Is Anything Wrong With This Question?

There's this single big lady in my church I 've been eyeing for a very long time now. A top shot in one of the leading banks. I have been carrying a torch for her, but didn't no how to tell her probably because of her status. I summoned all d courage last sunday after service, approached & told her that she's a wonderful lady, and that I 've been admiring her secretly and she said thanks to me. Then I asked her this question = CAN I ASK YOU OUT? And she said NO. Is anything wrong with the question?

Four Abia Governorship Gandidates Join PDP, Declare Support For Ikpeazu

Four governorship candidates in Abia State yesterday defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared support for the party’s governorship candidate, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu. The four governorship candidates include, Mrs Ifeoma Okpara, Citizens Popular Party,(CPP) Prince Sunday Isaac, People for Democratic Change, (PDC), Barrister Dan Onyeonagu, KOWA Party, and Independent Democrat (ID), Gilbert Chikezie. According to them, their decision to adopt Dr. Ikpeazu as their choice in the April 11 governorship poll was borne out of the interest of the state. “Having considered the political situation in the state, we thought it wise to step down as governorship candidates and adopt the PDP flagbearer, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as our candidate,” Onyeonagu of KOWA said. “This collective decision is to ensure Abia remains in safe hands. We do not want our dear state to fall into the hands of those who do not mean well for the state; those who think that Abia is for sale,”. The decisions of the four governorship candidates, according to Onyeonagu, were based on the fact that the positive transformation of the state shall be sustained. “We believe that Aba, as the commercial hub of our state, shall be fully developed to serve as a spring board to all parts of the state and that women, youths and people with disabilities will enjoy democracy dividends under Ikpeazu. “We believe that under him, Abia shall be economically empowered, greater efforts would be invested in agriculture, more rural areas shall be linked to major cities, more jobs for Abians, more investment in security of lives and property and may more.” Earlier, in his remarks, the National Chairman and Presidential Candidate of Citizens Popular Party, who stood in for the State governorship candidate, Chief Sam Eke said “The way things are going in Abia State can only get better. We must not allow the ongoing delevelopment nose dive hence our conclusion to throw our weigh behind Abia PDP candidate, Dr. Ikpeazu.” Responding on behalf of the Abia State PDP Campaign Organization, Mr. Longman Nwachukwu, thanked the four governorship candidates for embracing the PDP. He assured them that they will be fully accomodated in the PDP.

Boko Haram Fighters Disguise As Preachers, Kill 24

Suspected members of the Boko Haram sect have attacked Kwajafa village in Borno State killing 24 persons and injuring over a dozen others, a security source has revealed. They also set the village mosque on fire. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the insurgents stormed the village on Sunday evening. He said, “The insurgents who rode to the town in Volkswagen Golf cars on Sunday evening, told the villagers that they were there to preach. They however opened fire on the people as soon as they gathered an appreciable number of the villagers in the village square.” He lamented that some of the residents who were in a mosque at the time of the attack were not spared as the insurgents set them ablaze. He said mostly killed were those who could not immediately decipher that the disguised preachers were Boko Haram members on a deadly mission. A nurse at the General Hospital, Biu, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said some injured persons were brought to the hospital from Kwajafa, some 35 kilometres away for treatment. The medical worker added that some of the injured persons were treated in other health facilities in Kwajafa. It will be recalled that Kwajafa, which is about 220 kilometres from Maiduguri, has witnessed two major Boko Haram attacks in the past. Investigations revealed that past attacks forced people to flee the village but some of them returned after peace returned to the community. Meanwhile, the Borno State Accountant-General, Hajiya Mairo Bunu, on Monday appealed to donor agencies to mobilise support for the rehabilitation of victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the state. Bunu made the appeal when she presented some relief materials to Governor Kashim Shettima for the victims. She said the Boko Haram insurgency had resulted in mass destruction of infrastructure which might be difficult to rebuild without the support of the international community.

Buhari’s name will not help you – Akala tells Ajimobi

 
A former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Monday warned Governor Abiola Ajimobi that the name of the President – elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will not help him in his reelection bid.
Alao-Akala is the candidate of the Labour Party in Saturday’s governorship election.
Akala, in a statement by the Director of Public Affairs, Alao-Akala Campaign Organisation, Oludare Ogunlana, said no amount of political gimmicks would save Ajimobi from losing on April 11, adding that Buhari and Ajimobi were two separate entities that could not work together.
Alao-Akala said, “Using Buhari’s name rather than his (Ajimobi) achievements is the greatest undoing a sinking governor can do to win at all cost. Buhari did not award contract at questionable amount or neglect meritocracy for mediocrity.
“The APC administration is anti-masses as it has inflicted pains on the people as against its campaign promises in 2011.
“Ajimobi is the most corrupt governor in the history of the state while Buhari is the only former head of state without a house in Abuja and the only former leader without an oil bloc. How then does Ajimobi think using Buhari’s name to campaign will guarantee him victory?”
According to Alao-Akala, the APC was planning to help Ajimobi by bringing Buhari to the state to campaign on his behalf with the hope that he would use his acceptance to win votes for the governor.

