The molecules found in avocados targeting stem cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a study published in the journal Cancer Research.AML is an aggressive form of cancer that kills 90 percent of affected individuals older than 65 years.

Drugs that act on stem cells are most effective in treating diseases, and lipids that are found in avocados join only a few available drugs that directly attack the leukemia cells while leaving healthy cells undamaged.

“Stem cells are largely responsible for developing the disease and that is why so many patients dying of leukemia,” said Professor Paul Spagnuolo, a researcher at the University of Waterloo.

Although the drug is still far from being approved for use on the market, Spagnuolo is already preparing for the first phase of clinical trials.

Cuisine & Health