Saturday, November 18, 2017
Michelle Obama Just Gave The Best Life Advice For The Trump Era
By Lindsay Holmes
A mental health expert breaks down how effective her tips are.
If you’re like most humans, the current political climate has caused you some excess anxiety or tension. Recent research shows that the majority of Americans are stressed about the future of the nationand even relationships with loved ones are feeling the strain.
Michelle Obama is here to offer some guidance on how to deal with it all ― and her advice is pretty spot on.
The former first lady spoke at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut, this week, where she offered some suggestions on how to survive chaotic times, the Hartford Courant reports.
“Focus on what you can control,’’ Obama advised the audience. “Be a good person every day. Vote. Read. Treat one another kindly. Follow the law. Don’t tweet nasty stuff.”
.@MichelleObama: "Focus on what you can control. Be a good person every day. Vote. Read. Treat one another kindly. Follow the law. Don't tweet nasty stuff.” cour.at/2mzu0aJ
Pretty sage wisdom, right? But does it actually work?
We examined stress research and chatted with a mental health expert about Obama’s tips. Below is a breakdown on their effectiveness when it comes to dealing with tough times:
1. “Focus on what you can control.”
Current events can feel incredibly overwhelming, according to Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education and chair of the American Psychotherapy Association. Looking at everything that is out of your hands can cause anxiety.
Focusing on what you can do helps, Reidenberg told HuffPost. That includes limiting your exposure to the news cycle and participating in activities that bring you joy.
Filtering out the unhappy, angry, chaotic, stressful, dark headlines and maintaining a healthy balance between the challenges and the good things “will allow you to feel in control of your life rather than feeling life is controlling you,” he said.
2. “Be a good person every day.”
This has long been go-to advice when it comes to improving mental health. It applies to how you deal with yourself as well as how you behave toward others.
Being good to yourself and to others “will increase your self-worth, self-esteem, self-confidence and your sense of pride,” Reidenberg said.
3. “Vote.”
Therapists say their clients are reporting feeling helpless more often since the election. An antidote to that? Taking action. Voting in elections and getting involved on issues that are important to you are tangible ways to ease politically related stress, according to the American Psychological Association.
4. “Read.”
Reading about what’s going on in the world and staying updated can help you feel in touch. It’s a method even some experts use to ease their own stress over politics.
“My personal approach is to stay immersed in the news cycle, hoping for some shred of encouragement or at least consolation from hearing my views shared by others,” Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, previously told HuffPost.
But if following the news is causing you to feel uneasy, other kinds of reading can help with that. A study published in 2009 found that getting lost in a good book can be one of the most effective ways to reduce stress, sometimes even better than listening to music or enjoying a cup of tea.
5. “Treat one another kindly.”
Research shows that being kind to another person not only improves that person’s mood; it can boost your happiness levels too. Looking for ways to spread a little kindness? Try one of these.
6. “Follow the law.”
This one seems pretty obvious, no? Laws are needed for a well-functioning society. But Reidenberg said it’s worth keeping in mind for your mental health as well. Having a set of rules to follow can help enhance your feelings of control.
7. “Don’t tweet nasty stuff.”
This is perhaps one of the most vital rules to follow today.
“Sharing of negative thoughts and feelings isn’t helpful to anyone,” Reidenberg said. “By speaking poorly of others you aren’t helping anyone, and you are contributing to the angst so many people are feeling right now. And when there is a lot of this coming from every direction, the ugliness can contribute to anxiety and stress.”
Obama also added one final piece of wisdom, which she said is worth heeding no matter who is president.
“The impact of all of us in our everyday lives is greater than anything ... that can come from the White House,” she said.
Consider it noted.
په فاټا کې د انټرنيټ ازادي او ګواښونه
د امريکا څېړېنيزه اداره فريډم هاوس په خپل کلني راپور کې پاکستان د شپږم کال لپاره هم په هغو هېوادونو کې شامل کړی چې پکې د انټرنيت ازادي نشته.
دا څېړنه ډېجيټل رايټس فاونډېشن او فريډم هاوس په ګډه کړې چې پکې د ۲۰۱۶ م او ۲۰۱۷ کال په موده کې د انټرنيټ ازادۍ په برخه کې شويو پرمختګونو جاج اخستل شوی دی.