Lagos 2015: Ambode will win resoundingly – Senator ‘Gbenga Ashafa

 
The lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator ‘Gbenga Ashafa has emphatically declared that the APC governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, will poll the highest number of votes with a wide margin.
The lawmaker said the margin would not be comparable with what transpired between the APC and the PDP during the March 28 presidential elections.
Ashafa, who is also the senator-elect for the district, following a successful re-election for a second term on March 28, further expressed his confidence on the chances of the APC.
He added that the party’s political machinery on ground in Lagos State was fit enough to return the party to the Alausa seat of power come April 11, 2015.
Ashafa, who dwelt on certain core specifics on why the APC deserved to win the guber elections, noted that Lagos and its cosmopolitan outlook had always provided other states with a template to replicate developmental strides.
Of particular mention were transportation, sound governance policies, infrastructure, healthcare, effective environmental management and civil service efficiency.
He commended the administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) for running full course and surpassing the achievements of his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Latest News Photos Music Advertise Contact DailyPost Nigeria Home National Politics Metro Entertainment Sport Education Opinion Photos Music Home / Headlines / Impeach God first before you remove me – Fayose dares lawmakers Impeach God first before you remove me – Fayose dares lawmakers

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has dismissed the purported impeachment notice issued to him by the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the State House of Assembly, saying he was yet to be served any impeachment notice.
Fayose, while speaking at an audience participatory programme; “Meet Your Governor” aired on the State Television, EKTV, Ekiti Radio,
Progress FM and NTA, Ado Ekiti today, described those plotting his impeachment as the same enemies of Ekiti State that plotted his exit from office in 2006.
“Nobody served me any impeachment notice. I only saw the notice online like every other person”, he said.
The governor, who described himself as an Israelite said: “I’m like Israel that is in the midst of enemies but will always prevail. Whoever wants to remove me will first have to impeach God.”
He said the APC members were trying to get at him because he wholeheartedly supported President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection bid.
“They are doing all these just to get at me because of my support for President Jonathan and I have no regret for supporting the president.
“Let me say it again, I have not been served any impeachment notice. The House of Assembly is also on recess and Dr Adewale Omirin is not the speaker of the State House of Assembly.

New Again: Blackberry Launches Classic Phone With Qwerty Keyboard

BlackBerry launches the Classic, a new phone for people that want an old keyboard.
Blackberry yesterday launched its Classic, a new phone that it hopes will convince those holding onto old BlackBerry’s for their keyboard and size to finally upgrade.



Jennifer Cowan , a Managing Editor for Sitepronews reports that BlackBerry is getting back to basics with the launch of its new BlackBerry Classic Smartphone that gives enthusiasts the QWERTY keyboard they love along with the speed of new technology.

The Canadian Smartphone maker really needs this phone to be a success as it struggles to regain its footing in an ultra-competitive market dominated by Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Android-powered handsets.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen officially debuted the BlackBerry Classic today at a special event in New York.

The device, which sells unlocked for $449 in the U.S. and $499 in Canada, offers 60 percent more screen space, 50 percent longer battery life and a browser that is three times faster, Chen said.

“We listened closely to our customers’ feedback to ensure we are delivering the technologies to power them through their day — and that feedback led directly to the development of BlackBerry Classic,” Chen said. “BlackBerry Classic is the powerful communications tool that many BlackBerry Bold and Curve users have been waiting for. It’s the secure device that feels familiar in their hands, with the added performance and agility they need to be competitive in today’s busy world.



The device also features the BlackBerry 10.3.1 operating system, a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of device storage (expandable by up to 128GB via uSD), and a 2MP front- and 8MP rear-facing camera with enhanced optics and upgraded imaging sensors.



BlackBerry Blend is a nifty feature that links messaging and content across all of a user’s devices while BlackBerry Hub enables the user to manage all e-mail, texts, BBMs, phone calls and social media in one place.



The device also features the BlackBerry Assistant, the company’s first digital assistant that can be used with voice and text commands.

“It’s the only Smartphone assistant on the market today that can access both personal and work content in your work perimeter,” the company said in a press release. “BlackBerry Assistant intelligently determines how to respond to you based on how you interact with it – if you type, it responds silently, if you speak, it speaks back and if you activate over Bluetooth, it speaks back with additional context because it assumes you might not have access to the screen.”
Users can also access productivity apps for business from BlackBerry World as well as popular Android apps and games via the Amazon Appstore.

