Romance Meets Life |
- Kidnap and Sexual Abuse Victim Found 10 Years After She was Reported Missing as a Teenager
- Angelina Jolie Vs Gwyneth Paltrow on Whether Celeb or Regular Moms Have it Easier
- Halle Berry Explains Breast-Feeding Difference Between Her Son and Daughter
- Remember Lady Making 300 Sandwiches For an Engagement Ring? He Proposed!
- Bomb Blasts in Kano and Jos, Armed Attacks, Missing Schoolgirls - Which Way Nigeria?
- Sexual Harrassment at Work - What Has Been Your Experience?
- Sweethearts with Down Syndrome Get Married 30 Years after Meeting
- Facebook Plays Matchmaker With 'Ask' Button For Relationship Status
- Nicki Minaj’s New Ballad, “Pills N Potion,” Grabs Her New Fans
- Mommy Time - Beyonce and Blue Ivy in Matching Outfits
- Ciara And Future Welcome Son, Name Him "Future Zahir Wilburn"
- Authority Stealing Pass Armed Robbery - BabaWilly
- Being Mrs. Elliot - Omoni Oboli Goes Behind The Camera
| Kidnap and Sexual Abuse Victim Found 10 Years After She was Reported Missing as a Teenager Posted: 21 May 2014 05:03 PM PDT Isidro Garcia, pictured above, has been arrested by police in California after a 25 year old woman whom he allegedly kidnapped, raped and held captive for nearly 10 years came forward with her story. Isidro Garcia is held on suspicion of kidnapping for rape, lewd acts with a minor and false imprisonment. The police released a statement which reports that; In August of 2004, a 15-year-old was reported missing to the Santa Ana Police Department by her mother. The mother reported that her daughter went missing along with her cohabitant boyfriend, Isidro Garcia, after a domestic violence incident. At the time, the mother suspected Garcia of sexually abusing her daughter; however she had no evidence to support this belief. Picture from KTLA |
| Angelina Jolie Vs Gwyneth Paltrow on Whether Celeb or Regular Moms Have it Easier Posted: 21 May 2014 03:26 PM PDT Angelina Jolie admitted in a new interview that she is aware that she has more support and financial means than most women, which goes a long way in her ease of parenting. Angelina Jolie is mother to her six children with Brad Pitt: son Maddox, 12, son Pax, 10, daughter Zahara, 9, daughter Shiloh, 7, son Knox, 5, and daughter Vivienne, 5. The three oldest are adopted, and all are homeschooled and travel everywhere with either of the famous couple. The actress told the New York Daily News; "I'm not a single mom with two jobs trying to get by every day. I have much more support than most people, most women in this world. And I have the financial means to have a home and health care and food. When I feel I'm doing too much, I do less, if I can. And that's why I'm in a rare position where I don't have to do job after job. I can take time when my family needs it. I actually feel that women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn't complain. Consider all the people who really struggle and don't have the financial means, don't have the support, and many people are single raising children. That's hard." Angelina Jolie's comments are coming not long after Gwyneth Paltrow raised certain eyebrows by saying that she struggles to maintain her film career while raising children in a recent interview with E! News. "It's much harder for me. I think it's different when you have an office job, because it's routine and, you know, you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. When you're shooting a movie, they're like, 'We need you to go to Wisconsin for two weeks,' and then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult. I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as… of course there are challenges, but it's not like being on set." For me, while I understand where Gwyneth Paltrow is coming from, I tend to agree more with Angelina Jolie, sufficient finances and a supoortive partner go a long way to help in parenting and raising well-rounded kids. Who do you agree with more? |
| Halle Berry Explains Breast-Feeding Difference Between Her Son and Daughter Posted: 21 May 2014 01:07 PM PDT Halle Berry got pregnant and gave birth to her son Maceo at the age of 47 when most women are already menopausal. On the Ellen DeGeneres show recently, she discusses not only her pregnancy, but how different her baby boy breastfeeds compared to how his big sister, Nahla did as a baby. Halle actually acted out her breastfeeding experiences with both Nahla, who is six years old now, and Maceo, seven months old. It's hilarious! Watch it below ... For the mommies in the house, how were your babies different when it came to breastfeeding? Are boys really that different from girls while breastfeeding, or is it just that all babies are different? |
| Remember Lady Making 300 Sandwiches For an Engagement Ring? He Proposed! Posted: 21 May 2014 12:36 PM PDT Last September, I wrote about Stephanie Smith who started a food blog based on the fact that her boyfriend had one day mentioned that he would propose after he eats 300 of her sandwiches [read here]. Her blog went viral with many pouring scorn on her chosen method to getting a ring. But it was obvious Stephanie Smith was just doing the blog and sandwich thing for the love of writing and cooking and was not hung up on getting a ring from her boyfriend. But their relationship continued to grow and what do you know, the boyfriend has popped the question! And she said yes! The couple were on vacation in Barbados and he proposed on bended knees with a heart-shaped arrangement of flowers. A surpprise for Stephanie :) The happy newly engaged blogger is more than ever in love with her new fiance as she wrote on her blog; The day after I arrived in Barbados, E had a big shocker for me: he asked me to marry him.Congrats to them! |
