Day: January 19, 2017

FEATURES, HEALTH, LIFESTYLE, SEX & RELATIONSHIPS January 19, 2017January 19, 2017

VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE AND THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

If you’ve often wondered why victims of abuse (verbal, mental, emotional or physical) continue to stay with and find it difficult to leave their abuser, this could explain why.

The Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition that causes hostages to develop sympathetic sentiments towards their captors, often sharing their opinions and acquiring romantic feelings for them as a survival strategy during captivity.

These feelings, resulting from a bond formed between captor and captives or in this case between husband and wife or other partners in a relationship during intimate time spent together, are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims.
Generally speaking, Stockholm syndrome consists of “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other.” The FBI’s Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly eight percent of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.

Formally named in 1973 when four hostages were taken during a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, Stockholm syndrome is also commonly known as ‘capture bonding’.
The syndrome’s title was developed when the victims of the Stockholm bank robbery defended their captors after being released and would not agree to testify in court against them.

Stockholm syndrome’s significance arises due to the fact that it is based in a paradox, as captives’ ot victims sentiments for their captors and abusers are the opposite of the fear and disdain an onlooker may expect to see as a result of trauma.

There are four key components that generally lead to the development of Stockholm syndrome: a hostage’s development or already existing positive feelings towards their captor, no previous hostage-captor relationship as in a marriage or romantic alliance , a refusal by hostages to cooperate with police forces and other government authorities, and a hostage’s or victim’s belief in the humanity of their captor or abuser for the reason that when a victim holds the same values as the aggressor, they cease to be perceived as a threat.

Stockholm syndrome is umfortunately considered a “contested illness,” due to many law enforcement officers’ doubt about the legitimacy of the condition.

So next time you come across a battered woman who bluntly refuses to leave or continues to return to her abusive partner, do consider that they may be a victim of the Stockholm Syndrome as well as being a victim of abuse, and do not expect in such a case that even the very obvious danger to her life will be enough to make her leave.

And rather than the scorn or added abuse that is often pilled upon victims that won’t make the break from their abusers by others who quite understandably cannot comprehend why a victim will chose to remain in an abusive relationship, a more understanding attitude is required and maybe some professional help to help them get over the syndrome before they can consciously realise the seriousness of their situation.

Reference: Wikipedia

FEATURES January 19, 2017January 19, 2017

TRAFFIC WARDEN ATTACKED BY GROUP OF ORTHODOX JEWS IN NORTH LONDON

A parking warden ran over an Orthodox Jewish man with his scooter and clouted others with his crash helmet in extraordinary scenes on a street in east London.

The warden apparently flew into a rage after being confronted by a group of Jewish men in Hackney, hitting several people with his helmet and radio before being bundled to the ground and restrained.

He ran over a man with his moped after being told that he was going to be reported to council bosses for misconduct, witnesses say.

The warden is alleged to have been surrounded by the large group of Jewish men, telling them: “I’ll come back later with my boys” in the clash in the middle of Leaside Road shortly before 2pm on Monday,

CCTV footage shows the parking warden, wearing an official blue tabard and white helmet, clatter into a man wearing traditional Jewish attire with his moped. Onlookers allege he deliberately accelerated into him.

The scooter runs over the man and goes up on its back wheel before hitting a parked car.

In further chaotic scenes, the warden is surrounded by up to ten Jewish men, and he lashes out at them with his crash helmet in an apparent rage.

He was eventually thrown to the ground and restrained by members of the public.

However, bystanders reported that the warden had been “surrounded” by a group of around eight to 10 Orthodox Jews before the attack.

Onlookers claim the group “jostled” the man and “repeatedly followed him” before allegedly blocking him into a parking space with a car.

The warden made a desperate plea for help into his radio, according to some witnesses.

But members of the group were said to have “shouted over the top to prevent him from being heard”.

Scotland Yard confirmed officers had been called to the road at 1.50pm to reports of an altercation.

Four men, aged in their 20s and 30s, suffered minor injuries.

A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

He has been bailed until a date in mid-February.

PTAD PROPOSES PENSIONS FOR NIGERIANS IN DIASPORA

Culled from TheNationonline

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has described the proposed pension scheme for the Diaspora pensioners as a good development and unique in Nigerian history.

Dabiri-Erewa said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja by her media aide, Mr Abdur-Rahman Balogun.