“This device underscores our commitment to helping BlackBerry users be at their most productive and respond to the demands of business from anywhere, at any time,” said Chen. “By bringing back the trusted functionalities, incorporating our latest operating system and building a speedier browser, our users can feel confident they are using the best communications tool out there.”

Breaking News: You lied, we cheered Jonathan, we never booed him and Governor Fayose, OAU Students' Union President Tell Sahara Reporters, The Nation, others

PRESS RELEASE
(28/11/2014)

Revolutionary greetings to all and sundry in the South West Zone, Osun state, Ife community and the generality of Great Ife Students on the hosting of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR for a special meeting with the Council of Obas in South West.

The leadership of the Students’ Union is appreciative of the listening character of the President as well as the efforts of individuals who facilitated the meeting with the President. It is imperative at this point to relay the product of the discussion with the President.

The Speaker of the SRC addressed the President and submitted the protest letter which he personally received and gave assurances that the major issue in the letter – increment in fees is going to be addressed holistically in no long time as there are other schools that are affected.
He committed himself to address welfare issues that affect OAU specifically.

Although some self-centered and politically-sponsored individuals attempted to unleash their demonic resolutions to deter and dissuade the union leaders from making pressing demands that will enhance the welfare of Great Ife students on campus, to make necessary demands for the reversal of fees and the reinstatement of some of our suspended students from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

On his way out, the president stepped out to the cheers of the students, receiving a lot of applause from the entirety of Great Ife students and commuters having heard that he had committed himself on the increment.

Meanwhile, just as the Union President conveyed to His Excellency, we again implore the president to stick to his promise, as a man of honour and integrity, as Great Ife students are in great anticipation and expectancy. The cheers you received today at the time you were leaving were premised on the fact that we believed you will address the increment immediately. Mr President, the reversal of increased fees should also be extended to all Federal Universities and pump funds into education in the interest of the country.

However, we condemn the attitude of some individuals who portrayed themselves as elements of frustration and cheap political tools.

Through this medium, we warn them to stay away from OAU campus as they are not unknown to the leadership of the union. We maintain our ground as Intellectual Fighters for Emancipation and not as uncoordinated confusionists and anarchists.

The leadership of the Union is very much undistracted in the maximization of this opportunity to solve the myriad of problems confronting Great IFE students. We also remain committed to the execution of our proposed projects and the completion of ongoing ones– Angola and Mozambique hall water projects, Great IFE app, Union website, and buses for campus shuttle, union hostel, among others.

La Lucha Sigue…

SIGNED:
IBIKUNLE ISAAC M.
President
BAMIDELE OLUDARE J.
P.R.O

Elephants and at least six other mammal species have been caught on camera within the[b] Omo-Shasha-Oluwa forest complex in south-western Nigeria.[/b]

We are very grateful to EXP Marketing Nigeria Ltd. who donated the four ‘Bushnell trophy cams’ that have enabled us to finally gather photographic evidence on the existence of these wonderful but highly elusive forest creatures.

The photographs were taken by digital cameras that are triggered by the heat and movement of an animal walking past them, such as the very large male (left). These cameras are even able to record animals at night using an infra-red flash that animals can’t see. For example, a young bull elephant was photographed feeding at 1.38 in the morning beside a stream (see photo below). Other animals to be photographed include a red river hog (or bush pig), a troop of red capped mangabey monkeys, a palm civet, several duikers, a squirrel, rat, a pair of reflective eyes belonging to a mysterious medium sized cat-like animal and a small predator dragging prey across the forest floor.

These images, taken over the course of just one month, demonstrate the rich wildlife found within the estimated 1,200 km2 of natural forests remaining within the OSO. However, as pictures of several people illegally entering the area show, much work still needs to be done to protect these animals from being wiped out by forest clearance and poaching.

The best of ollynation

PDP Accuses Labour Party Of Rigging Ondo By-elections

The Ondo State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on Monday accused the Labour Party of compromising the by-election held in Ilaje and Ese Odo Local Government Areas and was declared inconclusive by the electoral body. According to a PDP Chieftain in the State, Oluwole Moneyin,“places where the PDP were turning out to lead, the Labour Party (LP) and its agents with obvious and overt evidences subverted the efforts of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the security (and) compromised the process”. Moneyin claimed that agents of the LP had engaged in various illegal activities including theft of ballot boxes which were taken into the forest. The special adviser to the State governor on special matters was also accused of driving ballot boxes into a river. He mentioned a case of a LP member in Arogbo ward II, who had a meeting with security agencies “in their gun boat” and rode off with them, after which theft of ballot boxes began. Although the results declared by INEC revealed that the LP had 23,926 votes while the PDP candidate polled 22,628 out of over 56,000 valid polls cast, Moneyin, who was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, insisted that efforts to conduct a successful election “were marred by the party in power.” Seven political parties including the All Progressives Congress, Labour Party and the Peoples’ Democratic Party participated in the election. However, Moneyin said the LP was fond of operating outside the laid down procedures and that those who decamped from the PDP to the LP were “the diseases” which gave PDP a bad name when it was in power. He also claimed that the governor had relocated to Okitipupa, a neigbouring community to both Ilaje and Ese Odo in a desperate attempt to gain popularity and acceptance in the two areas which were strongholds of the PDP. Mr Moneyin approved of INEC’s decision, noting that “what the INEC has done is to follow the laid down procedures and simply because the elections were inconclusive.” On presenting evidence of illegal acts carried out by agents of the LP, Moneyin said: “We have these evidences. When they do contest it, in the appropriate ambiences, we will bring it out to them.”