په راپور کې په۶۵ هېوادونو کې د انټرنيټ ازادۍ جاج اخستل شوی دی.
د پاکستان په اړه د راغونډو شويو مالوماتو پر اساس هلته د ریاست په کچه د انټرنيټ استعمالونکو له حقونو سرغړونې، انټرنيټ ازادۍ او د سنسر شپ عملي کېدو جاج اخستل شوی دی.
که څه هم دا راپور د پاکستان په کچه دی خو د مشال تر رڼا لاندې بحث کې په قبايلي سيمو کې د انټرنيټ د ازادۍ او هلته استعمالونکيو ته ور وړاندي ګواښونو جاج اخستل شوی دی.
په اسلام اباد کې د انټرنيټ ازادۍ لپاره د غير حکومتي ادارې (( بولو بهی)) مشر اسامه خلجي او د فاټا ځوانانو جرګې مشر نظام الدين خان د بحث مېلمانه دي.
Pakistan - FATA’s wounds
By Afrasiab Khattak
The news about unannounced military operation in the Masood area of South Waziristan came in bits and pieces in second week of November as the government was secretive about it. But the news could not be kept secret as 1100 plus families of Shabi Khel sub tribe of Masood from Shaktoi, Small and Bobarh villages of Ladha subdivision were asked on an extremely short notice on November 3 to vacate the area. Thousands of women, children and men had to walk for two days in mountains towards Bakakhel in Bannu district. They were herded into the IDP camp which had been originally established in 2014 for IDPs from North Waziristan during Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The area of Shabi Khel Masood in Ladha subdivision is at some distance from the Durand Line. So why this sudden and dramatic eviction of thousands of people from this area? But more mind boggling was the treatment meted out to the IDPs. After two days of excruciating journey the male population was separated from their women and children and for a while they could not meet each other in Bakakhel. The Masoods brought to Bakakhel were simple IDPs but they were treated like prisoners of war. Media and civil society representatives weren’t allowed to visit the camp. Initially FATA Secretariat and the Governor’s House remained mum but later they grudgingly accepted the arrival of “some 200 plus Masood families” in Bakakhel Camp. Unfortunately FATA remains a black hole even after dozens of big and small military operations in the last 15 years and there have been no investigation into the complaints of serious human rights violations during these operations. There is no civilian oversight of military operations in FATA.
Contradictory and confusing news have been emerging from FATA during the current year. On the one hand a bill for amending the Constitution was introduced in the Parliament to pave ground for reforms in FATA in May but on the other hand numerous reports from the area about terror attacks and military action also appeared in media. Operation Khyber 4 was a high profile affair as aerial bombardment and the use of heavy artillery was part of the military action. The peaks of Rajgal mountain in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency were reported to have been cleared from terrorists connected with the so called Islamic State. Actually the IS operating in eastern Afghanistan is mostly manned by former TTP fighters who actually belong to FATA and still have widespread connotations with the networks on Pakistani side of the border. Pakistani mentors of Afghan Taliban are at pains to explain the distinction between TTP and Afghan Taliban. But fact of the matter is that they are two sides of the same coin. TTP fighters have always pledged allegiance to every new Amir of the Afghan Taliban and without support from their Afghan comrades they would never have been able to maintain their bases on the Afghan side of the border. It’s simply reciprocal. Afghan Taliban also operate from Pakistani side.
Reports about attacks and clashes have also been emerging from Bajour, Moomand and Waziristan. Clamping prolonged curfews on the aforementioned political agencies has become a routine affair. In North Waziristan the Sunday curfew has continued for years. Many of the old IDPs are still waiting for their return to and rehabilitation in their own areas while the fresh fighting is displacing many more people. Unfortunately they are simple statistics for the officialdom. The most “ creative “ thing that the civil and military authorities could think about the large scale displacement in the area was to change the term IDP to TDP ( temporarily displaced persons) so that the effected people wouldn’t be able to claim certain rights under international humanitarian laws. Wasn’t it absurd that the authorities organized a grand cricket match in Miran Shah to showcase the “normalcy” in the area? Does the appearance of the footprint of the so called IS herald normalcy? Instead of stupid publicity gimmicks FATA needs serious change in the misguided policies. Currently FATA is hostage to Pakistan’s Afghan Policy. As long as the country’s security establishment supports Taliban’s war against Afghan state it will continue to use FATA as a launching pad. Put in simple words that means that the decades old war will continue to rage in FATA. This is a situation which can’t be changed without revisiting Pakistan’s bankrupt Afghan policy designed and executed by the security tsars of the country.
