Now, that’s how you play a game!
Naomi Osaka, the 23-year-old Japanese tennis professional is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and the reigning champion at the US Open and the Australian Open.
During the 2021 French Open, she announced she wouldn’t participate in the mandatory press. She was fined $15,000 by the French tournament referee for refusing to hold a press conference after her first match.
She eventually withdrew from the competition entirely, citing her mental health struggles. …
Understanding the why behind prostitution
A few months back, I watched a gripping Indian movie on Amazon Prime — ‘C U Soon’. A young man falls in love with a girl over the phone without meeting her. She tells him her life is in danger. He rescues her and lets her stay in his home. He is ready to marry her and even introduces her to his family. Then one day she suddenly leaves him and returns to her country.
He is devastated and after much investigation, he finds out that she was a human trafficking victim who had been forced into prostitution. …
Does a mother ever stop being a mother?
Last Friday, Carolyn Pawlenty, the mother of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin addressed the court. She pleaded for leniency in Chauvin’s sentencing in George Floyd’s death.
She told the judge, “My son is a good man. He is a quiet, thoughtful, honorable and selfless man.” Not once did she mention George Floyd’s name or even offer her condolences to the family. She was there only to save her son’s life.
Had Carolyn’s motherly love turned her blind to her son’s crime? She forgot that George Floyd too was another mother’s son. …
When speaking up is not easy.
The words were right there bubbling up like champagne, ready to spill out but I silenced them at the last moment.
“What’s the need? Why start a conflict?”, I thought.
By denying them freedom, I imprisoned my most authentic self. I put on a mask and molded myself into what the other person wanted me to be — an agreeable dummy.
Why?
There was an aching need in me to receive acceptance from them. My self-worth was dependent on what the other person would think of me.
A self-admitted people pleaser, the need to be liked took precedence over the…
MEMES, CULTURE
Is it right to change a name into a meme?
A few days ago, I was nagging my teen to get off the computer for the 100th time. He rolled his eyes at me and responded, “Okay, Karen! I’ll switch it off!”
I chuckled at his ripe teenage attitude. I’m sure most teens have thought of their moms as bossy Karens at some point in their lives. But it got me thinking of this internet slang and how it’s become commonplace in conversation.
A ‘Karen’ refers to a specific stereotype, basically an angry white woman who acts entitled and condescending. The origins of this meme are hard to pin down.
…
When gender is not just pink or blue.
Let me preface this story by saying, I am in support of all gender identities. It’s wrong to dehumanize or discriminate anyone on the basis of their gender identity.
That being said, the term non-binary is honestly confusing to me. Recently, celebrities such as Elliot Page and Demi Lovato identified as non-binary and revealed new pronouns — they/them.
But what does it mean to be non-binary?
Turns out, it is not exactly pink or blue. Non-binary is an umbrella term that encompasses many points on the gender spectrum between pink and blue. First it is important to understand the concept of gender.
When we are born, the doctor…
ISRAEL, CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Children always end up being collateral damage in war.
Five-month-old, Omar was pulled from the arms of his dead mother early Saturday morning. On Friday, Omar’s mother had taken him and his brothers to celebrate the Eid Ul-Fitr holiday at her brother’s house.
They fatefully decided to spend the night there. In the middle of the night, Israeli airstrikes hit their 3 story building and decimated it.
Baby Omar’s mother, Maha Abu Hattab, 36, and her 4 children — Suhayb, 13, Yahya, 11, Abderrahman, 8, and Osama, 6 all perished in the bombing. Her sister-in-law and four of her children were also among the dead.
Omar’s father, Mohammed Al…
It cannot be prayed away
In Nov 2019, Federal agents raided former ’19 Kids and Counting’ star Joshua Duggar’s car dealership. He was arrested and booked on child pornography charges on April 29th, 2021.
Special Agent Gerald Faulkner testified that Josh had more than 200 images of child pornography on his computer, ranking in the top 5 of the worst he had ever seen. Josh downloaded the images between May 14 and May 16, 2019. The footage included images of children as young as 18 months being sexually abused.
If Josh is convicted, he faces up to 20 years of imprisonment and fines up to…
Motherhood is not a single day.
I have never been a fan of any of the ‘Hallmark Holidays’, the ‘Buy our products to make your loved ones feel appreciated’ holidays, mainly because it makes people feel obliged to participate.
Shops prey on people’s emotions and guilt-trip them to spend their money. If you don’t get on the bandwagon, buy the jewelry, card, cake, or flowers, it means you are a lousy, heartless soul who doesn’t care.
This Mother’s Day show Mom how much you appreciate her with this sparkling pendant, only $399.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed May 9, 1914, the first Mother’s Day. The floral and…
SELF, PSYCHOLOGY
For starters, when will you stop talking?
“Why are you so quiet?”
If I had a penny for every time I heard this as a child, I would be a millionaire by now. I was often dying to retort back, “Why are you so thoughtless?”
As a child, I was made to feel that introversion was the deep flaw I had to overcome. I grew up believing that something was inherently wrong deep within the squiggles of my DNA.
Years later as an adult I realized that introversion was not a character flaw I had to be ashamed of. It was the way I related to the…
Tina Viju
Cancer geek I Lover of words & fried rice I Memory Keeper