Missing plane MH370: Malaysia mystery ‘may not be solved’

Malaysia has warned that the reasons for the Malaysia Airlines plane's disappearance may never be known, as Prime Minister Najib Razak heads to Australia for talks on the search. Malaysia's police chief said that their investigation could "go on and on". Ten planes and nine ships are searching the southern Indian Ocean. A UK submarine has also joined the hunt. Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March as it was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It was carrying 239 people. Mr Najib will arrive in Perth, Western Australia, on Wednesday evening. He will visit the new Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), where the southern Indian Ocean search is being led. He will meet Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and retired air chief marshal Angus Houston, who is leading the JACC. 'Isolated thunderstorms' Teams have been searching for the plane for more than three weeks Meanwhile, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the criminal investigation could "go on and on and on. We have to clear every little thing." "At the end of the investigations, we may not even know the real cause. We may not even know the reason for this incident," he said. He added that police had "cleared" all the passengers of the four key areas being investigated: hijacking, sabotage, and psychological and personal problems, Malaysia's Bernama news agency reported. British submarine HMS Tireless will also assist search efforts Khalid Abu Bakar added that more than 170 interviews had been conducted with family members of the pilots and crew members, and that even cargo and food served on the plane were being investigated in case of sabotage. Wednesday's search area is around 221,000 sq km (85,300 sq miles), but cloudy conditions, "sea fog and isolated thunderstorms" will reduce visibility for search planes, JACC said in a statement. The British submarine HMS Tireless has also arrived in the southern Indian Ocean. It will soon be joined by Royal Navy ship HMS Echo. The private jet of film director Peter Jackson has also joined the search. On Tuesday, ACM Houston said it was the most challenging operation he had ever seen, and warned that search efforts "could drag on for a long time". "The last known position [of the plane] was a long, long way from where the aircraft appears to have gone," complicating the task, he said. Several floating objects have been found in recent days, but none is believed to belong to the missing plane.

Do coffee and tea really dehydrate us?

We’re told that tea and coffee dehydrates us, says Claudia Hammond, but what’s the evidence say? Every day people around the globe drink 1.6 billion cups of coffeeand around twice as many cups of tea. They enjoy the taste and the fact that the caffeine wakes them up. But when we’re exhorted to drink six or eight glasses of water a day(a disputed figure that I’ve discussed previously), it’s usually emphasised that drinks like coffee and tea don’t count towards your daily liquid total because they’re dehydrating. Or so we’re told. What’s the evidence? Although tea and coffee contain many different substances the one on which most research focuses is caffeine. Even then there is so little research on the topic, that one of the most frequently mentioned studies was conducted way back in 1928with a sample of just three people. The three men were studied over the course of two winters. Sometimes they were required to drink four cups of coffee a day; sometimes they drank mainly tea and at other times they abstained or drank water laced with pure caffeine. Meanwhile the volume of their urine was measured regularly. The authors concluded that if the men consumed caffeine-laced water after a two month period of abstinence from both coffee and tea, the volume of their urine increased by 50%, but when they drank coffee regularly again they became inured to its diuretic effects. Very large doses of caffeine are known to increase the blood flow to the kidneys and to inhibit the absorption of sodium which explains why it could act as a diuretic, dealing with the sodium which hasn’t been absorbed. But the exact mechanism is still a matter of debate. View image of Do caffeinated drinks affect the water intake we're told to be drinking every day? (Thinkstock) But when you look at the studies of more realistic quantities of caffeine, the diuretic effect is not nearly so clear. A review of 10 studies by Lawrence Armstrong from the University of Connecticut concluded that caffeine is a mild diuretic at most, with 12 out of 15 comparisons showing that people urinated the same amount, regardless of whether the water they drank contained added caffeine or not. So why do so many people think they need the loo more often when they’ve been drinking tea or coffee? As the review indicates, most studies give people pure caffeine added to water, rather than cups of actual tea or coffee as you might drink at home. Is there something about the combination of substances contained in coffee and tea that make the difference? In a rare study where people drank nothing but tea for the 12 hour duration of the trial, there was no difference in hydration levels between them and the people who drank the same quantity of boiled water. When it comes to the consumption of coffee, one study did find a 41% increase in urine, along with a rise in the excretion of sodium and potassium. But these participants had abstained from caffeine before the study, so this doesn’t tell us what would happen in people who are accustomed to drinking coffee. View image of Whether you regularly drink your tea from a pot - or not - evidence that it dehydrates you is conflicting (Beverley Goodwin/Flickr) A second study found no difference in hydrationbetween those drinking water or coffee, leaving us with conflicting findings. Then came new research earlier this year from Sophie Killer at Birmingham University in the UK, who not only measured the volume of urine, but tested their blood for signs of kidney function as wellas calculating the total amount of water in the body. The men in the study drank four cups of coffee a day, far more than the average coffee-drinker. Yet there was no evidence they were any more dehydrated than those who drank water alone. This research was funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee, whose members are coffee companies, but it has been published in a peer-reviewed journal and the authors confirm that the Institute played no role in gathering or analysing the data or writing up the research. So although we might notice needing the loo more when we’ve been drinking coffee, the mistake is basing our observations on a comparison with the time we’ve drunk nothing, not with a similar amount of water. If you chose a glass of water instead of a cup of tea, you’d probably see the same effect.