Part of the foreign aid coming to Pakistan in billions of dollars over the last many years was supposed to go to the reconstruction of the war ravaged area and uplift of common man’s life in FATA. But incidence of poverty is highest in FATA compared to any other region of the country. According to the figures released by Planning Commission of Pakistan in 2016, 40 percent Pakistanis live in poverty but in FATA this figure is 73.7 percent, close to double of the national average. Now this figure is surely rising as according to experts the frequent blockade of Torkham and Spin Boldak and drastic decrease in the trade with Afghanistan is going to hit about seven hundred thousands households in the border area. No one has evaluated the impact of dropping of trade with Afghanistan on Pakistani economy in general and on Pashtun economy in particular. Contraction of regular trade with Afghanistan practically means that after this the only major economic activity in the region will be drug trade and gun running which obviously boosts terrorism. Isn’t it a recipe for disaster particularly when it is seen in the context of growing regional tensions? But who cares as long as the policy is to use the strategic space for not so Great Games and give a damn to the fate of millions of Pashtuns living there. Even then the myopia of the Punjabi civil and military bureaucracy ruling Pakistan is flabbergasting. Every time that the hell has been raised in Pakhtunkhwa by adventurist policies, it has always reached Punjab and the rest of Pakistan. And it’s not going to be any different this time round.
Pakistan - Who controls Wana?
After the loss of 148 innocent lives at Peshawar’s Army Public School (APS) in 2014, the leadership assured us that it was finally clear on the identity of the country’s public enemy no1. A series of military operations with fancy titles got underway in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and these gradually expanded to settled areas well.
Only in Operation Zarb-e-Azb, we lost more than 500 military men as around 5,000 were left with injuries. The most recent operation — Raddul Fassad — is still underway in Khyber Agency. The cost of these operations to the national exchequer has been in billions of rupees. But the true cost needs to factor in the hardship caused to the people of affected areas as well as the sufferings of those hit in various terrorist attacks.
On countless occasions, the country’s leadership has claimed success for these military operations, saying that thousands of square miles of territory along the Pak-Afghan region have been cleared. Despite all these assurances, we have been told this week that pamphlets are circulating in the administrative headquarters of the South Waziristan Agency (SWA) with a note that stands for the worldview we have battled for all these years. These pamphlets have been endorsed by a committee headed by a person associated with late Taliban leaders Molvi Muhammad Nazir and Nek Muhammad. The note directs residents to avoid cultural and social activities and restricts movement of women outside their homes without male members of their family. Violators have been warned of repercussions.
The circulation of these pamphlets gives the impression that as our soldiers were busy clearing territory in remote regions, the leadership remained oblivious to the presence of the foremost public enemy only a few miles from their administrative base. This puts a question mark on claims that no distinctions will be made among militants. Have these individuals not been disarmed because of the ‘pro-government’ image of their predecessors?
The SWA administration says that there isn’t much to worry as the pamphlets were distributed by a handful of individuals with ‘criminal mindsets’. It says action will be taken, but under what law? There is widespread agreement among the political leadership of the country — not to mention voices from within the region — that the FCR has to go away and the country’s constitution has to be extended to tribal areas. The FCR is a draconian code introduced by a colonial power to control the region and deny its people their liberty and free will. It does not belong in 2017 or in a country that aspires to uphold republic values enshrined in its constitution.
The ongoing deadlock over FATA’s merger with Khyber Pukhtunkhwa needs to end. The political leadership must resolve differences among themselves and proceed with the extension of the constitution and the governing framework delineated in it to tribal areas. Mainstreaming FATA — rather than mainstreaming militants — has to be among the most pressing of our concerns.
