GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: FOR WHO THE BELL TOLLS NEXT.

Just five people shy of Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting incident that claimed 26 lives, the Uvalde Texas Robb elementary school mass shooting at 21 victims, now ranks among the highest grossing gun carnage in America. It is sad that such frequent blood spilling has tragically become part of our culture as a society. May the souls of the killed now rest.

25th AMENDMENT: ITS NOW ALL CRICKET.

Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi once questioned former President Donald John Trump's fitness to remain in office due to what she claimed was his declining mental capacity. Does anyone know what Madam Speaker presently thinks about the incontrovertible case which America is now saddled with? Just curious!

WHO WILL REBUILD UKRAINE?

The West should convert frozen Russian assets, both state's and oligarchs' owned, into a full seizure and set them aside for the future rebuilding of Ukraine. Like the Marshal Plan, call it the Putin Plan.

A HERO IS BORN.

I am staying put. I will not run away and abandon my people. The fight is here in Ukraine. What I need are weapons and ammunitions, not a ride out of town like former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani - President Volodymyr Zelensky.

IT IS WHAT IT IS.

"There is too much hate in America because there is too much anger in America." - Trevor Noah.

WORD!

A life without challenges is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that has problems, confronts problems, solves problems and then learns from problems. - Tunde Fashola.

NOW, YOU KNOW.

When fishing for love, bait with your heart and not your brain, because you cannot rationalize love. - Mark Twain.

JUST THE FACT.

In our country, you can shoot and kill a nigger, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings - Dave Chappelle

DO YOU?.

“What you believe in can only be defined by what you’re willing to risk for it." - Stuart Scheller.

HEDGE YOUR CRISIS.

Never get in bed with a woman whose problems are worse than yours. - Chicago PD.

PROBLEM SOLVED.

'The best way to keep peace is to be ready to destroy evil. If you Pearl Harbor me, I Nagasaki you.' - Ted Nugent.

OUR SHARED HUMANITY.

Empathy is at the heart of who we are as human beings. - Cardinal Matthew Kukah.

WORDS ON MARBLE.

"Birth is agony. Life is hard. Death is cruel." - Japanese pithy.

REPENT OR PERISH - POPE.

Homosexuality is a sin. It is not ordained by God, therefore same sex marriage cannot be blessed by the church - Pope Francis.

CANCEL CULTURE IS CORROSIVE.


FOR SAKE OF COUNTRY.


MAGA LIVES ON: NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER!

TWITTER IS BORING WITHOUT HIS TWEETS. #RestorePresidentTrump'sTwitterHandle.


WORD.

"If you cannot speak the truth when it matters, then nothing else you says matters.” - Tucker Carlson.

#MeToo MOVEMENT: A BAD NEWS GONE CRAZY.

"To all the women who testified, we may have different truth, but I have a great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all of the men and women going through this crisis right now in our country. You know, the movement started basically with me, and I think what happened, you know, I was the first example, and now there are thousands of men who are being accused and a regeneration of things that I think none of us understood. I’m not going to say these aren’t great people. I had wonderful times with these people. I’m just genuinely confused. Men are confused about this issue. We are going through this #MeToo movement crisis right now in this country." - Harvey Weinstein.


RON DELLUMS: UNAPOLOGETICALLY RADICAL.

"If it’s radical to oppose the insanity and cruelty of the Vietnam War, if it’s radical to oppose racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, if it’s radical to want to alleviate poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, and other forms of human misery, then I’m proud to be called a radical.” - Ron Vernie Dellums.


WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE - STEVE JOBS

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me. God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth. Memories precipitated by love is the only true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on. The most expensive bed in the world is the sick bed. You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear sickness for you. Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life. Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.” - SJ

EVIL CANNOT BE TRULY DESTROYED.

"The threat of evil is ever present. We can contain it as long as we stay vigilant, but it can never truly be destroyed. - Lorraine Warren (Annabelle, the movie)


ONLY THE POOR WISH THEY HAD STUFF?

“I’m not that interested in material things. As long as I find a good bed that I can sleep in, that’s enough.” - Nicolas Berggruem, the homeless billionaire.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

SEMENYA, THE 'SHE-MAN' OF SOUTH AFRICA?

