Guys Don't Gossip

Ordinarily guys say things when they're together. Not what babes call gossip of course! But tell me,  how do you classify this?

I was at a popular radio station in Lagos some weeks back and in the midst of some friends hanging out at a joint nearby. Soon the regular football gists of how Man U trounced Arsenal and the usual crazy transfer tales became boring to the point that one of the guys got creative.


Girls were arriving at the radio station to start their programmes or be involved in one. whatever it was.

There were  five guys, popular radio presenters in Lagos. They sat and watched. The idea is  that anyone of them should clap once or twice or more to reflect the number of times they've had or put plainly, slept with any babe making her way into the premises. It was that simple..

Specimen 1 - a pretty and slim girl walked by and there was sudden burst of laughter,  two guys clapped repeatedly almost in quick succession.

'Okay, you registered too? Then how was it? Asked one. 'Whisper into George's ear (not real name) to verify,' another guy suggested. Then, there was a short description and George clutched his ribs as he roared with laughter.  The gist was embarrassing.

Thereafter came other clapping sessions. Sometimes none for a few girls, but at a point, for one lady, it was a spontaneous ovation, It was a democracy. Registration was free. All these while, the air was rent with tumultuous laughter.

But there was a pathetic case of a single lady who was not willing to offer anyone her 'thing' to get on air. Smart and trim and single.  The consensus was that there must be at least one testimony before she would be offered her opportunity to stardom. Unknowingly she kept on pressing hopeful that her break was just about the corner.

 Is this so with people in the media -  Radio/Television presenters?

Pythons double as massage therapists

Exotic spa treatment in Philippines is not for everybody, but most guests seem to like it; 'You get to enjoy the cold grip of our snakes'.

Exotic massages come in many varieties, and but perhaps none is as exotic as that offered by the Cebu City Zoo in the Philippines.

The spa treatment features no soothing palms or fingers, but the cool, slithering mass of Burmese python flesh.

To be sure, the snake massages—offered free of charge to anyone brave enough to experience one—are truly unique, and perhaps even calming.

But how does one actually relax knowing that these massage therapists are enormous and powerful reptiles that, in the wild, have been known to devour critters as large as humans?

The zoo, however, assures that its massages are safe—that the pythons are friendly and even have names that people can trust, such as Michelle, Walter, EJ, and Daniel.

More importantly, each reptile is fed 10 chickens before each massage session to ensure that it does not get hungry while resting on top of guests.

Guests, moreover, are given explicit instructions before submitting to the experience: Lie prone on a bamboo mat and await 500 pounds of snake mass to coil onto and slither atop your body.

......

“I was briefed on what to do and what not to do during the massage,” Ian Maclean, a two-time python massage recipient from Hawaii, told the Daily Mail. “These instructions are crucial, as you can imagine. They tell you not to blow air on the snake, because this is like being pinched on the bum, apparently.

“You can’t shout for help, as the snake can feel your vibrations and thinks you’re prey or a predator.”

Burmese pythons are not poisonous, but they are formidable predators that, in the wild, ambush and constrict prey before consuming it whole.

Giovanni Romarate, Cebu zoo manager and owner of two of the pythons, said most guests are hesitant at first, but offer mostly positive feedback afterward.

“At first visitors feel fear, but most of the guests who try the snake massage say that they like it,” he said. “It’s like getting a hand massage. You get to enjoy the cold grip of our snakes.”

Said one massage recipient, somewhat jokingly, while receiving the unique massage (see video posted above), “This is actually a good massage. They’re actually massaging my core, and it’s not too heavy. Except for the snake trying to constrict my neck, it’s actually quite comfortable.”

Culled from GrindTV

Lion tamer attacked during circus performance

Video has emerged showing the terrifying moment a lion tamer was attacked during a performance at a circus.

The lion called Mandy pounced on Faten El-Helw as she danced in the ring as part of her routine.

In a twist of irony, her husband Ibrahim was also a lion tamer until his death in 2004 when he was involved in a similar lion attack.

Screams can be heard in the background on a clip that was uploaded to YouTube.

The incident is believed to have happened in Tanta, Egypt, and El-Helw appears to escape relatively unharmed.

She was seen walking around seconds after the attack and is believed to be in a stable condition.

Female Genital Mutilation: Fact Sheet

Fact sheet N°241
Updated February 2014

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Key facts

• Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
• The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.
• Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
• More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated (1).
• FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
• FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

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Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. However, more than 18% of all FGM is performed by health care providers, and the trend towards medicalization is increasing.

FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.

Procedures

Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.

• Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
• Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
• Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
• Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

No health benefits, only harm

FGM has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies.

Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.

Long-term consequences can include:

• recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections;
• cysts;
• infertility;
• an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths;
• the need for later surgeries. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) needs to be cut open later to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes it is stitched again several times, including after childbirth, hence the woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks.

