Hello everyone. Welcome to another presentation on IN THE WHITE. I hope you all are in good health.

As in the past few days most of us must have seen, read or heard about attempted Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Today, I will be highlighting why I support Russia in its effort to invade Ukraine.

Now at this point, many would think I am not concerned about the numerous Ukrainian live that will be lost or loss of Ukrainian independence.

Frankly speaking, it is always the case that if a war breaks out, the loss of lives especially innocent lives will be lost.

Anyways, coming back to the topic, I back Russian invasion for a number of reasons.

Firstly, we must understand the historical background of the two countries. It is important to keep in mind that Ukraine was once part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) and when it collapsed in 1991, countries like Ukraine gained independence. So, this separation still seems to be fresh in the minds of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

I see this as a natural state of nature of the Russian leader. Its historical attachment looks to be a dear to Russia.

Another crucial reason for the Russian invasion of Ukraine is Putin’s insecurity of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). If this happens, NATO countries would be extremely close to Russia. This is why the Russians do not want Ukraine to be a member of NATO, despite it being an independent state, which gives Ukraine full right to join international institutions. It is this insecurity that has kept Russia anxous.

Just to give a mini overview of why NATO was formed? It was established in 1949 by the United States, Canada and other western European states to provide collective security against the USSR.

It is no doubt that this little piece of information is at the back of Putin’s mind.

Similarly, Russia’s distrust on the United States could said to be another factor in the Ukraine issue. Given that the United States has a bigger Say when it comes to NATO’s decision making. The difference in ideologies could well escalate the lack of trust, knowing one is a communist and the other a democrat.     

Having this disbelief on the U.S is likely for a country such as Russia, given the incident of 2003 in Iraq, where Saddam Hussein, the state’s President was accused of keeping weapons of mass destruction, but in truth he did not have any.

Before ending this write-up, I wish say that I am indeed moved by the brave leadership of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His refusal to flee the country indicates his willingness to defend his nation together with the Ukrainian people.

Well, will Ukraine be successful in defending its land or the Russians will prevail, that only time will tell, but the question that comes to mind is, if Russia had not invaded and Ukraine had formally Joined NATO, how could one guarantee Russia’s sovereignty would not come under threat?

That follows another question of those countries today condemning Russia for invading Ukraine, would they have supported Russia if they were in trouble because of U.S and it’s NATO Allies?

While the battle between two states continues, the least we can do is hope and pray for things to normalize and the war comes to a halt with minimum fatalities and damage.  

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another presentation on IN THE WHITE. I hope you all are good and coping well in this time of the Pandemic.

We continue with the Human Rights Series with the second part, in which I will be focusing on Poverty & Global Inequalities.

I know, we have been talking about poverty and inequalities for a long time and undoubtedly the COVID-19 Pandemic has stretched this gap between the rich and the poor even further.

According to the 2022 World Inequality Report, wealth inequality remains at an extreme level in all regions.

The report suggests that Middle East & North African nations such as Iran, Iraq, Israel, Algeria, Egypt, to name a few have been listed as the world’s most unequal region.

Just by looking at the names of these countries, I am not surprised at all to see them makeup the list, given their economic and political situation.

For many of these nations, natural resources like oil exportation plays a major role in the growth of the country’s economy.

While the World Bank forecasts a growth of up to 4.2%, in GDP for MENA countries compared to 2.8 % in 2021. However, this is subject to the Pandemic situation. A poor handling of the crisis could deplete the economy, while a controlled condition would see MENA states reaching its projected target.  

POVERTY

Poverty is another major challenge faced by many people around the globe.

In 2018, four out of five people below the international poverty line lived in rural areas.

Half of the poor are children. Women represent a majority of the poor in most regions and among some age groups. About 70 percent of the global poor aged 15 and older have no schooling or only some basic education.

Almost half of poor people in Sub-Saharan Africa live in just five countries: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Madagascar.

More than 40 percent of the global poor live in economies affected by fragility, conflict and violence, and that number is expected to rise to 67 percent in the next decade. Those economies have just 10 percent of the world’s population.

Just as things seemed to be slightly improving, the Coronavirus made matters worse by pushing about 100 million more individual into poverty, as a cause of lockdown and unemployment.

This raises a very important question of what do we do now? How do we at least try and reduce poverty?

Well, I believe one thing good about this Pandemic is that, it has enabled every individual to look for potentials within themselves and discover new abilities.

So I feel, one way we can overcome poverty is to encourage people to explore themselves and identify skills such as cooking, mechanical work or do artworks like paintings and drawings.

I have been a fan of good artworks for a long time, and I am sure the world does not have a shortage of good artists either.

All in all, recognizing the talent within oneself, together with a competitive job market can help uplift a country’s economy and reduce poverty rates.

Stronger laws and law monitoring systems are needed in highly politically unstable states to overcome social and political crisis in war like scenarios.

With that being said, I wish to conclude this write-up and hope you found it interesting and informative.

Thank you for reading and enjoy the following video.  

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another presentation on IN THE WHITE. I hope you all are well and doing everything possible to keep safe from the deadly Pandemic.

Today’s write-up is on a very different topic then the usual subjects. For the purpose of this article, I wish to focus on the topic of Sleep paralysis. I will begin by defining what sleep paralysis is, what causes this phenomenon, how it can be treated, the demonic view behind sleep paralysis and conclude by sharing my own experience of sleep paralysis. 

Sleep paralysis definition & how it occurs

The term sleep paralysis is when a person or feeling being is conscious but is not able to move for a few seconds or even up to a few minutes. Some may feel pressure or a sense of choking.

Sleep paralysis can occur at one of two times. This is when falling asleep or while waking up. The process by which one becomes aware that they cannot move when falling asleep is called Hypnagogic Sleep Paralysis- in the process of falling asleep, a person is not usually aware that their body stars relaxing, but if they do realize the change occurring they might note that they are not able to move or speak in that moment.

The other form of sleep paralysis is called Hypnopompic Sleep Paralysis. This is to do with Rapid Eye Movement (REM, a cycle that occurs during sleep and lasts approximately up to 90 minutes), this is also the process where dreams occur and if an individual becomes aware before the REM cycle is complete, they may notice that body movement may not take place or their ability to speak might be halted for a few seconds or minutes.

Causes of Sleep Paralysis

Since we now know the definition of this phenomenon and understand how it occurs, let us shift our focus to the causes and see why it eventually happens in the first place.  There are numerous explanations as to why sleep paralysis happens. Some of these reasons are; lack of sleep, change in sleep schedule, mental stress or bipolar disorder, sleeping on back, substance abuse or other sleeping disorders alongside the use of certain medicines.

Diagnosis & Treatment of sleep paralysis