Barcelona given transfer ban by Fifa

The Catalan club cannot buy players until the summer of 2015 after the world governing body imposed a transfer ban for the next two windows. They have also been fined 450,000 Swiss Francs (£305,000). The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been sanctioned by Fifa for the same breaches. Barcelona, who will still be allowed to sell players, are hoping to sign a new goalkeeper at the end of the season, with the long-serving Victor Valdes leaving the Nou Camp at the end of his contract. The four-time European champions have been linkedwith Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, while they agreed a deal to sign17-year-old Croatia midfielder Alen Halilovic last week. Any appeal against the ban must be lodged within three days and is not likely to be heard until April. If unsuccessful in their appeal, Barca could take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, raising the possibility the Catalan club could still sign players this summer if the ban is not imposed until a final decision is made. The RFEF has been given a fine of 500,000 Swiss Francs (£340,000) and told to "regularise its regulatory framework and existing system concerning the international transfer of minors in football" within a year. Fifa rules statethat international transfers are only permitted for players over the age of 18 - unless the player in question meets one of three qualifying criteria. Under-18s can move to a club in a different country if their parents move there for non-footballing reasons, if they are from another nation within the European Union or European Economic Area and aged between 16 and 18, or if they live within 100km of the club. A Fifa investigation - centred on several players aged under 18 who were registered and played for the club between 2009 and 2013 - found that Barcelona and the RFEF were guilty of a "serious" infringement of the rules in relation to 10 players. Fifa told BBC Sport the identity of these players was confidential. Its disciplinary committee said it sought to protect the best interests of young players, even if an international transfer might be beneficial to their football careers. "On the basis of this analysis, the committee concluded that 'the interest in protecting the appropriate and healthy development of a minor as a whole must prevail over purely sporting interests'," said a Fifa statement. It is the latest off-the-field issue to trouble Barcelona this season. Earlier this year, the Catalan club were accused by the Spanish authorities of tax evasionrelating to the £50m purchase of Brazil forward Neymar. A criminal investigation is under way, despite Barca making a "voluntary contribution" of more than £11m in taxes. The club's president Sandro Rosell resignedafter he was accused of misappropriating funds in the deal. Rosell and his successor Josep Maria Bartomeu insist the 22-time Spanish champions have not acted illegally.

US President Barack Obama says his embattled signature healthcare programme is "here to stay" after more than 7 million Americans signed up.

He told reporters the law, nicknamed Obamacare, represented progress and benefitted the economy. Mr Obama also lashed out at repeated conservative efforts to repeal or defund the law, calling it "troubling". There would be additional challenges to implementing the law, he said, but it was "working". An estimated 7.1 million Americans signed up for coverage to avoid penalties prior to Monday's deadline for doing so, exceeding initial projections. "This law has made our healthcare system a lot better," Mr Obama said at the White House on Tuesday, adding that it would lower overall healthcare costs. Though the reform had at times been "contentious and confusing", he said, "that's part of what change looks like in a democracy. "Change is hard. Fixing what is broken is hard." Controversial law State and federally-run marketplace websites allow residents to choose between several private insurance options The Democrat leader has battled political opposition to Obamacare - officially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - for years. Republicans - who see it as an inappropriate government intrusion into the healthcare industry and an affront to personal liberty - are not expected to relent in their opposition to the law. The law also remains controversial among the American public, as some people have seen their insurance costs rise or their old plans cancelled, and others object to having to purchase insurance at all. The Republicans hope to tap into voter discontent with the law in November's midterm elections. The 2010 law is intended to extend health insurance to the roughly 48 million Americans who do not receive it through their employers, the government, or a privately purchased plan. It also aims to slow the growth in the cost of healthcare and requires private plans to meet a certain level of coverage. The federal Healthcare.gov and similar marketplace websites run by some states are a key element of the law, providing a clearing-house for people to purchase health insurance for themselves and their families, often with generous subsidies.