| Bomb Blasts in Kano and Jos, Armed Attacks, Missing Schoolgirls - Which Way Nigeria? Posted: 21 May 2014 11:10 AM PDT Two bombs went off in Jos yesterday afternoon, both exploded at the Jos Main Market, a densely populated area and the commercial hub of the city. The first explosion is said to have gone off and the second blast went off 30 minutes later, killing many of those who had rushed to the scene to help rescue victims of the first bomb blast. According to eyewitnesses, the number of casualties could well exceed 200 ase the market was highly trafficked at the time of the bomb blasts. The area is also close the old site of the University of Jos and claimed the lives of scores of university students, as well as others including pregnant women and children. The day before that, a bomb blast at a drinking centre in the Sabon Gari Area of Kano State, killed scores of people including the suicide bomber. More unexploded bombs were then discovered and defused by the police. This morning, another 48 persons have been reported dead in armed attacks in villages in Borno. This is related to similar armed attacks across the country, including Lagos, Benue and more northern states. And this is as we want to think that Boko Haram and their cohorts should be on the run as Nigerian troops and their allies chase them down in Sambisa to #bringbackourgirls. Yet things seem to be escalating, leading to rising deathtoll and more insecurity around the country. I was only marginally impressed by the press release put out by the office of President Goodluck Jonathan on the incidents. I can't help but wonder if Nigeria can get out of this quagmire with our current leadership. You can read it yourself as follows; "President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan strongly condemns the bomb blasts in Jos, Plateau state, today, describing the perpetrators of this tragic assault on human freedom as cruel and evil. He has also directed all relevant agencies to mobilize support and relief efforts in aid of the victims. The President extends his heartfelt sympathies to the affected families and persons. President Jonathan assures all Nigerians that government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror, and this administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilization President Jonathan has also expressed Nigeria's deepest appreciation to the international community on the success of the recent Summit in Paris on the security situation in Nigeria hosted by the President of France, Francois Hollande. He reaffirms Nigeria's commitment to the implementation of the resolutions reached by the Summit, in addition to existing measures already being taken by the administration to combat terrorism and ensure the safety of lives. President Jonathan states that the Federal Government of Nigeria is prepared to strengthen existing mechanisms to ensure the immediate implementation of the resolutions of The Summit, among which are: i. That every necessary measure should be taken to find the school girls abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from Government Girls' Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State on 14th April 2014; ii. That Nigeria and other countries in the sub-region will continue to co-operate and co-ordinate efforts to combat the Boko Haram menace. iii. That the Heads of State have agreed that each country will contribute one battalion of troops to the international force set up to patrol the border areas, in line with the Resolution of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. France, United States of America and the United Kingdom will extend technical assistance to achieve this objective; iv. That the countries will come together to put in place an effective border management regime; v. That no effort will be spared to stop the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and the supply of arms and equipment made available to terrorists. President Jonathan considers these measures very useful aspects of the concerted international effort to combat terrorism and put an end to the Boko Haram menace. In addition, the President, in Abuja, today, directed relevant government agencies to ensure enhanced implementation of the following programmes in the areas affected by Boko Haram atrocities: (i) Emergency relief assistance: The intensification of on-going relief assistance programmes by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)) in partnership with donor agencies. The programme will ensure rapid deployment of relief assistance to the affected local government areas and communities. This will include provision of food supplies, medical supplies, basic relief commodities, and conditional cash transfer programmes for affected households; (ii) Rapid needs assessment: To support additional intervention programmes in the region, the President has also directed that on-going rapid needs assessment by government agencies should be accelerated to identify affected communities and households and assess the extent of damage to public and private infrastructure, amongst others. (iii) Safety of schools: President Jonathan has also reiterated Nigeria's determination to ensure the safety and security of schools in Borno and other parts of the country and also provide counselling services to any affected students to enable them return to school and continue with their academic work. Furthermore, the Federal Government of Nigeria will rebuild the Chibok School and fortify security in schools. In collaboration with the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Education, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the private sector, the government will launch the "Safe Schools Initiative" which will address security issues; re-build the destroyed schools; and provide equipment and materials." Reuben Abati Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) May 20, 2014 |