And Icheoku joins the rest of sceptical world in asking, what gender is Mokgadi Caster Semenya, the new running sensation of South Africa? Is she really a female, a male, a hermaphrodite or even a cross-breed 'she-man'? Is it the perplexity of her triumph at Berlin 2009 or mere jealousy that is fuelling the current 'is she really a female' outbursts or is it a case of an African incredibly out-performing beyond all expectations that "she" must have cheated to achieve that feat?
According to her father, Jacob Semenya, "For the first time South Africans have someone to be proud of and detractors are already shouting wolf. It is unfair. I wish they would leave my daughter alone." Icheoku understands the frustrations of this impoverished South African man from rural northern Limpopo province village, whose daughter's sudden fame is bringing extra baggage of undesired and unintended dimension. Icheoku says that the Young Communist League was wrong is saying that the gender probe was chauvinistic and fed into stereotypes of how woman should look and smacked of racism; rather Caster Semenya is all a man but for her possible anatomical crevices. We are emphatic that women do not look like her as she looks every inch a man or rather a tom-boy; but like her grand-mother said and rightly too, if Caster had a choice she would change her appearance but "God made her so"! What a powerful argument that should rest the matter but not so soon, as controversy is a factor of fame and the whole world is frenzied out, discussing if she is really a female? Remember the American musician, Grace Jones?
According to International Athletic Association Federation (IAAF) official, due to the speed of her rise from unknown competitor to eventual world champion, a gender test, which takes several weeks to complete, could not be done in time for the world championships. Icheoku asks, what other gender test is required for a female who menstruates, squats to urinate and possibly have a boy-friend or a girl-friend? Not every woman will have to be a Miss Universe or beauty queen; as some of them were made to be married by their fathers; so what the heck if Caster Semenya is not feminine enough or lady-like or even ugly? Who cares really, but a bunch of partisans who would rather the 800 meters women world champion looked like a real woman with clearly defined features - figure 8 with a protruding chest and a well-rounded backside as well as a 'please help me lift this and that' syndrome, symptomatic of the female folks?
But were she an Angelina Jolie, may be she will not be an athlete today but would have ended up in Hollywood or on a Brad Pitt's arm? But to each her own and Caster Semenya made good use of her none femininity by mastering the tracks? Like the African National Ccogress (ANC) rightly pointed out, "Caster is not the only woman athlete with a masculine build and the International Association of Athletics Federation should know better."And Icheoku adds, if they are in doubt, they should take a good look at the Williams sisters - Venus and Serena, the Amazons of the Tennis world, as they too are not particularly gifted with feminist looks but they sure know how to use the racket.

Whether Semenya have been unduly "humiliated and treated like a leper" will depend on the eventual outcome of the gender test, which will debunk all these suspicions of her sexuality? But until then, when it is conclusively determined, in the spirit of 'innocent until proven guilty' we ask that Semenya be treated as a female, period!
Icheoku says, what is all the hullabaloo about a gender test when a six minutes liaison with her boyfriend or a check by a female doctor can dissipate all the rumours about the sex of the fastest woman on earth, Caster Semenya? Admitted she looks every inch like a guy - one hot dude for that matter, but her mother, her birth-certificate and possibly her urinating posture have all pointed to her femininity; so the matter should rest and an apology tendered to the fleet-footed South African girl, whose only sin is that midway her creation, her maker changed his mind and instead of a phallus, bestowed her with a funnel? But now that the question of her gender has been raised, and for the interest of her competed colleagues, let it be conclusively determined for a rest of the mind. What a complexity of sexuality, as Icheoku hails the new 800-metres women world champion at 1minute 55.45seconds, 18-year-old Mokgadi Caster Semenya, the suspected man or rather 'she-man' of South Africa? Congratulations on your record performance!

1 comment:

  1. The complexities of sexual identity
    The new world 800m champion Caster Semenya has been asked to undergo gender tests by the International Association of Athletics Federations after finishing significantly faster than the other competitors in the women's race.



    Caster Semenya after her victory in the women's 800m race
    It may be thought that determining if someone is a man or woman would be as simple as looking to see if they have breasts and a vagina or a penis.

    But in reality it is far more complex.

    Even someone's external genitalia can be "ambiguous". For example, the clitoris may be enlarged so that it looks like a small penis or a female's labia may be fused, resembling a scrotum.

    There are also chromosomal and hormonal variations and conditions which medics will test for.

    The South African athlete will be assessed and tested by a group of doctors, including an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist.

    They will look at her external genitalia, but they will also look at hormone levels and her chromosomal make-up.

    Hormone levels

    There are also particular conditions they will check for, including congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

    This is a condition in which the body produces more androgen, a type of male hormone.

    If a girl has it, she will usually have normal internal female reproductive organs, but may not have periods and may have a male appearance.


    This is an extremely complicated area

    Professor Adam Balen, Leeds General Infirmary
    This, and a number of other conditions, are recognised by the IAAF as potentially giving some advantage but are accepted.

    There are other conditions, including polycystic ovaries and androgen producing tumours, where a woman can have higher than normal levels of testosterone which are not thought to offer any advantage to athletes.

    In addition, there is a condition called androgen insensitivity syndrome where someone may have internal and undescended testes - and high levels of testosterone - but look like a woman and have a vagina and a uterus.

    Rare

    Professor Adam Balen, a specialist at Leeds General Infirmary, said: "This is an extremely complicated area.

    "The reality is that the difference between males and females with respect to strength is based upon hormones.

    "So if you have high levels of testosterone, you are more likely to have better muscle strength."

    Such conditions are rare. Around one in 20,000 UK children is born with some kind of sexual development disorder.

    However rates can vary around the world, usually because of genetic variations.

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