CAN YOU DIE OF A BROKEN HEARTH? PART 2

The following year, a different group of researchers took a look at sudden cardiac-related deaths in Los Angeles on 17 January 1994. That day was when a magnitude 6.8 earthquake – "one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in a major city in North America," the researchers noted – struck the region at 4:31am. In the New England Journal of Medicine, they reported a massive spike in cardiovascular-related deaths due to the stress of the early-morning jolt. As in the case of the Israeli missile attacks, that doesn't include traumatic injuries directly caused by the earthquake. These deaths are instead attributable to the extreme stress of being shaken awake by a violent earthquake. It should be noted, however, that many of those who died were not entirely healthy to begin with. In the 1990s Japanese researchers coined the term “takotsubo cardiomyopathy” to describe a stress-induced apparent heart attack. It was so-named because the ballooning of the left ventricle characteristic of this sort of cardiomyopathy is reminiscent to a type of fishing pot, called takotsubo, which are used to trap octopuses. View image of Heart failure due to emotional stress was only full accepted as a diagnosis in the last decade (SPL) But it wasn't until 2005 that enough studies had been described in the medical literature that human medicine began to fully take note. That year the concept of stress cardiomyopathywas firmly established within the medical literature, though many physicians still refer to is as takotsubo, or occasionally as "broken heart syndrome." So while it isn’t necessarily sadness or rejection that can hurt us physiologically, there is now little doubt that the mind and our emotions can have a direct, measurable effect on our physical bodies, and when things take a turn for the worse, it can lead to catastrophe. After consulting with veterinarians at the Los Angeles Zoo, it was Natterson-Horowitz, a UCLA cardiology professor, who put the heart-related aspects of capture myopathy with takotsubo cardiomyopathy side by side. In Zoobiquity, she and Bowers, a journalist, ask whether the two syndromes are really one and the same, afflicting humans and animals alike. It’s just a shame that it took so long for doctors to accept what wildlife biologists and veterinarians had known for decades. If this episode teaches us anything, it’s that the traits we share with animals run far deeper than first appears. As this column has explored, the commonalities are myriad, whether it’s the ability to dance, to rule by democracy, or to lure the opposite sex with perfume. They’re written into the very fabric of our biology. Our species occupies but one tiny branch on the enormous tree of life; it would be a shame if our hubris prevented us from applying knowledge derived from decades of research on every other species on the planet to our own.

CAN YOU DIE OF A BROKEN HEARTH?

Extreme emotion can be a killer, says Jason G Goldman. So why did it take doctors so long to see the evidence hiding in plain sight? In 1986, a 44-year-old woman was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital. She felt fine all day, but in the afternoon she developed extreme crushing pain in her chest, radiating through her left arm. It's a classic sign of a heart attack, but the puzzling thing was that she didn't suffer from coronary heart disesase. There was no life-threatening clot in the arteries surrounding the heart. It looked, from the outside, like a heart attack, but it wasn't. Describing the unusual case in the New England Journal of Medicine, Thomas Ryan, and John Fallon suggest the apparent damage to the heart muscle was emotional rather than physiological. Earlier that day, she had been informed that her 17-year-old son had committed suicide. Could the woman have suffered from a broken heart? The answer, it turned out, was already hiding in plain sight. The Massachusetts case was surprising to doctors – but it wasn’t news to everybody. For many years, doctors scorned the idea of a relationship between psychology and physiology. In their book Zoobiquity, Kathryn Bowers and Barbara Natterson-Horowitz described this attitude: "Among many physicians, the idea that emotions could cause actual physical events within the architecture of the heart was viewed with nearly the same sideways glance as an interest in healing crystals or homeopathy. Real cardiologists concentrated on real problems you could see: arterial plaque, embolising blood clots, and rupturing aortas. Sensitivity was for psychiatrists." Despite this, the evidence that extreme emotions can impact the heart goes back decades – only not among humans. It was wildlife biologists and veterinarians who first noticed that extreme emotions can wreak havoc on body physiology. By the mid-20th Century, they noticed that a curious thing happens when an animal experiences a sudden jolt of life-or-death fear. When it's caught by an advancing predator, adrenaline fills the bloodstream to such an extent that the blood almost becomes like a poison, damaging the animal's muscles, including the heart. It’s called “capture myopathy”. View image of Wildlife biologists have known for years that captured animals can suffer enough stress to be fatal (Thinkstock) By 1974, the effect was so well known to veterinarians that a letter in Nature proposing a possible way to avoid itdidn't even bother explaining what it was in the first place. By then, researchers had realised that capturing animals for scientific or conservation purposes – such as for captive breeding, for mark-and-release studies, or for relocation – was often, ironically, fatal. Indeed, by the time that physicians were puzzling over that strange, apparently emotion-driven heart-attack in Massachusetts, veterinarians had already recognised stress-related cardiomyopathy in a tremendous variety of non-human species: elk, pronghorn sheep, moose, deer, scimitar-horned oryx, antelope, muntjac, wisent, gazelle, dugongs, and wild turkeys. Since then, that list has expanded to include duikers, Arabian oryx, dolphins, whales, ducks, little bustards, partridges, river otters, cranes, bats, a variety of shorebirds, and a slow loris. Animals who are most prone to capture myopathy are small mammals, ungulates, birds, and anxious primates. From around the mid-1990s, more case studies in humans, too, began to hint at physiological problems due to extreme psychological stress. In 1995, researchers Jeremy Kark, Silvie Goldman, and Leon Epstein found that Israelis were more likely to die as a result of heart-related problems on 18 January 1991 than on any day in the preceding and subsequent two months, as well as for the same period of time the previous year. That's because that's when the Persian Gulf War began, resulting in 18 missiles directed at Israel from Iraq. To be clear, the increase in mortality measured by this study was not due to injuries directly caused by the missile attacks; they were cardiovascular-related deaths that mostly occurred outside of hospital care. View image of Fear of chemical attack led to increased deaths in Israel in 1991 (Thinkstock) "The perception of an imminent, life-threatening situation was widespread," the researchers wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "To prepare for chemical attack, gas masks and automatic syringes containing atropine were distributed to the entire population. Every household prepared a sealed room. Civil defence instructions were issued in the media." The entire country was heavy with anxiety to begin with, and the life-or-death fear associated with missile strikes was too much for some to bear.