| Sexual Harrassment at Work - What Has Been Your Experience? Posted: 21 May 2014 07:14 AM PDT By Thelma Nwando This morning I received a mail from one of our readers. She told me she quit her job a couple of weeks back because her boss was persistently sexually harassing her. My first thought was I hope she had another job waiting when she left that one because we all know how difficult it is to come by jobs these days. But then I once left a job for that same reason. It got really tiring; someone trying to fondle my boobs as 'good morning', grabbing me and trying to kiss me on the lips at any given opportunity, grabbing or smacking my bum when no one was looking, sending pornographic pictures and videos to my inbox and bbm, sending me very sexually explicit messages of what he'd want to do to me, asking me to accompany him for meetings but afterwards making a detour and stopping at a secluded place where I'd have to fight him off while still trying to respect him as the boss. At some point going to work became very dreadful. And there's not much you can do about it when it's a sole proprietorship so it became sink or swim. It's either you sit, grin and bear it or take a walk. I'd tried the former but eventually did the latter. I remember reading an open letter by a former staff of one travel agency in Lagos last year. From the response it got it was obvious that it was a regular thing there. All the bosses were in on it, and the minute you as much as complained about it you were fired for misconduct or incompetence or something like that. It was just a story till my brother's girlfriend was fired from that same company for that same thing. One of the bosses was harassing her and when she made the mistake of reporting to another, the next thing she knew was she received a letter basically terminating her employment. Most of my working friends have been sexually harassed by a boss at least once in their careers so how come nobody is talking about this? How come these bullies are allowed to do as they please, take advantage of a bad situation (no jobs) and subject women to discomfort and harassment at the workplace? Why aren't there strict laws put in place just like in the US? Why aren't there enforced sanctions that deter a boss from as much as looking at you the wrong way. Why don't things like this matter? How come no one cares to talk about it? BTW when that girl sent the open letter last year it was astounding to see the negative reaction she received from the public in general. It was heartbreaking to say the least. One more thing. Men get sexually harassed by female bosses as well and that is equally disgusting and unacceptable. Have you been sexually harassed by a boss? How did you handle it? Is it wise to report a boss that's sexually harassing you? If you've reported a boss that was sexually harassing you what happened afterwards? Will you leave your dream/extremely well paying job because you're being sexually harassed by a superior at work? Have you ever sexually harassed a subordinate at work? First published at Thelmathinks |
| Sweethearts with Down Syndrome Get Married 30 Years after Meeting Posted: 21 May 2014 06:05 AM PDT Austin Wayne Underwood and his fiance Jessica Smith first met when they were three years old, after their mothers connected through a support group for children with disabilities. When he proposed, thirty years later, it marked a celebratory milestone for the Texas couple, who both have Down syndrome. Austin and Jessica's friendship through their growing up years has since developed into something stronger and the couple, now in their mid-30s, are busily planning a western themed wedding. Some background from Forth Worth Texas Magazine Austin Wayne Underwood was born in 1978 with Down syndrome. His mother has since spent her life fighting to make sure he would have a normal life. She fought the Fort Worth school system that tried to keep him segregated so he could go to Ridglea Hills. She even found a college in New Mexico where he received a certificate and lived in the dorms for a year. |
| Facebook Plays Matchmaker With 'Ask' Button For Relationship Status Posted: 21 May 2014 05:05 AM PDT Facebook has introduced a new feature called the "ASK button" which will allow your Facebook friends toy ask you about your relationship status if you have not filled it out. So if you are a single man or woman and you see a face you're interested in, and you can't tell if they're single too because their relationship status is blank, you can just click the ask button and send them a message. I remember back in those days without the Ask button, if we had questions about a Facebook friend's relationship status, we would click through all of their photos and start guessing games on any picture the guy appears with just one lady, or the lady who appears the most in his albums. The ASK button appears to the right of a person's relationship status on their Facebook profile, but only if they haven't indicated a relationship status. If you click it, a small window opens with a text field for you to send them a message. Do you see yourself using the Ask button? |