Dabiri Erewa commended unique efforts by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to include Nigerian pensioners in the Diaspora in the nation’s pension scheme which she said, had never happened before.

“This is unique in the history of Nigeria as nobody has deemed it fit to capture the data of Nigeria pensioners in the Diaspora,’’ she said.

According to the presidential aide, the measure will save the Nigerian pensioners abroad the trouble of coming and going back for the collection of pension.

“The introduction of the scheme is an interesting news to the Diaspora and we will work with our pensioners in the Diaspora because they deserve to receive their pension after meritorious service to the country.

“Am sure this will go a long way to show that this administration cares for all Nigerians, either at home or in the Diaspora.

“We will look forward to capturing every Nigerian in Diaspora who had served the country,” Dabiri-Erewa said.

The Executive Secretary of PTAD, Mrs Sharon Ikeazor, had on Tuesday said the agency was proposing pension scheme that would capture Nigerians in the Diaspora who had served their country diligently.

Ikeazor said the directorate would commence pension scheme for the Nigerians in the Diaspora who had served the country before travelling abroad.

“They are our heroes and heroines who had worked for this country since independence and there is need to capture them in our pension scheme through verification and updating our database,’’ she said.

She explained that the Diaspora pensioners were Nigerians who worked in the country and due for pension but did not collect their pension before going abroad.

She said the directorate would partner with the office of SSA to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora to enable it to capture pensioners in the Diaspora to have their accurate database.

*I won’t hold my breath

FEATURES January 19, 2017January 19, 2017

I THINK WE’RE GOING TO BE OKAY – AS OBAMA HOLDS LAST PRESS CONFERENCE AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Barack Obama has given his last news conference as President with an optimistic message: “I think we’re going to be okay”.

“This is not just a matter of no-drama Obama,” he said.

“It is true that behind closed doors I curse more than I do publicly.

“And sometimes I get mad and frustrated like everybody else does. But at my core, I think we’re going to be okay.”

Mr Obama was speaking just days before the inauguration of his successor Donald Trump and, despite the stark differences between him and the brash billionaire, he voiced a belief that the world could get better.

He said: “I believe in this country and I believe in the American people.

“I believe that people are more good than bad.

“I believe tragic things happen, I think there’s evil in the world but I think at the end of the day, if we work hard, and if we’re true to those things in us that feel true and feel alright, that the world gets a little better each time.”

He also shared a few thoughts on his future plans, saying: “It’s important for me to take some time to process this amazing experience that we’ve gone through, to make sure that my wife with whom I will be celebrating a 25th anniversary this year, is willing to re-up and put up with me for a little bit longer.

“I want to do some writing.

“I want to be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much.

“I want to spend precious time with my girls.”

Mr Obama cast his daughters as the source of his hope and as America’s future, saying that, although they were disappointed by Mr Trump’s victory over Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton, they did not “mope”.

He said: “We’ve tried to teach them hope.

“The only thing that is the end of the world is the end of the world.

“You get knocked down, you get up, you brush yourself off and you get back to work. That tended to be their attitude.”

But he did say that his daughters Malia, 18, and Sasha, 15, who “surprise and enchant and impress me more and more every single day as they grow up”, had decided against following their father into politics.

“I think their mother’s influence shows,” he said on the subject.

FEATURES, NEWS FROM NIGERIA January 19, 2017January 19, 2017

THE JONATHANS – WHAT A PAIR

Other people caught inflagranto of such high level thieving and corruption will be hiding their heads and faces in shame……. or maybe fleeing the country.

But oh no. Not this bold hard faced illiterate woman.. Her husband defended widespread corrupt practices while he was in power and insisted corruption is not stealing, and she boldly fights to keep her corruptly acquired wealth – including $15m which she claims was made up of monetary gifts which she kept in her husband’s cupboard – even to the stupendously unbelievable extent of taking to court, the Financial Crimes Commission for daring to investigate her!!!!!!

The woman who worked as a civil servant before her husband became President had not statutory or constitutional role during her husbands tenure therefore would not have been on any official payroll. Yet series of high brow properties in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja have been linked to her so also have large sums of money held in various bank accounts including the $15m held in a foreign account over which she is engaging in a terse court battle with the SERAP and EFCC…and demanding a whooping $200m as damages for having her human rights infringed upon.

What a woman!!!!

What a pair……