Headlines
Breast Staring Story: NAN Shared Two-Decade-Old Hoax
A 20-year-old hoax suggesting that staring at female breasts has the effect of promoting longevity in men has been circulated by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the government-controlled news wire service.
Other media houses also fell for the age-long hoax. Crediting NAN, news platforms including Premium Times and TheCable reported the “study” on Tuesday. Vanguard Newspaper, DailyPost, and many otherweb platforms have likewise shared the report in the same period.
The study is said to have been conducted over a five year period by “a German scientist, Karen Weatherby, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine”. The year it was published was not stated. After the scientist instructed 250 men to stare at breasts lustfully at least 10 minutes in a day and another group of 250 men to abstain from this, the report said, he concluded that the health of the first group of men improved significantly.
The study said men should stare at breasts for 10 minutes a day to improve the wellness of their hearts and to live longer.
“Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. Gazing at breasts makes men healthier and engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack by half,” Weatherby was quoted to have said.
“We believe that by doing so consistently, the average man can extend his life for four to five years.”
However, the report has been debunked as far back as in May 2000, by Snope, a prominent fact-checking website launched in 1994.
“This has to be one of the ultimate male fantasies, second only to the notion that drinking beer and watching football makes one more intelligent. (Or maybe second only to the thought of being instructed by doctors to look at buxom women for five years straight, all in the name of science.),” the website wrote sarcastically.
“Watching busty females may indeed be good for a man’s health and add years to his life (by giving him something to look forward to, if nothing else), but men who want to make the case for engaging in this behaviour to their wives or girlfriends will have to do so without relying on the imprimatur of the medical community.”
Snopes further established that the study was never printed in the New England Journal of Medicine “or any other major medical journal” as claimed. It is, rather, a rephrased version of an article that has appeared at least twice (May 13, 1997, and March 21, 2000) on the Weekly World News, a popular tabloid that broke mostly fictional news in the United States between 1979 and 2007.
According to the Washington Post, “The Weekly World News was not one of those sleazy tabloids that cover tawdry celebrity scandals. It was a sleazy tabloid that covered events that seemed to occur in a parallel universe, a fevered dream world where pop culture mixed with urban legends, conspiracy theories and hallucinations. Maybe WWN played fast and loose with the facts, but somehow it captured the spirit of the age — and did it in headlines as perfect as haiku: ‘DEAD ROCKSTARS RETURN ON GHOST PLANE!’ ‘BLIND MAN REGAINS SIGHT AND DUMPS UGLY WIFE!’”
“The most creative newspaper in American history, the Weekly World News broke the story that Elvis faked his death and was living in Kalamazoo, Mich,” Peter Carlson, the Post’s staff writer, added.
“It also broke the story that the lost continent of Atlantis was found near Buffalo. And the story that Hillary Clinton was having a love affair with P’lod, an alien with a foot-long tongue. And countless other incredible scoops.”
Snopes said though the tabloid “occasionally slips up and prints a true story”, it suspects the report on the positive effects of breast-staring belongs in the category of similar articles titled “‘HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DOG WORSHIPS SATAN!’ and ‘NEW REMOTE-CONTROL DEVICE GIVES WOMEN ORGASMS — AT UP TO 80 YARDS AWAY!’”
Another fact-check of the claim published in 2009 (and updated in May 2019) by LiveAbout described it as an “email hoax circulating since March/April 2000” and concluded that it is false.
“No such study was ever published in the New England Journal of Medicine,” wrote David Emery, an internet folklore expert and debunker of urban legends, hoaxes, and popular misconceptions.
“A search of the thousands of peer-reviewed articles contained in the National Institutes of Health medical journal database turns up zero items documenting the health benefits of staring at women’s breasts, and, for that matter, zero items authored by ‘Dr. Karen Weatherby’ (who does not exist, so far as I can tell).”
Source: ICIRNigeria
Source: Reuters
Arise Television anchor, Rufai Oseni, has alleged that there may be attempts to prevent key opposition figures, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, from appearing on the ballot for the 2027 general elections.
Oseni’s remark followed a Federal High Court judgment ordering the de-registration of some political parties.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples’ Party (APP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Action Alliance Party (AAP) over alleged constitutional breaches.
The judgment arose from a lawsuit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional and statutory electoral performance requirements necessary for continued recognition as political parties.
Justice Lifu subsequently barred INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting nominations from them or permitting them to participate in activities related to the 2027 general elections.
The ruling, if upheld, could affect the political ambitions of several politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is the ADC presidential flag-bearer, and Osun State governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party.
But speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Oseni described the court ruling as a “test” of public reaction, warning that more actions could follow ahead of the next general election.
According to him, opposition parties such as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, should be cautious, claiming that efforts could be made to stop major figures from participating in the election.
Oseni argued that the judgment was part of a broader process aimed at shaping the political landscape ahead of 2027.
He maintained that the ruling came despite some of the affected parties having recorded electoral victories in recent elections.
He warned that Nigerians must remain vigilant to safeguard the country’s democracy, stressing the need for judicial reforms alongside efforts to tackle insecurity.
Oseni said: “NDC, ADC should be careful because there will be attempt, and this is me predicting now, to ensure that Obi, Atiku and other big contenders are not on the ballot.
“This that you saw yesterday is just a test. This is not the real place where the whole thing is going. This is me predicting now.
“You know before you have a show you test the microphone. They want to see the reactions of Nigerians. More is still coming.
“You can see how they carry a judgement when ADC won two House of Representatives seats in Kogi, one Kogi House of Assembly seat, APP one chairmanship seat in Jigawa, Zenith Labour party won several seats in Abia, but they still went ahead and issued judgement for deregistration after the Court of Appeal, a higher court, said it should stay on that.
“If we want to deal with this judicial rascality, can I tell you something? The judge that gave this judgment, nothing will happen to him. Nothing on this earth. They are just coming.
“And who is leading this group? Gbajabiamila. Have you forgotten what Gbajabiamila said on Hon Ajibade’s birthday? So they are just coming. This one is just a test. The next one they will do is the NDC.
“With the way they’re going, if Nigerians don’t shine their eyes when they will finally have this election, you will not have the major contenders in the ballot. This thing they have just done is to test reactions from Nigerians.
“I saw this thing coming. You know we are going into an election in which Atiku Abubakar is the only major candidate from the North. It’s not like the last one you have Kwankwaso that can split the Kano votes. And you have Peter Obi and general consensus that a lot of people are in abject penury, insecurity is raging hard.
“This is the beginning of many things. They are just testing the microphone. It’s engineered. More is coming. Nigerians, it is you that will save your democracy. Judicial reforms have become so important as insecurity in Nigeria.”
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has picked former Rivers State Governor and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate.
Announcing the decision, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said Amaechi’s emergence followed broad consultations within the party and reflected his strong performance as runner-up in the party’s presidential primaries as well as his track records of service to his state and the country.
According to the ADC, Amaechi’s extensive experience across both the legislative and executive arms of government, as former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor of Rivers State, and former Minister of Transportation, makes him uniquely qualified to complement Atiku’s leadership, strengthen the party’s national appeal, and bolster its campaign to offer Nigerians an experienced and credible alternative ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The party said the choice of Amaechi underscores its commitment to presenting a leadership team with proven governance experience and national appeal as it prepares for the 2027 presidential contest.
ThisDay