step by step on how to produce liquid soap

LIQUID SOAP Production of 25 Liters of Liquid Soap To produce 25 liters of liquid soap, a 50 liter plastic drum is needed. This is because during the production process, the mixture foams and swells greatly. After a few hours however, the mixture settles down to its calculated 50 liters volume. 3.5.2 Chemicals needed
 *.Sulphuric acid 3 liter (liquid)
*.C.M.C.½ Kg (Powder)
*.Caustic Soda¼ Kg (Powder)
 *.Soda Ash¼ kg (Powder)
 *.Formalin¼ liter (Liquid)
*.Texapon¼ Kg(Jelly Paste)
 *.Coloringto taste (Sold as powder, mix with water before use)
 *.Perfumeto taste (Liquid, 2 capfuls of 4 liter keg may suffice)
*.Clean Water 22 liters 3.5.3
Procedure
 Put 2 liters of water in a calibrated bucket and soak the Soda ash. Stir with well with small turning stick, sogranules can dissolve well. Soak for 5 minutes. Also, soak the Caustic Soda in 2 liters of water in another calibrated bucket for 5 minutes. Stir well so that the granules dissolve well. Caution! Soda Ash reacts violently with water. It gives off a lot of heat and might melt light plastic containers. Always use thick plastic containers and avoid contact with skin and eyes.
Next, Pour the Sulphuric Acid into the 50 liters plastic drum. Add Texapon to it. Stir thoroughly together with the big turning stick. Pour 5 liters of clean water into the mixture. Stir all together very well. At this point, a visiblechemical reaction begins. The Sulphuric Acid begins to swell, thickening up, and heat is given off. Avoid contact with skin. At this point you will need a partner to assist in the stirring process.
Next, Ask your partner to help you gently sprinkle theC.M.C powder into the Sulphuric Acid mixture while you continue to stir non-stop. Caution! This is the hard part in liquid soap production as the C.M.C. quickly thickens and forms lumps if it is not well stirred. Should lumps form, they could introduce errors in the look and texture of the final product as they could be difficult to eradicate later. Hence, the stirring should be very thorough to forestall such unnecessary head aches. Stirring well for 3 – 4 minutes after adding C.M.C. should be enough.
 Next, After seeing that the mixture is well blended, add the soaked Soda Ash and continue stirring the entire mixture. Immediately, you will observe a great thick foaming that might likely double your production volume. This is why you must always use a stirring drum that is at-least double the volume of your desired product output volume.
 Next, After 2 minutes of stirring with the soaked Soda Ash already added in, you should now pour in the soaked Caustic Soda. Continue to stir. Do not forget, the Caustic Soda is a hazardous chemical, avoid contact with skin. The Caustic Soda immediately calms the foaming mixture, and the volume goes down.
Next, Add more water to the entire mixture such that the total volume, including those of the soaked chemicals, the original Sulphuric Acid and so on; comes to a total of 50 liters. QuickMath Sulphuric acid 3 liters Soaked Soda Ash 2 liters Soaked Caustic Soda 2 liters Initial water added 5 liters Total so far 12 liters Needed volume 25liters – 12 liters = 13 liters Hence, You should now complete the needed product volume by adding13 liters of water. Stir well and make sure it is well blended.
Next, Add as much coloring as you wish. Continue to mix until you get a perfect blend.