Who is at risk?

Procedures are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and occasionally on adult women. In Africa, more than three million girls have been estimated to be at risk for FGM annually.

More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated (1).

The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas.

Cultural, religious and social causes

The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities.

• Where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice.
• FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.
• FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a woman's libido and therefore believed to help her resist "illicit" sexual acts. When a vaginal opening is covered or narrowed (type 3 above), the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to further discourage "illicit" sexual intercourse among women with this type of FGM.
• FGM is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are “clean” and "beautiful" after removal of body parts that are considered "male" or "unclean".
• Though no religious scripts prescribe the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support.
• Religious leaders take varying positions with regard to FGM: some promote it, some consider it irrelevant to religion, and others contribute to its elimination.
• Local structures of power and authority, such as community leaders, religious leaders, circumcisers, and even some medical personnel can contribute to upholding the practice.
• In most societies, FGM is considered a cultural tradition, which is often used as an argument for its continuation.
• In some societies, recent adoption of the practice is linked to copying the traditions of neighbouring groups. Sometimes it has started as part of a wider religious or traditional revival movement.
• In some societies, FGM is practised by new groups when they move into areas where the local population practice FGM.

International response

In December 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the elimination of female genital mutilation.

In 2010 WHO published a "Global strategy to stop health care providers from performing female genital mutilation" in collaboration with other key UN agencies and international organizations.

In 2008 WHO together with 9 other United Nations partners, issued a new statement on the elimination of FGM to support increased advocacy for the abandonment of FGM. The 2008 statement provides evidence collected over the past decade about the practice. It highlights the increased recognition of the human rights and legal dimensions of the problem and provides data on the frequency and scope of FGM. It also summarizes research about on why FGM continues, how to stop it, and its damaging effects on the health of women, girls and newborn babies.

The new statement builds on the original from 1997 that WHO issued together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Since 1997, great efforts have been made to counteract FGM, through research, work within communities, and changes in public policy. Progress at both international and local levels includes:

• wider international involvement to stop FGM;
• international monitoring bodies and resolutions that condemn the practice;
• revised legal frameworks and growing political support to end FGM (this includes a law against FGM in 24 African countries, and in several states in two other countries, as well as 12 industrialized countries with migrant populations from FGM practicing countries);
• in most countries, the prevalence of FGM has decreased, and an increasing number of women and men in practising communities support ending its practice.

Research shows that, if practicing communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly.

WHO response

In 2008, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution (WHA61.16) on the elimination of FGM, emphasizing the need for concerted action in all sectors - health, education, finance, justice and women's affairs.

WHO efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation focus on:

• strengthening the health sector response: guidelines, training and policy to ensure that health professionals can provide medical care and counselling to girls and women living with FGM;
• building evidence: generating knowledge about the causes and consequences of the practice, how to eliminate it, and how to care for those who have experienced FGM;
• increasing advocacy: developing publications and advocacy tools for international, regional and local efforts to end FGM within a generation.

WHO is particularly concerned about the increasing trend for medically trained personnel to perform FGM. WHO strongly urges health professionals not to perform such procedures.

1. UNICEF. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: a statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change, 2013.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION. 1

WHY IS IT PRACTICED?

There are several reasons provided to justify the practice of female genital mutilation:

• Control over women’s sexuality: Virginity is a pre-requisite for marriage and is equated to female honour in a lot of communities. FGM, in particular infibulation, is defended in this context as it is assumed to reduce a woman’s sexual desire and lessen temptations to have extramarital sex thereby preserving a girl’s virginity.
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• Hygiene: There is a belief that female genitalia are unsightly and dirty. In some FGM-practicing societies, unmutilated women are regarded as unclean and are not allowed to handle food and water.
• Gender based factors: FGM is often deemed necessary in order for a girl to be considered a complete woman, and the practice marks the divergence of the sexes in terms of their future roles in life and marriage. The removal of the clitoris and labia — viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body — is thought to enhance the girl’s femininity, often synonymous with docility and obedience. It is possible that the trauma of mutilation may have this effect on a girl’s personality. If mutilation is part of an initiation rite, then it is accompanied by explicit teaching about the woman’s role in her society.
• Cultural identity: In certain communities, where mutilation is carried out as part of the initiation into adulthood, FGM defines who belongs to the community. In such communities, a girl cannot be considered an adult in a FGM-practicing society unless she has undergone FGM.
• Religion: FGM predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, but it has acquired a religious dimension. Where it is practiced by Muslims, religion is frequently cited as a reason. Many of those who oppose mutilation deny that there is any link between the practice and religion, but Islamic leaders are not unanimous on the subject. Although predominant among Muslims, FGM also occurs among Christians, animists and Jews.