| Nicki Minaj’s New Ballad, “Pills N Potion,” Grabs Her New Fans Posted: 21 May 2014 04:37 PM PDT I'm not always the biggest fan of rap, but when it comes in the wrappings of a ballad hook, like on Nicki Minaj's"Pills N Potion", then I will definitely give it a listen. I may not have become an instant Nicki stan but this uplifting love song is currently on replay. The single will be featured on Nicki's upcoming album The Pink Print, and the chorus certainly makes you listen to the lyrics of the rap verses. Typical Nicki, she's not going all sweetness and light, but is singing that she still loves her haters, lol... "Swearin' on the Bible that they love you but they're no different from all your rivals / but I don't wish death on 'em, I just reflect on 'em," I LOVE it. Listen below! |
| Mommy Time - Beyonce and Blue Ivy in Matching Outfits Posted: 21 May 2014 08:55 AM PDT |
| Ciara And Future Welcome Son, Name Him "Future Zahir Wilburn" Posted: 21 May 2014 11:08 AM PDT Ciara and her fiancé, Future welcomed a baby boy early on Monday morning in Los Angeles. The baby is Ciara's first child, and Future's fourth and the couple are expected to start planning their wedding soon. Proud mom Ciara just posted a picture of his hand on Instagram and captioned it, 'FUTURE ZAHIR WILBURN 9lbs 10oz May 19 2014'. Congrats to them. |
| Authority Stealing Pass Armed Robbery - BabaWilly Posted: 21 May 2014 01:09 AM PDT In recent times we have heard songs like Yahozee, Maga don pay and I go chop your dollar, all obtuse references to advance fee fraud perpetrated via the internet. If music is a barometer of public sensibilities, then one could assert that the era of the beautification of area boy and area thief is really upon us. Seems everyone complains about politicians stealing money and natural resources in Africa (yes o. Not just cash but crude oil, gold , diamonds and even yams have all been stolen from mother earth), yet we laugh when we are blood relatives of these same thieves. Sontin muss touch mai hand. In the same vein, any relative with an opportunity to chop, who doesn't on account of moral principles becomes the village fool. Principles count for nothing when cash is involved. See yua chance and take am. Asking people to define stealing is no different from asking them all to pose on quick sand for a group photograph. Everyone is reluctant to respond and when they eventually do, they sink into a self- contradicting mode. For some, what is left behind after the 'acquisition' determines if a theft has occurred. For instance in a warehouse containing two million mangoes, the worker who pockets five for the kids has not stolen. What he took will barely be missed. This logic is applied to unlawfully 'taking' from rich individuals, corporations and governments. If di change plenti den mek poor man chop im own. Notin spoil. Hence illegal down loading of movies and music is alright because they (the corporations) are making billions anyway. Pirate copies abound of any product you can think of. The pirates feel they are making cheaper products available to the masses and the masses love cheaper products. Let di big men dem buy dia originals. Surely this is wrong for we all know what stealing is. People everywhere will give a definition fit for the occasion but their attitudes betray them. For some 'taking' it before someone else is being sharp. It was destined to go anyway, so no burden of conscience there. Dat is the auditory anaesthetic statement applied liberally in Naija. Everybody dey chop, so yu too chop up and neva dull up. Finally, what the 'taker' does with what has been taken affects how some define his actions. If some of the gains are repatriated into sections of the community, then the individual becomes a proud son of the soil and his people will not call him a thief but a hero. He buys the local monarch a big car, 'settles' the area boys, buys a chieftaincy title and all is well. Di man don try for us well well o. Stealing is a crime and crime does not pay. It is a Trillion Dollar industry that does not pay? Peoples in every country are stealing daily and justifying themselves. Only one per cent of the population will steal from people intentionally (as opposed to opportunistically)with the use of violence but when an opportunity arises with little risk of being caught, such as money lying in a wallet on the floor, 60-80% will pocket the cash. If stealing is given another name, then the number could raise as high as 90%. Using office supplies and telephone lines for personal use is stealing but many don't think so. Before striking, people do a quick costs -benefit analysis in which they compare the risks of being caught and the nature of punitive actions that might be meted out versus the pleasure they would derive from satisfying their greed or yielding to temptation. Where institutions make stealing easy, then people steal. Such institutions have an unwritten code by which business is done. All stake holders are 'settled' and you keep what you have 'taken'. A pre-emptive Kola-nut can be served to local powers that be to make sure that the law is not enforced on an unwilling citizen. People respect institutions and role models. If these institutions turn a blind retina in the face of stealing then the thief is en powered to carry on with his illegal tendencies. It is my humble opinion that nobody is born a thief and even