•  Next, Add perfume to your desired appeal or better still what you feel your consumers will love. If you will be selling the product, ensure you put a nice perfume and in sufficient quantity as most customers are only first attracted to a new product by the perfume it wears. Make sure it well blended. Finally, Add a capful (use your 50 liter keg cap) of Formalin to preserve your product. Stir together and cover the plastic drum. Although your product is ready for use, leaving it to properly dissolve and settle down for a day shouldlet the final appearance be more appealing than if it were bottled for sale immediately. Start bottling your finished liquid soap the next day.

13 yr old boy rapes his 8yr old sister after watching porn because he 'wanted to try it out'

A 13-year-old schoolboy raped his eight-year-old sister after watching pornography on an X-Box computer console, a court has heard. The teenager told police he used the games console to view explicit material before he 'decided to try it out'. The boy said he targeted his younger sister because she was small and 'couldn't remember stuff'. At Blackburn Magistrates Court yesterday the boy admitted rape, indecent assault and inciting his sister to perform a sexual act on him. The youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has been bailed to live with relatives away from his sister while a pre-sentence report is being prepared. Continue... Fiona Elvines, from the Rape Crisis Charity, said that children accessing pornography was a ‘growing concern’. She said: 'This is going to completely destabilise this little girl’s life. It will take her a very long time to try and work through. It will have put her life on a different track and I do not want that to happen to anybody else.' Ms Elvines told the Lancashire Telegraph 'For a long time, people have been sitting on the fence and saying we do not have the evidence to say porn is harmful, but now we are starting to have some evidence around young people’s exposure. 'How much evidence do you need? It shows that the government’s measures are extremely important and that we need to start acting. When children see porn, they have no context for what it is used for. There is pressure on children to be sexualised, particularly on younger boys, to start having sex. 'It is coming from peers and porn.' The government has said that by the end of 2014 all devices with access to the internet will be blocked from accessing pornography, with users forced to opt in. The X-Box customer support website says explicit content and internet access can be restricted using parental controls. Microsoft, the company which makes the console, said: 'We have the greatest sympathy for all involved in this case. At Microsoft we have some of the most robust systems that allow parents to control what their children play and watch online. For example, access to the internet is switched off automatically for all child accounts on X-box, and we urge parents to review the settings on their children’s consoles.' In November last year a 12-year-old boy admitted three charges of rape against his sister, aged under 10, after he watched pornography at school and went home to copy what he had seen. The abuse took place over the course of a year and was only discovered after the girl confided in a family member. The boy was given a three-year youth rehabilitation order and will continue to live at the family home. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for two-and-a-half years. Culled from linda ikeji

Fred Ajudua sent to Kirikiri Prison over N1.3billion fraud

Fred Ajudua has been remanded in Kirikiri Prison for allegedly defrauding former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (retd.), of about $8.395m (about N1.3 billion). Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye ordered on Wednesday that he should be remanded in prisons custody following a fresh 13-count charge of fraud brought against him by EFCC. The EFCC in the fresh charges dated 14 October, 2013, alleged that Ajudua, along with others still at large, defrauded Gen. Bamaiyi of $8.387m between November 2004 and June 2005 while in prison. Ajudua is the only defendant in the fresh charges as others who allegedly committed the offences along with him are said to be at large. Continue... Other suspects said to be on the run, are Alumile Adedeji (a.k.a Ade Bendel), Mr. Kenneth and Princess Hamabon William. Ajudua, along with other suspects, were said to have defrauded Bamaiyi at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons, where he and the other fraud suspects were on remand for various crimes. EFCC claimed that the suspects had fraudulently collected the money from Bamaiyi instalmentally, falsely claiming that the payments represented the professional fees charged by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) to handle Bamaiyi’s case in court and to facilitate his release from prison. The anti-graft agency also alleged that Ajudua and others fraudulently claimed that $1m out of the total money collected from Bamaiyi was for financial assistance for the treatment of Justice Olubunmi Oyewole’s father. Justice Oyewole was then presiding over Bamaiyi’s case in court. The suspects were said to have told Bamaiyi that Oyewole’s father was admitted at Saint Nicholas Hospital in Lagos and the $1m was meant to assist the judge in treating his father. When the charges were read to him today, he pleaded not guilty to the allegations. His bail application was however not heard as the presiding judge adjourned the matter till 20 February, 2014. Ajudua is also standing trial in another court for allegedly defrauding two Dutch businessmen, Remy Cina and Pierre Vijgen, of $1.69m (about N270m). The matter has been on since 2003. Source: PM News