PPP hopes for PML-N support on ‘anti-Nawaz’ legislation
The Pakistan People's Party is hopeful that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz will support its bill to restrict elevation of a disqualified person as the party head – a move designed to remove ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif as party chief.
Senior PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan said the PPP was in talks with the PML-N to supportthe Elections (Amendment) Bill 2017 – passed recently by the Senate.
“Our parliamentary party in the National Assembly is in contact with the PML-N to seek their support . Without their backing, we are obviously not in a position [numerically] to get the bill passed,” he told The Nation.
Ahsan, who is the opposition leader in the Senate, said the “PML-N should support” the bill as it was in the interest of the nation.
The PPP stalwart said elevating a disqualified person as the party chief was illogical. “We are against person-specific legislation and the PML-N has done exactly that to elect Nawaz Sharif as the PML-N president,” he said.
Hours earlier, PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar was quoted by a television channel as saying that PPP may consider to quit the National Assembly, if the PML-N created hurdles in the way of Elections (Amendment) Bill 2017.
Qamar said the PPP had so far not considered resignations but if the government did not allow tabling the bill, they could resign.
Last month, the Senate passed with majority “The Elections (Amendment) Bill 2017” to remove Nawaz Sharif as the PML-N head.
Sharif was disqualified as the premier in July by the Supreme Court but later returned as the PML-N chief after his party bulldozed a law allowing all citizens to become member of a party or head it.
The PML-N has a majority in the National Assembly and will easily reject the amendment proposed by the PPP .
The opposition has majority in the Senate but the PML-N had rushed the Bill through the Upper House taking advantage of some opposition members’ absence.
Senator Farhatullah Babar, another PPP leader, told The Nation that the opposition parties also planned to benefit from the habitual absenteeism of the treasury benches in the National Assembly.
“We really want this law to be passed. This is not a pressure tactics at all. We want to correct a mistake. The government passed the Bill in the Senate when the opposition members were absent, we will do the same. There is a quorum issue in the National Assembly daily,” he said.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his successor Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who himself is a regular absentee, failed to ensure their party lawmakers to attend the National Assembly proceedings during the last four years.
For the last many months, the government has been facing embarrassments as habitual absentees have caused quorum issues on a number of occasions.
Sharif had even conveyed it to the lawmakers that those skipping the proceedings regularly might not be awarded party tickets in the general elections, due next year.
Even this warning failed.
Senator Babar said the PML-N had passed a person-specific law but the PPP was seeking to amend this for the sake of democracy.
“Our point is rational. A disqualified person should not lead a party,” he added.
The lawmaker said the PPP had not considered resigning from the National Assembly so far.
“We are aiming to pass the bill but until the law is there, Nawaz Sharif can lead the PML-N. He can only be removed if the law is amended,” Babar said.
http://nation.com.pk/18-Nov-2017/ppp-hopes-for-pml-n-support-on-anti-nawaz-legislation
#Pakistan - #PPP to celebrate its Golden Jubilee in Islamabad with great pomp and show
He expressed his views while addressing in a reception arranged by PYO Korangi. He further said that PPP is going to complete its 50 years and they will celebrate its Golden Jubilee Celebrations in Islamabad on 5th December 2017.
http://www.thesindhtimes.com/sindh/ppp-celebrate-golden-jubilee-islamabad-great-pomp-show-javed-nayab-laghari/
Pakistan - Imran Niazi is protecting criminals of Dera Ismail Khan
President Pakistan Peoples Party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Humayun Khan has said that Imran Niazi is a hurdle in justice to the innocent girl of Dera Ismail Khan.
Humayun Khan reacting to the video speech of Imran Niazi said that PTI leader has the right to deal with his party’s issues but he does not have the right to protect criminals who were responsible of shameful incident of Dera Islail Khan in which a young girl was appallingly insulted. Imran Niazi neither sympathized with the victim and her family nor ordered an inquiry into this dreadful incident. Humayun Khan said that Imran Niazi has been exposed.
Pakistan Peoples Party is with the victim and her family whereas Imran Niazi does not care what happens to the people of KP because he has mineral resources of KP as his target, Humayun Khan concluded.
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/11/18/imran-niazi-is-protecting-criminals-of-dera-ismail-khan/