though harsh societal pressures i.e. penury or intense ambition can make some individuals take what is lawfully not theirs by way of purchase or inheritance, it is the institutions of family, community, law enforcement agencies and law courts that shape the individual in his formation. They all affect the calculations of his personal risk benefit ratio i.e. to steal or not to steal. So much has been written about Naija's stolen government money. How it has hampered development and denied a generation the infrastructure needed to thrive. If society stops lauding people who have stolen government money and if the police becomes effective in arresting fraud suspects, then that will bring a change to how people look at stealing. For instance, a man on a monthly salary of N500K a should be embarrassed to pose with a car worth millions in front of his mansion in a glossy magazine especially when he has no other means of livelihood save his salary. If community leaders steal and flaunt the proceeds in the full view of the next generation, then the future becomes dark. Make what you may of this but Fela's song- Authority Stealing (1980) insinuated that it was wrong to use the position of power accorded by a white collared job or high powered political post to steal funds. Authority stealing pass armed robbery. A friend complained to me about problems he was having at work. He was driving down one of Lagos streets, not the best place to hear someone whinge as traffic was moving like pregnant snails. The brand new Range Rover with its soft leather comforts that looked like an air-conditioned heaven on the inside and purgatory on the outside helped to focus my mind as we drove through a traffic situation best described as Hell. 'That man does not want to 'play ball'. We will deal with him o!' said my friend. He spoke about a colleague refusing to inflate a contract so that all the boys can see sontin chop. Looking at my friend, you would not believe he was the mass servant with the angelic voice of our childhood. He had made his name in field of honesty by returning money found in the playground to the class teacher even though we told him it was money for Goody-goody. Of course the teacher pocketed the cash. But that was Timi for you. Honest to a fault (in our young eyes). Now he was an office thief. What had transformed Lucifer, the Star of the Morning assembly into the angel of darkness; Satan the evil one? Pride? The need to beta pass mai neighbour? Or just plain environmental and institutional factors? Surely the chap at work disturbing is a product of the same society. Timi's complaints didn't end there. His wife has been inflating chop moni costs and asking for money to service her car when nothing is wrong with the car. His drivers falsify petrol costs. The children sef inflate the costs of their books and keep on asking for school fees almost convincing that schools now have six terms. A relative had begged for cash to treat his tuberculosis with imported drugs. This treatment went on for one year, till he found out there was no tuberculosis in his relative's lungs, but rather an infection of evil ingenuity in his heart. The poor chap with the phantom TB had a big quarrel with his wife over moni (you guessed right) and she rang Timi to report her husband. She now hated his stealing twelve months down the line. She however did not abhor stealing when she was getting her cut. The last story almost made us crash the car. He called his second son a 'born thief'. Aged four months he shared his parent's bed. One night his wife work up startled and violently shook his shoulder. She began to accuse him. 'Thief wey I marry. See as my right breast flat. Yu don drink all the milk. Wetin Junior go drink now'. Timi looked at the bulging stomach of his son and called his son a thief and a liar for implicating him in the breast milk bunkering. 'Yu tief sotey, yu come tief wetin bi yua property' he said reprimanding his son. His wife did not believe him (You know women and their sons). Junior had drunk the right breast empty when everyone was asleep and told his mum it was daddy that stole the milk. Timi said God saved him by making Junior vomit all the milk he had 'taken'. That was his defence. We laughed all the way home and on arrival ate dinner out of plates bought by stolen money in his large house which was his official 'spoils of war'. The TV was large, digital and obscene. We ate sweet stolen food as we watched Brad Pitt et al steal in Ocean's Eleven. (Wetin man go do. If yu visit white collared tief and he offer yu food, yu go chop nau. Abi?). May those who have stolen Naija's cash suddenly vomit it up. So help us God Babawilly Dr Wilson Orhiunu 10-3-2014 |
| Being Mrs. Elliot - Omoni Oboli Goes Behind The Camera Posted: 21 May 2014 12:08 AM PDT Omoni Oboli is premiering her first movie as a writer, director and actor in Being Mrs. Elliot. The rest of the cast include, Majid Michel, AY, Bishop Imeh, Lepacious Bose, Uru Eke, Seun Akindele, Chika Chukwu, and Sylvia Oluchi. The genre of the movie is Romantic Comedy. Synopsis: Two women, in a simple twist of fate, find their worlds colliding with each other. Their lives are turned upside down as they meet two men, who are on a different path in life until unusual circumstances bring the women into their lives. In a maze of deception, lust, pain, jealousy and intrigues their lives are rearranged in ways that they did not foresee as they try to make sense of finding love in unusual places. |
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